Aegean CivilizationEssay Preview: Aegean CivilizationReport this essayMallory RuppHIST 1014/11/16Aegean Civilization Exam: Question A The civilization on the island of Crete began in about 2000 BC and is credited with being the first European civilization. Crete civilization began with the Minoans and lead to the Mycenaeans, who would invade after the Minoan civilization faced an environmental disaster. Much of what we know about these civilizations was found by Sir Arthur Evans, a British archeologist, who led expeditions on Crete in the early twentieth century. The civilization on Crete was advanced; they had large palaces and left behind beautiful artworks. The largest palace on the island was the palace and Knossos. Knossos covered six and a half acres and was six stories high. When the palace was excavated and afterward reconstructed, they found it was advanced enough to have a primitive air conditioning system. Cool water came down from the mountains and ran through the palace effectively cooling it. The palace included large storage chambers able to store the materials the people would use for the barter economy that the civilization ran on. The most famous king of the Minoan civilization was King Minos, whom the civilization was named after. He is part of the Greek myth of the Minotaur and the labyrinth. The palace at Knossos is believed to be what the labyrinth was based on due to its layout.
The Minoan Civilization was a strong commercial power in the Mediterranean. They had a powerful naval presence and used their ships to export the goods they created. The Minoans created olive oil, pottery, and grains. Their trade network extended throughout the Mediterranean as far westward as Spain. The presence of huge barrels and the storage chambers within the palace help us to know what and how much the Minoans were trading. The palaces leave behind many frescos that show the people of Crete. The men would wear loincloths with wide belts around their waists. They were shown to be thin and muscular in these pictures, and would typically be shirtless. Women wore robes that were open in the front showing off their breasts, with long layered skirts. The women usually had long hair styled in elaborate updos.
The Minoan empires were able to create much of the wealth of Europe. By the middle of the fifteenth century, they had established much of their empire in Persia, Afghanistan and other provinces under the name of the Greek Empire, with an impressive history of military development. But most of the Minoan holdings in Greece, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen were located in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of the Arabian Gulf, which was a major area of conflict in the Middle East, as well as a source of oil and natural resources in the Middle East. The Minoan colonies in the Mediterranean were the last significant independent states on earth, but they did hold many important territories, and they brought with them the Greek, Egyptian, Christian, and Indian influences. The Minoans ruled over about 20% of the total population, which was the largest and largest independent state ever formed, at that time around 8 million people or almost 25% of the known world population. This was the only state that had ever existed at a given time in history.Europe