From Goddess to King, Chapter 10, MINNO AND THE STORY OF CRETE

FROM GODDESS TO KING

A History of Ancient Europe from the

OERA LINDA BOOK

By Anthony Radford

CHAPTER 10

MINNO AND THE STORY OF CRETE

TheBronze Age of the Aegean civilization has been divided into three periods
on Crete; Early Minoan (c. 3300-2150 BC), Middle Minoan (c. 2150-1750 BC), and
Late Minoan (c. 1750-1200 BC). The Late Minoan is itself divided into LM.A and
LM.B to distinguish between two distinct styles of pottery that have been found
with a layer of volcanic ash in between. This dates a natural catastrophe that
does not denote the end of the Minoan civilization as it continued for another
hundred years and fell by war, not eruption. The dates for these periods are themselves
open to question as that ash has been dated by two distinct processes to be about
1650 BC. The first process is that of ice-core drillings in which volcanic ash
alters the acidity of the frozen water. The second is by carbon-14 dating of wood
from the period. The values given here reflect the latest date estimates and are
different from standard texts that may use values up to two hundred years more
recent. Even so, it is difficult to pinpoint these times with the dates quoted
in the Oera Linda Book unless the name Minos became a dynastic title like Pharaoh
in Egypt with at least two Minoss, one being the grandson of the other known
in the time of Theseus. That was the mythical time of the Minotaur, the bull of
Minos, and a critical period in history at the end of the Middle Minoan and the
beginning of the Classical Greek eras. It was the end of the mythical age, a time
before the legendary age of Homer.

The excavation of Knossos, the site of the capital city of Crete and of other
sites on the Cyclades has given us most of what we know about this period. According
to Thucydides in his “Peloponnesian Wars” he states that Minos was the first person
known to them to establish a navy. He made himself master of the Hellenic sea.
From the mythical tradition we are told that Minos was the son of Zeus, the king
of the gods and Europa representing all Europe. Europa married King Asterios of
Crete who adopted her children. Poseidon, the god of the sea and earthquakes helped
Minos to succeed Asterios as king and distinguished himself as both a lawgiver
to Crete and the overlord of most of the Aegean including Athens. When his son
was killed in Greece, he extracted the awesome tribute of seven youths and seven
maidens to feed the Minotaur.

To reconcile this tradition needs careful analyses because Minno, a sea-king
in the Book, mentions Athens as an existing city and contributes to the story
of Minerva. He therefore must have been after the sea-king Jon, but perhaps before
the Theseus era. In the Appendix, Dr. Ottema relates Minno to an earlier mythological
personage who also had a law giving tradition and it does fit with the rather
simple government that Minno discovered at Crete, which was not the great seafaring
tradition of King Minos.

Minno was a sea-king who after a very adventurous life trading in the Mediterranean
lands, retired back to his homeland in the town of Lindahelm on the Rhine and
recorded not just his exploits and adventures in Crete but the history of Fryas
people in Greece. His exploits and the laws he gave to Crete were also recorded
on the walls of Lindahelm, which included copies of the laws that were engraved
at Texland. Minno was a king but from his laws it is obvious that no concept of
the divine right of kings existed in their culture. There was never to be an overall
king or a hereditary office.

From the writings of Minno, recorded in the Book over a thousand years later
and edited in Christian times, we get an idea of a community based indoctrination
rather than one with laws conceding to free enterprise. These laws show the nature
of crime and punishment where justice consisted of either compensation for violence,
actually retribution or payment in kind, or exile to the iron or tin mines. The
tin mines were in Westland in the area that eventually became known as Cornwall.
The population of Westland or Britain must have been quite small at the time with
a populace of exiles, mostly men. This imbalance eventually was exploited by the
founder of the Celtic regime in cooperation with the Golen or Druids to make Britain
independent of Texland but not of the continent.

The laws pertained to international relations and trade and are listed in the
Appendix so we can get on with the adventure. It is hard to interpret the word
“neighbor” as being more than the family next door from the nature of these writings
but Minno makes it clear that he is writing about foreign markets as well. It
appears that the elders of the town, the aldermen, promoted these merchant fleets
for community profit. Seamen and merchants were working for “The Company” much
like today and not as individuals. They shared in one third of the profits and
both the disabled and the families of the deceased were cared for. The best provisions
had to be provided for the fleet as apparently women and children could accompany
the navigators on the long voyages to the Mediterranean and beyond. The Book continues.

