Built before the days when the Israelis followed Moses out of Egypt, the palace of King Minos was unlike anything found in the entire western world.
The
people of Crete were a sea-faring people, and they traded their wine, olive oil, metal work and pottery in the small towns and settlements found across the Eastern Mediterranean. Knossos was an important city - and a busy one, as over one hundred thousand people lived there. The Labyrinth of Knossos served as both temple and palace to King Minos. The Labyrinth is what one calls a maze today, for it was easy to get lost in its halls and passages. The Labyrinth was also the place where the Hero Theseus slew the Minotaur – a creature half bull and half man.
Being sailors and traders, the people of Crete loved the sea; which they also depicted in their
art and sculpture. Their art was noted for its naturalness, and their work in ivory, bronze and gold has not been excelled since. Bull-fighting (or, properly speaking, leaping over bulls) was a popular sport. They were also fond of dancing and music.
Though they had discovered the art of writing, their clay tablets have not yet been deciphered.
The people of Crete ruled over many neighboring islands, and the coasts of
mainland Greece. However, this proved to be their undoing, as the Greeks learned many of their skills (such as weaponry and shipbuilding), and made rapid strides themselves. Though the political power of Knossos was overthrown around 1400 B.C., Cretan art and culture continued to flourish in the cities of mainland Greece.
Crete stands at the very crossroads between history and prehistory, for beyond Crete the time of legend begins. The Cretan people were the first Europeans to develop a civilized way of life, and the civilization of Crete was the first real European civilization. Through Greece and Rome, their culture, tastes and ideas have spread across all of Europe.
Even today, when one examines their art,
sculpture and pottery, their dress, dance and music, or even the buildings of ancient Crete, one is astonished at how modern they look and feel…
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