CRETE-THE RISE AND FALL OF A NAVAL POWER

By tTIENNE PALtZIEUX

3,500 year. d!JO there u:i"'~ a mighty 'IOml pou-er: Cret~. I' controlled tit.8M LUlu and~ naool bcuIu and ltph_ oj inJIunIU tl.Mr'evet' itll .A1plt couldgo. lVilAin 1M limiU oj the lVulem world tlten klwwn, Crete WlJlt (Jlt powerJul (Jlt

GnaI Brilnin ,,'lJIt in our moduli trorld up to 1939. Today notAing .. left oj Crd.ebut memoriu.

l' i. oj parlicular ill'ert'" to Mlldy t"e ri~ and JaU oj Crae at a time whenw.e are tMtfl....ng lite liJe-mtd-dealA "'.ruggle oj anotltcr nallOl 1'O'«r. Wllile our0_ gcmemtion'c j"dgmml oj Gnat Britain may be colored by n,atifMntc dependitl{l0'1 whetlaer we are A., fr~',J, or Joe, the rorlieltt known 8M power, Crde, it nOlo ItO

remote t"o' it" It«y con be told 'Dit" a 111ide fHtrllpectil:e a,ad ,oit/l.ouJ a trou ojpauiOtl. TlIilt i. tltnN by ,IN avlJao,. oj ,Ae Jollowillg article, i'l wAich he pruent.a CO'tlcPNlhflllllive and cUtar ,nctW'8 oj a cuhjrA."J liute I....own and AitAerto II.,IO"yIddden i,1 ltOietltifio lIOlllmu and reMarM p"blir-tltimu.

TAe alltho,. liWJd lor monN !/far. itl Greeoe, where he collaborated .vitla WilhdmD6rpJtld, the 1m.' ,"ervlvinp pio_ oj archaeology. !a"lt!d 'Aroll[l1l IIi" exc<lL'(,tio"..a' Olympia and TrOll.

Tile decoratiN borde,.. UMd in til.. article are Jailliful ,.eprodtU:tion.. ojnlOliJII ,ued in Minoon m1.-K.lJt.

No ONE who ha.~ approached thesunbathed hiland of Crete willever forget how the unusually

rough seas which wash the shores of thisisland demand the utmost in the art ofnavigation in ordur to bring a ship safeand undamaged to one of the numerousgood ports or anohorages. Ono mustadmire the seafaring qualities of theCretan mariners, and, in the circumstanc­es, it BOOms perfectly natural that theirancestors should have poesessed thesequalities en'll many thousands of yearsago.

Well, we too arrived safely and dis­embarked off Can<Ua (or Iraklion, as it isnow ca.lled) without a hitch, although tothe accompaniment of the noise whichseems inevita.ble in those latitudes. Forthe time being we postponed our visitto the museum in Candia, which containsJDany of the archa{lologioal finds of theisland, and entrusted ourselves to a busheading inland towards Kno8S0S. The

bus was crowded to bursting point, andthe roof was loaded with luggage, emptychicken crate!!, a few bags of rice, andan old water heater. The passengersconsisted of pea.~al1t women, the Orthodoxpriest of Makrytichos, two Palikars (vet­erans of the war of liberation against theTurks) in baggy trousers and with silver­cmbossed daggers in their sashes, half adozen sailors on leave, a notary from thetown, a Greek carpet dealer from Smyrna,and a troop of Cook's travelers. As I waaa foreigner and spoke Greek-as wasrevealed when I bought my ticket-I wassoon I\.'lkcd the question which has re­mained unchll.nged since Homer's days:"\Vho are yOll, Ilnd of what people!And where is the town of your birth!"(Odyssey, XV, 26~q A very lively con­versation followed.

After three and 11 hali miles, the busstopped ncar the arCll. of excavation. Asa parting gift, I presented the Cretanswith the latest newspapers from Athens,

42 THE XXtb CENTURY

which were acc£'\pted enthusiastically inexchange for gifts consisting of a pieceof white cheese, six cigarettes of the"Papastratos No.1" brand, a quarterticket in the State lottery, and threecandied figs. For in a little nation thatmIl counta the wily politician Venizelosamong its greatest sons, politics and thediscuBSing of politics are daily bread.

