Zeus is scheduled for release fall 2000

Ancient History

The Minoan Civilisation
Possibly one of the oldest civilisations on this side of the world was founded on the Mediterranean island of Crete. 1,700 Years before the birth of Christ, 1,200 years before Buddha, when the Egyptian Middle Kingdom had declined into the political unrest of the Second Intermediate Period the palace centered culture of the Minoans grew into a Mediterranean power. Some 300 years earlier the first palaces were built and people were already living in cities.

Crete is a comfortable island, with rich soil and a great climate. However, as the population centers of Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Zakros grew it became harder to feed the people. Many moved away from the island into the other islands of the Aegean Sea and took their culture with them, spreading its art and its values outward. Those that stayed behind more and more got involved into trade with the rest of the Known World. Soon Crete became the center of the trade in wine, oil, jewelry and other crafted goods. It also imported massive quantities of food and raw materials.

To support this trade it built a navy, one of the first cultures in the world to do so. The Minoan navy seems to have consisted of trade vessels only, however, the were able to defend them selves against pirates.

It's remote location and lack of close neighbours seems to have helped in maintaining the high level of culture over the years. Where other states suffered from warfare and invasions, the Minoans could expand their influence over most of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Today all that is left are the ruins of the palaces and cities, bits of temples still standing, jars and vases, scattered frescoes and stack upon stacks of unreadable records. The language they spoke seems to have been unlike Greek, something suggested to us by Homer, and written in a hieroglyphic like script, possible derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The priesthood and various kings ruled the Minoan states. The role of the king seems to have been more that of a figure head than that of a potent monarch. People lived in large dwellings, where each family had one or more rooms. The people seem to have been happy and enjoyed life, as can be deducted form the surviving frescoes that show what look to be games and other such events. Most of the cities seem to have been unwalled, built mainly on hilltops and with only few defensive structures.

The Minoans had a matriarchal religion, one with only goddesses and no gods. It is unclear whether there was a single goddess, with many aspects, like the Celtic Maiden-Mother-Crone trinity, or whether they worshipped a number of different female goddesses. This religion may have resulted in a society where man and women were more equal than many other ancient civilisations.

In the 15th century BC disaster struck, when the volcano near to what is now the island of Thera erupted. The eruption was many times bigger than that of the Krakatao in 1883 and leveled several cities, additionally it created huge tidal waves that drowned a good many more of them.

The Minoans never recovered and were soon after conquered and absorbed by the newly risen Mycenean civilisation.

The Mycenean Civilisation