CRETE, CRETANS
The fifth-largest island of the Mediterranean and its inhabitants. The island measures some 160 miles (257.4 kilometers) long and varies in breadth from seven and a half to thirty-six miles (12.1 to 57.9 kilometers). Crete lies at the southern end of the Aegean Sea about sixty-five miles (104.6 kilometers) SE of Greece, about twice that distance from Asia Minor, and nearly three times that distance from the North African coast. Casos, Carpathos and Rhodes form a chain of smaller islands connecting Crete with the SW corner of Asia Minor. Mountains, some covered with snow during part of the year, run the full length of the narrow island. Near the center of Crete, Mount Ida rises 8,058 feet (2,456 meters) above sea level. The N coast has some good harbors, but the southern coastline is more regular and along much of it the mountains drop off steeply to the sea. So, the S coast provides few favorable harboring sites, as indicated in the account of Paul’s voyage to Rome, considered later.
The climate of Crete is quite mild and, despite the generally rugged terrain, there are some fertile valleys, upland basins and low-lying plains where wheat, barley, olives and grapevines could be cultivated in ancient times and where flocks of sheep and goats were pastured. Crete’s woodlands were anciently renowned, but the once abundant stands of cypress and other trees are now vastly reduced.
Crete is generally accepted to be the “Caphtor” referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures, and hence the place from which the Philistines migrated to Canaan. (Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7) Some scholars also connect the “Cherethites” with the Cretans; the Septuagint Version reads “Cretans” instead of “Cherethites” at both Ezekiel 25:15-17 and Zephaniah 2:5-7. (See CHERETHITES.) If the identification of Caphtor with Crete is accepted, as seems reasonable, then the early inhabitants of the island were descendants of Mizraim, whose name is Biblically equivalent to Egypt.—Gen. 10:13, 14.
HISTORY
Little is known definitely of the history of the early Cretans. Tablets found in Crete consist primarily of palace inventories and similar records but provide no history. While many historians suggest an initial migration to Crete from the S coast of Asia Minor, there is also some evidence indicating that early immigrants arrived there from Egypt, perhaps at the time of the claimed unification of Egypt under Menes. Archaeological excavations reveal objects imported from Egypt throughout the early period of Cretan civilization. During the first half of the second millennium B.C.E. the Cretans apparently were carrying on regular maritime trade, not only with Egypt, some 300 miles (482.7 kilometers) to the SE, but also with the Syrian coast and with the islands and coastlands of the Aegean.
The language spoken by the original people of Crete is unknown. Similar to the Egyptians, the Cretans had a hieroglyphic system of writing but, unlike the Egyptian, the earliest forms have not yet been deciphered. A later type of hieroglyphic script is believed to have been adapted for Greek, perhaps due to increased association with or infiltration by Greek-speaking people, particularly the Mycenaeans (of the eastern part of the Peloponnesus).
Buildings and art
Because Greek writers such as Homer, Herodotus and Aristotle referred to a Cretan king named Minos, modern historians have given the name “Minoan” to the early civilization of Crete, dividing up the periods of its history on the basis of pottery finds and connections with Egypt. The civilization the Cretans developed was very distinctive from those of Mesopotamia and Egypt but equally resplendent. Archaeologists have unearthed the capital city of Knossos with its splendid palace remains. The 200-room palace was apparently multistoried, its architecture surpassing that of the Mesopotamian emperors. Towns excavated, such as Knossos, Phaestus, and Hagia Triada, gave evidence of well-kept streets, ample water supply, with royal buildings and larger homes even having baths and toilet facilities equipped with drainage and sewage disposal. Evidently due to the strength of the Cretan fleet and the skill of its mariners, the people of the island’s ancient capital felt no need to build protective walls against invaders.
Vividly colored wall paintings in the richly decorated royal buildings depict clean-shaven men wearing patterned loincloths and elegantly dressed women dressed in narrow-waisted, flaring skirts, tight bodices with bared breasts, elaborate coiffures, and large conical hats. The Cretan religion clearly placed emphasis on the female element with a Mother Goddess receiving greatest prominence. As with other fertility religions, the serpent is regularly present in the representations of the goddess, either held in her hands or coiled around her body. A minor male deity is usually associated with her, perhaps in the mother-son relationship frequently found in this type of cult. At Knossos a marble cross was found, the cross likewise being an ancient sex symbol. Fresco paintings, bronzework and ivory carvings also show a daring sport or religious ritual in which young men and women do a somersault via the horns and back of a charging bull.
Ancient civilization disappears
A wholesale destruction of uncertain causes seems to have struck the cities of Crete about the middle of the second millennium B.C.E. The island is thought to have been dominated by Mycenaean or Dorian Greeks thereafter, and the ancient civilization disappeared from view toward the last centuries of the second millennium. While many scholars suggest that the Philistine emigration took place about the time of the destruction of Cretan cities, the Bible record shows that they entered the land of Canaan at a much earlier date.
During the first millennium B.C.E. Crete came finally under Greek domination. It is given little importance in the “Classical period,” being renowned at that time only for the exporting of expert archers as mercenaries. By the second century B.C.E. the island had become a center and hideout for pirates who preyed on Mediterranean shipping. Then, in 67 B.C.E. Pompey subdued Crete and it was made a Roman province together with Cyrene in North Africa.
PAUL’S ACTIVITY THERE
Cretan Jews and/or proselytes were among those in Jerusalem on Pentecost of 33 C.E. (Acts 2:5, 11) Perhaps as a result of this, Christianity was introduced into Crete.
The apostle Paul, on his way to Rome for trial, passed by Crete aboard a grain ship of Alexandria, about the fall of the year 58 C.E. The ship, with 276 passengers on board, “sailed under the shelter of Crete,” that is along the southern leeward side of the island where the ship was protected from the adverse northwesterly winds. From Salmone on the E coast of Crete, the ship worked its way slowly westward until reaching Fair Havens, a small bay providing anchorage at a point just before the southern coastline makes a sharp turn to the N. Here, contrary to Paul’s counsel, the decision was made to try to reach Phoenix, another harbor some forty miles (64.4 kilometers) farther up the coast. Rounding Cape Littinos (Matala), the ship “began coasting inshore” when a tempestuous E-NE wind, suddenly sweeping down from the mountainous heights, struck the ship, forcing it to heave to and run before the wind. From here the boat was driven past the island of Cauda, some thirty-five miles (56.3 kilometers) from Fair Havens.—Acts 27:6-16, 37, 38.
The evidence is that, following his two years of imprisonment in Rome, Paul visited Crete and engaged in Christian activity there during the final period of his ministry. On departing, he assigned Titus to remain in Crete to correct certain conditions among the congregations, making appointments of older men “in city after city.” (Titus 1:5) Later, when discussing congregational problems in a letter to Titus, Paul quoted the words of a Cretan prophet to the effect that “Cretans are always liars, injurious wild beasts, unemployed gluttons.” (Titus 1:10-12) These words are thought to proceed from Epimenides, a Cretan poet of the sixth century B.C.E. This estimate of the ancient Cretans was shared by the Greeks, among whom the name Cretan became synonymous with lying.
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GREAT SEA
CRETE
Rnossos
Salmone
Phoenix
Fair Havens
Cauda