Sept. 24th

Lost Civilizations, such as Atlantis

Aztecs

New age worshippers at Chichen Itza, Mexico

Modern druids atStonehenge, England

Is there some grain of truth in the notion of brilliant but disappeared civilizations?

What role can archaeology play in bringing these stories to life?

If there is not much truth in these stories, can such stories still play a valuable role?

Or is there harm in these stories?

Is there any archaeological evidence for ancient cataclysms that have actually led tothe destruction of ancient societies?

Questions for today

Plato: 427-347citizen of Athens, Greece

Plato’s vision of Atlantis

Minoans

--Like Atlantis, the Minoans flourished long before Plato

Why the ancient Minoans serve as a model for Atlantis

--Plato would have known about the Minoans

--Like Atlanteans, the Minoans were extremely gifted artists and engineers.

--Like Atlanteans, the Minoans had huge cities.

--Like Atlanteans, The Minoans lived on an island

--Like Atlantis, the Minoan civilization came to a mysterious end.

Minotaur

Theseus slays the Minotaur

King Minos

Son killed by bullnear Athens

Minos seeks revenge

Sends Atheniansto die in theLabyrinth

Has Daedalusbuild the Labyrinth

Minoans in Greekmythology

Three major Minoan palaces found on Crete

Palaces reach their pinnacle at about 1500 BC

Palace of Knossos is largest

Palace of Mallia

Arthur Evans(British, 1851-1941)

Excavated Knossos beginning in 1900

Michael Ventris(British, 1922-1956)Deciphers Linear B

Linear A(has not been deciphered)

Knossos palace fresco: “Bull leaper”

Knossos palace fresco

Vessel made of stone

Bull made of stone

Vessel made of stone

Vessel made of fired clay

Human sculpture made of ivory (elephant tusks), Palaikastro, Crete

Robert SchochCoastal Peru

Mexico

England

Illinois

Minoans

Akrotiri

EARTHQUAKE!!

Island of Santorini

Akrotiri

Volcanic Eruption!!

Well-preserved buildingsat Akrotiri

Wall paintings preservedat Akrotiri

Wall painting preserved at Akrotiri

”The sun was dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months; each day it shown for about four hours; and still this light was only a feeble shadow…”

(John of Ephesus, Mesopotamia)

”For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear or such as it is accustomed to shed.”

(Procopius, Byzantium)

“We wonder that at noon bodies do not have shadows” (Senator Cassiodorus, Ravenna, Italy)

"Yellow dust rained down like snow. It could be scooped up in handfuls." (Nan Shi Ancient Chronicle of Southern China)

“rain is red and snow falls yellow” (The History of the Southern Dynasties)

The 536 AD event