According to Greek Legend the Minoans Are the Offspring of ______, the Greek King of The

The first Greeks were not even from Greece, but from the island of ______in the ______Sea. The civilization started around ______B.C. and left an important ______, or gift from the past, to the Greeks. Historians do not know much about these Greeks called the ______(or Cretans) because they have not been able to decipher (or ______) their writing. Historians call their form of writing ______because it is written in a straight line and because it is the first form of Greek writing.

THE ORIGINS:

According to Greek legend the Minoans are the offspring of ______, the Greek King of the Gods, and a Phoenician princess named Europa (the continent ______takes its name from her). Zeus (who took the form of a ______) and Europa had children and one of them was ______who became the king of the people of Crete and the Cretans took the name Minoans in his honor.

THE ECONOMY:

Given that Crete was an island the Minoans began to build ______to be able to trade for what they needed. The Minoans became the world’s first important seafaring civilization and changed the ship building industry. The Minoans built bigger, stronger, and faster ships by adding more ______(sails) to the ships and placing a deck over the heads of rowers. They also were the first to add a ______, a wooden beam in the front of a ship used to ram holes into enemy ships. Because of their location in the ______Sea, the Minoans traded with the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and the people of Greece. Most people wanted the ______oil the Minoans made.

THE CITIES:

Minoan cities were very different from other ancient civilizations because they had no ______for protection and because instead of temples in the center of the city the Minoans had ______. The palaces where huge and usually covered over 4 ______. The biggest city was ______. To foreign visitors the palaces seemed like a ______or a maze. The walls in the palaces were decorated with ______(color paintings). The Minoans even had bathrooms with ______and hot and cold running water.

THE PEOPLE AND RELIGION:

The Minoans were ruled by ______and may have been under the control of ______. These kings/ priests made the ______and represented the gods. Historians are not certain, but they do believe that ______had an important role in Minoan society. The Minoans may have made ______sacrifices and their sporting events may have been done to please the gods. The Minoans definitely loved to watch ______. Based on findings the Minoan religion was ______, meaning they had many gods. The most important god was the ______Goddess or Mother Goddess who was responsible for the food that came from the Earth and for bringing children into the world.

THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR: