The Aegean Minoans and Google Earth

[Samra]

Dear All,

Over the past year, I've had a large archaeological (Neolithic through the Bronze Age) and mineralogical geospatial (GIS) database of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin based on Google Earth compiled for my own research purposes. I have decided to begin sharing some of this database and the discoveries I have made from it with other interested users. I've posted my first archaeological dataset for the Aegean Minoans of Crete and Thera in the Google Earth Community's History Illustrated section at the following link:

"The Archaeology of the Aegean Minoans"

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php ... /0#1114134

If you already have Google Earth, all you have to do is click on the "View in Google Earth" link and it will automatically startup and display all 80 of the sites and features listed below for your viewing. Each one of the sites has a link to additional descriptive and visual information with some exceptions. Wherever possible I have included 3D virtual reality panoramas like Bruce Hartzler's excellent Metis QTVR catalog and the British School at Athens' 3D virtual reality tour of Knossos. All sites that had entries on Ian Swindale's Minoan Crete site are linked to it. Sites that had no entries are linked to other free sources of information like Wikipedia. Every entry has been validated and verified for quality assurance.

If you don't already have a free Google Earth account you can sign up at the following link:

http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

Google Earth is very easy to install and use. Also, it is a server application that doesn't use up your local computer's resources. I would appreciate very much any corrections, comments, or suggestions that anyone may have.

Best Regards,

W. Sheppard Baird

http://www.minoanatlantis.com


The Aegean Minoans of Crete and Thera - Google Earth (80 Sites & Features)

Crete:

Caves:

Arkalochori
Eileithyia
Psychro
Idaean
Kamares

Geographical Features:

Lassithi Plateau
Mesara Plain
Mt Dikte
Mt Ida
Mt Pachnes
Tallaia Mountains

Palaces:

Chania (Kydonia)
Galatas
Gournia
Knossos
Mallia
Phaistos
Zakros (Kato Zakros)

Peak Sanctuaries:

Atsipadhes Korakias
Iuktas
Petsofas

Sites:

Agia Photia
Amnisos
Anemospilia Temple
Archanes
Ayia Triadha
Chamaizi
Chrysokamino
Fournou Koryphi
Gortys
Kalathiana
Karphi
Kastro at Kavousi
Kommos
Lebena
Matala
Mochlos
Myrtos-Pyrgos
Olous
Palaikastro
Petras
Poros-Katsamba
Pseira
Simi
Tripiti
Tylisos
Vasiliki
Vathypetro
Zominthos

Tholos Tombs:

Apesokari
Kamilari
Koumasa
Krasi
Nekropolis Minois
Odigitria
Phourni
Platanos
Stylos
Yerokambos

Cyclades & Aegean Islands:

Akrotiri - Thera (Santorini)
Ayia Irini - Keos (Kea)
Emporio - Chios
Ialysos - Rhodes
Kastri - Kythera
Kastri - Syros
Kephala - Keos (Kea)
Mikri Vigla - Naxos
Paroikia - Paros
Phylakopi - Milos
Poliohni - Limnos
Serraglio - Kos
Skouries - Kythnos
Thermi - Lesbos
Trianda - Rhodes

Mainland Greece:

Kolonna
Pylos

Western Anatolia:

Iasos
Knidos
Miletus
Troy

[Barracuda]

Way cool! Thanks!

[Beagle]

Yes, thanks Sheppard. It will take me or anybody some time to look all of those sites up.

[Samra]

Dear Barracuda and Beagle,

I'm so glad you like the Aegean Minoan dataset. Some of the sites were very difficult to pinpoint so I'm sure there is still room for improvement. They've already been through quite a battery of scholarly reviewers and others, including me, so they should be fairly accurate. Please let me know if you find anything that needs to be corrected.

It is my intention to lay out a geospatial foundation for the study of the archaeology of European prehistory. This was something I found completely missing in the literature and there came a time when I found it a major impediment to my book's research program.

This is only a very small subset of my GIS database so you can imagine the effort and expense of compiling it. Let me know if you have any suggestions for future releases.

Best Regards,

W. Sheppard Baird

http://www.minoanatlantis.com

[Minimalist]

I've been reading through your Sea People section and two things strike me as a bit shaky. First is the attribution of modern places (Sardinia, Sicily) because ancient names sound similar. Lots of trouble has been caused because the Egyptians used a term "apiru" to refer to a class of bandits. Far too many people said "Apiru!" That's practically "HEBREW" Ta-da!!!

Second, in a book called "Ancient Israel" edited by Amnon Ben Tor in 1990, professor Amihai Mazar produced this graphic of Philistine (Peleset) pottery motifs and showed their similarity to Mycenean.



