MGR+Essay

 Austin Thornberry Professor Heather Strupat English/History/Science 11 May 2009
 * The Rise of the People – the Early Years **

Many people pose the question, how is a civilization remembered? Is it about what they contribute to the world? Or is it what they do to revolutionize their people? The Minoan Greeks have revolutionized how they lived and how they contributed to the global economy. Many artistic designs from the past have derived straight from the Greek island of Crete. The organization of the Minoans, were a great success in the rise of their people (Castleden 15). Along with the precious combination of tin and copper alloys, bronze was created and this helped the Minoans. Finally, since the Crete is strictly and island, water is surrounding it completely. As a result, trade was a huge factor, which contributed to the rise of the Minoans (Kristiansen and Larsson 93). Minoan Greek was a sturdy civilization, which has contributed greatly to out present economy.

Art has revolutionized the civilization of the Minoans to levels of greatness. Their main focus was pottery and proof has shown the pottery has been around since 1700 BC. Proof of who sculpted these magnificent artifacts, are unknown. The Minoans are very famous for the design that was put onto their art. It consisted of many shaped from the later periods, and symbols of birds and animals towards the later periods. As well, the structures of their art are very common to what we find now. Their buildings are composed of many strong shapes whether it be rectangular based prisms, or square based pyramids, the Minoans showed very strong signs of knowledge in the Bronze Era (Biers 103). As well, all of the art was preserved in a palace by the Minoans similar to museums we have now. Art was a great factor concerning the rise of the Minoan culture. It has shadowed effects of what we see today in modern culture, which shows a connection between our era and the Minoan era.

The organization of the Minoans proved to be a great factor leading to why they will be remembered forever as a productive civilization. They have produced effective ways to make their daily jobs easier (Kristiansen and Larsson 36). There is a myth that the Minoans invented the pulley system after scientists found buckets attached to vines in the heart of the Minoan jungle (Biers 58). However, the pulley originates from Northern Europe, so many people believe that the Minoans stole this idea. As well, Minoans are very well known for their ability to find more efficient ways to tackle a situation. They are very hard workers, especially because they live on a very isolated island, they need to hunt for their food. The Minoans will go down in history for not only being hard-nosed warriors, but also for their efficiency within their boundaries.

The Minoan economy proved to be the biggest factor regarding their existence. Crete is on an island, and therefore, they are isolated from the rest of the world. Because of this, the Minoans had to do a lot of trading. The Minoans traded a lot with Greece, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Spain, and Mesopotamia (Cadogan 22). These countries were all generally close to Crete and were easy trade routes for the Minoans. The main products that were exported from Crete was grain, oil, wine, ceramics, copper, tin, gold and silver (Castleden 64). Without these important trading partners, the civilization of the Minoans would decease. As well, the Minoans used the seas very effectively, especially the Mediterranean Sea. They used tactics never before seen in the world and they used this effectively. The efficiency of the Minoans halved proved to be big factors resulting in their remembrance in the global race for a perfect civilization.

The civilizations of the Minoans have made a huge impact on the world, allowing then to have a secure place in history. They had a huge impact with the artistic designs that will always have a place in history. They were very effective when it came to using their resources and allowing them to get a competitive edge on their opponent. Finally, they used what they had around them to become one of the most efficient civilizations at the time for importing and exporting. The Minoans proved to be a successful civilization and will go down in time as a very productive civilization (Castleden 3). As civilizations come and go, some are remembered and some are forgotten, but from the impact made on this earth, the Minoan civilization will always be talked about.

By: Austin Thornberry


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