Tag Archives: Minoans

A Biography of Lapis Lazuli: A journey through the Bronze Age

by Danielle Alexander, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom The immense trade routes of the ancient world allowed for substantial amounts of wealth, knowledge, innovations and mythological tales to traverse vast distances. Cultures often adopted items and ideas from far-away lands and repurposed them for their own needs. The semi-precious stone lapis lazuli was a highly sought-after

Written on April 15, 2022 at 1:20 pm, by Danielle Alexander

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Categories: Culture

Tags: Egypt, gods, Homer, Lapis Lazuli, Mesopotamia, Minoans, Mycenaeans

The Mysterious Phaistos Disk

by Danielle Alexander, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Amongst the impressive architecture and mesmerising frescoes left behind by the Minoans on the island of Crete, there is one particularly puzzling artefact. For over a century, scholars have debated on the origin, function and translation of the Phaistos Disk, which was found by the Italian archaeologist Luigi

Written on March 4, 2022 at 7:24 pm, by Danielle Alexander

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Categories: Archeology

Tags: archaeology, Crete, Linear B, Minoans, Palace of Knossos, Phaistos Disk, Sir Arthur Evans

The Top 8 Greatest Inventions of the Mycenaeans

By Ed Whelan, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom This month’s Classical Wisdom Litterae Issue is dedicated to the Mycenaeans! Get a subscription and learn more about these fascinating Bronze Age people HERE. Who were they? The Mycenaeans are often regarded as the first Greeks. They were the descendants of the first Neolithic farmers who settled in

Written on August 3, 2021 at 3:58 pm, by Whelan

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Categories: Culture, History, Homer, Language, Literature

Tags: Ancient Greek Religion, Greco-Persian war, Homer, Linear B, Minoans, Mycenaeans

Volcanoes in the Ancient World: Cataclysm and Change

Written by Ed Whalen, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Volcanic eruptions have had a devastating impact on pre-industrial societies such as the ancient Greeks and Romans. Volcanoes have in fact changed history. Some of the most important eruptions in the history of the Classical world are discussed below. Theran Eruption and the End of Minoan Civilization

Written on March 5, 2021 at 8:30 am, by Whelan

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Categories: Science

Tags: Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek and Roman tradition, Ancient Greek history, ancient history, Cleopatra, Climate, Egypt, Minoans, Politics, volcano, volcanoes

The Palace of Knossos

Written by Katherine Smyth, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom When we think about the birth of western civilization, we recall Knossos and its stunning palace. Crete is called the cradle of Europe, after all, and Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, is reputed to be Europe’s oldest city! Knossos is thought to be

Written on August 9, 2019 at 9:22 am, by Katherine Smyth

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Categories: Architecture

Tags: Eruption of Thira, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Palace of Knossos, Pompeii

The Golden Rule

By Ben Potter All that glitters may not be gold, but that hasn’t stopped the shiny yellow stuff from being relentlessly pursued throughout mankind’s civilized existence. Twinkling goodness aside, gold has the virtue of being malleable, ductile, resistant to tarnishing, abundant, easily extracted and, above all else, useless! Well, perhaps not totally, but it is

Written on March 6, 2015 at 10:04 pm, by plato

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Categories: Economics

Tags: Ancient Rome, Caesar, Claudius, Gold, Minoans, Nero, Priam's treasure, Sumerians, Tory