Destruction by Invading forces?

So we have evidence that leads to the therory that the fall of the minoan Empire was brought about by natural forces. Yet there are still factors that lead us to believe that there were other causes that led to the annialation of this nation.

The Cretians, even at this date, were used to the disturbances and destruction caused by volcanic activity. They had been caused, inconvenience, large amount of damage and loss of life to both animals and humans. The palaces had always risen from their destruction, rebuilt by successive generations of priest kings. In the last phase - there was no rebuilding.

There are signs that the palace area at Knossos was repopulated. This population, although with many of the Minoan features was far from the same cultural, religious or economic level of the prient kings. Knossos appears to have ceesed, from the time of the disaster, to hav been the resodence of the Priest kings.

In particular the dividing up of the large hall in the Little palace, into small rooms, as living accommodation for a large number of people, suggests the insergance of a peasant population. This race of people were in no way akin to the Minoan Royal House. There may well have been an uprising among the common people or an immigrant population coming to power.

In a sanctuary in the Little palace grotesque fetish forms replace the delicate faience figarines of the refined Place cult pointing to a primitive section of the community taking over the power of the royal house.

The local population, long disatisfied with the ruler of the priest Kings could have taken advanbtage of th chaos caused by the volcanic disturbances and overpowered the feudal lords. The palce would have been in a state of panic and was comparetively easy to take as it was unfortified - the power of the Minoans being in their sea force.

During the late Minoan stage of development a highly organised beauocratic system had been set up in Crete. Knossos, as the capitol, was its centre with the outlying settlements propably governed by princes of the royal house or persons of high regards appointed by Minos as governors. Trade with the Aegian, Egypt and parts of Asia Minor was stepped up and this expansion could have been responsible for facilitating the Minoan colonisation of the islands around them. Crete, without doubt, held the monopoly of trade with these regions and jealously guarded her routes from any interloping by the mainland peoples.

The trade connections between Crete and Egypt are to be seen at Knossos to a clearer degree than at any other of the Cretian sites. here we can see evidence of direct importation of objects from the Nile region. at other sites there only are minor relics. Knossos, although on the northern coast and away from the main ports used in the Asia/Egypt trade was the main center for trading and marketing. All goods, ebven those from Asia and Egypt, which would have been landed at the southern port of Komo, as well as those from islands and the mainland of Greece, seem to have made their way there for sale.

It seems from the scanty evidence of Egyptian an Syrian wares on the mainland that Crete deliberately excluded this area from direct contact with any of the great civilisations of the age - other than herself. This would have occured in order to safeguard her own interests and stop any growth of power in these areas. Such a complete monopoly of foreign trade would have denied the mainland an outlet for her developing industries and made her wholly dependant on Crete for imports and exports. This could hardly have continued for any greta length of time without causing a certain amount of friction between the two nations as the mainland gained in political strength. The monopoly probably incurred a guarenteed portion of brenifits to Crete as tribute which, after a time, caused tention and could only have been sustained by the use of force and a tightning of the reigns that held the mainland colonies of Crete.

So Minos became the tyrant of the Greek myths. Both Herodotus anfd Thucydides agree that minos was a powerful ruler possessing a large navy and much overseas territory. In the use of the name Monos they refer to the ruler not an individual. herodotus tells us that the carians manned the vessels of Minos and Thuscydides - that he drove these peoples from the islands. Minos was a heriditory title as Pharaoh was in Egypt. This proved that the Cretian sea power and colonial activity remained strong over a period that spanned from before 1600 BC to the fall of Knossos in 1400 BC.

