Introduction
The Minoan Civilization was the forerunner of the ancient Greek culture which emerged from the island of Crete. The island of Crete was isolated from the rest of the Greek mainland by the Sea of Crete to the north and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The island with its mountainous rugged terrain and white sand coastal areas proved to be a great spot for international affairs and trade routes especially for the European, Africa, and Asia Minor merchants. Because of its isolated landscape, many scholars have proposed the existence of cultural interactions between Cretan civilization and those of the Egyptians. As a carte blanche, this paper probes into establishing facts about the connection of the Egyptian and Minoan cultures through arts as there is no more substantial evidence to prove their relations other than figures they made thousands of years ago. In this respect, two notable ancient frescoes will be examined throughout the paper: first is The Toreador Fresco from the Palace of Knossos (ca. 1550-1450 B.C.) and the Musicians and Dancers (ca. 1350 B.C) from the Nebamun Tomb in Thebes.1 Despite their similarities, Egyptian and Minoan art isolates themselves from one another through themes, styles, and technique.
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Penelope J. E. Davies, Janson’s History of Art The Western Tradition: The Ancient World, 7th Ed, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2007), 92, and 69. The famed Knossos fresco is known throughout the art world as the The Leaping Bull and many have been fascinated by its queer iconography which involves somersaulting of the people in the painting. Various proposals have been given and the majority of scholars declared that this might be one of the rituals performed by ancient Minoans possibly before, during, or after the hunting probably as a ‘thank-you’ rites for a good hunt. The fresco can be viewed on the gallery of the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion, Crete, profusely restored by artists. Meanwhile, the Egyptian fresco indicates a ritual religious dance probably offered to the pharaoh by members of his court. As ubiquitously known, dance plays an integral part in ancient Egyptian culture.
Historical Origins of Minoan-Egyptian Cultural Interactions
One of the earliest cultural interactions of the Crete people with the Egyptians happened during the Neolithic period. From the excavations of the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans made in the late 19th century, the Knossos Palace bears a striking similarity with those of Egyptian counterpart. The architecture of the whole palace was built entirely on limestone combined with other local materials such as wooden beams for framework, dried clay bricks, debris (mainly used for filling the wall gaps), and plaster used for decorative work. Meza pointed out that within the palace, scraps of Egyptian culture lingered through the remains of “pierced stone maces, an almost carinated [sic] macehead, a small limestone vase hollowed out with tubular drill fragments of stone vases are all related to the material culture of Predynastic Egypt [sic].”2 The possibility of this cultural interaction mainly traces its roots to the early shipbuilding industry of the Minoans. Meza suggests that it is possible that the two opposing civilizations might have been interacted in the past due to the presence of evidences such as the short record made by Ipu-wer in his Lamentations wherein he first mentioned the word ‘Keftiu’ the Egyptian word for Crete and predates the Old Kingdom. The passage refers to the absence of “shipping to Byblos.” Other evidences connecting the cross-cultural interaction are the existence of stone jars in Crete originated from the Predynastic Era, polychrome Kahun Minoan potteries mimicked the styles of the colorful Egyptian vessels, while another relic of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, a statuette, excavated at Knossos. Meanwhile at Tod, Egypt, an interesting relic also cemented the evidence of Minoan-Egypt relations. Amenemhet II (1929-1895 B.C), heir of Senusret I and his son with Queen Nefru, became the third successor and pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty; within his court, Egyptian designs and artifacts were influenced by the Middle Minoan civilization ranging from the furniture, costumes, and wall frescoes. Other Egyptian designs influenced by the Late Minoan period were the spiral designs, rosette and waves, common themes found on Egyptian textiles. Egyptian jewelries and wall mural designs were also influenced by the Late Minoans.3 Trade also became the valuable reason for the interaction; the Egyptians imported olives and wine from the Minoans while the latter imported gold and grains from the former. In the 18th Dynasty, Minoan merchants displayed their commodities to the pharaoh; however, the Egyptians valued its Minoan relations because the Minoans exported honey and figs which were used by the Egyptians for offerings in their temples.4
The Toreador Fresco of Knossos
