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115-513: The Minoan civilization developed from the local Neolithic culture around 3100   BC, with complex urban settlements beginning around 2000   BC. After c.   1450   BC, they came under the cultural and perhaps political domination of the mainland Mycenaean Greeks , forming a hybrid culture which lasted until around 1100   BC. Minoan art included elaborately decorated pottery , seals , figurines , and colorful frescoes . Typical subjects include nature and ritual. Minoan art

230-427: A Mycenaean market, or Mycenaean overlords of Crete. While Minoan figures, whether human or animal, have a great sense of life and movement, they are often not very accurate, and the species is sometimes impossible to identify; by comparison with Ancient Egyptian art they are often more vivid, but less naturalistic. In comparison with the art of other ancient cultures there is a high proportion of female figures, though

345-515: A big explosion that led to the mobilization of government troops across the island. Following the destruction of the DSE units in the east, Cretan DSE numbered around 300 fighters. Crop failure during 1947 had created food shortages in Crete which were much more severe among the rebels who lacked access to the cities. The communists resorted to cattle rustling and confiscated 70,000 okades of potatoes from

460-468: A crucial source of information on the economics and social organization in the final year of the palace. Minoan sites continue to be excavated, recent discoveries including the necropolis at Armeni and the harbour town of Kommos . The modern term "Minoan" is derived from the name of the mythical King Minos , who the Classical Greeks believed to have ruled Knossos in the distant past. It

575-675: A few in the Aegean islands. The Minoans established themselves in many islands besides Ancient Crete : secure identifications of Minoan off-island sites include Kea , Kythera , Milos , Rhodes , and above all, Thera (Santorini). Because of a lack of written records, estimates of the Minoan chronology are based on well-established Minoan pottery styles, which can at points be tied to Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern chronologies by finds away from Crete and clear influences. Archaeologists ever since Sir Arthur Evans have identified and uncovered

690-656: A gradual shift from localized clan-based villages towards the more urbanized and stratified society of later periods. EM I (c. 3100-2650 BC) is marked by the appearance of the first painted ceramics. Continuing a trend that began during the Neolithic, settlements grew in size and complexity, and spread from fertile plains towards highland sites and islands as the Minoans learned to exploit less hospitable terrain. EM II (c. 2650-2200 BC) has been termed an international era. Trade intensified and Minoan ships began sailing beyond

805-610: A multinational naval force, the International Squadron , to Cretan waters in February 1897. The squadron's senior admirals formed an "Admirals Council" which temporarily governed the island. The International Squadron bombarded Cretan insurgents, placed sailors and marines ashore, and instituted a blockade of Crete and key ports in Greece, bringing organized combat on the island to an end by late March 1897. Soldiers from

920-570: A new front of resistance. After the conquest of mainland Greece, Germany turned to Crete and the last stage of the Balkans campaign. After a fierce and bloody conflict between Nazi Germany and the Allies (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and Greece) that lasted ten days (between the 20 and 31 May 1941), the island fell to the Germans. On the morning of 20 May 1941, Crete was the theater of

1035-544: A population increase. In the late Neolithic, the donkey and the rabbit were introduced to the island; deer and agrimi were hunted. The Kri-kri , a feral goat, preserves traits of the early domesticates. Horse, fallow deer and hedgehog are only attested from Minoan times onwards. Crete was the centre of Europe's most ancient civilization, the Minoans . Tablets inscribed in Linear A have been found in numerous sites in Crete, and

1150-434: A variety of techniques. The most famous of these are a few inlaid with elaborate scenes in gold and silver set against a black (or now black) " niello " background, whose actual material and technique have been much discussed. These have long thin scenes running along the centre of the blade, which show the violence typical of the art of Mycenaean Greece, as well as a sophistication in both technique and figurative imagery that

1265-524: A well-attested language family such as Indo-European or Semitic . After 1450 BC, a modified version of Linear A known as Linear B was used to write Mycenaean Greek , which had become the language of administration on Crete. The Eteocretan language attested in a few post-Bronze Age inscriptions may be a descendant of the Minoan language. Largely forgotten after the Late Bronze Age collapse ,

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1380-587: Is certain regarding their pantheon . The Minoans constructed enormous labyrinthine buildings which their initial excavators labeled Minoan palaces . Subsequent research has shown that they served a variety of religious and economic purposes rather than being royal residences, though their exact role in Minoan society is a matter of continuing debate. The Minoans traded extensively, exporting agricultural products and luxury crafts in exchange for raw metals which were difficult to obtain on Crete. Through traders and artisans, their cultural influence reached beyond Crete to

1495-552: Is comparable to butter in northern European cuisine. The process of fermenting wine from grapes was probably a factor of the "Palace" economies; wine would have been a trade commodity and an item of domestic consumption. Farmers used wooden plows , bound with leather to wooden handles and pulled by pairs of donkeys or oxen . Seafood was also important in Cretan cuisine. The prevalence of edible molluscs in site material and artistic representations of marine fish and animals (including

1610-674: Is far from clear; one room in Akrotiri has been argued to be a bedroom, with remains of a bed, or a shrine. Animals, including an unusual variety of marine fauna, are often depicted; the Marine Style is a type of painted palace pottery from MM III and LM IA that paints sea creatures including octopus spreading all over the vessel, and probably originated from similar frescoed scenes; sometimes these appear in other media. Scenes of hunting and warfare, and horses and riders, are mostly found in later periods, in works perhaps made by Cretans for

