Chrissie Cornacchia
Arch 1
Chapter 5
BRONZE AGE CITIES: THE AGEAN AND ASIA MINOR
o the Mycenaeans were in firm control of mainland Greece and the nearby
islands of Aegean by about 1600 BC
o the exploits of these Mycenaeans were sung by Homer in the Illiad and
the Odyssey
o Crete became a way-station of the Bronze Age, linking the Greek coastland
with Egypt and Mesopotamia
Asia Minor
o successive waves of Indo-European people began sweeping into Asia Minor
from the west who formed a single state out of the scattered Neolithic
villages = these people were the Hittites with their capital at Hattusas
o Hattusas- strength of their architecture was to accept the raw design of the
land as the better part of the building
o the image of the fortified city in this martial state mattered as much
as the effectiveness of its defense apparatus
o the walls followed the land contour; built on a huge embankment of a
double shell of cyclopean masonry
 the attacking force would be confronted by the embankment,
which was faced with dressed stones too slippery to scale
 called glacis- used to break the momentum of a charge
o the residential arrangement was irregular and contiguous houses
grouped around courts
o the temples were the most impressive remains at Hattusas (Temple I)
 was dedicated to the powerful weather-god
o layout of Hittite temples:
 the column is unknown in Hittite architecture
 the court had 4 sides of divergent design; not conceived as a
formal space
 sanctuary was bathed in light that poured through ample
windows, starting just a few feet above the ground
o Beycesultan (1800 BC) and Troy
o these 2 settlements lack religious buildings of public scale
 most built structure was residential and administrative
o a unique feature at Beycesultan is the system of foundations; involved
stones laid on tree trunks that projected beyond wall faces
 costly device appears to have been a system of ventilation or
heating, one of the earliest examples of environmental control
o the palace at Beycesultan was burnt down and replaced; the chief
residential unit of the palace was now the megaron
 megaron refers to a large, barnlike, single-storey structure
comprising s rectangular hall with a circular central hearth
o the Homeric city of Troy is believed to coincide with the 7th of the 9
layers (there are 9 superimposed cities on the site)
o Mycenaeans and Minoans
o the megaron dominated the palace complex of the Mycenaeans in size
and determined its axis
o Pylos: perhaps the most instructive Mycenaean palace is that of
Nestor in Homer’s “sandy Pylos”
 Heinrich Schliemann- it was his discovery of the site and the
gold treasures of its tombs that heralded the exposure of early
Greek culture and the authentication of Homeric myth/history
o Tiryns: construction of Mycenaean palaces was of rubble throughout,
strengthened by a massive framework
 the defensive ring was built of cyclopean masonry
 the circuit at Tiryns comprised of 2 parts: the close for the
commons to the north (entered by a gate through the lower
town) and the palace enclosure (obstacle course)
o Mycenae: occupies a hilltop; the position of the citadel commanded
the sea approach form Crete and the south Aegean in general
 tholoi- beehive tombs; circular structures with corbelled
domes of finely cut stone and an approach causeway (dromos)
 best known/finest beehive tomb is Treasury of Atreus
o relieving triangle- reduce weight over the lintel
 first piece of large-scale sculpture from the Greek world is the
Mycenaean’s Lion Gate entrance
o Knossos: dug up by Sir Arthur Evans to give us detailed picture of
their (Cretan) florid and literate design
 Greek city-states- polis
 had a network of streets; most were paved; topographically
and functionally determined by retaining the dwelling
patterns of the Bronze Age villages on the same site
 Gournia is best preserved layout; urban form is cohesive and
logical
 just as the towns themselves were unwalled, so too the larger
buildings, the royal palaces especially, were ordered toward
the court
 Hittite and Mycenaean appreciation of natural contours was
based on defensive genius
 the aim was to open up architectural form toward the
prospects that befriended it
 the megaron is the largest element of composition and an axial
approach toward it is set up which stiffens the general layout
and creates a hierarchy of use that is unequivocal
 megaron- the king’s hall at which the gods are given
hospitality
the path at Knossos is not straight; the heart, if anything, is the
all-purpose court
 could be described as a labrynth (word of Cretan
origin)
 Throne Room of palace; had cult functions (because it was
connected to the central court)
 Hall of the Double Axes- here the walls were decorated with
frescoes of great “figure-eight” shields of bull hide and
carvings of two-bladed axes, the sacred symbol of Minoan
Crete called labrys
The Closing of the Bronze Age
o 1400 BC Knossos collapsed; inhabitants migrated inland or to Greece
o Mycenaeans took over the (Minoan) area
o Minoans may have been brought down by volcanic eruption
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