What is the Mycenaean culture?
Mycenaean, Any member of a group of warlike Indo-European peoples who entered Greece from the north starting c. 1900 bc and established a Bronze Age culture on the mainland and nearby islands. Their culture was dependent on that of the Minoans of Crete, who for a time politically dominated them.
How did the Mycenaeans fight each other?
The Mycenaeans were bellicose by nature, attacking others, especially by sea, and fighting among themselves. Though they all spoke Greek, and worshipped the same gods, the Mycenaeans were separated into independent city-states, each with its own king. The Mycenaeans made weapons and armor from Bronze, giving this age its name: The Bronze Age.
What are the three major achievements of the Mycenaean civilization?
Three achievements of the Mycenaean civilization are Linear B script, Cyclopean walls with interior passageways, and the Megaron part of palace buildings which influenced later Greek temples. What happened to the Mycenaeans? It is not clear why the Mycenaean civilization collapsed.
What was the most important Mycenaean city?
Perhaps the most important Mycenaean city, and the one for which the civilization was named, was Mycenae. Mycenae was located near the city of Corinth and, since it was built on a hilltop, the citadel was built in different levels.
See more
What was the primary focus on the mycenaeans quizlet?
The Mycenaeans were more focused on power and fighting. The minoans were focused on economic power.
What was significant about Mycenae?
Mycenae is perhaps best known in mythology as the city of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus. King Agamemnon led the expedition against Troy during the Trojan War, which Homer accounted in his epic poem the Iliad.
What were the main features of the Mycenaean culture?
Such shared features include architecture, frescoes, pottery, jewellery, weaponry, and of course, the Greek language and writing in the form of Linear B (an adaptation of the Minoan Linear A).
Who were the Mycenaeans and what were they known for?
The Mycenaeans are the first Greeks, in other words, they were the first people to speak the Greek language. The Mycenaean civilization thrived between 1650 and 1200 BC. The Mycenaeans were influenced by the earlier Minoan civilization, located on the island of Crete.
What was a notable feature of the Mycenaean Greeks?
What was a notable feature of the Mycenaean Greeks? They built palaces that served as economic centers in which artisans crafted fine objects and ornaments.
How did the mycenaeans become so powerful?
The many established trade routes throughout the Mediterranean also helped the Mycenaeans gain wealth and power. They gained power from trade, waging war, and conquering land.
What did Mycenaeans value?
These militaristic tendencies led to the elevation of warriors to an elite class of Mycenaeans and established a dominant culture that valued masculinity and virility, evidenced by abundant depictions of combat, weapons, and hunters in Mycenaean art.
What is Mycenaean art best known for?
The Mycenaeans excelled at many art forms. They painted frescoes and developed several pottery types, such as stirrup jars, alabastron jars, and rhyton vessels. The Mycenaeans were sophisticated metalworkers, making gilded weapons and death masks for the elite.
What culture most strongly influenced the Mycenaeans?
The Mycenaeans were influenced by the Minoan civilization from the island of Crete who were, in turn, influenced by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. The Mycenaeans lived on the island of Crete after they took it over from the Minoans, as well as on the southern part of the mainland of Greece.
What kind of culture did the Mycenaeans had?
Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace-centered states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of this society was the king, known as a wanax.
What achievements did the mycenaeans make?
The most significant Mycenaean achievement was the invention of a new writing system, the syllabary named Linear B. The decipherment of this writing verified that the official language of the Mycenaean palaces was the Greek language. This ascertainment shifted the Mycenaean period from Prehistory to Protohistory.
How did the mycenaeans influence Greek culture?
The Mycenaeans first built their trade networks within Greece by constructing the first roads in Europe to bring wheat from Thessaly and oil from Attica to the primary Mycenaean cities of Mycenae, Pylos, and Tiryns on the Peloponnese peninsula.
What is significant about the Lion Gate at Mycenae?
The gate is the sole surviving monumental piece of Mycenaean sculpture, as well as the largest surviving sculpture in the prehistoric Aegean. It is the only monument of Bronze Age Greece to bear an iconographic motif that survived without being buried underground.
