Kings & Palaces
This archaeologist uncovered the palace at Knossos and named its builders "Minoans."
Who is Arthur Evans
The Minoans painted murals on fresh plaster using this wet painting technique (two-word term).
What are True (wet) fresco (or fresco painting / buon fresco)?
This undeciphered Minoan script, developed ca. 1700 BC, remains a mystery to scholars.
What is Linear Script A?
On Minoan sarcophagi scenes, a libation is being poured. A libation is a(n) ______ (one-word).
What is offering (or libation = offering)?
The heavy, massive stone walls built at Tiryns and Mycenae are often referred to by this myth-inspired term (one word).
What is Cyclopean?
The central reception hall found in Mycenaean palaces, featuring a throne and a central hearth, is called the ______.
What is megaron?
This famous fresco depicts acrobatic interaction with a bull and shows a male figure somersaulting over the animal.
What is the Toreador Fresco (Bull-leaping)?
This later script (used ca. 1400–1200 BC) shows Mycenaean influence and was used to write an early form of Greek.
What is Linear Script B?
The figurine type with exposed breasts from Knossos that holds snakes is commonly referred to as the ______ (two-word name).
What is Snake Goddess (or Snake Priestess)?
This monumental gate at Mycenae features a relieving triangle and a carved slab of two lions above its lintel—name it.
What is Lion Gate?
The large, multi-story complex at Knossos included a remarkable system of terracotta pipes supplying these household rooms that were luxurious for the time.
What is bathrooms and toilets (or baths)?
The "Spring Fresco" from Akrotiri is significant because it is the earliest known example of what genre of painting (what subject)?
What is landscape (pure landscape painting)?
Give two reasons scholars have not deciphered Linear Script A (two brief points).
What are small corpus of texts; lack of bilingual inscriptions; unknown language not clearly related to other known families?
Name one funerary object or practice found in Mycenaean graves (from Grave Circle A) that shows Egyptian influence on burial customs.
What is Funerary masks (beaten gold masks) / burial with masks like Egyptian practice?
The beehive-shaped royal tombs covered by earthen mounds are called ______ (one word).
What is Tholos (or Tholoi for plural)?
Around 1700 BC many Old Palace structures were destroyed by this natural disaster, prompting rebuilding and the New Palace period.
What is an earthquake?
Name two natural themes commonly depicted in Minoan frescoes (pick any two).
What are examples: dolphins/sea life, flowers, birds, rocks, marine animals, bulls, minotaur, labrys (double ax)?
Homer’s epic poems, written around 750 BC, preserved stories about Bronze Age heroes. Name one of the two epics mentioned in the material.
What are The Iliad (or The Odyssey)?
The Harvester Vase celebrates which societal activity—give the short answer.
What is Harvesting &/or sowing ceremony (or farming/harvest)?
The Warrior Vase depicts this scene as its frieze—what are the figures doing?
What is Soldiers marching off to war (a column of warriors)?
The megaron plan later influenced the design of what important type of later Greek buildings? Name the building type and explain one shared architectural feature.
What are Greek temples? — shared feature: a central rectangular plan with a front porch and interior room (megaron) or use of columns and a central hearth/altar idea
Explain how the Marine Style octopus jar demonstrates a sophisticated relationship between decoration and the vessel's form (one or two sentences).
What is: the octopus’ tentacles wrap around the curving surfaces, emphasizing the jar’s volume and integrating design with shape.?
Explain how the find of multiple layers at a tell near the coast of Türkiye helped confirm a city described in Homer’s epics—name the archaeologist who led the excavation and the city identified.
What is Heinrich Schliemann excavated a tell with multiple city layers at Hisarlik and identified burnt-layer remains as Troy.
Describe one piece of evidence from the text that shows Minoans practiced international exchange with other Mediterranean regions (one or two sentences).
What are Examples: Minoan-style frescoes and pumice found at Avaris in Egypt; similar fresco styles found in Northern Israel and Syria — indicates artists or ideas traveled across regions?
Around 1250–1200 BC many Mycenaean citadels were destroyed. Give two plausible causes for this widespread destruction mentioned in the slides.
What are Possible causes: invasion by northern peoples, internal warfare, or collapse during widespread social upheaval?