INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN MINOANS, EGYPT, AND MESOPOTAMIA UNTIL 1500 BCMiddle Kingdom of Egypt beginning with the time of Amenemhet II around 1930 BC we start to see artifacts from Aegean civilizations appear in the Delta region.
During the Hyksos (1650-1540 BC), there is evidence of painting spread throughout the Delta area and some Palestinian sites.
By the reign of Thutmose III (New Kingdom, 1450ish), Crete was destroyed.
MYCENAEAN PEOPLE 1600-1200 BC
They were an Indo-European people who migrated onto the Greek mainland and displaced the inhabitants (2200 BC).
Heinrich Schliemann: Excavated on the coast of Turkey and located Troy. The stratum for the Trojan War does show devastation. The war was possibly a trade dispute.
He turns to the Greek mainland and excavates Mycenae. There he finds “the mask of Agamemnon.” He names Mycenae after the city of the Trojan War hero Agamemnon.
DEVELOPMENT OF MYCENAEAN CULTURE
1600 BC Indo-Europeans settled on the Mainland of Greece. Not politically unified.
1400 BC Attracted by the Minoan culture and emulated much of it. However, their culture was distinctly their own.
After the Mycenaean people took control of Crete, they began to dominate the Mediterranean, 1400-1200 BC.
EARLY MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION 1600-1400 BC
Shaft graves: rectangular pits in which weaponry is buried with the bodies
Tholos graves: noble families buried in bee-hive shaped tombs
ZENITH OF MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION 1400-1200 BC
Using Minoan ideas in art and architecture, they built fortified cities on a hill.
LINEAR A VS B
When the Mycenaean people conquered Crete, they stole its system of writing. The Cretan form of writing was called Linear A. It was not Greek!
The Minoans used linear signs to keep track of palace records.
The Mycenaean people used their system to develop an early form of Greek, called Linear B.
MYCENAEAN ARCHITECTURE
Mycenaeans were fighters. So much of their architecture were citadels. They would choose a high, rocky hill, and built a fortress on top.
There would be living quarters, etc. The focus of the citadel was the megaron, Greek for large room.
Most of the citizens would live in small mud brick houses. Then, when under attack, they would retreat to the citadel.
Megarons: large rooms used for feasts, councils, and reception of visitors
Large open room with four columns in the center with a circular hearth.
LION GATEThe citadels were cut out of massive,
irregular blocks of hewn stone. The Greeks called the walls Cyclopeans, because it seemed that it had been placed there by giants.
They would use post and lintel construction for doorways, usually with a triangular space on top. This one has two lions protecting the entrance.
THOLOSA tholos was a beehive
tomb. It’s made by corbeling stones on top of each other, with each one slightly on top, overlapping the one below it.
A dromos is the long walkway leading to the tomb.
TOMB OF CLYTEMNESTRAClytemnestra was the
wife of Agamemnon, who murdered him when he returned from Troy.
Once body was inside the tholos, the triangle and door were blocked in with bricks.
FUNERAL MASK
In many of the tholos uncovered, wonderful objects were uncovered such as this funeral mask.
It is thought that these masks would secure a person’s identity in the afterlife.
Although stylized, this definitely was modeled after a specific person.
This particular mask has been mistakenly called the Mask of Agamemnon.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND GOVERNMENT
Discoveries at Pylos have reaffirmed some of the account in the Iliad about society during the Bronze Age.
Wanax: warlord who scrupulously kept on eye on all the economic activity of his city.
Lawagetas: general of the army
Most of the population worked on land belonging to the nobility and craftsmen held private property. Women were relegated to textiles, cooking, and childcare.
Palace workers were highly specialized in crafts.
RELIGION
Shrines in the palace centers
Many of the same gods as would be present in the later Greek pantheon.
Based off of Indo-European gods.
Zeus: early sky god; same god as the Sanskrit, Dyaus pitar and Roman, Zeus pater.
Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Artemis, Dionysus, Apollo, and Ares.
POTTERY
Mycenaean Warrior Vase
The “warrior vase” was named by Heinrich
Schliemann, the 19th-century archeologist who
discovered it. It is a mixing bowl (krator in Greek)
used for mixing wine and water and dates to the 12th
century BCE.
INTERSECTION OF MYCENAE AND EGYPT
After the Mycenaens took over Crete, they began to explore.
Contact with Egypt who called them Cretans (Kreftiu).
Contacts in Asia Minor led the Hittites to refer to them as Ahhiyawa or possibly Achaeans.
THE END OF AN AGE AND MYTHIC ANCESTORS
Around 1150 BC, a city was attacked in Asia Minor.
The battle decimated the city though it did later rebuild.
At this same time the WHOLE Mediterranean collapsed: Egypt, Middle East, Greece, Asia Minor…
Called the Dark Age
FACTS OR MYTHS?
When were the myths, the Minotaur and Trojan War, created?
During the Dark Ages of Greece
Minoans: 1900 BC-1500 BC, Mycenaean Peoples: 1600-1200 BC
Dark Ages 1200-700 BC
It was during the Dark Ages that the Greeks would look back on the past with nostalgia and mystify their past. So they created the Minotaur and the Trojan War. Based on some facts, but largely turned into mythology.
What happened?
Around 1200 BC: Famine, drought, trade disruptions, invasions…
Famine probably caused everything
Sea Peoples
Troy fell
Egypt fell
Near East Fell
75% Population decreased
People moved away
Writing was lost
Some art was lost
Bards
Athens only survived
Demos: a territory, with a major city, and the people
Polis: main city of the Demos
Oikos: household
Thetes: property-less men
THE POWER TO THINK AND REASON GAVE MAN HIS WORTH
NO AUTHORITY HIGHER THAN REASON
‘GOD” WAS AN ABSTRACT IDEA NOT A PERSONAL PRESENCE
EXCELLENCE (ARETE) IN ALL THINGS
THE MATERIAL WORLD IS THE EXTENSION OF THE HUMAN ABILITY
Blind poet who compiled lost epics into a our two surviving books: The Iliad and the Odyssey
Lived towards the end of the Dark Ages (700 BC)
Combined present social life with past legend
Sought to elevate the Mycenaean period as “Heroic”
Paris prince of Troy kidnaps the wife of a Mycenaean King, Menelaus of Sparta. Menelaus defers to his brother, Agamemnon the King of all Achaeans, and they engage in war for 10 years at Troy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w8wW0z7nNg
Linear B:Wanax (warlord)
Lawagetas (army general)
From archaeology:Large Palaces with art and architecture from the Minoans
Megarons
“Greek” religion
Inhumation
Bronze weapons
From Homer government changes…
Basileus: chieftain
Boule: assembly of “elders”
Agora: assembly of community
Weapons changeIron is used
Some large homes (no palaces)Megaron
Xenia: guest friendship
Agathos: “goodness” attained by bravery in battle, loyalty, fairness, hospitable
Aristos: desire to be the best
Arete: Excellence
Kleos: glory
Aidos: sense of duty
Arête: ExcellenceValue is determined by how effective you are at controlling your environment
Examples of Homeric arête: Glory in battle or athleticism
Sense of duty
Xenia
Two major works:
Works and DaysHard work (ergon)
Guest friendship (xenia)
Theogonythe creation of the gods and the world
Humanism vs Fatalism
750-700 BC
Rapid population growth
City-States and Panhellenism
Rise of aristocracy and the lack of fertile land
Trade
Colonization
Writing
Art and architecture
Set foundation for theArchaic Age