LEGENDS COME TRUE

The ruined city of the Minos lies onthe other side of a little river called theKaeratos on a low hill in the midst of afertile depression. The mountain ofIollktas forms the ba.ckground. The citycovers an area of 1,125,000 square meters.In the center of the city stands the royalpalace, forming a rough square withsides 130 yardR long. The whole layoutis extremely spacious and gives an im­pression of grandeur and pomp. Themen who ruled and lived here must havebeen powerful and highly civilized. How­ever, the precious relics of an ancientculture had long lain buried under debrisin the heart of this palace during theperiods which saw Homer's heroee throw­ing spears, saw Assyria rise and fall, sawthe beauty of Babylon wither, and gavethe world the lo\'elincss of Egypt, thebrilliance of Per in, the glory that wasGreece, and the gl'Rmleur that was Rome.The kings who had once held sway herehad already faded into mythical figures,and scholars believed that they hadprobably never existed after a,ll.

And now the spade of the explorersuddenly cauo::ed the throne of the Minosactually t.o rise up intact out of the earthand to bear witness to the power and theglory of a mythical empire.

Hesiod, Homer, StraOO, Thucydides,and especially Herodotus, the "Father ofHistOry," have told us this or that detailabout the Cretan empire that had beenhanded down to them. Light was onlybrought into the mythical darkness ofthe history of the island by the excava­tions made by Frenchmen, Englishmen,Italians, Greeks, and Americans, who hadbeen stimulated by the famous Germanarchaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. Fur­ther light was cast on it by the discoveryin neighboring civilizations of reports anddescriptions regarding Crete. However,we shall not gain complete knowledge ofall the phases of Cretan history until wehave learned to read the numerous in­scriptions.

THE SECRET OF TBB SCRIPTS

Most of these inscriptions were dis­covered by Sir Arthur Evans in the years1893 to 1896. Years of study revealedthat there were five different systems ofwriting: one picture-writing system fromthe earliest times, two hieroglyphic sys­tems (the later one from the "Period ofthe First Palaces"), and two linear sys­tems that came into use during the laterperiods of the Cretan empire. In 1909,Evans presented the scientific world withthe documents he had discovered, underthe title of Scripta Minoa, Vol. I. Inhis preface, he stated that an analysis ofthe inscriptions would be published in asecond volume. This volume has stillnot appeared; Evans could not s91ve theriddle of the script. But others, too, didnot succeed-the script is silent. Whatis lacking for Crete is a polyglot like theRosetta Stone, which made possiblethe deciphering of the Egyptian hiero­glyphics. But, even if we should succeed

Fro. lL (See also top of page.) Cretan hieroglyphics and pictographs engraved on a four·sided sealmade of red carnelian

CRETE-THE RISE AX}) Jo'ALL OF A NAVAL POWER

CKRONOLOGY or THE CRETAN CIVIUZATION

liflOllthle B. C.Arc eooo-aooo

CIYlrollthk F.arl)· )lInoan I 3000·2800

Ale ~::arJy MIIlOAD II 2800·2'100

Pint Bronze Kar:Jj !oIlooan III 2~00-2100Ale (2~OO·2000) md Ie )111101111 I 2100·1000

..IIllI PalActli )f ~ Idle )11110:10 JI 1000·1760Bron., Aae (2100-1760)

\lIddlc MInoan HI 1760·1(,80Serond Palaet'll '.ate Minoan t IS80-U60(1700-1401.1) LalA! 111.-11 II UM}-1400

Late 1I10oan III UOO-l~

in :diaeQveJ"ing themeapiog '..:of thesignIt"t.bere still re­main~1.th~'problemof Qet,ermining theirproQUQciation. For,with jt.be exceptionof some. hundredtrade terms to befound in the ancientGreek,~ a.eex pr~.Ui'ODB bor­rowed ..from theCretan, we arc alsoiporant.. of thoCretan language. Thus, as in the case ofthe Etru8Ca.n language, the inscriptionsof the· Easter Islands, and the proto­Indian inscriptions of Mohencho-Daro,we must for the time being do withoutval~~e documentary material in thecase of the Minoan scripts for throwinglight on historical developments.

RICH LAND AM1D THE SEA

The geographical conditions for thefounding of an empire were especiallyfaVorable for carly Crete. The islandetretcliee from east to wcst and liesacrOss' the southern end of the Aegean

Sea, being con­nected with thePeloponnesos by achain of islands.In this way, Cretelay close enoughto Asia Minor andNorth Alrica to besituated in the focalpoint of all thesecultural regions.Moreover, it wasbig enough (8,000square kilometers)to offer enough

Boil for its own development. The climateis mild and sunny, and the winter rainsmake production easy. To the northand south of the mountain ranges of theIda and the Iouktas there are two fertileplains, that of Knossos and that ofMessara. In the numerous valleys grewgrapes, grain, and olives far up themountain sides. Cattle-raising, hunting,and fishing supplied all else that wasnecessary. Anxiety over food was un­known to the inhabitants of the island.In the Odyssey (XIX, 172/3), Homerdescribes the island as it was before hisown time:

" Tho Aegean World

•• THE XXth CE~URY

Flo. 11

~A

.. There is a land amid the wine-dark seaCalled Crete; rich fruitful, girded by

waves;She boasts unnumbered men and

ninety towns."

