Mycenaean Greece
Greece entered the historical arena later than those countries mentioned earlier. Thanks to a visit to Greece in the 70s of the 2nd century AD. Pausanias, we have a unique opportunity to draw rich and varied information from the “Description of Hellas” (10 books). The forerunner of the future glory of Greece, as is known, was the Crete-Minoan civilization, which created the first state and original writing. Therefore, scientists often begin their narration with “Achaean Greece” or “Mycenaean Greece”. As we have seen, Mycenae was an important political center of Hellas for centuries, and the Mycenaean dialect was the oldest dialect of Greek. According to tradition, the founder of Mycenae was the ancient hero Perseus. Here he allegedly lost the tip of his sword, considering this a sign for the founding of the city. According to other versions, the name of the city was given by a water source or by a woman (princess Mycenae), whom Homer wrote about as “magnificently crowned” in his “Odyssey.” A. Losev even expressed the following guess: “If Homer speaks of some forgotten heroine Mycenae, then the question arises whether at one time Mycenae was not the goddess Mycenae, as in subsequent times Athena was the patroness of Athens.”
An extremely important role in the study of Ancient Greece is played by the study of written monuments of that time, starting from 2000 BC, the time when the tribes came to the territory of Hellas. From those former Achaean kingdoms, Knossos and Pylos, many documents remain in the form of written tablets. Although the Achaean scribes kept only current documentation on clay, not particularly caring about the long-term preservation of the tablets, their creations nevertheless reached our era. Remaining unfired and only drying out, the documents were able to reach us safe and sound, apparently only thanks to an accidental, completely unforeseen burning in the fires that destroyed the premises of the palace archives. These sources, along with the works of scientists and writers, are taken into account in the subsequent analysis.
Perseus and Andromeda
Pausanias, giving a description of those places, at the same time pointed to the fiercest rivalry among the Greek tribes and policies: “The Argives destroyed Mycenae out of envy. During the invasion of the Medes, the Argives did not show any activity, but the Mycenaeans sent 80 people to Thermopylae, who took part with the Lacedaemonians in their feat (fighting next to them). This glorious behavior of theirs brought them death, irritating the Argives. To this day, part of the city wall and the gate on which the lions stand still remain from Mycenae. They say that all these structures are the work of the Cyclops, who built the fortress wall for Pretus in Tiryns. Among the ruins of Mycenae there is an (underground) spring called Perseus."
In the chain of historical connections, it should also be remembered that Atreus was the son of Pelops (i.e., the grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus). The entire history of the Atrid family is full of murders and crimes. They rose to power through killing brothers, stealing sons, persecuting them, and training them to be murderers of their fathers. Apparently, in the past, Pelops, who is called a Lydian and a Phrygian, was defeated and expelled from Troy by its king, Ilus. Thus, the war of the Atrides against Troy (according to this version) takes on a completely different meaning, namely their return to the land of their ancestors. According to ancient legend, Ilion could only be taken if the bones of Pelops were transported under the walls of Troy. In Mycenae, in the underground structures of Atreus and his sons, their treasures and wealth were kept. “Here is the grave of Atreus, as well as the graves of those who, together with Agamemnon, returned from Ilion and whom Aegisthus killed at the feast. And those of the Lacedaemonians who live near Amycles lay claim to the tomb of Cassandra; the second grave is Agamemnon, then the grave of the charioteer Eurymedon, then the graves of Teledamus and Pelops. They say that they were twins born by Cassandra, and that they were stabbed to death by Aegisthus as infants, killing their parents. And (the grave of) Electra; she was the wife of Pylades, given in marriage to him by Orestes. Hellanicus reports that from Electra Pylades had two sons - Medont and Strophius. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are buried a little away from the wall; they were considered unworthy to lie within the walls of the city, where Agamemnon himself and those who were killed with him were buried.”
Treasury and Tomb of Atreus
The Mycenaean civilization occupied an intermediate position between Egypt and classical Greece, reaching its peak around 1600 BC. Then she spread her influence to most of the then ancient world (Egypt, Troy, Italy, the Eastern Mediterranean). Many works are dedicated to her, including the work of the Greek scientists K. Tsountas and I. Manatt “The Mycenaean Age” (1897) and the book by W. Taylor “The Mycenaeans”. According to long-standing Greek tradition, it is believed that the Dorian tribes invaded the Peloponnese from the north at the end of the 2nd millennium, and then penetrated Crete and the Dodecanese islands. Taylor believes that it is likely that the ancestors of the Greeks came from the east, passing through the northern Anatolian plateau to Troy (by land or sea - it is not clear). In other words, he admits that they could have Indo-Aryan origins, since Mycenaean pottery was in some ways similar to the gray ware from northeast Iran. The invaders brought with them new types of weapons, most notably cavalry and chariots, which allowed them to hold territory.
Mycenae settlement plan
During migration, certain tribes brought their language to new places of settlement. The Greeks themselves recognized the existence of three dialects: Ionian, Aeolian, Dorian and assumed the existence of three large tribes. According to many, “Mycenaean” is an archaic form of the Greek language, showing monotony wherever it was found - in Knossos, Pylos, Mycenae, Thebes, etc. S. Marinatom (Athens) says the following about the Mycenaean culture. The first “Greeks,” in his opinion, invaded Greece at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. In the 16th century, the earliest Mycenaeans appeared, representing an agrarian population living in small villages or towns. The largest of these at that time was Orkhomenes. At that time, urban civilization existed only in Crete, which had a population already around 1580 BC. was familiar with Minoan culture. This was proven by excavations in Mycenae and confirmed by work in Peristeria (Triphylia). However, in other Mycenaean settlements the living conditions themselves were still very primitive. The scientist believes that the first rulers of those places may have come from Syria, which was at that time in contact with Egypt. They brought with them elements of eastern material culture and the influence of Minoan art. Having captured Mycenae and taken possession of its wealth, they became its first ruling dynasty. An eastern origin is indicated by the presence of a double royal family and the custom of making a mask representing the dead alive, a custom well known in the Neolithic era to the inhabitants of Egypt and Syria. Unfortunately, archaeologists have not yet found the city archives of Mycenae, and therefore the history of Mycenaean Greece (Ahiyava) is studied from artifacts, in particular from Hittite writings.
Lion Gate at the Acropolis of Mycenae
The famous Lion Gate, decorated with a relief depicting two lionesses, speaks of how powerful the rulers of Mycenae were. To build such huge fortifications, it took the labor of thousands of people, because it is no coincidence that the legend would then spread that they were created by one-eyed giants - the Cyclops. Matching these structures were the stone tombs of the Mycenaean rulers - tholos. Speaking about one of them, the tomb of Agamemnon, the Polish researcher K. Kumanetsky wrote: “Both in this tomb and in others, what is striking first of all is the monumentality of the building itself: this has never been seen in Crete. Massive doors, more than five meters high, are covered on top by two huge blocks, one of which weighs, presumably, 120 tons... Similar “dome tombs”, or tholos, date back to the late Mycenaean era, i.e. by 1400-1200 BC This was a period of complete dominance of the Achaeans in the Aegean world and the increased power of the Mycenaean kings, who maintained direct relations with Egypt." You can partially imagine the impression the majestic tombs of the kings made on the souls of the Greeks by reading the poem “The Tomb of Agamemnon” by the Polish poet J. Slovacki:
Let the music of a whimsical structure
Accompanies the course of these thoughts.
