Background

Minoan culture (a.k.a. Minoan civilization or Minoan religion) refers to spiritual beliefs and customs practiced by peoples living in Crete and some Aegean islands between ca. 2800-1450 BCE. Martin Persson Nilsson has argued that Minoan culture ought to be classified as a precursor group to the ancient Greeks.^[1]

Discovery

The discovery of a distinct Minoan culture may be heavily attributed to Sir Arthur John Evans. Evans conducted archaeological surveys from 1900 and onward at what is now known as the Palace of Minos, or Knossos Palace, in Crete, Greece.^[2] The name 'Minoan' seems to have been coined by Evans himself throughout his four works, titled The Palace of Minos (at Knossos). Evans published various works concerning Minoan culture from the early 1900s and onward.

Notable artifact: The Phaistos Disk

The Phaistos Disk, a Minoan artifact, is notable on account of its inclusion of a script that has yet to be deciphered.^[3] This disk was discovered by Luigi Pernier in the early 1900s.^[4] Since then, many scholars have attempted to decipher the script it contains as well as translate it (if possible). Recent work by Peter Z. Revesz has provided compelling evidence (see bibliography).

Minoan proto-deities

Several scholars have maintained that Minoan culture contained deities which were worshipped. For example, Nanno O. Marinatos argued that the Minoans worshipped a Solar Proto-Deity she termed as the 'Sun Goddess.'^[5] As many scholars have noted, most Minoan material culture findings point to a cult of worshipping female figures.^[6]

Notwithstanding, these perspectives represent opinions not agreed upon by most scholars. For this reason, the proto-deities are speculative. The basis of these proto-deities comes from material culture: ring seals, disks, palace frescoes, etc.

Minoan language

Minoan material culture has yielded artifacts with inscriptions understood to be Cretan Hieroglyphics or the Linear A script. Evans published a work in 1909 which dealt with the symbols found on Minoan artifacts, oftentimes relating the nature of the symbols to other Near Eastern Religions.^[7] Computer scientist Peter Z. Revesz has argued that the contents of The Phaistos Disk represents Cretan Hieroglyphics, which may have been used for a proto-Hungarian or proto-Finno-Ugric language.^[8]