Crete’s palace-building protopalatial (middle Minoan) period (which…

Crete’s palace-building protopalatial (middle Minoan) period (which is to last until about 1450 BCE) includes flourishing economic, political, and social organization and active trade in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as the first appearance of writing in the Greek world.

The Minoan script called Linear A is in use on Crete from the nineteenth century BCE. (Some modern linguists assign the enigmatic Linear A script to either the Anatolian or Semitic group language, although convincing proof is lacking.)

Seal usage and possibly even writing are known also in the Cyclades and on the Greek mainland.