Ancient Greece was a part of the larger Mediterranean world. The eastern Mediterranean, in particular, can be compared to a great lake that promotes trade, exchanges and cultural exchanges.
Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks and many others have similar diets and some ideas and systems, but everyone integrates their loans in different ways. For example, the Greeks got their alphabet from the Phoenicians, some of their scientific and philosophical ideas came from Egypt, and their social organization was similar to the Phoenician city-state.
However, Greek civilization is still unique. Its aesthetic ideal and commitment to human self-development, competition and linear thought changed everything it touched and laid the foundation for a typical western culture.
Geography, the Aegean Sea and the Greek mainland of Crete are an extension of the Balkan Peninsula. Like ancient times, it is a rugged land-mountainous, rocky and dry, with a lot of rainfall in autumn and spring.
There are few plants suitable for large-scale planting, mainly because of overgrazing.
In the 5th century BC, the Aegean Sea and its many islands separated Europe, Greece and Asia. Since the first sailors ventured by boat, some of them have been the crossroads of trade and communication.
At its northern end is Troy, and each of the earliest cities was built on the ruins of its predecessor, dating back to 3000 BC.
The ridge overlooks the southern entrance of the Da Daniil Strait, which is a long and narrow strait. Ships must cross Marmarahy, Bosphorus and the Black Sea. The current in the strait is about three knots, and the prevailing wind blows from the north, making the early ships only sail under the most favorable conditions.
Fortunately, a small port in its mouth allows transshipment of goods from the Aegean Sea, and ships dock and wait for the downwind. That port is blocked. Troy is the best crossing point on land, stretching several miles north from Europe and Asia. This city has new strategic significance and wealth based on cost.
The southernmost island is Crete, which was the navigation center of the eastern Mediterranean in ancient times. The southernmost island is Crete, which was the navigation center of the eastern Mediterranean in ancient times.
The newness of Crete is determined not so much by the original distance as by the wind and current. Ships sailing from Egypt to the west must follow the ocean currents along the Phoenician coast to the north, then to Crete to the west, and then to ports in Italy or North Africa.
The Phoenicians did the same thing on their way to Carthage or the Strait of Gibraltar. They can cross the north or south of the island. Most people prefer the North Shore, because it provides more sandy entrances, where their ships can only spend the night or be towed ashore for maintenance and cleaning.
Therefore, Crete is a natural transit point and convenience point for the transshipment of goods between Egypt and Phoenicia. The same ports also facilitate access to the Greek mainland, ionian islands and Troy.
The first inhabitants of Crete arrived before 4000 BC. They not only found a strategic place, but also found land that was very suitable for Neolithic agriculture.
The mountains in Crete are more than 8,000 feet high, but the island is rich in valleys and coastal plains, which provide rich grains. The climate here is generally mild. A civilization that developed in Crete in 3000 BC. Minos, a legendary ruler, commonly known as Minos, became a part of later Greek mythology.
Its main feature is that early bronzes made and built huge palaces with political, religious and economic functions.
In Knossos, Festus, Zakros and Maria, although the ruins of other big houses have been found all over the island. All the buildings are surrounded by huge rectangular courtyards, which are obviously used for religious and public ceremonies. The upper floor of the palace has decorative stairs and colonnades.
The walls are covered with a thin layer of shiny plaster or decorated with naturalistic murals. Below are countless storerooms and drainage systems to remove waste and rainwater.
Its floor plan is so complicated that the Greek name of Knossos Palace (maze, named after the Minoan royal coat of arms or double-headed axe) has become a common word in the maze.
The existence of such a huge storage facility shows that Minoan rulers have played a new role in commodity distribution, but people know little about Minoan social or political life.
The early language of Crete has not been deciphered. It was originally written in hieroglyphics of the Egyptian model, and later linear characters were unreadable. Only linear B in the last period of Minoan history was translated.
The language revealed is an early form of Greek, which may have been introduced by a new ruling dynasty in Chinese mainland around 1400 BC.
Minoan religious beliefs are also vague. Murals depict women who play the role of priests, and the main worship is almost certainly Mother Earth. The worship of the goddess of fertility in the Mediterranean basin can be traced back to the Paleolithic Age.
Other paintings show young women and men jumping over the bull's head and doing gymnastics on their backs. This dangerous sport may have religious significance, but its exact purpose is unknown. In any case, the prominent position of women in Minoan art and the scope of their activities show the rare degree of equality in the ancient world.
It seems that the Mycenaean Greeks conquered Crete around 1450 BC, and were later called Mycenaeans, although Mycenae was only one of their many cities.
They spoke early Greek and probably occupied Macedonia or Thessaly before establishing themselves on the west coast of the Aegean Sea.
