Arthur Evans
Encyclopedia
Sir Arthur John Evans FRS (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British
archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos
on the Greek island of Crete
and for developing the concept of Minoan civilization
from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout eastern Mediterranean
. Evans was the first to define Cretan scripts Linear A
and Linear B
, as well as an earlier pictographic writing.
Along with Heinrich Schliemann
, Evans was a pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization
in the Bronze Age
. The two men knew of each other and Evans visited Schliemann's sites. Schliemann had planned to excavate at Knossos, but died before fulfilling that dream. Evans bought the site and stepped in to take charge of the project that was then still in its infancy. He continued Schliemann's concept of Mycenaean civilization but soon found that he needed to distinguish it from his own concept - the Minoan.
, England
, the first child of John Evans
and Harriet Ann Dickinson. John Evans came from a family of men who were both educated and intellectually active; his father, Arthur's grandfather, had been headmaster of Market Bosworth
Grammar School
. John knew Latin
and could quote the classical authors
. In 1840, instead of going to college, he started work at a paper mill owned by his maternal uncle John Dickinson
. He married his cousin
and employer's daughter, Harriet, and in 1851 was made a full partner in the family business. Profits from the mill would eventually help fund Arthur's excavations and restorations at Knossos and resulting publications.
John maintained his status as a chief officer in the company, which eventually became John Dickinson Stationery
, but also distinguished himself as an antiquary and numismatist, and as a geologist and archaeologist, publishing works on these topics. He was a member and officer of many learned societies
, including being a Fellow of the Royal Society. He won the Lyell Medal
and in 1892 was knighted by Queen Victoria.
Unfortunately, Arthur's mother, Harriet, died in 1858 when Arthur was seven. He did have two brothers, Norman and Lewis
, and two sisters, and would remain on excellent terms with all of them all of his life. He was raised by a stepmother, Fanny, with whom he also got along very well. She had no children of her own and also predeceased her husband. John's third wife was a classical scholar, and when he was 70 they had a daughter, Joan
, who would become an art historian. By the time of John's death in 1908 at 85, when Arthur was 57, the major work on Knossos had already been done. He had primarily used other funding for his work, but Arthur had enjoyed the close support and assistance of his father, who contributed significantly.
(no longer extant) he attended Harrow School
, becoming co-editor of The Harrovian
in his final year, 1869/70. At Harrow he was friends especially with Francis Maitland Balfour
. After graduating from Harrow, Evans became part of and relied on the Old Harrovian network of acquaintances. Minchin characterized him as "a philologer and wit" as well as an expert on "the eastern question
", i.e. diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire
. Arthur also continued his father's habit of quoting the appropriate Latin author from memory and knew poems entirely by heart, as was typical for men of his time.
Between 1870 and 1874 Arthur matriculated at Brasenose College
, Oxford
. His housemaster
at Harrow, F. Rendall, had eased the way to his acceptance with the recommendation that he was "a boy of powerful original mind." At Brasenose he read modern history, but his summertime activities with his brothers and friends were perhaps more definitive to his subsequent career. In 1871 he and Lewis visited Hallstatt
and the Balkans
; in 1872 he and Norman adventured in the Carpathians, crossing borders illegally at high altitudes, pistols at the ready. In 1873 he and Balfour tramped over Lapland, Finland
, and Sweden
. Everywhere he went he took copious anthropological notes and made numerous drawings of the people, places and artifacts. During the Christmas holidays of 1873, Evans cataloged a coin collection being bequeathed to Harrow by John Gardner Wilkinson
, the father of British Egyptology
, who was too ill to work on it himself. The headmaster had suggested "my old pupil, Arthur John Evans - a remarkably able young man."
