The Minoans appeared on Crete around 2000 BC and developed a stable civilization with a culture, religion, and wealth, culminating in the construction of large palaces. One of the most interesting things about the civilization is that they were a seafaring people; they constructed a navy and traded with civilizations around the Mediterranean. However, study of this Bronze Age culture is hindered by the fact that we cannot read their early language the Minoans kept hundreds of documents such as inventories, but they may never be deciphered. Many theories exist on how these ancient Cretans were destroyed, including the link between the disappearance of the Minoans and the eruption of a volcano on the nearby ‘Thera’, an eruption that not only would have devastated the neighboring Crete but would “likely have generated an even larger tsunami and pyroclastic flows that traveled much farther over the surface of the …show more content…
When Plato says Atlantis “conveyed the fruits of the earth in ships,” he was referring to the vast Minoan fleet that traded with the Mediterranean.
Plato mentions several attributes that are inconsistent with the Minoans. For example, Plato states that Atlantis had an “extent greater than that of Libya and Asia” and was located in the “Pillars of Heracles.” Note that Plato describes Atlantis based on what was said by the priests, and brought hither by Solon, so the story was passed down several times before being discussed by Plato in his historic dialogue. Errors will almost certainly arise as stories are passed along generations; only the most prominent features of the story (such as the rise, trade, and destruction of Atlantis) remained truthful. But in the end, however, I will argue that Atlantis was based in fact and not fiction, and this fact was the story of the great Minoan