In addition to Mycenae and its partner fortress Tirins, their main centers are Athens on its fertile peninsula and Thebes on the Poti Anping Plain. By 2000 BC, these places were prosperous.
Kings or chiefs ruled every Mycenae community, apparently distributing goods in the traditional way. They built huge palaces and tombs with stones as much as/kloc-0.00 tons, and conducted extensive trade with Crete and Egypt.
Although these palaces are similar in function to those in Crete, their designs are more symmetrical, with spacious apartments and porches with colonnades on the upper floor and storage rooms on the lower floor.
Olive oil is a major export product, and some storage spaces are heated to prevent it from condensing in cold spring.
The earliest tomb is the shaft tomb found in Europe; Later, huge vaults became common. The injured were buried in gorgeous treasures, because Mycenae collected works of art and luxury goods from other cultures and their own cultures.
They are also skilled metal workers, and their bronze armor and weapons, like their gold jewelry and masks, are the best in ancient times.
But apart from their material culture, these ancient Greek pioneers are still a mystery.
Homer, a semi-mythical poet who stood in the early Greek culture, portrayed them as heroes in his Iliad.
This great epic describes their successful siege of Troy, which is supported by archaeological evidence, but the society he described is different from that revealed by the ruins of Mycenae.
Homer's Mycenae cremated their wounded and competed as an individual champion. There is no mention of these graves, huge storerooms, a large number of accounts, and the meticulous and tenacious organization of the huge enterprise that created them. Homer probably described a later world-perhaps the world in which he lived-and attributed its value to its predecessors. Only violence is the same as lack of political unity.
Early Greek society
According to the existing oral tradition, Homer or the person who wrote The Iliad and its supporting work The Odyssey may have lived in the 9th century BC, when almost unknown changes had taken place in the Aegean world.
The population movement in BC13rd century opened a dark age that was little known. Homer's poems may refer to this era, but they only provide scattered information about actual things. The Greeks in classical times believed that Doria, who spoke Greek from the north, was swept to the peninsula and esteban.
Enjoy my life in the Peloponnesus and other Mycenae peninsulas. Enjoy my life in the Peloponnesus and other Mycenae peninsulas.
Thousands of refugees fled to Attica, and their land was occupied by newcomers. From there, they occupied the Aegean Islands and the west coast of Asia Minor.
The migration of these Ionian Greeks replaced other places and flowed eastward into Asia Minor. The Phrygians who overthrew the fragile fragments of the Hittite Empire and the Philistines who landed on the coast of Canaan were almost certainly among them.
Because all these things happen at the same time. ? Academic research questioned Dorian's invasion theory.
But by the 9th century BC. The Greek world is divided into two main branches. The Dorians rule most of the peninsula, and the Ionians live in Attica, Youboya and the east.
They speak different dialects, but they share many aspects of the same culture. Both groups believe that the Greek-speaking world belongs to Greece and call themselves Greeks.
Greek religion is based on a big family composed of twelve gods. They should live in the mountains. The Olympic Games was held in Olympia, northeast Greece.
The greatest is Zeus, the father of the gods; His spouse Hera; And his brothers Poseidon, Poseidon and the God of Earthquake. Hestia and Demeter, the goddesses of fireplace, are usually associated with the early Mother Earth and are her sisters.
His child is freyja Aphrodite; Apollo, the sun god, music and poetry; Ares; Athena, goddess of wisdom and art; Hephaestus, the god of fire and metallurgy; And Hermes, their emissary, is also a business and other things involving cleverness or deception.
Perhaps the most popular is Alsi Mies, a symbol of chastity, to whom women pray for help during childbirth. The Greeks conceived these gods in a human way, although they were immortal and possessed superhuman abilities.
Because the behavior of Olympus is often capricious and immoral, the principle of life in ancient Greece comes not from sacred commandments, but from the common sense concept of how to get along with neighbors.
Worship means offering prayers and sacrifices in exchange for God's protection or ensuring the goodwill of the God who rules a specific area. People's hope for personal immortality seems almost nonexistent. By the 8th century BC, it had become the fashion worship center of all Greeks.
Olympia dedicated to Zeus and Poseidon Temple in Corinth are famous for the sports competitions held every year to commemorate the gods. The temple of Apollo in Delphi is the seat of the Oracle of Delphi, and the mysterious prophecy of the Oracle has existed until Roman times.
The same temples, especially all the Olympic Games, provide a unified element for a culture that has been divided politically for centuries.
The Olympic Games attracted men from all over Greece (women were not allowed to participate) and provided a peaceful stage for competitive spirit, which was a new part of ancient Greek life. The winner was praised by the poet and received a gift from the grateful community.
All Greek men must take part in sports, because they think sports are a new part of a better life, and their health is ready for their war, but competition is the core of their personal values, and success in sports is almost regarded as a god.