Aegean Prehistory
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
The Evolution of Power and Politics in the Mycenaean World and Its Reflection in the Homeric Epic: the Iliad
Near East University (NEU) Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Department of International Relations The Evolution of Power and Politics in the Mycenaean World and its Reflection in the Homeric Epic: the Iliad By: Nicolaie A. Şorodoc We certify that the thesis is satisfactory for the award of the Degree of Master of International Relations Examining committee: Prof. Dr. Levent Köker Faculty of Law, Department of Law, NEU Prof. Dr. Jouni Suistola Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations, NEU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Efdal Özkul Faculty of Education, Department of History Teaching, NEU Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Aykut Polatoğlu 1 Jury Report June, 2010 Student Info: Full Name Nicolaie Alin Şorodoc Faculty Economics and Administrative Sciences Institution Near East University Department International Relations Thesis Info: Title: The Evolution of Power and Politics in the Mycenaean World and its Reflection in the Homeric Epic the Iliad Abstract: This study tries to go beyond the boundaries of present day issues and examine the evolution of power and politics of the Mycenaean people during the Bronze Age. At each stage, be it big-man leadership, chiefdom or state based society I examine how power and social complexity increases and what were the reasons behind such a phenomenon. I start with some few considerations regarding developments during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age and then I jump to the question of the “coming of the Greeks.” I argue that any explanation of the political life shall start from early stages; it is only then that we might get a measured insight in respect to the workings of political and social institutions. -
Early Mycenaean Arkadia: Space and Place(S) of an Inland and Mountainous Region
Early Mycenaean Arkadia: Space and Place(s) of an Inland and Mountainous Region Eleni Salavoura1 Abstract: The concept of space is an abstract and sometimes a conventional term, but places – where people dwell, (inter)act and gain experiences – contribute decisively to the formation of the main characteristics and the identity of its residents. Arkadia, in the heart of the Peloponnese, is a landlocked country with small valleys and basins surrounded by high mountains, which, according to the ancient literature, offered to its inhabitants a hard and laborious life. Its rough terrain made Arkadia always a less attractive area for archaeological investigation. However, due to its position in the centre of the Peloponnese, Arkadia is an inevitable passage for anyone moving along or across the peninsula. The long life of small and medium-sized agrarian communities undoubtedly owes more to their foundation at crossroads connecting the inland with the Peloponnesian coast, than to their potential for economic growth based on the resources of the land. However, sites such as Analipsis, on its east-southeastern borders, the cemetery at Palaiokastro and the ash altar on Mount Lykaion, both in the southwest part of Arkadia, indicate that the area had a Bronze Age past, and raise many new questions. In this paper, I discuss the role of Arkadia in early Mycenaean times based on settlement patterns and excavation data, and I investigate the relation of these inland communities with high-ranking central places. In other words, this is an attempt to set place(s) into space, supporting the idea that the central region of the Peloponnese was a separated, but not isolated part of it, comprising regions that are also diversified among themselves. -
Ancient History Sourcebook: 11Th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA an Ancient City in Greece, the Capital of Laconia and the Most Powerful State of the Peloponnese
Ancient History Sourcebook: 11th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA AN ancient city in Greece, the capital of Laconia and the most powerful state of the Peloponnese. The city lay at the northern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the river Eurotas, a little south of the point where it is joined by its largest tributary, the Oenus (mount Kelefina). The site is admirably fitted by nature to guard the only routes by which an army can penetrate Laconia from the land side, the Oenus and Eurotas valleys leading from Arcadia, its northern neighbour, and the Langada Pass over Mt Taygetus connecting Laconia and Messenia. At the same time its distance from the sea-Sparta is 27 m. from its seaport, Gythium, made it invulnerable to a maritime attack. I.-HISTORY Prehistoric Period.-Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who called the city after the name of his wife, the daughter of Eurotas. But Amyclae and Therapne (Therapnae) seem to have been in early times of greater importance than Sparta, the former a Minyan foundation a few miles to the south of Sparta, the latter probably the Achaean capital of Laconia and the seat of Menelaus, Agamemnon's younger brother. Eighty years after the Trojan War, according to the traditional chronology, the Dorian migration took place. A band of Dorians united with a body of Aetolians to cross the Corinthian Gulf and invade the Peloponnese from the northwest. The Aetolians settled in Elis, the Dorians pushed up to the headwaters of the Alpheus, where they divided into two forces, one of which under Cresphontes invaded and later subdued Messenia, while the other, led by Aristodemus or, according to another version, by his twin sons Eurysthenes and Procles, made its way down the Eurotas were new settlements were formed and gained Sparta, which became the Dorian capital of Laconia. -
