Mardy S.

Gonzales
GMS 11
I.

World Geography
Dr. Jan Philip Mallari

Minoan Civilization
A culture that flourished on the island of Crete during the 3 rd and 2nd
millennia BC and named after King Minos, a prehistoric King of Crete in Greek
tradition. The said civilization was discovered by Sir Arthur Evans in an
excavation in Knossos which was the site of its palace.
Small communities were found in the islands surrounding Knossos and
were already practicing arts like, weaving, cloth-dying and pottery. The
discovery of the palace at Knossos shows evidence that their government
was decentralized with the King exercising sovereignty over its jurisdiction.
From the records of administrative centers, there was certain independence
from the main palace showing an existence of a federal organization.
Minoan sites normally do not possess separate buildings identifiable as
temples, though a curious exception to this rule has been discovered at the
Minoan "colony" on Keos. Special rooms and areas of palaces and important
houses were set aside as shrines for ritual purposes. Large cult images are
not normally found, but again Keos is an exception. The most characteristic
religious symbols are the double axe and the U-shaped "horns of
consecration.
The cataclysmic eruption of the volcano of Thera, some 60 miles (100
km) north of Crete, must have seriously disrupted the tranquility of Minoan
life. The eruption would have generated a devastating tsunami, or sea wave,
and harbors on the north coast of Crete and any shipping in them must have
suffered damage.The fallout of ash downwind from the cloud, which was
projected into the upper atmosphere, must have been poisonous to
vegetation. Possibly the natural disasters so weakened the Minoan kingdoms
that they were unable to resist an invasion of Greeks from the mainland.

Source: www.minoancivilization.net/
II.

Etruscan Civilization
It is the highest civilization in Italy before the Rise of Rome. There are
three theories that seek to explain the obscure origin of the Etruscans. Their
language and culture differed markedly from that of other ancient peoples of
the Italian peninsula at the timeVillanovans, Umbrians, and Picenes. As a
result, many scholars long upheld the tradition of Herodotus that the
Etruscans migrated to Italy from Lydia in the 12th century B.C. to escape a
severe famine. Other scholars have argued that the Etruscans are an ancient
people, indigenous to Italy, whose customs are merely distinct from other
Italian peoples. The third theorythat the Etruscans came down from the
north through the Alpine passeshas been largely discredited. Genetic
studies in the early 21st century have shown similarities between the modern
Tuscans and their cattle and people and cattle found in the Middle East
Much of the actual work in Etruria was done by the native population,
who were subject to, though probably not slaves of, their conquerors; the

nobility of Etruscan birth formed an exclusive caste. Women had an unusually

high status compared to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Etruscan wealth
and power were in part based upon their knowledge of ironworking and their
exploitation of iron deposits that were abundant in Etruria. Etruscan art,
which largely consisted of sculpture in clay and metal, fresco tomb paintings,
and fine pottery, had some of its origins in Greek and Eastern arts and was
extremely influential on the art of the Romans. Fond of music, games, and
racing, the Etruscans introduced the chariot into Italy. They were also highly
religious. Seeking to impose order on nature, they established strict laws to
govern the relations between people and gods. Lacking the scientific
rationalism of the Greeks, they tried to prolong the lives of the dead by
decorating their tombs like houses. While religion is perhaps the best-known
aspect of Etruscan civilization, even it remains quite enigmatic.
Regardless of the obscurity of their origins, it is clear that a distinctive
Etruscan culture evolved about the 8th cent. B.C., developed rapidly during
the 7th cent., achieved its peak of power and wealth during the 6th cent.,
and declined during the 5th and 4th cent. The historical Etruscans had
achieved a state system of society, with remnants of the chiefdom and tribal
forms. In this they were different from the surrounding Italics, who had chiefs
and tribes. Rome was in a sense the first Italic state, but it began as an
Etruscan one. It is believed that the Etruscan government style changed from
total monarchy to oligarchic democracy (as the Roman Republic) in the 6th
century BC, while it is important to note this did not happen to all the city
states. The government was viewed as being a central authority, over all
tribal and clan organizations. It retained the power of life and death; in fact,
the gorgon, an ancient symbol of that power, appears as a motif in Etruscan
decoration. The adherents to this state power were united by a common
religion. Political unity in Etruscan society was the city-state
The Romans, whose culture had been greatly influenced by the
Etruscans (theTarquin rulers of Rome were Etruscans), were distrustful of
Etruscan power. The Etruscans had occupied Rome itself from c.616 B.C., but
in c.510 B.C. they were driven out by the Romans. In the early 4th cent., after
Etruria had been weakened by Gallic invasions, the Romans attempted to
beat the Etruscans back. Beginning with Veii (c.396 B.C.) one Etruscan city
after another fell to the Romans, and civil war further weakened Etruscan
power. In the wars of the 3d cent., in which Rome defeated Carthage, the
Etruscans provided support against their former allies. During the Social War
(9088 B.C.) of Sulla and Marius the remaining Etruscan families allied
themselves with Marius, and in 88 B.C. Sulla eradicated the last traces of
Etruscan independence.