Why was the beginning of Mycenaean period important?
The Mycenaean period became the historical setting of much ancient Greek literature and mythology, including the Trojan Epic Cycle.
What happened to the city of Mycenae?
Mycenae was among the numerous Aegean sites destroyed as part of the Bronze Age Collapse around 1200 BC. The causes of these destructions are unknown, but proposed explanations include enemy attack, internal strife, and natural disasters such as earthquakes.
How was the Mycenaean civilization organized?
The Mycenaeans had a strict hierarchy of social classes. The ruler of the Mycenaeans was called the wanax, literally the ''king'' or ''ruler,'' who was in charge of typical king-like roles such as making laws and determining tax amounts.
What is the Mycenaean culture?
Mycenaean, Any member of a group of warlike Indo-European peoples who entered Greece from the north starting c. 1900 bc and established a Bronze Age culture on the mainland and nearby islands. Their culture was dependent on that of the Minoan s of Crete, who for a time politically dominated them. They threw off Minoan control c. 1400 and were dominant in the Aegean until they themselves were overwhelmed by the next wave of invaders c. 1150. Mycenae continued to exist as a city-state into the period of Greek dominance, but by the 2nd century ad it was in ruins. Mycenaean myths and legends lived on through oral transmission into later stages of Greek civilization and form the basis of Homeric epic and Greek tragedy. Their language is believed to be the most ancient form of Greek.
What is the Minoan period?
The date at…. Minoan. Minoan, Any member of a non-Indo-European people who flourished ( c. 3000– c. 1100 bc) on the island of Crete during the Bronze Age. The sea was the basis of their economy and power.
Where is Mycenae located?
Mycenae. Mycenae, prehistoric Greek city in the Peloponnese, celebrated by Homer as “broad-streeted” and “golden.”. According to legend, Mycenae was the capital of Agamemnon, the Achaean king who sacked the city of Troy. It was set, as Homer says, “in a nook of Árgos,” with a natural citadel….
What is the Bronze Age?
Bronze Age, third phase in the development of material culture among the ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, following the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods (Old Stone Age and New Stone Age, respectively). The term also denotes the first period in which metal was used. The date at….
Was Mycenae a city state?
Mycenae continued to exist as a city-state into the period of Greek dominance, but by the 2nd century ad it was in ruins. Mycenaean myths and legends lived on through oral transmission into later stages of Greek civilization and form the basis of Homeric epic and Greek tragedy.
What was the Mycenaean civilization?
The Mycenaean civilization thrived between 1650 and 1200 BC. The Mycenaeans were influenced by the earlier Minoan civilization, located on the island of Crete. This influence is seen in Mycenaean palaces, clothing, frescoes, and their writing system, called Linear B.
Why were the Mycenaeans larger than life?
In the eyes of the later Greeks, the Mycenaeans were larger than life. One reason for this belief comes from the ruins of the Mycenaean city-states.
What civilizations were located in the Bronze Age?
Bronze Age Civilizations- The Mycenaeans . The Mycenaeans are named after the city-state of Mycenae, a palace city and one of the most powerful of the Mycenaean city-states. The Mycenaean civilization was located on the Greek mainland, mostly on the Peloponnese, the southern peninsula of Greece. The Mycenaeans are the first Greeks, in other words, ...
What city was home to Hercules?
The major Mycenaean city-states included Mycenae, home of the legendary King Agamemnon from the Iliad, Tiryns, the home of Heracles (Hercules) from Greek mythology, and Pylos, the home of old King Nestor from the Iliad. Pylos, located close to the sea, was the only city-state that did not have cyclopean walls, therefore, ...
What were the palaces called in Mycenaean times?
The Mycenaean palaces proved the wealth of the kings who ruled them. The Palaces included a large meeting hall, called a Megaron , and kings were buried in deep shaft graves along with their riches. Later tombs, called tholos, or beehive tombs, were built with massive stones and covered with earth.