In April–July 1875, after failing to obtain a fellowship at Oxford, Arthur attended a summer term at the University of Göttingen. He decided not to stay and left there to meet Lewis for another trip to the Balkans. That decision marked the end of his formal education. However, at that time, the lack of a formal education did not preclude one from being a successful scientist.
starting immediately in August 1875. They knew that the region, a part of the Ottoman Empire
, was under martial law
, and that the Christians (mainly the Serbs
) were in a state of insurrection against the Bosnian
Muslim bey
s placed over them. Ottoman troops were in the country in support of the beys. The two brothers had no problem with either the Serbs or the Ottomans but they did provoke the neighboring Austro-Hungarian Empire, and spent the night in "a wretched cell." After deciding to lodge in a good hotel in Slavonski Brod
, having judged it safer than Bosanski Brod
across the Sava River
, they were observed by an officer who saw their sketches and concluded they might be Russian spies. Politely invited by two other officers to join the police chief and produce passports, Arthur replied, "Tell him that we are Englishmen and are not accustomed to being treated in this way." The officers insisted and, interrupting the chief at dinner, Arthur suggested he should have come to the hotel in person to request the passports. The chief, in a somewhat less than civil manner, won the argument about whether he had the right to check the passports of Englishmen by inviting them to spend the night in a cell.
Evans had been interested in the prehistory of Crete
for some time before he was able, in 1900, to begin the massive excavations at Knossos
that made his name; he was already deciphering script on Cretan seal stones in 1894. The excavation and restoration of Knossos, and the discovery of what he called the Minoan civilization
, would be largely driven by Evans as an individual. In modern science, archaeology is a field of academic teamwork requiring certain credentials and where methods and findings are subject to the close scrutiny of peers; a century ago a project could be driven by one wealthy and self-taught person. The ruins at Knossos had been discovered in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos, an island merchant and antiquarian
, who conducted the first dig at Kephala
Hill. The Turkish government interrupted his work, and although several people attempted to continue, it was not until the island was declared an independent state that Evans was able to purchase the entire archaeological site
.
Assisted by Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, who had already distinguished himself by his excavations on the island of Melos, and Mr. Fyfe, an architect from the British School at Athens
, Evans employed a large staff of local labourers as excavators, and began work in 1900. Within a few months they had uncovered a substantial portion of what he called the Palace of Minos. The term "palace
" may be misleading; Knossos was an intricate collection of over 1000 interlocking rooms, some of which served as artisans' workrooms and food processing centres (e.g. wine presses). It served as a central storage point, and a religious and administrative center.
On the basis of the ceramic evidence and stratigraphy
, Evans concluded that there was another civilization on Crete that had existed before those brought to light by the adventurer-archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
at Mycenae
and Tiryns
. The small ruin of Knossos spanned 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) and the palace had a maze-like quality that reminded Evans of the labyrinth described in Greek mythology
. The labyrinth had been built by King Minos to hide the Minotaur
, a half-man half-bull creature that was the offspring of Minos' wife, Pasiphae, and a bull. Evans dubbed the civilization once inhabiting this great palace the Minoan civilization.
By 1903, most of the palace was excavated, bringing to light an advanced city containing artwork and many examples of writing. Painted on the walls of the palace were numerous scenes depicting bulls, leading Evans to conclude that the Minoans did indeed worship the bull. In 1905 he finished excavations. He then proceeded to have the room called the throne room
(due to the throne-like stone chair fixed in the room) repainted by a father-and-son team of Swiss artists, the Émile Gilliérons Junior and Senior. While Evans based the recreations on archaeological evidence, some of the best-known frescoes from the throne room were almost complete inventions of the Gilliérons, according to his critics.
Chariot Tablets at Knossos as immediately prior to the catastrophic Minoan civilization collapse of the 15th century BC.
Evans, in his 1901 work Scripta Minoa, claimed that most of the symbols for the Phoenician alphabet
(abjad
) are almost identical to the many centuries older, 19th century BC, Cretan hieroglyphs
.
The basic part of the discussion about Phoenician alphabet
in Scripta Minoa, Vol. 1 takes place in the section Cretan Philistines and the Phoenician Alphabet, pages 77–94. Modern scholars now see it as a continuation of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet
from ca. 1400 BC, adapted to writing a Canaanite (Northwest Semitic) language. The Phoenician alphabet seamlessly continues the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, by convention called Phoenician from the mid 11th century, where it is first attested on inscribed bronze arrowheads.
Evans was knighted in 1911 for his services to archaeology and is commemorated both at Knossos and at the Ashmolean Museum
, which holds the largest collection of Minoan artifacts outside of Greece.
In 1913 he paid £100 to double the amount paid with the studentship in memory of Augustus Wollaston Franks
, established jointly by the University of London
and the Society of Antiquaries
, which was won that year by Mortimer Wheeler
.