This wall mural painted in 14th century B.C. has enthralled scholars and tourists for many years. On the center the mural, a large wild romping bull consumed almost half of the mural’s space. Drawn slightly larger than the humans, the sheer size of the bull indicates its hierarchical importance in the Minoan religion as the representation of the strength of nature; in other words, the bull was more than just a figure but rather it symbolized the natural forces that humans cannot control. The themes of the Minoan paintings were secular and more natural. They emphasize ‘humanity’ and featured actual people engaged in religious rituals together with animals. Their iconography is lively, vivid, and less rigid. The lively movements are indicated by the sharp flow of lines emphasizing the curves of the human and animal physiognomy. For instance, the curved lines outline the contours of the muscles of the bull and the shape of its body during its leaping action. The rest of the shapes throughout the painting remain organic highlighted by bold black lines to enclose the space within the area occupied by the body as well as to make a clear discernible image that sets apart from the cerulean background. Much of the designs are found on the foreground while abstract patterns of irregular shapes akin to islands are placed on the background. Colors were mostly polychromatic yet flat; in a way, the sketchy figures resembled the ancient Japanese paintings due to their incompleteness and simplified to distorted forms. The bull’s figure consists of dapples of white pigments running from upper part of the forelimb, the hides accompanied with occasional blotches of brown pigments with repeated diagonal wavy lines, and the remaining white pigments are situated on the upper thighs, and stifles. Golden ochre pigments highlight the curved horn, face, and muzzle. Traces of similar color can also be seen running on the curve of the bull’s back, the fetlocks of the forelimbs, as well as the hooves of both forelimbs and back limbs. The ancient Minoans also utilized pictorial space to make each object stand out from the background as some figures overlap each other. In spite of its flat two-dimensional appearance, the artists executed an early form of chiaroscuro evident on the background; the colors of the irregular island-shape figures have color varieties ranging from light blue to dark which creates a contrast of colors outlined with golden paint. The movement in the painting varies from right to left and vice versa. Balance is clearly obtained since the figures of the humans are distributed on the left, right, and the center, however, the proportion of the human bodies do not resemble realism. The heads, waist, and occasionally, the feet and arms were quite smaller compared to the body, an indication of the artists’ less attention toward proportionality. Aside from Meza, other scholars such as Hall explained in the study he made in 1914 about the similarities and differences of the Minoan and Egyptian cultures. Hall negated the theory of artistic assimilation and proposed that each designs were made on an entirely different process. For instance, the Minoan wall mural depicts a theme that is more natural and humane; the figures consist of rhythmic patterns of curved and irregular lines that focused on movement. Like its Egyptian counterpart, the Minoans used plain background decorated with muted colors such as blue, with two-dimensional figures yet their technique differs from one another. The wall murals were created using fresco intonaco wherein images were painted on a newly applied plaster.5 Using this technique can be tricky as it requires faster drawing since plaster have the ability to dry quickly especially on the warm humid climate of the Cretan island. As Hall commented:
“It is of course not impossible that the original inspiration of the Aegean fresco-painting was derived from Egypt, but its method was indigenous. The Cretan artists often modelled [sic] their plaster ground in relief, not seldom [sic] very high This was their usual substitute for the Egyptian painted relief sculpture in fine white limestone, which was so beautiful in the time of the Middle Kingdom. No doubt it was invented as an [sic] imitation of this, as plaster was the best substitute for the Egyptian limestone.”6
The highly debated topic of Egyptian influence over the Minoan art is yet to be proven7; groundwork related to this topic made by Immerwahr, do not deny the fact that trade was the vital link that connected these two civilizations together; yet, the presence of these potteries and other artifacts alone are not sufficient enough to state the direct influence of Egyptian culture on
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Alicia Meza, Research in Anthropological Topics, (Danbury, CT: Rutledge Books, Inc., 2003), 265, https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=kFpHKhvlYrwC&pg=PA274&lpg=PA274&dq=minoan+egyptian+interaction&source=bl&ots=j4BSX7eT70&sig=kCWVCkjqv0HWEojubIgcFiHnh94&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjo26XgveDMAhULt48KHUJdCU4Q6AEIdTAS#v=onepage&q=minoan%20egyptian%20interaction&f=false
Ibid., 273.
