The History of the Ancient World: Практическое пособие по английскому языку. Часть 1. Гончарова Л.Ю. - 10 стр.

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      Share your opinions on the following:

       Neolithic megaliths have always attracted people’s attention and aroused their
curiosity. Numerous theories and legends exist as to the process of their construction
and possible functions; some of these even attribute megaliths to aliens, visitors from
other planets. In your opinion, what is the basis for such contemplations?


      Chapter 3

                  The Old European Civilizations
      Read and translate the text:

       As the Neolithic revolution became more widespread and larger fixed
settlements began to spring up, it became inevitable that these Old Europeans and
Proto-Nordic types would start establishing formal societies. Then so called “Old
European” civilizations came into being, laying much of the groundwork for the later
development of Classical Greece and Rome. Although these Old European
civilizations were in fact quite distinct from the latter, they are often mistakenly
thought as one and the same thing.
       The crucial difference is however that the Old European civilizations were
created by the original continental Europeans while the classical civilizations of
Greece and Rome received their impetus from Indo-European or Nordic invasions
which had started around 5000 BC.
       The continental Old European civilizations in the Aegean were the Cretan
civilization, centered at Knossos on the island of Crete; the city state of Troy situated
adjacent to the Dardanelles in Asia Minor; certain smaller city states on the Greek
mainland; and the Etruscans in Italy.

      Crete
       The island of Crete, situated to the south of Greece, was the home to the Cretan
civilization, also known as the Minoan civilization (named after Minos, in legend, the
most powerful of the Cretan kings).
       By the year 3000 BC Crete had contact with the budding Egyptian civilization,
and many Cretan religious customs and social habits were taken directly from Egypt.
Being an island state, it would be fairly logical that the Cretans would possess well-
developed seafaring skills.
       The Cretans were governed by a priest king who had his residence at Knossos.
This palace rose several stories high and was the ultimate in luxury at the time.
       The city of Knossos itself appears to have been destroyed by an earthquake –
the result of the titanic volcanic eruption which destroyed the neighbouring island
civilization of Santorini. However, enough artifacts have survived. Most of the walls
in the palace were of painted plaster, decorated with elaborate frescoes, with the most
famous being of a Cretan national sport, “bull-jumping” – where brave athletes would