In the days preceding the heyday of the culture of Ancient Greece, the rich civilization of the Minoans ruled the coast and islands of the Aegean Sea. The Minoan civilization is reminiscent of the frescoes and myths about ancient Atlantis preserved from that era that were told by Plato.
Minoan empire
The center of the empire was the large island of Crete. With a powerful fleet, the Minoans traded with countries in Europe, the Middle East and Egypt. Their technologies were advanced: writing, metallurgy, pottery, heating with solar panels, plumbing and sewage were well developed.
Minoans in ancient Greek myths
It is still unknown how the Minoans called themselves. Legends about them were told by the Greeks, in particular, the story of King Minos, ruler of Crete at a time when the Hellenes were subordinate to the Minoans and paid tribute to them. The huge palace complex of Knossos, the largest building in Europe of that era, was described in Greek myths as a labyrinth.
The Minoan festivals in which the young acrobats showed performances, jumping over the bulls, turned in the stories of the Greeks into sacrifices to a half-half-man named Minotaur. In Greek myths, the Minoans owed much to the inventor Daedalus, Leonardo da Vinci of the era who created the royal palace and the aircraft. This legend indicates that the Greeks were deeply impressed by the inventions and technology of the Minoans.
But the Hellenes were silent about what happened to the Minoan civilization.
Archaeological excavations show that the palaces on the island of Crete were destroyed by an earthquake, after which a period of decline began. After several generations, the palaces were burned by the Mycenaeans, the forerunners of the ancient Greeks. Mycenaeans captured Crete in 1450 BC and adopted from the Minoans their writing, architecture and art. It is known that the Mycenaeans took part in the Trojan War in 1200 BC.
The devastating volcano of 1600 BC
A hundred kilometers north of the island of Crete is the volcano Thira. Natural disaster in 1600 BC during the eruption of the volcano, contributed to the decline of the Minoans civilization.
The exact time of the death of the Minoan empire is not known, but earthquakes and famines could weaken it to such an extent that 50-100 years later it became easy to conquer them.
Modern calculations show that the eruption of the volcano Tira in the Aegean Sea in 1600 BC. 4 times the strength of Krakatau, which claimed the lives of 36, 000 people. It was not just an eruption. The center of the island literally flew into the air, and then burst into pieces as a result of a huge explosion.
The C-shaped ring of islands, called Santorini, is the remains of that ancient island of Thira, where the Minoan civilization once inhabited. This ring surrounds an underwater crater of a volcano with a diameter of 11 to 19 km. A pillar of ash from a volcanic explosion rose to a height of 10 km, showered in the eastern Mediterranean. The island of Crete also suffered from earthquakes.
The volcanic eruption provoked a devastating tsunami. There are many disagreements in the calculations, but the height of the giant waves reached several hundred meters. The disaster was more devastating than the disaster in Indonesia in 2004 and in Japan in 2011.
Knossos and other highland villages of Crete survived but were isolated, losing their fleet and coastal cities.