The Fall of Minoan Civilization Just As an Unknown Cataclysm Struck Crete
The Fall of Minoan Civilization Just as an unknown cataclysm struck Crete at the end of the Protopalatial period (1700 BC), destroying the palaces and prompting the Minoans to rebuild, another catastrophe occurred at the end of the Neopalatial period (1425 BC). Once again, we do not know what caused the destruction, but unlike the previous catastrophe, the Minoans did not rebuild or recover. Instead, their civilization slowly petered out. The End of the Palace Period on Crete The event traditionally associated with the fall of the Minoans was the eruption of a nearby volcanic island, Mount Thera (modern-day Santorini). This was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in earth’s history, and in 2006, scientists discovered that the eruption was much larger than previously estimated. The eruption certainly destroyed the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri on Mount Thera (Santorini). No human remains have been found at Akrotiri, indicating that the settlement was either evacuated when the volcano showed its first signs of eruption, or the bodies simply have not been found yet. It was previously believed that the Minoan civilization on Crete was wiped out due to massive earthquakes and large amounts of ash that fell on the island from the volcano. It was believed that the earthquakes caused the palaces to crumble, and the ash choked off light and killed plants, leaving the survivors to starve. However, recent research suggests otherwise. Most of the ash from the volcano fell in the opposite direction from Crete, and Crete seems to have suffered only a slight dusting of ash. More destructive was a massive tsunami that resulted from the eruption and devastated the Minoan settlements on the northern coast of Crete. -
The Riddle of Ancient Sparta: Unwrapping the Enigma
29 May 2018 The Riddle of Ancient Sparta: Unwrapping the Enigma PROFESSOR PAUL CARTLEDGE (Sir Winston) Churchill once famously referred to Soviet Russia as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’. My title is a simplified version of that seemingly obscure remark. The point of contact and comparison between ancient Sparta and modern Soviet Russia is the nature of the evidence for them, and the way in which they have been imagined and represented, by outsiders. There was a myth - or mirage – of ancient Sparta, as there was of Soviet Russia: typically, the outsider who commented was both very ignorant and either wildly PRO or – as in Churchill’s case – wildly ANTI. There was no moderate, middle way. The ‘Spartan Tradition’ (Elizabeth Rawson) is alive and – well, ‘well’ to this day. To start us off, I give you a relatively gentle, deliberately inoffensive and very British example of the PRO myth, mirage, legend or tradition of ancient Sparta. In 2017 Terry’s of York confectioners would have been celebrating its 150th anniversary, had it not been taken over by Kraft in 1993. A long discontinued but still long cherished Terry’s line was their ‘Spartan’ assortment: hard-centre chocolates, naturally. Because the Spartans were the ultimate ancient warriors, uber-warriors, if you like. And their fearsome reputation on the battlefield had won them not just respect but fame – and not just in antiquity: think only of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE – and of the movie 300. But of course the Spartans were no mere chocolate box soldiers - they were the real thing, the hard men of ancient Greece. -
Diachronic Homer and a Cretan Odyssey
Oral Tradition, 31/1 (2017):3-50 Diachronic Homer and a Cretan Odyssey Gregory Nagy Introduction I explore here the kaleidoscopic world of Homer and Homeric poetry from a diachronic perspective, combining it with a synchronic perspective. The terms synchronic and diachronic, as I use them here, come from linguistics.1 When linguists use the word synchronic, they are thinking of a given structure as it exists in a given time and space; when they use diachronic, they are thinking of that structure as it evolves through time.2 From a diachronic perspective, the structure that we know as Homeric poetry can be viewed, I argue, as an evolving medium. But there is more to it. When you look at Homeric poetry from a diachronic perspective, you will see not only an evolving medium of oral poetry. You will see also a medium that actually views itself diachronically. In other words, Homeric poetry demonstrates aspects of its own evolution. A case in point is “the Cretan Odyssey”—or, better, “a Cretan Odyssey”—as reflected in the “lying tales” of Odysseus in the Odyssey. These tales, as we will see, give the medium an opportunity to open windows into an Odyssey that is otherwise unknown. In the alternative universe of this “Cretan Odyssey,” the adventures of Odysseus take place in the exotic context of Minoan-Mycenaean civilization. Part 1: Minoan-Mycenaean Civilization and Memories of a Sea-Empire3 Introduction From the start, I say “Minoan-Mycenaean civilization,” not “Minoan” and “Mycenaean” separately. This is because elements of Minoan civilization become eventually infused with elements we find in Mycenaean civilization. -