From 1894 until his death Evans lived on Boars Hill
, Berkshire
(now Oxfordshire
), near Oxford. His house, Youlbury, has since been demolished. He had Jarn Mound and its surrounding wild garden built during the Great Depression
to make work for local out-of-work labourers. Evans left part of his estate to the Boy Scouts
and Youlbury Camp
is still available for their use.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos
Knossos
Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...
on the Greek island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and for developing the concept of Minoan civilization
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is a term that denotes the countries geographically to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. This region is also known as Greater Syria or the Levant....
. Evans was the first to define Cretan scripts Linear A
Linear A
Linear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete before Mycenaean Greek Linear B; Cretan hieroglyphs is the second script. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and religious activities, and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals....
and Linear B
Linear B
Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It pre-dated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization...
, as well as an earlier pictographic writing.
Along with Heinrich Schliemann
Heinrich Schliemann
Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and amateur archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns...
, Evans was a pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization
Aegean civilization
Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization...
in the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. The two men knew of each other and Evans visited Schliemann's sites. Schliemann had planned to excavate at Knossos, but died before fulfilling that dream. Evans bought the site and stepped in to take charge of the project that was then still in its infancy. He continued Schliemann's concept of Mycenaean civilization but soon found that he needed to distinguish it from his own concept - the Minoan.
Family background
Arthur Evans was born in Nash MillsNash Mills
Nash Mills is a civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the first child of John Evans
John Evans (archaeologist)
Sir John Evans, KCB, FRS was an English archaeologist and geologist.-Biography:John Evans was the son of the Rev. Dr A. B. Evans, headmaster of Market Bosworth Grammar School, and was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire...
and Harriet Ann Dickinson. John Evans came from a family of men who were both educated and intellectually active; his father, Arthur's grandfather, had been headmaster of Market Bosworth
Market Bosworth
Market Bosworth is a small market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. It formerly formed a district known as the Market Bosworth Rural District. In 1974 it merged with the Hinckley Rural District to form a new district named Hinckley and Bosworth...
Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
. John knew Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and could quote the classical authors
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
. In 1840, instead of going to college, he started work at a paper mill owned by his maternal uncle John Dickinson
John Dickinson (1782–1869)
John Dickinson invented a continuous mechanised papermaking process and founded the paper mills at Croxley Green, Apsley and Nash Mills in England, which evolved into John Dickinson Stationery Limited...
. He married his cousin
Cousin marriage
Cousin marriage is marriage between two cousins. In various jurisdictions and cultures, such marriages range from being considered ideal and actively encouraged, to being uncommon but still legal, to being seen as incest and legally prohibited....
and employer's daughter, Harriet, and in 1851 was made a full partner in the family business. Profits from the mill would eventually help fund Arthur's excavations and restorations at Knossos and resulting publications.
John maintained his status as a chief officer in the company, which eventually became John Dickinson Stationery
John Dickinson Stationery
John Dickinson Stationery Limited was a leading British stationery company founded in west Hertfordshire, that was later merged to form Dickinson Robinson Group. In the 19th century, the company pioneered a number of innovations in paper-making.-History:...
, but also distinguished himself as an antiquary and numismatist, and as a geologist and archaeologist, publishing works on these topics. He was a member and officer of many learned societies
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
, including being a Fellow of the Royal Society. He won the Lyell Medal
Lyell Medal
The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal, awarded on the basis of research to an Earth Scientist of exceptional quality...
and in 1892 was knighted by Queen Victoria.
Unfortunately, Arthur's mother, Harriet, died in 1858 when Arthur was seven. He did have two brothers, Norman and Lewis
Lewis Evans (collector)
Lewis Evans was an English businessman and scientific instrument collector.Lewis Evans was the son of Sir John Evans, an archaeologist, and younger brother of the more famous archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who excavated Knossos in Crete. He studied chemistry at University College London and...
, and two sisters, and would remain on excellent terms with all of them all of his life. He was raised by a stepmother, Fanny, with whom he also got along very well. She had no children of her own and also predeceased her husband. John's third wife was a classical scholar, and when he was 70 they had a daughter, Joan
Joan Evans (art historian)
Dame Joan Evans, DBE was a British historian of French and English mediaeval art.Born at Nash Mills, Apsley, Hertfordshire, she was the daughter of antiquarian and businessman John Evans and his third wife, Maria Millington Lathbury...
