Until a
hundred years ago legends of King Minos and his empire were
considered “legendary” but without historic merit.
But in the early years of the twentieth century excavations
on Crete revealed a civilization that rivaled the glory of ancient
Greece, except that at it’s height it was at least 1,000
years older. Greek authors often wrote of the thalassocracy
of Minos, in reference to their navigational way of life (Thalassocrats
meant “sea-lords” in Greek). Interestingly, “Thallassophobia”
is a recent coinage meaning “those who fear knowledge of
ancient sea-lords.”
From Atlantis
in America – Navigators of the Ancient World by Ivar
Zapp and George Ericson
