aegean bronze age religion

7/25/2019 Aegean Bronze Age Religion

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Religion

There is no archaeological evidence from the Early Bronze Age related to cult practices. Only the

production of the Cycladic figurines and their deposition in graves could be connected with

certain religious beliefs of the population actually with the realization of cult customs incombination with burial customs.

The religious elements from the period of the !iddle Bronze Age are even less as the figurine

production ceases at that time. But during e"actly this period the earliest sanctuary of the

prehistoric Aegean is founded in Agia #rini on $eos% an important fact that mar&s the formationof the cult customs of the 'ate Bronze Age.

The cult customs on the Aegean islands during the early periods of the 'ate Bronze Age are

apparent in the rich iconography of the frescoes of Thera. #n these representations% which

however reflect mostly the cult customs of !inoan Crete% members of the priesthood and

worshipers are often depicted in ritual acts and ceremonies of initiation of young persons.

(rom the middle of the 'ate Bronze Age we have a great number of evidence on the cult% which

come mainly from the mature phases of the use of the sanctuary at Agia #rini and from thesanctuary at )hyla&opi on !elos. These two insular sanctuaries enrichen our &nowledge on the

!ycenaean cult in general% as there are no satisfactory elements on the cult in particular rooms

from the mainland% e"cept for the sanctuaries of !ycenae% Tiryns and Asine. The archaeological

finds of the sanctuaries *figurines and cult vessels+ which are identical with those of mainland,reece% give the impression that the cult on the islands continued completely integrated in the

ritual of the !ycenaean religion.

Thera% A&rotiri. Tripod table of offeringswith dolphin representation.

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Priests

Among the figures of the fresco representations of Thera are some which are identified

presumably as members of the priesthood. But it is rather difficult to distinguish the priests from

the worshipers or possible illustrations of the deity since these representations do not seem to

follow a strict religious ritual. Thus% the determination of the property of the figures results from

the effort to interpret the ritual procedures and the often problematic classification of the figuresin an iconographic program.

#t is noteworthy that the female figures dominate in the religious scenes of Thera as in those of

!inoan Crete. These figures are priestesses and maidservants of the goddess they praised% to

whom they offered gifts% whereas there are specific ceremonies in which they represented her by

incarnation. The priestesses wore e"travagant !inoan style costumes. They had elaborate hair

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styles and sometimes tattoos of sacred symbols *e.g. crocus+ on their face. A priestess from a

-est ouse fresco% holding a censer and wearing a long and large% sleeved garment probably

represents a specific position in the religious hierarchy.

There are also certain male figures from the /(lotilla (resco/ in the scene of the ritual on the

pea& of a hill which are considered as members of the priesthood. These figures are illustrated

with long white garments while those with the white !inoan type loincloths of the same scene

represent perhaps the worshipers. !ale figures wearing animal hides which suggest the similarly

dressed priests of the sarcophagus of Agia Triada are also considered as members of the

priesthood.

Akrotiri on Thera, West House. Fresco with priestess.

Sanctuaries

-e do not have information on the function of organized sanctuaries from the insular settlements

of the Early Bronze Age. (rom the !iddle Bronze Age the first cult elements in an independent

and specially designed building appear. At the settlement of Agia #rini on $eos a sanctuary 0the

first sanctuary in the Aegean0 was built in this period. #t corresponds to the shape and function of

the later sanctuaries of !ycenaean ,reece.

The 'ate Cycladic period provides more evidence on the cult in sacred buildings. The best

researched sanctuaries of the islands are1 the sanctuary of Agia #rini which continued to function

incessantly from the !iddle Bronze Age and the somewhat later sanctuary of )hyla&opi on

!elos. An indication for the definition of a building as a sanctuary is the particular architectural

type and the finding of ritual ob2ects and clay figurines in it.

The architectural type of the insular sanctuaries has a tripartite plan% as those of mainland

,reece. The sacred buildings are composed of an antechamber% a main room and two side

chambers at the bac&. The various cult e3uipment *hearths and tripod tables of offerings+ were

placed in the centre of the main rooms. #n the bac&ground was a bench on which the wooden

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statues of the deity% clay figurines and other votives were placed. 4pecifically% the wooden statues

were placed on stone platforms% higher than the worshipers. As indicated in the sanctuaries of

)hyla&opi and !ycenae% the side chambers functioned as storerooms of the ritual ware.

5espite the fact that the sacred character of the rooms is not clear and that the cult customs

correspond mostly to !inoan ones A&rotiri on Thera also offers indications that sacred buildings

were constructed with particular care. #n contradiction to the mudbric& buildings of A&rotiri

those that have been characterized sacred% the so0called 6este% had a well0built stone masonry.

