Minoa was the name of several
Bronze-Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
port cities on the coasts of the
Aegean islands
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
,
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
,
Siphnos
Sifnos ( el, Σίφνος) is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia (pop. 869), is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come f ...
,
Amorgos
Amorgos ( el, Αμοργός, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighboring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Nik ...
and
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
in Greece, as well as the Italian island of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
.
[F. Schachermeyer (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttgart. p.303] There was also a Minoa in
Gaza, whose name was a later introduction, brought by the
Philistines
The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...
in 1200 BC. It appears that settlements with the name Minoa were intended to support Minoa as a ''
thalassocracy
A thalassocracy or thalattocracy sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples ...
'', or sea-based empire. Austrian historian
Fritz Schachermeyr
Fritz Schachermeyr (1895 – 1987, also ''Schachermeyer'') was an Austrian historian, professor at the University of Vienna from 1952 until retirement.
Schachermeyr was born in Linz, and studied in Graz, Berlin and Innsbruck. At Innsbruck, he wa ...
found evidence for this in the name of a settlement on the
Laconic
A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal auster ...
island now called
Monemvasia
Monemvasia ( el, Μονεμβασιά, Μονεμβασία, or ) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected t ...
, and for the small island outside of the harbour of
Megara in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
The original meaning of the word remains unknown. Its root, ''min-'', is linked to a group of
Aegean languages, appearing elsewhere in
toponyms
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
like
Minya and Minassos, as well as in the name of the
Minyans
According to Greek mythology and legendary prehistory of the Aegean region, the Minyans or Minyae ( el, Μινύες, ''Minyes'') were an autochthonous group inhabiting the Aegean region. The extent to which the prehistory of the Aegean world ...
, an
autochthonous
Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to:
Fiction
* Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis
* Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick
* Autochthon, a Primordial in the ...
group inhabiting the
Aegean region. There may be a connection with the mythic king of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
,
Minos, during the Bronze Age
Minoan civilization which flourished in Crete and in the Aegean islands in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
between 2000–1470 BC. The inhabitants of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
were named
Minoans by
Arthur Evans
Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. He is most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete. Based on ...
, after the legendary king.
It seems that the Minoans travelled from Crete down to Egypt, Syria and
Mari of
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
, to
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
(
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
) and the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
through the Aegean islands, and to the west up to
Lipari
Lipari (; scn, Lìpari) is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy; it is also the name of the island's main town and ''comune'', which is administratively part of the Metropo ...
(
Aeolian islands
The Aeolian Islands ( ; it, Isole Eolie ; scn, Ìsuli Eoli), sometimes referred to as the Lipari Islands or Lipari group ( , ) after their largest island, are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, said to be named after ...
) to the north of Sicily. Approximately in 1600 BC the routes to Italy and Asia Minor were gained by the rising Myceneans. They followed the same tradition with the establishment or use of commercial and supporting settlements in the Mediterranean coasts.
[F. Schachermeyer. (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttgart. pp 98, 303–304]
See also
*
Minos
*
Heraclea Minoa
Heraclea Minoa ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλεια Μινῴα, ''Hērákleia Minṓia''; it, Eraclea Minoa) was an ancient Greek city situated on the southern coast of Sicily near the mouth of the river Halycus (modern Platani), 25 km west of A ...
*
El Mina
El-Mina or El Mina (Arabic: الميناء / ALA-LC: ''al-Mīnā’'', which means "the harbour"), is a coastal independent town in Tripoli, Northern Lebanon. El-Mina occupies the location of the old Phoenician city of Tripoli. It acts as the ha ...
*
Al Mina
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minoan Civilization
Pre-Indo-Europeans
Minoan geography