Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine
Nanno Marinatos
Ancient Minoan culture has been typically viewed as an ancestor of classical Greek civilization, but this book shows that Minoan Crete was on the periphery of a powerfully dynamic cultural interchange with its neighbors. Rather than viewing Crete as the autochthonous ancestor of Greece's glory, Nanno Marinatos considers ancient Crete in the context of its powerful competitors to the east and south.
Analyzing the symbols of the Minoan theocratic system and their similarities to those of Syria, Anatolia, and Egypt, Marinatos unlocks many Minoan visual riddles and establishes what she calls a "cultural koine," or standard set of cultural assumptions, that circulated throughout the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean at the time Minoan civilization reached its peak. With more than one hundred and fifty illustrations, Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess delivers a comprehensive reading of Minoan art as a system of thought.
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About Nanno Marinatos
Reviews for Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine
Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections "A well-written and richly informed work, which forcefully reasserts the validity of the ways eminent scholars, going back to the early work of Sir Arthur Evans more than a century ago, thought. In many ways it is a tour de force of scholarship, embodying new insights and illuminating points of detail."
Times Literary Supplement, Colin Renfrew "A multifaceted, innovative work that freshly interprets many aspects of the Minoan religious symbol system. Without a doubt, this book will stimulate extensive scholarly discussion."
Thomas Staubli, coauthor of Body Symbolism in the Bible "A radical and provocative view of Minoan art, religion, and society. Marinatos provides new readings of numerous Minoan artifacts, offering solutions to many puzzles and placing the imagery within a semantic system of sacral kingship and cosmology."
Kenneth D. S. Lapatin, author of Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire, and the Forging of History