In front of me are underground chambers,
Agamemnon's funerary vault.
Here the blood of the Atrids stained
I sit without words in the middle of nowhere
The golden harp is irretrievable,
Which descriptions have just reached.
I read antiquity in the cleft,
I can hear the speech of the Hellenes in the distance.
Mycenae was one of the most powerful city states. On the eve of the Trojan War, the entire Central and Eastern Mediterranean was under Mycenaean rule, but it was no longer as strong as before. In the middle of the 13th century BC. the capital of Mycenae itself suffered from a sudden invasion. Perhaps this attack happened during the civil war. By the way, the war against Troy is a reflection of the same trend of fierce rivalry between small but aggressive states in the region. Some attribute the fall of Troy to 1260 BC, others agree with Eratosthenes, who gave the date 1184 BC. Apparently, this happened in the last third of the Late Helladic period. Then many fortified cities of the mainland were destroyed: Mycenae, Tiryns, Media, Pylos. It must be said that Mycenae was the oldest city in Greece. G. Schliemann rushed here in 1876, reasonably believing that on the land where the graves of Agamemnon, Erimedon, Cassandra and other heroes were supposed to be located, the most amazing discoveries awaited him. He was not mistaken in paying attention first of all to the inside of the acropolis. The Mycenaean citadel was surrounded by walls made of huge stones (the width of the walls was 6 m). There are similar ruins of fortress walls in Greece, but the inhabitants of the mainland could not tell anything about them.
Cyclops Polyphemus
In Mycenae, Schliemann discovered five tombs, which in their scientific significance eclipsed the treasures of King Priam, which he found on the site of Troy. And this is what he found. In the fourth tomb, the archaeological expedition of G. Schliemann discovered five large copper cauldrons, one of which was filled with gold buttons (68 gold buttons without ornament and 118 gold buttons with carved ornament). Next to the cauldrons lay a rhyton - a silver bull's head (about 50 cm high) with steep, curved golden horns and a golden rosette in the forehead. The mouth, eyes and ears of this bull-rhyton were covered with a layer of gold. Two other heads of bull-rhytons made of sheet gold also lay nearby. In other graves, golden laurel wreaths, tiaras, and jewelry in the form of swastikas were found (which apparently indicates an Aryan source of origin). N. Ionina writes: “But the most remarkable among all the (golden masks) found was one mask, which was preserved much better than all the others. It reproduces features that have been considered Hellenic for centuries: a narrow face, a long nose, large eyes, a large mouth with somewhat plump lips... The mask has closed eyes, the tips of the mustache are slightly curled upward, a thick beard covers the chin and cheeks.” True, P. Faure characterizes these masks as “very ugly.” The graves were literally filled with gold. But for G. Schliemann it was not the gold that was important, although there was almost 30 kilograms of it. “After all, these are the graves of the Atrides that Pausanias spoke about! These are masks of Agamemnon and his loved ones, everything speaks for this: the number of graves, the number of buried people (17 people - 12 men, 3 women and two children), and the wealth of things placed in them... After all, it is so huge that only royal family Schliemann had no doubt that the mask of a man with a beard covered the face of Agamemnon.” Later research showed that the mask was made almost three centuries before the birth of Agamemnon, but it is associated with the Mycenaean king and is called “The Mask of Agamemnon.”
Items of Cretan-Mycenaean culture: golden cup, mask, daggers
Other cities, Gla, Zigouris, Proimna, Berbati, Karakos, were abandoned by their inhabitants. As for the famous campaign against Troy, it probably took place a number of decades before the first events, as Homer and other later authors speak about. Many tribes found shelter and refuge in Greece. As A. Khomyakov wrote, all of Hellas, from the borders of Slavic Thrace to the southern tip of the Peloponnese, was inhabited by a “rabble of tribes.” The Hellenes came from the north. Epirus was the home of barbarian tribes, from the very borders of the Slavic land. And the ancient inhabitants of Hellas, the mysterious Pelasgians, disappeared mixed with northern newcomers, lost their way of life “from the influence of their military activity and forgot their language, in the aggressive movement of alien enlightenment.” In ancient times, the Greeks were called Achaeans (the Italians called them Greeks). Tradition tells us little about the peoples who inhabited Greece before the arrival of the Greeks. They were divided into Dorians, Aetolians, Achaeans, Ionians, Aeolians (these are just names). The Greeks themselves called themselves Hellenes. According to legends, the family of Hellin's father included Aeolus, Dor, Achaeus and Ion. “The whole race of people originates from the Hellenes,” wrote Diogenes Laertius. Of course, both statements are not entirely true. Nevertheless, the great interest in Ancient Greece, the foremother of European civilization, the cradle of Christian Hellenism, is understandable. To this day, European culture sees its “golden childhood” in Hellas, and in childhood there is always a fairy tale.
Samples of Dorian clothing
Of course, the “golden childhood of the Greeks” is a fairy tale inspired by the brilliant Homer, which is based on some very real events. The Achaean society he described is much more reminiscent of a crowd of wild barbarians, who were deprived of their reason by Zeus the Provider. Unfortunately, there are not many sources from which one can study their gods and cults. Almost all the authentic texts have perished, and what was considered something like a “sacred gate for introduction to the Greek religion” (Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles) is now perceived as a secular source and gives little to the understanding of religion itself. The religion and mythology of the Greeks nevertheless represent one of the most striking and memorable aspects of world culture. Like other peoples, the Greeks had a widespread belief in spirits and cults of the dead. They revered trees, animals, idols, gods. In the traditional cults of the Hellenes we see features of savagery, tribal underdevelopment, and cruelty. For example, in Athens and in the large trading ports of Ionia, even in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, when it was already possible to talk about the “spring of civilization” that had come into its own, the Greeks adhered to the most savage and cruel rules in morality. Thus, in the cities, second-rate human material was specially kept in the form of degenerate human scum (cripples, idiots, etc.). When famine or plague occurred, the authorities usually sacrificed them. The unfortunates were stoned, burned alive, and before that they were beaten on their limbs with ritual rods. The ashes of the poor people who were scapegoats (“pharmacists”) were scattered over the sea.
Three Persian warriors
Or another example. On the morning of the famous Battle of Salamis, when the fate of Greece was being decided, commander Themistocles, hoping to appease the gods, burned three prisoners. These were beautiful young men, dressed in luxurious clothes and decorated with gold, and they were also the nephews of the Persian king. And so the commander-in-chief of the Greeks, an erudite, strangled them with his own hands on the ship, in full view of the fleet. Democritus, a scientist, the founder of atomistic materialism, with the cruelty of a sadist, demanded from young ladies that menstruating girls run around the fields three times before the harvest: supposedly, menstrual blood contains a charge of fruitful energy.
Corinth and Acrocorinth
The conquest of Greece took place over a long period of time. “At the beginning of the 16th century there is an increasing influence of Crete on their culture and, one might say, begins the influence known (to us) as the Age of Mycenae. Mycenaean-type states, similar to those described in the Iliad, began to form in Athens (although not very significant) and in Attica. Mycenaean power was strongest in the Peloponnese, where Pylos ruled Messenia, and in a group of fortresses in the Argolid dependent on Mycenae. Laconia, which lay between these two territories, has been practically unexplored, and its Mycenaean capital has not yet been discovered. It should be noted that all these states occupied fertile plains or hills. There were few such places in Greece, and they were separated from each other by high mountain ranges, so sometimes they could only be reached by sea. The northwestern region of Greece consisted mainly of mountains, so it is not surprising that this area played virtually no role in the history of Mycenae,” writes W. Taylor. The city of Mycenae lasted about 500 years and was probably destroyed around 1100 BC.
