1a. Canaan was a large, prosperous ancient country that was located in the land that includes current-time Israel, Lebanon, northwest parts of Jordan and western areas of Syria. In the Bible, Canaan is the promised land given by God to the descendants of Abraham. Nowadays, the word Canaan has become a metaphor for liberation from opression.
1b. The temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon in the 10th century BC, was burnt, according to historian Titus Flavius Josephus, during the sacking of Jerusalem by pharaoh Shoshenq I of Egypt. It burned "four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days after it was built"
2. Water, the Mediterranean Sea was crucial for Greek life:
Transportation. Greece is a peninsula, which means that is surrounded by water on three sides. While the inland is covered by mountains, the sea allowed for the transportationof people, raw materials and products to other regions.
Seafaring. The Greeks were skilled sailors that built rowing and sailing ships. Fishing became one of the important activities that provided with fresh or dried fish, an important part of the diet.
Trade. The Mediterranean Sea was a commercial highway and allowed the commerce with other civilizations and territories from the Mediterraneum, the Black Sea and even Egypt. Commerce came with the expansion of trading posts and the spreading of cultural products.
Some european governments, even before the advent of the Exploration Era, had the practice of giving wealthy individuals the right to economically exploit their newly discovered territories as a means of attracting investments to fund their expansion, with Portugal being one of the earliest examples. In the 1440s the Crown of Portugal divided and donated its recently found island of Madeira to a number of nobles close to the court, being the first Captaincy, Machico, given to Tristão Vaz Teixeira in 1440. The scheme was successful and was then repeated during the colonization of Brazil.
Private investments helped the european courts secure their positions on those new territories and cover their financial shortcomings. It was exerted through official sponsorship of certain expeditions in the form of politicla, technical, military or other forms of assistance, or the patronage of individuals close to the administration.
