The Riddle of the Labyrinth
“In about 1400 B.C., the final conflagration at Knossos destroyed most of the palace and its contents, marking the end of the great civilization that had been rooted there for centuries. But the blaze had one completely beneficial effect: It preserved for future generations the clay tablets that recorded the palace’s final year.
Cretan scribes never fired their work. In a warm climate like the Aegean there was no need: Inscribed, the damp clay was simply left to dry in the sun, and that was usua...lly enough. Evans discovered this practice to his dismay after he had painstakingly dug up a cluster of tablets from a less fire-damaged area of the palace. Carrying them back to his rented Cretan house for safekeeping, he unwittingly placed them under a rotten spot in the thatched roof. That night the rains came, and he awoke in the morning to find the precious unbaked records reduced to mud.
In other parts of the palace, however, where the flames had burned hotter, tablets were baked to a permanent hardness.MoreLess
Cretan scribes never fired their work. In a warm climate like the Aegean there was no need: Inscribed, the damp clay was simply left to dry in the sun, and that was usua...lly enough. Evans discovered this practice to his dismay after he had painstakingly dug up a cluster of tablets from a less fire-damaged area of the palace. Carrying them back to his rented Cretan house for safekeeping, he unwittingly placed them under a rotten spot in the thatched roof. That night the rains came, and he awoke in the morning to find the precious unbaked records reduced to mud.
In other parts of the palace, however, where the flames had burned hotter, tablets were baked to a permanent hardness.MoreLess
Read book The Riddle of the Labyrinth for free
You can download books for free in various formats, such as epub, pdf, azw, mobi, txt and others on book networks site. Additionally, the entire text is available for online reading through our e-reader. Our site is not responsible for the performance of third-party products (sites).
Write Review:
Guest
Read Also
10 / 10
User Reviews: