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Tylissos in CreteKOSTIS S. CHRISTAKIS

Tylissos is situated on the northeast slope of

Psiloritis, 13 km southwest of Heraklion. It was

excavated by Hazzidakis in 1902–13. Scanty

remains of houses suggest occupation of the

site since Early Minoan II (2600–2300 BCE).

The town, built at the end of Middle Minoan

III, was destroyed by fire in Late Minoan IB

(1450). Remains of a settlement, including

a MEGARON and a circular cistern, have

been dated to Late Minoan III (1400–1100).

In Classical times, Tylissos was an independent

city-state, an ally of KNOSSOS. An altar and a stoa

were built during Hellenistic times over the

ruins of the Minoan town.

“Mansion A,” its annex “Mansion B,” and

“Mansion C,” the only complexes of the

extensive town to have been excavated, are fine

examples of Minoan architecture (Hazzidakis

1934). Their architectural design, excellent

construction, and artifactual assemblages

show the high living standards of the elite

sector of the town. The spatial distribution

of artifacts and architecture suggests that

many areas of Mansions B and C may have

been abandoned before their destruction in

Late Minoan IB (Christakis 2008: 59–60, 128).

Tylissos was a center of major economic

importance (Christakis 2008: 121, 128).

Situated in a fertile area inland, on the road

leading to Mount Psiloritis, it controlled the

agricultural production of the region and the

movement of goods from Psiloritis to Knossos.

LINEAR A tablets from Mansion A record

substantial quantities of olive oil. Occurrences

on LINEAR B tablets from the archive of the palace

of Knossos imply the presence of personnel

involved in cloth production and management

of flocks at Tylissos, tu-ri-so in Mycenaean

Greek, while the name of the town also

appeared in taxation records (Bennet 1985:

245–6). Tablets also record working oxen in

the area of Tylissos for cereal production.

SEE ALSO: Agriculture, ancient Near East;

Architecture, ancient Near East; Olives and olive

oil; Storage.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Bennet, J. (1985) “The structure of the Linear B

administration at Knossos.” American Journal

of Archaeology 89: 231–49.

Christakis, K. S. (2008) The politics of storage:

storage and sociopolitical complexity in Neopalatial

Crete. Philadelphia.

Hazzidakis, J. (1934) Les Villas minoennes de

Tylissos. Paris.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,

and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 6897–6898.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah02185

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