Crete (Kríti) Island Greece

Several localities on Crete develop into centers of commerce and handwork in the Early Minoan II-III period (2600-2200 BCE), enabling the upper classes to continuously practice leadership activities and to expand their influence.

It is likely that the original hierarchies of the local elites are replaced by monarchist power structures—a precondition for the creation of the great palaces.

The apex of the Minoan civilization occurs in the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries BCE (MM III / Neopalatial).

There is another natural catastrophe around 1600 BCE, possibly an eruption of the Thera volcano.

Even this disaster doesn’t discourage the Minoans: the palaces are again rebuilt and are made even greater than before.

Connections between Egypt and Crete are prominent.

Minoan ceramics are found in Egyptian cities and the Minoans import several items from Egypt, especially papyrus, as well as architectural and artistic ideas.

The Egyptian hieroglyphs serve as a model for the Minoan pictographic writing, from which the famous Linear A and Linear B writing systems later develop.

Minoan reliefs and statuettes reveal the sculptors’ interest in costume and the human physique.

The Cretans produce wheel-thrown pottery decorated with figures, a wide range of gold jewelry, and fine quality seals, together with miniature sculptures in bronze, terra cotta figurines, and ivory carvings.

Contemporary reliefs and statuettes, such as a terra cotta, ivory, and gold snake goddess, executed around 1600 BCE (and later found at Knossos) reveals the sculptors' interest in costume and the human physique.

The sculpture apparently represents the Minoan women's mode of dress, which includes a turban, a tightly fitting mid-sleeved bodice that exposes the breasts, and an embroidered apron over a flounced skirt.

The Minoans send ships at least as far as Sicily before 1500.

…Crete, and …

…Crete.