Based on archaeological evidence, historians describe two early civilizations in the Aegaean Sea : CYCLADIC and the MINOAN CIVILIZATION.
The Cycladic civilization is the lesser known, and the elder, beginning ca. 3.000 B.C. The Minoan civilization began ca. 2.600 B.C. Around
1.900 B.C. the first PALACES were built; the most famous Minoan palaces were built at KNOSSOS and PHAISTOS on CRETE. The Minoan fleet
seems to have dominated the Aegaean Sea, for the palace cities did not have any walls, indicating that attacks were not expected. Minoan
Crete is referred to as a THALASSOCRACY (society ruling the seas). Knossos is said to have had up to 100.000 inhabitants. The palaces were
destroyed by fire, probably after an earthquake, ca. 1700 and rebuilt a couple of decades afterwards. Minoan Crete was conquered by invading
Mycenaean Greeks around 1380. The Mycenaeans stayed in Crete for a while, but then seem to have suddenly abandoned the island; the
palaces were deserted.
B.) THE MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION
The begin of the Mycenaean civilization is dated ca. 1600 B.C. Characteristic are little kingdoms, administrated from hilltop fortresses like MYCENAE,
TIRYNS, PYLOS. Athens and Thebes are also believed to have been mycenaean fortress towns. The civilization is named after Mycenae, which
according to HOMER enjoyed an overlordship over the other kingdoms. In ca. 1380, the Mycenaeans conquered Minoan Crete, ca. 1220 they
conquered TROY, the city controlling the trade connecting the Aegaean and the Black Seas.
C.) A COMPARISON OF CIVILIZATIONS
Historiography of early history often suffers from the nationalistic perspective. Describing early Greek history, English language textbooks often
focus on the Minoan civilization (Knossos was excavated by Briton SIR ARTHUR EVANS, while German textbooks focus on Troy and Mycenae
(excavated by HEINRICH SCHLIEMANN). American textbooks also emphasize PYLOS, excavated by an American team. Most of the artefacts found
ended up in musea in the countries the archaeologists' teams originated from. The Minoan civilization is much older than the Mycenaean
civilization. They had large settlements, an advanced technoilogy - in the palace at Knossos they had flushing toilets - and a script, first LINEAR
A, out of which developed LINEAR B, the latter deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris, a Greek architect. The Mycenaean civilization did not begin
before 1600 B.C. The Mycenaeans were more warlike, their settlements located on hilltops, surrounded by strong walls. They learned to use
Linear B from the Minoans. They conquered both Troy and Minoan Greece, yet they seem not to have been able to make proper use of the
resources of Minoan Crete.
This page is part of World History at KMLA Last revised on September 10th 2001