Racially, the population of Crete wasformed by an old Mediterranean stock,mixed with proto-Indo-Germanic ele­ments that had IQ.igratOO from themainland.

At the beginning of Crete's own cul­tural development we find an old neolithicculture, homogenous or at least relatedwith that of the other peoples of theAegean region. The start of the Cretanor Minoan culture (named after thelegendary King Minos) as a unified,independent phenomenon dates fromabout 2800 B.C. Till its disintegrationabout 1200 B.C., it ran a distinct coursewhose early period (till 1800 B.C.), flower­ing (till 1500 B.C.), and late period (1i)00to 1200 B.C.) are clearly discernible.

IN THE DAYS OF TROY

As early as the first centuries after3000 B.C., brisk activity prevailed on theisland, at least in the east and in thecenter. Numerous places of a town-likecharacter flourished close together. Thepopulation was prosperous. Copper uten­sils, gold and silver ornaments, vesselsof hard, colored stone, and ivory carv­ings, bear witness to the artistry andgood taste of this period. The high levelof development is shown above all inceramics: pottery wheels and var-ious colo1'l:l were employed. Varia­tions in form and decoration(first, light colors on a darkbackground, later, vice versa)indicate a certain flexibility ofthe spiritual life, and the dis­covery of seals proves the useof a picture-writing system.

In those times, there wasas yet no central politicalpower. Many individual com­munities existed Bide by sidein which lived a populationorganized in clans as wellas in different social cate-

gories. Crete's prospt'rity was foundedon navigation and on'the industry of itspopulation. There were lively oommer­cial relations with Egypt, Babylon, theCyclades, and Troy. Because of theseforeign relations, the political center ofgravity was to be found in the east andsoutheast of the island. The greatestnumber of towns and the riohest ones(Hagia Triada, Hagios Onouphrios, Kalan­thiana, Platanos, Koumasa) and especiallythe most important harbors (Zakro, Palai­kastro, and Mochlos) were to be foundhere too.

Crete was independent of the greatpowers of that time-Egypt, Sumer, andAkkad. Its insular position, the sea­faring ability of the inhabitants. and theabsence of hostile navies, insured itagainst outside attacks. On 'tho otheJ',hand, the island itself was not a leadingpower in the eastern Mediterranean duringthis period.

THE OCCIDENT'S FIBST NAVAL POWER

All these potentialities were furtherdeveloped in the ensuing "First BronzeAge" (2400-2000 B.C.) and in what isknown as the "Period of the First Pal­aces" (2100-1750 B.C.).

During this time, Crete's political posi­tion underwent a considerable ohange asa result of revolutionary political andeconomic events. The penetration offoreign tribes from the north into (:reeceas far as Thessalia led to central

Greece and the Peloponnesoeshutting themselves off towardthe north for centuries. Thewhole region from the Sper­cheus valley to Cape Maleawas consolidated and, culturallyspeaking, took on a uniformappearance. The Cyclades be­camo part of this region andgradually lost importance forCrete as trade partners. Con­sequently, Crete turned its atten­tion toward another direction,especially as, since the pharaohsof the VI Dynasty (2420-2270B.C.), Egypt's relations witht,he island had grown increasingly

CRETE-THE RISE AND FALL OF A NAVAL POWER

Among them, the chieftains of Kn08808and Phaistos were outatanding; theywere also the leaders of the above­mentioned trade policy. This resulted inthe internal political center of gravitybeing shifted from the east of the islandto the center.

MAO~lFIOENT PALACES

The increase in power and wealth madeit possible for these feudal lords in the'years around 2000 B.C. to erect greatpalaces in Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia.Except when these palaces were protected

by their situation in themountains, they were, onaccount of the internalstruggles for power, encir­cled by mighty walls (upto seven and a half feetthick) and dominated bya citadel.

Between 1900 and 1780B.C. these palaces were

I torn down and replaced bynew buildings. This timet,hey remained unfortified,since in the internal strug­gles Kn08sos had gainedthe leadership and had

reduced the dynasties of the othergreat residences to vassalage.

