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Rh about a central court. A similar palace also arose at Phæstus in southern Crete, perhaps another residence of the same royal family. These palaces were not castles, for neither they nor the towns connected with them were fortified. Several indications, like the statue of an Egyptian official found under the pavement of the oldest palace at Cnossus, suggest that the Egyptian Pharaohs of the Feudal Age (p. 42) may have exercised political power as well as commercial and cultural influence over the men of Crete. In the storerooms of the palace at Cnossus invoices scratched on clay tablets have been found in great numbers. This writing is a kind of hieroglyphic clearly showing the influence of Egyptian writing; but much study has not yet enabled scholars to decipher and read these precious records, the earliest-known writing in the European world (Fig. 62).

As the older palace of Cnossus gave way to a more splendid building (about 1800 B.C.), the life of Crete began to unfold in all directions (Figs. 61–66). Noble pottery (Fig. 61) was painted or molded in grand designs drawn often from the life of the sea, where Cretan power was already expanding. This painted pottery shows the most powerful, vigorous, and impressive decorative art of the early oriental world. The palace walls were also painted with fresh and beautiful scenes from daily life, all aquiver with movement and action; or they were adorned with glazed porcelain figures incrusted upon the surface of the wall. The method of use and the execution of the work everywhere show that this new art was due to suggestion from Egypt; but in spite of this fact the powerful individuality of the Cretan artist did not permit him to follow slavishly the Egyptian model. His work is alive with his own vigor and his own character.

Cretan civilization culminated in the century from 1600 to 1500 B.C., when the sea power of the Cretan rulers was carrying