The Minoans dominated trade in the Mediterranean from 2000-1400 BC from their home on the island of Crete. They had an advanced civilization centered in Knossos and traded their highly regarded pottery, spreading their culture and influencing future Greeks. Natural disasters around 1200 BC weakened Minoan cities and allowed their conquest by Greek invaders. After 1100 BC, the Phoenicians rose to dominance in Mediterranean trade from their cities along the coast of present-day Lebanon. They developed the first alphabetic writing system which was adopted by the Greeks and became the basis for modern alphabets like English.

1. Ch. 3.3

2.  Dominated trade in the Mediterranean Sea from 2000-1400
B.C.
 Lived on Crete, Map
 Best pottery of the time.
 Traded pottery with neighboring cultures,
 This spreads culture around the area.
 Ideas/beliefs influence future Greeks
 Cultural “Stepping Stone” in the Mediterranean
 Ended about 1200 B.C.
 Natural disasters, earthquakes ,volcanoes, may have wiped
out the cities or at least weakened them enough for attacks
from Greek invaders.

4.  Knossos, the Minoan capital city.
 An advanced and thriving culture.
 Probably peaceful -Minoan cities no fortifications
 Wall paintings show them as athletic, graceful.
 Art depict women’s role in religious ceremonies.

5.  1100 B.C., Crete falls
 Now the Phoenicians dominate trade.
 Located in present day Lebanon. Map
 Great shipbuilders and seafarers.
 Important cities: Sidon, Tyre, Berytus, Byblos and Carthage
 Famous for purple dye, made from a rotting murex snail.
 It took 60,000 snails to make 1 pound of dye!
 Phoenicians need system for recording transactions
 Developed phonetic alphabet

6.  The Phoenicians
developed a writing
system that used symbols
to represent sounds.
 The Phoenician system
was phonetic—that is,
one sign was used for
one sound.
 In fact, the word alphabet
comes directly from the
first two letters of the
Phoenician alphabet:
aleph and beth.
 The Greeks adopted the
Phoenician Alphabet,
adapting it into the Greek
Alphabet we know today,
which is the basis for the
English Alphabet.

7. •How could long distance trade affect these ancient
civilizations?
•How does trade affect our civilization today?

8.  #1 and #2 on p. 71 on the right side of your
notebook.