Editing Minoa

{{Short description|Term defining Bronze-age port cities and colonies in the Aegean}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Minoa
| native_name             = 
| native_name_lang        = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type         = Cities
| image_skyline           = Monemvasia - Rock.jpg
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           = [[Monemvasia]] island in southern [[Greece]], the ancient '''Minoa'''
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| image_map               = Platani-map-bjs.jpg
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = [[Heraclea Minoa]] at the mouth of the river [[Platani (river)|Platani]] in [[Sicily]]
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}}
{{about|the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] bronze-age settlements in the [[Mediterranean]] coasts}}

'''Minoa''' ({{langx|el|Μινώα|Minóa}} {{IPA|el|miˈnoa}}) was the name of several [[Bronze-Age]] port cities on the coasts of the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] islands [[Crete]], [[Paros]], [[Siphnos]], [[Amorgos]] and [[Corfu]] in Greece, as well as the Italian island of [[Sicily]].<ref name="Schachermeyer303">F. Schachermeyer (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttgart. p.303</ref> There was also a Minoa in [[Gaza City|Gaza]], whose name was a later introduction, brought by the [[Philistines]] in 1200&nbsp;BC.<ref>Steph. Byzantios: s.v ''Gaza and Minoa'': F. Schachermeyer (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttfgart. p.303</ref> It appears that settlements with the name Minoa were intended to support Minoa as a ''[[thalassocracy]]'', or sea-based empire. Austrian historian [[Fritz Schachermeyr]] found evidence for this in the name of a settlement on the [[Laconia|Laconic]] island now called [[Monemvasia]], and for the small island outside of the harbour of [[Megara]] in [[Greece]].<ref name="Schachermeyer303" /><ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]. "The island outside of the harbour ''Nisaia'' of Megara was named after the king [[Minos]] and was conquered by the [[Athenian|Athenians]] in 427 BC": Fraser, J.G. Commentary, (1913) ''Pausanias's Description of Greece: Book 1: Attica''. Macmillan. pp.549–550</ref>

The original meaning of the word remains unknown. Its root, ''min-'', is linked to a group of [[Tyrsenian languages|Aegean]] languages, appearing elsewhere in [[toponyms]] like [[Minya, Egypt|Minya]] and Minassos, as well as in the name of the [[Minyans]], an [[Autochthon (ancient Greece)|autochthonous]] group inhabiting the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] region.<ref>F. Schachermeyer (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. [[Kohlhammer Verlag]] Stuttgart. pp. 301–302</ref> There may be a connection with the mythic king of [[Crete]], [[Minos]], during the Bronze Age [[Minoan civilization]] which flourished in Crete and in the Aegean islands in [[Greece]] between 2000–1470 BC. The inhabitants of [[Crete]] were named [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] by [[Arthur Evans]], after the legendary king.{{Cn|date=March 2021}}

It seems that the Minoans travelled from Crete down to Egypt, Syria and [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] of [[Euphrates]], to [[Asia Minor]] ([[Anatolia]]) and the [[Black Sea]] through the Aegean islands,<ref>F. Schachermeyer.(1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttgart. pp 79,108</ref> and to the west up to [[Lipari]] ([[Aeolian islands]]) to the north of Sicily.<ref>F. Schachermeyer. (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttgart. p 108</ref> Approximately in 1600 BC the routes to Italy and Asia Minor were gained by the rising Myceneans. They followed the same tradition with the establishment or use of commercial and supporting settlements in the Mediterranean coasts.<ref>F. Schachermeyer. (1964). ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta''. W. Kohlhammer Stuttgart. pp 98, 303–304</ref>

==See also==
*[[Minos]]
*[[Heraclea Minoa]]
*[[El Mina]]
*[[Al Mina]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minoan Civilization}}
[[Category:Pre-Indo-Europeans]]
[[Category:Minoan geography]]