The Minoans dominated trade in the Mediterranean Sea from 2000-1400 BC with their advanced civilization based on the island of Crete. They traded their high quality pottery, spreading their culture and influencing future Greeks. Natural disasters around 1200 BC may have weakened the Minoans and allowed Greek invaders to attack. The Phoenicians then dominated Mediterranean trade from 1100 BC, operating out of cities like Sidon and Tyre in 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.