People on Both Sides of the Aegean Sea. Did the Achaeans And
BULLETIN OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURE CENTER IN JAPAN General Editor: H. I. H. Prince Takahito Mikasa Vol. IV 1991 OTTO HARRASSOWITZ • WIESBADEN ESSAYS ON ANCIENT ANATOLIAN AND SYRIAN STUDIES IN THE 2ND AND IST MILLENNIUM B.C. Edited by H. I. H. Prince Takahito Mikasa 1991 OTTO HARRASSOWITZ • WIESBADEN The Bulletin of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan is published by Otto Harrassowitz on behalf of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan. Editorial Board General Editor: H.I.H. Prince Takahito Mikasa Associate Editors: Prof. Tsugio Mikami Prof. Masao Mori Prof. Morio Ohno Assistant Editors: Yukiya Onodera (Northwest Semitic Studies) Mutsuo Kawatoko (Islamic Studies) Sachihiro Omura (Anatolian Studies) Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Essays on Ancient Anatolian and Syrian studies in the 2nd and Ist millennium B.C. / ed. by Prince Takahito Mikasa. - Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1991 (Bulletin of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan ; Vol. 4) ISBN 3-447-03138-7 NE: Mikasa, Takahito <Prinz> [Hrsg.]; Chükintö-bunka-sentä <Tökyö>: Bulletin of the . © 1991 Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden This work, including all of its parts, is protected by Copyright. Any use beyond the limits of Copyright law without the permission of the publisher is forbidden and subject to penalty. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic Systems. Printed on acidfree paper. Manufactured by MZ-Verlagsdruckerei GmbH, 8940 Memmingen Printed in Germany ISSN 0177-1647 CONTENTS PREFACE -
Climate Change and the Demise of Minoan Civilization
Clim. Past, 6, 525–530, 2010 www.clim-past.net/6/525/2010/ Climate doi:10.5194/cp-6-525-2010 of the Past © Author(s) 2010. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Climate change and the demise of Minoan civilization A. A. Tsonis1, K. L. Swanson1, G. Sugihara2, and P. A. Tsonis3 1Department of Mathematical Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences Group, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA 2Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA 3Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469, USA Received: 7 April 2010 – Published in Clim. Past Discuss.: 12 May 2010 Revised: 12 July 2010 – Accepted: 13 August 2010 – Published: 24 August 2010 Abstract. Climate change has been implicated in the suc- is still not understood. They built a significant naval power cess and downfall of several ancient civilizations. Here we and coexisted with neighboring civilizations as the domi- present a synthesis of historical, climatic, and geological ev- nant influence in the region (apparently without being sig- idence that supports the hypothesis that climate change may nificantly threatened). Contact with Egypt and Mesopotamia have been responsible for the slow demise of Minoan civi- influenced their culture, as the Minoan civilization evolved lization. Using proxy ENSO and precipitation reconstruction to become the forerunner of Greek civilization; thus Minoan data in the period 1650–1980 we present empirical and quan- society is generally regarded as the first European civiliza- titative evidence that El Nino causes drier conditions in the tion. Following its regional predominance for more than a area of Crete. -
Critical-Thinking Question
ZP243Posters.qxd 10/11/2005 11:01 AM Page 3 ZP243Posters.qxd 10/11/2005 11:01 AM Page 1 During the first millennium BCE, the Phoenician culture, centered on the eastern Bronze Age civilizations flourished in the coast of the Mediterranean in what today is Aegean region from about 3000 BCE until mostly Syria, sailed west and established about 1100 BCE, most notably the Minoan outposts on the North African coast, the and the Mycenaean cultures. Iberian Peninsula, and such islands as Sardinia, Sicily, and the Balearics. The pur- The center of the Minoan culture was the pose of these outposts was not settlement island of Crete. The early Minoan period last- or conquest, but trade: they were designed ed from 3000 to 2100; the Middle period to provide security and staging points for from 2100 to 1550; and the Late period from trade routes to Spain. One of these routes 1550 to 1100 BCE. The Minoan culture was at followed the African coast; the other was a its height from about 1700 BCE to 1100 BCE. more northerly course through the islands. Its economy was based on trade and mastery Permanent posts were set up at such key of the Aegean Sea, and its riches are reflect- points as Carthage and Utica (in North ed in its art and architecture, including Africa), Gades (in Spain), Genoa (in Italy), palaces that archaeologists have unearthed and Cyprus, by 750 BCE. at several sites. The Minoans left behind the earliest writing in the Greek language. Phoenician traders were based in Tyre or Byblos, but had influence throughout the Mycenaea, on the Greek mainland, gave its Mediterranean region. -
The Minoan Civilization: an Empire of Unknowns What Language Did The