The palace of this period usuallycovered a large area (FIo. 3). An intricatemaze of rooma clustered around a centralcourtyard. This 1&byrinth was divided upinto various quarters: rooms for worship,offices, archives, workshops, living quar­ters, storerooma. etc., (FIo. 14). Severalfloors were built one over the other.Magnificent stairways connected the var­ious parte and admitted light throughinner oourts. The cool sea breeze wasconducted into every corner by cleverlybuilt shafts. The hot summer sun waskept out, but all the living quarters were

open to the mild winter sun.The buildings were decoratedwith colonnades and frescoes.

Large cities arose, with pavedstreets, drainage systems, andmany-storied houses. Therewere industrial towns where

strong. Thanks to the island's favorablegeographical position and to the shippingspace at their disposal, the Cretanmerchants soon became the sole agentsof trade between Egypt and AsialIinor.

However, of still greater importancefor Crete waa an industrial revolutionwhich took pIaoe almost simultaneouslythroughout the Aegean region: the....ning of the Bronze Age. As is wellJmowD, copper aocl tin are required fordie production of bronze. The former hadfrom time immemorial been supplied tothe aDOiIDte by the island.of Onna-; the latter wasIPOIl more difficult to.t.wn, ace the tin mineswae lituatecl far off inBtnria, Gaul, Iberia, Com­walIit, and in the Erzge­birge. Caravans brought thevaluable ore from these(lOQJl~es to the Adriatic\OOMt. Prom there it wastIiIohecl by Cretan shipsftkQl oarried it to the...... of the eastern FIo. 3. Plan of the Palaeo of

KnoMoe, which covers an area~ Moreover, of nearly five acroetile 0NtIIlII did not con-JInt ,to~ in this orebat ;DIe pf f1b.- 'op~ty tolIWlufaoture bJ'ODS8 U'ti9Iee tJ1~vesand ~ _pply them to the markets ofthOle puie visited by their ships. Nat­mally, it was not possible for this tradeto flourish or for the raw-material sup­plies to be enB1I1"ed without control of themaritime communications. Hence theeretans systematically enlarged their fleetaDd thus became the first naval power int.he history of the Occident. In thisw&!,the Bronze Age, which lasted nearlya thOUsand years, became more or less... period of Crete's position as the1eecIlag naval power.

lWween 2400 and 2100 B.C.,the old social order of the islandUDdenreDt a change. The clansdieeolved into individual families.The various families of a place(q'district then combined, some­'time8 under energetic leaders.

THE XXda CENTURY

weaving, pottery, metal working,ahoemaking, oil refining, and metal found­ry were carried on. Arts and craftsflourished. Ceramics (including the fa­moue HKamares" vases), 88 hard andthin 88 porcelain, showed most artisticcolor combinations. Goldsmiths, stone­carvers, and swordmakers produced mas­terpieces of applied art. The primitivepicture-writing system W88 rep1aoed by asystem of hieroglyphics which had de­veloped from native elements and as areault of stimulus from Egypt and theNear East (FlO. 1).

ORETB'S "WOODEN WALL"

Th.iB development of Cretan culture wasmade possible by the wealth which flowedto the island through its trade. TheKamaree goods went up the Nile toUpper Egypt 88 well as to Cyprus; silverarticles to Byblos; terracotta and soap­stone vases to Troy, Phocis, and Argolis.In return, the Cretans obtained spicesand medicinal herbs from Cyrenaica, sealBtones from Babylon, copper and woodfrom Cyprus, toilet articles, necklaces.falenoee. and ivory from Egypt. Besidesthis. they supplied Egypt with woodfrom Lebanon. copper ban from Cyprus,Bilver from the mines of LaDrion. 88 wellas tin and amber from the north. Inreturn for this. the Egyptians had toooncede a free port to the Cretans on thewand of Pharos.

Outwardly, the island was protectedby that "wooden wall" which was oneday also to proteot England: the fleet.The wands of Meloe and Thera hadacknowledged the ruler of Knossos astheir overlord. Political and commercialrelations with the other oountries andpeoples were normal. Only the Greekmainland remained olosed to the Cretansduring the ''Period of the FirstPalaces."

Th.iB highly developed state experienceda terrible disaster about the year 1750B.C. The palaces in Kn08808, Phaistos,Mallia, and Tylissoe were destroyed in aBurpriae attack and their glories buriedunder ashes and collapsed walla.

TERRESTRUL ARD POLITICAL CONVULSIONS

What had happenedl As far as re­scarch has been able to establish. anearthquake had taken place which wasregarded by the masses as a sign thatthe gods disapproved of the actions ofthe rulers. The mandate granted byHeaven seemed forfeited, and the people­carried out the will of the gods andrevolted. It has not yet been possibleto determine the nature of this revolution~

whether it was social. feudal, or nationaLBut it is certain that the rising startedin the eastern part of the island with itsmainly rural population and was directedagainst the ruling claea. whioh oonaiatedof a national minority. A seal has beenfound with the portrait of a king fromthe time following the revolution whichindicates that a new human type, witha differently shaped head, had gainedsupremacy.