, who would become an art historian. By the time of John's death in 1908 at 85, when Arthur was 57, the major work on Knossos had already been done. He had primarily used other funding for his work, but Arthur had enjoyed the close support and assistance of his father, who contributed significantly.
Education
Arthur was given every advantage of education. After a childhood stay at Callipers Preparatory SchoolPreparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
(no longer extant) he attended Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, becoming co-editor of The Harrovian
The Harrovian
The Harrovian is a weekly newspaper published by Harrow School during term time "as an organ of record, and a forum for comment, debate and expression of individual opinion within the school". All articles are published anonymously, except for letters which are signed, though until recently with...
in his final year, 1869/70. At Harrow he was friends especially with Francis Maitland Balfour
Francis Maitland Balfour
Francis Maitland Balfour, known as F. M. Balfour, was a British biologist. He lost his life while attempting the ascent of Mont Blanc...
. After graduating from Harrow, Evans became part of and relied on the Old Harrovian network of acquaintances. Minchin characterized him as "a philologer and wit" as well as an expert on "the eastern question
Eastern Question
The "Eastern Question", in European history, encompasses the diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire. The expression does not apply to any one particular problem, but instead includes a variety of issues raised during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including...
", i.e. diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Arthur also continued his father's habit of quoting the appropriate Latin author from memory and knew poems entirely by heart, as was typical for men of his time.
Between 1870 and 1874 Arthur matriculated at Brasenose College
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. His housemaster
Housemaster
In British education, a housemaster is a member of staff in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school . The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care of boarders in the house and typically lives on the premises...
at Harrow, F. Rendall, had eased the way to his acceptance with the recommendation that he was "a boy of powerful original mind." At Brasenose he read modern history, but his summertime activities with his brothers and friends were perhaps more definitive to his subsequent career. In 1871 he and Lewis visited Hallstatt
Hallstatt
Hallstatt, Upper Austria is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See . At the 2001 census it had 946 inhabitants...
and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
; in 1872 he and Norman adventured in the Carpathians, crossing borders illegally at high altitudes, pistols at the ready. In 1873 he and Balfour tramped over Lapland, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Everywhere he went he took copious anthropological notes and made numerous drawings of the people, places and artifacts. During the Christmas holidays of 1873, Evans cataloged a coin collection being bequeathed to Harrow by John Gardner Wilkinson
John Gardner Wilkinson
Sir John Gardner Wilkinson was an English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist of the 19th century. He is often referred to as "the Father of British Egyptology".-Childhood and education:...
, the father of British Egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
, who was too ill to work on it himself. The headmaster had suggested "my old pupil, Arthur John Evans - a remarkably able young man."
In April–July 1875, after failing to obtain a fellowship at Oxford, Arthur attended a summer term at the University of Göttingen. He decided not to stay and left there to meet Lewis for another trip to the Balkans. That decision marked the end of his formal education. However, at that time, the lack of a formal education did not preclude one from being a successful scientist.
Adventures in the Balkans
After resolving to leave Göttingen, Arthur and Lewis planned an adventure in Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
starting immediately in August 1875. They knew that the region, a part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, was under martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
, and that the Christians (mainly the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
) were in a state of insurrection against the Bosnian
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
Muslim bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
s placed over them. Ottoman troops were in the country in support of the beys. The two brothers had no problem with either the Serbs or the Ottomans but they did provoke the neighboring Austro-Hungarian Empire, and spent the night in "a wretched cell." After deciding to lodge in a good hotel in Slavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod is a city in Croatia, with a population of 59,507 in 2011. The city was known as Marsonia in the Roman Empire, and as Brod na Savi 1244–1934. It is the sixth largest city in Croatia, after Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Zadar. Located in the region of Slavonia, it is the...
, having judged it safer than Bosanski Brod
Bosanski Brod
Brod also known as Bosanski Brod is a town and municipality located on the south bank of the river Sava in the northern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the north-western part of the Republika Srpska and the western part of the Posavina region.-Name:Prior to the Bosnian War it...
across the Sava River
Sava River
The Sava is a river in Southeast Europe, a right side tributary of the Danube river at Belgrade. Counting from Zelenci, the source of Sava Dolinka, it is long and drains of surface area. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia, along the northern border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and through Serbia....
