The Sea-Kings of Crete

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sea-Kings of Crete, by James Baikie This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Sea-Kings of Crete Author: James Baikie Release Date: September 19, 2006 [EBook #19328] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEA-KINGS OF CRETE *** Produced by Robert J. Hall [Illustration I: THE THRONE OF MINOS (_p_. 72)] THE SEA-KINGS OF CRETE BY REV. JAMES BAIKIE, F.R.A.S. WITH 32 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS SECOND EDITION LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1913 TO MY SISTERS AND MY BROTHERS PREFACE The object aimed at in the following pages has been to offer tothe general reader a plain account of the wonderful investigations which have revolutionized all ideas as to the antiquity and the level of the earliest European culture, and to endeavour to make intelligible the bearing and significance of the results of these investigations. In the hope that the extraordinary resurrection of the first European civilization may appeal to a more extended constituency than that of professed students of ancient origins, the book has been kept as free as possible from technicalities and the discussion of controverted points; and throughout I have endeavoured to write for those who, while from their school days they have loved the noble and romantic story of Ancient Greece, have been denied the opportunity of a more thorough study of it than comes within the limits of an ordinary education. In the first chapter this standpoint may seem to have been unduly emphasized, and the retelling of the ancient legends may be accounted mere surplusage. Such, no doubt, it will be to some readers, but perhaps they may be balanced by others whose recollection of the great stories of Classic Greece has grown a little faint with the lapse of years, and who are not unwilling to have it prompted again. Reference to the legends was in any case unavoidable, since one of the most remarkable results of the explorations has been the disclosure of the solid basis of historic fact on which they rested; and, if the book was to accomplish its purpose for the readers for whom it was designed, reference seemed almost necessarily to involve retelling. I have to acknowledge extensive obligations to the writings and reports of the various investigators who have accomplished so wonderful a resurrection of this ancient world. My debt to the works of Dr. A. J. Evans will be manifest to all who have any acquaintance with the subject; but to such authors as Mrs. H. B. Hawes, Dr. Mackenzie, Professors Burrows, Murray, and Browne, and Messrs. D. G. Hogarth and H. R. Hall, to name only a few among many, my obligations are only less than to the acknowledged chief of Cretan explorers. To the Rev. James Kennedy, D.D., librarian of the New College, Edinburgh, and to the Rev. C. J. M. Middleton, M.A., Crailing, my thanks are due for invaluable help afforded in the collection of material, and I have been not less indebted to Mr. A. Brown, Galashiels, and to Messrs. C. H. Brown and C. R. A. Howden, Edinburgh, and others, for their assistance in the preparation of the illustrations. To Mr. A. Brown in particular are due plates II., III., IV., V., IX., X., XV., XVI., XX., XXIII., XXIV., and XXV.; and to Messrs. C. H. Brown and C. R. A. Howden Plates I., VII., VIII., XI., XII., XVII. (I), and XXI. I have to record my hearty thanks to the Council of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies for the use of Plates XXIX. and XXX., reproduced by their permission from the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_; to the Committee of the British School at Athens for the use of Plate XIX. and the plan of Knossos from their _Annual_; and to Dr. A. J. Evans and Mr. John Murray for Plates VI., XIII., and XIV., from the _Monthly Review_, March, 1901. For the redrawing and adaptation of the plan of Knossos I am indebted to Mr. H. Baikie, B.Sc., Edinburgh, and for the sketch-map of Crete to my wife. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE LEGENDSCHAPTER II THE HOMERIC CIVILIZATION CHAPTER III SCHLIEMANN AND HIS WORK CHAPTER IV THE PALACE OF 'BROAD KNOSSOS' CHAPTER V THE PALACE OF 'BROAD KNOSSOS'--_continued_ CHAPTER VI PH�STOS, HAGIA TRIADA, AND EASTERN CRETE CHAPTER VII CRETE AND EGYPT CHAPTER VIII THE DESTROYERS CHAPTER IX THE PERIODS OF MINOAN CULTURE CHAPTER X LIFE UNDER THE SEA-KINGS CHAPTER XI LETTERS AND RELIGION CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE I. The Throne of Minos II. (1) The Ramp, Troy, Second City; (2) the Circle-Graves, Mycen � III. Wall of Sixth City, Troy IV. The Lion Gate, Mycen � V. (1) Vaulted Passage in Wall, Tiryns; (2) Beehive Tomb (Treasury of Atreus), Mycen � VI. The Cup-Bearer, Knossos VII. The Long Gallery, Knossos VIII. A Magazine with Jars and Kaselles, Knossos IX. (1) Magazine with Jars and Kaselles; (2) Great Jar with Trickle Ornament X. (1) Part of Dolphin Fresco; (2) A Great Jar, Knossos XI. Pillar of the Double Axes XII. (1) Minoan Paved Road; (2) North Entrance, Knossos XIII. Relief of Bull's Head XIV. Clay Tablet with Linear Script, Knossos XV. (1) Palace Wall, West Side, Mount Juktas in Background; (2) Bathroom, Knossos XVI. A Flight of the Quadruple Staircase; (2) Wall with Drain XVII. (1) Hall of the Double Axes; (2) Great Staircase, Knossos XVIII. The King's Gaming-Board XIX. Ivory Figurines XX. (1) Main Drain, Knossos; (2) Terra-cotta Drain-Pipes XXI. Theatral Area, Knossos: Before Restoration XXII. Theatral Area, Knossos: Restored XXIII. Great Jar with Papyrus Reliefs XXIV. The Royal Villa: (1) The Basilica; (2) Stone Lamp XXV. (1) Knossos Valley; (2) Excavating at Knossos XXVI. Great Staircase, Ph stos � XXVII. The Harvester Vase, Hagia Triada XXVIII. Sarcophagus from Hagia Triada XXIX. Minoan Pottery XXX. Late Minoan Vase from Mycen � XXXI. Kamares Vases from Ph stos and Hagia Triada � XXXII. Goldsmiths' Work from Beehive Tombs, Ph stos � SKETCH MAP OF CRETE PLAN OF KNOSSOS [Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF CRETE To Illustrate THE SEA KINGS OF CRETE BY The Rev. James Baikie, F.R.A.S.] THE SEA-KINGS OF CRETE AND THE PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATION OF GREECE CHAPTER I THE LEGENDS The resurrection of the prehistoric age of Greece, and the disclosure of the astonishing standard of civilization which had been attained on the mainland and in the isles of the gean at a period at least � 2,000 years earlier than that at which Greek history, as hitherto understood, begins, may be reckoned as among the most interesting results of modern research into the relics of the life of past ages. The present generation has witnessed remarkable discoveries in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, but neither Niffur nor Abydos disclosed a world so entirely new and unexpected as that which has been revealed by the work of Schliemann and his successors at Troy, Mycen , and � Tiryns, and by that of Evans and the other explorers--Italian, British, and American--in Crete. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian discoveries traced back a little farther streams which had already been followed far