Society
The Cretans are formally referred to as Minoans and formed what is considered as a civilized society around 2100 B.C. during the early years of the Bronze Age. Much of what modern historians know about the Minoans comes from Linear B which was discovered at the palace of Knossos. The tablet was translated and contained lists of inventory that is assumed to have been stored in the palace. Since the period when the Mycenaeans first inhabited the island of Crete they were ruled by a monarchy. The central or capital city of Crete appears to have been located at Knossos and remained there throughout the entire existence of ancient Cretan society. It is unclear as to what type of taxes were paid by the surrounding villagers to the crown, yet it is most likely that these people paid in tribute by providing goods and manufactured products. As stated earlier in the article the Mycenaeans did participate heavily in Mediterranean trade. Though many resources were available for the Mycenaeans on the island of Crete, there was always a constant demand for olive oil and grain (such as wheat) which were found inland on nearby Greece.
Read more about this topic: Ancient Crete
Famous quotes containing the word society:
“Children belong in families, which, ideally, serve as a sanctuary and a cushion from the world at large. Parents belong to society and are a part of that greater world. Sometimes parents are a channel to the larger society, sometimes they are a shield from it. Ideally they act as filters, guiding their children and teaching them to avoid the tempting trash.”
—Louise Hart (20th century)
“I’ve thought about how, were we to suddenly receive the freedom about which we talk so much when we spar with one another, we would not know what to do with it at first. We would expend it on denouncing one another in the newspapers for spying, for love of the ruble, we would frighten society with protestations that we have no people, no science, no literature, nothing at all!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“The Fitchburg Railroad touches the pond about a hundred rods south of where I dwell. I usually go to the village along its causeway, and am, as it were, related to society by this link. The men on the freight trains, who go over the whole length of the road, bow to me as to an old acquaintance, they pass me so often, and apparently they take me for an employee; and so I am. I too would fain be a track-repairer somewhere in the orbit of the earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)