Welcome to the course. Before we read a single sign, we need a picture of the world that wrote them. The Aegean is the sea between mainland Greece and Anatolia (modern Turkey). To its south lies Crete, a long, mountainous island about 260 km from end to end. Between them are the Cyclades, a scatter of small islands. In the Bronze Age, from about 3000 to about 1100 BC, people here used bronze (copper mixed with tin) for tools and weapons, and the sea joined them more than it kept them apart.
Key idea
Three regions, three stories
| Region | Who lived there | Writing |
|---|---|---|
| Crete | The people we call Minoans; later, Greek speakers ruled Knossos | Cretan hieroglyphs, Linear A, then Linear B at Knossos and Chania |
| The Cyclades and other islands | Island towns such as Akrotiri on Thera and Phylakopi on Melos | A few Linear A finds |
| Mainland Greece | The people we call Mycenaeans, Greek speakers | Linear B at Pylos, Mycenae, Thebes, Tiryns and other palaces |
Over the course you will meet three scripts from this world. Two are still unread: Cretan hieroglyphs and Linear A, used on Crete by the Minoans. The third, Linear B, was used by Greek speakers; it was deciphered in 1952, and it is the oldest written Greek we have. The map above shows where each one has been found. Notice how Linear A clusters on Crete and Linear B spreads from Knossos to the mainland palaces.
Why it works
Common mistake
A rough timeline
All the dates in this course are approximate. Bronze Age years come from pottery styles, radiocarbon and links to Egypt, and they can be off by decades. You will learn how in Dating the Aegean Bronze Age. For now, keep three anchors: writing begins on Crete around 2000 BC; Linear B appears around 1450 BC; and the palaces fall around 1200 BC.
Worked example: Which region?
- Find Pylos on the map: it is on the west coast of the Peloponnese, the large southern peninsula of mainland Greece.
- So Pylos is on the mainland, and its records are in Linear B, the script of the Greek-speaking palaces.
Answer: On the mainland.
Worked example: Island or mainland?
- Akrotiri is on Thera (Santorini), an island of the southern Cyclades, north of Crete.
- Linear A finds on the islands show the reach of Minoan Crete.
Answer: On an island, Thera, in the Cyclades.
Next you will meet the people of Crete in The Minoans of Crete and the mainland Greeks in The Mycenaeans.