1. Ch. 3.3
Seafaring traders extend
boundaries

2. The Minoans
 Dominated trade in the Mediterranean Sea from
2000-1400 B.C.
 They lived on Crete, a large island on the southern
edge of the Aegean Sea (ee•JEE•uhn). Map
 They made the best pottery of the time. They traded this
art with neighboring cultures, thus spreading their culture
around the area.
 Their ideas and beliefs would greatly influence the future
Greeks
 The Minoan civilization ended about 1200 B.C.
 It’s believed that a series of natural disasters, such as
earthquakes and volcanoes, may have wiped out the
cities or at least weakened them enough for attacks from
Greek invaders.

3. Knossos
 Archaeologists in the 19th century excavated
Knossos, the Minoan capital city. There, they
found the remains of an advanced and thriving
culture. It must have been a peaceful one as well,
since Minoan cities did not seem to need
fortifications to protect them.
 They found many wall paintings that depict the
Minoans as an athletic and graceful people.
 Many Minoan artworks depict women and their
role in religious ceremonies. The art suggests that
women held a higher rank than in most
neighboring cultures.

4. The Phoenicians
 About 1100 B.C., after Crete’s decline, the most
powerful traders along the Mediterranean were
the Phoenicians (fih•NIHSH•uhnz).
 Located in the area around present day Lebanon.
Map
 Remarkable shipbuilders and seafarers.
 They traded their goods in many distant lands.
 Famous for purple dye, that was made from a
rotting murex snail. It took 60,000 snails to make 1
pound of dye!
 But, the Phoenicians needed a system for
recording transactions clearly and accurately.
 What was a Phoenician to do?

5. The Phoenician Alphabet
 The Phoenicians
developed a writing
system that used
symbols to represent
sounds.
 The Phoenician system
was phonetic—that is,
one sign was used for
one sound.
 In fact, the word
alphabet comes directly
from the first two letters
of the Phoenician
alphabet: aleph and
beth.
 The Greeks adopted the
Phoenician Alphabet,

6. The Long Reach of Ancient
Trade
•How could long distance trade affect these ancient
civilizations?
•How does trade affect our civilization today?