Mycenaean Greece and Cross-Cultural Interactions “I have gazed on the face of Agamemnon.” ~Heinrich Schliemann
Dating Scheme after J.-B. Bury (following Evans)
Thera and Crete
Thera (Santorini)-Satellite Image
Minoans and Mycenaeans Thera explosion ca BCE Trading empora: Minoan pottery replaced by Mycenaean by ca BCE Struggle for Mediterranean hegemony between Minoans and Mycenaeans, ca BCE Mycenaean takeover of Crete ca BCE Final destruction of Knossos ca BCE (Linear B)
Flotilla Mural from Thera
Excursus: Heinrich Schliemann Excavator of Mycenaean civilization Autodidact; early fascination with Homeric poems “Outsider” to academic establishment W. Doerpfeld and credibility Entrepreneur and Treasure Hunter Modern Assessments
Heinrich Schliemann
Mycenaean Argolid
Mycenaean Death Mask
Mycenaean Trading Contacts from Minoan Crete Height of Mycenaean Greece: ca BCE (LH II- IIIB) Cultural Influences (palace architecture, frescoes, seal stones, fine gold work) Trading Emporia in the Near East and West (Taranto)
General Characteristics Centralized Administration (king or wanax); Palace as Redistributive Economy Highly Organized Bureaucracy (Linear B Palace Inventories) Complex Social Structure Royal Family (wanax: military, legislative, judicial, religious functions) Nobility (priests and scribes) Merchants (?), Agricultural Workers, and Craftsmen Slaves Mycenae: Shaft Graves (circles A and B): ca BCE ; tholos (“beehive”) tombs: ca BCE ; “Treasury of Atreus”: ca BCE
Royal Grave Circle A circa 1600 BCE
Entrance to “Treasury of Atreus”
Cross-Section of Tholos
Interior of “Treasury of Atreus” Corbeled Arch (ca BCE)
Mycenaeans and Minoans Significant Differences Mycenaean Palaces are closed; strongly fortified Mycenaean art: war motifs predominate
“Warrior Vase” circa 1200 BCE
Vapheio Cup (ca BCE)
Citadel of Mycenae
Aerial View of Citadel at Mycenae
Lioness Gate at Mycenae
Writing: Linear B Script Monopoly of the Elites Linear B script virtually unchanged destruction at Knossos, ca BCE (following Biers) destruction at Pylos, ca BCE
Linear B Tablets
End of Mycenaean Civilization and Trojan War Back to Lecture One Thirteenth and twelfth-century Mediterranean BCE context: Turmoil in the Mediterranean basin and the Near East (“Sea Peoples”). ca BCE--Egypt weakened; Hittite empire collapses; destruction at Mycenaean centers (Tiryns, Mycenae, Pylos, Thebes; ca BCE: final destruction at Mycenae) Greece--lines of trade disrupted (e.g. contact with Cyprus, a source of copper, is broken) Fortifications strengthened at Mycenae; secret passageway to underground cistern Secret passageways to water sources at Athens and Tiryns Isthmian Wall Archaeological Evidence of Troy VII A--a last gasp Mycenaean expedition?
Collapse of Mycenaean Civilization
Explanations: Intruder, Environmental, Class Conflict Tradition: return of Heracleidae and the Dorian invasion (Sparta) Problem: tradition dates invasion to ca BCE; archaeological evidence indicates a date closer to 1200 BCE Identifying the Dorians? Invaders or Subject Population within Mycenaean society? Alternatives: climatic--famine leads to internal social revolutions; inter-city wars Trojan War; Nostoi; Egyptian records and Achaeans (Sea Peoples)