The new ruling hoU88 aacended thethrone in Kn08808 and immediately en­sured itself of administrative authority byintroducing a new. linear script (FIo. 4).

FlO. ,. CNte.n linou ecript, about 1800 B.C.

The former administration had usedhieroglyphics and had issued all itsdecrees, ete., in this script. By abolish­ing this script. everything that the oldregime had issued in the way of laws anddecrees became invalid. The new, linearscript consisted of only seventy-six signsand can be compared to the hieraticscript of the Egyptians. Henceforth,only this linear script was taught andwas permissible in official communica­tions. Broadly speaking, it remained inuse on the whole island and its foreignp088e88ions till the downfall of the dynaa-

CRETE-THE RISE .um FALL OF .~ XA"AL POWER

1'10. 8. Section of wCllItclm wing of Palaco of K1I~ ahowiDBoolumnw IhriDe and mpped porch

ty, whioh coincided with the downfall ofthe whole Cretan empire.

. The revolution had no repercussions onforeign politics. Crete remained mistressof the seas. On the other hand, it wasnot at that time in a poeition to enlargeita sphere of inftuence.

AliT AND SOPffiSTICATION

Nevertheless, it was nearly fifty yearsbefore the ooneequences of the revolutionhad been overcome. About 1700 B.C.,Orete .-oee to new glory and, in the en­8UiDI three centuries, experienced it.sgreatest prosperity. This period was atthe BaDle time one of lively spiritual,activity. The oenter of the hiland's lifewas the oourts of the newly built palaces,in which culture developed to its highestmaturity, but a1ao to a dangerous sophis­tication. Cretan architects producedmasterpieces. They provided the exten­ave palace buildings with pillared hallsaod oolonnadee of cypress wood as well• 1ri.~ monumental flights of steps.Oae~ in Kn08S08 was even built toa 1Ietid.a' of· ,four stories (FIG. 6). &cep­tiaIi ... and living rooms were richlyew.ated with oil"tinted parchment win­.don aDa~d~picting court life or~·fromNature or ~e mythical world.~ • tiDg and applie,(l arts of this~~ by b, livelydrawing and Bowing. lines .prooeeding froma BeDllitive feeling for Nature. Crete'sc10Be aesocia­tiOD with thesea is ex­pressed by theoonetantly re­ourriDg motifstaken fromthelife of the sea(FIos. I, 7. &1$). Richlychued weap­ons and. a,rti­08 of dailyuse made ofbronze, inlaywork of gold·and ivory, andnaturalistica1-

1)' painted or finely wrought vessels. bearwitnt'SS to great artistic maturity (FIos.]6 & ]7).

THE MINOS

About 1700 B.C., relations with Egypt.which had fallen into the hands of theconquering Hyksos, were interrupted. anevent which contributed toward increas­ing the superiority of Kn08808 overPhaistos. Consequently, the Cretans con­centrated more on trade with the islandsof the Aegean and undertook a very8ucceBBful export campaign to the Greekmainland, where they came as the bring­ers of superior civilization, teclmology.and organization.

From that tinlC on. theMinos of Knossos onjoyedunchallenged supremacyover the whole island. Oneshould not imagine a def­inite ruling personality tobe represented by the term"Minos." There was a

FlO. Ii. Tho M' . r1' h~{inot.aur • mol'! m \ ·rete Just as t ere

was a Pharaoh in Egypt,a Caesar in Rome, and a Tsar inRussia.. "Minos" is the dynastio titleof the king in Kn08s0S (FlO. 11). TheMinos was above all a priest-king andwas regarded as the incarnation of theMinotaur, the bull-god (FlO. 5). Thoinvestiture of the royal power for aperiod of nine years was carried out by

a religiousceremony. Atthe end ofthese nineyears. theMinos ascend­ed the holymountain ofthe island and00 n versedwith theMino­taur in thedreaded laby­rinth, fromwhich,accord­ing to legend,no mortal es­caped except

~48 THE XXtb CENTURY

the clever Theseus with his ball of wool. Ifthe Minos' administration found favor inthe eyes of the gods, his term of govern­ment was renewed for a further period ofnine years.

