Page "Asia Minor" Paragraph 3

From the neolithic age Asia Minor was the route of the forward-Asiatic cultural stream which moved from the Near East to the west and spread the agriculture to the east coasts of Greece and Crete during the 5th millennium BC and then to the Balkan region and the whole of Europe.

Later the use of bronze-working was transmitted through the Anatolian primary-cultures.

The Hittites smelted rather brittle iron from the 15th century BC and the new metal was introduced in Greece.

During the 20th century BC the Indo-European Hittites entered the region and gradually established a great empire which was destroyed by invaders in the 12th century.

Greek-speaking populations moved to the west coasts and established cities up to the Black Sea.

In the 6th century BC the kingdom of Lydia almost expanded to the whole of Asia Minor, until it became a satrapy of the Persian Empire.