Around 1900 B.C.E., mainland Greece was invaded by a new people, the Greeks. They were warrior-herdsmen, looking for new pastures for their herds. They ended their semi-nomadic lifestyle and settled in cities. The largest and most powerful of these cities was Mycenae, a city that stood on a hill overlooking the plain of Argos. These people are known today as the Mycenaeans.
They built cities and chose to locate them on hills so that they could keep watch over the surrounding areas and the coastline. Each city-state had a fortified palace, called the citadel, surrounded by massive defense walls. In times of danger or attack, the people took shelter in the palace. Its central feature was the megaron, or great hall. This was a large square room with a fireplace in its center used for poetry, feasts, personal gods being worshipped, sacrifice, and counsels of war.
The Mycenaean people were known to be warriors who lived for heroic battles. A wanax who was supported by strong military leaders, ruled the Mycenaeans. Land was divided into estates and farmed by slaves or tenants. Landowners gave the king horses, chariots, weapons, wheat, farm animals, honey, and hides in exchange for protection. Agriculture is difficult, but some crops grow extremely well, such as grapes and olives. They made presses to squeeze olives. They used the olive oil as lamp fuel, cooking, and rubbing on their bodies. They sold plain oil in vases. This made the Mycenaeans very wealthy. It also led to the founding of trading stations on nearby islands. The Mycenaeans also became known for producing weapons, jewelry and many other artifacts. These they made from imported raw materials.
Other people who held a high rank in society were the priests and bureaucrats. They kept precise records of inventory, distribution of materials for production, commodities produced, acquirement of land, and deliveries made. They adapted the Minoan script to their own language. The Mycenaean system is known as Linear B. Scientists have been able to decipher writings found in Linear B as inventories of items and possessions. While the Mycenaean had this system of writing much of their history was passed on using the oral tradition. The writing system was primarily used for record keeping.
The Mycenaeans built a strong fleet of ships and became the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Mycenaean traders had an extensive trade network with neighboring civilizations. There is very little written record of the distance over which these people traded, but a rough estimate can be given from the location of Mycenaean pottery throughout the Mediterranean. Mycenaean pottery has been found in southern Italy and as far away as Egypt. There is also evidence of foreign trade coming from imported goods found at Mycenae. Ivory carvings and an abundance of gold ornaments have been found. The ivory had to be imported, but some of the gold could have been mined locally. These mines were very small, with low yields, so researchers believe that much of the gold must have been imported.
The location and apparent wealth of Troy suggest that it would have been a trade rival to the powerful Mycenaeans. The Trojans made their money by taxing ships trading in the Black Sea area. The Mycenaean army fought against the Trojans in the Trojan War. The prize was control of the Aegean. Homer’s Iliad tells of the legendary ten year siege of Troy by the Greeks.
The Dorians, a people from the northern part of Greece, captured and ruled the area after the Mycenaeans became weakened by a series of civil wars. The Dorians did not have the skills or the abilities of the Mycenaeans. They were farmers rather than traders and were not able to keep written records. The written language disappeared and so no records of the time survived. The time of Dorian rule is known as the Dark Age. Oral tradition enabled much of Greek history and heritage to be passed down from one generation to another.
Source: https://www.crsd.org/cms/lib/PA01000188/Centricity/Domain/1201/Myceneans.doc
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