Phases in Cretan History
From Neolithic Continent to Largest Greek IslandDespite appearances, the true history of Crete has yet to be written and is still in the process of being discovered. Only recently (first week of April, 2008), the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini published the results of DNA research that shows the Minoans to have originated in Mesopotamia/Anatolia (modern-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey); bringing to an end a long list of theories which had speculated that they were displaced Egyptians or Ethiopians. In fact, these new insights give much credence to the theory put forward by Sanford Holst (see here for his work), that the Minoans have been displaced Phoenicians.
Another great riddle is who exactly were the people who lived here during the late stone age - because it is known that Crete was inhabited, albeit sparsely, since about 8000 years. During this Neolithic Period (see table below), people have been living in caves - and also the site of the later Knossos was, for some inexplicable reason, inhabited at that time. We don't know however, who these people were. Did they reach Crete from the (now Greek) mainland, from other islands, from the Anatolian culture that built the shrines to the Goddess at Çatalhöyük and Hacilar?
Modern Greeks can get all excited about this topic, because when they hear Anatolia, they think Turkey, some even
think Islam. At that time, however, there was neither Islam nor Christianity, nor were there any Turks or Greeks.
The first documented peoples coming to Crete from the Greek mainland actually invaded and occupied the island
once the Minoan civilisation had been weakened by various volcanoes, tsunamis and earthquakes.
Those were first the Mycenaeans, and later the Dorians - and all of this happened between 1100 and 67 BCE.
Crete, of course - large, fertile, beautiful and in a great position between Europe, the Near East and Africa - would forever be an island everyone in the surrounding area wanted to have and to hold. To the most early settlers it must have seemed like an unknown continent, to all later ones it was a convenient and strategically place from which to control this part of the Mediterranean. So it should come as no surprise, that Crete has had a history both colourful and painful - and the table below will show that clearly.
Major and Minor Periods in the History of Crete
| Name of Period | From - To | Era |
|---|---|---|
| Neolithic period | 6000 - 3500 | BCE |
| Early Minoan | 3500 - 2100 | BCE |
| Middle Minoan | 2100 - 1600 | BCE |
| Late Minoan | 1600 - 1100 | BCE |
| Sub-Minoan / Proto-Geometric Period | 1100 - 900 | BCE |
| Geometric Period | 900 - 700 | BCE |
| Archaic Period | 700 - 480 | BCE |
| Classical Period | 480 - 323 | BCE |
| Hellenistic Period | 323 - 67 | BCE |
| Roman Occupation | 67 BCE - 395 | CE |
| Early Byzantine Period | 395 - 824 | CE |
| Arab Occupation | 824 - 961 | CE |
| Byzantine Period | 961 - 1204 | CE |
| Venetian Occupation | 1204 - 1669 | CE |
| Ottoman Rule / Turkish Occupation | 1669 - 1824 | CE |
| Egyptian Interlude / Occupation | 1824 - 1840 | CE |
| Ottoman Rule / Turkish Occupation | 1840 - 1898 | CE |
| Principality of Crete | 1898 - 1913 | CE |
| Crete becomes part of Greece | December 1913 | CE |
| German Occupation | 1941 - 1945 | CE |
| First waves of tourists (50.000-150.000/year) | 1960 - 1970 | CE |
| Period of the Greek Junta | 1967 - 1974 | CE |
| Mass-Tourism, 2 to 3 million per year | 1975 - Now | CE |
Christianity, in its Roman Catholic form, reached Crete during the 1st and 2nd centuries, but the building of churches and large scale conversion of local people came only during the first Byzantine Period, when the church split and Cretan affairs came under the rule of Constantinople. It was then that Greece, and Crete, turned to the orthodox faith and away from Rome.
Readers not acquainted with the notations BCE and CE, please read this note.
For a more detailed table concerning the Minoan civilisation, see here.