"Minoan": After Minos, legendary king of Knossos

Linear A: unknown Minoan language

Timeline of Minoan

• 1800-1550 B.C.: Flourishing of Minoan culture
• 1626 B.C.: Volcanic eruption on the island of Thera

Timeline of mainland Greece

• ca. 6500 B.C.: Emergence of settled life in Greece
• ca. 3000 B.C.; 2300 B.C.; 1700 B.C.: Balkan peninsula subjected to invasions or migrations from the north
• 2600-2200 B.C.: First signs of urban development in the Greek world; The growth of the Mediterranean triad of crops (cereal grains, olives, grapes)
• 2000 B.C.: Mycenaean civilization
• 1400- 1200 B.C.: High point of Mycenaean civilization

Three Kinds of Evidence

1. Linear B documents; Syllabic writing
2. Archaeology; Citadel at Tiryns, Palace at Mycenae
3. The Homeric Poems; The Iliad, The Odyssey; The Trojan War, traditionally 1194-1184 B.C., pegged today at ca.1225-1200 B.C.