Acrocorinth – fortress walls
There is evidence indicating that Mycenaean influence can be traced not only in Greece, but also in Italy, where settlers colonized Apulia (this is confirmed by archaeological finds). Mycenaean influence is also noticeable in Sicily, where features of the same Rhodian culture are visible as in southern Italy. In ancient prehistoric times, violent disputes arose between the Greeks, which led to wars (such as the famous War of the Seven Cities against Thebes, as a result of which both sides were destroyed).
Polis owe much of their rise and prosperity to their geographic location. Such was the ancient city-state of Corinth, founded near Isthmus - the only route from the Peloponnese to the rest of mainland Greece, between the gulfs of two seas - the Saronic and Corinthian. According to Pausanias, Corinth was considered the “son of Zeus”, being part of the power of Agamemnon and at first, according to Homer, representing a wretched settlement. The geographical conditions here were not very favorable. However, it was precisely the strategic and trade advantages of the place (control of routes between the seas, the ability to establish broad trade relations with the centers of the East and West) that made it an important link in the regional system. The presence of springs and the high Mount Acrocorinth made it possible to populate, equip, and then defend the citadel from hostile invasions. Before the appearance of the Dorian tribes, the Phoenicians, other eastern peoples, as well as the Aeolian tribes who came here from Thessaly lived here. Around 900 BC The Dorians crossed here on ships. They initially settled in Arcadia, captured Argolis, and then invaded Corinthia. So Corinth was subjugated by them, as a result of which the ethnic composition of the population changed. The poet Eumelus wrote about the distant past of Corinth in his poem “Corinthian History”. It was he who identified Corinth with Homer’s Ephyra, the city in which Sisyphus (Sisyphus) reigned. Eumelus also connected the history of Corinth with the Aeolian-Thessalian myths of Jason and Medea. In accordance with this mythology, Sisif was considered the first king of Corinth. Bellerophon was also a local hero, whose fabulous horse Pegasus became not only the emblem of the city, but also a symbol of poetic ascent.
Fountain of the Lower Pyrene
From about the 8th century BC. the first great flowering of Corinth begins, when Corinth's political dependence on Argos ceased and it founded its first colonies in the West - Kerkyra in 730 BC. and Syracuse in 720 BC. The consequence of this process was the rapid development of its economy, industrial progress, and the export of Corinthian products to the West. Artistic crafts are also developing, as evidenced by numerous Proto-Corinthian and Corinthian vessels, painted tables from the sanctuary of the Archaic era, painted metopes of Fermat, and the Kypsela casket. The Corinthians were excellent sailors, reaching heights in this art during the period of the second Greek colonization. The Corinthian Aminocles was believed to have built it in 704 BC. the first trireme for the Samians. Subsequently, it was precisely the fact that the inhabitants of Corinth began to represent a formidable naval power and carried out intensive colonization that often aroused unfair anger and hatred towards them from Athens. The latter sought to destroy their rival in trade, which inevitably pushed Corinth into the arms of Athens' most formidable enemy, Sparta.
Theseus and Ariadne
It is curious that it was under the tyrants (Kypsel and his son Periander) that the economy, art and culture flourished to their greatest heights. Periander was even named among the 7 main sages of ancient Greece. At the same time, Corinth became one of the most powerful powers of that era, developing relations with the kings and rulers of Asia Minor, the East and Egypt. Trade and production of various kinds of bronze and clay products, various fabrics attract more and more inhabitants and buyers here. The city became one of the favorite meeting places for rich people, merchants, sailors, warriors and women of a cheerful disposition. Hetaera was primarily attracted by the opportunity to make good money on a craft, because, to paraphrase Seneca, let’s say: apparently, man by nature is a lustful animal and prone to debauchery and meanness.
Hilt of a Mycenaean ceremonial sword
Love cannot live not only without money, reciprocity, but also without praises. That is why they say that a new genre of poetry arose in Corinth - dithyramb. Among the architectural monuments, the Temple of Apollo stands out. Not only all types of art are flourishing, but also engineering. Periander conceived the idea of building a paved road - a “diolk” (drag) with deep gutters along which empty ships and goods could be transported on special platforms from one side of the Isthmus to the other.
Corinth during the Greco-Persian Wars (5th century BC) is one of the three great powers of the Greek world and participates in all battles against the Persians. Rivalry with Athens for supremacy at sea and in trade led to inevitable clashes with rivals. The rise of Athens and Sparta will soon relegate him, however, to secondary roles. Corinth became perhaps the main instigator of the Peloponnesian War. Corinth would later become the capital of the Achaean League (after 200 BC). However, dissatisfaction with the policies of the Roman power led to the fact that Corinth decided to break away from Rome. In 146 BC. The commander Lucius Mummius defeated the Achaean League in battle and destroyed Corinth to the ground. For a hundred years the city then lay in ruins, until finally Julius Caesar began to repopulate Corinth (from 44). His work was continued by Octavian Augustus. In the 1st century AD As a Roman colony and port, the city again experienced a period of growth and prosperity. It was in Corinth that Emperor Nero arrived to proclaim the freedom of the Greek cities (66-67 AD).
Ancient Greece was an association of city-states (polises), each of which had its own gods and heroes, laws and calendar. Theseus, who was considered the creator of the state, was especially revered in Athens. Many legends were created about him, which any Athenian schoolchild knew very well. The actions of this hero largely predetermined the future fate of the Athenian state. Before him, the inhabitants of Attica were often at odds, being both politically and spiritually divided. Having decided to unite them into a single people, Theseus patiently walked around the Greeks, trying to show them all the benefits of living together, the advantages of unity in battles against enemies. Being naturally very strong, he only rarely resorted to force as a last resort. Theseus also approved the general Attic holiday - Panathenaia. Every year in August, various gymnastic and musical competitions were held in Greece (and the Great Panathenaea was solemnly held every four years). The winners of the games were awarded wreaths or amphorae with olive oil. He is also credited with dividing the inhabitants of Attica into nobility, farmers and artisans. Theseus destroyed the previous communal councils, replacing them with a single council. This council was located in the center of the city, which it named Athens in honor of its patron goddess. Having accomplished so many glorious deeds, the Greek hero voluntarily laid down the burdens of power, showing himself to be a wise legislator and teaching a lesson to the rulers of subsequent eras who consider themselves “democrats.”
The “cultural soul” did not immediately find shelter in the hearts of the Greeks... The nomadic tribes that came to Hellas, regardless of whether they came from the Balkans, from Scythia or anywhere else, like other peoples, paid tribute to superstition and primitive savagery. At the same time, they grew cereals, hunted game, planted figs and olives (olives were the main food item of the Greeks), cultivated vineyards and made wine. The land provided them with food and a minimum amount of fruits (oil and wine), which could be put into trade, receiving wheat, textiles, weapons, etc. for them. An important strategic factor was the ownership of the straits, through which all trade with grain markets on the Black Sea coast or in Egypt was carried out. After all, about half of the grain exported to Athens was delivered there from the Bosporan kingdom. The fact that bread in Greece and its colonies was considered a strategic commodity is also evidenced by the oath that the inhabitants of Tauride Chersonesos took: “I will not sell the bread received from the fields of (our) homeland, I will not export it to another place besides Kherson "
As we see, the Greeks two thousand years ago perfectly understood the need for state regulation in their grain farming (which, it seems, our ministers-economists do not understand). Greece's location was conducive to its prosperity. The mainland was divided into three parts: northern Greece, central Greece (or Hellas proper), and southern Greece (Peloponnese) connected to Hellas by an isthmus. The country, located behind the mountain ranges, was a natural citadel, the passage to which was very, very difficult due to narrow gorges, which was brilliantly proven by the 300 Spartans of King Leonidas with their feat (during the courageous defense of Thermopylae).
