For purposes of Archaeology the period when middle-eastern civilizations were developing hieroglyphics is referred to as proto-history. Incredible discoveries on Crete point to a continuous habitation of that island since neolithic times. Herein I will discuss why it is thought the legends and accomplishments of Minoan culture gave birth to the miracle of Greek civilization.

Human cultural development from stone age campers at Knossos, into palace dwelling kings, is proved by the depth of the levels of their settlements. The deepest in Europe, these sites can be linked with the earliest phases of pre-dynastic Egypt, the Near East, and Anatolia. By carbon-14 dating the age of these settlements is between 6000 and 2600 B.C.

In the third millenium B.C. a small influx of Libyan/Armenian peoples brought advances in metal working, sea faring, and trade to this propitiously located geographical position in the Mediterranean Sea. Throughout the Bronze Age Crete was a prosperous hub of commercial endeavours.

The terrain of the island, however, was mainly suited to stock raising and pasturage; not to agricultural use. In the primitive thought-world elemental forces (idols) were worshipped, and the figure of a bull (a fertility symbol) was everywhere. King Minos was divinely ordained to command the herds, and to lead the people.

The existence of a cuneiform written language known as Linear A, which was used by early Minoans circa 2600 B.C. is contemporaneous with civilizations in the Nile and Tigris/Euphrates Valleys.

Beginning about 1600 B.C. successive geological events degraded the island's livability. Residents of Crete were forced to muster the resources of the entire clan in order to engineer remedies. Extensive public works were undertaken: viaducts, paved roads, reservoirs, fountains. It's evident that fresh water supplies were carried via terracotta pipes a distance of up to ten miles from the interior to the coast.

Built to conform to the steep, rocky bluffs, palaces rambled, maze-like up & down the cliffs. Decorated with murals, marble facings, light-wells and courtyards Minoan ruins present an enigma of ancient civilization.

As the Bronze Age reached it's height, further immigration from the far reaches of the Black Sea brought an increasing diversity in physiognomy. While at first the people of Crete had been defined by genos; the culture evolved into a matrilineal succession of land tenure; and then to social classes-- peasants, craftsmen, priests, etc.

Three successive geological events devastated the New Palace civilization: first in 1600 B.C., again around 1450 B.C., and finally Knossos was destroyed for good -- according to Homeric myth -- sinking beneath the sea in 1380 B.C.

The poet Homer wrote of Crete circa 800 B.C., as a back drop to his literary masterpiece, The Odyssey, which journey supposedly took place in the locale of the Aegean Sea circa 1200 B.C. My synopsis of The World of Odysseus (M.I. Finley. The Viking Press. New York. 1954) is located here.

Stay tuned as the story unfolds...