G REECE Land of the Hellenes

In the southeastern corner of Europe, between modern Greece and Turkey, lies the Aegean Sea. This island-filled arm of the Mediterranean was the heart of ancient Greece. Few of the people lived more than 70 km from its shores. Unlike the river valley societies of Egypt and Mesopatamia, Greek civilization was oriented to the sea. Land and Sea

Greece has nearly 3200 km of coastline, a remarkable length for such a small land area. Besides the islands, the Greek mainland has a long rocky coastline that is indented with deep fjords. These inlets provided excellent harbours. Greeks sailed from island to island across the Aegean Sea and around the whole rim of the Mediterranean sharing products and ideas.

Although distances from island to island were short, violent storms and strong prevailing winds can make navigation difficult. To sail safely beyond the islands to places farther east and south, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, navigators needed to know the precise wond conditions.

The rugged landscape of the mainland was marked by mountains. As a result, the ancient Greeks could not cultivate even 1/5 of this territory, and valued the small amount of fertile land they possessed. Like the sea, the mountains had a significant effect on the development of the ancient Greek world. While they made Greece a very difficult territory to conquer by land, they also acted as natural partitions among the Greek communities on the plains. Ancient Greece became a collection of separate, fiercely independent city-states, often at war with one another.

Reflect and Analyze Page 130: Questions: # 1 a & b, # 2, and # 3 (For question # 3, please just compare Egypt's land with Greece, ignore Mesopotamia!!!)