On the other hand, a number of Greek regions found themselves disunited, divided by nature itself. There are no traces of any large rivers like the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Yellow River, Volga and Dnieper here. This complicated connections between the individual ethnic groups inhabiting the peninsula. Hence the difficulty in uniting local tribes. Civil strife more than once brought the Greeks to the brink of death (including in the battle with the Persians). What can we say, even if on the small island of Amorg (21 by 3 sq. miles) as many as three independent political communities were formed. Proximity to the sea also meant a lot (in the Peloponnese there is not a single point more than 7 miles from the sea, in central Greece - more than 8 miles). Of particular importance was the fact that the large number of islands that make up the archipelago form a kind of continuous bridge connecting Europe with Asia. Among the islands on the western coast of Greece was the island of Ithaca, the birthplace of the Homeric hero Odysseus.
Ithaca Island today
The lands of Attica were rich in iron, silver, building stone, marble, and alumina. In the same Attica there was also silver (in the south, in Lavria). In Greece there were cities such as Sybaris, which stood out for the wealth that the silver mine brought. For gold, the Greeks rushed further - to the northern coast, to Macedonia, Thrace, Lydia or Colchis. By the way, the legend about Jason’s journey for the Golden Fleece, according to Strabo, suggested this method of obtaining gold among some peoples: the skin of a ram, that is, the “golden fleece,” was immersed in water, as a result of which grains of gold settled on its wool. The aforementioned Sybaris, owning a harbor on the Etruscan Sea, was the most important intermediary in trade between Miletus and the Etruscans. It was mainly through mediation that he became rich, for which he exempted even the most expensive goods from customs duties. All this turned the eastern part of the country, where the metal deposits were located, into the most developed and prosperous. Oddly enough, being near the sea, the Greeks constantly experienced a great need for drinking water. Fresh water was worth its weight in gold here. Even the oath of the members of the union who guarded Delphi is known. They vowed never to take away “running water from the allied communities.” It is interesting that when setting out on a journey, the Greeks usually said to each other: “Bon voyage and fresh water.”
Ancient Greek ship
In the times described, the sea plays an increasingly important role (in matters of trade, life support and the defense capability of countries). Greece was no exception. If Egypt was created by the Nile, then the fate of Greece, Crete, Cyprus and Phenicia largely depended on how friendly they were with the sea... Pericles proudly told the Athenians: “After all, you believe that you rule only over your allies; I affirm that of both parts of the earth’s surface accessible to people - land and sea - you dominate one completely, and not only where our ships now sail; you can, if you wish, rule anywhere. And no one, not a single king, not a single people can now prevent you from going to sea with your powerful fleet.” Athens, heading the Maritime Union, was the largest maritime hegemon of that era (note that at one time this union included up to 200 states). Dominance at sea made it possible to control maritime trade.
Map of the city of Athens with the port of Piraeus
Streams of foreign goods poured into the port of Athens, Piraeus. It is estimated that the large port of Piraeus alone provided space for 372 ships at a time. The construction of the port cost the Athenians 100 talents (6 million drachmas), which is equivalent to 26 tons of silver. As a result, Athens became a monopolist in the trade of bread delivered from Pontus, Euboea, Rhodes and Egypt. After providing themselves with bread, the Athenians allowed the captains to go to other places, taking care that merchants, travelers, and pilgrims had refuge and shelter in other ports. “When capital is accumulated, it is good and useful to build city hotels near the piers for shipowners, appropriate places for buying and selling for merchants, and similar hotels in the city for those traveling to the city. And if premises and shops were set up for small traders in Piraeus and in the city itself, this would bring both decoration and great income to the city,” noted Xenophon. A very sensible remark.
Hippodamus - architect of Piraeus and a number of cities
The Greeks were well aware of the key importance of the sea in their lives. The temperate climate and generally poor soil did not allow them to rely solely on mineral wealth or agriculture. “Power over Greece is power over the sea,” the Greeks said. They used to call the Aegean Sea the “Tsar Sea”. The life of the peoples of the Mediterranean is replete with maritime events. Key routes within the Aegean Sea were tightly controlled by the navy. After all, by the time of the Peloponnesian War, Athens had 300 triremes, Corcyra had 10, Chios - 60, Megara - 40 triremes. Even intellectuals took part in the battles for supremacy at sea: for example, the fleet of Samos in 441 was led by the philosopher Melis, who defeated the fleet of Athens led by Sophocles. The tribes in the south and west of Greece, where navigation first developed, soon formed a kind of intertribal community. Each of them “told the other everything that he knew from navigation and ethnography, everything that he had experienced at sea, all the information about shipbuilding.” The earliest to acquire stable maritime skills was the Dardanian tribe, who believed that their homeland was Crete. The historian E. Curtius classifies the Ionians who lived in Lydia as belonging to this branch. Lydia, with its excellent ports, became a rival of Phenicia in trade.
Antique ship in the port
To a large extent, one can judge the power of the Greeks on the basis of the data given in the Iliad. The leader of the Mycenaeans Agamemnon brought a hundred ships to Troy, the second place was for the Pylians - 90 ships, the third place for the Argives and Cretans - 80 ships each, the Spartans and Arcadians - 50 each, the Athenian and Myrmidon fleets - 50 ships each. A total of 1,186 ships arrived at Troy. The base of King Agamemnon's fleet was Iolcus, from where the Argonauts began their journey on the ship "Argo" ("Fast"). Until the end of antiquity, the Argo ship was considered the first floating ship. Agamemnon also had other naval bases, the strategic importance of which was great. It should be added that the marine life of the Greeks, in addition to ordinary trade, was inextricably linked with their robbery. All this was in order. The Cretans, in order to clear the archipelago of pirates and become masters of the sea routes, themselves create pirate-military squadrons on Cythera and Egilia. The Spartan Chilo always expected an attack from here. Squadrons of Greeks acted against the Phoenician pirates. King Minos went to Greece by sea to avenge his stolen son. His ships are guided by dolphins (in memory of their help, he establishes the cult of Apollo of Delphi). It is said that the busiest sea routes of those times - or the so-called “Apollo paths” - were also paved by smart dolphins.
Dolphins on the walls of the palace at Knossos
Journey of Odysseus. Odysseus and his companions
The sea became an arena of open robbery. The kings were no different from robbers, leading squadrons of pirates and boasting of wars and robberies (Iliad, XIV, 229-234). Achilles raids from Argolis to Mysia, steals Briseis from Lyrnessos, and razes the city allied to Troy to the ground. The son of Peleus exclaims: “I have destroyed twelve populous cities with ships; The eleven on foot took the fruitful Trojan land; In each of them he obtained a lot of priceless and glorious treasures.” Hercules destroys Troy in order to profit from the famous horses. Agamemnon proudly recalls how, having destroyed flowering Lesbos, he took from there many beautiful captives. Odysseus, a “pirate by vocation,” as soon as his ship was washed by the wind and currents to the Thracian shore, immediately begins to plunder the first nearby city, considering this a great merit:
Before Troy went
armored tribe of the Achaeans,
Nine times I'm on the ship
fast with brave
squad
I went against foreign people -
and we were lucky;
I took the best from the spoils,
and by lot also
I got a lot for my share;
increasing your wealth,
I have become powerful and respectable...
