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The Minoan civilization (2700 BC to 1450 BC) was based on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands. The Minoans are famous for large and elaborate palaces up to 4 stories high with elaborate plumbing and frescoes. During this period there was extensive trade between Crete, Aegean and Mediterranean settlements including the Near East. Minoan cultural influence extended into Cyprus, Canaan, Egypt and Anatolia.
Minoans worshipped a Great Goddess, thought of as a divine solar figure. Sacred symbols included the bull, the double-eaded axe, the pillar, the serpent, the sun-disc and the tree.
Minoan cities were connected by narrow paved roads. Water and sewage facilities were available to the upper class through clay pipes.
There is no evidence of a Minoan army or domination of peoples beyond Crete. There is little evidence of Minoan fortifications.
Genetically Minoans are closely related to Mycenaean Greeks.
The decline of the Minoans was possibly due to invasions from mainland Greece and the major volcanic eruption on Santorini.
Mycenaean Greece (1600-1100 BC) represented the first advanced civilization in mainland Greece with its palatial states, urban organization, works of art, and writing system. Mycenae was the most prominent site along with centers of power such as Athens, Thebes, the Peloponnese, Pylos, Tiryns, Orchomenos and Iolcos. Mycenaeans had influential settlements all over the Aegean Sea, the Levant, Cyprus and Italy.
Mycenaeans introduced many innovations in the fields of engineering, architecture, military infrastructure and trade. The society was dominated by warrior elite. The head of the society was the king.
Trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean was essential for the economy. Raw materials such as metals, ivory and glass were imported. Olive oil was a chief multi-purpose export. Mycenaean Greeks achieved strong comercial and cultural interraction with other Bronze Age people living in the regioin including Canaanites, Assyrians and Egyptians. Cyprus was a principal intermediary station for trade, with considerable Mycenaean goods found there.
Following the collapse around 1100 BC, the area entered the Greek Dark Ages. Many Mycenaeans fled to places like Sicily during this time.
Canaan was the key Semitic-speaking region in the Ancient Near East around 2000 BC corresponding to the Levant in the Bible. This includes the area of Phoenicia, Israel, Philistia and other nations. All people in this region shared the similiar languages, culture and ethnic background - this included the Israelites, Moabites, Phoenicians and Ammonites. Archaeological and linguistic evidence shows the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah represented a subset of Canaanite culture.
In the Bronze Age, cities like Jerusalem were large and important walled settlements. The Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II had to campaign vigorously in Canaan to maintain Egyptian power. Egyptians setup permanent fortress garrisons in Moab and Ammon.
During the Iron Age, southern Canaan was dominated by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well as the Philistine city-states on the Mediterranean coast. Northern Canaan was divided into Syro-Hittite states and Phoenician city-states. The entire region was conquered by the Assyrian Empire from the 10th century BC until the 7th century BC. Then the Babylonians took control followed by the Persians. In 332 BC, Alexander The Great conquered Canaan. in the 2nd century BC Rome took control, and then later Byzantium folllowed by the Arab Islamic invasion in the 7th century.
The founding of mighty Rome starts with the story of Romulus and Remus. Whether they were suckled by a she-wolf as infants or descended from the Trojan War hero Aeneas, the Latins who settled Rome had their crude dwellings tranformed into a true city by their Etruscan overlords. The Etruscans were master builders who gave Rome its architecture, gods, and gladiators. After overthrowing their conquerors, the Roman Republic expanded quickly to incorporate the Latins, Etruscans (originally from Anatolia), Greek settlers to the south and Gauls to the north. Republic gave way to Empire and after a thousand years it was time for Rome to face its end. Although numerous invaders arrived on the scene as the empire weakened and crumbled, the wars with the Ostrogoths from 535-554 AD had a lasting impact that left Italy devastated and depopulated.
Diodotus founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC and became King Diodotus I of Bactria. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was, along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world and was centered on the north of present-day Afghanistan. The new kingdom was highly urbanized and considered one of the richest in the Orient. The Greek historian Strabo wrote that the Greco-Bactrians extended the empire even as far as China. Statues of Greek soldiers have been found from this time period in China and may have influenced the manufacture of the famous Teracotta army. The Indian emperor Chandragupta who founded the Mauryan dynasty ensured each Mauryan emperor had a Greek ambassador at his court. Some of the Greek populations remained in northwestern India and convereted to Buddhism. The Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum interacted closely with the Indian subcontinent and shared the rich Hellenistic culture of the time. The Greco-Bactrians were involved in fighting the Parthians and Scythians with a multi-ethnic force of Greek colonists armed with pike phalanxes and mercenary javelin-wielding Thrueophoroi. The cavalry would also incorporate Indo-Iranian light horsemen. Greco-Bactrians were known for high level of Hellenic sophistication and kept regular contact with both the Mediterranean and India.
