Regalità, sacerdozi e potere nella Creta Minoica. Una realtà sfuggente

Since research on the Aegean Bronze Age began, the issue of kingship in Minoan Crete has been closely linked to that of the priestly function. The model proposed in the early 20th century by Sir Arthur Evans, who tenaciously persisted in producing popular publications and tourist literature, has been repeatedly subjected to tough criticism. Despite encountering many difficulties caused by both the substantial absence of written sources and the limited amount of iconographic ones, in themselves not really useful for this purpose, more recent research has addressed the problem by offering alternative models. These models, while not reaching a final solution to the problem, offer a different approach by analyzing several aspects of Minoan society, especially in relation to the buildings traditionally referred to as palaces and to the meaning that should be assigned to them. The aim of this paper is both to submit a status quaestionis and to insist on the need to analyze the individual local archaeological realities, and in particular the changes that occurred over time. The picture that emerges is complex and articulated, as well as closely linked to the function of elite power groups, which have some significant archaeological indicators in the architecture and organization of the palaces (or court-centered buildings) and the activities of various kinds, especially religious ones, carried out there.