CRETE religious persuasions. The Moslem element predominated in the principal towns, of which the population was—Candia, 21,368 ; Canea, 13,812 ; Retimo, 9274. According to the census taken in June 1900, the population of the island was 301,273, the Christians ha vino1 increased to 267,266, while the Moslems had diminished to 33,281. The population of Candia was 22,501 ; of Canea, 20,972 ; of Retimo, 9311. Lying midway between three continents, Crete became a natural stepping-stone for the passage of early culture from the east and south to the west and north. fog tea Under the myths of Minos and Dasdalos the research: Greeks proclaimed their indebtedness to Cretan early sources in the domains of law and art. ReCretan cent researches have illustrated, the truth of 7ion'Za‘
fhese traditions in many interesting ways. The ancient remains which abound throughout the island show conclusively that the days of its greatest civilization lie behind the prehistoric period. Even the remotest nooks are studded with the ruins of Cyclopean strongholds and tower-houses, and here and there, as at Goulas in the east and Hyrtakina in the west, a complete acropolis is found. Goulas especially, rising in a succession of huge terraces, presents a mass of prehistoric masonry hardly paralleled elsewhere. The ancient stone vases and engraved seals found on these sites supply definite traces of a contact with Egypt going back to the period of the 12th dynasty, and dating from at least the latter half of the third millennium B.c. An intermediate period follows, characterized by the appearance of painted clay vases of an indigenous kind, first discovered in a votive cave at Kamares, on the southern slopes of Mount Ida, and subsequently in greater abundance at Knossds. But the most brilliant period of prehistoric Cretan civilization corresponds with the great age of Mycenae (the 14th and 15th centuries B.c.), and the contents of a palace of this epoch, recently excavated on the acropolis of Knossds by Mr A. J. Evans, show that in sculpture and fresco-painting the artists of Minoan Crete equalled, if they did not surpass, those of the contemporary Peloponnesos. Of all the evidences of this early civilization now brought to light the most remarkable is the discovery of an elaborate system of writing. A series of signs, both of the linear and more pictographic class, had already been observed on early seal-stones, and other objects. In the palace at Knossos, however, have been found a large number of clay tablets, analogous in. many respects to the cuneiform tablets of Babylonia, but inscribed with the indigenous Cretan character. They are apparently palace archives and lists of horses, chariots, and stores in the royal stables and arsenal. To this brilliant Mycenaean age succeeds the period of the Dorian emigration, characterized by the “geometric” type of art. The decline of civilization is marked by a falling off in artistic production, but to a less extent than on the Greek mainland, a certain continuity of ancient traditions being maintained. By about the 8th century B.c. there is a manifest artistic revival, best illustrated by some of the reliefs on the bronze shields discovered in the great cave of Zeus on Mount Ida, in which the native Cretan handiwork more than holds its own beside imported Cypro-Phoenician examples. During the so-called archaic period of Greek art, Crete, the ancient home of letters, shows itself especially rich in epigraphic materials. The great inscription of Gortyna, discovered by Halbherr and Fabricius, is the most important monument of early law hitherto brought to light in any part of the Greek world. A very interesting inscription found at Prsesos in eastern Crete shows that the language of the preHellenic population, the Eteocretes of Homer, survived in that region till at least the beginning of the 5th century B.c. Of early Greek buildings in Crete, the most remark-
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able yet discovered is the Pythion at Gortyna. Exploration in progress at Axos, where important bronze reliefs have been found, and elsewhere, promises to add to our knowledge of classical art in Crete: meanwhile it is best represented by a very interesting series of coin-types, which show a certain marked originality and picturesqueness of design, but at the same time give evidence of repeated lapses into barbarism, resulting from the internecine feuds of the various cities and their isolation from the rest of the Greek world. (See also Mycenaean Civilization.) Recent History.—Cretan constitutional history may be said to date from 1868, when, after the suppression of an insurrection which had extended over three years, the Turkish Government consented to grant a certain measure of autonomy to the island. The privileges now accorded were embodied in what is known as the Organic Statute, an instrument which eventually obtained a somewhat wider importance, being proposed by Article XXIII. of the Berlin Treaty as a basis of reforms to be introduced in other parts of the Ottoman empire. Various privileges already acquired by the Christian population were confirmed ; a General Council, or representative body, was brought into existence, composed of deputies from every district in the island; mixed tribunals were introduced, together with a highly elaborate administrative system, under which all the more important functionaries, Christian and Mussulman, were provided with an assessor of the opposite creed. The new constitution, however, proved costly and unworkable, and failed to satisfy either section of the population. The Christians were ready for another outbreak, when, in 1878, the Greek Government, finding Hellenic aspirations ignored by the Treaty of San Stefano, gave the signal for agitation in the island. During the insurrection which followed the usual barbarities were committed on both sides; the Christians betook themselves to the mountains and the Mussulman peasants crowded into the fortified towns. Eventually the Cretan chiefs invoked the mediation of England, which Turkey, exhausted by her struggle with Russia, was ready to accept, and the convention Halepa. known as the Pact of Halepa was drawn up in 1878 under the auspices of Mr Sand with, the British Consul, and Adossides Pasha, both of whom enjoyed the confidence of the Cretan population. The privileges conferred by the Organic Statute were confirmed; the cumbersome and extravagant judicial and administrative systems were maintained ; the judges were declared independent of the executive, and an Assembly composed of forty-nine Christian and thirty-one Mussulman deputies took the place of the former General Council. A parliamentary regime was thus inaugurated, and party warfare for a time took the place of the old religious antagonism, the Moslems attaching themselves to one or other of the political factions which now made their appearance among the Christians. The material interests of the island were neglected in the scramble for place and power ; the finances fell into disorder, and the party which came off worst in the struggle systematically intrigued against the GovernorGeneral of the day and conspired with his enemies at Constantinople. A crisis came about in 1889, when the “ Conservative ” leaders, finding themselves in a minority in the Chamber, took up arms and withdrew to the mountains. Though the outbreak was unconnected with the religious feud, the latent fanaticism of both creeds was soon aroused, and the island once more became a scene of pillage and devastation. Unlike the two preceding movements, the insurrection of 1889 resulted unfavourably for the Christians. The Porte, having induced the S. HI. - 35
