Intro to Ancient Greece- Day 1
A sliver tetradrachm (“four drachmas”) coin of Athens,s circa 430 B.C. Purchasing power: about 400 dollars Canadian. In greek myth, the olive was athena’s gift to athens, and in real life, athenian olive oil
Compared to a modern canadian quarter which isnt silver but made to look silver, the heads side shows a matriarchal head, facing rightward, Canada’s coins don’t imitate the ancient Greeks directly, but instead are part of a coining- tradition that descended from Greece to ancient Rome to the British Empire to Canada.
Asia minor= Anatolia= modern day Turkey, in ancient times the west of asia minor was part of the greek homeland
Mountains and sea
-greek mainland: mountains
Green islands: mountains
Aegean sea: front yard of the Greeks
Greece and the sea
Ancient Greece’s
overseas connections
This idea overlaps with—
•the importance of seafaring and sea-trade in Greek history
•the topic of Greek copycatting of other peoples: in
Technologies, religion, etc.
New ideas often arrived to Greece by sea, or were
revealed to Greeks who had reached foreign lands by sea
•the topic of Greek overseas Colonizing: 700s–500s B.C.
One example of a people whom the Greeks would copy, circa 900–600 B.C.: the Phoenicians of Lebanon.
The mountains of Greece
Another theme of our CLA1101 course will be ancient
Greek
Disunity” = lack of unity. The quality of being divided
into factions.
Greece’s mountains were one cause of this disunity.
The mountains compartmentalized mainland Greece into dozens of separate valleys and plains—and in the Aegean Sea, into separate islands—where the people lived. The mountains were a fundamental cause of Greece’s disunity, but not the only cause.
meaning: “city-state”
—
plural:
poleis
In ancient Greece by about 700 B.C., every major city was its own
country.
For example, Athens and Corinth were “foreign countries” to
each other. There was no political nation of Greece, just the disunified Greek
poleis,numbering about 70 at first, around 700 B.C.
Eventually the number of poleis would grow to perhaps 1,000, as the Greeks settled overseas in Italy, North Africa, the Black Sea coasts, and even southern France, etc. This very local organization-by- polis was prompted by the compartmentalizing effect of Greece’s mountains.
Not enough farmland
The mountain landscape had several further strong effects on ancient Greece’s history and living conditions.
Fundamentally, the mountains displace the arable land: Only about 20
percent of Greece’s landscape is prime farmland, with another 10 percent
being marginal farmland on the hillsides.
The prime farming-patches are scattered throughout the mainland.
They
include—
•the Plain of Messenia, in the southwest Peloponnese
•the Plain of Argos, in the eastern Peloponnese
•the Plain of Boeotia [
“bee-O-sha”
], in east-central Greece.
Major city:
Thebes
•the Plain of Thessaly, in the northeast
Neighbouring cities could be enemies
The limits on farmland had big consequences for Greek history.
Food anxiety was constant.So was anxiety over water supply.
Neighboring city-states might often (not always) be permanent rivals or enemies of each other, in competition for resources
.Two city-states that shared a single farming plain might go to war over majority- possession of the plain, as happened between Chalcis and Eretria,in east-central Greece, around 700 B.C.
(Chalcis won.) Similarly, we hear of border wars in central Greece in the 600s–500s B.C. between the cities Athens and Megara, and between Megara and Corinth. (Megara lost.)A third example: The neighboring cities Tegea and Mantinea, in Arcadia in the north-central Peloponnese, repeatedly fought wars in the 400s B.C.over the routing of a water-course, running along their shared border, that was destructive to farmland.
This situation seems to combine food-
and-Water anxiety between neighbors.
Not enough farmland
To compensate for land shortage, city-states and inhabitants had to be creative, in ways beyond just trying to conquer their neighbours.
One solution was population control.
