AN01d3 Unit01: Beginnings of Civilization Ch.

03
Timeline: 2000 - 250 BCE
FQ: To what extent were ancient commercial activities a catalyst for the spread of civilization?

Main Idea: Trading societies extended the development of civilizations beyond the Fertile Crescent region.
Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia and to East Asia mainly through Buddhist traders. In the Mediterranean, the
same process took place: traders in the region carried many new ideas from one society to another. They carried
new ways of writing, of governing, and of worshiping their gods.

CCSS...

I. Minoans Trade in the Mediterranean

A. Context
1. ~2000 - 1400 BCE
2. Island of Crete (Aegean Sea)
3. Civilization dependent on commerce.
B. Characteristics
1. Highly advanced art and culture.
2. Inuenced others via commercial contact and were inuenced by others the same way.
3. Absence of walls around cities implies the lack of local enemies.
4. Evidence suggests human and animal sacrice
C. Collapse
1. Repeated Natural Catastrophes
2. Weakened condition makes them susceptible to conquest by Aegean neighbors.

II. Phoenicians Spread Trade and Civilization

A. Context
1. ~1100 250 BCE
2. Mediterranean Basin
3. Regional commerce.
B. Commercial Expansion: Rather than a unied political structure, the Phoenicians expanded by
establishing trading outposts that developed into independent city-states. These cities were commercially
oriented in their own right and would compete with one another as well.
1
C. The Alphabet: A series of written characters that represent a sound. May have been a product of the need
to record transactions simply and clearly. As they traveled they spread the use of this language.

III. Ancient Trade Routes

A. Overland routes included a network of well-worn foot paths that extended from East Asia to Western
Europe.
B. Phoenician water routes extended westward the routes of ancient Asian mariners. These routes stretched
from the East China Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Greek sources mention the circumnavigation of Africa.

Materials/Sources:#Refer to the course calendar for additional assignments and pertinent due dates.
!World History: Patterns of Interaction textbook.
!Episode 2: Circles and Labyrinths. Source: The Ancient World Podcast. (Accessed July 2013)
Phoenicia, the homeland of the Phoenicians, had cities like Tyre, Sidon, & Byblos. In the Mediterranean, outposts were established on the
1
Iberian peninsula, Italian peninsula, Sicily, and Africa. The city of Tyre will go on to establish the city of Carthage (Tunisia).