Minoans had indoor plumbing & grand palaces by ~2000 BC! Then Thera (Santorini) erupted β one of the largest volcanic blasts in history, ~30-60 cubic km of ejected material (VEI 6). Civilization declined sharply. Could THIS be Plato's Atlantis? πποΈ
Minoan civilization as potential inspiration for Plato's Atlantis myth
GreeceGeneral
Key facts
- Minoan civilization existed on Crete and Greek islands before Mycenaean period, approximately 1500 BC
- Minoans had indoor plumbing, sophisticated palaces, and wealth comparable to Roman civilization
- The island of Thera (Santorini) erupted around 1450-1500 BC in the fourth largest volcanic explosion in world history
- The eruption expelled approximately 30 million kilotons of energy, compared to 15 kilotons for atomic bombs dropped on Japan
- Superheated debris from the eruption reached Egypt and may have inspired biblical Exodus plagues
- Minoan cities burned down following the eruption, possibly from accidental fires caused by torches lit during volcanic darkness
- Minoans did not glorify warfare unlike later Greek and Roman civilizations
- Minoan civilization declined over 100 years after the eruption, then was conquered by Mycenaeans
- Pre-dynastic Egyptian vases from 3000 BC have been found in Minoan archaeological sites
Site mentioned
Sources
The Minoan Eruption | American Scientistamericanscientist.org
One of the most violent volcanic eruptions to rock the ancient world, comparable in strength to the eruption of Krakatau between Java and Sumatra in 1883, was ...
Historic Santorini eruption pales in comparison to ancient blowoutnews.berkeley.edu
Similar sized eruptions of the Santorini volcano are known to have occurred at least 12 times over the past 360,000 years, but new data from an ...
A Volcanic Explosion 520000 Years Ago Dwarfed One That ...news.climate.columbia.edu
Previous research has showed that the 1600 BC Minoan eruption was the last of a dozen such blowups in the area during the last 360,000 years.
The Cataclysmic Eruption That Devastated the Minoan Civilizationgrantpiperwriting.medium.com
The island of Thera (Santorini, today) destroyed itself in an absolutely massive explosion. The eruption was one of the largest in history ...
Minoan eruption - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera (also called Santorini) circa 1600 BC.
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