Farming in Ancient Greece

Unlike it's older counterparts in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Greece was generally not an ideal place for farming.

Fertile land in Greece, while very fertile, was scarce. It's clear from looking at Greece from space that mountains are plenty and plains are few.

Democracy in Ancient Athens

Athens had a direct democracy. That means the citizens of Athens voted directly on laws. Since Greeks invented democracy, they also invented the name for it. Democracy means government by the people.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Common Sense

Common Sense was a pamphlet published by Thomas Paine in 1776. In the pamphlet, Paine spoke out against the government of England and basically made the case for a declaration of independence. View an e-text version of Common Sense using the link above.

Minoan Religion

Relatively little is known about the Minoan religion.

It seems to be a polytheistic religion based on the worship of nature. The main deities were representations of the Earth, sea, and sky. Examples are seen in the sculptures pictured below. Seen left is a bird goddess. Interestingly, the goddess is in human form with no wings but wearing a crown of birds. To the right is the snake goddess. The snake was one of the deities representing the Earth. No doubt the Minoans also worshiped the sun. An artifact called the Disk of Phaestos is probably evidence of that.

Ancient Minoan Writing

The Ancient Minoans used three known forms of writing. The first was a hieroglyphic script that was used mainly during the period from 2000 BC - 1580 BC. This style of writing was basically pictures or symbols used to represent concepts, ideas, and possibly syllables. Evidence of this script has been found in fair abundance at the palaces of Knossos and Phaestos.

Ancient Minoan Trade

The sea was a defense and a source of food for the Ancient Minoans. The sea was also the key to the great success the Minoans had as traders.