1. The Dark Age
Martin, T. R. (1996). Ancient Greece: From prehistoric to Hellenistic times. New Haven: Yale University Press.

2. The End of the Mycenaean Civilization
1200 BC (lasting until, roughly, 1000 BC) Marks the coming undone of the Mediterranean network of firmly established powers and trading partners.
The New Kingdom in Egypt was falling apart
Foreign invaders destroyed the powerful Hittite kingdom in Anatolia
Mesopotamia underwent a period of political turmoil
The rich palace societies of the Aegean all but disintegrated.
Internal strife between local powers centers of power and overexploitation of natural resources in overspecialized and centralized economies.
This caused people to leave their homes, seeking new places to live or at least victims to plunder.
Political instability
Destroyed economic prosperity

3. Hittites Ruled much of Anatolia
Invaders (sea peoples) penetrated its borders and cut off supply lines of raw materials from the mainland.
Capital city, Hattusas, was burned to the ground
Ruled much of Asia minor

4. The Fall of Egypt’s New Kingdom
Struggle for power between the priests and the pharaohs undermined central authority
Frequent attacks from abroad (sea peoples)

5. Phoenicians Cyprus (plus eastern Mediterranean coast) Rich in copper
Purple dye
First alphabet ( BC)
Evolved to our alphabet today
Invasion and attack by sea peoples

6. The End of the world
Internal conflict among the rulers of Mycenaean Greece, not foreign invasion, offers the most plausible explanation of the destruction of the palaces of the mainland in the period after 1200 BC.
The destructive consequences of this conflict were probably augmented (added to; or increased) by major earthquakes in this seismically active region.
Constant warfare placed great stress on the elaborate economic balance of the redistributive economies of the palaces and hindered recovery from earthquake damage.
Peasant farmers could become independent and farm for themselves while the palaces struggled for recovery
Mercenaries left their rulers (no loyalty)

7. The Dark Age
BCE
Few literary or documentary sources exist to supplement the incomplete information provided by archeology
Local conflicts
Economic disruptions
Emigration and immigration

8. Lost knowledge of writing
Centralized Economy
Palace scribes used Linear B to record the flow of goods
With the collapse of the economic system we see no need for writing in Linear B or the need to pass it down
Replaced by oral tradition
Storytelling
Music
Singing
Poetry

9. Society in the Dark Age Cultivated less land No political states
Dark Age Cycle
As population goes down-
Land cultivated goes down
Production of food goes down

10. Society in the Dark Age
From Centralized Economy to Agricultural Economy
People become more mobile
Less settled lifestyle
Simple huts
Few possessions

11. Economic Recovery Iron Age Iron’s Advantages 900 BCE
Iron displaces bronze
Agricultural tools
Swords
Spear points
Iron’s Advantages
Less expensive (bronze is made from copper and tin)
Holds a sharper edge longer
Iron is plentiful

12. Greek Morality
Code of Behavior
Conduct
Wealth
Birth

13. Warriors
Read pg 43-45
Achilles

14. Women
Penelope (Odyssey)