The Minoans
Bettany Hughes visits Crete to recount the story one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made. The tale of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth is perhaps the most compelling of all Greek myths. Just over 100 years ago, English archaeologist Arthur Evans went to the 'Minotaur's Island' to explore the roots of this myth and discovered instead a sophisticated Bronze Age civilisation that had been lost to history for thousands of years. He called them The Minoans, and the riches of their culture astonished the world, prompting Evans to proclaim them the first civilisation of the Western World. But was this view unduly romantic? Recent archaeological discoveries have added fascinating layers of complexity to the picture originally painted by Evans.
| The Minoans |
| Related Links |
| Minoan Civilization - wikipedia Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete, came to dominate the shores and islands of the Aegean Sea. |
| Secrets of Archaeology - Secrets of the Island of Minos Around 1500 BC, the great Minoan civilization thrived on the islands of Crete and Santorin in the eastern Mediterranean. |
| Ancient Apocalypse - Mystery of the Minoans This episode looks at how the Minoan civilisation, situated on the Mediterranean island of Crete, was wiped out 3,500 years ago by a huge volcanic eruption. |
| Searching for Lost Worlds - Atlantis: Mystery of the Minoans A hundred years ago Arthur Evans set out to find a lost civilisation in the Mediterranean - the forerunners of the Greeks. He spent his life and most of his fortune, uncovering a culture he termed the 'Minoans'. |
| The Wave That Destroyed Atlantis A team of archaeologists and scientists comb Crete for conclusive evidence that Europe's first great civilisation, the Minoans, was destroyed by a devastating natural disaster. |
| Ancient Worlds This is a BBC documentary series presented by Richard Miles, exploring the roots of Western civilization from the first cities of Mesopotamia to the fall of the Roman Empire. |
| Helen of Troy Bettany Hughes travels across the eastern Mediterranean to disentangle myth from reality and find the truth about Helen of Troy. |