Starting in the 700s B.C.,city-states would send out shiploads of young peasant men to findnew farmland in distant regions overseas: in south Italy, Sicily, North Africa, etc.This was the dynamic practice of
Greekcolonization
, 700s–500s B.C., as we’ll discuss in the course.
A second solution was for a city’s young men to seek their
livelihood by sea, not by farming: The father struggles as a farmer
but the son goes to sea.
Such careers included commercial
fishing, long-distance trade by sea, and piracy.
Sometimes the
very same shipload of men might be merchants or pirates,
depending on opportunity.
A dry land
Among Greek farming-problems, another one is climate.
Greece has a
dry
climate—although not so dry as Syria’s or Iraq’s, for example.
Greece has
a rainy season from October to April, but then the five warmer months are
mostly rainless.
Summer can be ferociously hot and dry.
In a Greek winter, the mountains receive snow and the valleys (and cities)
receive rain. Winter in the valleys tends to be like April in Ottawa: chilly
and rainy, but not a deep-freeze.
Over the wet winter, some vegetation
flourishes.
In Greece, the barren season isn’t winter; it’s summer.
The welcome winter rains are considerably
more sparse
on the eastern
side of Greece than in the west.
This is due to Greece’s north-to-south
“spine” of central mountains, which
blocks
the eastward progress of the
prevailing weather and causes the rain-clouds to dump on the western half
of the country.
Corfu, on Greece’s northwest coast, receives about 42 inches of rain a year
—slightly more precipitation than Ottawa.
But Athens, in the east, sees
less than 15 inches.
In ancient Greece’s mountains:
natural resources
•
timber
•
limestone
and marble: high-end building materials
•
some mineral wealth: metal deposits: iron, copper, and
silver
One effect of ground-limestone is
caves
.
The relatively
soft limestone gets hollowed-out by running water,
underground, over thousands of years.
Often, the caves
are in the mountains.
Footnote:
Caves played a prime role in ancient Greek
religion and mythology.
Greece: limestone in the ground
Another natural effect of ground-limestone is the
loss
of
surface-water (such as rain or springtime runoff, etc.),
particularly in the mountains.
The surface water tends
not to pool but instead drops vertically, down into the
ground.
—
this phenomenon
worsens
Greece’s perpetual water
shortage.
—
it also contributes to Greece having
very few large
rivers or lakes
.
Greece’s rivers are few in number and
mostly small.
Instead, the porous limestone allows
water to fall from the surface, to underground.
The main crops of ancient Greece
The crops had to be able to survive—or else avoid—the
brutally hot, dry Greek summer.
The Mediterranean Triad
[the word “triad” = “trio”]
•
grain = barley and wheat, primarily
•
olives
•
grapes
Also...
•
certain other fruit trees: figs, pears, pomegranates
•
legumes: beans, peas, chick peas
Each of the three vital crops was under a patron
deity
●
grain: Demeter (with her daughter,
Persephone)
●
olives: Athena
●
grapes: Dionysus
Grain in Greece
—
sown in October:
not as in Canada!
The seeds
would germinate throughout the mild Greek winter.
—
harvested in May (barley) and June (wheat).
Circa 650–330 B.C., Greek citizen-soldiers did
not
like to be away from home during May–June.
This
was because, statistically, the main livelihood of
citizen-soldiers was farming.
Only one city-state was the exception...Sparta, with its full-time professional army.
Spartan
male citizens had no job other than soldiering.
Slaves
back at Sparta did all the farming
A mainstay of ancient Greek economy,
mainly because...
...olive oil was lamp fuel
Other uses for olive oil in ancient Greece
•
as a cooking oil
•
as a food dressing
•
as a kind of soap for water-less bathing.
The oil would
be poured over a person’s skin and then be scraped off.
•
as a personal adornment or honorific.
Compare the
biblical Psalm 23: “
Thou anointest my head with oil...
”
The Hebrew Bible often refers to olive oil.
Probably the
Greeks were copying the Near East in this ceremonial
use of oil to signify an honour to someone.