The Helmand Culture was a mysterious Bronze Age civilization from 3300-2350 BC which flourished mainly in the middle and lower Valley of the Helmand River in southern Afghanistan, Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces as well as eastern Iran. The people of the Helmand Culture lived partly in cities with temples and palaces evidencing complex and advanced social structure. The main known cities are Shahri Sokhta and Bampur in modern Iran as well as Mundigak in Afghanistan. These cities were located near a river with major trade routes and were quite large ranging in sizes up to 150 acres each by 2400 BC. Each city had a citadel or palace which appeared to serve public functions and were surrounded by walls. Each of these palaces consisted of a courtyard with various rooms. Much of the artwork contained depictions of cattle. In addition to extensive pottery found, there were also elaborate bronze and terracotta drains - a testament to the proximity of the Helmand to the Indus Valley city nearby in Pakistan with the worlds oldest swimming pool - the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro - which was 83 square meters in size.
The Ghaznavid Dynasty was a Persianate Muslim dynasty fo mamluk origin that ruled over Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and the northwest Indian subcontinent from 977 to 1186. Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was Persianised in terms of language, culture, literature and habits and included a diverse population. Sabuktigin founded the dynasty and his son Mahmud of Ghazni delcared indepedence from the Samanid Empire expanding the Ghaznavid Empire to the Indus River and Indian Ocean. Control of the western territories was lost to the Seljuq dynasty resulting in restriction of its holdings to Aghasnistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. The Ghaznavid court was renowned for its support of Persian literature and as a result Persian literary culture enjoyed a renaissance under their rule. Numerous Persian poets joined the court including Manuchehri who focused on poems related to the merits and advantages of drinking wine. Ghazni became the center of learning and Persian culture spread to Lahore which later produced the famous poet Masud Sa'd Salman. Lahore, under Ghaznavid rule in the 11th century, attracted Persian scholars from Khorasan, India and Central Asia to become a major cultural center. This culture blossomed until the Mongol invasion.
The Brahman dynasty was a Hindu power on the Indian subcontinent which originated in the region of Sindh, present-day Pakistan. The Brahman dynasty succeeded the Rai dynasty after its founder Chach of Alor married the widow of Rai Sahasi II, the last ruler of the Rai dynasty. He then secured power by killing the brother of Rai Sahasi II. Much of what we know today comes from the Chach Nama, a historical account of the Chach-Brahman dynasty. Raja Dahar was the last ruler of the Brahmin Dynasty of Sindh. His kingdom was conquered by the Ummayad Caliphate and he was killed at the Battle of Aror at the banks of the Indus River.
The Kingdom of Armenia was a monarchy in the Near East existing between 321 BC and 428 AD. Originally one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it became a kingdom in 321 BC after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. Specifically at this time a Hellenistic Kingdom of the Seleucid Empire. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its peak under Tigranes the Great during the period of the Roman Republics expansion eastwards - however this ended in 69 BC when Rome conquered Armenia. Following the Roman-Parthian wars, Armenia briefly became a province of the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan as a vassal state. The Kingdom of Armenia played a pivotal role as the frontier territory between the Byzantine Empire to the west and the Sassanid empire to the east.
The Maurya Empire was a Iron Age historical power which dominated the Indian subcontinent between 322 and 185 BC, with an empire extending over 5 million square kilometers. The Mauryan Empire defeated Seleucus I, the founder of the Hellenic Seleucid Empire which was formed by the followers of Alexander the Great. At the peak, the empire stretched to the Himalayas, east to Assam and west into Pakistan and Iran. The dynasty expanded into India's southern regions. Under Chandragupta Maurya and his successors, economic activities thrived and expanded across South Asia due to the single and efficient system of finance, administration and security. The Maurya dynasty built the Grand Trunk Road, one of Asia's oldest and longest trade networks. The population was around 60 million, making this one of the most populous empires of antiquity. The architecture of the cities had many similiarities with Persian cities of the period. Eventually there was a succession of weaker kings which led to a gradual decline of the empire. Territories were slowly lost leading to the collapse of the great Maurya empire and giving rise to the Shunga Empire which followed.
The Ottoman Empire grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries. At the height the empire encompassed most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna, including present-day Hungary, the Balkan region, Greece, parts of Ukraine and the Middle East, North Africa and large parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The term Ottoman is a dynastic appelation derived from Osman I, the nomadic Turkmen chief who founded both the dynasty and the empire in 1300. The Ottoman period spanned more than 600 years and came to an end only in 1922 when it was replaced by the Turkish Republic and various successor states in southeastern Europe and the Middle East.
The list of civilisations above is just some of the dynasties and empires our ancestors lived through, had direct ancestral roots in, and also derive from. Our ancestral roots are diverse and widespread. Check back for further updates.
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