The Aegan World
The civilization that you will about this chapter grew up in a region known as the "Aegan World." The Aegan is a sea lying north of the eastern end of the great Mediterranean Sea. This was the site of ancient Greece. Its lands were very different from the river valley civilizations you have read about.
The "Aegan World" includes the shore of two continents - Europe and Asia. As you will learn, the history of Greece was also shaped by the fact that the "Aegan World" is made up of countless peninsulas and islands. A peninsula is land that is surrounded by water on three sides. Attica and the hilly Peloponnesus are major peninsulas. Crete and Rhodes are the largest of the Aegan islands. There are, however, hundreds of Aegan islands.
A Rugged Place
I am at home in sunny Greece . . . a rugged place, but a good nurse of men; for my part I cannot think of a sweeter place to look at.
These words are taken from an ancient poem that is about 3,000 years old. According to the poet, the lands of Greece are a "rugged place." Indeed, chains of mountains extend into every part of ancient Greece. The highest peak is the towering, snow-capped Mt. Olympus.
Greece does not have much fertile farmland. Narrow valleys make up most of its lands. These valleys are watered by small mountain streams, not large rivers. As a result, farming in ancient Greece differed from farming in the river valley civilizations. Greek lands did not provide a surplus of grains and other important crops. Early Greek farmers learned to cultivate crops, such as olive trees and grapes, which could thrive in a mountainous environment.
The Greeks also raised sheep and goats. Such animals can feed along the rocky hillsides. The sheep were shorn for their wool and some were raised for meat. Goats also provided meat as well as milk for drinking and making cheese.
The Importance Of The Sea
The early Greeks imagined the world as encircled by the mighty river of ocean, and held that all life derived [began] from it.
Understanding the geography of Greece makes it easy to understand why these words were written. But the ancient Greeks were more than fascinated by the sea. They depended on it. In the first place, good farmland was scarce so the Greeks had to look to the sea for food. In the second place, sea travel was easier than travel on rugged land.
Sea travel gradually linked ancient Greece to other societies. The Greek islands were like steppingstones across the Aegan Sea. Even in small ships and without compasses, Greek sailors could go from one island to another and thus reach the older, richer civilizations in Asia and Africa.
By 800 B.C. the Greeks had become accomplished sailors. Their major sailing vessels, a trireme, was powered by three banks of oarsmen. Greek ships grew in number and became larger and faster. Look at the diagram of a Greek trireme below.
Triremes enabled the early Greeks to sail far and wide. Greek merchants traveled all around the Mediterranean Sea. Triremes sailed to the Black Sea for fish, to Cyprus for timber, to the Nile Delta for grains, and to the Italian peninsula for meat. In exchange for these goods, Greece traded grapes, wine, olives, olive oil, wool, pottery, tiles, marble, and works of art.
Mediterranean Colonies
The Greeks were not the only seafaring traders in the Mediterranean Sea in ancient times. The people of Phoenica also had learned the advantages of sea travel. The Phoenicians had become great sailors because their home land also stretched along Mediterranean shores.
The Greeks and Phoenicians sent groups of their people to settle in new lands. Such a settlement, or colony, helped trade. Greek and Phoenician colonies were set up throughout the Mediterranean region. By 750 B.C. there were colonies in Asia Minor, along the shores of the Black Sea, in North Africa, along the Italian and Iberian peninsulas, and on many Mediterranean islands. Often the Greeks and Phoenicians competed for control of useful places. For example, why do you think the Greeks may have wanted control of the mouth of the Black Sea?
The Exchange Of Ideas
You may recall that the Egyptians learned from their invaders, the Hyksos, how to make their army stronger. From their contact with Phoenician culture, the ancient Greeks learned a system of writing.
The Phoenicians developed a unique alphabet around 900 B.C. During their travels, the Phoenicians needed a way to keep a record of the goods they bought and sold. Cuneiform, with its 600 symbols, took up too much space on a tablet or papyrus. Thus, the Phoenicians invented a new alphabet with just 22 symbols.
The Phoenician alphabet was carried to trading centers all over the Mediterranean Sea.
Can you imagine how important the invention of the alphabet was? Unlike hieroglyphics and cuneiform, the Phoenician way of writing was a simple system. Many more people could learn how to use the letters and spell words. As a result, more was written and ideas began to spread quickly.
The First Step
The sea was to the ancient Greeks what the Nile River was to the ancient Egyptians. As the early Greeks learned how to take advantage of their environment, they prospered.
As you have read, ancient Greece was a rugged place. Its land was not good for farming, and wide seas surrounded it. From faraway colonies, however, the Greeks were able to obtain food their land could not supply. Sea travel also became a way in which important new ideas could be exchanged.
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Nice one