1725-514: Is in part due to the possible presence of dwarf elephants in contemporary Egyptian art. Not all plants and flora were purely functional, and arts depict scenes of lily-gathering in green spaces. The fresco known as the Sacred Grove at Knossos depicts women facing left, flanked by trees. Some scholars have suggested that it is a harvest festival or ceremony to honor the fertility of the soil. Artistic depictions of farming scenes also appear on

1840-466: Is indicated by the construction of terraces and dams at Pseira in the Late Minoan period. Cretan cuisine included wild game: Cretans ate wild deer, wild boar and meat from livestock. Wild game is now extinct on Crete. A matter of controversy is whether Minoans made use of the indigenous Cretan megafauna, which are typically thought to have been extinct considerably earlier at 10,000   BC. This

1955-426: Is notably poor in metals, a fact believed to have spurred the Minoans' interest in international trade. The island is seismically active, with signs of earthquake damage at many Minoan sites. The majority of Minoan sites are found in central and eastern Crete, with few in the western part of the island, especially to the south. The Minoans were traders, and their cultural contacts reached Egypt , Cyprus , Canaan and

2070-474: Is often described as having a fantastical or ecstatic quality, with figures rendered in a manner suggesting motion. Little is known about the structure of Minoan society. Minoan art contains no unambiguous depiction of a monarch, and textual evidence suggests they may have had some other form of governance. Likewise, it is unclear whether there was ever a unified Minoan state. Religious practices included worship at peak sanctuaries and sacred caves , but nothing

2185-683: Is pre-ceramic Neolithic farming-community remains which date to about 7000   BC. A comparative study of DNA haplogroups of modern Cretan men showed that a male founder group, from Anatolia or the Levant , is shared with the Greeks. The Neolithic population lived in open villages. Fishermen's huts were found on the shores, and the fertile Messara Plain was used for agriculture. Early Minoan society developed largely continuously from local Neolithic predecessors, with some cultural influence and perhaps migration from eastern populations. This period saw

2300-585: Is startlingly original in a Greek context. Metal vessels were produced in Crete from at least as early as EM II (c. 2500   BC) in the Prepalatial period through to LM IA (c. 1450   BC) in the Postpalatial period and perhaps as late as LM IIIB/C (c. 1200   BC), although it is likely that many of the vessels from these later periods were heirlooms from earlier periods. The earliest were probably made exclusively from precious metals , but from

2415-575: Is thought that Crete was inhabited from about 130,000 years ago, in the Lower Paleolithic , perhaps not continuously, with a Neolithic farming culture from the 7th millennium BC onwards. The first settlers introduced cattle , sheep , goats , pigs , and dogs , as well as domesticated cereals and legumes . Remains of a settlement found under the Bronze Age palace at Knossos date to the 7th millennium BC. Up to now, Knossos remains

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2530-408: Is thought to have had a religious significance; bull's heads are also a popular subject in terracotta and other sculptural materials. There are no figures that appear to be portraits of individuals, or are clearly royal, and the identities of religious figures is often tentative, with scholars uncertain whether they are deities, clergy or devotees. Equally, whether painted rooms were "shrines" or secular

2645-684: The Harvester Vase (an egg-shaped rhyton ), which depicts 27 men led by another carrying bunches of sticks to beat ripe olives from the trees. Neolithic Crete The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC , preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe. During the Iron Age , Crete developed an Ancient Greece -influenced organization of city-states , then successively became part of

2760-705: The Black Sea region, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (the Mithridatic Wars ) to break Roman dominion over Asia and the Hellenic world . He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. Since 133 BCE western and central Anatolia had been under Roman control , but Hellenistic culture remained predominant. On the pretext that Knossos was backing Mithridates VI, Marcus Antonius Creticus attacked Crete in 71 BCE and

2875-484: The Classical and Hellenistic period Crete fell into a pattern of combative city-states, harboring pirates. In the late 4th century BC, the aristocratic order began to collapse due to endemic infighting among the elite, and Crete's economy was weakened by prolonged wars between city states. During the 3rd century BC, Gortyn , Kydonia ( Chania ), Lyttos and Polyrrhenia challenged the primacy of ancient Knossos. While

2990-582: The Cretan shrew ( Crocidura zimmermanni ), as well as the large terrestrial Cretan owl ( Athene cretensis ) all of which but the shrew are now extinct. Stone tools indicate that the island was inhabited by Mesolithic hunter gatherers during the Early Holocene. The Neolithic begins on Crete around 9000 years Before Present /7000 BC. In the Neolithic period , some of the early influences on

3105-686: The Early Iron Age . The Minoan Civilization was centered on the island of Crete , with additional settlements around the Aegean Sea . Crete is located in the south of the Aegean, situated along maritime trade routes that connect Europe , Africa , and the Middle East . Because it straddles the Mediterranean and African climate zones, with land at a variety of elevations, it provides a diverse array of natural resources. However, it

3220-922: The Minoan language . Potentially related terms were used by a variety of Near Eastern cultures, and the Biblical term Caphtor has sometimes been identified with Crete. Two systems of relative chronology are used for the Minoans. The first, based on pottery styles, divides Minoan history into three major periods: Early Minoan (EM), Middle Minoan (MM) and Late Minoan (LM). These periods can be divided using Roman numerals (e.g. EM I, EM II, EM III), which can be further divided using capital letters (e.g. LM IIIA, LMIIIB, LM IIIC). An alternative system, proposed by Greek archaeologist Nikolaos Platon , divides Minoan history into four periods termed Prepalatial, Protopalatial, Neopalatial, and Postpalatial. Establishing an absolute chronology has proved difficult. Archaeologists have attempted to determine calendar dates by synchronizing

