Knossos: Myth, History and Archaeology

by James Whitley, Thomas Harrison (Editor)

Knossos is one of the most important sites in the ancient Mediterranean. It remained amongst the largest settlements on the island of Crete from the Neolithic until the late Roman times, but aside from its size it held a place of particular significance in the mythological imagination of Greece and Rome as the seat of King Minos, the location of the Labyrinth and the home of the Minotaur. Sir Arthur Evans’ discovery of ‘the Palace of Minos’ has indelibly associated Knossos in the modern mind with the ‘lost’ civilisation of Bronze Age Crete. The allure of this ‘lost civilisation’, together with the considerable achievements of ‘Minoan’ artists and craftspeople, remain a major attraction both to scholars and to others outside the academic world as a bastion of a romantic approach to the past. In this volume, James Whitley provides an up-to-date guide to the site and its function from the Neolithic until the present day. This study includes a re-appraisal Bronze Age palatial society, as well as an exploration of the history of Knossos in the archaeological imagination. In doing so he takes a critical look at the guiding assumptions of Evans and others, reconstructing how and why the received view of this ancient settlement has evolved from the Iron Age up to the modern era.

Genres: History

252 pages, Hardcover

Published November 30, 2023

Reviews

[Erin]

3.5 stars. Nice overview of the archaeology of Knossos to the present day. The book does discuss Kalokairinos' contributions, and doesn't focus purely on the Bronze Age. It's a little light on the synthesis and the images and editing are surprisingly poor which loses it some star power. But overall, it's pretty good!

[Ginevra]

The title is quite a good encapsulation of the subject of the book which is an overview of Knossos, the archaeological site on Crete, as examined through the lens of history, archaeology and a smattering of myth.
Primarily an educational text, aimed I imagine at undergraduates of history or archaeology, it is written in that familiar textbook style, going for the easy read, with all thematic vocabulary explained, broken into enumerated numbered encapsulations and exhaustively sourced.
With that said, it’s good, for what it is. A short overview of the site, without giving much of the author’s own insight or theories, but outlining the large body of work done by other historians and archaeologists.
And as such it was an enjoyable, if short and a bit simple. I have been focusing on the Minoan period, so I enjoyed the sections on the earlier and later periods of development, as more of the information was new. The bibliography at the back is also appreciated. The information was clearly arranged and well illustrated.
There is no great discussion of the layout of the palace or the architectural details of building, the book is not detailed in that way, nor does it intend to be. Worth the read as an add on to deeper research.