Download or read book The Cretan Connection written by Tristram Coffin and published by . This book was released on 2020-10-09 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Acts 27 of the Bible, Apostle Paul is recorded as stopping on the south coast of the island of Crete, Greece, on his way to Rome to be tried before Nero, who lived from AD 34-68 and became Emperor in AD 54. Written by Paul's travel companion Luke, the book of Acts suggests that the ship they were on stayed in south Crete longer than necessary. Knowing that he could be executed for treason, did Paul leave a final message for mankind on the island? After all, he was the main co-author of the New Testament and known to carry scrolls with him on his journeys. A well-funded archaeological team with the newest hi-tech search equipment goes to check things out. The dig team briefly visits the island of Skyros first due to its ancient connections to Crete and then proceeds to the southern part of that island. Crete is the island where the Minoan civilization (so-called by Arthur Evans, though they called themselves Keftiuans) thrived for over a thousand years and traded widely with other lands without fortifications, without war, and under the governance of women. Hmm. So one wonders what all the dig team may find! Because the hedge-fund billionaire who funded the university's archaeological school and funded its digs is a conservative Christian, she gave a great deal of money to numerous churches and ultra-conservative organizations, including one that got her put on America's terrorist watch list. A set of logical circumstances and overzealous military attention to her super-yacht that goes to pick up the dig team (which includes her twin daughters) and take them to Athens at the end of the season combine for potential disaster. Woven into the narrative of The Cretan Connection are ancient Greek history and mythology, archaeology, small doses of the physical sciences, diverse religions, and a dash or two of politics. It is a relaxing, enjoyable, upbeat read with occasional serious and tense moments but mostly lots of fun, an enigmatic story that can be read with different meanings.