3335-760: The Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Venetian Republic , the Ottoman Empire , an autonomous state, and the modern state of Greece . Excavations in South Crete in 2008–2009 revealed stone tools at least 130,000 years old, including bifacial ones of Acheulean type. This was a sensational discovery, as the previously accepted earliest sea crossing in the Mediterranean was thought to occur around 12,000 BC. This suggests that

3450-573: The Romans started to interfere in Cretan affairs. In the 2nd century BC Ierapytna ( Ierapetra ) gained supremacy on eastern Crete. Mithridates VI Eupator , ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia , waged war against the Roman Republic in the year 88 BCE in order to halt the advance of Roman hegemony in the Aegean Sea region. Mithridates VI sought to dominate Asia Minor and

3565-699: The Ship Procession miniature fresco from Akrotiri , land with a settlement as well, give a wider landscape than is usual. The largest and best collection of Minoan art is in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum ("AMH") near Knossos , on the northern coast of Crete. Many different styles of potted wares and techniques of production are observable throughout the history of Crete. Early Minoan ceramics were characterized by patterns of spirals , triangles , curved lines, crosses , fish bones , and beak-spouts. However, while many of

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3680-517: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Kftjw " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try the purge function . Titles on Misplaced Pages are case sensitive except for

3795-527: The marine style of pottery decoration. Late Minoan I (c. 1700-1470 BC) was a continuation of the prosperous Neopalatial culture. A notable event from this era was the eruption of the Thera volcano , which occurred around 1600 BC towards the end of the LM IA subperiod. One of the largest volcanic explosions in recorded history, it ejected about 60 to 100 cubic kilometres (14 to 24 cu mi) of material and

3910-482: The potter's wheel during MM IB, producing wares such as Kamares ware . MM II (c. 1875–1700 BC) saw the development of the Minoan writing systems, Cretan hieroglyphic and Linear A . It ended with mass destructions generally attributed to earthquakes, though violent destruction has been considered as an alternative explanation. MM III (c. 1750–1700 BC) marks the beginning of the Neopalatial period. Most of

4025-579: The siege of Candia (1648–1669), possibly the longest siege in history. The last Venetian outpost on the island, Spinalonga , fell in 1718, and Crete was a part of the Ottoman Empire for the next two centuries. There were significant rebellions against Ottoman rule, particularly in Sfakia . Daskalogiannis was a famous rebel leader. One result of the Ottoman conquest was that a sizeable proportion of

4140-484: The 13th century. Minoan strata replaced a mainland-derived early Bronze Age culture, the earliest Minoan settlement outside Crete. The Cyclades were in the Minoan cultural orbit and, closer to Crete, the islands of Karpathos , Saria and Kasos also contained middle-Bronze Age (MMI-II) Minoan colonies or settlements of Minoan traders. Most were abandoned in LMI, but Karpathos recovered and continued its Minoan culture until

4255-465: The 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Due to the economic and intellectual growth observed in Crete during the Venetian era, Cretan literature was rich in quantity and quality and important for the subsequent course of Modern Greek literature. The peaceful living and contact with a developed intellectual and cultural people were the factors that contributed to the cultivation of education and literature and

4370-521: The 15–17th centuries. Georgios Hortatzis was author of the dramatic work Erophile . The painter Domenicos Theotocopoulos , better known as El Greco , was born in Crete in this period and was trained in Byzantine iconography before moving to Italy and later, Spain. During the Cretan War (1645–1669) , Venice was pushed out of Crete by the Ottoman Empire , with most of the island lost after

4485-533: The 19th century), the admirals also decided to expel all Ottoman troops from Crete, which was accomplished on 6 November 1898. When Prince George of Greece arrived in Crete on 21 December 1898 (9 December according to the Julian calendar) as the first High Commissioner of the autonomous Cretan State , Crete effectively was detached from the Ottoman Empire, although it remained under the Sultan's suzerainty . After

4600-847: The Aegean Sea, and a thorn in Byzantium's side. Successive campaigns to recover the island failed until the Byzantine reconquest of Crete in 961 CE, when the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas defeated and expelled the Muslim Arabs and Berbers from Crete for the Byzantine Empire, and made the island into a theme . The Byzantine Greeks held power over the island until the Fourth Crusade (1204). In its aftermath, possession of

4715-460: The Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. Minoan craftsmen were employed by foreign elites, for instance to paint frescoes at Avaris in Egypt. The Minoans developed two writing systems known as Cretan hieroglyphs and Linear A . Because neither script has been fully deciphered , the identity of the Minoan language is unknown. Based on what is known, the language is regarded as unlikely to belong to

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4830-463: The Aegean to Egypt and Syria, possibly enabled by the invention of masted ships. Minoan material culture shows increased international influence, for instance in the adoption of Minoan seals based on the older Near Eastern seal . Minoan settlements grew, some doubling in size, and monumental buildings were constructed at sites that would later become palaces. EM III (c. 2200-2100 BC) saw the continuation of these trends. MM I (c. 2100–1875 BC) saw

4945-631: The Axis powers began on 6 April 1941 and was complete within a few weeks despite the intervention of the armies of the Commonwealth along with Greece. King George II and the Government of Emmanouil Tsouderos were forced to flee Athens and took refuge in Crete on April 23. Crete was also the refuge of Commonwealth troops that fled from the beaches of Attica and the Peloponnese to Crete to organize

