Page 89 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

and jewelry. The complex even included bathrooms with elaborate drains. The rooms were decorated with frescoes in bright colors showing sporting events and naturalistic scenes that have led some observers to con- clude that the Cretans had a great love of nature.
The centers of Minoan civilization on Crete suffered a sudden and catastrophic collapse around 1450 B.C.E. Many historians believe that a tsunami triggered by a powerful volcanic eruption on the island of Thera was responsible for destroying towns and ships on the north coast of Crete, while volcanic ash devastated the land. Although people began to rebuild, there is evi- dence that mainland Greeks known as the Mycenaeans invaded and pillaged many centers, including Knossus, which was destroyed around 1400 B.C.E.
The First Greek State: Mycenae
The term Mycenaean (my-suh-NEE-un) is derived from Mycenae (my-SEE-nee), a remarkable fortified site first excavated by the amateur German archaeologist Hein- rich Schliemann (HYN-rikh SHLEE-mahn). Mycenae was one center in a Greek civilization that flourished between 1600 and 1100 B.C.E. The Mycenaean Greeks were part of the Indo-European family of peoples (see Chapter 2) who spread from their original location into southern and western Europe, India, and Iran. One group entered the territory of Greece from the north around 1900 B.C.E. and managed to gain control of the Greek mainland and develop a civilization.
Mycenaean civilization, which reached its high point between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E., consisted of a number of powerful monarchies based in fortified palace com- plexes. Like Mycenae itself, the palaces
were built on hills and surrounded by gigantic stone walls. These various cen-
ters of power probably formed a loose confederacy of independent states, with Mycenae being the strongest. Next in importance to the kings in these states were the army commanders, the priests,
and the bureaucrats who kept careful records. The free citizenry included 0 peasants, soldiers, and artisans, and the 0 lowest rung of the social ladder con- sisted of serfs and slaves.
The Mycenaeans were, above all, a
warrior people who prided themselves on their heroic deeds in battle. Some scholars believe that the Myce- naeans, led by Mycenae itself, spread outward militarily, conquering Crete and making it part of the Mycenaean
world. The most famous of all their supposed military adventures has come down to us in the epic poetry of Homer (discussed in the next section). Did the Myce- naean Greeks, led by Agamemnon (ag-uh-MEM-non), king of Mycenae, sack the city of Troy on the northwest- ern coast of Asia Minor around 1250 B.C.E.? Scholars have debated this question ever since Schliemann began his excavations in 1870. Some believe that Homer’s account does have a basis in fact.
By the late thirteenth century B.C.E., Mycenaean Greece was showing signs of serious trouble. Mycenae itself was torched around 1190 B.C.E., and other Myce- naean centers show similar patterns of destruction as new waves of Greek-speaking invaders moved in from the north. By 1100 B.C.E., the Mycenaean culture was coming to an end, and the Greek world was entering a new period of considerable insecurity.
The Greeks in a Dark Age (ca. 1100–ca. 750 B.C.E.)
Q FOCUS QUESTION: Who was Homer, and why was his work used as the basis for Greek education?
After the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, Greece entered a difficult period in which the population declined and food production dropped. Because of the difficult conditions and our lack of knowledge about the period, historians refer to it as the Dark Age. Not until 850 B.C.E. did farming revive. At the same time, some new developments were forming the basis for a revived Greece.
Mycenae Orchomenos Tiryns
During the Dark Age, large numbers of Greeks left the mainland and migrated across the Aegean Sea to vari- ous islands and especially to the west- ern shores of Asia Minor, a strip of territory that came to be called Ionia (eye-OH-nee-uh). Based on their dia- lect, the Greeks who resided there were called Ionians. Two other major groups of Greeks settled in established parts of Greece. The Aeolian (ee-OH-lee-un) Greeks, located in northern and central Greece, colonized the large island of Lesbos and the adjacent territory of
Pylos
50 100 50
MYCENAEAN GREECE
Thera
Sea of Crete
Knossus 150 Kilometers
100 Miles
Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece
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the mainland. The Dorians (DOR-ee-unz) established themselves in southwestern Greece, especially in the Peloponnesus, as well as on some of the islands in the south Aegean Sea, including Crete and Rhodes.
The Greeks in a Dark Age (ca. 1100–ca. 750 B.C.E.) 51