Lesson 9 Notes - Minoans, Mycenaeans and Early Greece PDF

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Lesson 9 Notes - Minoans, Mycenaeans and Early Greece...

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MINOANS, MYCENEANS AND EARLY GREECE Geographical and Climactic Influences: The character of Greek civilization in antiquity was deeply influenced by geography and climate. Running from Mt. Olympus in the north 240 miles southward to the tip of the Peloponnesus, mainland Greece is a highly hilly, mountainous peninsula. However, the scarcity of natural resources compelled the Greeks to fan out across the Aegean. The original inhabitants of mainland Greece and the Islands may have been a linguistically mixed group which included the Pelasgians. When the Indo-Europeans invaded Europe from the Black Sea region around 2000 B.C., they either assimilated or displaced the Pelasgians, who were compelled to hop over to the islands and on to Egypt and Canaan, where they enter history as the Peleset and Philistines. The Early Aegean Civilizations: The Neolithic Revolution occurred later in Greece than it did in the Near East. Archaeologists have uncovered neothlithic sites dating to 6500 B.C. However, little was known about the earliest Greek civilizations, the Mycenaeans and Minoans until the end of the 19th century when two individuals, Heinrich Schliemann and Arthur Evans respectively, discovered the ancient cultures. Schliemann was a retired German businessman and amateur archaeologist who was fascinated with the stories of the Illiad and the Odyssey and began excavating on mainland Greece and in Asia Minor. He discovered the site of ancient Troy and the cyclopean fortess of Mycenae (so-named because of its thick walls). Evans, on the other hand, was an English archaeologist who discovered, in 1900, the site of Knossos, the Minoan capital city. Minoan, Aegean or Cretan Civilization (2600-1250 B.C.): The first European civilization, that of the Minoans, developed between 2600 and 1250 B.C. on the island of Crete. It was called the Minoan civilization after the legendary King Minos (ca. 2000 B.C.). It's not known for sure who the seafaring Minoans were but they may have included the Pelasgians, as well as other people from Libya and Asia Minor. In any event, they were non Indo-Europeans. Crete's geographical position midway between the Greek mainland and Egypt made it an ideal location for the development of a civilization based on overseas trade. By 2000 B.C. the Minoans had begun construction of a vast palace (eventually more than 250 rooms) in their capital of Knossos. This palace is probably the origin of the idea of the labyrinth that appears in Greek mythology in the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. The high point of the Minoan civilization came between 1600-1500 B.C. Since many Minoan cities were unfortified, it suggested that the Minoans were a peaceful people who experienced little domestic unrest and had few enemies. But frescoes on the palace walls show that it had a navy with warships and that certain martial arts were practiced (e.g. boxing). Its navy no doubt was a factor in maintaining its thalassocracy (a seaborne empire

which included numerous islands, including Akrotiri on Thera). The Minoans developed several forms of written language, one of which was Linear B, very likely an early form of ancient Greek. Linear A, the older Minoan language, hasn't been deciphered yet. Scholars disagree as to the exact fate of the Minoans. Some argue that the Minoan cities were invaded by the mainland Mycenaeans. Others contend the Minoan civilization was destroyed by a volcanic eruption on the nearby island of Thera (modern Santorini) which occurred around 1480 B.C. Whatever the precise cause, the Minoan civilization was in a state of decline at the close of the 15th century B.C. The great palace at Knossos was destroyed around 1400 B.C. Mycenaean or Achaean Civilization (1800-1100 B.C.): Sometime prior to 2200 B.C. a mixed Indo-European people, related to the Minoans, migrated into the Peloponnesus. These peoples spread southward from the northwestern corner of the Balkans (the Illyrian area, today's Albania). The first Greek migrants founded are known today as the Mycenaean kingdoms. The Mycenaeans (they were also known in ancient times as the Achaeans), were tributaries of the Minoans, and developed small fortified cities in the peninsula of the Peloponnesus. They organized their lives around these fortresses which were built in high places. The Mycenaeans reached the apex of their development between 1400 and 1230 B.C. A king (anax or wanax) who served as the chief military leader and priest led each fortified acropolis (acro is Greek for high; polis means city). The principle Mycenaean cities included Pylos, Argos, and Mycenae. The states and society of the Myceneans were probably more warlike, governed by warrior kings. They eventually took to the sea and conquered the Minoans circa 1450 B.C. They adopted much of the art and style of the Minoans, but were a different type of society, combining warfare with sea trade, livestock breding and grain cultivation. They also adopted the Minoan syllabic script, Linear B, which they used mostly to keep account books. The Mycenaean kingdoms included many of the islands as well as mainland sites---several small kingdoms. The Myceneans replaced the Minoans as sea traders, their goods could be found in many areas of the E. Mediterranean. But succesive waves of new Greek invaders destroyed the Mycenaean kingdoms and disrupted civilization in Greece for 300 years, ushering in the Dark Ages of Greece. Early Greece (1100-500): The Dark Ages of Greece (1100-800 B.C.): Between 1200 and 1100 B.C., Mycenaean Greece fell into decline. The Greek Dark Ages were started in part by the Dorian invasion of mainland Greece and the islands during the 12th century B.C. The Dorians were an uncivilized Greek people who originated in the mountainous northern area of Greece (Macedonia and Epirus). The Dorians occupied all of the Peloponnesus. The Dorian invasions pushed the remnants of the Mycenaean Greek people into Attica and across the Aegean to the islands off the coast of Asia Minor. The Dorians were a politically primitive people who followed the Mycenaean pattern and organized themselves into small fortified "wild west"-like frontier towns. Dorian towns were loosely organized around a tribal leader (basileus ) whose primary responsibilities were military and priestly. Law was determined by custom. The Dorians, in their religion, saw the world as a place of mystery in which the gods (anthropomorphic and capricious) exercised a limited influence over human life. The Dorian gods resided on Mt. Olympus and manifested themselves through oracles in sacred places like Delphi, Dodona, Delos, and Eleusis. The Dorian religion, which became the basis for later Greek religion, was not morally or ethically based Writing disappeared during this period and would be reintroduced, via the Phoenician alphabet, around 750 B.C....