Alexandre Farnoux | |
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Nationality | French |
Alma mater | French School at Athens |
Occupation(s) | Historian, Minoan archaeologist |
Alexandre Farnoux is a French historian, a specialist on the Minoan civilisation and Delos. [1]
Alexandre Farnoux studied at the French School at Athens, he became director of this institute in September 2011. [2] [3]
He is professor of Greek archaeology at Paris-Sorbonne University [4] and also teaches Greek history at the University of Strasbourg. He conducts research in Crete on the Minoan civilisation and is director of the excavation of a residential quarter in the Minoan city of Malia. [5]
Author | Alexandre Farnoux |
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Original title | Cnossos : L'archéologie d'un rêve |
Translator | David J. Baker |
Cover artist | Various |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Series | Découvertes Gallimard●Archéologie |
Release number | 175 |
Subject | Knossos archaeology |
Genre | Nonfiction monograph |
Publisher | FR: Éditions Gallimard US: Harry N. Abrams UK: Thames & Hudson |
Publication date | 1993 |
Published in English | 1996 |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 160 pp. |
ISBN | 978-2-070-53183-7 (first edition) |
OCLC | 29779601 |
Preceded by | Compostelle : Le grand chemin |
Followed by | Ingmar Bergman, le magicien du Nord |
Website | www |
An overview of the archaeological discoveries made in Knossos, Crete, from the beginning of the 20th century, especially by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans, a wealthy Englishman, who found the legendary palace of King Minos. [6] From a plethora of bric-à-brac—frescoes, ceramics, clay tablets covered with unknown writings—Evans recreated an immense civilisation, totally original. A peaceful world which flourished some forty centuries ago, long before Mycenae, radiated throughout the Mediterranean.
Alexandre Farnoux retraces step by step the rigorous and inspired work of Arthur Evans—the excavations, interpretations, restorations, which will remain, with regard to History, the magician of Knossos—in this pocket-sized volume entitled Cnossos : L'archéologie d'un rêve (lit. 'Knossos: The Archaeology of a Dream'; UK edition – Knossos: Unearthing a Legend; US edition – Knossos: Searching for the Legendary Palace of King Minos), published by Éditions Gallimard. It was released in 1993 in the Archéologie series of Gallimard's "Découvertes" collection. According to standards of the collection, the book is profusely illustrated with colour plates—Minoan frescoes, maps, drawings, paintings, photographs of artefacts and excavations, etc.—and printed on glossy paper.
The book opens with a "pre-credit", which is a series of full-page illustrations showing some drawings and photographs of the palace of Knossos. The first chapter "Terra Incognita" presents Crete, the Greek island as an unknown land at the end of 19th century when Knossos was approached by Evans. The second chapter "Impatience" tells the works of archaeologists. "In the Land of the Griffin" (chap. III) recounts the excavations at Knossos. "The Magician of Knossos" (chap. IV) traces the rebirth of the palace of Knossos thanks to the dream of the English archaeologist. The last chapter "Minoan Art Nouveau" is about the exoticism and the surprising familiarity of the Cretan discoveries, which together presented a sort of ideal image of a modern-day antiquity:
The royalty of the fleur-de-lys, the virgin mother, Our Lady of the Mountain or of the Waves, the plastic symbols, the number three or the cross, the 'Parisienne' of Knossos, the boxers, and toreadors bring very close to us a life separated from our own by thousands of years. [7]
In its second part—the "Documents" section—the book provides a compilation of excerpts divided into eight parts: 1, In the Labyrinth; 2, The return of the Minotaur; 3, The past informs the present; 4, Archaeology and imagination; 5, The Minoan world today; 6, The Minoans in the headlines; 7, Forgers in the realm of Minos; 8, Cretan writing. The book closes with a list of further reading, chronology, list of illustrations, an index and a full-page photograph of Arthur Evans at Knossos. It has been translated into American and British English, Italian and South Korean.
Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examples dating to around 1400 BC. It is adapted from the earlier Linear A, an undeciphered script potentially used for writing the Minoan language, as is the later Cypriot syllabary, which also recorded Greek. Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae, disappeared with the fall of Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age collapse. The succeeding period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, provides no evidence of the use of writing.
