The Sea-Kings of Crete Part 11

Dynasty XIX., 1350-1205 B.C.

Dynasty XIX., 1322-1202 B.C.

_c._ 1200 (?) Homeric Age.

Dynasty XX., 1200-1090 "

Dynasty XX., 1202-1102 "

(Cretan tribes mentioned and portrayed by Ramses III., Medinet Habu.) Dynasty XXI., 1090-945 B.C.

Dynasty XXI., 1102-952 B.C.

(Zakru pirates mentioned by Wen-Amon, Golenischeff Papyrus.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

In the following short list will be found the volumes on the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations which are most accessible to the ordinary reader:

_Annual of the British School at Athens_, vols. vi.- . (Reports of excavations by Evans, Hogarth, and others, and many articles of interest on the results of discovery. Well ill.u.s.trated.)

_Journal of h.e.l.lenic Studies_, vols. xx.- . (Articles by Evans, Hall, Mackenzie, Rouse, and others. Admirable ill.u.s.trations.)

BROWNE, H.: _Homeric Study_. (Relations of Homeric and Minoan civilizations).

BURROWS, R. M.: _The Discoveries in Crete_. (An able discussion of the results of excavations).

EVANS, A. J.: _Cretan Pictograms and Pre-Ph?nician Script._ (Dr.

Evans's earlier volume on the Minoan writing.) _Essai de Cla.s.sification des epoques de la Civilisation Minoenne._ (Short summary of the Minoan periods.) _Myc?nean Tree and Pillar Cult_. (Reprint from _Journal of h.e.l.lenic Studies_, vol. xxi.) _Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos_. (Isopata, etc.). _Scripta Minoa_. (Latest and fullest discussion of Minoan script.) Articles in the _Times_ newspaper and the _Monthly Review_.

HALL, E. H.: _The Decorative Art of Crete in the Bronze Age_.

HALL, H. R.: _Egypt and Western Asia_. (Relations of Crete and Egypt.) _The Oldest Civilization of Greece_. (Deals with Mycenaean discoveries up to 1901.) Various articles in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, the _Journal of h.e.l.lenic Studies_, etc.

HARRISON, J. E.: _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. The Religion of Ancient Greece_.

HAWES, C. H. and H.: _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_. (Concise and interesting manual.)

HAWES, H. B.: _Gournia, Vasiliki, and other Prehistoric Sites on the Isthmus of Hierapetra, Crete_.

HOGARTH, D. G.: _Authority and Arch?ology_; (Contains summary of earlier Mycenaean discoveries.) _Ionia and the East_. (Relations of Oriental and early Greek civilizations.) Articles in _Cornhill Magazine_ and _Fortnightly Review_.

LANG, A.: _Homer and his Age_.

MOSSO, A.: _The Palaces of Crete and their Builders_. (Chiefly useful for its numerous ill.u.s.trations.)

MURRAY, G.: _The Rise of the Greek Epic_. (Exceedingly vivid and suggestive.)

RIDGEWAY, W.: _The Early Age of Greece_.

SCHUCHHARDT, C.: _Schliemann's Excavations_. (Useful summary of the work of Schliemann, translated by E. Sellers.)

SEAGER, R. B.: _Excavations on the Island of Pseira, Crete_.

Philadelphia, 1910. (Finely ill.u.s.trated.)

TSOUNTAS AND MANATT: _The Mycenaean Age_.

For the chronology of Ancient Egypt see--

BREASTED, H.: _History of Egypt_. (1906. Abridged issue, 1908.)

PETRIE, W. M. F.: _History of Egypt_, vols. i.-iii. _Researches in Sinai_.

For the topography of Crete, Pashley's _Travels in Crete_ and Spratt's _Travels and Researches in Crete_ will still be found interesting and useful, though published in 1837 and 1865 respectively. For the history of the island in mediaeval and modern times _A Short Popular History of Crete_, by J. H. Freese, may be consulted.

_Antiquites Cretoises_, by G. Maraghiannis, Candia, Crete, gives fifty excellent plates of Minoan relics, chiefly from Phaestos and Hagia Triada, with a short introduction by Signor Pernier, of the Italian Archaeological Mission.

APPENDIX

TRANSLATIONS OF THE PHaeSTOS DISK

Two translations of the Phaestos disk have been put forward. The first is by Professor George Hempl, of Stanford University, U.S.A., and appeared in _Harper's Magazine_ for January, 1911, under the t.i.tle, 'The Solving of an Ancient Riddle.' The second, by Miss F.

Melian Stawell, of Newnham College, appeared in the _Burlington Magazine_ of April, 1911, under the t.i.tle, 'An Interpretation of the Phaistos Disk.'

Both are characterized by considerable ingenuity; but the trouble is that they do not agree in the very least. Professor Hempl maintains that the disk is the record of a dedication of oxen at a shrine in Phaestos, in atonement of a robbery perpetrated by Cretan sea-rovers on some shrine of the great G.o.ddess in Asia Minor. Miss Stawell, on the other hand, believes that the disk is the matrix for casting a pair of cymbals, and that the inscription is the invocation which the worshippers had to chant to the G.o.ddess.

A comparison of portions of the two renderings will at least show that certainty can scarcely be said to have been reached. Professor Hempl thus renders the opening lines of Face A:

'Lo, Xipho the prophetess dedicates spoils from a spoiler of the prophetess. Zeus, guard us. In silence put aside the most dainty portions of the still unroasted animal. Athene Minerva, be gracious.

Silence! The victims have been put to death. Silence!'

Compare Miss Stawell's translation of the same lines:

'Lady, 0 hearken! Cunning one! Ah, Queen! I will sing, Lady, oh, thou must deliver! Divine One, mighty Queen! Divine One, Giver of Rain! Lady, Mistress, Come! Lady, be gracious! G.o.ddess, be merciful!

Behold, Lady, I call on thee with the clash! Athena, behold, Warrior!

Help! Lady, come! Lady--keep silence, I sacrifice--Lady, come!'

THE END