In another place, Odysseus confesses to King Alcinous that when he, who is rumored to be an inventor of tricks, sailed to the city of the Ciconians, Ismar, he, the king of Ithaca, together with his fellow bandits, behaved not at all as a peacemaker, but as a murderer and the robber:
Ismaru: we destroyed the city,
All the inhabitants were exterminated.
Saving wives and all sorts of things
having plundered a lot of treasures,
We began to divide the spoils so that
everyone could take their part.
Thus, the reader should not be mistaken either about Odysseus or about beautiful Greece, the talents and courage of whose sons we will quite rightly admire more than once. Even in the most heroic part of its history, Greece was in fact nothing more than “an ideal place for robbery.” The geographer Strabo also wrote about the undeniable propensity for piracy of the inhabitants of these places, noting their bloodthirstiness. The hunt for slaves gave rise to the profession of andrapodists - “slave makers.” The poet Lucian called the first such andrapodist Zeus himself, who kidnapped the handsome Ganymede. The historian A. Vallon noted the main sources of wealth of ancient civilizations: “The richest source that supplied slaves was always the primary source of slavery: war and maritime robbery. The Trojan War and the most ancient wars of the Greeks along the Asian and Thracian coasts gave them numerous captives... The war replenished the ranks of slaves, but with certain interruptions; sea robbery contributed to this more constantly and continuously. This custom, which in Greece preceded trade and accompanied the first attempts at navigation, did not cease even when intercourse between nations became more regular and civilization more widespread; The need for slaves, which became more widespread, stimulated pirate activity with the lure of higher profits. How easy it was for this region, surrounded by the sea, and the shores, accessible almost everywhere, and the islands scattered throughout the sea! The horror that the North African barbarians (Berbers) recently spread along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea thanks to their rapid and unexpected landings reigned everywhere in Greece.” Life back then was simply terrible. This is at least indicated by the custom of killing all strangers arriving from the sea. Among the “civilized” Greeks, Phoenicians, Cretans, Egyptians, Jews, and Assyrians, the rule of the Night of Bartholomew was in effect: kill everyone, God will recognize his own. The gods, apparently, are indifferent to the fate of people.
Odysseus with the sorceress Kirka
Hercules and the Argonauts (with spears, clubs, shields)
Regrettably, in Athens itself, this citadel of ancient democracy, open slavery flourished. Athens, which, according to the requirements of the law, supposedly had to hunt down the kidnappers of free people (having passed a law that punished caught Andrapodist kidnappers with death), in fact, whenever they could not be caught by the hand, they secretly patronize them. It was even forbidden to offend them under penalty of exclusion from citizenship. The reason for such patronage is simple and understandable. The state and individual citizens derived considerable benefits from the slave trade and its mediation. After all, this trade was subject to special taxes, and Athens was precisely one of the main places of such trade. Lucian in “The Auction of Souls,” describing the life of Aesop, draws many examples from the practice of the slave trade in Rome. But exactly the same order reigned in Greece, which, of course, was not and could not be any exception.
Ruins of Corinth
Speaking about this “flawed, restless and fragile” Mycenaean civilization, which lasted no more than 400 years in continental Greece and the Peloponnese, 200 years on the islands and only a few years in the distant colonies of Egypt, Asia Minor and Italy, P. Faure in in his magnificent book “Greece during the Trojan War”, he tried to establish what once destroyed the small kingdoms and fortified cities. He quite decisively rejects the idea of external invasion and destruction. The same mysterious “peoples of the sea” that many sources mention (doing this, however, in a very vague, vague way) could hardly have become the root cause of the total catastrophe of the Mycenaean cities. After all, their independent rulers created powerful fortresses, had a strong army, excellent weapons for those centuries, and strong political and economic structures. Then what caused the deadly threat that swept away between 1250 and 1200 BC. these prosperous and wealthy centers?
Heroes of the Trojan War
It must be said that Faure himself convincingly answered the question posed: “And yet, in order to try to explain the catastrophe that destroyed so many “well-cut” palaces and beautifully fortified strongholds between 1250 and 1200, several reasons must be simultaneously taken into account or put together. The most common mechanism of disintegration could be the following: small monarchies flourished and strengthened so much thanks to agriculture, cattle breeding and the development of crafts that they aroused the hatred of subject peoples and less fortunate neighbors.
The power of the reigning house could be weakened by several misfortunes at once: shortages, shipwrecks, illness, rivalry, lack of mutual understanding, old age of the ruler. All this shocked society from top to bottom. A whole swarm of small feudal lords or local leaders rebelled, refused to pay taxes and submit to bureaucratic control, and, on occasion, did not disdain piracy and robbery. The bravest conspired among themselves and went to take the palaces, where, as everyone knew, there were full of treasures, and the rightful owner, like Odysseus or Achilles, went to Troas to seek luck. Stories of tragic poets about Oedipus, who took possession of the city of Cadmus, or about Theseus, who reigned in Athens and threw the old man Aegeus from the top of the acropolis, about the Seven against Thebes, about the bloody “showdowns” of Atreus, Thyestes and their heirs, about the flight of Alcmaeon, the last king of Pylos, - this whole terrible series of riots and fights over inheritance seems to generally reflect the everyday reality of the second half of the 13th century BC. And, if we look into the history of Greece in the 13th century AD, we will see a completely similar picture, and in the same cities - Thebes, Athens, Corinth, Argos, Nauplia or Modon. Byzantium was destroyed much more by internal squabbles than by attacks from external enemies.” The French historian reasonably believes that there is a high probability that the Greeks fell victim to the onslaught of neighbors or fellow citizens, that is, civil wars rather than external wars.
Although external wars undoubtedly played a role... Just as the aging “fathers of the nation” in the Soviet Union tried to find answers to acute social problems within the country in external expansion, it is possible that the leaders of the Greeks, who gathered on a campaign against Troy, tried to remove a heavy burden of social burdens from part of his people, inviting them to obtain gold, wealth and glory in foreign lands by robbery. Faure writes about the “giant mass of the poor” who had the most meager income. All these carpenters, scribes, blacksmiths, saddlers, weavers and shipwrights, creating material wealth, building palaces and fortifications, themselves barely made ends meet. Naturally, they all looked with deep hatred at the luxurious palaces of tsars, oligarchs, war barons, generals, just as three thousand years later the poor, often completely powerless workers of Russia look at the fabulous palaces of the new “feudal lords.”
Will a couple of millennia really pass and from the power of these kingdoms, like from the possessions of King Agamemnon in Mycenae or Priam’s Troy, all that will remain is a pile of stones and a domed tomb, where the new Schliemann will look for answers to the secrets of the history of the 20th-21st centuries? And even if a new Homer is born, will he want to describe our life?!
This text is an introductory fragment.The Mycenaean (Achaean) civilization (1600-1100 BC) is one of the oldest and most interesting civilizations that ever existed on the territory of modern Greece. This civilization had an undeniable influence on the subsequent development of ancient Greek culture and occupies a special place in literature and mythology, including in the works of Homer.
