MINOAN: POLITICAL ORGANISATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Minoan

Society

Ruler/s female?

Autonomous political

units

Elite woman

prominent at Knossos

Priesthood – sacrifice

+ priestesses

Agriculture important – goats and

sheep

Craftspeople –

farmers / herders

PROBLEMS WITH EVIDENCE

Fragmentary evidence = hypotheses

Evidence society was ‘stratified’:

Comparisons with similar societies of the time = Near Eastern and Egyptian = ruler / elite

Palaces, large country houses and the remains of simple houses = different class groups

EVANS ‘Minos’ – title like

pharaoh Ruled like a ‘priest

king’ – evidence “Prince of the lilies” fresco + the “chieftain cup” – young Minoan prince

Influenced by other civilisations & Frazer – ‘The Golden Bough’

PALACES

Palaces: Knossos, Mallia Phaistos, Zakros

Knossos is the largest – influence over others?

Colin Renfrew: society organised as a series of ‘chiefdoms’ – economy / political / religious

Robert Koehl: each palace - own aristocracy

PALACES

Peter Warren: political structure based on ‘hierarchy of built structures’ – size of building related to status of occupants

Concept of ‘high king’ in Knossos and tribal leaders in other areas

Period of peace allowed investment + unfortified palaces means no threat – social acceptance of ruler?

WA-NA-KA = WANAX (KING) Mycenaean control –

late period Crete (1450 BC -) – Linear B

Male? Minoan?

Mycenaean? Puppet ruler?

Occurs in the singular – ruled over Crete?

Found at Knossos

GENDER

Evans: Male king? Context? Early 20th

century – sexist? Patriarchal

assumptions Jane Harrison

(1903): matriarchy (ignored)

Revisionist historians have interpreted evidence that supports Harrisons’ theory

‘Ruler’ often represented as female

Warren: Religious? Politician? – Female

Waterhouse: No apparent signs of warfare or struggle – lead by priestesses?

Boulotis: kingship was the ‘norm’ – ‘master impression’ evidence

MALE OR FEMALE?

PALACE ELITE

Palace – large house / villa relationship – met with palace occupants – aristocrats?

Koehl: Banquets? Communal dining halls and resting rooms (Mallia / Knossos / Phaistos – have large halls north of central court)

Evidence of food debris and cooking utensils

‘Camp stool’ fresco - Knossos – elite male gathering?

BUREACRACY

Administrative need – palace office structure showed need for organisation

Administer rations / assign flocks + herds / regulate collection of raw materials and produce

Supervise scribes who kept records – clay tablets, papyrus, parchments

Clay seals - evidence of bureaucratic control

PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES

Evidence – seal stones e.g.: short cropped hair, a garment draped around body or a sacrificial axe carried over the shoulder

Women – full time? elite women? Social elite? Young women of child bearing age – associated with the pouring of libations, making offerings and performance of sacrifices

Belief that religion was focussed on gaining ‘divine favour’ = prosperity

CRAFT + AGRICULTURAL WORKERS

Meaning is inferred – objects / buildings / remains

Masons, carpenters, potters, painters, carves of stone and ivory, metalworker – cauldrons or jewellery

Part – time? Not clear if it was gender specific Spent significant amount of time farming Palace craft workers – fulltime? Evidence of intensive farming Linear B tablets – produce and cattle numbers Assigned flocks? Indentured labour? ‘Harvester vase’ – farmers in procession?

SLAVES

‘Likely’ that slaves existed – common in Bronze age Eastern Mediterranean

Owned by elite? Traded?

Attached to palaces? Skilled craftspeople?

Evidence: Linear B tablets – Mycenaean – ‘do-e-rola’ – connected to ‘doulos’ (Slave – Greek) – contracts for sale of slaves