The Mycenaean Civilisation: The First Blossoming of the Greeks 1600-1200 B.C.

Slideshow and Chapter 1 of Pomeroy

Were the Mycenaean people Greek?

Yes

What was the first indication of advanced civilisation in Greece during the Bronze Age?

The discovery of a walled citadel at Mycenae in 1876

Who was the first archaeologist to discover ruins of Mycenae?

Heinrich Schliemann

Why was the civilisation named Mycenaean?

Mycenae is famous in Greek myth and the discovery of treasure-filled tombs and building-remnants at Mycenae led to the civilisation being named as such

How do we know the Mycenaeans were Greek?

Their writings that survive on clay tablets, when sounded-out, produce sounds of ancient Greek

How did the Mycenaeans write?

They wrote with stylus-on-clay, mimicking the Minoans (who likely mimicked the Egyptians), and the writings were preserved when palaces were burned, causing the clay tablets to turn to ceramic

What was the influence of the Cretans on the Mycenaean civilisation?

The Mycenaeans adopted the model of Cretan state down to the writing system

In what ways was Greece transformed throughout the Middle Bronze Age?

Population rose, productivity increased, and trade with the outside world expanded, all of which led to strengthening of the leaders’ economic and political power

What mythical cities of great power were found to be Bronze Age centres?

Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, and Thebes

What were shaft graves?

Deep rectangular pits into which bodies ere lowered and are used through more than a century of burials from 1600 to 1500 B.C.

What changes between earlier and later shaft graves?

Earlier graves contain little gold or jewellery while later ones have many weapons and expensive objects

What does the change in shaft graves indicate about the Mycenaeans?

Growth of Mycenaean trade and greater control by the ruling class over the economy and the society

What other type of tomb was used by the Mycenaeans?

The tholos tomb, starting in about 1500

What was the tholos tomb?

A very large stone chamber shaped like a beehive with vaulted interiors and long stone entrances

What was indicated by the presence of tholos tombs?

The increasing power and resources of the leading families at Mycenae

What was Linear A?

A writing system devised by the Minoans made up of linear signs incised on clay tablets used to keep palace records

What was Linear B?

An elaborate version of Linear A that was not, however, Cretan, but an early version of Greek

What were some notable differences between Minoan and Mycenaean palace architecture?

Mycenaean structures were much smaller and were located on a commanding hill with thick walls, unlike unfortified Minoan palaces

What do the differences in palace architecture between the Minoans and Mycenaeans indicate about their worries?

The Mycenaeans worried about invasion by rival kingdoms whereas the Minoans did not

How was palace space used differently between the Minoans and Mycenaeans?

Rather than central open courtyards, Mycenaean palaces centre upon the megaron, a large rectangular hall used for feasts, councils, and receptions of visitors

How did the Mycenaeans function as a society?

Despite cultural homogeneity, they were not unified politically and were divided into separate small kingdoms and were few in number compared to other societies of the time

What were contacts and relations like for the Mycenaeans?

They had a significant presence in the Mediterranean and had diplomatic relations with most powers of the region, most closely with the Hittite Empire in Asia Minor

What is a potential connection between the Hittites and Mycenaeans?

Hittite records possibly describe conflict in Troy between Hittite kings and kings of those they called Ahhiyawa, which phonetically resembles Achaeans, the most frequent name in the Homeric epics or the Greeks who conquered Troy

What is another possible contributing factor to the Mycenaean’s wealth?

Their prowess as seafaring raiders

What is a major city centre of the Bronze Age described in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey?

Pylos, where Nestor lives in a large house and rules over a large area of Messenia and was discovered by Carl Blegen in 1939 to be real

When did Pylos reach its zenith?

Between 1400 and 1200

How did Pylos function as a society?

It was large and highly organised into provinces, which were then subdivided into districts

What was the hierarchy of Pylos?

At the top was the king/wanax, then the leader of the army/lawagetas, then the military and administrative officers and officials who oversaw the functioning of the palace and outlying areas

What was the standard of living for the higher officials?

Luxurious, with a more nutritious diet

How did the majority live?

They were often farmers, herders, artisans, and labourers, produced the wealth, and lived modestly with few luxuries

What was the relationship between production and the palace?

The palace strictly supervised production with officials assessing properties and recording taxes on individuals and villages

What was life like for the men of villages?

They farmed their plots, tended to their trees, vines, and livestock, paid their taxes, contributed some labour to the palace, and served in the army

What was life like for the women of villages?

They spun, wove, prepared food, watched children, and were sometimes engaged by the palace as textile workers and were paid in wool and flax

Who were among the lowest class in Mycenaean civilisation?

The enslaved, who numbered in Pylos more than 600

What were the jobs of the enslaved?

Labouring as grinders of grain, bath attendants, flax workers, weavers, and similar jobs

How did the palace and economy go hand-in-hand?

The palace complex was the hub of the kingdom’s economy, employing large numbers of workers who turned raw materials into finished products for both domestic consumption and export

What were the leading exports of the Mycenaeans?

Textiles, metalwork, olive oil, wine, hides, leather, fine pottery, and jewellery

What were the leading imports of the Mycenaeans?

Copper, tin, gold, ivory, amber, dyes, spices, and foreign varieties of wine and jewellery

How did both the Minoans and Mycenaeans honour their gods?

Processions, music, dance, gifts, and sacrifices

What were the main differences between Minoan and Mycenaean religious practices?

Minoans performed rituals in caves and sanctuaries built on mountain peaks, whereas the Mycenaean shrines were confined to palace centres

What gods of later Greek religion were worshipped by the Mycenaeans?

