Sarpedon

Another aspect which makes archaeological research at Sissi so important and urgent is related to the strategic position of the Kefali hill. The site effectively controls the two main ancient land routes that connect central Crete with regions further east: one is a coastal road connecting Malia with the port of Milatos, the other runs inland through the Selinari gorge, and connecting Malia and regions further west with Neapolis and the rest of east Crete. Both routes converge at the foot of the Kefali hill and give the site an obvious strategic advantage that is further increased by its maritime connections, ensured by its position on a small bay with easily accessible beaches, which represents a well-known type of Minoan port. Excavations are likely to yield imported goods from other regions, both elsewhere in Crete and further afield in the Aegean (the Cyclades, Mycenaean Greece, Anatolia) and East Mediterranean (the Levant, Pharaonic Egypt), all regions with which the Minoans were in close contact. Perhaps the Kefali hill may prove to have been the most important harbour for the Malia region and some kind of regional maritime and terrestrial transport hub between east and central Crete.

• if you are looking for a brief french introduction to the Sissi projet in pdf, click here.
• If you want to find out more about the Minoans, Jerry Rutter, professor at Darthmouth college (USA), compiled an excellent syllabus on Aegean civilisations, giving plenty of attention to things we already know about the Minoans and things we still have to find out. His syllabus can be found at: http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/history/bronze_age/
• If you are looking for articles or books about the Minoans, the best place to start is to use Nestor, a monthly Aegean bibliography. Nestor also has links to a series of excavation projects in the Aegean: http://classics.uc.edu/nestor/index.php
• The Mediterranean Archaeology Resources is also a website with plenty of links to different institutions, periodicals and other helpful details at: http://www.geocities.com/i_georganas/main.html
• Images of Cretan sites can also be found at: http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/
• A digital atlas by IMS-FORTH is available at http://digitalcrete.ims.forth.gr/index.php?l=1#arch12
• The two major publishing houses dealing with Minoan archaeology are Aegaeum, at http://www2.ulg.ac.be/archgrec/publications.html
• And the INSTAP Press at http://www.instappress.com/
• You can find more about the Minoans at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36OJNeS5OtQ

• Our project takes place under the auspices of the Belgian School at Athens. If you want to find out more about this institution, check http://www.ebsa.info/

Pages: 1 2 3