5060-607: The Christian Cretans maintained their ultimate aim of union with Greece, and tensions between the Christian and Muslim communities ran high. Thus, in 1866 the great Cretan Revolt began. The uprising, which lasted for three years, involved volunteers from Greece and other European countries, where it was viewed with considerable sympathy, particularly after the Arkadi Holocaust . Despite early successes of

5175-422: The Cretan capital. After autonomy, he was first a minister in the government of Prince George and then his most formidable opponent. In 1910 Venizelos transferred his career to Athens, quickly became the dominant figure on the political scene and in 1912, after careful preparations for a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire with Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, allowed Cretan deputies to take their place in

5290-710: The Greek Parliament. This was treated as grounds for war by Ottoman Empire but the Balkan allies won a series of sweeping victories in the hostilities that followed (see Balkan Wars ). Ottoman Empire was effectively defeated in the ensuing war and were forced out of the Balkans and Thrace by the Alliance, except for the borders which Turkey continues to hold to this day. In 1939, the United Kingdom guaranteed military aid to Greece if its territorial integrity

5405-665: The Greek mainland show that the Minoans had far-reaching contacts on the mainland. In the 16th century a major earthquake caused destruction on Crete and on Thera that was swiftly repaired. The collapse of the Mycenaean civilization was followed by the appearance of the first Greek city-states in the 9th century BC and the epics of Homer in the 8th century BC. Some of the Dorian cities that prospered on Crete during those times are Kydonia , Lato , Dreros , Gortyn and Eleutherna . In

5520-483: The Late Minoan period, flowers and animals were still characteristic but more variety existed. However, in contrast to later Ancient Greek vase painting , paintings of human figures are extremely rare, and those of land mammals not common until late periods. Shapes and ornament were often borrowed from metal tableware that has largely not survived, while painted decoration probably mostly derives from frescos. Minoan jewellery has mostly been recovered from graves, and until

5635-532: The Levantine coast and Anatolia. Minoan-style frescoes have been found at elite residences in Avaris and Tel Kabri . Minoan techniques and ceramic styles had varying degrees of influence on Helladic Greece . Along with Santorini, Minoan settlements are found at Kastri, Kythera , an island near the Greek mainland influenced by the Minoans from the mid-third millennium   BC (EMII) to its Mycenaean occupation in

5750-760: The Luftwaffe from mainland Greece to bypass the Royal Navy and the Hellenic Navy who still controlled the seas. On 1 June 1941 the Allies completely evacuated the island of Crete. Despite the victory of the German invaders, the elite German paratroopers suffered such heavy losses, from the resistance of the Allied troops and civilians, that Adolf Hitler forbade further airborne operations of such large scale for

5865-595: The Minoan civilization was rediscovered in the early twentieth century through archaeological excavation . The term "Minoan" was coined by Arthur Evans , who excavated at Knossos and recognized it as culturally distinct from the mainland Mycenaean culture. Soon after, Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier excavated the Palace of Phaistos and the nearby settlement of Hagia Triada . A major breakthrough occurred in 1952, when Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B, drawing on earlier work by Alice Kober . This decipherment unlocked

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5980-878: The Mycenaean culture on mainland Greece , and they are often regarded as the same tradition. Many precious metal vessels found on mainland Greece exhibit Minoan characteristics, and it is thought that these were either imported from Crete or made on the mainland by Minoan metalsmiths working for Mycenaean patrons or by Mycenaean smiths who had trained under Minoan masters. The Minoans raised cattle , sheep , pigs and goats , and grew wheat , barley , vetch and chickpeas . They also cultivated grapes , figs and olives , grew poppies for seed and perhaps opium. The Minoans also domesticated bees . Vegetables, including lettuce , celery , asparagus and carrots , grew wild on Crete. Pear , quince , and olive trees were also native. Date palm trees and cats (for hunting) were imported from Egypt. The Minoans adopted pomegranates from

6095-485: The Near East, but not lemons and oranges . They may have practiced polyculture , and their varied, healthy diet resulted in a population increase. Polyculture theoretically maintains soil fertility and protects against losses due to crop failure. Linear B tablets indicate the importance of orchards ( figs , olives and grapes) in processing crops for "secondary products". Olive oil in Cretan or Mediterranean cuisine

6210-542: The Ottoman Empire under an Ottoman Governor who had to be a Christian. A number of the senior "Christian Pashas" including Photiades Pasha and Kostis Adosidis Pasha ruled the island in the 1880s, presiding over a parliament in which liberals and conservatives contended for power. Disputes between the two powers led to a further insurgency in 1889 and the collapse of the Pact of Halepa arrangements. The international powers, disgusted at what seemed to be factional politics, allowed

6325-665: The Ottoman authorities to send troops to the island and restore order but did not anticipate that Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II would use this as a pretext to end the Halepa Pact Constitution and instead rule the island by martial law. This action led to international sympathy for the Cretan Christians and to a loss of any remaining acquiescence among them to continued Ottoman rule. When a small insurgency began in September 1895, it spread quickly, and by

6440-403: The Protopalatial period (MM IB – MM IIA) they were also produced in arsenical bronze and, subsequently, tin bronze . The archaeological record suggests that mostly cup-type forms were created in precious metals, but the corpus of bronze vessels was diverse, including cauldrons, pans, hydrias , bowls, pitchers, basins, cups, ladles and lamps. The Minoan metal vessel tradition influenced that of

6555-458: The advancing Russian army moving west across Europe. By the end of September, German and Italian troops began withdrawing from Crete. A small force of British troops landed on Crete on October 13, and both Rethymno and Heraklion were liberated as the occupying forces were withdrawn to the Chania area. Following VE Day British SOE officer Dennis Ciclitira arranged for Generalmajor Hans-Georg Benthack to formally surrender all German forces on

