The treasure contains money and many valuable jewelry originating from the Minos civilization, the cradle of the development of the maritime industry.
Archaeologist unearths treasure on Chrysi Island. Photo: AFP.
The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on November 1 the discovery of a large treasure on the uninhabited island of Chrysi in the middle of the Libyan Sea, 15 km south of the large island of Crete. It has been dated to the Bronze Age about 3,800 years ago.
The treasure contained many gold jewelry, glass beads and talcum coins – the common currency of the ancient Greeks. Some beads are of Egyptian origin. Besides the valuable assets, archaeologists also unearthed a number of remains, ancient fish tanks and a large amount of Porphyry powder – a purple dye created from sea snails.
“Many broken snail shells have been discovered, showing that the production of Porphyry dye originated very early in the Mediterranean,” the Ministry of Culture said. “All of this created one of the most important Minoan treasures ever found in Greece.”
The Minos civilization is known to be pioneers in the field of navigation. They flourished during the Bronze Age, dominating Crete and the Aegean Sea between 2700 and 1450 BC, before being replaced by the Mycenaean civilization.