Ibid., 269.
H.R. Hall, “The Relations of Aegean with Egyptian Art (Continued),” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 1, no. 3, (1914): 197, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3853642
Ibid., 198.
Sara A. Immerwahr, “A Possible Influence of Egyptian Art in the Creation of Minoan Wall Painting,” Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Supplément 11 (1985): 48-49, http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/bch_0304-2456_1985_sup_11_1_5267.pdf
Minoan art. It is a thought that tickles the mind as a possible occurrence in need of better research. The potteries alone is not sufficient since they can be imitated by local Egyptian artisans who might had a knowledge of Minoan craftsmanship but the main thing that disapproves of the Egyptian influence on Minoan art is the timeline due to the fact that Minoan civilizations did not yet created decorative wall paintings during the reign of the Twelfth Dynasty in Egypt. In short, the Egyptian wall murals began first, compared to the Minoan civilizations.8
Musicians and Dancers Frescoes of Egypt
In contrast with the lively Minoan wall frescoes depicting natural hunting scenes, the Egyptian wall murals were painted in accordance to the strict religious code honoring their gods and priests. The majority of the paintings of ancient Egypt remain in closed quarters of the tombs with less emphasis on the ordinary people (unlike the Minoans) but more on lives of their pharaohs and the gods.9 With its restricted iconography, the Egyptian wall murals also have rigid stationary figures that do not conform to the humanistic style but rather an abstract approach to the depictions of the human body. Perhaps three things shared by both Minoan and Egyptian cultures were included in their depiction of the images on the wall: side view sketches of the people but the upper portions of the bodies are drawn as if the subjects were actually facing the front. The next trait visible to the audience is the costumes especially the kilt like garment worn by males. In the Minoan version, the kilt worn by the humans seemed analogous like their genders; their kilt was tied on to the waist and extending on the upper part of the thighs but it does not fully cover the loin area for the other part of the Minoan kilt remains open, exposing the other thigh and the buttocks. Furthermore, in the Minoan perspective, nudity is actually part of the costume together with their kilts. Sports-loving Minoans used kilts fastened on waists for freedom of movement in performing acrobatic stunts on the bull. Another symbolic feat of wearing kilt is the notion of equality since kilt was worn by both genders making it as universal attire for sports and a costume appropriate for people who have not yet arrived into adulthood.10 On the other hand, the Egyptian version is quite conservative, based from the tomb paintings, the kilts or shendyt is a gauzy cloth tied on the waist and often extending downwards to the upper knees. Depending on the status, shendyt sometimes adorned with decorative fabrics placed like tassels on the front part of the garment often with designs. Lastly, like the Minoans, Egyptians also used polychrome colors on their murals. Unlike the Minoans, the Egyptian iconography used rigid straight lines and occasional curves which in turn form semi-abstract queer designs. Yet despite this, the Egyptian artists strive to copy the actual human body onto the murals; hence, the shapes of the human figures still remain organic form and less abstract just like the Minoan frescoes. The Minoans love for freedom is expressed in the curvilinear movement of their iconography while the Egyptian mural version follows a straight linear two dimensional design. Colors of used on the Musicians and Dancers Frescoes were earth tone palette with greater emphasis on brown pigments. Brown was the color of the Egyptian skin and probably to make the images vivid on the pale white limestone plaster, the artist used a darker color as a contrast so that even from a distance, the iconography of the wall murals can be seen by the naked eye. Each figure on the murals is outlined with sharp black lines to highlight the bodies. Pictorial space is also another trait exhibited by both Egyptian and Minoan frescoes since the majority of the Egyptian figures overlap each other to indicate close proximity with other
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Ibid., 49
Davies, Janson’s History of Art The Western Tradition: The Ancient World, 7th Ed, 68
Paul Rehak, “Aegean Breechcloths, Kilts, and the Keftiu Paintings,” American Journal of Archaeology 100, no. 1 (1996): 41, http://www.jstor.org/stable/506296
