Knossos is an 'ancient city of Crete', on the north side of the island, 5 km from the coast, near the modern city of Iraklion. In the 2nd millennium BC Knossos was a center of the highly developed Aegean civilisation of the Bronze Age.

Crete was first inhabited during the Neolithic period (6000 - 2600 BC), the earliest inhabitants coming from Asia Minor. Their culture was relatively primitive, but had reached the stage of production, involving cultivation of the soil and keeping of domesticated animals. They knew how to make fine burnished pottery, frequently decorated with geometric motifs, and were capable of building stone houses, though they also still made use of caves for habitation. Metals were as yet unknown and the tools and weapons they needed were made of a range of hard stones. The simple, relatively primitive figurines suggest that they worshipped a female fertility goddess.