Minoan palaces on Crete burned around 1450 BC, 150 years after the eruption. Every major Minoan palace on Crete was burned at the same time, a mystery for decades New research dates the burning to around 1450 BC, approximately 150 years after the Thera eruption (c. 1550-1600 BC) By 1400 BC, only Knossos palace was rebuilt, now with Mycenaean Linear B script instead of Minoan Linear A
All major Minoan palaces on Crete were destroyed around 1450 BC—roughly 150 years after the Thera (Santorini) eruption, which occurred around 1600 BC. Only Knossos was rebuilt, now under Mycenaean control with Linear B script replacing Minoan Linear A. Minoan culture disappeared before the Bronze Age collapse 🔥🏛️
Key Facts
- Every major Minoan palace on Crete was burned at the same time, a mystery for decades
- New research dates the burning to around 1450 BC, approximately 150 years after the Thera eruption (c. 1550-1600 BC)
- By 1400 BC, only Knossos palace was rebuilt, now with Mycenaean Linear B script instead of Minoan Linear A
- Mycenaeans from mainland Greece (the rivals of the Trojan War) took over Minoan civilization
- Minoan culture disappeared before the Bronze Age collapse around 1100 BC
- Plato's story of Atlantis, told 900 years later, may have been inspired by fragments of the Minoan civilization's fall
Related site: Knossos — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: Bronze Age Atlantis: The Buried City of Akrotiri by Luke Caverns