subjects or people. In addition, while the Minoans used the colors to indicate genders (e.g. white for females and brown for males), the Egyptians used the color brown to all genders. Their murals vividly emphasize the gender differences amongst the figures. For instance, women wore elaborate headdresses and sometimes they can either go naked or wearing a diaphanous white tunic complete with neckpiece and earrings. On the other hand, the males usually wore kilts and jewelries but with less elaborate hairdos. Value of color does not apply to the Egyptian frescoes since their color is flat and lacks depth. Like the Minoan wall mural, the textures of the Egyptian wall paintings appear to have a smooth surface. Depending on the rank, Egyptian wall murals usually go off-scale on their iconographies; those with lower and slightly lower rank are sketched smaller while the pharaohs and the gods were drawn bigger and consume more of the space of the wall. From the painting, smaller scale applies to the naked dancing servant girls while the rest of the people were drawn in relatively similar proportion resembling one another. The movement is linear; the first panel located on the top indicates movement from right to left while the figures on the bottom panel define a movement from the left going to the right. In addition, the notion of balance is sometimes utilized by Egyptian artists as exemplified on the top and bottom panels; the top panel’s human figures are evenly distributed on the rest of the mural while the bottom panel compensated the lack of human figures on the right side by filling the void with repetitive abstract decorations from the Egyptian designs. The iconography of the Egyptian wall mural depicts dancers and audiences engaged in a lavish banquet. Dance is ancient Egypt had a different social aesthetic value since on their part, dancing was part of a ritual performance offered to the gods just like how Minoans performed bull-leaping games. Dances can be offered to the gods, or perhaps a ritual for funerals, or perhaps a tribute offered as an entertainment for private family gatherings.11
Conclusions
Based from the textual research proposed by the scholars, the theory of cross-cultural interaction between Egypt and Minoans may seem too good to be true despite the variety of evidences that might prove its existence. Conflicting scholastic research suggests that either way, it is possible that the civilizations might had been in touched with each other but due to the lack of evidence, it is a rather doubtful proposition to consider. In regards to art, the direct influence of Egyptians seems vague yet the Minoans adopted the Egyptian mural work and made their own version of it. However, the fact that the mural designing was modeled from the Egyptians, it does not mean that the iconography will be similar. The Minoans created a vivid lively picture of natural scenery which reflects their idealized version of paradise on earth while the Egyptians created on visual representations of their daily life which only focused on the higher members of the caste.
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Patricia Spencer, “Dance in Ancient Egypt,” Near Eastern Archaeology 66, no. 3, (2003): 115- 118, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210914
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davies, Penelope J. E. Janson’s History of Art, The Western Tradition: The Ancient World. 7th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2007.
Hall, H.R. “The Relations of Aegean with Egyptian Art (Continued).” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 1, no. 3 (1914): 197-206. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3853642
Immerwahr, Sara A. “A Possible Influence of Egyptian Art in the Creation of Minoan Wall Painting.” Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique: Supplement 11 (1985): 41-50, http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/bch_0304-2456_1985_sup_11_1_5267.pdf
Meza, Alicia. Research in Anthropological Topics. Danbury, CT: Rutledge Books, Inc., 2003. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=kFpHKhvlYrwC&pg=PA274&lpg=PA274&dq=minoan+egyptian+interaction&source=bl&ots=j4BSX7eT70&sig=kCWVCkjqv0HWEojubIgcFiHnh94&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjo26XgveDMAhULt48KHUJdCU4Q6AEIdTAS#v=onepage&q=minoan%20egyptian%20interaction&f=false
Rehak, Paul. “Aegean Breechcloths, Kilts, and the Keftiu Paintings.” American Journal of Archaeology 100, no. 1 (1996): 35-51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/506296
Spencer, Patricia. “Dance in Ancient Egypt.” Near Eastern Archaeology 66, no. 3. (2003): 111-121. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210914