How long did it take Odysseus to sail to Ithaca?
Odysseus set sail for Ithaca, but a trip that should have taken a few weeks ended up taking ten years , as the gods created obstacles in his path. All the while, his faithful wife, Penelope, waited patiently for his return. This part of the story is called the Odyssey, an odyssey is a word now used for any long and difficult journey.
Why were the walls of the Greeks called Cyclopean walls?
The later Greeks called these walls cyclopean walls, named after the one-eyed giant race, because the later Greeks felt only giants could move the stones.
What is the name of the tomb in Mycenae?
Outside the walls of Mycenae was the residential area of the city, Grave Circle B (which predates Grave Circle A) and various dome-shaped tholos (or “beehive”) tombs, including the famous Treasury of Atreus (or Tomb of Agamemnon ).
What is the central feature of Mycenae?
The central feature of Mycenae—as with other Mycenaean citadels, including Tiryns and Pylos—is a great central hall called the megaron, which consisted of a columned porch, vestibule, and main chamber.
Why did Perseus name the city Mycenae?
Perseus named the city Mycenae after the cap (myces) fell off his scabbard at the site, which he saw as a sign of good omen, or after finding a water spring to quench his thirst when he picked up a mushroom (myces) from the ground.
What were the goods that workshops produced?
In Mycenae and other Mycenaean strongholds, workshops produced an array of both utilitarian and luxury goods, including weapons and tools, jewelry, carved gems, glass ornaments and vases, which likely transported oil, wine, and other commodities for trade.
What is the city of Mycenae?
Mycenae is perhaps best known in mythology as the city of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus. King Agamemnon led the expedition against Troy during the Trojan War, which Homer accounted in his epic poem the Iliad.
When were the Mycenae monuments built?
The majority of the Mycenae monuments visible today were constructed in the late Bronze Age between 1350 and 1200 B.C. , during the peak of the Mycenaean civilization. The construction of the palace and city walls began around 1350 B.C.
Where is the fall of Mycenae?
Fall of Mycenae. Destruction of Mycenae. Excavation of Mycenae. Sources. Mycenae is an ancient city located on a small hill between two larger hills on the fertile Argolid Plain in Peloponnese, Greece. The Bronze-age acropolis, or citadel built on a hill, is one of the great cities of the Mycenaean civilization that played a vital role in classical ...
What type of structure did the Mycenaeans build?
One of these types of structures was the citadel, a fortified city or part of a city. The Mycenaeans typically built their citadels on hilltops and contained most of the city inside of them, including the palace. The borders of the Mycenaeans' citadels were Cyclopean walls.
What were the two main ways Tiryns and Mycenae connected?
Tiryns also had different levels in their citadel, which were connected by a gate called the Great Propylon. Tiryns and Mycenae both had underground cisterns to provide fresh water to the city. However, Tiryns used tunnels to supply this water while Mycenae used clay pipes.
Why did the Mycenaeans build a water pipe?
The Mycenaeans created a pipe or tunnel system to carry water from natural springs outside of the citadel into the cisterns inside of the citadel to supply fresh water.
How did Tiryns and Mycenae differ?
This was quite different from the palace at Mycenae because the entrance to that palace was through guard rooms in the south of the city. Tiryns also had different levels in their citadel, which were connected by a gate called the Great Propylon. Tiryns and Mycenae both had underground cisterns to provide fresh water to the city. However, Tiryns used tunnels to supply this water while Mycenae used clay pipes.
Why were Mycenaeans important?
Because of their warlike nature, it was important for them to build defensive structures. One of these types of structures was the citadel, a fortified city or part of a city. The Mycenaeans typically built their citadels on hilltops and contained most of the city inside of them, including the palace.
What was the most important city in Mycenae?
Perhaps the most important Mycenaean city - and the one for which the civilization was named - was Mycenae. Mycenae was located near the city of Corinth and, since it was built on a hilltop, the citadel was built in different levels. People would enter the citadel by way of a propylon, which was a large and elaborate gateway. The propylon of Mycenae is one of the most famous of the civilization and is called the Lion Gate because it's decorated with lion sculptures. The propylon was built from ashlar, or cut stone, but had two wooden doors that could close to keep the city guarded.
