Their time of greatness began around 1600 B.C. Around this time they started building towns with protective walls, such as Tiryns, Pylos, and Mycenae.

The city of Mycenae began its existence in the 13th century. It was dominated by a magnificent stone entrance, called the Lion Gate.

Around 1450 B.C., Mycenaeans occupied the island of Crete, and founded colonies in Rhodes and Cyprus. They took over the Minoan sea trade, and through colonies in Rhodes and Cyprus, sailed to western Mediterranean, to trade with Sicily and Italy. They changed the Minoan script into a form of Greek.

Their civilization soon fell. The city of Mycenae was invaded several times in the 12th century B.C., and destroyed around 1200 B.C.

Sources:

Fry, Plantagenet Somerset. The Dorling Kindersley History of the World. London: D. Kindersley, 1994. Print.

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