View All Pages

Minoan Overview

fresco of girl in elaborate clothing tipping crocuses out of a basket

Photo credit: Philip P. Betancourt in Pareja et al 2017 Download Aegean Dyes: Unearthing the Colors of Ancient Minoan Textiles

.

Please start by reading the following.

Please focus in particular on number 1 (Barber, ch.4 ) and 3 (Marinatos, ch.6).

  1. Barber Download Chapter 4 Island Fever

    , 100-117)_(the discussion of the Odyssey at pp. 117-126 of weaving in the Odyssey is optional). In this chapter of her book Women's Work: the First 20,000 Years, Elizabeth Barber discusses the evidence for weaving technologies including looms, spindles, types of fiber, and dyes, in Crete, and the participation of women in the labor of producing textiles.  

To give you a bit more context I am including as optional some pages from Barber’s previous chapter “ Download Courtyard Sisterhood,

” which attempts to reconstruct women’s lives in Europe, the Mediterranean and to a lesser extent the Near East during the Neolithic period.

This chapter surveys what can be deduced from the archaeological record about women’s work and the momentous changes brought to it a) by the transition from nomadic to settled lifestyle (ca.10,000-7,000 BCE) and by) by harnessing animals to pull plows (about 4,000 years later).

pages 71-76 on Barber’s chapter are about the first change (from nomadic to settled lifestyle);

pages 84-90 attempt to paint a picture of a lifestyle that resulted for women and about their work (especially production of textiles, the primary subject of Barber’s book);

pages 96-100 are concerned with the second change (the use of draft animals) – strictly speaking, they are not  yet necessary for us, since Barber’s point in the “Island Fever” is precisely that Crete, the subject of this week’s class, was somewhat exempt from them. Nevertheless, they may be help to paint a fuller picture and they are very much relevant for our next subject, Mycenaean women.

2. Marinatos, Art and Religion in Thera, chapter 5 “ Download Public Festivals on Theran Frescoes.

” Note: page 52 is a general set up for the chapter, please read it; pages 53-60 describe a festival that we may not may not get a chance to talk about and that is not focused on women; it is helpful for understanding of the overall picture Marinatos reconstructs, but not essential. So read it if you have time, otherwise skip; focus on pages 61 (beginning with “The next fresco, or rather group of frescoes…”)-72.

3. Marinatos, Art and Religion in Thera, chapter 6 “ Download Initiation, Vegetation and Sacrifice: the Adyton Fresco of Xeste 3

". As you read this chapter, think about how Marinatos’ interpretation of the saffron-gathering scene different from that of Barber’s. Which one is better in your opinion, and why?

Both of these chapters discuss the frescos in one structure in the settlement called Akrotiri on the island of Thera (modern Greek name Santorini). The settlement was destroyed perhaps about 1500 BCE by the huge eruption of the volcano on the island. Some features of the art recovered at Thera have similarities with Minoan culture but it is not known exactly how dominant Minoans were over the islanders.  In Chapter 5 Marinatos argues that the frescoes evoke or depict a ritual of some kind and in Ch 6 she uses parallels from Greek myth and ritual known from later written sources and other evidence to consider what the content and significance of such a ritual might be. Pages 62-84 discuss and illustrate the frescoes (paint applied to wet plaster) found in one structure, a building known as Xeste 3. Room 3 of Xeste 3 (see plan on p. 73) is called an adyton, a Greek word that refers to an innermost, usually enclosed, area in a temple or shrine, often an area with restricted access.

To submit: Barber quiz.

You will be asked the following questions:

  1. What is Barber’s explanation for the production of patterned textiles by Minoan women and for their “flamboyant” fashions?

  2. How does Barber interpret the activity of the women on frescoes from Thera?

In class groups:

You will take a closer look at the Thera frescoes and both answer some of my questions about them and formulate some questions/ideas/hypotheses of your own. In the end, we will re-convene for a concluding discussion. Nanno Marinatos has revised parts of her interpretation of the frescoes since the publication of the chapters you are reading, and we will discuss her new suggestions.

To Explore (optional)

  • Here is Barber's chapter Download Courtyard Sisterhood.

    This chapter surveys what can be deduced from the archaeological record about women’s work and the momentous changes brought to it a) by the transition from nomadic to settled lifestyle (ca.10,000-7,000 BCE) and by) by harnessing animals to pull plows (about 4,000 years later).

    pages 71-76 on Barber’s chapter are about the first change (from nomadic to settled lifestyle);

    pages 84-90 attempt to paint a picture of a lifestyle that resulted for women and about their work (especially production of textiles, the primary subject of Barber’s book);

    pages 96-100 are concerned with the second change (the use of draft animals for plowing fields etc.) – strictly speaking, they are not  yet necessary for us, since Barber’s point in the “Island Fever” is precisely that Crete, the focus of this class, was somewhat exempt from them. Nevertheless, they may be help to paint a fuller picture and they are very much relevant for our next subject, Mycenaean women.


  • Text and Textile Links to an external site.Text and Textile: An introduction to Wool-working for readers of Latin and Greek, a  video from Rutgers University and the Center for Hellenic Studies, includes hands on demonstrations of how the warp-weighted loom was constructed and used and discussion of the ancient Greek and Roman texts that provide evidence about this.  They published this follow-up flier about how to make your own warp weighted loom Links to an external site. in the unlikely event that you are finding yourself with a lot of time on your hands these days. 
  • Emily Vermeule's Download The Promise of Thera: A Bronze Age Pompeii (The Atlantic Dec 1967) is a lively first hand account of the discovery and excavation of the frescoes at Thera. 
  • Pareja et al. 2017. Download Aegean Dyes: Unearthing the Colors of Ancient Minoan Textiles uses chemical analysis to argue that the same substances were used to color the frescoes and the textiles.