Beggining of Trade, and Globalization

Hello all! Xaralambos typing here. Sorry for the late post, but the past couple of days have been rather hectic. But anyway, onto what you all came here for. I'd like to start by looking at the history of trade, and examining how, as trade between different sources increased, and the interactions between formerly isolated areas increased, their relationship changed the way the people interacted between themselves.

Trade is a significant force in human culture. Particularly in the more primitive cultures, humans very rarely congregrated in great numbers, and it often was the case that said congregations were the result of religious events, or events between a culture. As such, any ideas or customs that were exchanged or improved were not horribly removed from each other, as in most cases, the participants were already linked in some fashion. Trade, particularly trade between cultures, on the other hand, involves a more random, more diverse and seperated assortment of people interacting. One of the easier methods for multiple cultures to interact through trade, particularly over extended distances, was through maritime trade. Some of the earliest extensive trade routes were established along various sources of water, such as the Nile River, The Tigris River, and The Euphraytes River. In addition to providing a vital resource to the various settlements, the rivers also provided an excellent and efficient form of transport for various goods some areas may have had in surplus. In fact, Evidence has been found that such methods were in use as far back as 3000 B.C. As trade continued to flourish, stronger, more durable ships were made available, resulting in trade between increasingly distant areas. Actually, There is much evidence that there was a strong connection, particularly through trade, between Egypt, and Minoan Crete. Various Minoan ceramics and handmade items have been found in Egypt, and the use of papyrus in Crete has been documented. The trade was not only limited to tangible goods, however. Many architectural and artistic ideas were borrowed by the Minoans from the Egyptians. Of greater significance, and a better illustration of the effects of globalization, was the realization that the Egyptian Heiroglyphs served as inspiration, and as a model for the Minoan's form of writing, the Minoan pictographic symbols. It's from this form of writing that two later writing styles, Linear A and Linear B, both of which were eventually lost in favor of the Ancient Greek Language, were derived. While the pictographic symbols have not had a tremendous effect on our current language and philosophies, they serve to illustrate that it was the interaction of the two different cultures, Minoan and Egyptian, and the exchange of ideas between said cultures that resulted in the Minoan culture using the already existing Egyptian Heiroglyphs as a template for their own symbols, which in turn illustrates that the two cultures, interacting through trade, were both changed merely by their interaction. To reiterate, it appears that trade acted as a catalyst of sorts, allowing cultures to come into contact with each other, and resulting in both cultures changing. Here, The change is noticable, but subtle. This is understandable, as Greece and Egypt are located close to each other, in the east Mediterranean area. Trade was made between even further areas. The Phoenicians, well known for their nautical expertise, managed to trade with places as far as Britain. quite a feat, given that they were based in the eastern Mediterranean, and in Canaan. Their main resource obtained via trade with Britian, was Tin. This, when smelted with Copper, easily obtained from Cyprus, created the efficient and durable alloy Bronze, which, while not as effective as iron, was better used than nothing.