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At the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C., a distinctive civilization began to take form on the island of Crete in the southern sector of the Aegean Sea. This civilization, which we have designated “Minoan,” lasted for 2,500 years. It spread over much of the Aegean and the Greek mainland. Although it comprised a relatively small population, its art, architecture, and technology reached a level rivaling that of the contemporary civilizations in Egypt and Asia Minor.

In about the year 1400 B.c., the Minoan civilization on its home territories was destroyed. This was not a gradual, fluctuating decline and fall over the centuries, such as overtakes every civilization in the course of time. The archaeological evidence shows that the fall was sudden. On Crete itself, virtually all the cities were destroyed— in some way that included fire—within a short period of time.

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James Burnham

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At the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C., a distinctive civilization began to take form on the island of Crete in the southern sector of the Aegean Sea. This civilization, which we have designated “Minoan,” lasted for 2,500 years. It spread over much of the Aegean and the Greek mainland. Although it comprised a relatively small population, its art, architecture, and technology reached a level rivaling that of the contemporary civilizations in Egypt and Asia Minor.

In about the year 1400 B.c., the Minoan civilization on its home territories was destroyed. This was not a gradual, fluctuating decline and fall over the centuries, such as overtakes every civilization in the course of time. The archaeological evidence shows that the fall was sudden. On Crete itself, virtually all the cities were destroyed— in some way that included fire—within a short period of time.