1. Greece

2. Geography
Aegea
n Sea
Ionian
Sea
Mediterranean
Sea
Crete
Athens
Sparta
Troy

3. Geography
Greece is very
mountainous
• 75% of Greece is
covered by mountains
• Difficult to farm
Surrounded by seas
• Greece is located on
the Balkan Peninsula
• Made trade easier
• Could get what
they could not grow

4. Geography
Cut off by mountains and the seas
• Isolated
• Led to the formation of
city-states
• Limited interaction and
unity of Ancient Greece
• Created fierce rivalries
• Sea became a vital link
• Hundreds of bays to
provide safe harbor for
ships
• Skilled sailors
• Traded olive oil, wine, and
marble
• Returned with grains,
metals, and ideas

5. Geography/Climate
• Greece has a
Mediterranean climate
• Winters are mild and wet
– allows for limited
farming
– grapes and olives
• Summers are warm and
dry
– leads to drought
– grapes and olives are
one of the few plants
that can survive the
summer droughts

6. Timeline of Civilizations so far..
• 3500 – 1500 BC: Sumer, Babylonia – 1st Known
Civilization
• 2700 – 2100 BC: Egypt – Old Kingdom pyramid builders
• 2600 – 1900 BC: Indus – Classic Urban Harappan phase
• 1500 – 1000 BC: Egypt – New Kingdom monument
builders
• 1500 – 200 BC: China – Shang, Zhou and Qin dynasties
• 551BC: Confucius born
• 1300 – 400 BC: Assyrian Empire – Nineveh, Nimrud
• 1000 – 30 BC: Egypt – Late period: conquest and foreign
rule, Cleopatra
• 200 BC – present: China – Han dynasty through
communist rule

7. Where does Greece fit in
timeline?
• 3500 – 1500 BC: Sumer, Babylonia – 1st Known Civilization
• 2800 BC: Minoan civilization established
• 2700 – 2100 BC: Egypt – Old Kingdom pyramid builders
• 2600 – 1900 BC: Indus – Classic Urban Harappan phase
• 1500 – 1000 BC: Egypt – New Kingdom monument builders
• 1450BC: Minoan civilization collapses
• 1500 – 200 BC: China – Shang, Zhou and Qin dynasties
• 1300 – 400 BC: Assyrian Empire – Nineveh, Nimrud
• 1100-750 BC: Dark Age of Greece
• 1000 – 30 BC: Egypt – Late period: conquest and foreign rule,
Cleopatra
• 551BC: Confucius born
• 480 BC: Persia burns Athens
• 200 BC – present: China – Han dynasty through communist
rule

8. Minoans
• 2800-1450 BC
• Best known from island
of Crete
• As population on Crete
increased, Minoans
migrated to other
islands and civilizations
of the
Mediterranean…some
even may have lived in
Egypt.
• Named by Sir Arthur
Evans for Greek Myth
of King Minos

9. Minoan Culture
• Knossos-Crete
• – Crete settled by 2800
BC
• – Cretans living in cities,
trading and writing by
2000
• BC
• 1930 B.C.-First palace
built
• A “bureaucratic
monarchy”
• Agriculture-olive and wine
• Long distance trade,
ships; copper, ivory,
gold,amber
• – Throughout Asia Minor,
Egypt and Mediterranean

10. The Palace at Knossos

11. Collapse of the Minoans
• Theories of downfall:
• – Natural Disaster
• • Volcanic Eruption
• 1500/1450 BC (est.)
• – Decimated Minoan trade city of
Akrotiri (which was one of 1st
planned cities in Europe with fresh
running water and sewage system
for ALL Minoans)
• – Severe earthquake activity
preceded eruption, leveling
Knossos and other Minoan cities
• – Resulting tidal waves from
eruption devastated Minoan cities
further
• – Conquered by Mycenaeans after
weakened by natural disaster