In approximately 1800 year period between 2000 BC and 850 BC, several civilizations flourished in the area of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. We have just studied three of these civilizations, all of which had a lasting impact.
The Minoans of Crete were lords of the sea, controlling trade in the Aegean from around 2000 BC to 1400 BC. They had beautiful structures, with unique architectural elements, such as palaces and temples. The largest was called Knossos. There were artists who produced amazing fresco's and pottery. They played a strange and dangerous sport called bull leaping. Eventually they were destroyed, first by natural disasters, such as volcano eruptions, tidal waves,earthquakes, and ash clouds that followed also weakened them. We believe they were taken over by the Mycenaean's from Mycenae, who adopted many aspects of their culture.
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| Minoans Age of Empires, http://ageofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Minoans, 15 March 2018 |
The Phoenicians of Lebanon and Syria were great traders too, and they were strongest from approximately 1100 BC to 842 BC. They had a monopoly on their most famous trade item, purple cloth, because only they had the dye needed to produce it. We give the Phoenicians two descriptive names. They are called the Great Navigators because they discovered how to use the North star. This allowed them to sail farther and faster than anybody before them, even to England and perhaps around Africa. They are also called the carriers of civilization because they distributed no only goods when they traded, but also knowledge they had picked up on their trade journeys. One of their colonies, Carthage, on the north coast of Africa, grew into a powerful empire which nearly defeated Rome. Their alphabet was an asset to trade because it was based on sound and could be used for many languages. It was also much easier to learn because it had only 22 letters, which allowed more people to read and write. It is also important to us because it was the bases of our own alphabet.
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| Phoenicians, History lists, http://history-lists.com/6-amazing-discoveries-by-the-phoenicians/, 15 March 2018 |
The ancient Hebrews came originally from Mesopotamia. Approximately 1800 BC, Abraham is believed to have led these people from Ur to Canaan. Because of a great famine, the ancient Hebrews went to Egypt in approximately 1650 BC. At first they were treated well, but eventually they were made slaved. After about 300 years they escaped and were led back to their land by Moses. They joined into a single nation about 1025 BC with David as their leader. King Saul created a beautiful capital city called Jerusalem. And King Solomon created a wonderful temple to worship the Hebrew god. Eventually the nation split into two parts Judah and Israel. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the people were scattered. In 586 BC Judah was conquered by the Chaldean's, destroying Solomon's temple. Many ancient Hebrews were taken as captives to Babylonia. In 538 BC the Chaldean's were conquered by the Persians, and the Hebrews were allowed to return to their city and rebuilt their great city. They were conquered. later by the Romans, and again dispersed. The ancient Hebrews' religion was the first to practice an ethical monotheism. We have the Ten commandments and the Torah
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| Hebrews, Mr. Dowling, http://www.mrdowling.com/603-hebrews.html, 15 March 2018 |