, they were observed by an officer who saw their sketches and concluded they might be Russian spies. Politely invited by two other officers to join the police chief and produce passports, Arthur replied, "Tell him that we are Englishmen and are not accustomed to being treated in this way." The officers insisted and, interrupting the chief at dinner, Arthur suggested he should have come to the hotel in person to request the passports. The chief, in a somewhat less than civil manner, won the argument about whether he had the right to check the passports of Englishmen by inviting them to spend the night in a cell.
Crete and the palace at Knossos
History of Crete
The History of Crete goes back to the 7th Millennium B.C., preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe and the first, in Europe, to build a palace...
for some time before he was able, in 1900, to begin the massive excavations at Knossos
Knossos
Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...
that made his name; he was already deciphering script on Cretan seal stones in 1894. The excavation and restoration of Knossos, and the discovery of what he called the Minoan civilization
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
, would be largely driven by Evans as an individual. In modern science, archaeology is a field of academic teamwork requiring certain credentials and where methods and findings are subject to the close scrutiny of peers; a century ago a project could be driven by one wealthy and self-taught person. The ruins at Knossos had been discovered in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos, an island merchant and antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
, who conducted the first dig at Kephala
Kephala
Kephala is a hill landform in northern Crete, Greece. This locus was chosen by ancient settlers for the site of the Palace of Knossos; the footprint of the Neolithic settlement at Kephala Hill was actually larger than the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos....
Hill. The Turkish government interrupted his work, and although several people attempted to continue, it was not until the island was declared an independent state that Evans was able to purchase the entire archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
.
Assisted by Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, who had already distinguished himself by his excavations on the island of Melos, and Mr. Fyfe, an architect from the British School at Athens
British School at Athens
The British School at Athens is one of the 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes in Athens, Greece.-General information:The School was founded in 1886 as the fourth such institution in Greece...
, Evans employed a large staff of local labourers as excavators, and began work in 1900. Within a few months they had uncovered a substantial portion of what he called the Palace of Minos. The term "palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
" may be misleading; Knossos was an intricate collection of over 1000 interlocking rooms, some of which served as artisans' workrooms and food processing centres (e.g. wine presses). It served as a central storage point, and a religious and administrative center.
On the basis of the ceramic evidence and stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
, Evans concluded that there was another civilization on Crete that had existed before those brought to light by the adventurer-archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
Heinrich Schliemann
Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and amateur archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns...
at Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
and Tiryns
Tiryns
Tiryns is a Mycenaean archaeological site in the prefecture of Argolis in the Peloponnese, some kilometres north of Nauplion.-General information:...
. The small ruin of Knossos spanned 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) and the palace had a maze-like quality that reminded Evans of the labyrinth described in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. The labyrinth had been built by King Minos to hide the Minotaur
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
, a half-man half-bull creature that was the offspring of Minos' wife, Pasiphae, and a bull. Evans dubbed the civilization once inhabiting this great palace the Minoan civilization.
By 1903, most of the palace was excavated, bringing to light an advanced city containing artwork and many examples of writing. Painted on the walls of the palace were numerous scenes depicting bulls, leading Evans to conclude that the Minoans did indeed worship the bull. In 1905 he finished excavations. He then proceeded to have the room called the throne room
Throne Room, Knossos
The Throne Room was a chamber built for ceremonial purposes during the 15th century BC inside the palatial complex of Knossos, Crete, in Greece...
(due to the throne-like stone chair fixed in the room) repainted by a father-and-son team of Swiss artists, the Émile Gilliérons Junior and Senior. While Evans based the recreations on archaeological evidence, some of the best-known frescoes from the throne room were almost complete inventions of the Gilliérons, according to his critics.
Scripta Minoa - The source of the Phoenician alphabet
Evans found 3,000 clay tablets during excavations and worked to transcribe them. From the transcriptions it was clear that the tablets bore traces of more than one script. Evans dated the Linear ALinear A
Linear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete before Mycenaean Greek Linear B; Cretan hieroglyphs is the second script. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and religious activities, and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals....
Chariot Tablets at Knossos as immediately prior to the catastrophic Minoan civilization collapse of the 15th century BC.
Evans, in his 1901 work Scripta Minoa, claimed that most of the symbols for the Phoenician alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
(abjad
Abjad
An abjad is a type of writing system in which each symbol always or usually stands for a consonant; the reader must supply the appropriate vowel....