The implication of course is that the Philistines were ethnically Greek.

Any thoughts on this?

[Digit]

Only if you accept that the Nazis were Indians because they both used the Swastika. It's interesting Min, but I'd like to see some corroboration.

[Samra]

Dear Minimalist,

That's a valid point that some may get the impression that I based some assignments of identity to different groups of the Sea Peoples based on similar words and I have been thinking about clarifying that section in the future. But it really isn't the case.

The only Sea People groups that I felt reasonably assured in their identity and didn't put a question mark next to any association was the Lukka and Shardana. This was based on the archaeological evidence - the Lukka from their description in the Amarna Letters and the Shardana because of the "Horn Helmeted" bronze warrior figurines found in Sardinia that match the drawings on the inscriptions in Egypt (Great Karnak, Medinet Habu, etc.) They were the only Sea Peoples groups that I directly associated with a geographical location. I only have some shadowy glimmerings as to the rest of them at this point. There was probably a good deal of mixing and interaction with many different groups on the move - some relatively settled and some not.

The pottery styles are pretty shaky as evidence the Philistines were Greeks. If my hypothesis is anywhere near the truth, the El Argar were controlled by the Myceneans for over 200 years before they started to collapse and the diaspora accelerated. There would have been some mixing of similar pottery styles. The only thing I feel comfortable saying about the word "Philistines" is that it came to describe the Egyptian captives after the Sea Peoples defeat in 1178 BC that were resettled in strongholds in the southern Levant as described in the Papyrus Harris. As to who the Philistines were before they were taken as Egyptian prisoners, I really don't know. Let me know if you have any other evidence.

Best Regards,

W. Sheppard Baird

http://www.minoanatlantis.com

[Minimalist]

Okay on the names...you might want to clarify that before "The Club" gets after you.

As for Ramesses III's victory, I've wondered about that a bit. Yes, he claims to have "defeated" the Sea Peoples...but then they settled in Canaan which was an Egyptian sphere of influence up until then. Moreover, shortly after, Egypt withdrew from their long time stronghold at Beth Shean and ceded hegemony over Canaan. Ramesses II claimed "victory" at Kadesh, too, and at best it was a strategic stalemate and a tactical defeat. I wonder if we are not dealing with something similar here. Philistine power grew in Canaan and Egyptian power waned in Egypt. Perhaps Ramesses III was cooking the books, a bit. Anyway, Dr. Mazar, on Page 268 of the book states:

The most characterstic and numerous Philistine vessets are those that retain Mycenaean forms. They include small, bell-shaped bowls with two horizontal handles, kraters of a similar form, with a modeled rim; stirrup jars, small closed vessels with a false neck, a spout and a pair of handles attached to the neck; and strainer jugs, whose Mycenaean origin is not certain, though a number of parallels may be adduced from the Mycenaean IIIC ware of Rhodes and Cyprus. Rarer vessels in the Mycenaean tradition are the pyxis ( a sort of cylindrical box), the three-handled jar, the jug with basket handle and spout, and the waisted juglet. None have Canaanite antecedents, and all point to the continuation of Mycenaean formal traditions among Philistine potters.

So, if you can find samples of such Mycenaean pottery types to the west it should be useful evidence for your theory. Archaeologists love pottery , you know.

[Samra]

[Okay on the names...you might want to clarify that before "The Club" gets after you. ]

I'm not sure what to say about this. The Lukka are accused of attacking the Egyptians and raiding and seizing Alashiyan villages in the Amarna letters. They also appear in the texts of the Hittites. This information is easily available. As to the Shardana, take a look at the first image in my paper on the Origins of the Sea Peoples - it's a picture of one of the bronze horned warrior figurines from Sardinia.

If you think the Philistines are Mycenean, fine. For all I know they very well could have been. I don't know.

Mycenean pottery has been found in southern Iberia (ex: Llanete de los Moros, Montoro, Córdoba), Sardinia, Sicily, and Italy.

M. S. Balmuth, A. Gilman, L. Prados-Torreira. "Encounters And Transformations: The Archaeology of Iberia in Transition". Chapter 14, "The Iberians in Sardinia: A Review and Update". Pg. 162-164. 1997.

Gert Jan van Wijngaarden. "Use and Appreciation of Mycenaean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy". Chapter 14, "Mycenean Pottery in the Central Mediterranean: Introduction". 2002.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

W. Sheppard Baird

http://www.minoanatlantis.com

[Minimalist]

Mycenean pottery has been found in southern Iberia (ex: Llanete de los Moros, Montoro, Córdoba), Sardinia, Sicily, and Italy.

