The Minoans, The
Mycenaeans, and the Greeks
of the Arcahic Age
Tuesday
Presentation 1
Lecture 5 Minoan & Mycenaean
Cultures, Intro to Greek Architecture
Transition
• We examined the religion and civilization of
Mesopotamia and Egypt
• Key themes:
• 1) Polytheism , monotheism
• 2) From a ‘natural’, anthropomorphic,
theriomorphic religion to a Transcendent Being
• 3) The question of authority: remember the seed
of doubt and the complexity of morality!
Crete
• About the time of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, the
seafaring peoples of the Aegean Sea (Eastern
Mediterranean) had learned how to exploit natural
resources such as timber, stone, metallic ores, and
clay for pottery to produce distinctive artifacts.
• With these and other agricultural products they
waged brisk trade with Egypt and other settlements in
the Eastern Mediterranean, where they constructed
small fortified settlements and villages on islands and
the coastline. There was probably some contact with
Mesopotamia also.
• Early Cretans worshipped nature deities associated with mountains,
trees and animals, especially snakes. They also practiced bulljumping, probably an off-shoot to the Sumerian practice of bull
biting, similar to bull fighting in Spain.
• Lions associated with royalty in Egypt and Mesopotamia were
appropriated by the Cretans, though they had no lions on the island.
•
Egyptian artifacts from 18th Dynasty have been retrieved from the
harbor at Kairatos, Crete and 1300 pieces of Aegean pottery dating
from 1370 – 1350 BCE were found in the rubbish heaps of Akhnaten
and wall paintings during Hatshepsut’s reign depict envoys from
Crete bearing characteristic pottery from the island.
• These early peoples are called Minoans, from Minos, an early king
or the title, similar to Pharaoh. It was the later Greeks who created
legends associated with King Minos of Crete.
The tradition of Greece is often the first in
which Westerners feel they can recognize
themselves.
Greeks were the “first” to place human
beings at the center of the universe.
However, preceding the Greeks in the
Aegean Basin were the Minoan and
Mycenaean civilizations.
Early People of the Aegean Sea: Minoans
•
The Minoans established a brilliant
early civilization on the island of
Crete, sustained and protected by
the sea.
•
The Minoans traded with Egypt and
Mesopotamia. They acquired
ideas and technology that they
adapted to their own culture.
•
The Minoans helped to shape the
first Greek civilization.
•
Palace built with wooden roof,
gypsum plaster walls gracefully and
colorfully painted. Large throne
room with light wells, family
apartments in palace.
•
Culture disappears with some
natural disaster, earthquake?
•
Artist’s Rendition of King Minos’ Palace of Knossos on
Crete (1700-1400BCE) excavated by Sir Arthur Evans
in early 20th c.
Prelude: Minoan Civilization
3000 – 1100 BC
• This civilization was developing on the
island of Crete while Egypt and
Mesopotamia were flourishing
• This civilization was named after
legendary King Minos, whose father was
said to be Zeus
• http://www.ancient-origins.net/mythslegends-europe/king-minos-crete-00194
In Greek mythology, the labyrinth of
Crete was derived from the elaborate
floor plan of the Palace at Knossos.
Daedalus the Athenian craftsman, was
the architect and inventor who designed
for King Minos of Crete the labyrinth in
which was imprisoned the Minotaur, a
man-eating monster that was half man
and half bull.
The labyrinth was so skillfully designed
that no one could escape from the maze
or the Minotaur. Daedalus revealed the
secret of the labyrinth only to Ariadne,
daughter of Minos, and she aided her
lover, the Athenian hero Theseus, to slay
the monster and escape.
In anger at the escape, Minos imprisoned
Daedalus and his son Icarus in the
labyrinth. Although the prisoners could
not find the exit, Daedalus made
waxwings so that they could both fly out
of the maze. Icarus, however, flew too
near the sun; his wings melted, and he
fell into the sea. Daedalus flew to Sicily,
where he was welcomed by King
Cocalus. Minos later pursued Daedalus
but was killed by the daughters of
Cocalus.
Palace of
King Minos
Knossos, Crete,
ca. 1500 B.C.
Excavated by Sir
Arthur Evans in
the early part of
the century, the
elaborate palace
reminded the
excavator of the
legend of
Theseus and
The Minotaur.
Aegean Basin
Eastern Mediterranean
• As with Egyptians, the Minoans were
organized into a complex caste system:
Nobles, Merchants, Artisans, Bureaucrats,
and Laborers
• Life for Minoans was unusually
peaceful…very few weapons found at
archeological sites
Sophisticated Palace Architecture
• A complete plumbing and drainage system
• Multi-level structure with complex layout of
rooms and passageways
• Below ground storage of grains, oils, and
wines
• Beautiful friezes and frescoes
• No walls protecting Minos palace
Built several stories high around
a central courtyard, the palace
had light wells to admit light into
the lower reaches of the palace.
The palace is also noted for
columns that taper downward
instead of upward, and the
beautiful frescoes on the walls.
Lustral basin and light well in Throne Room
Langauge
• Pictorial forms gave way to:
• 1. Linear A script from 1800 BC to about
1400 BC. Undecipherable even to this
day.