The Minos was simultaneously thesupreme judge of his people. His legis­lation and the strict justice of his sen­tences w<>re so famous that legend madehim olle of the three judges over the deadin Hades. The throne room where hecarried out his functions is still preserved(FIG. 8). The Minos bore the samei1l!~ignia as the bull-god: the scepter andthe double-axe (FlO. 19). Besides these,there appears, apparently as a symbolof the ruling dynasty, another emblem-the three lilies. In a stucco reliefpainting (FlO. 11), the king is wearing thecrown of fleur-dc-lis topped with greatplumes and the necklace of fleur-de-lis.All royal decrees were published in ascript reserved for this purpose-a specialform of the above-mentioned linear sys­tem (known as the "Evans Linear ScriptClass B").

Since the country was completely paci­fied, all fortifications were demolished.The fleet offered enough security andwas the most effective instrument ofpower. Art experienced its heyday, butlacked its earlier spontaneity and free­dom and took on a conventional appear­ance. Artists were given state com­missions for frescoes, bronze articles,glazed terracotta tiles, weapons, andmany other things. It was the period ofwhat is known as the "Palace style"(FlO. 9).

THREE LILIES COMETO GREECE

In the sphere offoreign poli~ics, theCretan empITe nowhad the greatest suc­cess in all the 2,500years of its history:its economic and cul­tural penetration ofGreece.

The Cretan merchantswith their high-quality

products had become the pioneersfor the culture and the political influenceof their native island. Soon the wholeArgolis was Cretanized. The Greekslearnt to cultivate vines and olive trees.~tan architects built mighty castles,like those of Mycenae and Tyrins, for thelords of Argolis and constructed princelyunderground family tombs for themwhich remained intact for more thanthree thousand years, until Schliemann'sgenius unearthed their splendor. Artistsfrom Crete adorned these castles withfrescoes and equipped them with preciousobjects. Greek ladies wore model dresses(full skirts with bolero jackets) fromKnossos (FIG. 12). Even the goddessR~ea, the great mother of the mountains,InlStress of all animals, moved over tothe Greek mainland with her attributesand all her liturgy.

From the plain of Argolis, this streamof culture flowed on to Corinth. Cretanmerchant ships called at all the ooastaltowns of the Peloponnesos. Via theisland of Cythera, where they took soap­stone vases, the ships reached Laconica.The two towns of Pylos on the westcoast of the Peloponnesos, where theCretans delivered swords and vessels,developed into ports whence furtheradvances were undertaken into the Gulfof Corinth and via the Ionic Islands intothe Adriatic. The flow of goods reachedAegina and Euboea, thence Thebes andOrchomenos, Athens, Thorikos, Iolkos,and Volos. In those days, Athens hadto supply seven youths and seven maidensevery year as toreadors for the bullfightsin Knossos. Legend later turned this

into human sacrifices forthe Minotaur. Bullfightsseem to have been avery popular form ofentertainment in Creteat that time, and wo findnumerous bullfightingscenes among the frescoesin Kn08S0S.

The Cretans landed inKrissa and in this waybrought their gods andtheir religion to Delphi.

F,e:, II, !'"illl"d "III'''''' 1'I,Iid "f 111"

"I'ri",-t.I'ill,!.!," III "'I" IIf til:' ""rridllr,- "I'

I "l' /,:.1 ii",'

. I, II"'d

IN THE PALACE OF THE MI:\OS

~~

~

Fit;, !I, Fr,',""o 11i11l1ll1l~ III II,

1"1';, III, 1';Wl'r, 1':I"ill,_, :llId 11:111111" fr'"11 t ""I' .I:" ... 1'1'111'"" 1111:11'11 (il" rlllllld)

4,000 YEARS OF CRETEFlf:, J:l. ('''''\an larl\' (:?t1 th ('('nl A.n.)

1:11;. II. \lagazilH' .in 1'", with ('''II\'('lIti"nilliz('d

l'ord d('('orati"ll (aholt! :,!Oth ('pnt. B.l'.)

FII;. 1,-,. \Ingazinl' jar" (:,!t1 th ('('nl. :\.1 ),)

FI(:. Iii t :aflling honn!. glittering wit h gold

[Inri siil'('r, i\'or,\', and hlIH' (,flallll,1

CRETE-THE RISE AND FALL OF A NAVAL POWER 51

A Cretan architect designed the interiordecoration of the Cadmeia, the castle ofThebes. Experts in underground engineer­ing from Crete drained Lake Copnis.Finally, evcn Thessalia was reachedby this influence, overland via Phocis andby sea through the Pagasaic Gulf. About1450 B.C., pottery of Cretan origin reachedthe foot of llount OlympU8. ThroughoutGreece the sign of the three lilies wasto be found. In Thera and Phylakopi,in Mycenae and Pylog, it appeared infrescoes, earthenware, weapons, and ivorycarvings. The empire of the Minos wasthe empire of the three lilies.