The Minoan Civilization: An Empire of Unknowns What language did the Minoans speak? Unknown. How did Minoans worship? Unknown. Were the Minoans even a unified empire? Unknown. How did the Minoan civilization come to an end? Unknown. The Minoan civilization of the Bronze Age Aegean is dominated by unknowns. People were completely oblivious to their existence outside of Greek myths until Sir Arthur Evans began excavating the palace of Knossos in Crete in 1900. There have been many breakthroughs during the past century in our understanding of these people, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. The Minoans were one of the most impressive empires of their time, but because of the sheer lack of written and physical evidence, much of this empire remains a mystery. The Minoans were undoubtedly one of the most impressive Bronze Age civilizations due to their dominance in the eastern Mediterranean, great technological advances, and progressive society. The Minoans’ ancestors were likely neolithic farmers who arrived from Europe or Anatolia during the fourth millennium BCE. 1 These first Cretan settlers created coastal towns between 3000 and 1800 BCE; a class of professional craftsmen grew, making goods such as pottery. 2 They also became extremely skilled sailors known for their control of the sea and traded as far as Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Levant. They exported goods such as olive oil, pottery, and timber, and in return received materials such as gold and ivory. Around 1800 BCE, they began forging bronze, and in turn became experts at metalwork and stone masonry. They began constructing large palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, and Malia, among others; these appear to have been administrative and religious centers and were somewhat unified, though different 1 Jarrett A. -
Early Greek Civilizations
New Dorp High School Social Studies Department AP Global Mr. Hubbs Early Greek Civilizations The Impact of Geography Compared with Mesopotamia and Egypt, Greece is a small peninsula. It is made up of small plains and river valleys surrounded by high mountains. The mountains influenced Greek history, because they separated Greeks from each other. This caused different Greek communities to develop their own ways of life. The small size of these communities encouraged people to be involved in politics. But the rivalries between the communities led to constant warfare. The seas also influenced Greek history. Greece has a long sea coast with many harbors, so the Greeks became seafarers. Greeks also lived on many islands off the Greek mainland. They sailed into the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. They later established colonies that spread Greek civilization throughout the Mediterranean world. 1. How did geography affect Greece? 2. How and why did rivalries develop between communities? The Minoan Civilization By 2800 BCE, a Bronze Age civilization existed on the large island of Crete, southeast of the Greek mainland. It was called the Minoan civilization and it flourished between 2000 and 1450 BCE. Remains of a huge palace complex revealed the rich culture of the Minoans. The palace contained vases, ivory figurines, and jewelry. The rooms were decorated with paintings that showed sporting events and nature scenes. Storerooms held gigantic jars of oil, wine and grain. The Minoans were traders, and their ships took them to places like Egypt and southern Greece. The Minoan civilization of Crete was destroyed around 1450 BCE. -
Landscapes of the Ancient Peloponnese. a Humangeographical Approach Shipley, Graham
Landscapes of the ancient Peloponnese. A humangeographical approach Shipley, Graham Citation Shipley, G. (2006). Landscapes of the ancient Peloponnese. A humangeographical approach. Leidschrift : Cultuur En Natuur, 21(April), 27-44. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/72722 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) License: Leiden University Non-exclusive license Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/72722 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). Landscapes of the ancient Peloponnese. A human- geographical approach Graham Shipley Landscape and environment are currently of compelling cultural significance, as fields of scholarly research, sites of artistic creativity and arenas of public concern. As both imaginative representations and material realities, landscape and environment matter as a medium for the expression of complex ideas and feelings, about beauty, belonging, access to resources, relations with nature, the past and the future, making sense of the world and people’s place in it.1 This paper suggests new approaches to the ancient history of the Peloponnese, Greece. It is intended as a spur to discussion rather than the consolidated result of complete work. It proposes that ancient historians could now go further than before in adopting ideas from geographical approaches, which may allow us to investigate – in greater depth than before – aspects such as the meanings and emotions attached to landscapes, the nature of regionalism, and the extent and nature of connections and interactions between regions and smaller units. This suggestion arises from the author’s current work on Macedonian power in the Peloponnese. The period this article deals with approximately runs from the defeat of the southern Greeks by Philip II of Macedonia in 338 BC to the Roman intervention in the Peloponnese during the 190s BC.