Minno was an ancient sea-king. He was a seer and a philosopher, and he gave
laws to the Cretans. He was born at Lindaoord, and after all his wanderings he
had the happiness to die at Lindahelm.

From the Writings of Minno:

If our neighbors have a piece of land or water which it would be advantageous
for us to possess, it is proper that we should offer to buy it. If they refuse
to sell it, we must let them keep it. This is Fryas Tex, and it would be unjust
to act contrary to it.

If any of our neighbors quarrel and fight about any matter except land,
and they request us to arbitrate, our best course will be to decline; but if they
insist upon it, it must be done honorably and justly.

If any one comes and says, I am at war, you must help me; or another comes
and says, My son is an infant and incompetent, and I am old, so I wish you to
be his guardian, and to take charge of my property until he is of age, it is proper
to refuse in order that we may not come into disputes about matters foreign to
our free customs.

Whenever a foreign trader comes to the open markets at Wyringen and Almanland,
if he cheats, he must immediately be fined, and it must be published by the maidens
throughout the country. If he should come back, no one must deal with him. He
must return as he came.

Whenever traders are chosen to go to trading stations, or to sail with the
fleets, they must be well known and of good reputation with the maidens.

If, however, a bad man should by chance be chosen and should try to cheat,
the others are bound to remove him. If he should have committed a cheat, it must
be made good, and the culprit must be banished from the land in order that our
name may be everywhere held in honor.

If we should be ill-treated in a foreign market, whether distant or near,
we must immediately attack them; for though we desire to be at peace, we must
not let our neighbors underrate us or think that we are afraid.

Before we tell of the exploits of these people it is important to understand
how their laws were so binding on them. The laws were designed for fairness and
safety in the community, but as time went on there were many complaints about
their strictness; a fact exploited by some unscrupulous burgtmaidens themselves.
Minnos writings continue.

If any one should be so wicked as to commit robbery, murder, arson, rape,
or any other crime, upon a neighboring state, and our people wish to inflict punishment,
the culprit shall be put to death in the presence of the offended, in order that
no war may arise, and the innocent suffer for the guilty. If the offended will
spare his life and forgo their revenge, it may be permitted. If the Culprit should
be a king, Grevetman, or other person in authority, we must make good his fault,
but he must be punished.

If he bears on his shield the honorable name of his forefathers, his kinsmen
shall no longer wear it, in order that every man may look after the conduct of
his relatives.

These laws are from the Minno writings and are of a civil nature. Let us not
forget that no statute became law until it was approved by the burgtmaid and inscribed
on the walls of the citadel. The Mother approved national laws according to the
principles of Frya.

The laws appear harsh, even cruel by modern standards, but they date from the
seventeenth century BCbefore the Old Testament was codifiedand reflect some
of the same sort of thinking. Apparently the pillory was used to shame some offenders.
That such thinking is slow to change is evidenced in the use of stocks and pillory
up to and including our own colonial times.

These Rules Are Made For Angry People:

If a man in a passion or out of ill-will breaks the limb of another or puts
out an eye or a tooth, he must pay whatever the injured man demands. If he cannot
pay, he must suffer the same injury as he has done to the other. If he refuses
this, he must appeal to the burgtmaid in order to be sent to work in the iron
or tin mines until he has expiated his crime under the general law.

If a man is so wicked as to kill a Frisian, he must forfeit his own life;
but if the burgtmaid can send him to the tin mines for his life before he is taken,
she may do so.

If the prisoner can prove by proper witnesses that the death was accidental,
he may go free; but if it happens a second time, he must go to the tin mines,
in order to avoid any unseemly hatred or vengeance.

These Are The Rules Concerning Bastards:

If any man sets fire to the house of another, he is no Frisian, he is a
bastard. If he is caught in the act, he must be thrown into the fire; and wherever
he may flee he shall never be secure from the avenging justice.

No true Frisian shall speak ill of the faults of his neighbors. If any man
injures himself, but does no harm to others, he must be his own judge; but if
he becomes so bad that he is dangerous to others, they must bring it before the
count. But if instead of going to the count a man accuses another behind his back,
he must be put on the pillory in the marketplace, and then sent out of the country,
but not to the tin mines, because even there a backbiter is to be feared.

