The Minoans were a significant Bronze Age civilization that flourished in Crete, Greece, around the second millennium B.C. They had constructed multistory complexes, now known as “palaces,” that served as distribution facilities for vast supplies of olive oil, wine, and grains. There were colonnaded courtyards, sliding doors, and outdoor staircases in the regal architecture. Used wood beams to support the massive stone structures.
The systematic evolution of ancient Greek water management began in Crete during the Early Bronze Age, or the Early Minoan period (ca. 3500–2150 B.C.) (Mays, 2010). However, the city of Knossos and its palace, Minos, possessed one of the most sophisticated terracotta pipe water management systems. And “Knossos was at the height of its glory” “during the Neopalatial period, ca. 1700–1400 B.C.” (Mays, 2010). Running water in the palaces and other communities, drainage systems, pipeline systems, rainwater harvesting, and other water technologies were all used.
Terracotta pipes were also employed for a wide range of applications. They might transport rainwater from rooftops, wastewater, or freshwater from adjacent springs and aqueducts. They then hauled the water to cistern systems, palaces, sewage and drainage systems, or public water supply networks like public [fountains] or open space from a spring, as in the case of Zakro. A terracotta pipe of rectangular shape supplied the surrounding cistern system with stormwater collected from roofs in an example from Myrtos-Pyrgos (west of the city of Ierapetra). Aqueducts also made use of these pipes. The open/natural gravity flow system (e.g., Malia and Tylissos) and the closed/pressured pipe system were the two main types of Minoan aqueducts. The usage of terracotta pipes, discovered at the palaces of Knossos and Tylissos, and many others unearthed at the courts of Phaistos, Palaikastro, Gournia, Lykastos, and Zakro, provides evidence for closed type water delivery in Minoan Crete (House B).
The palace at Knossos has the best-preserved specimens among them. The closed system necessitates a working understanding of the hydraulic principle of water seeking its level, commonly known as the communicating vessel principle. For example, “it has been hypothesized that fed the [aqueduct] with water from the spring on the low slope near Gypsies.” With an estimated inclination rate of 5%, the water dropped and subsequently rose across a bridge, implying applying the principle of connected vessels. If this is the case, it is reasonable to assume that Minoan master craftsmen were familiar with a variety of hydraulic concepts (e.g., siphons and communication vessels)” (Angelakis et al., 2013). “It should be remembered, however, that these aqueducts were auxiliary because the volume carried by the pipes is limited.” Other pipes made of cypress, which was plentiful in this area, could have been used instead” (Angelakis et al., 2013).
