Crete

[kreet] /krit/

noun
1.
Formerly Candia. a Greek island in the Mediterranean, SE of mainland Greece. 3235 sq. mi. (8380 sq. km).
Capital: Canea.
2.
Sea of, a part of the S Aegean Sea lying between the Cyclades Islands and Crete.
/kriːt/
noun
1.
a mountainous island in the E Mediterranean, the largest island of Greece: of archaeological importance for the ruins of Minoan civilization. Pop: 601 131 (2001). Area: 8331 sq km (3216 sq miles) Modern Greek name Kríti

traditionally said to be from Krus, name of a mythological ancestor; probably an ethnic name of some sort.

Island in southeastern Greece in the Mediterranean Sea.

Note: Crete is the largest of the Greek islands.

Note: One of the world’s earliest civilizations, the Minoan civilization, reached its peak in Crete in 1600 b.c.

Note: In Greek mythology, Crete was Minos’s kingdom, where the Minotaur lived at the center of the Labyrinth.

now called Candia, one of the largest islands in the Meditterranean, about 140 miles long and 35 broad. It was at one time a very prosperous and populous island, having a “hundred cities.” The character of the people is described in Paul’s quotation from “one of their own poets” (Epimenides) in his epistle to Titus: “The Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (Titus 1:12). Jews from Crete were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). The island was visited by Paul on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27). Here Paul subsequently left Titus (1:5) “to ordain elders.” Some have supposed that it was the original home of the Caphtorim (q.v.) or Philistines.