Christian T. Jones
COL. Sheldon
HI-304-01
Help Received:
Col. Sheldon

Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman-turned-archeologist had some very important finds between 1871-1876 with his excavations in Turkey.
1 It began with his finding of the once-believed mythological city of Troy in 1871, and then his other shocking find of the city that defeated Troy, Mycenae in 1876.
2 The discovery of Mycenae came without much surprise due to that the location had been known since antiquity, and some ruins were still above the ground; no one until Schliemann had excavated the area.
3 During the excavations there was a golden mask discovered in Tomb V in Royal Circle A at the Acropolis of Mycenae.
4 This was believed by Schliemann to be the Mask of Agamemnon, 5 the leader of the siege of
Troy. With the discovery of the mask there have been numerous controversies over the authenticity of the mask was it truly from the time of Agamemnon or was it actually from earlier around 1550-1500 BCE?
6 If this golden mask is truly the Mask of Agamemnon, then this leads to the idea that the battle of Troy actually did happen and is not just a fabled story Homer came up with in the Iliad. However, due to modern research on the mask it has been dated to an era much before the life and reign of Agamemnon, 7 and therefore cannot be used as proof for the Trojan War.
1 Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, Jennifer Tolbert Roberts,
David W. Tandy. A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics Society, and Culture. (New
York. Oxford, 2014.) Pg 13.
2 Sarah B. Pomeroy, ibid, Pg 13.
3 Sarah B. Pomeroy, ibid, Pg 13-14.
4 Mask of Agamemnon, ancientgreece.org
5 Mask of Agamemnon, Wikipedia
6 Mask of Agamemnon, Wikipedia
7 Mycenae Mask of Agamemnon
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The Mask Of Agamemnon was a funeral mask made of gold placed on the face of a dead body in a burial place in Mycenae.
8 The discovery of this mask along with three other gold and treasures, 9 as well as Schliemann’s discovery of the fabled Troy add to the credibility of the stories of the battle of Troy in the Iliad, if they were dated when Schliemann thought they were, which is huge in Hellenic culture. But with the date and authenticity errors made by Schliemann the question of a Troy connection is again at large and raises questions on the legitimacy of his findings.
For if these artifacts were actually found at Mycenae or if they were placed in the shaft graves to give Schliemann credit for finding something that he did not.
The story of Troy and the Trojan War is very important to Hellenic culture; this first showing of Ancient Greece and its power as the Mycenaean’s take on the
Trojans and destroy them has defined and shaped the way ancient Greek culture has been viewed all the way up to the 21 st century.
10 With the discovery and excavations of Troy and Mycenae and finding the Mask of Agamemnon himself, would give proof to the stories of Homer and should make the Greeks feel pride knowing that the stories that have such a strong presence in their culture may have actually happened and are not just stories. However, modern archeologists and researchers are disagreeing with Schliemann and believe that the mask dates earlier than the reign of King Agamemnon, 11 by about 300 years. With this being true, it questions the accuracy of Schliemann’s findings and gives more evidence that this is not the Mask of Agamemnon and that it is just a name that stuck to a nicely crafted
8 Mycenae Mask of Agamemnon
9 Sarah B. Pomeroy, ibid, Pg. 15, figure 1.1 C and D
10 Mark Cartwright, Trojan War.
11 Mycenae Mask of Agamemnon
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gold burial mask. One thing is for certain, that the mask was crafted out of pure gold, and masks that were made out of gold were made for royalty.
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There have been controversies and allegations brought up that Mask of
Agamemnon does not truly belong to King Agamemnon due to some questioning behind the dating of the mask. Two men William Calder and David Traill have brought up some serious allegations against Schliemann’s findings, due to the fact that they have neither successfully reduced the importance of the excavations for archeology nor took away from the view that Schliemann was the pioneer in of the prehistoric Aegean.
13 More research on the date and authenticity of the mask have shown the mask is from around 1580-1550 BCE, which is about 300 years earlier than the time of Agamemnon.
14 Regardless of the true dating of the mask, the name has stuck with it throughout all the controversy.
15 The mask is believed to be for sure Mycenaean work, and this mask is by far the finest of the four masks found at
Mycenae, it’s technical workmanship and rendition of a mans features believed to be of royalty, 16 so whether or not it is truly the Mask of Agamemnon, it is still a very valuable treasure of Mycenae. Many of these questions against Schliemann are brought up due to his reputation for salting digs with artifacts from elsewhere.
17
Due to the masks looking so different from one another in appearance, where the other three masks are flat and the Mask of Agamemnon is three-dimensional as well
12 Mycenae Mask of Agamemnon
13 Katie Demakopoulou, Behind the Mask of Agamemnon,
14 Mask of Agamemnon, ancientgreece.org
15 Mask of Agamemnon, ancientgreece.org
16 Katie Demakopoulou, Behind the Mask of Agamemnon,
17 Mask of Agamemnon, Wikipedia
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as some of the facial features are cut out rather than engraved, 18 there is some skepticism with the thought of the mask being placed there when all the others were. The question of its authenticity still remains, but it is still a very important archeological find and has contributed greatly to learning about the history of
Mycenae and is a great find in the world of archeology.
Schliemann’s discovery of Mycenae has lead to the finding of many gold burial masks in shaft graves, one being called the Mask of Agamemnon, this is because it was once believed to be the burial mask of the fabled King Agamemnon that defeated Troy. Due to modern dating, it has been proven that the masks are from roughly 300 years prior to the time of Agamemnon in Homer’s Iliad, proving that this in not the Mask of Agamemnon, but the name has stuck with the mask due to its elegance and design that gives it the looks of as if it were meant for royalty.
The studies looking into these masks authenticity is constant and the findings at
Mycenae remain important to Greece and the world of archeology for the mystery of what really happened at the site at the time it was discovered and now the question of who the mask truly belongs to. With that the Mask of Agamemnon will always be a treasure to Greek history.
18 Mask of Agamemnon, Wikipedia
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Photos: found on Google Images.
Mask of Agamemnon
Other masks found in the graves of Mycenae
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 Cartwright, Mark. “Trojan War,” Ancient History Encyclopedia, (May 2013) http://www.ancient.eu/Trojan_War/
 Demakopoulou, Katie. “Behind the Mask of Agamemnon: The Case for
Authenticity”, Archeology Archive, Vol. 52, Number 4, (July/August 1999). http://archive.archaeology.org/9907/etc/dema.html
.
 Harrington, Spencer P.M, “Behind the Mask of Agamemnon,” Archeology
Archive. Vol. 52. Number 4. (July/August 1999). http://archive.archaeology.org/9907/etc/mask.html
 Mask of Agamemnon, http://ancient-greece.org/images/museums/athensmycenaean/pages/athens-mus-mycenaean001.html
 Mask of Agamemnon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_Agamemnon
 Mycenae Mask of Agamemnon, http://www.greeka.com/peloponnese/mycenae/agamemnon-mask.htm
 Pomeroy, Sarah B., Burstein, Stanley M., Donlan, Walter. Roberts, Jennifer
Tolbert. Tandy, David W. A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics Society,
and Culture. New York. Oxford. 2014. Pgs. 13-15.
 Google Images
 Spell Check
 Col Sheldon’s revisions to the Rough Draft and Final Draft
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