One of the largest and most important centers of the Mycenaean civilization, of course, was the ancient city of Mycenae, from which, in fact, the culture subsequently received its name. The royal residence was also located here, as well as the tombs of the Mycenaean kings and their entourage. In ancient Greek mythology, Mycenae is well known as the kingdom of the famous Agamemnon, who led the legendary Trojan War.
The ruins of the once majestic Mycenae lie about 90 km southwest of Athens in the north-eastern part of the Peloponnese near the small village of the same name and today are an important archaeological and historical site.
The first excavations of ancient Mycenae were carried out back in 1841 by the Greek archaeologist Kyrriakis Pittakis. It was then that the famous Lion Gate was discovered - a monumental entrance to the acropolis, built from four huge monolithic limestone blocks and got its name because of the huge bas-relief depicting two lions above the entrance. The Lion Gate, as well as fragments of the impressive fortress walls (their width in some places reached 17 m), built in the so-called “Cyclopean” masonry, are well preserved and even today, more than three thousand years later, they amaze with their monumentality.
The archaeological work that began in the 1870s under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Athens and the leadership of Heinrich Schliemann created a real sensation. During the excavations (both on the territory of the fortress and outside it), a number of burials were revealed in shaft and domed tombs with an incredible number of various funeral gifts, among which the huge number of various items made of gold was especially impressive. However, the architecture of the tombs was also of great interest, perfectly illustrating the skill of ancient architects. The best preserved to this day, perhaps, are the tombs of Clytemnestra and Atreus. The tomb of the latter dates back to the 14th century BC. and is a two-chamber tomb with a dromos corridor (length - 36 m, width - 6 m), leading to a domed room (where the king’s body rested) with a small side chapel, in which a number of burials were also identified. A huge 9-meter stone slab weighing approximately 120 tons was installed above the entrance to the tomb. How the ancient craftsmen managed to install it still remains a mystery. The Tomb of Atreus, or the Treasury of Atreus, is the most grandiose domed structure of that time and one of the most important architectural monuments of the Mycenaean civilization.
In subsequent decades, archaeologists returned more than once to the excavations of the legendary Mycenae and discovered many more different structures, including the remains of a palace complex located on the top of a hill. Recently, the so-called “lower city” was excavated. A detailed study of the results of archaeological excavations has made it possible to significantly lift the veil of secrecy over the mysterious Mycenaean civilization.
The famous “Mycenaean gold” (including the so-called golden “mask of Agamemnon”, 16th century BC), as well as many other unique ancient artifacts found during the excavations of Mycenae, are today kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
The descendants of the mythical Perseus ruled Mycenae for many generations until they were replaced by the powerful Atreus dynasty, with which many heroic and tragic events are associated. The son of Atreus, the legendary Agamemnon, who led the campaign against Troy, on the advice of the oracle, sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia to the gods. After his triumphant return from the Trojan War, Agamemnon was killed in the bath by his wife Clytemnestra, who had not forgiven her husband for the death of her daughter. Clytemnestra, in turn, is killed by her son Orestes, distraught with rage, incited by his sister Electra. What can I say? Cruel times, cruel morals. But after thousands of years, the name Clytemenestra became a common noun in Greece for husband-killing wives.
These legends and assumptions found historical confirmation when the German amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, while searching for Troy, accidentally stumbled upon one of the mine burial grounds. Several more burials of the same type were discovered nearby, and then it became clear why Homer called Mycenae rich in gold. During the excavations, an incredible amount of gold and amazingly beautiful things were found (about 30 kg!): jewelry, cups, buttons, military equipment and bronze weapons trimmed with gold. The amazed Schliemann wrote: “All the museums in the world do not possess even a fifth of these riches.” But the most significant find was a golden death mask, which, according to Schliemann, belonged to Agamemnon himself. But the age of the burial grounds did not confirm this version; the burials were made much earlier, before the reign of Agamemnon. An interesting fact confirming the power and wealth of ancient Mycenae is that no iron objects were found. The main materials from which the discovered objects are made are silver, bronze and gold. Artifacts found in mine burials are kept in the Archaeological Museum of Athens and the Archaeological Museum of Mycenae.
The ancient city occupied a strategically convenient position on a hilltop, protected by the massive walls of the acropolis. The laying of defensive walls was carried out without the use of any binder mortar. The stones were fitted so tightly that the walls give the impression of being monolithic. The famous “Lion Gate” led to the acropolis - a cyclopean structure made of stones, decorated with a bas-relief with two lionesses - a symbol of the power of the royal dynasty. The gate is the most famous building of Mycenae, and the bas-relief is considered one of the most significant heraldic monuments in the world.
The citadel contained residential buildings of the nobility and household buildings, many of the buildings being two and three stories high. Not far from the entrance there are remains of burial circle A, where shaft tombs dating back to 1600 BC are located. Items found in them indicate that the burials of royal families were located here.
A large staircase leading to the royal palace began from the courtyard at the Lion Gate. The center of the palace was Megaron - a large room with a fireplace on the floor. The Royal Megaron was the central building, a kind of administrative center. Meetings were held here and trials were held. All that remains of the royal chambers is the foundation. Fragments of the foundation of the red bathroom in which Agamemnon was killed can also be discerned.
At a short distance from the walls of the acropolis, burial circle B was discovered, which includes domed tombs (tholos) - another example of Mycenaean architecture. The most impressive and well-preserved of them is the so-called “Treasury of Atreus” or “Tomb of Agamemnon”. When the burial was found by Schliemann, it was plundered. Therefore, it was not possible to establish who owned the tomb, but the size and architectural features suggest that there was a royal tomb inside. Round underground structures replaced shaft burials. A sloping corridor lined with stones leads to the high narrow entrance. Inside, the tomb is an impressive dome, 13.5 m high and 14.5 m in diameter, lined with horizontal rows of stones. Each row protrudes slightly above the previous one. Before the construction of the Roman Pantheon, the tomb was the tallest structure of its type.
Mycenae flourished between 1400 and 1200. BC. The Mycenaean Acropolis, built back in the 16th-15th centuries. BC, was surrounded during this period by new powerful Cyclopean walls, massive fortifications built in three stages (1350, 1250 and 1225 BC).
The most recent objects discovered in Mycenae are considered to be the palace and fortress walls. The surviving fortress walls are mostly of the so-called Cyclopean masonry made of huge limestone blocks, not processed at all or only roughly chipped, but perfectly fitted.
The large size of Mycenaean buildings indicates the rather high knowledge of the builders, the long-term working skills of the masons, the great skill of the stone carvers and a number of other workers. What is most striking is the monumental size of these structures. Huge unprocessed blocks of limestone, reaching in some cases a weight of 12 tons, form the outer walls of the fortress, the thickness of which exceeded 4.5 m. But these blocks still had to be delivered to the construction site! The stones were first processed with heavy hammers, then they were cut with a bronze saw. The use of a system of counterweights and brackets and the installation of drainpipes required quite complex calculations. Characteristic is the uniformity of precisely developed techniques for laying walls throughout the entire territory of the Mycenaean culture.
1-2 - two main types of Mycenaean masonry. The masonry was done using clay mortar. The middle of the wall was filled with rubble stone.
1 - roughly hewn polygonal stones.
2 - hewn rectangular blocks.
3 - cross-section of the walls of Tiryns, showing galleries and battlements made of raw brick. This is the most complex of the Mycenaean era fortifications.
