Sea civilisations

Between 3200 and 2800 years ago the centre of history moved to the Mediterranean Sea. On the islands and along the coasts lived peoples of sailors and merchants: Cretans, Mycenaeans, Phoenicians, Hebrews and the peoples of ancient Italy. Ships carried olive oil, wine, metals, coloured cloth and new ideas too from one port to another. In this period iron and the alphabet spread, two inventions that changed everyone's lives. Many things we still use today, starting with the letters we write with, were born right here.

The era on a line: 25 events

1. about 2000 BC Minoan civilisation on Crete
2. about 1900 BC The palace of Knossos
3. about 1800 BC The Proto-Sinaitic alphabet
4. about 1600 BC The eruption of Thera
5. about 1600 BC The nuraghi of Sardinia
6. about 1550 BC The gold mask of Mycenae
7. about 1450 BC Linear B
8. about 1250 BC The Lion Gate at Mycenae
9. about 1200 BC The Iron Age begins
10. about 1200 BC The Phoenicians spread out
11. about 1100 BC Phoenician purple
12. about 1050 BC The Phoenician alphabet
13. about 1000 BC The Kingdom of Israel
14. about 1000 BC Phoenician seafaring
15. about 900 BC The Villanovan culture in Italy
16. about 814 BC Traditional founding of Carthage
17. about 800 BC The Nora Stone
18. about 800 BC Amphorae for oil and wine
19. about 750 BC Homer's poems are written down
20. about 750 BC Greek colonies in the West
21. about 700 BC The Etruscans, lords of the Tyrrhenian Sea
22. about 600 BC Phoenician glass spreads
23. about 600 BC Coins in the Mediterranean
24. about 586 BC The Babylonian Exile
25. about 500 BC Sailing beyond Gibraltar

Did you know?

• In the palace of Knossos, more than 3500 years ago, clay pipes brought water in and carried it away: a kind of plumbing system.
• The word ‘Bible’ comes from Byblos, the Phoenician city where the Greeks bought papyrus to write on.
• The Etruscans wrote with letters borrowed from the Greeks: we can read their words aloud, but the meaning of many remains a mystery.

storiascopio.com/en/era/sea-civilisations/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class

1. Put in order: write 1 next to the oldest and 5 next to the most recent.

• Amphorae for oil and wine
• Coins in the Mediterranean
• The Proto-Sinaitic alphabet
• The Lion Gate at Mycenae
• The Kingdom of Israel

2. Choose the right answer.

1. Which animal are the young people leaping over in the frescoes of Knossos?

   • A camel
   • A lion
   • An elephant
   • A bull

2. Why were no inhabitants found under the ash at Akrotiri?

   • They had been taken prisoner by the Mycenaeans
   • The town had been empty for a thousand years
   • They all lived on ships
   • They had managed to escape in time

3. Which language was hidden in the signs of Linear B?

   • Latin
   • Egyptian
   • A very early form of Greek
   • Phoenician

4. What was purple dye made from?

   • Red volcanic earth
   • Rose petals
   • Blackberries
   • Small sea snails called murex

3. Match each person to what they did or what tradition says they did: write the right letter.

Storiascopio · texts by Ciro Simone Irmici, written with the help of AI and checked · sources in the online cards