Grapes
Like olives, grapes mainly were not consumed raw but were
processed into a vital economic product.
Some ancient Greek
regions known for good wine were—
•
Athens
•
Chios
•
Euboea
•
Lesbos
•
Naxos
•
Rhodes
•
Thasos.
You’re not asked to memorize this list.
It is just f.y.i.
Generally, grape vines flourish in a
hot
climate, on
sloping
ground,
and in
clay
soils—all of which Greece possesses.
Ancient Greek pottery
—
made from local clay
—
important as (i) an ancient-world technology,
(ii) an ancient Greek industry and export-item,
and (iii) a medium for the art of
painting
—
pottery-remnants are absolutely crucial to the
modern study of archaeology.
Again, see the
“Science of archaeology” pdf, in the “Readings
for Sept. 6” Brightspace module.
Question
Early on, circa 1000–700 B.C., when Greece
was still relatively poor and humble, what could
the Greeks offer for trade to richer kingdoms?
That is, kingdoms such as—
•
Egypt
•
the
Phoenicians
of Lebanon
•
Urartu
(= ancient Armenia)
Ancient Greek export items
Answer
Some of the natural products mentioned in this
lecture—
•
timber from the mountains
•
high-end olive oil (shipped in clay jars)
•
high-end wine (shipped in clay jars)
Also, perhaps:
•
ingots of silver, mined from certain Greek mountains
•
slaves
The “export economies” of certain city-states
By developing local natural resources for export—timber, olive oil,
etc.—a number of Greece’s city-states got themselves into
Mediterranean international trade, starting probably in the 900s
B.C.
Define
“an export economy”: The $-value of exports exceeds that
of imports.
Athens by the 500s B.C. would achieve an export economy:
exporting a premier olive oil, also wine, perfumes, pottery, and
metalwork.
Athens’ one major
import
-item would be
grain
, as we’ll discuss
later.
Slides 67–68, above, revisited
Question:
Circa 1000–700 B.C., when Greece was still poor and humble, what
could the Greeks offer for trade to richer kingdoms like Egypt or the
Phoenicians or Urartu or Lydia?
Answer:
some of the natural products mentioned in this
lecture—
•
timber from the mountains
•
high-end olive oil (shipped in clay jars)
•
high-end wine (shipped in clay jars)
Also, perhaps:
•
ingots of silver, mined from certain Greek mountains
•
slaves
...
Slaves for Greek export, circa 580 B.C.
The biblical book of
Ezekiel
, chapter 27, mentions Greek
traders at the (non-Greek) Phoenician city of Tyre, in
what is now Lebanon, circa 580 B.C.
Ezekiel’s text is
protesting against the immoral affluence of Tyre.
Ezekial mentions the Greeks’ wares-for-sale in Tyre’s
market: “vessels of bronze and the bodies of men”
[
slaves, in other words
].
The Bible passage gives a clear image of Greeks using
slaves as an export-item, for overseas sale.
Where the Greeks got their slaves: 500s–400s B.C.
(1)(a) In ancient Greek writings, we read of enslaved non-Greek people from western-
interior Asia Minor, particularly the regions
Phrygia
and
Caria
.
These people would
have been free-born but then
captured
in raids by Greeks.
Probably the raiders came
mainly from the Greek cities of the Asia Minor west coast.
Thus, for example, there’s this quotation from the poet Hipponax of Ephesus, circa 550
B.C.:
“If they catch any foreigners, they put them up for sale: the Phrygians to work the
grain mills in Miletus...”
(
1)(b) Similarly, slaves captured in the non-Greek, north-Aegean region called
Thrace
.
(2) People of the above two categories, but raised in
captivity
as children in Greek
cities.
(3) Also,
Greek
slaves, captured as war-prisoners in the endless wars of Greek against
Greek.
Take for example the infamous capture of the Greek island of Melos by Athens in 416
B.C. during the Peloponnesian War.
