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Bronze Age Greece

Bronze Age Greece . Mycenaean world. Chronology. 2200-1500 BC : Height of Minoan civilization 1600-1100 : Height of Mycenaean civilization 1100-750 : Greek Dark Age 750 : Homer . Minoan Civilization. Pre-Hellenic (non-Greek, non Indo-European)

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Bronze Age Greece

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  1. Bronze Age Greece

  2. Mycenaean world

  3. Chronology • 2200-1500 BC: Height of Minoan civilization • 1600-1100: Height of Mycenaean civilization • 1100-750: Greek Dark Age • 750: Homer

  4. Minoan Civilization • Pre-Hellenic (non-Greek, non Indo-European) • Most powerful from 1600-1400 BCE • Spread influence to Cyclades, Peloponnese, and central Greece • Unified by Knossos, where the Minos (King) administered the kingdom

  5. Palace at Knossos

  6. Palace at Knossos

  7. Knossos, storeroom

  8. Columns and Bull Fresco, Knossos

  9. Knossos, temple tomb

  10. What the palaces suggest: • Complex political structure, monarch • Had a syllabic script, Linear A • Centralized political/economic system • The palace was this center • Thalassocracy: naval power • They were wealthy, cultured, unified, peaceful • Minoan art supports these conclusions

  11. Knossos, dolphins fresco

  12. Knossos, bluebirds fresco

  13. Minoan fertility goddess

  14. Knossos, bull leaping fresco

  15. Linear A tablet

  16. New developments 1450-1400 BCE • Closer contact with Mycenae • More militaristic scenes in art • Presence of Linear B, which is Greek • Knossos and other sites on Crete were burned near the end of the 15th century • Cretan supremacy ended

  17. Mycenaeans – 1600-1500 BCE • Aegean leadership passed to Greek-speaking people, who called themselves the Achaeans • They entered the Greek mainland around 2000 BC, and rose to power on the mainland around the 16th century • Their power depended on the horse and chariot • They were aggressive both as traders and warriors • Extent of their trade: Sicily, Troy, Egypt

  18. What were Mycenaeans like? • Highly skilled in war and administration • Had dynastic rulers • Wealthy and powerful • Early shaft graves held many gold objects, martial objects (1600-1500 BCE) • Wealth based on control of trade and agriculture

  19. Mycenaean grave circle

  20. Mycenaean grave circle

  21. Mycenaean tholos tomb 1500-1400 So-called “Treasury of Atreus”

  22. Mycenaean inlaid dagger

  23. Mycenaean boar’s tusk helmet

  24. Wall Painting, Mycenae

  25. Mycenaean funerary masks

  26. Mycenaean funerary mask

  27. Mycenae 1400-1200 BCE • Mycenaean culture spread through Greece and the Ionian islands • Kings of Mycenae held broad hegemony • They claimed tribute from subjects • Had an efficient bureaucratic service • Engaged in overseas trade, especially metals • Had a form of writing, Linear B

  28. Linear B tablet

  29. Palace at Mycenae

  30. Palace at Mycenae

  31. Fortification walls at Mycenae

  32. Lion Gate at Mycenae

  33. Cyclopean tunnel, Tiryns

  34. Signet ring from Tiryns

  35. Signet rings from Aidonia

  36. Bull cups from Vapheio

  37. Mycenaean society • Royal, centralized bureaucracy • Artisans and peasants under royal control • Class structure: • serfs, slaves, • lords and councilmen, • retainers and agents • the great king, the wanax • Kings were powerful in war and trade • They achieved their power through violence, as artifacts suggest

  38. Warrior frescoes from Pylos

  39. Fall of Mycenae, 1200-1100 • Citadels were destroyed, kingdoms fell • Mycenaean culture, including writing, was lost • Transition to the iron age • All the Mycenaeans were not destroyed, but life changed drastically • Depopulation • Dark Ages: 1100-800

  40. 8th century • New developments in trade and colonization • Greeks adapt the Phoenician alphabet • Writing reappears: Iliad and Odyssey by 750 • Kingship begins to disappear • Aristocracies begin to rise • Later Greeks were unaware of most of the important aspects of life they portrayed in heroic poetry • Its social organization • Its material culture • Its writing system

  41. Homeric / Heroic culture • Evidence comes mainly from texts • Ties were with family, clan, warrior band, and tribe • Men lived in small, self-sufficient units; oikos • Political ties were personal • Basileus or king lived by agriculture, war • Wealth was counted in herds, slaves, reserves of treasure, food, metal • King was not far above other men in upper classes • His reputation rested on his physical might and his sagacity • His powers were limited by the unwritten code of themis: what is done

  42. “Homeric” Society • Aristocratic warriors • Had a special standing • Were dominated by the need to show bravery • Their honor was expressed in material possessions won in battle or awarded by the community • Material wealth comes from land, raids, war and gift exchange • Trading is disdained • Human values mirror divine values

  43. Homeric culture is an amalgam • Different poetic accounts from different periods • Some mention of specifically Myceanaen objects: tower shield, boar’s tusk helmet, metal inlay, bronze armor • Late Mycenaean political geography is known • But many references to iron age culture and customs

  44. Moses Finley’s culture of the Odyssey • Sacrifice, cooked meal • Agriculture, cooked food • Good host-guest relationships • Stable family life • Stable political life • Strength, intelligence, ability to speak

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