If any man should prove a traitor and show to our enemies the paths leading
to our places of refuge, or creep into them by night, he must be the offspring
of Finda; he must be burnt. The sailors must take his mother and all his relations
to a desolate island, and there scatter his ashes, in order that no poisonous
herbs may spring from them. The maidens must curse his name in all the states,
in order that no child may be called by his name, and that his ancestors may repudiate
him.

Minno continues, obviously back home in old age, about the rightness of Fryas
laws, in spite of their strictness. The word “Alvader” does sound very much like
the present age “Our Father”. He uses it to mean God and then complains about
Findas people as “being too stupid to obey their own laws.” His descriptions
of the laws made by Findas people bear a striking resemblance to the work of
our present day lawmakers. Here it appears there is little new. A strong case
can be made for the fact that this attitude that he complained about appears to
be prevalent today; but now and then it is also true that our conscience or “Eva”
within us still tells us what is right and honorable.

The origin of the word “Eva” is explained and he gives a beautiful piece straight
from the wisdom of his years and cautions for both justice for all and vigilance
at home. One may wonder about the roots of the newer words “evil” and “devil”
because of the connotations given them.

In my youth I often grumbled at the strictness of the laws, but afterwards
I learned to thank Frya for her Tex and our forefathers for the laws which they
established upon it. Wr-Alda or Alvader has given me many years, and I have traveled
over many lands and seas, and after all that I have seen, I am convinced that
we alone are chosen by Alvader to have laws. Lydias people can neither make laws
nor obey them, they are too stupid and uncivilized. Many are like Finda. They
are clever enough, but they are too rapacious, haughty, false, immoral, and bloodthirsty.

The toad blows himself out, but he can only crawl. The frog cries “Work,
work”; but he can do nothing but hop and make himself ridiculous. The raven cries
“Spare, spare”; but he steals and wastes everything that he gets into his beak.

Findas people are just like these. They say a great deal about making good
laws, and every one wishes to make regulations against misconduct, but does not
wish to submit to them himself. Whoever is the most crafty crows over others,
and tries to make them submit to him, till another comes who drives him off his
perch.

The word `Eva is too sacred for common use, therefore men have learned
to say `Evin.

`Eva means that sentiment which is implanted in the breast of every man
in order that he may know what is right and what is wrong, and by which he is
able to judge his own deeds and those of others; that is, if he has been well
and properly brought up. `Eva has also another meaning; that is, tranquil, smooth,
like water that is not stirred by a breath of wind. If the water is disturbed
it becomes troubled, uneven, but it always has a tendency to return to its tranquil
condition. That is its nature, just as the inclination towards justice and freedom
exists in Fryas children. We derive this disposition from the spirit of our father,
Wr-Alda, which speaks strongly in Fryas children, and will eternally remain so.
Eternity is another symbol of Wr-Alda, who remains always just and unchangeable.

Eternal and unalterable are the signs of wisdom and rectitude, which must
be sought after by all pious people, and must be possessed by all judges. If,
therefore, it is desired to make laws and regulations which shall be permanent,
they must be equal for all men. The judges must pronounce their decisions according
to these laws. If any crime is committed respecting which no law has been made,
a general assembly of the people shall be called, where judgment shall be pronounced
in accordance with the inspiration of Wr-Aldas spirit. If we act thus, our judgment
will never fail to be right.

If instead of doing right, men will commit wrong, there will arise quarrels
and differences among people and states. Thence arise civil wars, and everything
is thrown into confusion and destroyed; and, O foolish people! while you are injuring
each other the spiteful Findas people with their false priests come and attack
your ports, ravish your daughters, corrupt your morals and at last throw the bonds
of slavery over every Freemans neck.

The word “navigator” meant a seaman who made foreign voyages. People who lived
by means of the small boats were called stuurlieden, a word that meant a navigator
in the modern sense. It must have been the dream of every boy to make a foreign
voyage. Those who were not fit enough to make the voyages had to stay home and
herd the cows, hence our name coward; not the best for a prideful youth. Minno
himself was a splendid example of a navigator and sea-king who returned home to
an honorable old age after much adventure. It is easy to understand how his tales
and those of other navigators would inspire Fryas sons and enable the continuity
of their seagoing way of life.