6670-434: The armies of five of the powers (Germany refused to participate) then occupied key cities in Crete during late March and April 1897. Eventually, the Admirals Council decided to establish an autonomous state within the Ottoman Empire on Crete. After a violent riot by Cretan Turks on 6 September 1898 (25 August according to the Julian calendar then in use on Crete, which was 12 days behind the modern Gregorian calendar during

6785-400: The artistic motifs are similar in the Early Minoan period, there are many differences that appear in the reproduction of these techniques throughout the island which represent a variety of shifts in taste as well as in power structures. There were also many small terracotta figurines. During the Middle Minoan period, naturalistic designs (such as fish, squid, birds and lilies) were common. In

6900-417: The cities continued to prey upon one another, they invited into their feuds mainland powers like Macedon and its rivals Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt . In 220 BC the island was tormented by a war between two coalitions of cities . As a result, the Macedonian king Philip V gained hegemony over Crete which lasted to the end of the Cretan War (205–200 BC), when the Rhodians opposed the rise of Macedon and

7015-506: The dating of the eruption of Thera , which is known to have occurred towards the end of the LM IA period. While carbon dating places this event (and thus LM IA) around 1600 BC, synchronism with Egyptian records would place it roughly a century later. Although stone-tool evidence suggests that hominins may have reached Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, evidence for the first anatomically modern human presence dates to 10,000–12,000 YBP . The oldest evidence of modern human habitation on Crete

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7130-487: The deaths of eighty-three German soldiers and another thirteen were taken as prisoners. There were reprisals for resistance, German officers routinely used firing squads against Cretan civilians and razed villages to the ground. Standing out amongst the atrocities, are the holocausts of Viannos and Kedros in Amari , the destruction of Anogeia and Kandanos and the massacre of Kondomari . By late 1944 German forces were withdrawing from Greece to avoid being cut off by

7245-448: The development of Cretan culture arise from the Cyclades and from Egypt ; cultural records are written in the undeciphered script known as " Linear A ". The archaeological record of Crete includes Minoan palaces , houses, roads, paintings and sculptures. Early Neolithic settlements in Crete include Knossos and Trapeza . For the earlier times, radiocarbon dating of organic remains and charcoal offers some dates. Based on this, it

7360-429: The distinctive Marine Style pottery, such as the LM IIIC "Octopus" stirrup jar ), indicate appreciation and occasional use of fish by the economy. However, scholars believe that these resources were not as significant as grain, olives and animal produce. "Fishing was one of the major activities...but there is as yet no evidence for the way in which they organized their fishing." An intensification of agricultural activity

7475-413: The emergence of Protopalatial society. During MM IA (c. 2100-1925 BC), populations increased dramatically at sites such as Knossos, Phaistos, and Malia, accompanied by major construction projects. During MM IB (c. 1925-1875 BC), the first palaces were built at these sites, in areas which had been used for communal ceremonies since the Neolithic. Middle Minoan artisans developed new colorful paints and adopted

7590-1241: The emergence of remarkable literary production. As a result of plagues of the Black Death , many Cretans migrated overseas during difficult periods on the island, some acquiring great fortune abroad, such as Constantine Corniaktos (c. 1517–1603) who became one of the richest people in Eastern Europe. kftjw#Proper noun Look for Kftjw on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Kftjw in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use

7705-488: The end of the Bronze Age. Other supposed Minoan colonies, such as that hypothesized by Adolf Furtwängler on Aegina , were later dismissed by scholars. However, there was a Minoan colony at Ialysos on Rhodes . Minoan cultural influence indicates an orbit extending through the Cyclades to Egypt and Cyprus. Fifteenth-century   BC paintings in Thebes, Egypt depict Minoan-appearing individuals bearing gifts. Inscriptions describing them as coming from keftiu ("islands in

7820-399: The expulsion of Ottoman forces in November 1898, the autonomous Cretan State (Official Greek name: Κρητική Πολιτεία ), headed by Prince George of Greece and Denmark, was founded under Ottoman suzerainty in December 1898. Prince George was replaced by Alexandros Zaimis in 1906, and in 1908, taking advantage of domestic turmoil in Turkey as well as the timing of Zaimis's vacation away from

7935-402: The famous shaft-grave burials contain many very richly decorated swords and daggers . In contrast spears and "slashing-knives" tend to be "severely functional". Many of the decorated weapons were probably made either in Crete, or by Cretans working on the mainland. Daggers are often the most lavishly decorated, with gold hilts that may be set with jewels, and the middle of the blade decorated with

8050-734: The finest Minoan art, the ability to create an atmosphere of movement and life although following a set of highly formal conventions". It forms part of the wider grouping of Aegean art , and in later periods came for a time to have a dominant influence over Cycladic art . Wood and textiles have decomposed, so most surviving examples of Minoan art are pottery , intricately-carved Minoan seals , palace frescos which include landscapes (but are often mostly "reconstructed"), small sculptures in various materials, jewellery, and metalwork. The relationship of Minoan art to that of other contemporary cultures and later Ancient Greek art has been much discussed. It clearly dominated Mycenaean art and Cycladic art of

8165-519: The first Cretan MAY  [ el ] units which were led by Bandouvas in Heraklion and "Kapetan" Gyparis in Chania. Encouraged by orders from the central organization in Athens, KKE launched an insurgency in Crete; marking the beginning of the Greek Civil War on the island. In eastern Crete the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) struggled to establish its presence in Dikti and Psilorites , after continuously clashing with local bandits, armed peasants and army units. The summer season severely limited