However, overseas trade to distantshores also flourished. In Iberia, theCretans exchanged gl888 beads for valu­able tin; inMarseillesthey obtaineda connectionwith the over­land route ofthe Rh6nevalley; fromthe Lipari Is­lands theyob­tained lip&­rite, whichis rich inquartz, for themanufacture of vesaeJs and lamps ;they supplied Sardinia with orefrom CyprUB; from the mouth of theRiver Po they obtained amber; and be­tween Sicily' and Troy they acted asbrokers. They settled on the islands ofKarpath08 and Cos and founded the threelargest &8 well as many small towns onRhodes. Cyprus was for Kn0880s notonly a storage place for goods and thejumping-ofl place for trade with AsiaMinor: the economic penetration of thatisland went 80 far that Crete held theentire fon-ign trade of Cyprus in its ownhands.

The driving out of t.he Hyksos fromEgypt and the conquest of Palestine andSyria by Pharaoh Thutm08is I (1539­1514 B.C.) enabled the Cretall8 to re­f'8tabJish their former relations with thesecountries. From Syria they obtained

cedarwood, ivory, perfumes, and horses,and in return they supplied mainly stirrupva·ses and weapons. Toward tho north­east, the ships of the Minos carried frf'ightto the Danube and, through the Dar­danellcs, linked up with the trade broughtby caravans from the East..

TH"E FALL OF AN EMPmy.

After a certain length of time, thc lordsof Mycenae and Tyrins sought to ridthemselves of their Cretan mentors andsuppliers, in order to eliminate the polit­ical influence of the Minos in Greece.The Greeks had realized that, in thelong run, they could only defend them­selves against Crete if they succeeded inbreaking its naval superiority. For this

purpose theyhad fil'8t tobecome ca­pable seamenthemselves ­although theydid not evenhave a wordfor "sea"(thala88a wasa foreign wordborrowedfrom pre-Hel­lenic timcs)

and at first called the sen '·inhospitable."Once they were aecU8tomed to the sea,they began not only to do withouttheir former teaehers but even to rep"resent an unpleasant competition.

The incipient change in the politicalaspect of the eastern Mediterranean firstmade itself felt by a diplomatic event:Egypt, who was a leading power underAmenhetep II (1447-1420 B.C.) and de­sired to free her trade from the agencymonopoly of the "Keftiu." as the Cretanswere called in Egyptian documents, cameto an agreement with the lords of Mycenaeregarding a direct exchange of goods.The successors of Amenhetep continuedthis policy. This soon resulted in aninevitable conflict between Knossos andthe lords of Argolis.

About 1400 B.C. the fleet of the Miuo."lhad been sent out on a punith'e eXp<'di·

152 THE L"ttb CENTURY

FIo. 18

tion against King Kokalos of Sicily andon its return was wrecked on the southerncoast of Italy. At this moment, a sur­prise landing of the Mycenaeans and theirallies took place on Crete. Since nofortifications, even in the ports, had beenbuilt after the suppression of the revoltof 1580 B.C., the attack was successful.When the conquerors stormed the palaceat Knossos, the Minos was rushed by hisfollowers into the throne room, where hewas to be made invulnerable by anointingwith sacred oil. However, there was notime for this, as the fire laid by theenemy had spread very quickly, Imple­ments of worship and oil vessels had tobe abandoned: they were found threethousand years later under the ruins justas they had been left (FIG. 10). Duringtheir flight through the maze of palacebuildings, the king and his court foundtheir death under the collapsing, blazingbuildings.

So ended the last Minos. The countr~r

shared his fate. Towns and residenceswent up in flames and buried the powerand the glory of the Minoan civilizationunder their debris. Henceforth, Egyp­tian documents ceased to mention the"Keftiu"; they now belonged to history.

THE STORY OF DAEDALUS

The collapse of thc rule of the king ofCrete was felt to be so epoch-making anevent at that time that it later found its

W8,\' into leg­end in thestorv of Daed­a 1 ,~ san dlearus.