As those of the mainland% the insular sanctuaries reveal many differences from the sacred

buildings of !inoan Crete. This indicates a differentiation in the cult customs of these two

cultures. The !ycenaean sanctuaries were freestanding buildings and not anne"es to buildings of

various functions% as in the case of the !inoan palaces. !oreover% there is no archaeological

evidence on pea& sanctuaries or sacred caves in the islands despite the fact that !ycenaean

iconography and te"ts written on tablets imply the cult in sanctuaries of open spaces.

The !ycenaean insular sanctuaries may have been a constant attraction of worshipers for a great

period of time. As attested in the !ycenaean sanctuary of Apollo !aleatas at Epidauros% cult in

rooms of the !ycenaean sanctuaries could have been associated with the archaic times. This

version is supported by the discovery of !ycenaean ritual and particularly valuable ob2ects

under the Artemision of 5elos.

Melos, Phylakopi. Plan of the Mycenaean sanctuary.

Keos, Agia Irini.

Plan of the ate

!ron"e Age sanctuary.

Keos, Agia Irini. #iew of

the sanctuary.

Cult






-e have very few evidence on the e"istence of religious ceremonies during the Early Bronze

Age% as areas with a particular arrangement or cult ob2ects *figurines% ritual vases+ have not been

indicated in the architectural remains of this period. 7evertheless% the discovery of figurines in

the Early Cycladic graves indicates that it could be interwoven with the burial customs.

5uring the !iddle Bronze Age the picture seems to change. #n the settlement of Agia #rini on

$eos a sanctuary% which will establish a long cultic tradition% is founded. #n the beginning of its

use% the cult in the sanctuary has a !inoan and !ycenaean character while during its mature

phase it is completely identified with the !ycenaean cult. The influence of Central ,reece on the

sanctuary of Agia #rini and on that of )hyla&opi are obvious mainly from the large number of

cult figurines of !ycenaean type which are discerned in anthropomorphic zoomorphic. The

zoomorphic figurines are usually goats or dogs while the anthropomorphic ones are distinguished

according to their shape in (i and )si figurines% that is to say they observe with accuracy the

shapes and types of the !ycenaean figurines. The large sized hollow0bodied figurines% the best0

&nown of which is the so0called /'ady of )hyla&opi/% come from the the late phases of thesanctuaries.

The information on the cult ritual is enrichened by the representations of the frescoes of Thera%

many of which aimed at passing religious messages. As in the !inoan frescoes% the religious

allusions of the representations are masterly harmonized with moments of everyday life and with

naturalistic depictions of landscapes thus rendering the interpretation of the representations

enigmatic.

The language of the frescoes being somewhat incomprehensible% it is considered that the

representations often depict persons ta&ing part in sacred rituals. Among the scenes that areconsidered religious for certain is the scene of gathering the sacred crocus% in which the so0called

/4affron ,atherers/ gather the sacred plant to offer it to a divine figure which is seated on a

throne% flan&ed by griffins and mon&eys. Cult scenes are also depicted on the !iniature (rieze

with the fleet scene from the -est ouse with a festive convoy theme. The /4pringtime (resco/

may be related to fertility ceremonies while the young /bo"ers/ were probably persons that

participated in initiation ceremonies.

A series of cult elements% such as the protagonistic role of the women% the flan&ing of !inoan

sacred symbols and the initiation ceremonies suggest the cult customs of !inoan Crete. This

indicates that apart from the !inoan influence in fields of material culture% the inhabitants ofThera had also adopted the cult ritual of the !inoan religion.

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Keos, Agia Irini.

$lay fe%ale &gurine fro% the sanctuary.

ate $ycla'ic I(II perio'.

Thera, Akrotiri.

)estoration of the fresco

of the *Sa+ron atherers*

-after . Marinatos/.

$ere%onies

A series of ritual acts depicted in frescoes of Thera appear to have 0apart from their religious

character0 some &ind of importance for the customs of the community. These cases are related

mainly to the presence of youth with blue hair and many long loc&s.

This appearance was initially interpreted as an element of the dressing style of the youth%specifically as a blue s&ullcap from which long loc&s of hair were pro2ected. A different view

supports that the blue colour was conventionally used to indicate shaved heads or heads with

very short hair and relates this appearance with ceremonies for the coming of age which provided for the adoption of this particular hair0style.

-e do not &now e"actly the meaning of this custom but the customs of hair0cutting which are

&nown from Anti3uity and modern primitive societies give us a clue to the interpretation1 the

youth between childhood and puberty were sub2ected to ceremonies for the coming of age so that

it could be made official that they passed to a period of their life during which they were ready toaccept the divine enlightenment% to devote themselves to the religious services or simply that

they were at the age of marriage.

This most li&ely interpretation is associated with relative customs for the coming of age traced iniconographic representations of !inoan Crete. One of these is the representation of the so0called

/chieftain cup/ from Agia Triada on which a young figure is illustrated 0of the same age as the

figures on the Theran frescoes0 probably accepting gifts during a similar ceremony.



Thera% A&rotiri04ector Beta. Bo"ing boys. (resco from room B8.

aegean bronze age religion

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