4 - plan of fortifications in Mycenae. On the left is the Lion Gate.
5 - plan of fortifications of the 7th century. in Emporio on Chios.
6 - plan of fortifications of the 6th century. with projecting towers in Burunkuk-Larissa.
7 - plan of the Athenian border fortress of the 4th century. in Giftokastro.
The citadel of Mycenae has no towers, but the gates are well protected by bastions on the sides. Walls up to 8 m high have been preserved, although their original height is unknown.
The builders made excellent use of the natural landscape, erecting their walls on the ridges of the mainland rock. Along with the Cyclopean walls made of almost unprocessed blocks, in Mycenae there are sections of walls built using a different technique and from a different material - they are composed of even and regular masonry from well-processed almost rectangular stone blocks, sometimes reaching 3 m in length. Such is the wall and bastion at the Lion Gate, as well as sections of the wall at the northern gate. The gate had two leaves and was closed using a sliding beam. I wrote more about them.
The city was surrounded by a 900 m long fortress wall, which enclosed an area of over 30,000 sq.m. In some places, vaulted galleries with casemates were built inside the walls, in which weapons and food were stored (the thickness of the wall here reaches 17 m). The entire system of defensive structures of the Mycenaean fortresses was carefully thought out and guaranteed the defenders against unforeseen accidents.
The approach to the main gate of the citadel was arranged in such a way that the enemy approaching it was forced to turn towards the wall on which the defenders of the fortress were located with their right side, not covered by a shield. Behind the gate inside the fortress there was also a narrow courtyard, framed on both sides by walls, where it was easy to defend against enemies who broke through the gate.
Now, having entered the gate, we find ourselves in an open space, which is mainly occupied by a circular fence, formed by two rows of stone slabs placed on edge: they mark the sites of earlier shaft tombs. Inside this enclosure were tombstones, some with human figures carved on them. Between the circle of the fence and the wall there were houses and warehouses.
This so-called Circle A of the shaft tombs was included in the perimeter of the fortification walls during their construction, apparently as a kind of sacred, cult center. The earliest Mycenaean fortifications left this necropolis outside the citadel.
Throughout the 3rd and 2nd millennia, there are 5 main groups of burials: pit, box, shaft, chamber and dome. The most important monument of Mycenae are the shaft tombs. (XVI century BC). The first six graves of this type were discovered in 1876 by G. Schliemann within the Mycenaean citadel. These rectangular, somewhat elongated tombs were carved into soft rock to a depth of 0.5 to 3-4 m; they represent a further development of pit and box burials.
Archaeologists have recovered from them many precious objects made of gold, silver, ivory and other materials. Massive gold rings decorated with carvings, tiaras, earrings, bracelets, gold and silver dishes, magnificently decorated weapons, including swords, daggers, armor made of sheet gold, and finally, completely unique gold masks that hid the faces of the buried were found here. Amber, ostrich eggs and other obviously imported items were found in the graves.
The artwork in these tombs shows the influence of Cretan art, although the subject matter of the images differs significantly from Cretan. Minoan pottery was also found in the tombs. The tombs are located among the graves of the so-called. Middle Helladic period. Obviously, these were the burial places of rulers.
The richness of the inventory of the shaft tombs indicates a significant development of productive forces during the transition to the Late Helladic period. The widespread use of bronze, the abundance of precious metals and their generous use are a clear indicator of the separation of crafts from agriculture and the long-term accumulation of labor skills among Mycenaean artisans. The presence of things of foreign origin indicates connections, possibly trade, with distant countries. The totality of finds in the shaft tombs gives reason to consider the Mycenaean society of that time to be a class society. Slave society arose in Mycenae as a result of internal development.
The main street leads to the gate from the lower city past the sacred Mycenaean circle of shaft graves B (which date back to the 16th century BC and are older than the famous royal shaft tombs of circle A excavated by Schliemann).
Next to this complex are the remains of a building from the late Mycenaean period, also excavated by Schliemann, which today received the name “House of the Military Vase”, thanks to the famous large Mycenaean crater with images of warriors found here. This crater is today on display at the Athens National Museum.
It's time to remember the history of the archaeological excavations of Mycenae. The location of the ancient city was known for a long time - long before the moment when Schliemann first found himself at the walls of the ancient city in 1868. Images of a fortified acropolis on a rocky hill in the Argive valley are known already in the 18th and early 19th centuries. For example, here is a romanticized image of the Mycenaean Acropolis. Isn't it difficult to find out?
The history of Mycenae is one of the darkest and at the same time one of the most sublime chapters in the history of Greece, full of dark passions. It was archaeologists who proved the real existence of the events described in ancient poems. According to Homer's Iliad and Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Greece in the Mycenaean period was a country of high culture. The ancient historians Herodotus and Thucydides spoke of the Trojan War as a true incident, and of its heroes as real people.
Meanwhile, at the time when the Greeks came to the attention of modern history, they did not particularly stand out among other peoples - neither the luxury of palaces, nor the power of kings, nor a large fleet. It was undoubtedly much easier to attribute the information contained in Homer’s poems to the writer’s imagination than to agree that the era of high civilization was followed by an era of decline with its barbarism, and then a new rise of Hellenic culture.
Today, Mycenae is primarily associated with the name of Schliemann, who, having studied the texts of Homer’s poems, discovered Troy, and then the “royal tombs” in Mycenae.
In 1876, as a result of a fairly quick exploration, Schliemann excavated the shaft tombs of circle A, located inside the walls of the fortification, and made his world-famous finds. Among several golden tombstone masks, he chose the most “intelligent” face, as it seemed to him, and attributed it to Agamemnon.
The shaft tombs discovered at Mycenae by Schliemann in 1876 were the earliest of the sites: there are no Neolithic artifacts here, and the Early and Middle Helladic remains are extremely insignificant. The objects found in the tombs date from the transition from the Middle Helladic to the Late Helladic period and illustrate the connections that existed between Greece and Crete ca. 16th century BC. View of Schliemann's excavations in Mycenae in an ancient engraving:
These tombs consisted of six large stone wells located in an area that was subsequently surrounded by a wall. 19 skeletons were found in the wells, one of which was preserved in partially mummified form. On the faces of several of those buried were masks made of beaten gold.
Here the plan clearly shows the location of all objects, incl. and tombs:
The graves contained treasures - objects made of gold, silver and bronze, including jewelry, bowls, swords, rings and other objects. Among the latter category are numerous gold disks and plates embossed or embossed with octopuses, rosettes, and other forms typical of Mycenaean burials: these could be sequins from clothing or decorations on coffins or other decorations.
There were also bronze daggers with hammered gold handles and designs on the blades made using the technique of gold and silver inlay; two have hunting scenes depicted in a lively and expressive manner.
The total weight of gold found here is more than 14 kg. Nowadays, Schliemann's finds adorn the exhibition of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
But some of the finds are also presented in Mycenae:
Some of the treasures today are not inferior to the creations of current designers. ;-)
Late Helladic potters made dishes of various sizes - from small goblets to huge vessels. The clay was well cleaned, the walls of the vessels were made thin, the surface of the vases was often polished, and the firing was of high quality.
In Athens, by the way, Schliemann built himself a luxurious mansion, the walls of which he decorated with paintings, in accordance with his eccentric taste, placing images of himself and his wife among ancient gods and heroes.
