Minoan civilization flourished from 1900 B.C. until the middle of the second millennium B.C. Contemporary with the Middle Kingdom Egypt, Hammurabi, and the Hittite Old Kingdom. The Minoans inherited the tradition of Maritime commerce pioneered by the Neolithic culture known as Cycladic.

By 1900B.C. they had developed a high degree of material and architectural sophistication (as a result 1900-1700B.C is sometimes referred to as the "Palace Age".

Its palace sat at the center of a redistributing economy, drawing in the resources under its control and then parceling them out as the palace bureaucracy saw fit.

Several intricate complexes are found during this period on Crete which may have been a source of inspiration for the famous story the Labyrinth.

The secret to their success was control of overseas trade. They were devoted to an obscure mother goddess which was evidence of peaceful life and strong matriarchal elements.

However some there is some evidence of a bull cult and are strong arguments for human sacrifice. Women were important.

They retained a highly peculiar institution, a dual monarchy. Two royal families neither technically superior to the other. "Reforms of Lycurgus" militarized Sparta. The Spartan system made every full citizen a Spartan soldier. Whereas Athenian government was democratized to reflect the interests and outlook of her people, in Sparta the citizenry was in essence "aristocratized", making every citizen-soldier a warrior-champion of the hoplite phalanx. The system depended on the conquest of Messenia, an agriculturally wealthy region west of Sparta.

me evidence of a bull cult and are strong arguments for human sacrifice. Women were important.

Athens emerged from the Dark Age with a distinctly agricultural economy. Aristocracy - magistrates monopolized the central props of their power. By the early 7th century aristocratic official s called archons presided over the civil, military, judicial, and religious functions of the polis. They served for one year and then joined the Areopagus Council who in turn elected more archons, controlling its own future membership. During the 7th century deep economic and social

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