Before the rise of civilization in Greece, the northern part of Greece, with its rich soil, rivers and plains, was an advanced region.
However, in the Bronze Age of Greece, which began around 3200 BC, civilization was born and cities were already established in Mesopotamia and Egypt across the Aegean Sea. Advanced technology and abundant food in Mesopotamia and Egypt were something that Greece wanted to get.
Therefore, it is suitable to grow in the south. The policy is to obtain processed crops such as olives and grapes and grains by trading . Change to.
From the above circumstances, the coastal areas near Mesopotamia and the islands are the center of trade . It became.
This time, the Aegean civilization started from the Greek Mediterranean coast. We will focus on Greek civilization, including.
Aegean civilization
The bronze civilization born in Europe on the eastern Mediterranean coast, which I briefly wrote earlier, is a Aegean civilization . Is called.
Crete civilization
Crete around Syria and Palestine and right in the middle of Egypt and Greece There is an island called. As you can see from the map, it was a very convenient place as a center of trade.
Around 2000 BC, a palace began to be built on Crete to store and redistribute supplies to the city of Knossos, which was developed by the Mediterranean trade, and to live in the royal family.
As it prospered mainly in trade, it was less hostile to external forces, and it was a wallless palace . It is said that it was. In the first place, the island itself can be said to be a natural fortress surrounded by the sea, so it may not have been necessary.
Around 1600 BC, each city-state succeeded in creating a centralized nation using religious authority.
However, as civilization progresses, timber logging progresses and environmental destruction is caused. This environmental destruction gradually led to the decline of civilization.
Mycenaean civilization
Around 1600 BC, ancient Greeks who migrated from the north to the mainland of Greece were influenced by the civilizations of Crete and the Orient Mycenaean civilization . Start building. Aegean civilization The Mycenaean civilization emerged in the latter half of the year. You can think of it as.
Mycenaean Civilization And the Greeks are fortress royal palace made of megaliths Mycenae It is built in Tiryns, Pilos, etc. The Mycenaean civilization spread in the form of establishing a small kingdom around the royal palace.
On the military side, it seems that many people are gathering together and moving in the opposite direction to the open Cretan civilization.
While Crete is a place where many people and supplies gather, the environment of "the mainland of Greece is divided by mountainous lands" and "grains are hard to come by" is also a background that does not accept others. I think it was there. "It's hard to get grain" is life-threatening, so there was a high possibility that some people would try to invade neighboring cities.
Mycenae's politics is tribute royal government It was called, and it was to collect agricultural products, livestock, weapons and other handicraft products from local villages as tribute by using an official organization under the king who has tyrannical power.
In the 15th century BC, the people who carried the Mycenaean civilization also invaded and ruled Crete. Since the Mycenaean civilization tended to have a strong military interest to build the citadel royal palace, the open Cretan civilization would be swallowed by the Mycenaean civilization.
After ruled Crete in the 15th century BC, its power extended to the Anatolian Peninsula.
What are the other civilizations included in the Aegean civilization?
The Aegean civilization includes the Cretan civilization, the Mycenaean civilization, the Trojan civilization, and the Cycladic civilization.
- Troy civilization:B.C. 2600-B.C. 1200, the center of Troy on the Anatolian Peninsula (Irios in ancient Greek)
- Cycladic civilization:B.C. 3000-B.C. 2000, the center of the Cycladic Islands
The Troy civilization on the Anatolian Peninsula disappeared at about the same time as the Mycenaean civilization, which is centered on mainland Greece.
The Greek Aegean civilization is around 1200 BC , Many kingdoms that flourished in the Mycenaean and Troy civilizations were suddenly destroyed destroyed .. Dark Ages the time of the sudden destruction of many countries I call it.
Dark Ages
It is not clear what happened in Greece around 1200 BC.
- The limit of the royal government of tribute has come.
- Climate change
- Invasion of external forces
It is said that it was destroyed due to multiple causes.
When climate change causes food shortages, invaders often come to cities that have prospered until then, and political dissatisfaction explodes all at once. Similarly, the Mycenaean civilization has been destroyed.
After that, Greece entered an era called the Dark Ages. By the way, in Greek mythology, it is written that the Trojan War was the cause of this destruction.
Although it is a mythical story, it seems that the Trojan War is not a fictitious story at all, and some scholars say that there was actually a large-scale war, and Anatolia has continued intermittently since about 1700 BC. Some scholars say that the invasion of the peninsula was the source of the Trojan War. There is no doubt that it has declined as such battles have been repeated.
The Dark Ages are also the transition to the Iron Age, where new technological innovations are supposed to occur, but during that time the population is declining and the letters used up to that point are forgotten ... the inhabitants of the kingdom They have emigrated to the west coast of the Anatolian Peninsula and the islands of the Aegean Sea in search of new lands.
In this way, Greece spent about 400 years in a stagnation era.