Exercises on Mycenaean Civilization

The Mycenaeans – also known as Achaeans – inhabited part of mainland Greece, developed city-states and maintained some commercial contact with foreign civilizations. The Mycenaeans lived their heyday in what period of ancient Greek history?

a) Pre-Homeric

b) Homeric

c) Archaic

d) Classic

e) Hellenistic

The Mycenaeans were a people of Indo-European origin who settled in the Balkan region around 2000 BC. and which, between the period 1600-1200 BC, lived its heyday. During this period, the Mycenaeans exercised hegemony in this region and absorbed an important people who inhabited an island in the Aegean Sea. We're talking about:

a) Dorians

b) Aeolians

c) Ionians

d) Cretans

e) Hittites

To this day, historians are not sure if the Trojan War actually existed or if it was just a myth passed down from generation to generation in the Greek world and recorded in written form by Homer. However, some theories based on archaeological evidence have been formulated, and one of them claims that the Trojan War was a conflict of the Mycenaeans (called Ahhiyawa by their enemies) against the:

a) Egyptians

b) Assyrians

c) Hittites

d) Dorians

e) Cretans

Check the alternative below that corresponds to a characteristic that belonged to the Mycenaeans:

a) The Mycenaeans based their economy on maritime trade, and their form of government was known as Thalassocracy.

b) The Mycenaeans had a militaristic society that was organized into city-states, and Mycenae and Tiryns were the most famous.

c) The Mycenaeans believed that the founders of the city of Mycenae were Romulus and Remus, who in their youth had been raised by a she-wolf.

d) The Mycenaeans were known to have cruel methods against their enemies, such as human flaying, and an important Tiryns king built the famous Tiryns Library.

e) The Mycenaeans had a legend known as the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which an important local king set out on a journey in search of eternity.

Letter A

The Mycenaeans developed at the time of Greek history that corresponds to the Pre-Homeric Period. This period was characterized by the formation of the Greek culture and people from the junction of the traits of five distinct peoples:Cretans, Dorians, Aeolians, Ionians and Mycenaeans. The Pre-Homeric Period spanned from 2000 BC. until 1200 BC. The Mycenaeans lived their heyday around 1600 BC. to 1200 BC

Letter D

The arrival of the Mycenaeans coincided with the decline of the Cretans. The Cretans inhabited the island of Crete and were in decline because of natural disasters that had impoverished them. As the Mycenaeans were a militarized people, the Cretans were gradually absorbed around 1400 BC. The absorption of the Cretans made the Mycenaeans acquire certain elements of the culture of this people.

Letter C

To this day, it is not known for sure whether the Trojan War actually took place or not. However, archaeological evidence from studies conducted in the region has led some historians to formulate a theory that the conflict may have been a clash of Hittites against Mycenaeans. Hittite documents point to the existence of a people called Ahhiyawa, in the region of Asia Minor, and that the expansion of this people caused the Hittites to declare war on them, in a place where Troy may have existed.

Letter B

The Mycenaeans formed a militarized society in which a warrior aristocracy held important administrative positions. The confirmation of the militarization of this people was based on archaeological evidence, which pointed to a large amount of weapons and the construction of enormous fortifications in Mycenaean cities. Each Mycenaean city had its own administration, so they are considered city-states.