Sir Arthur John Evans was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age.
Knossos is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major center of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on the outskirts of Heraklion, and remains a popular tourist destination.
Malia is a coastal town and municipal unit situated in the northeast corner of the Heraklion region of Crete, Greece. It is part of the municipality of Hersonissos and is located approximately 34 kilometers east of Heraklion. As of 2021, the population of the municipal unit was recorded at 5,501. The area also encompasses the villages of Mochos, Krasi, and Stalida, covering a total area of 60.720 square kilometers. Malia is renowned as a tourist destination, particularly known for its vibrant nightlife. Additionally, the town is home to Minoan ruins located three kilometers to the east, spanning an area of approximately 1 square kilometer.
Spyridon Marinatos was a Greek archaeologist who specialised in the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. He is best known for the excavation of the Minoan site of Akrotiri on Santorini, which he conducted between 1967 and 1974. A recipient of several honours in Greece and abroad, he was considered one of the most important Greek archaeologists of his day.
Duncan Mackenzie was a Scottish archaeologist who assisted Arthur Evans in his excavations of the Minoan palace at Knossos.
Mycenaean pottery is the pottery tradition associated with the Mycenaean period in Ancient Greece. It encompassed a variety of styles and forms including the stirrup jar. The term "Mycenaean" comes from the site Mycenae, and was first applied by Heinrich Schliemann.
Arthur Alexander Johann Milchhöfer was a German archaeologist born in Schirwindt, East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia. He specialized in studies of Greek Antiquity, and is remembered for his topographical research of ancient Attica.
The Minoan bull leaper is a bronze group of a bull and leaper in the British Museum. It is the only known largely complete three-dimensional sculpture depicting Minoan bull-leaping. Although bull leaping certainly took place in Crete at this time, the leap depicted is practically impossible and it has therefore been speculated that the sculpture may be an exaggerated depiction. This speculation has been backed up by the testaments of modern-day bull leapers from France and Spain.
The Throne Room was a chamber built for ceremonial purposes during the 15th century BC inside the palatial complex of Knossos, Crete, in Greece. It is found at the heart of the Bronze Age palace of Knossos, one of the main centers of the Minoan civilization and is considered the oldest throne room in Europe.
Knossos, also romanized Cnossus, Gnossus, and Knossus, is the main Bronze Age archaeological site at Heraklion, a modern port city on the north central coast of Crete. The site was excavated and the palace complex found there partially restored under the direction of Arthur Evans in the earliest years of the 20th century. The palace complex is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete. It was undoubtedly the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture.
Martin Sinclair Frankland Hood,, generally known as Sinclair Hood, was a British archaeologist and academic. He was Director of the British School at Athens from 1954 to 1962, and led the excavations at Knossos from 1957 to 1961. He turned 100 in January 2017 and died in January 2021, two weeks short of his 104th birthday.
Edith Eccles was a British classical archaeologist who did work at the British School at Athens and worked with Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos on Crete in the 1930s. She studied at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Nicoletta Momigliano is an archaeologist specialising in Minoan Crete and its modern reception.
Claude-François Baudez was a French Mayanist, archaeologist and iconologist. He was honorary director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, a specialist on the rituals and beliefs of Mesoamerica, particularly of the Maya civilisation.
David Theodore Fyfe, known simply as Theodore Fyfe, was a Scottish architect. He is widely known as Arthur Evans’s architect during the first five excavations at the Palace of Knossos from 1900 to 1904.
Corinne Debaine-Francfort is a French archaeologist and sinologist, a researcher at the CNRS specialised in the archaeology on Eastern Central Asia and in the protohistory of north-west China.
Bruno Dagens was a French archaeologist, art historian, Sanskritist, and a specialist on Angkor Wat. He was a professor emeritus of the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3.
Claude Rapin is an archaeologist and historian specializing in Central Asia, with special attention to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. He is Director Emeritus for research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and is associated with the Mission archéologique franco-ouzbèke de Sogdiane.
Minos Kalokairinos was a Cretan Greek businessman and amateur archaeologist known for undertaking the first excavations at the Minoan palace of Knossos. His excavations were later continued by Arthur Evans.
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