) are almost identical to the many centuries older, 19th century BC, Cretan hieroglyphs
Cretan hieroglyphs
Cretan hieroglyphs are hieroglyphs found on artifacts of Bronze Age Minoan Crete . Symbol inventories have been compiled by Evans , Meijer , Olivier/Godart...
.
The basic part of the discussion about Phoenician alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
in Scripta Minoa, Vol. 1 takes place in the section Cretan Philistines and the Phoenician Alphabet, pages 77–94. Modern scholars now see it as a continuation of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet
Proto-Canaanite alphabet
Proto-Canaanite is the name given to the Proto-Sinaitic script when found in Canaan. the early Phoenician script before some cut-off date, typically 1050 BCE. The Phoenician, Hebrew, and other Canaanite dialects were largely indistinguishable before that time...
from ca. 1400 BC, adapted to writing a Canaanite (Northwest Semitic) language. The Phoenician alphabet seamlessly continues the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, by convention called Phoenician from the mid 11th century, where it is first attested on inscribed bronze arrowheads.
Legacy
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
, which holds the largest collection of Minoan artifacts outside of Greece.
In 1913 he paid £100 to double the amount paid with the studentship in memory of Augustus Wollaston Franks
Augustus Wollaston Franks
Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks KCB was an English antiquary and museum administrator. Franks was described by Marjorie Caygill, historian of the British Museum, as "arguably the most important collector in the history of the British Museum, and one of the greatest collectors of his age".-Early...
, established jointly by the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
and the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
, which was won that year by Mortimer Wheeler
Mortimer Wheeler
Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...
.
From 1894 until his death Evans lived on Boars Hill
Boars Hill
Boars Hill is a hill hamlet southwest of Oxford, straddling the boundariy between the civil parishes of Sunningwell and Wootton. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-History:...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
(now Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
), near Oxford. His house, Youlbury, has since been demolished. He had Jarn Mound and its surrounding wild garden built during the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United Kingdom
The Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...
to make work for local out-of-work labourers. Evans left part of his estate to the Boy Scouts
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
and Youlbury Camp
Youlbury Scout Activity Centre
Youlbury Scout Activity Centre is one of a number of The Scout Association's National Scout Activity Centres in the United Kingdom and is the oldest permanent Scout campsite in the world .The Centre, which is based near Oxford, is open to Scouts from around the world, and offers many...
is still available for their use.
See also
- Snake goddessSnake GoddessSnake Goddess, indicates figurines of a woman holding a snake in each hand found during excavation of Minoan archaeological sites in Crete dating from approximately 1600 BCE.It seems that the two elegant idols found in Knossos represented goddesses and by implication, the term 'snake goddess'...
- Matriarchal religionMatriarchal religionThe concept of a Matriarchal religion is a concept forwarded in second-wave feminism since the 1970s, based on the notion of a historical matriarchy first developed in the 19th century by J. J...
- Heinrich SchliemannHeinrich SchliemannHeinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and amateur archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns...
- Howard CarterHoward CarterHoward Carter may refer to:* Howard Carter , English archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb* Howard Carter , American basketball player...
- Flinders Petrie
- Leonard WoolleyLeonard WoolleySir Charles Leonard Woolley was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia...
Further reading
- Cottrell, LeonardLeonard CottrellLeonard Eric Cottrell was a prolific and popular British author and journalist. The majority of his books were popularisations of the archaeology of ancient Egypt.-Details:...
(1957). The Bull of Minos. An account of the archaeology of Crete for the general reader, with much information about Evans's work. - Evans, A.J. (1901). Scripta Minoa - Volume 1.
- Evans, A.J. (1952). Scripta Minoa - Volume 2.
- Evans, A.J. (1933). Jarn Mound.
- Hogan, C. Michael (2007) Knossos, The Modern Antiquarian http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes
- Markoe, Glenn E.(2000). Phoenicians. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-226135 (hardback).
- Powell, Dilys (1973). The Villa Ariadne. Originally published by Hodder & Stoughton, London.
- Ross, J. (1990). Chronicle of the 20th Century. Chronicle Australia Pty Ltd. ISBN 1872031803.
- MacGillivray, J Alexander (2001). Minotaur - Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the Minoan Myth. Published by Pimlico, a division of Random House. (Originally published by Jonathan Cape in 2000).
- Arthur Evans - Ancient Illyria: An Archaeological Exploration (Hardcover)