Sir Arthur Evans SIR ARTHUR EVANS One of the most well-known archeologists is Sir Arthur Evans, He used the mythology and legends of ancient Crete to find the kingdom of King Minos. Arthur Evans believed that the ancient Minoan civilization was just waiting to be discovered on the island of Crete. This led him to the site at Knossos, where in the 1900's he unearthed the magnificent palace that he called the palace of king Minos. When he first started excavations at the site he only had 32 workers, Within the first week the workforce was increased to about 100, All these workers were paid for by Arthur Evans himself. He followed after another amateur archeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, who was fortunate enough to discover the city of Troy. for villas in Crete click here Archeology was becoming a more scientific discipline rather than the amateurish treasure hunt of Troy, And Arthur Evans played a big part of it. Evans hailed from the much disciplined genre of Victorian England. His main influences came from Schliemann and by Arthur Milchhofer's suggestion that the Mycenaean culture had been dominated by Crete. He knew even with strong resistance, that an early civilization on Crete was just waiting to be discovered. Arthur Evans came across to others as an arrogant, opinionated person, He would not admit to being wrong, even if evidence suggested otherwise. And it was his demeanor that led him to the discovery at Knossos, his intense passion and romanticism for the ancient world and its myths pushed his determination. There was no name for the ancient inhabitants of Knossos, So Arthur Evans called them after king Minos, hence the name Minoans. King Minos was portrayed in Greek mythology as King of Crete; He kept a hideous creature in a labyrinth at the palace. The creature is known as the "Minotaur" half man, half bull. In the mythical tale of Theseus there is a description of rituals where men and women leap over bulls and perform acrobatics on the back of them. Theseus slay the Minotaur, he escaped from the labyrinth with the help of Ariadne, King Minos' daughter. Daidalus who designed the labyrinth told Ariadne to give Theseus a ball of twine that he could unwind through the labyrinth, and after killing the Minotaur follow it back and into the arms of Ariadne. The palace at Knossos fitted well with this mythological tale. Arthur Evans found many ancient artifacts during the excavation of the site, some showed bulls and that bull-leaping was part of the Minoan culture, they were most probably for religious ceremonies.
There are many twisting passages on the site and they can easily be seen to resemble the labyrinth from the ancient stories. The palace of King Minos at Knossos was a fabulous discovery for Arthur Evans. The whole site was very well preserved as it was buried under volcanic ash. There were vibrant, detailed wall frescoes found showing the fabulous artistry of the Minoans. They portray a naturalistic style, when you compare with other cultures of the bronze age that depict a much stiffer imaging, Arthur Evans received his Knighthood in 1911, when objects from the excavation were put on show in London. Sir Arthur Evans continued his work in Crete, he spent the rest of his life working at the site and writing of his discoveries in 5 volumes. Sir Arthur Evans also lectured and inspired others, in 1936 he lead Michael Ventris to work on deciphering the Mycenaean script, Linear B. Michael Ventris was successful in his goal. But Arthur Evans died in 1941 at the grand age of 90 and was therefore not around to see it! The Minoan language of Linear A, has yet to be deciphered. The conclusions Sir Arthur Evans drew from the excavations at Knossos remain controversial, but still, Sir Arthur Evans left us his own legacy of his extraordinary achievement. Other archeologists have built on Sir Arthur Evans' discoveries at Knossos, and enabled us to have a better understanding of this remarkable peace-loving culture. There is a statue of Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in his honour.
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