The Early Greeks

Miss. Easterly- 6th Grade

Geography of Greece
The county of Greece is surrounded by many
bodies of water
**Mainland Greece is a peninsula, meaning
its a body of land with water on three sides
Ancient Greeks became fishers, sailors, and
traders
**The geography of Greece separated groups
of people and communities became very
independent

Review/ Predictions:
1. What role did geography have on
the people of ancient Greece?
2. How did geography discourage
Greek unity? Do you think this is
positive or negative?

The Minoans
The Minoans were not Greek, but their civilization was
the first to arise in the region that would later become
Greece
They were located on the island of Crete
**Minoans made their wealth from trade and sailed
their ships to places like Egypt and Syria
They traded pottery and stone vases for ivory and
metals
**By 2000 B.C, Minoan ships controlled the
Mediterranean Sea

 **Around 1450 B.C, the Minoan

civilization suddenly collapsed
Some historians believe an undersea
earthquake caused giant waves that
destroyed Minoan cities
Others believe groups of Greeks from
mainland Greece called the
Mycenaean invaded

Pair-Share
Please turn to your partner and
verbally summarize what you learned
about the Minoans
I will be randomly calling on people
to share with the class what they
discussed, so be ready!

The First Greek Kingdoms

The Mycenaeans were originally from

central Asia and invaded the Greek
mainland
**The Mycenaean leaders became the first
Greek kings and their nobles ruled over the
people they conquered
Their kingdoms had a fortified palace,
meaning the palace was surrounded by
walls for protection

 Beyond the palace there were large farms

(estates) where the nobles lived
Slaves and farmers lived and worked on the
estates
In Mycenaean palaces there were artisans who
tanned leather, made clothes and other
products
**Government officials kept records of the
wealth of every person in the kingdom
This helped them collect taxes from the people
in the form of wheat, livestock, and honey

Trade and Culture

Minoan traders would visit Mycenaean
kingdoms and exchange goods
**As a result, Mycenaeans learned about
Minoan culture and borrowed ideas
They learned how to work with bronze and
how to build ships like the Minoans
Myceanaeans also learned how to use the sun
and the stars to navigate their way at sea
The Myceanaeans began worshipping the
Earth Mother, the Minoans chief goddess

 **In 1400 B.C, the Mycenaeans

began to replace the Minoans as the
major power on the Mediterranean
**They traded widely, sailing to
Egypt and southern Italy
Some historians think they
conquered Crete and other nearby
islands

Notes Summary
Please write a 4 sentence summary
explaining what you learned about
the Minoans and the Mycenaeans.
This will go on page 3 in your ISN