Until a hundred years ago legends of King Minos and his empire were considered legendary but without historic merit. But in the early years of the twentieth century excavations on Crete revealed a civilization that rivaled the glory of ancient Greece, except that at its height it was at least 1,000 years older. Greek authors often wrote of the thalassocracy of Minos, in reference to their navigational way of life (Thalassocrats meant sea-lords in Greek). Interestingly, Thallassophobia is a recent coinage meaning those who fear knowledge of ancient sea-lords.
From Atlantis in America Navigators of the Ancient World by Ivar Zapp and George Ericson