Minoan eruption Minoan eruption The Minoan eruption of Thera, also referred to as the Thera eruption, Santorini eruption, or Late Bronze Age eruption, was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6 or 7 and a dense-rock equivalent (DRE) of , Dated to the mid-second millennium BCE, the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history. It devastated the island of Thera (now called Santorini), including the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri and communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with a related earthquake and tsunami. There are
Minoan civilization Cyclades, the Old Kingdom of Egypt, copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan and the Levantine coast and Anatolia. Some of the best Minoan art is preserved in the city of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, which was destroyed by the Minoan eruption. The Minoans primarily wrote in the undeciphered Linear A, encoding a language hypothetically labelled Minoan. The reasons for the slow decline of the Minoan civilization, beginning around 1550 BCE, are unclear; theories include Mycenaean invasions from mainland Greece and the major volcanic eruption of Santorini. The term "Minoan" refers to the mythical King Minos of Knossos. Its origin is debated,