THE WONDERS OF ANCIENT CRETE 27 



than once, but the best features belong to the Golden 

 Age of Cretan art, about 1,500 b.c. The building itself 

 was about 500 feet square, and several stories high ; 

 and in every detail it shows a rich and powerful and 

 (as old empires go) well-ordered civilization. There 

 were bath-rooms, with terra cotta baths, and a drainage 

 system that astonished the excavators. When we 

 remember that even London and Paris had no sewage 

 systems in the days of Queen Elizabeth, we certainly 

 should not expect such a thing in a forgotten civiliza- 

 tion of 3,500 years ago. Yet experts tell us that the 

 drains of this ancient palace were superior to anything 

 known afterwards in history (even in ancient Rome) 

 until the middle of the nineteenth century ! The 

 drains were of faucet-jointed pipes of quite a modern 

 look, and so well made that they are serviceable 

 to-day. Manholes were provided for the inspection 

 of the main drains, and the surface water from the 

 roof was brought in to flush the pipes. There were 

 similar drains in another palace, atPhaestos ; and the 

 excellence of the engineering suggests that such work 

 had been done long before 1,500 B.C. 



The discovery reminded scholars of another Greek 

 legend, or series of legends. It was said that the first 

 man who was able to fly, Daedalus, was a skilful 

 engineer in the employment of the Cretan king. 

 This man, Greek legend said, built a wonderful 

 "labyrinth" for the king, and in it was kept a 

 horrid monster, half man and half bull, called the 

 "Minotaur" (or bull of King Minos). It was said 

 that Minos exacted seven youths and seven maidens 

 from the Athenians every nine years to sacrifice to 

 this monster. We now see that the " labyrinth " was 

 probably the wonderful palace we have unearthed. 