The Athenians executed all the combatant-age
males (about 500), and sold into slavery the women and children (about 2,500).
Source: Thucydides, Book V
built circa 2200 B.C. by non-Greek aboriginal people:destroyed circa 2100 B.C., presumably by the invading Greeks:
The archaeological record of the Greeks’ arrival: ratherscanty
1) Destruction of the House of the Tiles, circa 2100 B.C.
2) Skeletal remains of Horses emerge as a normal
feature at archaeological layers after about 2000 B.C. but not earlier.Those horses would have been
Domesticated. Presumably the invaders in 2200–2100 B.C. introduced the domesticated horse to Greece.
3) A new pottery-style emerges in the Peloponnese, circa1900 B.C.
4) A new burial-style (“shaft graves”) emerges at the site of Mycenae, circa 1600 B.C.
These graves signify the beginning of the Greek
Stone age and bronze age reading
The terms "Stone Age," "Bronze Age," and "Iron Age" are modern labels for different periods in early human history, based on the predominant materials used for tools and artifacts. These labels help us understand technological and societal developments.
Stone Age: Spanning over 3 million years, this era saw humans primarily using tools made from stone, such as hammers and axes. It includes the Neolithic period (7000–3000 B.C.), during which major advancements occurred, like the development of agriculture, permanent settlements, domestication of animals, and the invention of basic technologies such as the wheel, plow, and metallurgy. The Neolithic laid the foundation for future civilizations, especially in regions like Mesopotamia.
Bronze Age (3000–1200 B.C.): This era marks the first use of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, which led to significant technological and societal changes. Bronze was harder than previous materials like copper or stone, making it ideal for tools, weapons, and armor. The era saw the rise of powerful, centralized civilizations, including:
Sumer and Akkad in Mesopotamia
The Egyptian Old Kingdom
The Minoan civilization in Crete
The Hittite kingdom in Asia Minor
The Mycenaean civilization in Greece
Bronze production required long-distance trade to acquire tin, which was not locally available in regions like Greece and Egypt. The grand kingdoms of the Bronze Age were wealthy and organized enough to engage in such trade.
Iron Age: Starting after 1200 B.C., this era saw the introduction of iron, a metal stronger and more widely available than bronze. While iron did not completely replace bronze or other materials, its appearance marked a new stage in technological progress. The Greeks, particularly in the Mycenaean civilization, began to emerge during the late Bronze Age and transitioned into the Iron Age.
The Bronze Age was an era of trade, wealth, and large kingdoms, while the Iron Age introduced stronger tools and a shift in the power dynamics of ancient civilizations.
Archaeology is the systematic study of the past through the discovery and interpretation of material remains. It provides insights into ancient societies by examining the durable materials that have survived over time. Here's an in-depth summary of the key concepts:
Materials Used by Ancient Societies:
Ancient civilizations utilized a wide variety of materials for daily life, including wood, leather, thatch, wickerwork, textiles, mud bricks, and animal sinews. These materials were perishable and have mostly decayed in any climate that has moisture. However, some materials are more durable and tend to survive over time, especially in dry climates like Egypt’s, where items like papyrus and sheepskin have been preserved.
In contrast, in moister climates like Greece, perishable materials rarely survive, and archaeologists rely on more durable materials to uncover history. These include:
Worked Stone: Stones such as marble, limestone, granite, and sandstone have been used to create statues, building remnants, and architectural structures. These materials are durable and often survive underground. Examples in Greece include statues and remnants from ancient buildings.
Metal: Artifacts made of metals like iron, bronze, gold, and silver can survive underground. Examples include bronze armor, iron swords, gold jewelry, and silver coins. These are often found in tombs or burial sites, providing valuable information about ancient societies.
Bones: Bones, particularly human skeletons, are another category of preserved material. These are often found in tombs or mass graves on battlefields. Sometimes, archaeologists also find the bones of domesticated animals buried alongside humans, likely as ritual offerings.
