The myth says that in this labyrinth, King Minos hid the secret of his unfaithful wife Pasiphae, who, inflamed with passion for the sacred white bull, gave birth to the monster Minotaur - a half-man, half-bull. Daedalus built a Labyrinth with such intricate passages that no one could find a way out of it.
Every seven years, the Athenians were to send seven young men and seven girls as a sacrifice to the Minotaur. This happened twice already, but for the third time Theseus, the son of Aegeus, volunteered to go to the Labyrinth in order to fight the monster. He defeated the Minotaur, and found his way back thanks to the thread attached at the entrance, which Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, gave him.
This is what an ancient Greek myth tells. But was the Labyrinth really? Many researchers consider it also a wonder of the world, although at the time when the Greeks began to write their history, the Labyrinth had long ceased to exist. Then what was this structure like if the memory of it is alive, but there are no historical documents?
Today we know about this thanks to the English archaeologist A. Evans, who arrived here in search of a mysterious hieroglyphic writing, which he saw in the Oxford Museum on seals allegedly originating from Sparta or from Crete. Evans thought to stay here for a week, but while walking around the city of Heraklion, his attention was drawn to the Kefal Hill, which seemed to him like a snowdrift over the old city.
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And Evans began excavating. He led them for almost 30 years and dug not a city, but a palace, but equal in area to the whole city - the Knossos labyrinth. These are whole complexes of buildings that are grouped around a large courtyard. They are fancifully located at different levels, connected by stairs and corridors, some of which go deep underground. Some rooms of the palace were illuminated brighter, others were immersed in twilight, uneven lighting created the effect of special mystery.
Together with the Labyrinth, Evans discovered a great ancient culture, most likely a victim of natural forces - perhaps the volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini.
Evans and his assistants painstakingly cleaned up the murals in the Palace of Knossos.
But studying them led to new questions: where, for example, did the images of elegant ladies in sophisticated toilets, with intricate hairstyles, painted lips and flirty smiles come from? The researchers called them "Parisians", "ladies in blue", "ladies of the court". Such names are very suitable for them, although in fact they were probably priestesses, snake charmers or even goddesses. They have the thinnest waists, blue or garnet dresses with lush crinolines, open bodices, intricate hairstyles entwined with pearls. Sleek bare hands, thin humped noses and small mouths with a frozen half-smile.
Why did the Cretan youths stroll through "French" parks with fountains and flower beds planted with saffron and lilies instead of hunting?
Why has no artist depicted a war, battle, or any other military battle? On one of the murals, the Cretan "artists", engaging in battle with the bulls, made a stance, holding on to their horns, and tumbled over the backs of the running bulls. What is it - sport or cult rites? Evans tried to figure out the technique of these games, but the Spanish bullfighters told him that it was beyond human capabilities to grab the bull by the horns and roll over its back while zigzagging the bull. And for the inhabitants of Crete it was a favorite game.
Where did the rich ornaments on the Cretan vases and friezes of the palaces come from, and how have these carmine, azure, emerald and brown colors not faded to this day?
How did the rulers of Crete learn to build bathtubs in their palaces, run sewers, ventilation systems, and regulate the supply of warm and cold air to maintain a constant temperature? How did the Cretan architects come to the idea that elastic walls should be erected to insure buildings against earthquakes, alternating stone with wooden inserts?
After many years of excavations and painstaking reconstruction, archaeologists managed to restore the image of a harmonious architectural ensemble. A wide variety of structures were built around the spacious, stone-paved courtyard measuring 50x50 meters.
The floors of the palace rested on columns and were connected with each other by monumental staircases. Hundreds of halls and rooms were intended for solemn receptions, served as chambers for the king and queen, dignitaries and court ladies, servants and slaves. Spacious workshops of tsarist craftsmen were also located here.
There were many passages, secret passages, stairs, corridors, ground and underground structures in the palace. Scientists explain the apparent disorder in the arrangement of the premises by the construction of new palaces over the foundations of the previous ones, which were destroyed by earthquakes, as well as a fire in 1380 BC e. Fresh air and sunlight penetrated into all rooms through special skylights, openings in the vaults and doors.
In the "throne" room of the Palace of Knossos, griffins are depicted on the walls - mythical creatures with a lion's body, eagle's wings and an eagle's head. They are surrounded by blooming lilies and do not seem scary at all, rather they look like carefree inhabitants of the Garden of Eden, like tame decorative creatures. They have a long swan neck, the lion's tail is raised up and ends in a curl. With such a griffin you can play and frolic in the meadow.
The legends about the monstrous bull arose, apparently, not by chance. The walls of the Palace of Knossos are covered with numerous frescoes that are well preserved. On them, as well as on stone and gold vessels, images of a bull are constantly found: sometimes peacefully grazing, sometimes furious, flying at a gallop, with which Cretan bullfighters are either playing or fighting. The cult of the bull was widespread on the island, but it is difficult to say what religion was there. Among the Cretan (and also Mycenaean) buildings, nothing has been found that even remotely resembles a temple. It is likely that Crete did not have such a strict, subordinate religion to itself, as in Ancient Egypt.
Here you can feel a completely different attitude to the world, not constrained by any canons.
Among the drawings in many rooms of the palace, images of a double-sided hatchet are often found. It is a symbolic sign associated with the religious cult of the Cretan inhabitants. The same hatchets were found among stalactites and stalagmites in one of the caves, where, according to legend, Zeus was born. A double ax with a point in Greek is called "labrys". Scientists suggest that it is from here that the word "labyrinth" originates, which was originally called the "house of the double ax" - the palace of King Mi nos.
The inhabitants of Crete left behind written monuments. But what is the origin of Cretan culture? What family of nations did the Cretans belong to? So far, only the second, younger script ("Linear B") has been read. It happened in 1952, and the most amazing thing is that this discovery (after the vain efforts of many eminent scientists) was made by the 30-year-old English architect Michael Ventris, who was engaged in deciphering Cretan writing as an amateur.
But until now no one has been able to read a single sign from the earlier Cretan letter ("Linear A"). Even more ancient Cretan hieroglyphs have not been deciphered, even computers cannot cope with them. Scientists cannot say anything definite about the basis on which the culture of ancient Crete, its art and amazing architecture, its political structure, cheerful worldview, its religion, which did not know temples, grew up.
Author: Valery Kachmarik