8280-417: The first major airborne assault in history. The Third Reich launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code name of "Operation Mercury". 17,000 paratroopers under the command of General Kurt Student were dropped at three strategic locations with airfields: Maleme , Heraklion , and Rethymnon . Their goal was the capture and control of the three airfields to allow the arrival of reinforcements airlifted by

8395-496: The frescoes, and many labrys pins survive. The Minoans mastered granulation , as indicated by the Malia Pendant , a gold pendant featuring bees on a honeycomb. This was overlooked by the 19th-century looters of a royal burial site they called the "Gold Hole". Fine decorated bronze weapons have been found in Crete, especially from LM periods, but they are far less prominent than in the remains of warrior-ruled Mycenae, where

8510-492: The hands of Andalusian Muslims under Abu Hafs in the years 820s CE, who established a piratical emirate on the island. The archbishop Cyril of Gortyn was killed and the city so thoroughly devastated it was never reoccupied. Candia (Chandax, modern Heraklion ), a city built by the Andalusian Muslims, was made capital of the island instead. The Emirate of Crete became a center of Muslim piratical activity in

8625-713: The hard tax policy exercised by Venice, overthrew official Venetian authorities and declared an independent Cretan Republic. The revolt took Venice five years to quell. During Venetian rule, the Greek population of Crete was exposed to Renaissance culture. A thriving literature in the Cretan dialect of Greek developed on the island. The best-known work from this period is the poem Erotokritos by Vitsentzos Kornaros (Βιτσένζος Κορνάρος). Another major Cretan literary figures were Marcus Musurus (1470–1517), Nicholas Kalliakis (1645–1707), Andreas Musalus (1665–1721), and other Greek scholars and philosophers who flourished in Italy in

8740-489: The idea that Minoans had only goddesses and no gods is now discounted. Most human figures are in profile or in a version of the Egyptian convention with the head and legs in profile, and the torso seen frontally; but the Minoan figures exaggerate features such as slim male waists and large female breasts. What is called landscape painting is found in both frescos and on painted pots, and sometimes in other media, but most of

8855-483: The island but was later relocated to Turkey under the general population exchange agreed upon in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne between Turkey and Greece. One of the most important figures to emerge from the end of Ottoman Crete was the liberal politician Eleftherios Venizelos , probably the most important statesman of modern Greece. Venizelos was an Athens-trained lawyer who was active in liberal circles in Chania, then

8970-567: The island may have been visited by archaic humans during the Middle Pleistocene . During the Late Pleistocene , the island was ecologically isolated, and only inhabited by a few mammal species, including deer belonging to the endemic genus Candiacervus , a lineage of mice ( Mus bateae , M. minotaurus ), a dwarf elephant ( Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi ), the Cretan otter ( Lutrogale (Isolalutra) cretensis ), and

9085-653: The island to Major-General Colin Callander . On May 9, 1945, Benthack signed an unconditional surrender at the Villa Ariadne at Knossos to Callander, effective "10 o'clock Greenwich Mean Time on the tenth day of May 1945" In the aftermath of the Dekemvriana in Athens, Cretan leftists were targeted by the right wing paramilitary organization National Organization of Rethymno (EOR), which engaged in attacks in

9200-571: The island was disputed between the Italian maritime republics of Genoa and Venice , with the latter eventually solidifying their control by 1212. Despite frequent revolts by the native population, the Venetians retained the island until 1669, when the Ottoman Empire took possession of it. (The standard survey for this period is I.F. Sanders, An archaeological survey and Gazetteer of Late Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine Crete , 1982) In

9315-515: The island was the scene of repeated hostilities. The Muslims were driven into the large fortified towns on the north coast and it would appear that as many as 60% of them died from plague or famine while there. The Cretan Christians also suffered severely, losing around 21% of their population in the 1830s. Crete was subsequently left out of the new Greek state established under the London Protocol of 1830 . Its administration by Muhammad Ali

9430-432: The island, marking the end of Neopalatial society. These destructions are thought to have been deliberate, since they spared certain sites in a manner inconsistent with natural disasters. For instance, the town at Knossos burned while the palace itself did not. The causes of these destructions have been a perennial topic of debate. While some researchers attributed them to Mycenaean conquerors, others have argued that they were

9545-650: The island, the Cretan deputies declared union with Greece. But this act was not recognized internationally until 1913 after the Balkan Wars when, by the Treaty of London , Sultan Mehmed V relinquished his formal rights to the island. In December, the Greek flag was raised at the Firkas fortress in Chania, with Eleftherios Venizelos and King Constantine in attendance, and Crete was unified with mainland Greece. The Cretan Turks minority of Crete initially remained on

9660-458: The last two hold outs surrendering in 1974, 25 years after the conclusion of the war in mainland Greece. An important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art with Latin influences, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages , reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople , becoming the central force in Greek painting during

9775-466: The later periods much of it consists of diadems and ornaments for women's hair, though there are also the universal types of rings, bracelets, armlets and necklaces, and many thin pieces that were sewn onto clothing. In the earlier periods gold was the main material, typically hammered very thin. but later it seemed to become scarce. The Minoans created elaborate metalwork with imported gold and copper. Bead necklaces, bracelets and hair ornaments appear in

9890-417: The mainland and the popularity of Venizelism and conservative politics among its population. The presence of numerous bandits, escaped convicts and armed deserters in the countryside further complicated the situation. An uneasy truce was maintained until 1947, with a series of arrests of notable communists in Chania and Heraklion. This was followed with the mass arming of right leaning villagers and creation of

