Introduction

In the late fifteenth century B.C.E., a series of tsunamis radiated outward from a collapsed volcanic caldera in the Aegean Sea, just north of the island of Crete. Enormous waves rolled across the waters inundating land and peoples in their wake. In the path of the disaster was the Minoan civilization of Crete. It is hypothesized that this calamity, caused by a volcanic eruption, may have destroyed the ancient center of Minoan power, its natural resources, naval dominance, and culture. ¹