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Artemis, Dionysus, and maybe Apollo and Ares

Where did Zeus originate?

He is the ancient Indo-European sky-father and was brought in by the earliest Greek speakers

What Greek gods take their name from Indo-European roots?

Hera, Poseidon, and Ares

Were the Mycenaeans theocratic?

No, there is no evidence to suggest that a wanax was considered divine in lifetime or death

How were leaders involved in warfare?

The wanax was a warrior king who took part in fighting along with his lawagetas and subordinate commanders, with most political leaders meeting death on the battlefield or at sea

What was the armour of Mycenaean warriors?

They were heavily armoured, with officers wearing helmets of bronze or boars’ tusks, corselets of bronze plates, and bronze greaves while soldiers were equipped with similar leather and padded linen versions

What did Mycenaean soldiers carry into war?

Weapons as well as large shields made of ox hide stretched over a wooden frame

What weapons did Mycenaean soldiers carry?

Bronze swords and daggers, heavy thrusting spears and light throwing spears, bows and arrows, and slings

What was the most impressive weapon of the Mycenaeans?

The chariot, which they may have adopted from the Near East in about 1600 B.C. or more likely already had when they first settled in Greece

How was the chariot used in the Near East?

The chariot corps was the primary military arm and was used for massed chariot charges against an enemy’s chariots and infantry, with one man driving and the other shooting arrows

How did the chariot tactics differ from Greece and the Near East?

Because of Greece’s rough terrain, the chariot was only used to convey heavily armoured elite warriors to and from the fighting, or, in fighting below Mycenaean fortresses, smaller-scale version of Eastern chariot warfare may have existed

What was the major significance of the chariot for the Mycenaeans?

Its prestige value

Other than warfare, how were chariots used by the elites of Mycenaean civilisation?

They were used for hunting, racing, and ceremonial processions

What is the major Mycenaean civilisation timeline?

1600-1400 B.C.:

• 1600 B.C. - shaft graves at Mycenae

• 1500 B.C. - tholos tombs at Mycenae

• 1490 B.C. - the Greeks invade and conquer Minoan Crete marking the end of the Minoan civilisation but not the complete extermination of the Minoans

• 1490-1400 B.C. - the Mycenaeans copy Minoan technologies

• 1400-1250 B.C. - zenith of Mycenaean civilisation

• 1250 B.C. - archaeological signs of decline at Mycenae

• 1200 B.C. - destruction in the kingdoms and violent end of Mycenaean civilisation by 1100 B.C.

What aspects of Minoan civilisation were copied by the Mycenaeans?

Palace architecture, palace economy, writing, bronze-making, long-range seafaring, visual arts, and aspects of religion

What were aspects of the zenith of Mycenaean civilisation?

• Palace building at Mycenae, Pylos, Thebes, Iolcus, Athens, and others

• ~15 Mycenaean kingdoms operating, including Mycenae, Pylos, Thebes, and Athens

• Mycenaean overseas expeditions to Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Sicily for trade, piracy, organised warfare, and colonising

Are poleis used by the Mycenaeans?

No, poleis won’t emerge until the 700s B.C., Mycenaean organisation is by kingdoms

Why was Cyprus an important destination for Mycenaean overseas adventuring?

It was rich in copper ore and strategically located

What were the first indications of stress for the Mycenaeans?

Diminishing amounts of treasure can be found in royal tombs at Mycenae that were built after about 1250 B.C. showing that they were running out of money and supplies

What fatal blow did the Mycenaeans suffer?

Slightly before 1200 B.C., all the palace centres and many outlying towns and villages were attacked and destroyed or abandoned, with some never being re-occupied

At what point were the Mycenaeans no longer a civilisation?

By shortly after 1100, the Mycenaean kingdoms and the complex systems that had supported them no longer existed

What factors contributed to the collapse of Bronze Age trade systems around 1200 B.C.?

Climate change caused droughts, migration, and famine while disease, earthquakes, invasions, internal rebellions, and systems breakdown aided the collapse

When did the Hittite Empire collapse?

1200 B.C.

What other civilisation was bombarded by attacks at the same time as the Mycenaeans but survived?

The Egyptians

What is the leading explanation for the breakdown of the Mycenaeans?

A web of negative climactic and socioeconomic agents, which together brought about an imbalance that disabled the palace system and its spheres of activity

What was the spheres of activity of the palace?

Trade, agricultural production, metallurgy, and the crafting of artifacts

What is one possible catalyst for the widespread collapse?

Marauding bands that could have obstructed sea trade in the Aegean and cut off the tin and copper supply, impacting bronze production

Alongside trade issues, what could have increased tensions during the downfall of the Mycenaeans?

Natural disasters such as prolonged drought, soil exhaustion, and earthquakes could have put pressure on the food system already undermined by palace bureaucracies

What social factors could have led to the Mycenaeans final collapse?

Internecine warfare, popular uprisings, and revolts of enslaved may have targeted an already weak and vulnerable system

Why was a lack of bronze so problematic for the Mycenaeans?

Kings relied on a production of bronze to keep their armies strong and without it would lose secure rule

What ore was a “weak-link” in the trading system?

Tin

Why was tin difficult to be brought into the Mediterranean?

Tin needed to be brought from what is now England and Afghanistan through lengthy sea and land routes requiring middlemen, infrastructure, and security forces

How were trade routes compromised?

Tribes, bandits, and pirates on the periphery moved against the far-flung trade routes and disrupted them, such as at the bottleneck of Hellespont