Evans Unearths Knossos: Minoan Civilization Revealed

Sir Arthur Evans purchased the hill of Kephala overlooking the Kairatos River in Crete on March 16, 1900, and began excavating what turned out to be the palace complex of Knossos, the ceremonial center of Minoan civilization. His discoveries were staggering: a multi-story palace with over 1,300 rooms, elaborate frescoes depicting bull-leaping rituals and dolphins, sophisticated plumbing systems, and warehouses filled with massive storage jars. Evans named the civilization 'Minoan' after the mythical King Minos of the labyrinth legend. He also discovered tablets inscribed with two undeciphered scripts he called Linear A and Linear B. Michael Ventris decoded Linear B in 1952, revealing it to be an early form of Greek, which proved that the Mycenaeans had eventually taken control of the palace. Evans's excavations pushed the timeline of European civilization back by over a thousand years and revealed that the Aegean had hosted a sophisticated urban culture roughly contemporary with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.