Minoan Flowers
Among other things, Minoan artwork is known for its plethora of floral depictions. It seems that the Minoans, like their Egyptian contemporaries, loved flowers, and wanted them in their homes; archaeologists have found not only fresco fragments with many species of Aegean and Cretan flowers, but the remains of hanging flower pots. In fact, several floral species known today, including crocus and narcissus, retain some form of their original Minoan names.
Rather than parrot information from my sources, I am linking my readers to an exhaustive but wonderful article on flowers in ancient Crete. Andras Zeke, the webmaster, has a marvelous blog on the Minoans, with particular emphasis on Linear A, so stay and peruse the articles.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say hello to several new readers. My articles here are meant to be nibbles of information from the Mycenaean and Minoan periods, entertaining and informative without being too dry or scholarly. I use my research to write my novels, and currently have a novel out on Kindle: Helen's Daughter, about Hermione, the daughter of Helen of Troy. What, you didn't know Helen had children? Yes, she did! Head on over to Amazon and Smashwords to sample the novel and find out!