THE PICTURESQUE CAMP OF A DIGGER IN THE ISLAND OF CRETE
CHAPTER XV
On the map of the world, Great Britain is small. That men should go forth from this little island and win their way in so many distant lands, that this island people should wield such power over the earth, that they should venture into the unknown places and bring vast areas under the dominion of England, seems incredible. If we were not aware that this is the literal truth, we should find it hard to believe, we might even feel inclined to doubt it. The fact that the mighty British Empire has all sprung from this little island in the North Sea is one of the most astounding things in the world.
In olden times it was thought that all the world centred round the Mediterranean Sea, that the earth consisted only of those lands bordering the Mediterranean. In bygone days, long before the dawn of history, it is possible that Crete dominated the known world of that day just as the Island of Great Britain dominates the world of our own day.
The British Empire is tangible proof of what one little island can do. There is no reason why Crete should not have done the same in the past, why that little island set in the vivid blue of the Mediterranean should not have influenced all the lands on the Mediterranean shore. We do not know. We cannot say. We have learned much, but more remains to be unravelled from the tangled skein that Time has woven in Crete.
As already mentioned, Schliemann, bringing all the knowledge he had gained in his amazing excavations at Troy, at Mycenæ and other places, to bear on the subject of the origin of the Mediterranean civilization, placed his finger on Knossos as the centre whence it sprang. His uncanny instinct was once more right. He wandered about the lonely places of Crete, still with faith in the Homer who led him to discover Troy, feeling sure that at Knossos he would find the fabled palace of King Minos, but death prevented him from making the biggest discovery of all.
The work that the German excavator left undone was taken up by Sir Arthur Evans. Unfolding his tent on the barren site of Knossos, Sir Arthur Evans set his diggers to work. They dug diligently, scanning every spadeful of earth for traces of man. They excavated a yard of soil, 6 feet, 10 feet, wielding pick and shovel, carrying the debris away in baskets. They found many things, broken jars, decorated pottery, but most important of all were the clay tablets inscribed with the puzzling writing of the Minoans.
By courtesy of the British School at Athens
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE RUINS OF THE PALACE OE KNOSSOS IN CRETE, WHERE SIR ARTHUR EVANS HAS DISCOVERED A NEW AND HIGHLY DEVELOPED CIVILIZATION, WITH A WRITING WHICH CANNOT YET BE READ