Relations between Ancient Egyptians and Minoans during the Bronze Age

Dr. Angeliki Tsiadimi; PhD in Egyptology from the History, and Egyptian and Islamic Archeology Department, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University

05 February 2023

01:00 PM

Conference Center, Multipurpose Hall

The Antiquities Museum and the Zahi Hawass Center of Egyptology, affiliated to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Cultural Outreach Sector, organize a lecture entitled “Relations between Ancient Egyptians and Minoans during the Bronze Age”, on Sunday, 5 February 2023; 1:00 pm, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center, Multipurpose Hall. The lecture is delivered by Dr. Angeliki Tsiadimi; PhD in Egyptology from the History, and Egyptian and Islamic Archeology Department, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University.

The lecture sheds light on the relations between the Ancient Egyptians and the Minoans that were based on the exchange of goods, such as artifacts, raw materials, expertise, cultural and theological ideas, and even gods—such as “Taweret”. The number of the Ancient Egyptian findings in Crete, is larger than those of the Minoans in Egypt. Few Egyptian objects were imported to Crete during the Early Bronze Age, and more during the Middle Bronze Age; while they rose vertically during the Late Bronze Age. The first Minoan objects reached Ancient Egypt during the Middle Bronze Age, and increased during the Late Bronze Age.

The Minoans learned from the Ancient Egyptians the technique of faience and gold, and how to decorate potteries with embossed decorations with Egyptian motives too. During Mentuhotep II reign, Minoan pottery known as “Kamares Ware” appeared in Egypt. Later, during the reign of the King Ahmose, the relations increased more because of the development of the sea-trade, as evident from the “Ulu Burun” shipwreck. It is very important that the Minoans adopted the Egyptian measurement techniques on statues, as evident in the type of the “Palaikastro Kouros” and the foundation deposits. During the reigns of Tuthmosis III, Amenhotep II and Amenhotep III, the Egyptian influence to the Minoans rose vertically. The Minoans influenced the Ancient Egyptians during the Akhenaten period in art, as evident in the unprecedented free style of depictions of movements and naturalism.