Expanded trade leads to cultural diffusion in the Mediterranean.

Minoans Aegean Sea Knossos King Minos Phoenicians

Lived on the island of Crete Center or trade in the Mediterrane an Knossos Peaceful

 Through trade their culture and influence was spread throughout the Mediterranean ◦ Unique Architecture ◦ Very athletic people  Boxing, wrestling, bull leaping ◦ King Minos  Minotaur in a labyrinth

 Women had a high rank in Minoan society ◦ Religious ceremonies ◦ Mother Earth Goddess ruled over all the other gods ◦ Head priestesses  Minoan religion practiced ritual sacrifice ◦ Bulls and other animals ◦ Some evidence indicates humans were sacrificed as well

 Why do we have such detailed information like their views of nature and the sports they played?

 Unclear as to exactly why ◦ Overpopulation? ◦ Invaders? ◦ Natural Disaster?  1470bc a series of earthquakes rocked Crete  Caused a volcanic eruption and a tsunami  Unable to recover from the 1470 disasters ◦ Minoan civilization greatly weakened but remained for about 300 years ◦ Greek invaders may have completely ended Minoan Civ.

 They took advantage of the fall of the Minoans  In modern day Lebanon  1100 BCE ◦ What allowed the Phoenicians to become so powerful?

 What is a city-state? ◦ An autonomous state consisting of a city and surrounding areas ◦ What are the advantages of NOT creating a unified state? ◦ What are the disadvantages?  Byblos, Tyre and Sidon

 First Mediterranean peoples to trade past the Straight of Gibraltar  Might have traded with southern Britain  May have sailed around tip of Africa and back up to Straight of Gibraltar ◦ Next evidence of this happening wasn’t for another 2,000 years

 Bbblos ◦ Traded papyrus  What is papyrus? Why is it important?  Sidon and Tyre ◦ Production of red-purple dye  Why would dye be an important trade commodity?  Carthage (colony) 814 BCE ◦ North Africa and founded by Tyre  Colonies ◦ Northern coast of Africa, coasts of Sicily, Sardinia and Spain ◦ 30 miles apart. Why?

 Dye ◦ Very labor intensive  What does rarity and labor intensity do to the price of a commodity? ◦ A red-purple dye  Made from rotted snails  Wine, Weapons, Precious Metal, Ivory, Wood (Cedar), Metal, and Glass ◦ What is unique about Ivory as a trade commodity?

 How does writing evolve?  Phonetic-one character means one sound ◦ Alphabet= alpha + beth  Phoenician writing system spreads throughout the Mediterranean ◦ How?

 Did Phoenician civilization really decline? ◦ Babylonians took control of Eastern cities ◦ Persian King Cyrus I took control of Western cities  What did they leave behind?