Ancient Knossos palace at Crete island in Greece. Greece. Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete
Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός, pronounced [knoˈsos]), refers to the main Bronze Age archaeological site at Heraklion, a modern port city on the north central coast of Crete. Heraklion was formerly called Candia after the Saracen name for the place, Kandaiki, referring to the moat that was built around the then new settlement for defence.[4] Kandaiki became Byzantine Chandax. The name Knossos survives from ancient Greek references to the major city of Crete. The identification of Knossos with the Bronze Age site is supported by tradition and by the Roman coins that were scattered over the fields surrounding the pre-excavation site, then a large mound named Kephala Hill, elevation 85 m (279 ft) from current sea level. Many of them were inscribed with Knosion or Knos on the obverse and an image of a Minotaur or Labyrinth on the reverse, both symbols deriving from the myth of King Minos, supposed to have reigned from Knossos.[5] The coins came from the Roman settlement of Colonia Julia Nobilis Cnossus, a Roman colony placed just to the north of, and politically including, Kephala. The Romans believed they had colonized Knossos.[6] After excavation, the discovery of the Linear B tablets, and the decipherment of Linear B by Michael Ventris, the identification was confirmed by the reference to an administrative center, ko-no-so, Mycenaean Greek Knosos, undoubtedly the palace complex. The palace was built over a Neolithic town. During the Bronze Age, the town surrounded the hill on which the palace was built. The palace was excavated and partially restored under the direction of Arthur Evans in the earliest years of the 20th century. Its size far exceeded his original expectations, as did the discovery of two ancient scripts, which he termed Linear A and Linear B, to distinguish their writing from the pictographs also present. From the layering of the palace Evans developed de novo an archaeological concept of the Minoan civilization
Size: 4371px × 2744px
Location: Knossos palace, Crete island, Greece
Photo credit: © PANAGIOTIS KARAPANAGIOTIS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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