Minno took a fleet from Athens, to Crete, the Land of Criers and purchased
a harbor and some land there. Apparently he intended to settle there permanently
and eventually he became known as the lawgiver to Crete. However, his efforts
to free the inhabitants were frustrated by the devious princes and priests again
so Minno quietly returned to the Rhine, leaving his comrades in their settlement.
He may have been a king but that was never a permanent position among the free
people at that time.

When I came away from Athenia with my followers, we arrived at an island
named by my crew Kreta, because of the cries that the inhabitants raised on our
arrival. When they really saw that we did not come to make war, they were quiet,
so that at last I was able to buy a harbor and a piece of land in exchange for
a boat and some iron implements. When we had been settled there a short time,
and they discovered that we had no slaves, they were very much astonished; and
when I explained to them that we had laws which made everybody equal, they wished
to have the same; but they had hardly established them before the whole land was
in confusion.

The priests and the princes declared that we had excited their subjects
to rebellion, and the people appealed to us for aid and protection. When the princes
saw that they were about to lose their kingdom, they gave freedom to their people,
and came to me to establish a code of laws. The people, however, got no freedom,
and the princes remained masters, acting according to their own pleasure.

When this storm had passed, they began to sow divisions among us. They told
my people that I had invoked their assistance to make myself permanent king. Once
I found poison in my food. So when a ship from Flyland sailed past, I quietly
took my departure. Leaving alone, then, my own adventures, I will conclude this
history by saying that we must not have anything to do with Findas people, wherever
it may be, because they are full of false tricks, fully as much to be feared as
their sweet wine with deadly poison.

Next come the laws that Minno wrote for the settlements in Crete. He was to
settle there a long time and influence the inhabitants to such an extent that
the local princes used his name and prestige after his departure for home to augment
their own power, but not in the spirit of Minno. Perhaps he gave his name to the
title of King Minos but no connection between the names can be derived from the
Book. The term “Minoan Civilization” of a later date, and the names of Minos and
the Minotaur are not found any earlier than 1000 BC in Greek mythology. That however
does not stop the use of the word “Minoan” to describe pottery, relics and rituals
in Crete from as early as 1900 BC.

In those days they had the same type of crimes we have today. Minnos solution
was to exile the bad seeds of society, and in order to reduce the transgression
of rape, he would have every young man married. He assumed that the normal high-minded
person would be too proud to accept charity but declared it was their duty to
help the poor anyway. This value was true here less than a century ago. Minno
stated that these laws are for Crete but they read more like laws for Frisians.

Here are recorded the words of Minno. They were eventually inscribed on the
walls of Lindahelm and reflect a later life back in Flyland after he had time
to contemplate his life. Additional recordings by Minno are given in the Appendix.

Minnos laws for Crete:

These Are The Three Principles On Which These Laws Are Founded

Everybody knows that he requires the necessaries of life, and if he cannot
obtain them he does not know how to preserve his life.

All men have a natural desire to have children, and if it is not satisfied
they are not aware what evil may spring from it.

Every man knows that he wishes to live free and undisturbed, and that others
wish the same thing.

To secure this, these laws and regulations are made. The people of Finda
have also their rules and regulations, but these are not made according to what
is just – only for the advantage of priests and princes – therefore their states
are full of disputes and murder.

If any man falls into a state of destitution, his case must be brought before
the count by the maidens, because a high-minded Frisian cannot bear to do that
himself.

If any man becomes poor because he will not work, he must be sent out of
the country, because the cowardly and lazy are troublesome and ill-disposed, therefore
they ought to be got rid of.

Every young man ought to seek a bride and to be married at five-and twenty.

If a young man is not married at five and twenty, he must be driven from
his home, and the younger men must avoid him. If he will not marry, he must be
declared dead, and leave the country, so that he may not give offense.

If a man is impotent, he must openly declare that no one has anything to
fear from him, then he may come or go where he likes.

If after that he commits any act of incontinence, then he must flee away;
if he does not, he may be given over to the vengeance of those whom he has offended,
and no one may aid him.

Any one who commits a theft shall restore it threefold. For a second offense
he shall be sent to the tin mines. The person robbed may forgive him if he pleases,
but for a third offense no one shall protect him.