Source: http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/history/etruscan-civilization.html

http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/Etruscans
III.

Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia. They established a
kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC.
The Hittite empire reached its height, the 14th century BC, encompassing a
large part of Anatolia, north-western Syria about as far south as the mouth of
the Litani River (in present-day Lebanon), and eastward into upper
Mesopotamia
Around 1650 B.C. the Hittites started building an empire. As time went
on they ended up expanding into more of Asia Minor, seized northern Syria
from the Egyptians, and expanded into northern Mesopotamia, where they
conquered the Babylonians. While conquering the Babylonians the Hittites
gained a lot of important knowledge that would later help them to improve
their empire. The Hittites were not as advanced as the great people of
Mesopotamia, but with the knowledge that was gained the Hittite culture
began to flourish. The Hittites began to extract iron from ore. By doing this
they figured out how to make tools and weapons out of iron. They would heat
the iron until it was red-hot and then pound out the impurities and then
plunge it into cold water to harden it; thus allowing the edges to become
stronger and sharper than the usual bronze or copper weapons. This is one of
the key discoveries that made the Hittites such a famous civilization.
The head of the Hittite state was the king, followed by the heirapparent, although some officials exercised independent authority over
various branches of the government. One of the most important of these
posts in the Hittite society was that of the Gal Mesedi (Chief of the Royal
Bodyguards).It was superseded by the rank of the Gal Gestin (Chief of the
Wine Stewards), who like the Gal Mesedi most times was a member of the
royal family. The kingdom's bureaucracy was headed by the Gal Dubsar (Chief
of the Scribes), whose authority didn't extend only over the Lugal Dubsar, the
king's personal scribe.
The use of iron tools and weapons was a very important discovery in
which the Hittites tried to keep as few people as possible from knowing about
it. But this was a very hard task to carry out. As there empire collapsed
around 1200 B.C. the ironsmiths migrated to other parts of the country. This
new knowledge began to spread into Asia, Africa, and Europe, thus ushering
the Iron Age.The Hittites adopted Old Babylonian laws, but these laws were
greatly modified. These laws were far more merciful than the laws of the Old
Babylonians, perhaps because the Hittites were less concerned about
maintaining a rigid central authority. Unlike the Babylonian laws there only a
handful of crimes in which were under the category of capital crimes.
Along with adopting the laws, the Hittites also adopted many of their
gods as well. The Hittites believed that all gods were legitimate gods.
Whenever the Hittites conquered a certain group, they adopt the gods in
which that group believed in.
The Assyrians were responsible for the folding of the Hittite Empire.
The Assyrians began to move into larger parts of the Fertile Crescent.
Eventually taking over the Hittites. However this empire flourished for about
450 years.

Source: http://techcenter.davidson.k12.nc.us/fall026/hittites.htm
http://documentarystorm.com/the-hittites-a-civilization-that-changed-theworld/
Bryce, Trevor (2004-12-17). Life and society in the Hittite world. Oxford
University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-19-927588-5. Retrieved 8 April 2011.