Ancient Civilizations 





At the height of their power the Egyptians 

 exacted many tributes from the peoples 

 whose lands they ruled. This wall painting 

 shows Nubians bringing gifts of gold to 

 Sebekhotep, who ruled in Thebes 

 around 1420 B.C. 



Pre-dynastic petroglyphs in Egypt show large river boats fitted 

 with many oars, and other archaeological finds show that the Egyp- 

 tians were building sea-going ships for voyages in search of iron, 

 lead, and silver before 3000 b.c. From the Palermo Stone we know 

 that Seneferu {c. 2750 b.c.) built sixty huge ships for an expedition 

 to Syria to obtain cedarwood. Sahure, 2958 — 2946 b.c, sent ships 

 to Punt (probably SomaUland) to fetch frankincense, aromatic 

 gums, ivory, gold, rhinoceros horns, panther skins, and rare woods. 



Sporadic trade continued between Egypt and Punt until the 

 time of Rameses III, who reigned from 1198 — 1161 B.C., and who 

 built powerful fleets in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. 



After Rameses III the Egyptian Empire began to decHne, and it 

 was about this time that the Phoenicians broke their ties with 

 Egypt. Phoenician sea power expanded dramatically and continued 

 to dominate the Mediterranean until the ninth century b.c. Because 

 of her lack of strength on land, Phoenicia eventually fell under 

 Assyrian rule, although Tyrian sea power was not reaUy broken 

 until the victory of Alexander about 332 B.C. 



The decay of Egypt stopped temporarily during the reign of 

 Sheshonk I, 945 — 924 B.C., an energetic Pharaoh who permitted 

 Solomon to trade in the Red Sea from a base at Ezion Gebir, on 

 the Gulf of Aqaba. To obtain ornamental timber, precious stones, 

 and gold for the construction of the Temple, Solomon turned to 

 Tyre for help. He hired Tyrian engineers to build the Temple and 

 arranged for the construction of a Phoenician fleet on the Red Sea 

 to carry the commodities from Ophir. Hiram of Tyre provided the 

 timber from Lebanon, the shipwrights, pilots, and seamen. It is 

 probable that Ophir was on the west coast of India, and that Solo- 

 mon wanted to trade directly to cut out the Arab middlemen who 

 normally would have had a share in the transaction. 



From about 3000 b.c a distinctive culture, called Minoan after 

 the legendary king Minos, flourished on the island of Crete. The 

 Minoans' prosperity depended largely on sea trade, especially with 

 Egypt and the East, and they seem to have been a highly refined 

 and peaceable people, since none of their palaces was fortified. The 

 great palaces of Knossos and Phaestus were built about 2000 B.C., 

 and in spite of widespread destruction by an earthquake around 

 1580 B.C., the Minoans' prosperity continued to increase, so that 

 Crete became a world power. 



Minoan influence spread to the mainland of Greece, and was 

 absorbed by the Indo-European tribes who arrived there after 

 2000 B.C. This mainland civilization centered on Mycenae, and some 

 time before 1400 b.c the Mycenaeans conquered Crete, adopting 

 the late Minoan script known as Linear B. The decipherment of 

 Linear B in 195 2 by Michael Ventris has shown that the Mycenaeans 

 spoke an early form of Greek. 



Mycenaean traders settled in Rhodes, Cyprus, northern . Syria, 

 and the west and southwest coasts of Asia Minor. This is the 

 legendary period of Greek mythology when the gods walked the 

 the earth, and is the period of the Trojan War. Strabo says that the 

 Phoenicians established colonies in Spain shortly after the Trojan 

 War, which was about 1200 B.C., but 900 B.C. is a more likely date 

 for this colonization. 



Sometime after 1200 b.c the bronze-clad Mycenaeans were 

 overthrown by the iron weapons of the Dorians from the North, 



128 



