The Golden Age (c. 1450-1400 BCE): A reassessment of the relationships between the emergent Knossian Kingdom and the powerful Egyptian Empire

Dautais, Louis
(2026) Lecture Series 2025-2026 of the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP-SCEC) — Location: Pacheia Ammos (Crete, Greece) (25.February.2026)

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How to Make New out of Old? This age-old adage could well apply to the field of Egypto- Aegean studies, a field that continues to fascinate and generate scholarly debate. Yet some–among the more skeptical–might argue that there is nothing left to be gained from it, given the limited availability of new data. But is this not precisely the challenge of our disciplines? This lecture aims to address that challenge by proposing a re-evaluation of the evidence, some of which is well known (e.g. the Aegeans in Thebans Tombs, the Board with Keftiu Names, the bull- leaping frescoes from Tell el-Dabʻa), and by offering new perspectives for understanding a crucial period in Cretan history on a Mediterranean scale: the Late Minoan (LM) II phase (ca. 1450-1400 BCE). It was long thought that the twilight of Thutmose III’s reign, which coincided with the end of the LM IB phase and the so-called ‘collapse of the Minoan civilization’, marked the end of Cretan- Egyptian relations, as illustrated by the disappearance of Aegean figures from Theban tombs and the absence of LM II pottery in Egypt and the Levant. These lent further credence to the theory of a Mycenaean conquest of Crete, followed by a collapse in long-distance trade from the island. This historical narrative, still dominant at the turn of the 21st century, must now be revised in light of recent studies. Taking into account the historical frameworks of the various regions of the eastern Mediterranean, I argue that around 1450 BCE, geopolitical shifts in the Aegean and the Near East opened a new chapter of more direct relations between Knossian Crete and Thutmosid Egypt. Drawing on a systematic re-examination of Egyptian iconographic and textual sources (updating the seminal study published by J. Vercoutter in 1956), combined with new insights from the Cretan archaeological record (including a distribution map of Egyptian pottery in the harbor town of Kommos), it is now possible to reconstruct the history of interactions between the Cretan Kingdom and the Egyptian Empire in the course of the second half of the 15th c. BCE. In this lecture, I will follow the paths of Cretans’ travellers toward their encounters with Egyptians, be it in the Levant or directly in the Nile Valley. I will also explore their activities in Egypt under the autonomous reigns of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. Alongside diplomacy and trade, a range of interactions developed, characterized by greater mobility of people –including artisans, artists, and mercenaries, in addition to the traditional seafarers, emissaries, and merchants. This movement of people sailing across an increasingly connected Eastern Mediterranean was accompanied by the flow of their goods and skills, which I will attempt to identify them more precisely. Finally, I aim to clarify what motivated Cretan expeditions, the routes they followed, and the places and actors involved in their encounters.
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Dautais, L. (2026). The Golden Age (c. 1450-1400 BCE): A reassessment of the relationships between the emergent Knossian Kingdom and the powerful Egyptian Empire. Lecture Series 2025-2026 of the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP-SCEC), Pacheia Ammos (Crete, Greece). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/266611