The six tombs contained a variety of metal products of high artistic level - weapons, drinking vessels, jewelry, masks, as well as 16th-century ceramics. BC.
It is an extremely rare case that royal burials from such an ancient era have survived to this day without actually being plundered. Most of these finds are exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and are the most important part of the museum's exhibition.
By the way, it was in Mycenae that the famous steles with images of chariots were discovered - one of the oldest in Europe. Subsequently, with varying degrees of intensity, excavations were carried out throughout the 20th century (by the British school of archaeology and Athenian archaeologists), as a result of which a complex of buildings inside the fortification, the palace itself, many buildings outside the walls, tholos tombs and many other monuments were uncovered.
But let's return to the acropolis. Moving up the preserved ancient staircase, which turns into a ramp paved with stones, you can climb to the very top of the hill, where the palace of the ruler of Mycenae was located.
Nowadays it is poorly preserved, but once it was entered via a two-flight staircase in the Minoan style with ceremonial reception chambers.
The monumental palace consisted of many ceremonial, residential and utility rooms; in a separate sanctuary there were statues of gods made of marble and terracotta.
At the top of the stairs there was a rectangular courtyard, into which opened a large hall, or megaron, consisting of a portico with two columns, a reception room and a rectangular main hall.
The structure of this official palace premises is described by Homer and it is similar to other Mycenaean palaces - in Megara, Pylos, Tiryns. The central hall of the megaron had dimensions of 12.95 x 11.50 m. In the center of this room there was a round-shaped sacred hearth, around which there were 4 wooden columns that supported the roof and were decorated with bronze plates and the throne of the ruler.
The hearth was repeatedly painted with colored patterns on thin layers of plaster. The floor of the hall is paved with flat slabs. Remains of fresco paintings were discovered here and are now in the museum.
The Achaeans borrowed many important elements of their culture from Crete. Among them are some cults and religious rituals, fresco painting in palaces, water supply and sewerage, styles of men's and women's clothing, some types of weapons, and finally, linear syllabary. All this, however, does not mean that the Mycenaean culture was just a minor peripheral variant of the culture of Minoan Crete, and the Mycenaean settlements in the Peloponnese and elsewhere were simply Minoan colonies in a foreign “barbarian” country (this opinion was stubbornly held by A. Evans). Many characteristic features of the Mycenaean culture suggest that it arose on Greek soil and was successively associated with the most ancient cultures of the area, dating back to the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.
Great changes have taken place in the craft. The construction of palaces, defensive walls, tombs, roads, etc. urgently required new tools of production. Mycenaean builders used several types of chisels, drills, various hammers and saws; Axes and knives were used to process wood. Whorls and loom weights were discovered in Mycenae.
Megaron, which gave the textbook plan of a Greek dwelling of the 2nd-1st millennia BC, still allows you to imagine the view from the window of the palace of the proud Achaean leader - a cliff, a mountain, hills and a plain right up to the foggy sea in the distance.
Wrote very well about Megaron carmelist , although he wrote about Tiryns, this quote can also be applied to Mycenae: Construction technology is determined by the measure of human strength alone, someone's brilliant architectural thought has just made it possible to invent a method for laying right angles of stone. Another engineering genius thought of placing an ordinary tree trunk under the ceiling and created the most iconic element of architecture - a column. The symbiosis of these two creations gave birth to the megaron - the prototype of the future ancient classics. I think that the joy of the builders knew no bounds; they sculpted one megaron to another until they had sculpted the entire palace complex of Tiryns.
Let's summarize the above - the characteristic elements of the megaron:
- three-way division: balcony, vestibule and throne room;
- a large round hearth in the center of the throne room;
- four columns arranged in a square around the fireplace in the throne room;
- the throne is located against the middle of the right wall in the throne room;
- the floors and walls of the megaron are richly decorated with frescoes and geometric patterns;
- stone benches were located near the right and left walls of the throne room
The king's megaron had a sacred character: the king, who was also the high priest, sat on a throne, and the priests around him were on benches.
Megaron section:
There were many other rooms here and higher on the mountain, but for the most part no trace remains of them. Let us mention some of them: the courthouse was located directly in front of the megaron. Usually the court was surrounded on three sides by a colonnade. In Mycenae, near the court, the “Great Staircase” (a stone staircase originating from the “Lion Gate”) ends.
Megaron of the queen - in Mycenae this room is inferior in size to the megaron of the king, but was just as luxurious and with two light wells. The queen's megaron is located next to the north side of the king's megaron.
Bathroom - discovered near the royal rooms. The bathtub itself is assembled from fragments, and like all other small bathtubs, it is a sit-down bathtub. Even the Mycenaean kings did not have large baths!
At the top of the mountain there are traces of an archaic Doric temple, an archaic relief was discovered here, and objects dating back to the Hellenistic period were also found. In the southwestern part of the Palace, a vast area was occupied by a sanctuary. Dedicatory gifts to the deity, dues, gifts and income of the king were kept here. The pithoi currently visible were used to store oil and wine, and possibly grain, although little of the latter has been discovered. In the masonry tanks located in front of the pithos, precious utensils were probably stored. The storerooms had neither windows nor light wells and were illuminated by oil lamps.
In the northwestern corner of the fortified territory there was an underground spring with a reservoir, to which a staircase of 83 steps led. The ancient name of the source is Perseus. An underground stepped gallery was cut from the fortress to a source located far below.
Descending from the top of the hill, you must definitely look into the citadel, which goes deep into the walls, and then into the ground, a man-made gallery leading to an underground spring and a cistern with drinking water supplies. This typically Mycenaean vaulted room, built from huge, poorly processed limestone blocks, ending with a passage carved into the rock to the cistern, makes a huge impression with its power and size. Here in the wall you can see two narrow loopholes, which could serve as a secret passage for sudden attacks during a siege.
In the middle of the Late Helladic period, Mycenae began to weaken. Residents apparently expected attacks. Excavations show that all water sources were brought to the northern gate of the acropolis, and in its northeastern corner a deep underground cistern was built into which the waters of the Perseus spring flowed.
In conclusion, I would like to cite the arguments of American scientists about the connection between the Minoan and Mycenaean palaces.
The location of the Central Megaron at Mycenae clearly indicates that it was the architectural center of the palace structure. The location of all other buildings depends on the location of the megaron. In Mycenae, the megaron is the heart of the palace, the immediate administrative center. In Mycenae, courts and administration were carried out in the royal megaron.
In contrast, in Crete, at the Palace of Knossos, the royal megaron is not a central structure, it is simply a monumental version of a normal private house. There are other throne rooms at Knossos that were used by kings for specific religious or state purposes. In this sense, the architecture of the Mycenaean Palace can be characterized as centripetal, in contrast to the centric nature of the Palace of Knossos.
Mycenaean palaces reflect much greater individuality than Cretan palaces in the sense that in Mycenae every building is unique, and in the Knossos palace there are about 30 storerooms alone. In Mycenae, palace architecture and the dwellings of ordinary people are sharply contrasted. If in Crete the buildings of the “lower cities” corresponded in style to palaces, then in Mycenae no similarity between the palace and the dwellings of the common people was found, despite an attempt by an expedition from the University of Minnesota in the 1960-1970s to draw up a complete plan of Mycenae. The palace at Mycenae is always associated only with the residence of the monarch and associated annexes, and this distinction between the royal domain and the residence of the common people was emphasized by the design of the massive walls around the citadel.
Sources cited in posts about Mycenae.
