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The Coming of the Greeks 49 was from them that Europe first received its higher civilization, art, and learning. We must now follow the way in which the inventions and knowledge of the eastern Mediterranean spread gradually into Europe and awakened its peoples from their bar- barous slumber of the Late Stone Age. It was natural that the portion of Europe which lay nearest to Egypt should first be affected ; namely, the region around the .<Egean Sea. 71. The jEgean World. The ^Egean Sea is like a large lake, almost completely encircled by the surrounding shores of Europe and Asia Minor, while the long island of Crete on the south lies like a breakwater, shutting off the Mediterranean (see map, p. 50). From north to south this sea is at no point more than four hundred miles in length. Its coast is deeply indented with many bays and harbors, and it is thickly sprinkled with hun- dreds of islands so that it is often possible to sail from one island to another in an hour or two. This sea, with its islands and the fringe of shores around it, forms a region by itself. It enjoys a mild and sunny climate. Here and there on the bold and beautiful shores river valleys and plains descend to the water's edge. On these lowlands wheat, barley, grapes, and olives grow well, so bread, olive oil, and wine were the chief articles of food, as they are among most Mediterranean peoples today. The ^Egean people were the predecessors of the Greeks, who, as we shall see, finally swept down from the north and for a time destroyed much of the civilization which the .flLgeans had devel- oped. These predecessors of the Greeks were, like them, a gifted white race, but in no way related to them, and they spoke an entirely different language. 72. Rise of Cretan Civilization under Egyptian Influence (3000-2000 B.C.). Because of their nearness to Egypt, it was on the /Egean islands and not on the mainland of Europe that the earliest high civilization on the north side of the Mediterranean grew up. From the beginning the leader in this civilization of the ^Egeans was the island of Crete. The little sun-dried- brick villages, forming the Late Stone Age settlements of Crete, received copper from the ships of the Nile by 3000 B.C. They