Previous to the sudden, final destruction of the main centers of Crete there must have been a certasin amount of friction between the Mycenean and Minoan civilisations but there was laso a fusion of the two cultures. Not only do we find Cretian influence on the mainland, where we would expect to find itbut we find the fusion of Mycenean into the Cretain. At Knossos the use of linear B as the standard form of recording script for the Palace and its use at the same time on the mainland shiow that there must have been close contact between the two nations. The sudden shift in the focus of power from Crete to Mycenea after the destruction of Knossos and the Minoan power - points to there being a definate connection between the fall of Knossos and the rise of mainland supremisy. It is quite clear that the mainland would benifit by the fall of the Minoan Empire, but it seems unlikely at her stage of develiopment that she could have overthrown it without assistance from another force, be it natural or from the inside.

Attica also came under the cultural domination of the Minoans and probably was forced to pay tribute to her overlaods in Knossos.

Contenporary Egyptian records, from the eighteenth dynasty, tell us that 'the islands of the sea' were 'disturbed'. We are given no indication whether this disruption was of a natural nature or alaternatively if this could have been a human agent invading or attacking Crete. It was however at this time that we suddenly no longer see the figures of cretian envoys bringing goods to Egypt depicted on the Egyptian tomb walls. If the catastrophy had been purely from natural causes one feels that we would again have seen similar envoys at a later date when the civilisation had been able to 'pick up the pieces' and start trading again with the outside world. As it appears the whole culture just cam to an end.

We know from greek legend that Minos waged war in the Mediterranean. This war is acceopted asd having taken place in hostory. Minos was the first ruler to hold the power of the Mediterranean in his grasp. He was responsible for clearing the sea of pirates and making both trade and travel between ports safe from attack. He increased his already mighty sea power by recruiting men from his territorial colonies and by increasing the size of his navey. The descrease in the use of wood in the last rebuilding of the cretan Palaces may be attributed more to the lack of timber because of the use of this commodity in ship building, than opurely to a change in the architectural taste of the Minoans.

It seems that Minos and his court lived a life of luxury within their Palaces and villas but the common people lived in squalid conditions.

After the destruction of the coastal habitations the remaining Minoan population, togather with the aliean mainalnd residents, who had for sometime been entering the Minoan colonies, infiltrated inland. These lucky few - for few could have survived - probabaly entered the remaining cities with little in the way of possessions or means of setting up new businesses or start again in their trades.

After the withdrawal of the water from the coastal regions those cities inumdated by the tidal waves probably stood uninhabited for some years before they were repopulated but what may have been a greatly depleated, disatisfied and degenerate population.

Knossos was rebuilt to a certain extent and life in court circles continued.

The first earthquake and tidal wave of 1500BC could quite easily account for the story of Minos, who, after finding that his campaign against athens, ordered to avenge the death of his son Androgeus, was dragging, prayed to Zeus to assist him in his war. The whole of greece was then afflicted with earthquakes until the Delphi oricle was consulted and she instructed that the Aecus offer up prayers on their behalf; where upon the earthquakes ceased in all areas expect Attica.

The Athenians, after a successful attempt to redeam themselves from the upheavals of the earth, were advised to give Minos whatever he asked of them. Minos requested a tribute of 7 youths and 7 maidens every 9 years. The earthquakes then subsided - so the myth of Theaus and Ariadne came into being.

from this time until 1450BC Knossos became the ruling, artistic and economic centre of the Empire. during this period decadence began to show, as often it does when a power becomes so great and reaches a point in its development where it seems it can go no further. Crete no longer worried about keeping control over its Colonies. the Cretans had reached the climax of their achievment.

When the final disater hit the state was so low and so eaten away by decadence that it could never again gain ground in the mediterranean. The rot had set in long before the final shocks rocked the earth and the peasant population rose in anger against its oppressors.

During the period prior to the fal of Knossos into decadence the mansions belonging to the princes had become small palaces with state rooms, frescoed halls and storage chambers. They were large and luxurious - even private residences had several floors and many rooms with eleboraste heating arrangements. The evidence of such a high standard of living has not been found, through archaelogical excavations and findings, enyhwere else in the ancient world of this period. It was certainly far beyond that found at myceneae.

The earthquake and the sea damage on the island would have temporarilly crippled the social, economic, political and religious life on Crete. Much life was lost.

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