10005-433: The middle of the sea") may refer to gift-bringing merchants or officials from Crete. Some locations on Crete indicate that the Minoans were an "outward-looking" society. The neo-palatial site of Kato Zakros is located within 100 meters of the modern shoreline in a bay. Its large number of workshops and wealth of site materials indicate a possible entrepôt for trade. Such activities are seen in artistic representations of

10120-557: The nationalists. On 4 July 1948, government troops launched a large scale offensive on Samariá Gorge . Many DSE soldiers were killed in the fighting while the survivors broke into small armed bands. In October 1948, the secretary of the Cretan KKE Giorgos Tsitilos was killed in an ambush. By the following month only 34 DSE fighters remained active in Lefka Ori. The insurgency in Crete gradually withered away, with

10235-465: The number of available water sources for the rebels, further limiting the space available for their maneuvers. On 1 July 1947, the surviving 55 fighters of DSE were ambushed south of Psilorites during an attempt to relocate to Mount Kedros . Commander Giannis Podias was killed and decapitated, the few surviving members of the unit managed to join the rest of DSE in Lefka Ori . The Lefka Ori region in

10350-402: The only aceramic site. The settlement covered approximately 350,000 square metres. The sparse animal bones contain the above-mentioned domestic species as well as deer, badger, marten and mouse: the extinction of the local megafauna had not left much game behind. Neolithic pottery is known from Knossos, Lera Cave and Gerani Cave. The Late Neolithic sees a proliferation of sites, pointing to

10465-426: The palace-complex at Knossos , the most famous Minoan site. Other palace sites in Crete such as Phaistos have uncovered magnificent stone-built, multi-story palaces containing drainage systems, and the queen had a bath and a flushing toilet. The expertise displayed in the hydraulic engineering was of a very high level. There were no defensive walls to the complexes. By the 16th century BC pottery and other remains on

10580-452: The palaces were rebuilt with architectural innovations, with the notable exception of Phaistos. Cretan hieroglyphs were abandoned in favor of Linear A, and Minoan cultural influence becomes significant in mainland Greece. The Late Minoan period was an eventful time that saw profound change in Minoan society. Many of the most recognizable Minoan artifacts date from this time, for instance the snake goddess figurines , La Parisienne Fresco , and

10695-555: The palaces, only Knossos remained in use, though it too was destroyed by LM IIIB2. The language of administration shifted to Mycenaean Greek and material culture shows increased mainland influence, reflecting the rise of a Greek-speaking elite. In Late Minoan IIIC (c. 1200-1075 BC), coinciding with the wider Late Bronze Age collapse , coastal settlements were abandoned in favor of defensible locations on higher ground. These small villages, some of which grew out of earlier mountain shrines, continued aspects of recognizably Minoan culture until

10810-445: The partition of the Byzantine empire after the capture of Constantinople by the armies of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Crete was eventually acquired by Venice , which held it for more than four centuries (the " Kingdom of Candia "). The most important of the many rebellions that broke out during that period was the one known as the revolt of St. Titus . It occurred in 1363, when indigenous Cretans and Venetian settlers exasperated by

10925-468: The periods of Minoan history with those of their better understood contemporaries. For example, Minoan artifacts from the LM IB period have been found in 18th Dynasty contexts in Egypt, for which Egyptian chronology provides calendar dates. However, dates determined in this manner do not always match the results of carbon dating and other methods based on natural science . Much of the controversy concerns

11040-496: The population gradually converted to Islam, with its tax and other civic advantages in the Ottoman system. Contemporary estimates vary, but on the eve of the Greek War of Independence as much as 45% of the population of the island may have been Muslim. Some Muslim converts were crypto-Christians , who converted back to Christianity; others fled Crete because of the unrest. By the last Ottoman census in 1881, Christians were 76% of

11155-650: The population, and Cretan Turks only 24%. Christians were over 90% of the population in 19 out of 23 of the districts of Crete, but Muslims were over 60% in the three large towns on the north coast, and in Monofatsi. The Greek War of Independence began in 1821, with extensive Cretan participation. An uprising by Christians met with a fierce response from the Ottoman authorities and the execution of several bishops, regarded as ringleaders. Sultan Mahmud II granted rule over Crete to Egypt's ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha in exchange for his military support. Between 1821 and 1828,

11270-573: The rebel leaders gradually submitted. By early 1869, the island was again under Ottoman control. During the Congress of Berlin in the summer of 1878, there was a further rebellion, which was halted quickly by the intervention of the British and the adaptation of the 1867-8 Organic Law into a constitutional settlement known as the Pact of Halepa . Crete became a semi-independent parliamentary state within

11385-569: The rebels, who quickly confined the Ottomans to the northern towns, the uprising failed. The Ottoman Grand Vizier A'ali Pasha personally assumed control of the Ottoman forces and launched a methodical campaign to retake the rural districts, which was combined with promises of political concessions , notably by the introduction of an Organic Law, which gave the Cretan Christians equal (in practice, because of their superior numbers, majority) control of local administration. His approach bore fruits, as

11500-426: The rest of the war. From the first days of the invasion, the local population organized a resistance movement, participating widely in guerrilla groups and intelligence networks. The first resistance groups formed in the Cretan mountains as early as June 1941. In September 1943, a memorable battle between the troops of occupation resistance fighters led by "Kapetan" Manolis Bandouvas in the region of Syme resulted in

