ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Historical Dictionaries : Pre-Classical Greece </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2004-2006 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/wh/tlpreclas.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/whchapters.html"> <img src = "../banhistdic.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../biographies/wh/biopreclas.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Biographies </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on May 30th 2004 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Historical Dictionaries : Pre-Classical Greece </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histdic/wh/hdpreclas.html </i></font> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "150"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> <A NAME = "acropolis">Acropolis</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "aegaeansea">Aegaean Sea</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "aetolians">Aeolians</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "atlantis">Atlantis</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "crete">Crete</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "dorians">Dorians</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "greekdarkages">Greek Dark Ages</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "hellespont">Hellespont</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "iliad">Iliad</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "ionians">Ionians</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "knossos">Knossos</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "lineara">Linear A</A> <BR> <A NAME = "linearb">Linear B</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "minoanciv">Minoan Civilization</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "mycenae">Mycenae</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "mycenaeanciv">Mycenaean Civilization</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "oralliterature">Oral Literature</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "minoanpalaces">Palaces, Minoan</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "phaistosdisc">Phaistos Disc</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "priamostreasure">Priamos' Treasure</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "santorin">Santorin</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "seapeoples">Sea Peoples</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "thalassocracy">Thalassocracy</A> <BR> Thira <BR> <A NAME = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy">Troy</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> </font></TD> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> fortified hilltop settlement, the dominant nucleus of urban settlement in the Aeagaean <BR> in the second millennium B.C. Athens, Mycenae, Troy prime examples. An acropolis <BR> would require a hill with steep slopes, a wall surrounding the settlement and a well <BR> that did not fall dry even in the hottest summer. <BR> part of the Mediterranean; located between mainland Greece, Crete, Asia Minor and <BR> Thrace. Numerous islands are scattered over the Aegaean Sea, among them the <BR> Cyclades and Sporades island groups. <BR> regarded the oldest branch of the Greek people; settled originally in Thessaly; Aeolians <BR> in the 11th century migrated across the Aegaean, settling islands such as Lesbos and <BR> stretches on the opposite coast. <BR> legend of an island nation which sank to the bottom, the population drowning. As the <BR> island was long believed to have been located in the central Atlantic Ocean, the latter <BR> was named after it. Among the numerous interpretations, a convincing one identifies <BR> Crete with Atlantis; Crete not having sunk to the bottom of the sea, but having suffered <BR> from an extraordinary Tsunami caused by a major volcanic eruption of the volcano-island <BR> of Santorin, some time between 1650 and 1450 B.C. <BR> largest Greek island, home to the Minoan civilization. Believed to have been a unified <BR> state with a merchant navy which controlled the Eastern Mediterranean (thalassocracy) <BR> until natural disasters weakened the defense. Mycenaean Conquest and end of Minoan <BR> palatial period roughly coincide. <BR> branch of the Greek people which immigrated into Greece c. 1100, settled mainly on <BR> the Peloponnese and on Crete. Regarded the most warlike of the three branches. <BR> term refering to the period for which we have no written records, between the end of the <BR> usage of Linear B c.1150 and the begin of writing in the Greek alphabet, associated <BR> with the codification of the Iliad and Odyssey c.750. The quality of architecture and <BR> artefacts, during the Greek Dark Ages, also was markably lower than that of the <BR> preceding Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations. <BR> classical Greek name for the Dardanelles, a narrow straits connecting the Aegaean <BR> Sea and Lake Marmara, separating Europe and Asia Minor. The Greek trade with the <BR> Crimea, vital for Greece because it supplied her with grain, passed through it. Troy's <BR> historical significance lay in controlling the Hellespont. <BR> the story of the Greek conquest of Troy, written down in around 750 B.C. Credited to <BR> Homer, as is the Odyssey; written in rhymes, believed to be an oral tradition written <BR> in the 8th century B.C., but previously transmitted from generation to generation as <BR> oral literature. <BR> branch of the Greek people; settled in mainland Greece (Attica); from there migrated <BR> across the Aegaean Sea c.1000 B.C., settling islands and the opposite coast (to the <BR> south of the settlements of the Aeolians). <BR> most important of Crete's Minoan palaces, constructed c.1900 B.C., abandoned c. <BR> 1380 B.C., excavated in 1900. From a birds-eye perspective, looks like a labyrinth; <BR> thus probably the origin of the legend of King Minos and the Minotaur. <BR> oldest script used on Crete c.1750-15th c. B.C., not yet deciphered <BR> script used on Crete and in Mycenaean Greece c.1400-c.1150 B.C.; deciphered by <BR> Michael Ventris in 1952. <BR> Cretan civilization c.1900-1380 B.C., identified with the palaces. Named after <BR> legendary King Minos, father of the Minotaur. <BR> acropolis near Argos on the Peloponnese. Mentioned in the Ilias, as the Kingdom of <BR> Agamemnon. Rediscovered in 1841-1871 by K. Pittakis and Heinrich Schliemann. <BR> the civilization of mainland Greece c.1600-c.1100 has been named Mycenaean <BR> Civilization, after M. Construction in Mycenae is dated at between 1550 and 1250 B.C. <BR> see article from <A HREF = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae">wikipedia</A> <BR> civilization dominated by fortified hilltop fortresses such as Mycenae, after which it <BR> is named. Believed to have been warlike; credited for the conquest of Minoan Crete <BR> c.1420/1380, of Troy c.1250/1184. <BR> oral tradition, including mythology, legends and tradition, transmitted from generation <BR> to generation until written down (and, at times, continued to be memorized, despite <BR> codification. The most impressing example is the Indian oral literature; the older part <BR> of the bible has been transmitted that way before having been codified; the same is <BR> assumed for the Iliad and the Odyssey, accredited to Homer. The expression of <BR> authorship, for texts of such a background, is therefore dubious. <BR> large, walled structures located in the plains of Crete, in striking contrast to the <BR> acropolis-type hilltop fortresses of Mycenaean Greece. The expression 'palace' has to <BR> be read generously, as they functioned as combined palace-cities. The most famous <BR> examples are Knossos and Phaistos. <BR> Disc with a (Cretan) hieroglyphic inscription, found in the Palace of Phaistos. Only <BR> a few other items with this script found so far; dated back to c.1700-1550. Found in <BR> 1908. <BR> a range of artefacts, largely made of gold, found by Heinrich Schliemann when <BR> excavating Troy. Attributed to King Priamos (mentioned in the Iliad) and displayed <BR> in a museum in Berlin. In 1945 the Soviets took the items, as war booty, to Moscow. <BR> Modern archaeologist attribute 'Priamos' Treasure' to an older period in Trojan <BR> history, the Great Fire (c.2180 B.C.). <BR> or There (Thira), islands making up the remnant of a Volcano crater, believed to <BR> have exploded some time between 1650 and 1450 B.C., the event(s) having had a <BR> great impact on nearby Crete; a Tsunami caused by the eruption blamed for a flooding <BR> described in the legend of Atlantis. <BR> people who invaded Egypt, coming from overseas, c. 1200 B.C., and who were fought <BR> off by the Egyptians. Historians identify the Philistines as having formed part of them, <BR> and blame them for the destruction of the Hittite Empire, which disappears from <BR> historical records about that time. <BR> control of, literally rule of the sea <BR> see under Santorin <BR> acropolis located in Asia Minor in very close proximity to the Hellespont. The siege <BR> and conquest of Troy is described in the Iliad. Until 1871, most Europeans were <BR> convinced that Troy had never existed, was fictional; then archaeologist Heinrich <BR> Schliemann found it. <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "700"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> PRINTED REFERENCE : <BR> </font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> </DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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