Why is the Lion Gate called the Lion Gate?
The propylon of Mycenae is one of the most famous of the civilization and is called the Lion Gate because it's decorated with lion sculptures. The propylon was built from ashlar, or cut stone, but had two wooden doors that could close to keep the city guarded.
What is the significance of the Pylos archive?from en.wikipedia.org
Considering this sense of uniformity, the Pylos archive, which is the best preserved one in the Mycenaean world, is generally taken as a representative one.
What were the palatial states in ancient Greece?from en.wikipedia.org
Mycenaean palatial states, or centrally organized palace-operating polities, are recorded in ancient Greek literature and mythology (e.g., Iliad, Catalogue of Ships) and confirmed by discoveries made by modern archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann. Each Mycenaean kingdom was governed from the palace, which exercised control over most, if not all, industries within its realm. The palatial territory was divided into several sub-regions, each headed by its provincial center. Each province was further divided in smaller districts, the da-mo. A number of palaces and fortifications appear to be part of a wider kingdom. For instance, Gla, located in the region of Boeotia, belonged to the state of nearby Orchomenos. Moreover, the palace of Mycenae appeared to have ruled over a territory two to three times the size of the other palatial states in Bronze Age Greece. Its territory would have also included adjacent centers, including Tiryns and Nauplion, which could plausibly be ruled by a member of Mycenae's ruling dynasty.
What was the last phase of the Helladic period?from en.wikipedia.org
The last phase of Middle Helladic, the Middle Helladic III (c. 1750–1675 BC), along with the Late Helladic (LH) period (c. 1700/1675–1050 BC) roughly coincide with Mycenaean Greece.
Why did the Mycenaean civilization end?from en.wikipedia.org
The two most common theories are population movement and internal conflict. The first attributes the destruction of Mycenaean sites to invaders.
What was the military nature of the Mycenaean Greeks?from en.wikipedia.org
The military nature of the Mycenaean Greeks is evident from the numerous weapons unearthed, the use of warrior and combat representations in contemporary art, and the preserved Greek Linear B records. The Mycenaeans invested in the development of military infrastructure, with military production and logistics being supervised directly from the palatial centers. According to the Linear B records in the palace of Pylos, every rural community (the damos) was obliged to supply a certain number of men who had to serve in the army. Similar service was also performed by the aristocracy.
What was the cause of the end of Mycenaean Greece?from en.wikipedia.org
The hypothesis of a Dorian invasion , known as such in Ancient Greek tradition, that led to the end of Mycenaean Greece, is supported by sporadic archaeological evidence such as new types of burials, in particular cist graves, and the use of a new dialect of Greek, the Doric one. It appears that the Dorians moved southward gradually over a number of years and devastated the territory, until they managed to establish themselves in the Mycenaean centers. A new type of ceramic also appeared, called "Barbarian Ware" because it was attributed to invaders from the north. On the other hand, the collapse of Mycenaean Greece coincides with the activity of the Sea Peoples in the Eastern Mediterranean. They caused widespread destruction in Anatolia and the Levant and were finally defeated by Pharaoh Ramesses III in c. 1175 BC. One of the ethnic groups that comprised these people were the Eqwesh, a name that appears to be linked with the Ahhiyawa of the Hittite inscriptions.
