Timeline Crete
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Stigmes Magazine of Crete: http://www.forthnet.gr/stigmes/
The capital is Iraklion
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.T11)
In Crete myth: Theseus escaped from the labyrinth of the minotaur using
a skein of thread provided by Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos.
(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.AW9)
11000BC-10000BC The first Greek
tribes settled on Crete around the 11th century BC.
(WSJ, 3/20/97, p.A17)
3200BC-2000BC The Cycladic culture, a network of small, sometimes
fortified farming and fishing settlements that traded with mainland
Greece, Crete and Asia Minor, flourished during this period. It is best
known for the elegant figurines: mostly naked, elongated figures with
arms folded under their chests. It was eclipsed by Crete and Mycenaean
Greece.
(AP, 12/31/06)
2500BC Cycladic figurines on the islet of Keros were
deliberately smashed around this time. In 2006 new research led
scientists to believe that Keros was a hugely important religious site
where the smashed artwork was ceremoniously deposited. The sea-faring
Cycladic culture consisted of a network of small, sometimes fortified,
farming and fishing settlements that traded with mainland Greece, Crete
and Asia Minor. It became renowned for its elegant flat-faced marble
figurines.
(SFC, 1/10/06, p.D7)(AP, 12/31/06)
2000BC-1600BC The Middle Minoan period of Crete.
Middle Minoan I finds polychrome decoration in pottery with elaborate
geometrical patterns; we also discover interesting attempts to picture
natural forms, such as goats and beetles. There then followed some
great catastrophe. Middle Minoan II includes the period of the great
palace of Phaestos and the first palace of Knossos. This period also
includes the magnificent polychrome pottery called Kamares ware.
Another catastrophe occurred. The second great palace of Knossos was
built and began the Middle Minoan III. It was distinguished by an
intense realism in art, speaking clearly of a rapid deterioration in
taste. Pictographic writing was clearly developed, with a hieratic or
cursive script derived from it, adapted for writing with pen and ink.
(R.M.-P.H.C.p.17)
2000BC-1500BC The Minoan civilization, named after
the Cretan ruler Minos, reached its height with central power in
Knossos on the isle of Crete. The culture was apparently more
female-oriented and peaceful than others of the time.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.2)
1700BC Knossos, Crete, was first destroyed by an
earthquake.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.A8)
1650BC The volcano Thera, or Santorini in the Aegean
Sea, erupted. Akroteri, a Minoan city on the south part of Thera, is
being excavated. About 3-6 feet (1-2 m) of ash fell on the city which
had a population of about 30,000. The explosion of Thera about this
time released energy equal to 200,000 H-bombs. In 1939 Spyridon
Marinatos authored “The Volcanic Destruction of Minoan Crete.”
(NH, 5/96, p.3)(AM, 7/00,
p.41)(http://tinyurl.com/7ywyr)
1500BCE Egyptian tombs from about this time show
paintings of apparently Cretan messengers and merchants, called by the
name Keftiu, bearing Cretan goods: and in addition we find the actual
tangible goods themselves, deposited with the Egyptian dead.
(R.M.-P.H.C.p.17)
c600-500 BC Epimenides, Cretan philosopher, is said
to have originated the Liar paradox, by proclaiming that “All Cretans
are liars.”
(Econ, 10/4/03, p.77)
365 Jul 21, An earthquake, whose
epicenter was in Crete, leveled the Egyptian Port of Alexandria as well
as the Roman outpost of Leptis Magna in Libya. Some 50,000 people died.
(www.earthscape.org/r2/jos/vol1-1june1997/pg55.html)(AM, Mar/Apr 97
p.18)
367 Much of Gortyn, the Roman
capital of Crete, was destroyed be an earthquake. It was 1st inhabited
around 3,000 BC and was destroyed by an Arab invasion in
824.
(AP, 9/30/05)
1204 The rule of Venice over Crete
dates to this year, when the Republic was awarded 3/8 of the Eastern
Roman Empire for its role in supporting the Fourth Crusade.
(http://romeartlover.tripod.com/Creta.html)
1450-1650 The Venetians occupied the capital city of
Iraklion. The forests of Crete provided the Venetians with cedars and
firs for their fleets.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.T10)
1541 El Greco (d.1614), artist,
was born in Crete. He settled in Toledo, Spain, in 1577 and died there.
(WSJ, 6/18/01, p.A16)
1645 Turkish invaders of the
Ottoman Empire captured Hania on the island of Crete and built a mosque.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.T10)
1669 Sep 26, The island of Crete
fell to the Ottoman Turks after 465 years as a colony of Venice.
(WSJ, 7/21/08, p.A11)
1894 Arthur Evans went to Crete to
find the truth behind the legend of the Minotaur.
(AM, 11/00, p.53)
1896 Nov 26, Russia disclosed a
plan to seize Constantinople if Britain intervenes in Crete.
(AP, 11/26/02)
1897 The Greeks were defeated by
Turkey at Velestino in their war over the independence of Crete.
(WSJ, 8/6/98, p.A13)
1898 Turkey withdrew from Crete.
(AM, 11/00, p.53)
1899 Sir Arthur Evans discovered
the center of Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. He erected a
house overlooking the excavations and named it Villa Ariadne after the
daughter of King Minos. As he unearthed a mound at Knossos he rebuilt
parts of a 3,500 year-old palace in modernist style. In 2009 Cathy Gere
authored “Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism.”
(WSJ, 6/26/98, p.W9)(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.AW9)(Econ,
5/16/09, p.91)
1908 An Italian expedition on
Crete discovered a terra cotta artifact with an unknown script. It was
dated to about 1700 BC and became known as the Phaistos Disc (Phaestos
Disc). [see 1600 BCE]
(SSFC, 2/22/04, p.M6)
1912 Greece acquired Crete. [see
1913]
(WSJ, 3/20/97, p.A17)
1913 Dec 14, Greece formally
annexed Crete.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1940-1941 German paratroopers were decimated in the
battle for Crete.
(SFC,10/29/97, p.A23)
1941 May 20, Germany invaded Crete
by air.
(HN, 5/20/98)
1941 Jun 1, The German Army
completed the capture of Crete as the Allied evacuation ended.
(HN, 6/1/99)
1944 Partisans kidnapped the
German commander of Crete and spirited him off to a British submarine.
(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.AW9)
1973 Dilys Powell (1901-1995),
film critic for the London Times, authored "The Villa Ariadne," a
history and travel memoir of Crete. It was published in the US in 2002.
(WSJ, 2/8/02,
p.W9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilys_Powell)
1999 Jan 13, Dozens of illegal
refugees on Crete went on a hunger strike to support their demand for
political asylum. A boat that was to take them to Italy ran aground in
a storm Nov 27. The refugees were Kurds, Indians and Sudanese.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A6)
2006 Feb 20, Farmers clashed on
the island of Crete with striking seamen who kept Greece's ports closed
for a fifth day. The protest has caused food and gasoline supply
problems for some Greek islands, and forced farmers to dump perishable
goods.
(AP, 2/20/06)
2007 Jul 11, Three firefighters
died while battling a blaze in a forest on the Greek island of Crete.
(AP, 7/12/07)
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Subject = Crete
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