Minoans

Discover the Minoan civilization, Europe's first, which emerged around 2000 B.C. in Age of Empires IV.

Primitive agricultural communities appeared around the Aegean Sea by 6000 B.C. However, this region lagged behind Egypt and Mesopotamia in advancing toward civilization. For reasons not yet understood, the island-based Minoan culture made a sudden leap forward around 2000 B.C. and became the first civilization of Europe. This sudden take-off may have been stimulated by trading contact with Mesopotamia through Levant ports or through contact with Egypt. One theory suggests that refugees from Egypt during a time of turmoil may have emigrated to Crete and brought technology and ideas with them.