Definitions

Ideally situated in a sheltered gulf surrounded by mountains, Zakros (or Kato Zakros) in south-eastern Crete, was the fourth largest Minoan settlement after Knossos, Phaistos and Malia. The ancient name has been lost and the present one...

The aulos was a musical wind instrument played by the ancient Greeks. It was also known as the kalamos or libykos lotos, which referred to the material from which part of the instrument was made: respectively, the reed and the Libyan...

Philology is derived from the Greek terms φίλος (love) and λόγος (word, reason) and literally means a love of words. It is the study of language in literary sources and is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics...

The trireme (Greek: triērēs) was the devastating warship of the ancient Mediterranean with three banks of oars. Fast, manoeuvrable, and with a bronze-sheathed ram on the prow to sink an enemy ship, the trireme permitted Athens to build...

Seleucus I Nicator (l. c. 358-281 BCE, r. 305-281 BCE) was one of the generals of Alexander the Great (l. 356-323 BCE) who made up the group of Diadochi ("successors") who divided the vast Macedonian Empire between them after...

Athena was the goddess of wisdom, war, and the crafts. She was the favourite daughter of Zeus and was, perhaps, the wisest, most courageous, and certainly the most resourceful of the Olympian gods. Zeus was told that his son would take...

The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are a collection of scrolls found in the desert east of Jerusalem on the shore of the Dead Sea. They represent the largest manuscript collections of texts from the Second Temple Period found in the area...

The unique contribution of the Minoan civilization to European architecture is possibly most evident in the great palace structures of the major Minoan centres of Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Zakros. Perhaps influenced by Egypt...

Located near a fertile plain in northern Crete and with its own harbour, Malia was one of the major settlements and palaces of the Minoan civilization. Inhabited since Neolithic times (6000 BCE) and with the first evidence of monumental...

Located on the fertile Mesara plain in central Crete, Phaistos has been inhabited since the Final Neolithic period (c. 3600-3000 BCE). The settlements greatest period of influence was from the 20th to 15th century BCE, during which...