Mycenaean Greece

1. Greece emerged on a small mountainous peninsula, that was only about 45,000 miles. The sea and mountains played vital roles in the growth of Greece. The seas were used to venture out and establish colonies that aided in the expansion of the civilization throughout the Mediterranean area. The first state of Greece was Mycenae, which flourished between 1600 and 100 B.C.E. It was established when a group of Indo-European people gained control over the Greek mainland. The civilization was made up of monarchies built on hills and surrounded by stone walls. The civilization fell in 1100 B.C.E. after the city burned around 1190 B.C.E. The dark ages arrived after the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, with a decline in population and food production…

Museum, the Mycenaean Collection is the collection of artifacts that truly intrigues me. Located in Room 12 and 12b in the British Museum, the Mycenaean Collection provides an amazing insight into the Greek Bronze Age, The Heroic Age, and Greek Mythology legends, especially the epics written by Homer. The collection features many artifacts of red and black painted pottery, bronzes from the Geometric Period, bronze figurines, and numerous artifacts that depict the Bronze age and how the Mycenaean…

Documents from the powerful Bronze Age Hittite Empire mention Wilusa, a city whose location at the approximate site of Troy, in northwest Turkey, was determined through an inscription on a mountain pass. A powerful port city close to the Hittite Empire, it seems strange that Troy is not mentioned in these tablets; thus scholars suspect that Wilusa was the Hittite name for Troy, as it is similar to a Mycenaean name, ‘Wilios’. Historians believe that ‘Ahhiyawa’, described as ‘across the sea’, was…

Evans hypothesises the script of Linear B was a modified form of the Minoan script Linear A. Thus, this article deduces that the decipherment of Linear B is the most important piece of archaeological evidence for the argument of a Mycenaean invasion, as it is generally believed it replaced the pre-existing Linear A script. Cline, E. H. 2010. The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000BC), New York, Oxford University Press. In this article Cline…

Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, speaks about the great deeds of the Mycenaeans in the Trojan War. More specifically, it is about Achilles’ conflict with Agamemnon. The Greeks claimed to be heralded from Mycenaeans; this is definitely true. Mycenaeans were the earliest Greek-speaking peoples in the region, as opposed to the Minoans of Crete, and the civilizations from the Cyclades speaking their own languages. Homer was born into the Dark Age of Greece, a few hundred years after the bronze age…

throughout Greece. Weapons and animal representations like bulls and griffins, are all characteristic of Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. But the settings in which they are presented offer deeper implications into their values and identity. Excavated frescos, pottery, and seals display these settings. Minoan iconography emphasizes communal ritual functions, shown through scenes of ritual practice and divinities in their art and material culture. However, Mycenaean design expresses boldness…

both Linear A and Linear B tablets in the same place is quite interesting. Linear B writing emerged in Knossos after Linear A writing but before the fall of the Palace of Knossos. We can then deduce that people writing in Linear B (Mycenaeans) conquered those writing in Linear A (Minoans), or at the very least, Minoans allowed the Linear B writers into its political center as a peaceful accommodation. Nonetheless, finding the Linear B tablets at the Palace of Knossos is important because it…

This piece of art was sculpted out of marble in 200 B.C. during the Hellenistic period in Greece. The statue only consists of the head today but originally it was full bodies sculpt. It was thought that the statue may have pretreated Athena striding forward and may have been located outside (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000- 2014). Art work at the time very rarely, if ever, portrayed women so for this to be scene was very uncommon. Also the stands she was in shows great strength in a women…

By looking at the various archaeological and historical evidence, we can determine the historical reality of the so called, Trojan War. I contend, that whilst the main source of information, Homers Iliad, is largely mythological and written not for history but for entertainment, there are still some archaeological factors suggesting there was some form of conflict between Greece and Troy. Thus, the categorisation of the Trojan war as a myth, warrants critical evaluation. I propose the reality…

Perfumes have been used for a variety of things throughout antiquity. The uses of perfume are interesting because they were not only used to scent the body but also for medicinal purposes. While there is ample evidence for the use of them in the different places around the Mediterranean Sea, I decided to focus my experiment on a site in Pylos, Greece. Pylos contains a well excavated Mycenaean palace. My hope with this experiment is to recreate the perfume of Mycenaean Pylos, while also showing…