11 Project Ideas - Early Ancient Greece - The Minoans

I always start my Greece unit with a look at the Ancient Minoans.  They are a fascinating civilization that helped shape the culture we see later on in Ancient Greece.  Here are a few project ideas for learning and showing learning about the Ancient Minoans.

Minoan Religion

Relatively little is known about the Minoan religion.

It seems to be a polytheistic religion based on the worship of nature. The main deities were representations of the Earth, sea, and sky. Examples are seen in the sculptures pictured below. Seen left is a bird goddess. Interestingly, the goddess is in human form with no wings but wearing a crown of birds. To the right is the snake goddess. The snake was one of the deities representing the Earth. No doubt the Minoans also worshiped the sun. An artifact called the Disk of Phaestos is probably evidence of that.

Ancient Minoan Writing

The Ancient Minoans used three known forms of writing. The first was a hieroglyphic script that was used mainly during the period from 2000 BC - 1580 BC. This style of writing was basically pictures or symbols used to represent concepts, ideas, and possibly syllables. Evidence of this script has been found in fair abundance at the palaces of Knossos and Phaestos.

Ancient Minoan Trade

The sea was a defense and a source of food for the Ancient Minoans. The sea was also the key to the great success the Minoans had as traders.

Minoan Art

Among the Minoan ruins excavated on Crete were the remains of pottery, frescoes, and other works of art.

POTTERY

The earliest Minoan pottery had images carved into the clay. These images were often simple lines filled with simple colors.

Gradually, the Minoans began to paint and/or glaze their pottery. The designs on them went from one or two color to many colors, and the images in the designs became more and more complex. Lines in the early pottery became spirals later, and that progressed to depictions of things in the Minoan's environment, particularly the sea. You can see this progression in the images below. (Top row- Jug circa 2500 BC, Jug circa 1800 BC - Bottom row - Vase circa 1500 BC)

Mythology and the Ancient Minoans

Crete is the setting for more than a few stories in Greek mythology. Perhaps the existence of these myths is evidence that the Greeks knew quite a bit about their predecessors. Some believe these myths were begun by the Minoans themselves, and the myths then became a part of Greek culture when the Mycenaeans migrated to Crete after the Minoan's decline.

Early History and Settlements of the Ancient Minoans

Before the development of Ancient Minoan civilization, the inhabitants of Crete were stone age hunter gatherers, just like all of the other early civilizations. The archaeological evidence shows that people have lived on Crete for at least 8,000 years.

Physical Geography of the Ancient Minoans

The story of the geography of the Ancient Minoans is largely about water.

Who were the Ancient Minoans?

Whenever I think of Ancient Greece, I think of two things. First, I think of their culture, particularly their art, literature and their achievements in government, philosophy, and science. Second, I think of the great Greek military triumphs, especially their victory over the much larger and more powerful Persian empire. These two components of their great civilization were the result of a hybrid of the two cultures that came before them. Their military prowess came mostly from a civilization on the Greek mainland called the Mycenaeans. The roots of Greek culture, however, probably came from an older civilization called the Minoans.