Accordingto this myth,when Daeda­lus of Athens,a genius inartand engineer­ing (a sort ofLeonardo daVinci of an­cient times)was returninghome from

Fro. 17 E gyp t y i a

Crete, he was engaged byMinos to construct the ill­famed labyrinth of Knossos.When the fair - hairedAriadne, the daughter ofMinos, fell in love withTheseus, one of the tributeyouths from Athens, Daed­alus advised her to giveTheseus the ball of woolby the aid of which hef~und his way out of thela.byrinth. Minos heard ofthis and sought to avengehimself on Daedalus andhis son Icarus. Both ofthem attempted .to flee, but Minoshad all the shores of the islandwatched. So Daedalus made wings forhimself and his son which he fastenedwith wa·x into wooden frames, and bothescaped into the air. Icarus, who flewtoo near to the sun, fell into tho sea. Hisfather reaehed Italy, whence he went toKing Kokalus of Sicily. Upon hearingthis news, Minos equipped a vast ex­peditionary force in order to apprehendDaedalus. Kokalus, however, refuSed. therequest to hand over Daedalus. There­upon the Cretan fleet besieged the capitalKamikos for five years, but in vain.After that it sailed away, and on thejouruey home it met ",ith the fatefulshipwreck.

SAFEGCARDL~G THE SEA LANES

Those of the native population whoremained after the massacre were made intosemi-independent state slaves, emigrated,01' were forced back into the mountains inthe eastern pa.rt of the island. By theend of the thirteenth century B.C., Cretanart was extinct, the Cretan languagesilent.

People and sta·te had probably died out.The Greeks had conquered Crete in thesame way as Rome later conquered Greece.Just as the Greeks became the spiritualteachers of Rome, the religious and spirit­ual elements of the Minoan civilizationhad penetrated into the life of the con­querors from the mainland and becameone of the foundations of Greek culture.

CRETE-THE RISE AND FALL OF A NAVAL POWER

FlO. 19. Agateintaglio. showingdouble·axe riaingfrom the head ofof the sacred bull

What are the underl,}ing causesof this sudden downfall? Duringthe COU1'8e of their history, theCretans had become accustomedto the idea that, because oftheir supremacy on the sea, theywere entitled to preferentialrights to the common routeof communication of the worldof that time-the Mediterranean. Theybelieved they had a title more or less topolice the sea. The other peoples tacitlyand in practice acknowledged this title,lince none of them possessed the meanseffectively to dispute it. Of course, theCretans also contributed to the commongood by exploring the lesser known searoutes and shores and by olearing theAegean of pirates.

STBIKL'iG PARA.LLEL

In the main, however, their navallupremacy served them in the achieve­ment of imperia.listic goals. The methodsthey employed to this end can be found in& 8Ul'prising parallel with the grea.t navalpower ofmodern times,the British Empire.

At first there appeared at certain places-ports or islands-the trader who reg­ularly returned by boat.; later the mcr­chant w"o founded a trading post, towhich a factory was soon added. Bythis means. craftsmen were settled whowere expert in new techniques and arts.Gradually the enterprise became a tradingcompany, which also penetrated into thehinterland. Then followed the priest withhis gods and rites. Meauwhilt.>, the eco­nomic dependence of the place had be­come 80 great that aU privileges desiredby the Cretans could be acquired withoutmuch trouble. Of course, the very exist­ence of the Cretan navy was enough togive every demand the necessary empha.sis. Later the trading posts were tUMledinto naval bases, which a.s;uin wero the8tarting points for new un,lertakings byeea or by land.

The outward forms of control differedgreatly in the various placeR. To lise

modem terms, Cyprus was aprotectorate, Rhodes, Cos, andKarpathos were crown oolonies,while the numerous ports called"Minoa" (for example, in SicilyandPalestine) were settlements. In thecase of Egypt, who was a greatpower herself, theCretans weresat­isfied with a free port on Pharos.

Naturally, a young and warlike peoplesuoh as the Greeks were bound to opposethis economic encirclement with its po­litical consequences as soon as conditionswere favorable. The Cretan fleet was nolonger a threat. Minoan oivilization hadbeen visibly deteriorating since the four­teenth century B.C. The population hadfallen into a life of luxury, and its moraland physical power of resistance hadlanguished. Military training and ideaswere neglected and foreign mercenariesemployed instead (from Nubia, for in­stance). Significantly enough, we find nomonument dedicated to the martial spiritin Crete.

It is true that these political andeconomic reasons were not the 80le causeof the campaign against Crete. TheGreeks themselves were exposed to strongpressure on the part of barbarians pene­trating from the north. Through theexpulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt, thetribes in the Near East, especially inAsia Minor, had been disturbed. Themigratory movement thus caused hadcontinued ac1'088 the Hellespont into theBalkan oountries and led to warlikeherdsmen tribes from the mountainspenetrating into Greece. Thus the de­struction of Knossos oan partially betraced to oonnections similar to thoeeexisting between the invasion of theHuns in Europe and the oonquest ofRome by the Visigoths. In the finalanalysis, the history of mankind shows aconstant repetition of that fate accordingto which those who are feasting at thetables of life are driven from hall andpalace by the hungry "have-nots."