Monopalatial Crete

  General Description   Crete is a large island in the Eastern Mediterranean. Here we consider the phase of its history best known as the Monopalatial Era. This period began following the destruction of many Minoan sites around 1450, due either to natural catastrophes or human agency ^{[1] [2]} , and it ended with the destruction of Knossos ^[3] Throughout this period, Knossos was the main political, administrative and economic centre of the island: analyses of both textual and archaeological data shows that Knossos controlled a series of second-order (e.g. Kydonia and Phaistos) and third-order (e.g. Tylissos) centers ^{[4] [5]} . However, a resurgence of elite display at second-order sites, starting in 1370, suggests a possible power shift in the final decades of this era, and the decline of Knossian influence over the island ^[6] .
Population and Political Organization
The supreme leader of the state was the king, known as wanax ^[7] He presided over the political, economic and religious hierarchy. It is not certain, however, whether he had any military or judicial duties. Ranked second was the lawagetas, a military leader. ^[8] Below these leaders were the hequetai, followers, who accompanied military contingents and may also performed other functions. Other officials, the so-called collectors, were involved in acquiring and distributing exchange commodities. Among the figures at a lower level were the qasireu who served as overseer of group of workers -the predecessor of the word known from ancient Greek as the word for the king (baseless) - the telestas , officials, the korete and porokorete, mayor and vice-mayor, and scribes ^[9] .
Firth estimates that, at this time, Crete numbered 110,000 inhabitants ^[10] .

[1]: (Driessen and Macdonald 1997, 106-109) Jan Driessen. and Colin F. Macdonald. 1997. The Troubled Island. Minoan Crete Before and After the Santorini Eruption. Liège: Université de Liège, Histoire de l’art et archéologie de la Grèce antique; Austin: University of Texas at Austin, Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory

[2]: (Christakis 2008, 144-146) Kostis S. Christakis. 2008. The Politics of Storage. Storage and Sociopolitical Complexity in Neopalatial Crete. Philadelphia, Pa.: INSTAP Academic Press.

[3]: (Popham 1994, 89-102) Mervyn Popham. 1994. ‘Late Minoan II to the end of the Bronze Age,’ in Knossos: A Labyrinth of History, edited by Don Evely, Helen Hughes-Brock, and Nicoletta Momigliano. British School at Athens; Oxford: Oxbow.

[4]: (Bennet 1988, 19-42) John Bennet. 1988. ‘Outside in the distance: problems in understanding the economic geography of Mycenaean palatial territories,’ in Text, Tablets and Scribes. Studies in Mycenaean Epigraphy and Economy Offered to Emmett L. Bennett, Jr., edited by Jean-Pierre Olivier and Thomas G. Palaima. Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad.

[5]: (Bennet 1990, 193-211) John Bennet. 1990. ‘Knossos in context: comparative perspectives on the Linear B administration of LM II-III Crete’. American Journal of Archaeology 94:193-211.

[6]: (Preston 2008, 316-317) Laura Preston. 2008. ‘Late Minoan II to IIIB Crete,’ in The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[7]: (Shelmerdine 2008, 292-295) Cynthia W. Shelmerdine. 2008. ‘12: Mycenaean states. 12A: Economy and administration,’ in The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[8]: (Nikoloudis, 587-594) S. Nikoloudis. 2008. ‘The role of the ra-wa-ke-ta: insights from PY Un718,’ in Colloquium Romanum: Atti del XII Colloquio Internazionale di Micenologia. Roma 20-15 febbraio 2006, edited by A. Sacconi, M. del Freo, L. Godart, and M. Negri. Rome.

[9]: K. Christakis, pers. comm., 2016

[10]: (Firth 1995, 33-55) R.J. Firth. 1995. ‘Estimating the population of Crete during LM IIIA/B’. Minos 29-30: 33-55.