• 2. Linear B from 1400 to decline in 1100.
Was an early form of Greek and not used
for political, social, and philosophical
aspects of life; only commercial
transactions
Religion
• Most Minoan life revealed through its
religious practices and art.
• 1. Matriarchal society
• 2. Center of worship was a mother
goddess
• 3. Earth goddesses portrayed in various
forms.
Mother Goddesses
Art
• Bull a significant element of Minoan life;
bull leaping, maybe a sport or ritual.
• Males painted in red, sometimes in female
clothing
• Females in white
Art Examples
Photos by
Edith Fuchslocher
Agamemnon Mask
Minoan Bull and god?
Dancing Antelope & Gold
Ceremonial Cup
Poseidon
Bull Leaping
Decline of Civilization
• Minoan trade dominated eastern
Mediterranean until about 1380 BC
• Something happened, maybe a volcanic
eruption or other natural disaster
• Culture was further weakened by
Mycenaean attacks and influences
between 1400 and 1100 BC
Cultural Beliefs & Influences
• Crete is traditionally the place where Zeus was
born
• Minoans worshipped Zeus, and in their culture,
he eventually died
• Later, Greeks were incensed that Minoans
believed that Zeus died.
• Though Greece eventually dominated the area,
Minoan beliefs largely influenced Greek thinking,
language, social organization and economic
pursuits
Beginnings: Mycenaean Civilization
1900—1100 BC
Early People of the Aegean Sea: The Mycenaeans
•
The Mycenaeans evolved on
the Greek mainland and
eventually conquered the
Greek mainland and Crete.
•
Mycenaean civilization (more
warriors than traders)
dominated the Aegean from
about 1400 B.C. to 1200 B.C.
though they traded with Sicily,
Italy, Egypt, and
Mesopotamia.
•
Mycenaeans absorbed
Egyptian and Mesopotamian
influences and passed them
on to later Greeks.
•
Fall of Mycenae ushered in
the Greek Dark Ages 1100 –
800 B.C.
Mycenae
Crete
Mycenae
Lion Gate at
Mycenae c. 1250
BCE
Progenitor of the Greek
temple front, the Lion Gate is
also important for its powerful
sense of structure and
sensitivity to the beauty of the
subject.
Mycenae
Mycenaeans
• The civilization named by archeologists
after the fortress city, Mycenae, in the
lower rugged region of the Greek
peninsula, Peloponnesus
• Mycenaeans were war-like and may have
come from Russia or parts of
Mesopotamia. Arrived about 1900 BC and
by 1500 ruled entire peninsula
Mycenae Data
• Ruins of Mycenaean palaces reveals them
to be mole like structures with massive
double walls and narrow escape passages
• Most well know Mycenaean monument is
the massive Lion Gate constructed from
four massive hewn stones (ashlars)
• Bronze lion’s heads now gone, maybe
stolen. Design likely to remind citizens
who ruled and to intimidate visitors.
Treasury of Atreus and
Mask of King
Agamemnon
For more information go to: http://www.tronchin.com/Art1A/lecture%205.htm
Lion’s Gate
Treasury of Atreus, a tholos tomb
C. 1325 BCE Mycenaean
Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae c.1250BCE
(400 years before the Trojan War, tallest and widest dome for 1000 years until the Pantheon)
Evidence suggests that a fire destroyed the palace at Mycenae. There is also
evidence of a siege. By 1200BCE the power of Mycenae was declining; during
the 12th century, Mycenaean dominance collapsed.
Within a short time around 1250 BC, all the palaces of southern Greece were
burned, including the one at Mycenae. This is traditionally attributed to a Dorian
invasion of Greeks from the north, although some historians now doubt that such
an invasion took place.
Wikipedia cites Rowbotham, William. "Mycenae and the Bronze Age." Odyssey Adventures, Odyssey. as their source for
this information.
Mycenaean religion
• Seems to have been a mixture of Minoan
influences and local deities. There were
two types of deities…
• 1. Some were predecessors of Olympian
gods and goddesses worshipped by later
Greeks and bore the same names
• 2. Others were nature divinities and
spirits.
Religious Images
Tiryns
• Up to 36 feet
thick, the walls
were lined with
galleries with
massive
corbelled
ceilings, serving
as a refuge for
the citizens in
times of war.
Tyrens is heavily
fortified, in
contrast to the
cities of the
Minoans, which
had no apparent
fortifications.
Mycenaean Data
• It was Mycenaeans who tried to topple
Troy. The long siege weakened the
civilization and inspired Homer’s later Iliad
and Odyssey
• It was the Mycenaeans who gave the
Greeks many of their ideals and inspired
the age of heroes established by Homer
Dark Ages:
1100—800 BC
• After collapse of Mycenaean civilization, a
300 year period called Dark Ages
– Life becomes more agrarian
– Transitional time—changes happening behind
the scenes
– Power shifting from kings to families
– Bronze gives way to iron
– Mycenaeans flee to Asia Minor. Early Greeks
establish life around Aegean and
Mediterranean Seas