Post on 13-Dec-2015
Aim: Why did the polis become the form of political organization
in Greece?• Do Now – Latitude and Longitude
• HW: Greece – Reading 1 on Polis and Reading 2 on Sparta - Answer 3 questions
• Reminder: Test on chapters 1-4
Monday 11/25 – all multiple choice
I. The Sea and the Land
Mainland Greece lies on the Balkan peninsula at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea
I. The Sea and the Land
All of Greece is close to the sea and manyGreeks became fishermen, sailors, and traders
I. The Sea and the Land
People from Egypt and the Fertile Crescent brought goods and ideas to Greece
I. The Sea and the LandGeography caused the development of separate city-states instead of a unified kingdom
II. Early Greek Peoples
About 2000 BC, the Minoans built the first Greek civilization on the island of Crete
A. The MinoansThe civilization was named after King Minos, who built his palace in Knossos
The throne of King Minos, the earliest surviving throne of the western world
A. The Minoans
Palaces and fine homes had running water and palace walls were covered with frescoes
Fresco found at the Palace of Knossos, with a representation of the bull-leaping, a kind of contest, probably religious in character, in which both men and women took part
Minoan palaces
A. The MinoansMany Minoans became sailors and traded for food because Crete’s soil was poor
Fresco from the Minoan Culture on Thera
Circa 1700 BCE
A. The Minoans
In 1628 BC a volcanic eruption and tsunami destroyed settlements and weakened the Minoan civilization
B. The MycenaeansMycenaeans from the mainland controlled Greece from 1600 BC to 1200 BC, and conquered Crete about 1400 BC
B. The Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans grouped themselves into clans led by warriors and tribes headed by chiefs
Mycenaean Warrior Krater12th century BC
B. The Mycenaeans
They built fort-like cities in the Peloponnesus and northern Greece and raided the eastern Mediterranean
B. The Mycenaeans
By about 1200 BC earthquakes and war had destroyed most of their cities
Ruins of the Mycenaean Acropolis
B. The Mycenaeans
Their most important contribution to Greek civilization was the adopted Minoan writing called linear B, used to keep records
III. The City-States of Greece
From the 800s to 700s BC the independent city-state, or polis, arose in Greece
III. The City-States of Greece
A polis included a fort, the city around it, and the surrounding villages that supplied food
Modern Athens
III. The City-States of GreeceThe polis had 3 key aspects: its geographic territory; the community that it represented; and political independence
III. The City-States of Greece
The polis represented the center of Greek identity and its inhabitants were intensely loyal
III. The City-States of Greece
City-states covered a small area of land, had fewer than 10,000 people, public buildings were built on an acropolis, and had an agora
III. The City-States of Greece
Each city-state had its own government, laws, calendar, money, and system of weights and measures
Relief showing Democracy placinga wreath on the head of the Athenian
"Demos" (body of the citizens).