How Santorini Was Resettled After the Minoan Eruption

Ruins of the archaeological tract of Ancient Thera. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA-3.0

The island of Santorini, besides known arsenic Thera, is celebrated for being inhabited by the Minoans successful the Bronze Age. It past erupted successful a catastrophic volcanic event which wholly wiped retired the civilisation there. Yet, today, determination are thousands of radical surviving connected the island. How did this happen? This nonfiction volition analyse however Santorini was resettled aft the Minoan eruption.

How Santorini was depopulated

Santorini is simply a fascinating land successful the Aegean Sea northbound of Crete. Throughout the Middle Bronze Age, Santorini was a thriving halfway of trade. It had respective Minoan settlements connected it, including the large metropolis of Akrotiri, comparable successful size to the Minoan cities connected Crete.

The Minoans were the astir salient naval civilization of that era, truthful Santorini was evidently 1 of the astir important islands of its day. Many scholars believe it was the origin of the fable of Atlantis.

However, this glorious beingness came to a implicit extremity in the sixteenth period BC. Some clip towards the extremity of that century, during the reign of Ahmose I of Egypt, the land erupted. Santorini is simply a volcanic island, and the eruption that occurred successful that period was 1 of the astir catastrophic events successful quality history.

This wholly destroyed the settlements connected the island, blasting them into the oversea oregon covering them with dozens of meters of ash.

How Santorini was resettled by Cadmus

After its colonisation was wholly wiped out, however did Santorini travel to beryllium inhabited erstwhile more? We tin enactment retired the reply by comparing the accusation provided by Herodotus with the accusation gleaned from archaeology.

Herodotus does not explicitly picture Santorini arsenic being resettled. However, this is lone due to the fact that helium displays nary cognition of the erstwhile Minoan dominance of the island. Nonetheless, helium describes thing related to Santorini successful the discourse of Cadmus.

Cadmus was a Phoenician prince who traveled to Greece and introduced the alphabet to that land. The information that the Greek alphabet yet derives from the Phoenician alphabet is confirmed by archaeology and scholarship. This occurred astatine immoderate constituent successful the ninth period BCE, meaning this indispensable beryllium erstwhile Cadmus lived.

Archaeological evidence

According to Herodotus, Cadmus and his men stopped disconnected astatine Santorini connected their mode from Phoenicia to Greece. Some of his men decided to enactment connected the land alternatively of continuing connected the journey. Thus, the Phoenicians were the ones who initially resettled the land pursuing the Minoan eruption.

At least, this is what Herodotus tells us. Does the archaeology enactment this idea? As it happens, the precise earliest traces of the Greek publication are recovered connected Santorini. These inscriptions are dated to the ninth period BC and are written successful what is fundamentally axenic Phoenician characters, though the words are Greek.

Most likely, these were written by Greeks who were traveling with Cadmus. Cadmus, already having Greek associates, would explicate wherefore helium traveled to Greece successful the archetypal place.

Supporting this day for erstwhile Santorini was resettled is the information that this is besides the day of the earliest archaeological remains from aft the Minoan eruption. In particular, the archaeological tract called Ancient Thera is the earliest post-Minoan colony that has truthful acold been found. It dates to the ninth period BCE.

How Santorini was resettled by the Spartans

As we person seen, it appears that associates of Phoenician Prince Cadmus resettled Santorini successful the ninth period BCE. However, Herodotus tells america thing adjacent much important happened 8 generations aft those inhabitants had arrived.

Counting 8 generations would bring america guardant by astir 2 centuries, assuming a tenable mean of twenty-five years per generation. This would truthful bring america to the seventh period BCE.

According to Herodotus, it was astatine this clip that the Spartans arrived connected the island. They were led by Theras, from whom Santorini got its name, “Thera.” Theras was a Spartan prince, whose gramps Tisamenus was a kid astatine the clip of the Trojan War. Thus, though determination were already immoderate inhabitants connected the island, Santorini was chiefly resettled by the Spartans and became a bona fide Spartan colony.

Interestingly, archaeology has shown that the earliest grounds of Spartan beingness connected the land dates to the seventh period BC. This is precisely erstwhile we would expect to spot it based connected Herodotus’ accusation connected however galore generations Theras came aft the clip of Cadmus.