Ch. 12, Sec. 1 – Geography of Greece and Phoenicia

The Mediterranean Sea Located between Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa World’s largest inland sea Helped peoples of surrounding areas trade

Geography, Climate of Greece Peninsula – land surrounded on three sides by water Attica (great harbors) & Peloponnesus Crete and Rhodes are the largest of around 400 islands surrounding Greece

Greek Agriculture Mountains, hot weather, poor soil all made farming difficult Raised animals and plants that thrived in harsh, rocky environments Sheep, Goats Grew wheat and barley in good soil, grapes and olives in poor soil Olives were used for eating, cooking oil, fuel for lamps, body lotion, and traded for food

Phoenicia “Phoinix” in Greek means “purple” or “deep red” Ancient Greeks named the land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean for a purple dye that Phoenicians made by crushing murex snails, who naturally secrete the dye Famous for their wood (pine and cedar) that were used for trade and to build ships

Dominating the Mediterranean Poor farm land in Greece and Phoenicia created food shortages Trade on the Mediterranean helped to solve those food problems Phoenicians became expert sailors who sailed as far as Britain Used currents, wind, and oars to power their boats