GGREECE

Knossos was the largest. Minoan and Mycenaen Cities  The first known inhabitants of Greece.  Farmers that settled the island of Crete around 6000 B.C.  Skilled traders, craftsment and artists.  Knossos, Zakro, Phaestos and Mallia are four main palace cities.

 Most of their cities were coastal where fertile farmlands and rich sea resources were abundant.  Some could read and write.  Their palaces were often decorated with wall paintings called frescoes.  Much of our information about the Minoans comes from surviving frescoes.  The bull and double-headed axe were sacred symbols.

 Around 1450 B.C. all the palaces on Crete were suddenly destroyed.  It is believed that a series of natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions led to the destruction of the Minoan way of life.

 From around 1600 B.C. to around 1100 B.C. the Greek mainland was ruled by a group of people we call the Mycenaeans.  They were farmers, craftsmen, traders and very warlike.  The Greek poet Homer told a story about the Trojan War where a united group of Mycenaeans destroyed the city of Troy after a ten year seige.  We now believe Troy’s remains have been found in modern day Turkey.

The Greek City of Athens is famous for its acropolis. A CGI Image of an Acropolis  Their cities were often built on or around easily defended high ground.  They would surround these cities with walls.  This type of fortified city was called an acropolis; which means high city.

 Around 1200 B.C. the Mycenaean world was breaking up.  Poor harvests, food shortages and famine forced the Mycenaeans to leave their homes.  As their world fell apart Greece entered a period known as the Dark Ages.  From 1100 B.C. – 800 B.C. a group of Greeks called the Dorians lived in the region but as they had little to no writing little is known about them.

 The art of writing was not the only art lost.  Skilled pottery, jewel making and architecture all suffered during the Dark Ages.  Houses were made of mud and wood instead of stone.  Their clothes were very simple, including a simple cloth tunic called the “Doric chiton”.  We do know that the Dorians seemed to believe in cremating (burning to ashes) their dead.

 Around 800 B.C. the art of writing begins to appear again. With this comes written records.  The Greeks seemed to have adopted the Phoenician (another Mediterranean people) alphabet but added several vowels to it.  This modified alphabet is the beginnings of our modern English alphabet.  Luckily, many ancient tales survived the Dark Ages due to the professional poets called bards.  Their stories were greatly exaggerated.