THE CivilizationMycenaean existed in Greece during the period Pre-Homeric. The Mycenaeans, also known as the Achaeans, lived their heyday between 1600 BC. Ç. and 1200 a. Ç. They were responsible for assimilating the cretans and they formed a civilization that organized itself into fortified cities.
They were ruled by a king, had a warrior aristocracy and fell into decay around 1200 BC. Ç. The reasons for this decay are still debated by historians, but it is believed that it was caused by the arrival of the Dorians and a series of natural disasters. After that, the Mycenaean cities were emptied and there was a civilizational retreat.
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Origin of the Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans were a people who developed a civilization on mainland Greece around 2000 BC. Ç. Its origins are much discussed by historians, and there is no certainty
about her. One theory is that the Mycenaeans originated in Greece, and another suggests that they were a people who migrated and settled in the region.We know that the Mycenaeans called themselves achaeans and what important parts of their culture were a direct result of the contact they had with the cretans. Around 1400 BC C., the Cretans were assimilated by the Mycenaeans, and the reasons for this process are unknown. This contact and the consequent assimilation of the Cretans made the Mycenaean culture take on many features of Cretan culture.
The peak of the Mycenaeans was marked by the big onescities, which gained importance through trade relations with other peoples. Among the highlighted cities are tingling and argos, but the main one was Mycenae (hence the term “Mycenaean”). Important cities in Greek history, such as Athens, are believed to have emerged at this stage.
As mentioned, the peak of the Mycenaeans took place in 1600 BC. Ç. to 1200 BC a., and in that period the Mycenaean cities were true strengths. O fortification system of the Mycenaeans even built stone walls with 13 meters high and eight meters wide.
These fortifications were intended to protect the administrative center of the Mycenaeans — the palace. This information and other evidence raised by historians allows us to conclude that the Mycenaeans had a societymilitarized.
society, commerce and writing
A militarized society means that the warriors they were one of the most important groups, and this is reinforced by artistic records. a portion of frescoes, paintings on walls, depict scenes of warriors and battles, which makes it clear that the influence of this group and of war was such that it came to influence Mycenaean art. You warriors, with priests it's the King, formed the elite.
the Mycenaeans did not form a civilization with centralized power. There were several Mycenaean kingdoms, each under the influence of a king installed in a different city. In addition to the Cretans, the Mycenaeans had contact with civilizationsAegeans (who lived on the islands that today make up modern Greece) and traded with Egyptians and people of Mesopotamia.
These commercial contacts are confirmed by the existence of goods from different regions of antiquity in Mycenaean urban centers. Commerce was even the medium that inspired the Mycenaeans to develop a form of writing known as Linear B. This writing was performed only in the great palaces and recorded economic transactions.
It is believed that the writing of the Mycenaeans came about as an adaptation of the one developed by the Cretans. The Mycenaeans already spoke a language similar to Greek and only adapted the Cretan model to their language. Linear B was deciphered in 1953, however, some gaps about it have not yet been resolved.
The Mycenaean writing system was abandoned with the decay of that civilization. Writing only returned to Greece when the Greeks established a new form based on an alphabet, around the 9th century BC. Ç.
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Trojan War
Historians have been studying the Trojan War for decades, one of the best-known stories of Greek culture and which is found in the poem Iliad, assigned to homer. A group of historians believe in the existence of this war and say that it was fought by the Mycenaeans.
The theory raised based on sources from the Hittites, who inhabited Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), speaks of a people called Ahhiyawa, that lived in the coast of the region between 1400 a. Ç. and 1200 a. Ç. The presence of these people supposedly led to a war that may have been the inspiration for the story that gave rise to the poem attributed to Homer.
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Decadence
Most historians claim that the Mycenaean decay took place around 1200 BC. a., but some extend it until 1100 a. Ç. During this period, a series of destruction of palaces, and this generated the collapse of the government system Mycenaean, based on the figure of the king.
This destruction of the palaces led to the emptying of cities, giving rise to a period of ruralization, in which the civilizational sophistication of the Mycenaeans ceased to exist. Several factors are raised to explain this decay, and it is believed that natural disasters, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, have contributed.
Another explanation suggests that the Mycenaeans were invaded by other peoples in a moment of fragility. Among the populations that migrated to Greece at the time were the Dorians, an Indo-European people who arrived in the region around 1200 BC. Ç.