How are the Minoans and Mycenaeans similar?from en.wikipedia.org
In their archaeogenetics study, Lazaridis et al. (2017) concluded that the Minoans and the Mycenaean Greeks were genetically highly similar – but not identical – and that modern Greeks descend from these populations, ultimately proving the genetic continuity between these civilizations and modern Greeks. The same study also stated that at least three-quarters of the DNA of both the Mycenaeans and the Minoans came from the first Neolithic-era farmers that lived in Western Anatolia and the Aegean Sea (Mycenaeans ~74–78%, Minoans ~84–85%) while most of the remainder came from ancient populations related to the Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers and Neolithic Iran (Mycenaeans ~8–17%, Minoans ~14–15%). Unlike the Minoans, the Mycenaeans had also inherited "~4-16% ancestry from a 'northern' ultimate source related to the hunter-gatherers of Eastern Europe and Upper Palaeolithic Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to either the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia." Among the Mycenaeans, one male sample was found to belong to Y-DNA J2a1 and mtDNA X2, while three female samples to mtDNA X2, X2d and H respectively.
History Of Mycenaeans
The history of the Mycenaeans can go back to as early as the BC era. Their first trace of existence was found during 1900 BC when they came to Greece. These people have built, made, and left a lot of signatures and important artifacts pertaining to the growth of human civilization down the years.
Society And Culture
As we know, the Mycenaean took over the charge of governing Greece after the Minoan. Along with the change of the powers, a lot of characteristics changed in the social lives of the people. But along with the changes, a few of the social traditions were also seen to have been carried on.
Mythology
Apart from the remains obtained from the archaeological sites a lot of information that has been gathered by modern-day scientists were from the societal and political hints derived from mythological scripts.
Linear B
- Linear B tablets were first found on the island of Crete, the writing was similar to the Minoan Linear A. Arthur Evans credited the writing system to the Minoans. A young schoolboy named Michael Ventris saw the Linear B tablets while touring the British Museum. Young Ventris was fascinated by the script, and when Arthur Evans told the class that the script had not been decip…
How The Later Greeks Felt About The Mycenaeans
- The later Greeks told stories about the Mycenaeans who preceded them, like the poet Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. In the eyes of the later Greeks, the Mycenaeans were larger than life. One reason for this belief comes from the ruins of the Mycenaean city-states. The walls around these palaces are massive, made from blocks of stone weighing several tons and carried to the mount…
Heinrich Schliemann, Discoverer of The Mycenaean Civilization
- Like the Minoans, the Mycenaeans were a civilization lost to the modern world. No evidence of the Mycenaeans (whom Homer called the Achaeans) or the city of Troy, also talked about in the Iliad, was to be found. However, in the 1800's, a German amateur archaeologist, by the name of Heinrich Schliemann, was convinced that the Trojans and Achaeans ac...
The Iliad and The Odyssey
- The Iliad tells about the attack on the citadel of Troy, in Asia Minor, by the Achaeans (Greeks). It is very possible that the Mycenaeans were these Greeks. The story tells of Helen, queen of the Mycenaean city-state of Sparta, who is kidnapped and brought to Troy by the Trojan prince, Paris. The Greek city-states reacted by sending a large fleet to attack Troy in an attempt to bring Hele…
Fall of The Mycenaeans
- Around 1200 BC, we have evidence that the Mycenaeans increased the size of the walls around their cities. Something was threatening the civilization. Perhaps there was increased fighting among the Mycenaean cities, or perhaps there was a foreign invasion from the north of Greece. Maybe the long war with Troy took its toll on the civilization. Whatever the reason, the Mycenaea…
The Dark Ages
- After the fall of the Mycenaeans, Greece went into a Dark Age. A Dark Age is a time when there are no historical records (writing) and also a time of fear, uncertainty, and violence. Those who replaced the Mycenaeans are called the Dorians, Greeks from the north who, as the story goes, were the sons of Heracles (whom the Romans called Hercules). These sons of Heracles had be…
Mycenae in Greek Mythology
Archaeological Site of Mycenae
Development of Mycenae
Mycenaean Civilization
- In the Iliad, Homer aptly described Mycenae as “rich in gold.” Mycenaeans enjoyed a prosperous rule over the Greek mainland and areas around the Aegean Sea, with the elite living in comfort and style, and the king ruling over a highly organized feudal system. In Mycenae and other Mycenaean strongholds, workshops produced an array of both utilitaria...
Fall of Mycenae
Destruction of Mycenae
Excavation of Mycenae
Sources