CRETE kret (Κρήτη, G3207). A large island in the eastern Mediterranean SE of the Gr. mainland.

The island is 160 m. long and seven to thirty-five m. wide. It is dominated by four mountain ranges, but in the eastern half there are fertile plains and upland basins which furnish summer pasturage. For this reason only the eastern half was settled in prehistoric times.

First settled by Neolithic people, Crete enjoyed great prosperity during the Middle and Late Bronze (Minoan) Ages. The unfortified cities first formed a thalassocracy under the semi-mythical King Minos. Extensive trade was carried on with Egypt, the Gr. mainland and the E. The glories of the culture are revealed in gigantic palaces (labyrinths), magnificently decorated vases, frescoed walls, and enormous storage jars for the oil, wine and grain of the bureaucracy. During the Late Minoan period the island was conquered by the Mycenaeans of the mainland and went into decline soon thereafter. The Palace of Minos at Knossos has been excavated and partially rebuilt by the efforts of Evans and Pendlebury. American archeologists have excavated on the islands and the mainland in the vicinity of the Gulf of Mirabello. Gordon has theorized by the partial decipherment of Linear A that the Minoans were W Semites. Others have looked for similar eastern origins for them.

During classical times Crete was largely a recruiting area for mercenary soldiers, particularly archers. Numerous Jews lived there in the 2nd cent. b.c. In 141 b.c. Simon Maccabeus interceded with the consul Lucius for the protection of the Jews of Gortyna. Conquered by the Romans in 68-66 b.c. it was joined with Cyrene as a province. Gortyna is the only Rom. city that has been excavated. Numerous large public buildings have been uncovered as well as the ruins of the church of Agios Titos.

Jews from Crete were present at the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Paul sailed on a grain ship along the southern coast on the way from Lycia to Rome. The ship anchored at Fair Havens just E of Cape Matala then sailed to the harbor of Phoenix and the protection of the island of Clauda. It is not known who founded the churches on Crete. Paul implied that he did so when he stated that he left Titus on Crete to correct the churches and appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5).

The Cretans were proverbially depraved. Paul quoted the poet Epimenides c. 600 b.c., “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12), an opinion shared by many of the ancients.

Bibliography J. D. S. Pendlebury, The Archaeology of Crete (1939); R. Matton, La Crète Antique (1955); R. W. Hutchinson, Prehistoric Crete (1962); L. R. Palmer, Mycenaeans and Minoans (1962).