Bellringer: 10/30 and 11/4

• Write down or discuss with your neighbors 3-4 things you remember about the Persian Empire.

Table of Contents Update:

• Page #:

Agenda:

• 1. Bellringer• 2. Notes: Greek Geography and Origins• 3. Activities:

• Geography Packet• Perseus Myth Reading

Greek Geography and Origins

• Ms. Allen• World History

• 2015-2016

Europe: An Overview

Satellite ViewMore vegetation than the Middle East

Map 1: Regions of Europe

• Northern Europe

• Western Europe

• Eastern Europe

• Not clearly defined!• Central

Europe• Southern

Europe

Map 2: Peninsulas on Europe

• Balkan Peninsula• Peloponnesus• Italian• Iberian• Normandy• Scandinavian

IberiaBalkans

Scandinavia

Normandy

Peloponnes

us

Italy

Map 3: Bodies of Water

Mediterranean Sea

Black Sea Aegean Sea Adriatic Sea Strait of

Gibraltar English

Channel North Sea Baltic Sea

Mediterranean Sea

BlackSea

AegeanSea

Adriatic SeaStrait ofGibraltar

English Channel

North Sea

Baltic Sea

List the Major Rivers:

Important boundaries:

• Rhine• DanubeImportant

trade route:• Dnieper

Map 4: Mountains

• Alps• Pyrenees• Apennine

s• Caucasus• Urals

Alps

PyreneesApennines

Caucasus

Urals

The Geography of Greece

Where is it? The Balkan Peninsula: (land surrounded by water on three sides), includes Greece and other Southeastern European countries

Geographic Terms

• With the person next to you, do your best to define the following geographic terms on your notes:• Isthmus• Peninsula• Strait• Island• Arable land

An example of a strait (narrow body of water connecting two larger bodies of water) are the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Strait

Peninsula

• EX: Balkan Peninsula• Definition: A piece of land surrounded

by water on 3 sides

Isthmus

• EX: Isthmus of Corinth• Definition: A narrow strip of land with

sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land.

Island

• EX: Rhodes, Delos, Samos, Crete• Definition: A piece of land surrounded

entirely by water

Arable Land

• EX:• Definition: Land that is suitable for

farming that can sustain and produce good crop yields

•Facts of Life: Greek Geography Edition

Mountainous TerrainContrast to…- Civilizations with flatter terrain (i.e.

Egypt)- Civilizations with more traversable or

arable land

Effect on Greece…- City-states develop in isolation- Less unified, harder to unify because of

geographic barriers

Hundreds of Islands dotted between adjacent seas

Contrast to…- Centralized, unified empires- Civilizations not separated by water

Effect on Greece…- Forced to develop seafaring abilities (look to

the Phoenician design for ships)- Travel is difficult (by land)- Not easy to get from city-state to city-state

quickly

Throwback: Royal Road (Persia)

Travel is a problem…• Royal Road:

1500 miles, 9 days

• Sparta to Olympia: 60 miles, 7 days

Many small streams, no large riversContrast to…- River valley civilizations and their

successors (i.e. Yellow River Valley Qin and Han China)

- Other classical civilizations

Effect on Greece…- Travel/transportation is more difficult- No “flooding” to help crops grow- Harder to establish contact with other

civilizations outside the Mediterranean region

Few fertile plains for growing cropsContrast to…- River valley civilizations- Other classical civilizations

Effect on Greece…- Economy centered on trade, not

agriculture- Difficulty growing crops- Forced to trade for sustenance

Climate problems: Constant sun and little rainContrast to…- Non-Mediterranean civilizations- Civilizations where climate was

less mild

Effect on Greece…- Difficulty producing crops- Droughts

Why did Greek city-states develop independently?

Activities:

• Using the packet readings and your logic skills…• Label The Map of Greece (pp. 108-

112)• Label Greece in the World (pp. 108-

112, 139, 145)• Read the information about the

Geography of Greece and answer the questions

Early Greeks:  The Minoans c. 3200 -1100 BCE• Lived on island of Crete • Great navigators and

farmers • Palace led political, social

and economic organization at Knossos

• Artistic expressions and grand construction

• Advancements in bronze • Built sanctuaries

Minoan Culture• Art work (drawings, murals or frescoes) at

Knossos shows dangerous sports such as leaping over the backs of charging bulls as well as dancing, athletics, and festivals

Myth of the Minotaur

• Minoan Myth of King Minos at Knossos • Theseus defeats the Minotaur (half man

half bull) and escapes from the maze like structure called the labyrinth, saving the youth of Athens

THEORIES FOR DECLINE OF MINOANS

• 1750 BCE- earthquake destroys Minoan palaces • 1628 BCE- volcano erupts at Thera • 1400 BCE- War between Minoans and Myceaneans

led to decline of power

Enter the Mycenaeansc. 1700 – 600 BCE

• 1490 BCE- Minoan palaces had been rebuilt however all were destroyed except at Knossos by Mycenaean warriors

• Mycenaeans took control of Crete at Knossos by 1500 BCE • Myceneans controlled mainland Greece = main political centre was

Mycenae • More interested in war as pottery and grave sites reflect hunting,

weapons, armour and war as well as fortified palace walls • Slowly Minoan culture and traditions disappeared

THEORIES FOR DECLINE OF MYCEANEANS• Shift in climate leading to drought forcing

Myceanans to migrate to more fertile lands

• Tribe of nomadic warriors from north of Greece (Dorians) destroyed Mycenaeans