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Ionian and Dorian Colonies

The Ionian and Dorian Colonies were settled by two different ethnic groups from Greece. These two ethnic groups were divided up by their language and specific cultural characteristics, but they were both considered Greek. Some Ionian and Dorian colonies had similar languages even though they shared different cultures. There are many historical accounts of these particular Greek colonies.  They appear on the Bible Timeline with World History starting in 1000 BC.
The Dorian was mentioned in Homer‘s Odyssey, and they lived on the island of Crete. The Ionians also inhabited parts of Greece as well, and their history is recorded in the Mycenaean Greek records that were also found on the Isle of Crete. Historical records claim that many Dorian Greeks primarily settled into the southern part of Europe primarily in Italy and in some instances as far as Iberia or modern day Spain. Ionians largely settled areas that are now located in modern-day Turkey, and they supposedly had made contact with people as far as India. The Dorian also set up colonies and city-states in the Middle East and southern Asia.

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Ionian_and_Dorian_colonies
The location of ancient Ionia on the coast of modern-day Turkey.

A well known Greek historian named Herodotus was a Dorian Greek, who claimed that the original home of his people was located in north-central Greece. Herodotus named Macedon, Phthia and Histiaea as Dorian states. Some Egyptologists claim that the Dorian also made up a large portion of the Sea Peoples who invaded the Mesopotamian area and Egypt.
Many of the Dorian and Ionian people were supposed to have settled these colonies from migrations that occurred during the 6th century BC. Many of the Dorian people were also said to have been seafarers and established city states all throughout the Mediterranean area. Not all Dorian and Ionian colonies were the same, and many of them had developed individual and unique ways of life which reflected their environment and individual culture. Some of the Dorian and Ionian colonies were warlike, expansionists and aggressive while others were more settled and focused on learning, trade and the worship.
Many of the colonies founded by the Ionian and Dorian had helped to transport Greek culture around the world. They didn’t influence the world with Greek thought and language until the time of Alexander the Great or the Hellenistic era. By this time the Dorian and Ionian were not significant as individual tribes or city-states. Greek culture as a whole had emerged during this time. Biblical and secular scholars have linked the Ionian with one of Noah’s sons Japheth. Since Noah and his three sons and their wives were the only humans to have survived the flood. Javan was a son of Japheth also called Ion and is supposed to have been the father of the Ionians. The Dorian was supposed to have their origins in mythology.
The Ionian alphabet was used as a part of the standard Greek language during the New Testament era, and the writings were scripted with this language. Some modern day people from Greece still distinguish between Dorian and Ionian language and culture even though the whole country speaks the Greek language.