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
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
THE LEGENDS
THE HOMERIC CIVILIZATION
SCHLIEMANN AND HIS WORK
THE PALACE OF 'BROAD KNOSSOS'
THE PALACE OF 'BROAD KNOSSOS'—continued
PHÆSTOS, HAGIA TRIADA, AND EASTERN CRETE
CRETE AND EGYPT
THE DESTROYERS
THE PERIODS OF MINOAN CULTURE
LIFE UNDER THE SEA-KINGS
LETTERS AND RELIGION
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PLATE | |
| [I.] | The Throne of Minos |
| [II.] | (1) The Ramp, Troy, Second City; (2) the Circle-Graves, Mycenæ |
| [III.] | Wall of Sixth City, Troy |
| [IV.] | The Lion Gate, Mycenæ |
| [V.] | (1) Vaulted Passage in Wall, Tiryns; (2) Beehive Tomb (Treasury of Atreus), Mycenæ |
| [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, Phæstos |
| [XXVII.] | The Harvester Vase, Hagia Triada |
| [XXVIII.] | Sarcophagus from Hagia Triada |
| [XXIX.] | Minoan Pottery |
| [XXX.] | Late Minoan Vase from Mycenæ |
| [XXXI.] | Kamares Vases from Phæstos and Hagia Triada |
| [XXXII.] | Goldsmiths' Work from Beehive Tombs, Phæstos |
| [SKETCH MAP OF CRETE] | |
| [PLAN OF KNOSSOS] | |
THE SEA-KINGS OF CRETE
AND THE
PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATION OF GREECE