Well, that's good then, isn't it? Especially if it can be dated or matched to pieces in Greece itself. The softball questions you got from me will be nothing compared to what The Club ( my name for The Archaeological Establishment ) will put you through if they perceive you to be a threat to their carefully constructed House of Cards. They won't care a damn what I think but they will listen to Ami Mazar and his colleagues. Hell. You're waving a red flag at them by even mentioning "Atlantis."

[Ishtar]

Only if you accept that the Nazis were Indians because they both used the Swastika. It's interesting Min, but I'd like to see some corroboration.

But we know why the Nazis used the swastika, thus proving a link between the Germans and the Tibetans. Some of Himmler's men (who were anthropologists) were in Tibet measuring people's heads and such like, looking for the Aryan link to prove that the Aryans (bastard children of Max Mueller) were essentially German. It was they that found the swastika there, where it was being used in religious ceremonies, as it still is today.

The mystical significance of the swastika has been well and truly lost since Buddhism replaced Tibet's ancient practise of shamanism (Bon) thousands of years ago. When Himmler's men were there, they were told that it was a 'good luck symbol' which seriously dumbs down its significance, and so they brought it back to Hitler.

The lightening flashes insignia that the SS men wore was also taken from Tibetan iconography.

[Digit]

Are you aware Ish that it has been suggested that the Swasti is a sun symbol or the impression of an incoming comet before impact?

[Ishtar]

Hi Dig,

How are you today? I've got raging flu but can just about make it to my computer intermittently, before going back to collapse under my duvet.

I hadn't heard about the comet theory, but i think it may be a sort of version of the Sun Cross, as discussed in the Jesus astro thread, the little 'feet', whether left or right facing, all point in the same direction as it to indicate a cycle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit svastika (in Devanagari, स्वस्तिक), meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of su- (cognate with Greek ευ-, eu-), meaning "good, well" and asti, a verbal abstract to the root as "to be" (cognate with the Romance copula, coming ultimately from the Proto-Indo European root *h1es-); svasti thus means "well-being." The suffix -ka intensifies the verbal meaning or confers the sense of 'beneficial', and svastika might thus be translated literally as "that which associated with well-being," corresponding to "lucky charm" or "thing that is auspicious."[1] The word first appears in the Classical Sanskrit (in the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics).

The Sanskrit term has been in use in English since 1871, replacing gammadion (from Greek γαμμάδιον).

Alternative historical English spellings of the Sanskrit word include suastika and svastica. Alternative names for the shape are:

crooked cross
cross cramponned, ~nnée, or ~nny (in heraldry), as each arm resembles a crampon or angle-iron (German: Winkelmaßkreuz)
double cross, by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, on the April 6, 1941 edition of his radio program The Catholic Hour, not only comparing the Cross of Christ with the swastika, but also implying that siding with fascism was a "double-crossing" of Christianity
fylfot, possibly meaning "four feet", chiefly in heraldry and architecture (See fylfot for a discussion of the etymology)
gammadion, tetragammadion (Greek: τέτραγαμμάδιον), or cross gammadion (Latin: crux gammata; Old French: croiz gammée), as each arm resembles the Greek letter Γ (gamma)
hooked cross (German: Hakenkreuz);
Mundilfari, in Norse Mythology the primordial entity of cycles is iconographically depicted as a bindrune visually cognate with the swastika;
sun wheel, a name also used as a synonym for the sun cross
tetraskelion (Greek: τετρασκέλιον), "four legged", especially when composed of four conjoined legs (compare triskelion (Greek: τρισκέλιον))
Thor's hammer, from its supposed association with Thor, the Norse god of the weather, but this may be a misappropriation of a name that properly belongs to a Y-shaped or T-shaped symbol[2]. The swastika shape appears in Icelandic grimoires wherein it is named Þórshamar[citation needed]
The Tibetan swastika is known as nor bu bzhi -khyil, or quadruple body symbol, defined in Unicode at codepoint U+0FCC ࿌.

I've bolded the Norse mythology point as it is often in the Edda stories that we see reflections of the oldest Indian/Tibetan myths, untainted by the later Vedanta and Buddhist philosophies.

I really don't buy 'good luck charm', as that doesn't fit in with anything in shamanic practises. In shamanism, you make your own luck!

[Samra]

Dear Minimalist,

I've already dealt with several members of the so-called "Club" and none of them have fared well at all.

I welcome an open debate with anyone.

Best Regards,

W. Sheppard Baird

http://www.minoanatlantis.com

[Digit]

How am I Ish? I'm P****d off. Back to hospital next week for possible fresh surgery, the telephones have gone AWOL so I've had to buy replacements, and the C/H is US! (Unservicable to our American friends)
But the sun is shining so what the hell!