Knossos
Knossosis aBronze Agearchaeological siteon theislandofCrete.It is at modernHeraklion.It may beEurope's oldest city.[1]
ManyRomancoinsfound on the site had 'Knosion' or 'Knos' on one side, and an image of aMinotaurorLabyrinthon the reverse. These aresymbolsfrom themythof KingMinos,supposed to have reigned at Knossos.[2]
The excavations at Knossos began in 1900 by the EnglisharchaeologistSirArthur Evans(1851–1941) and his team. They worked there for 35 years. Thepalacewas excavated and partly restored. It was large. The team discovered two ancientscripts,calledLinear AandLinear B.From the layering of the palace, Evans developed an idea of thecivilizationthat used it, which he calledMinoan.The palace was built over a previousNeolithictown. During the Bronze Age, the town surrounded the hill on which the palace was built.
The palace was abandoned at some unknown time at the end of the late Bronze Age, c. 1380–1100 BC, for reasons which are not known.
References[change|change source]
- ↑Whitelaw, Todd 2000.Beyond the palace: a century of investigation at Europe's oldest city.Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies: 223, 226.
- ↑Gere, Cathy 2009.Knossos and the prophets of modernism.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 25.ISBN0226289540
