24Chapter 2north, making it passable to early ships only under the
most favorable of conditions. Fortunately, a small har-
bor just inside its mouth allowed goods to be trans-
shipped from the Aegean and ships to lie at anchor
while awaiting a favorable wind. That harbor was held
by Troy, as was the best crossing point on the land
route from Europe and Asia a few miles to the north.
The city had great strategic importance, and its wealth
was founded on tolls.
Far to the south is Crete, in ancient times the navi-
gational center of the eastern Mediterranean. Approxi-
mately 150 miles long and no more than 35 miles wide,
it lies across the southern end of the Aegean Sea, about
60 miles from the southernmost extremity of the Greek
mainland and not more than 120 miles from the coast
of Asia Minor. Africa is only 200 miles to the south.
The importance of Crete was determined less by raw
distances than by wind and current. Ships westbound
from Egypt had to follow the currents north along the
Phoenician coast and then west to Crete before pro-
ceeding to the ports of Italy or North Africa. Phoeni-
cians on the way to Carthage or the Strait of Gibraltar
did the same. They could pass either to the north or to
the south of the island. Most preferred the northern
shore because it offered more sandy inlets where their
ships could be anchored for the night or hauled ashore
for repairs and cleaning. Crete was therefore a natural
waystation as well as a convenient point for the trans-
shipment of Egyptian and Phoenician goods. The same
harbors offered easy access to the Greek mainland, the
Ionian islands, and Troy.The Society of Minoan Crete (3000–1400 B.C.)
The first inhabitants of Crete arrived before 4000 B.C.
They found not only a strategic location, but also land
that was well suited for Neolithic agriculture. Crete’s
mountains rise to more than eight thousand feet, but
the island has rich valleys and coastal plains that pro-
vide abundant grain. The climate is generally mild. Per-
fection is marred only by summer droughts, winter
gales, and devastating earthquakes that are perhaps the
most conspicuous feature of the island’s history.
The civilization that had developed on Crete by
3000 B.C. is usually called Minoan, after Minos, a leg-
endary ruler who became part of later Greek mythol-
ogy. Its chief characteristics were the early manufacture
of bronze and the construction of enormous palaces
that combined political, religious, and economic func-
tions. Four main complexes were constructed—at
Knossos (see illustration 2.1), Phaistos, Zakros, and
Mallia—though the ruins of other large houses are
found throughout the island. All are built around large
rectangular courts that were apparently used for reli-
gious and public ceremonies. The upper levels of the
palaces had decorative staircases and colonnades that
resemble those of Egyptian temples. The walls were
covered with thin layers of shiny gypsum or decorated
with naturalistic wall paintings. Below were innumer-
able storerooms and a system of drains for the removal
of wastes and rainwater. So elaborate was the floor plan
that the Greek name for the palace at Knossos (the
Labyrinth, after the heraldic labrys or two-headed axe
of the Minoan royal house) became the common word
for a maze.
The presence of such vast storage facilities indi-
cates that Minoan rulers played an important part in
the distribution of goods, but little is known of Minoan
social or political life. The early language of Crete has
not yet been deciphered. It was written at first in hiero-
glyphic characters derived from Egyptian models. A
later linear script is equally unreadable, and only Linear
B, dating from the last period of Minoan history, has
been translated. The language revealed is an early form
of Greek, probably introduced by a new ruling dynasty
from the mainland around 1400 B.C.
Minoan religious beliefs are equally obscure. Wall
paintings portray women in priestly roles, and the dom-
inant cult was almost certainly that of the Earth
Mother, the fertility goddess whose worship in the
Mediterranean basin dates from Paleolithic times.
Other paintings show young women and men vaulting
over the heads of bulls and doing gymnastic routines
on their backs (see illustration 2.2). This dangerous
sport probably had religious significance and was per-
formed in the palace courtyards, but its exact purpose is
unknown. In any case, the prominence of women in
Minoan art and the range of activities in which they
were portrayed indicate a measure of equality rare in
the ancient world.The Mycenean Greeks
The people who seem to have conquered Crete around
1450 B.C. are known as Myceneans, though Mycenae
was only one of their many cities. They spoke an early
form of Greek and may have occupied Macedonia or
Thessaly before establishing themselves along the west-
ern shores of the Aegean. Their chief centers—apart
from Mycenae and its companion fortress, Tiryns—
were Athens on its rich peninsula and Thebes in the
Boetian plain. All were flourishing by 2000 B.C.