11615-472: The result of internal upheavals. Similarly, while some researchers have attempted to link them to lingering environmental disruption from the Thera eruption, others have argued that the two events are too distant in time for any causal relation. Late Minoan II (c. 1470-1420 BC) is sparsely represented in the archaeological record, but appears to have been a period of decline. Late Minoan III (c. 1420-1075 BC) shows profound social and political changes. Among

11730-525: The same periods, even after Crete was occupied by the Mycenaeans, but only some aspects of the tradition survived the Greek Dark Ages after the collapse of Mycenaean Greece. Minoan art has a variety of subject-matter, much of it appearing across different media, although only some styles of pottery include figurative scenes. Bull-leaping appears in painting and several types of sculpture, and

11845-633: The sea, including the Ship Procession or "Flotilla" fresco in room five of the West House at Akrotiri . In 2024, archaeologists discovered a Minoan bronze dagger with silver rivets in an ancient shipwreck at Kumluca in Antalya Province . According to the researchers, the discovery highlights the cultural and commercial exchanges in the Mediterranean during the bronze age. Minoan art is marked by imaginative images and exceptional workmanship. Sinclair Hood described an "essential quality of

11960-596: The summer of 1896 the Ottoman forces had lost military control of most of the island. A new Cretan insurrection in 1897 led to the Ottoman Empire declaring war on Greece. However, the Great Powers ( Austria-Hungary , France , the German Empire , the Kingdom of Italy , the Russian Empire and Great Britain) decided that the Ottoman Empire could no longer maintain control and intervened, dispatching

12075-434: The time this consists of plants shown fringing a scene, or dotted around within it. There is a particular visual convention where the surroundings of the main subject are laid out as though seen from above, though individual specimens are shown in profile. This accounts for the rocks being shown all round a scene, with flowers apparently growing down from the top. The seascapes surrounding some scenes of fish and of boats, and in

12190-406: The village of Lakkoi . This solved supply shortages only temporarily and the communists struggled to enforce discipline on their recruits or dislodge the mountain bandits residing in the areas under their nominal control. In the autumn of 1947, the Greek government offered generous amnesty terms to Cretan DSE fighters and mountain bandits, many of whom opted to abandon armed struggle or even defect to

12305-592: The villages of Koxare and Melampes, as well as Rethymno in January 1945. Those attacks did not escalate into a full scale insurgency as they did in the Greek mainland and the Cretan ELAS did not surrender its weapons after the Treaty of Varkiza . The Cretan branch of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) was well aware that the island was unsuitable for a long scale insurgency due to its isolation from

12420-560: The west offered more favorable conditions for DSE's insurgency. In the summer of 1947 DSE raided the Maleme Airport , looting its warehouses and abducting 100 aircraftmen of the Royal Hellenic Air Force , 12 of whom joined the rebels. On 4 July 1947, DSE struck a former German motor depot at Chrysopigi on the outskirts of Chania. DSE abducted the depot's guards, looted the warehouse and set it aflame; resulting in

12535-536: Was confirmed in the Convention of Kütahya of 1833, but direct Ottoman rule was re-established by the Convention of London of 3 July 1840. The island's Christians revolted several times against Ottoman rule . Revolts in 1841 and 1858 secured some privileges, such as the right to bear arms, equality of Christian and Muslim worship, and the establishment of Christian councils of elders with jurisdiction over education and customary law . Despite these concessions,

12650-564: Was measured at 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index . While the eruption destroyed Cycladic settlements such as Akrotiri and led to the abandonment of some sites in northeast Crete, other Minoan sites such as Knossos continued to prosper. The post-eruption LM IB period (c.1625-1470) saw ambitious new building projects, booming international trade, and artistic developments such as the marine style . Late Minoan IB (c. 1625-1470 BC) ended with severe destructions throughout

12765-401: Was popularized by Arthur Evans , possibly drawing on an earlier suggestion by Karl Hoeck . It is a modern coinage and not used by the Minoans, whose name for themselves is unknown. The Egyptians referred to the Minoans as the kftjw (vocalized as " Keftiu " in modern Egyptological pronunciation ). It is not known whether this was an exonym or if it was an endonym originating in

12880-513: Was repelled. Rome sent Quintus Caecilius Metellus with three legions to the island. After a ferocious three-year campaign, Crete was conquered by the Roman army in 69 BCE, earning the commander Metellus the agnomen "Creticus". At the archaeological sites, there seems to be little evidence of widespread damage associated with the transfer to Roman power: a single palatial house complex seems to have been razed. Gortyn seems to have been pro-Roman and

12995-566: Was rewarded by being made the capital of the joint Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica . Further annexations by Rome, in particular of the Kingdom of Pontus by Pompey , brought all of Anatolia under Roman control , except for the southeastern frontier with the Parthian Empire , which remained unstable for centuries, causing a series of military conflicts that culminated in the Roman–Parthian Wars (54 BCE – 217 CE). Gortyn

13110-601: Was the site of the largest Christian basilica on Crete, the Basilica of Saint Titus , dedicated to the first Christian bishop in Crete, to whom the Apostle Paul addressed one of his epistles. The church was founded in the 1st century CE . The island of Crete continued to be a province of the Eastern Roman Empire , otherwise known as the Byzantine Empire , a quiet cultural backwater, until it fell into

13225-589: Was threatened. The priority of the United Kingdom was to prevent Crete from falling into enemy hands, because the island could be used to defend Egypt, the Suez Canal and the route to India. British troops landed on Crete with the consent of the Greek Government from 3 November 1940, in order to make the 5th Greek Division of Crete available for the Albanian front. The invasion of mainland Greece by

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