Ceramic or Pottery: Statistically, the most common surviving material is ceramics, including pottery, terra cotta, and clay objects. Ceramic artifacts begin as soft clay, which is molded into a specific shape, glazed or painted, and then baked (fired) in a kiln. This process makes the clay hard and durable. Ceramics can be delicate, like glass, but often survive for thousands of years due to their baked nature. Pottery-making, which originated around 7000 B.C., was an important craft, spreading to places like Greece and Mesopotamia. The potter's wheel, a significant innovation in pottery-making, emerged around 3000 B.C., likely invented in Mesopotamia.
Archaeological Findings in Different Climates:
In dry climates like Egypt, even soft materials can survive if they are buried underground. In moister climates, like Greece, archaeologists typically find hard materials such as stone, metal, bones, and ceramics. Each material provides a glimpse into the lives of ancient people, from their daily tools and structures to their burial practices and trade networks.
Understanding these durable materials is essential to piecing together ancient history, and archaeological methods continue to evolve to interpret the remnants of these ancient societies.
This section of The Science of Archaeology (CLA1101 B) delves into the role of ceramics in ancient societies and their importance to modern archaeology. While pottery was the most common use of ceramics, other applications included figurines, tiles, cauldrons, and ovens, with the kiln itself often made of ceramic. This section emphasizes that ceramic materials provide a durable link to the past, especially in ancient Mediterranean cultures like Phoenicia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Sardinia.
Greek Vase Painting and Pottery
Greek pottery, especially painted vases, is a valuable resource for modern scholars. Though not every pot was painted, high-end pottery often featured intricate scenes. These paintings offer significant insight into Greek daily life, mythology, and culture. Unlike other surfaces such as textiles, wooden panels, or stucco walls, which have decayed over time, pottery provides a lasting canvas for ancient Greek art.
The François Vase, one example of a Greek vase from an Etruscan tomb in Italy, reflects how pottery can survive and provide information about ancient societies. This and other artifacts found in tombs reveal not only artistic details but also cultural and trade interactions between ancient civilizations.
Durability and Archaeological Significance of Ceramics
Pottery holds a unique place in archaeology due to three main factors:
Durability: While easily broken, the fragments can last for thousands of years if buried. Ceramic fragments are incredibly resilient compared to other materials, like stone, which can also last for long periods.
Commonplace Use: Pottery was a daily essential in ancient settlements. Even in the absence of grand buildings or structures, pottery fragments are commonly found. These fragments often end up in trash pits, which ironically preserve them for archaeologists. Unlike other materials like metal or stone, which could be recycled, broken pots had no re-use value, making them a common find in archaeological digs.
Painted Pottery: High-end pots that carried permanent painted images were rare but are of great value today. These artifacts provide crucial details about the societies that created them, including trade networks, cultural exchanges, and local technologies.
Trade and Inferences from Pottery
Pottery not only tells us about daily life but also serves as evidence of ancient trade networks. For example, large amounts of Greek pottery found in Etruscan tombs in Italy were actually imported from Greece, reflecting trade between the Etruscans and Greeks. This pottery, used to carry goods like wine, textiles, and perfumes, has remained while other perishable goods have disappeared.
Similarly, Egyptian ceramic medallions found in Calabria (Italy), dating to 900 B.C., were probably brought by Phoenician traders. These medallions, which held religious significance, were likely exchanged through Phoenician sea-trade routes, indicating an early and complex trade network spanning the Mediterranean. Though not purely Phoenician or Egyptian in origin, these items offer insight into the multinational exchanges that characterized the ancient world.
Conclusion
In summary, pottery serves as a crucial material in archaeology for understanding the past. Its durability, abundance, and ability to carry painted scenes make it a vital source of information about daily life, trade, cultural interactions, and technological advancements in ancient civilizations. Despite their seemingly small size, pottery fragments hold clues to much larger historical narratives, helping modern scholars reconstruct ancient societies and their relationships.