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Cycladic figurine, female, canonical type. Marble, h. 50 cm. Keros, 2800 – 2300 BC.

Cycladic figurine, female, canonical type. Marble, h. 50 cm. Keros, 2800 – 2300 BC.

The Bronze Age in the Aegean is characterized by a few civilizations. Two of whom, the Minoans and Mycenaean controlled trade during their respective high points. In many ways, these civilizations were precursors to the ancient Greek civilization, but there were also glaring differences. The art of these cultures has much in common with that of the Near East and Egypt, but the figures are a bit more fluid.

Map Aegean in the Bronze Age

Map of the Aegean in the Bronze Age

The Cycladic civilization, named for the Cylades, a group of islands in the Aegean roughly circular in shape, is known for human figures made in marble. There are more female figures, such as the one above, than male, and the male figures are often shown playing instruments. Most of these were found in graves. These may be related to the Neolithic goddess figures from sites like Çatalhöyük, but with more of an overt chthonic, or death-related function. Perhaps, with the small breasts and only slight swelling of the abdomen, they may related to a conception of rebirth.

Cycladic Male Harp Player, c. 2800-2700 BCE, marble

Cycladic Male Harp Player, c. 2800-2700 BCE, marble

The island of Crete was home to the Bronze Age Minoan civilization from c. 3000-1100 BCE. This was also the mythical home of King Minos and the Minotaur, a myth possibly inspired by the design of the Palace at Knossos, which is labyrinthine and meandering in form. This civilization also had an as yet undeciphered writing system called Linear A by archaeologists. The palace, one of many found on the island, leading to the supposition that this was not a unified society, had a number of rooms and colonnades, and many colorful murals. The number of bulls in images at the palace show their importance in ritual life. There are also many images of sea life in the frescoes and ceramic paintings of the Minoan period, testifying to the importance of the sea in Minoan life.

Palace at Knossos reconstruction

Looking at the reconstruction by the original archaeologist, Arthur Evans, and bearing in mind that many contemporary archaeologists debate the veracity of this reconstruction, it is easy to see how the Minoan construction techniques took into account the number of earthquakes in this region of the Aegean.

North Entrance, Knossos

Horns of Consecration, Knossos

Toreador Fresco, c. 1550 BCE, Knossos

The Queen’s Megaron, Knossos

The Queen’s Megaron, Knossos

Other markers of Minoan religion are double axes and bare-chested women holding snakes, often with cats on their heads, which may be other continuations of the previously seen mother or fertility goddess figures from the Neolithic period in this area. The Minoan artists also followed the Egyptian and Near Eastern conventions of showing women with lighter skin, and giving the faces of their figures, in frescoes at least, frontal eyes within profile heads.

Minoan double axe from Archalokori Cave, c. 1700-1450 BCE

Minoan double axe from Archalokori Cave, c. 1700-1450 BCE

2 Minoan Snake Goddess Figures

The site of Akrotiri on the island of Thera, better known today as Santorini, gives the best sense of life in Minoan society, as the city was destroyed in a volcanic eruption between 1642 and 1540 BCE. The inhabitants abandoned the city, leaving many of their possessions, etc. The frescoes found at the site give a good sense of the Minoan view of the world, and their place within it, as well as ritual activities. Some scholars have argued that Akrotiri, and its destruction, is the source of the myths of Atlantis. Certainly, the central town mimics the descriptions of Atlantis in the writings of Plato, but it is essential to remember that, although myth contains kernels of truth, we cannot look to these stories as fact.

Akrotiri archaeological site

Akrotiri archaeological site

Ship Fresco, Akrotiri

Frescoes of Boxing Children and Gazelles

Frescoes of Boxing Children and Gazelles

At some point around 1200 BCE, the Mycenaean civilization conquered Crete, along with much of the rest of mainland Greece. Much like the Minoans, this was not a unified civilization, but a group of city-states with trading contacts throughout the Mediterranean region. Mycenaean architecture is known for its cyclopean walls, made up of large pieces of stone fit together, and in-filled with smaller pieces of limestone. Much of the palace architecture of Mycenaean cities resembles, on a smaller level, that of the Minoans, and the Linear B script of the Mycenaeans has been translated, possibly because of its resemblance to proto-Greek letters.

Reconstruction of the Megaron from the Palace at Mycenae, c. 1400-1200 BCE

Reconstruction of the Megaron from the Palace at Mycenae, c. 1400-1200 BCE

Reconstruction of the citadel of Mycenae, c. 1400-1200 BCE

Reconstruction of the citadel of Mycenae, c. 1400-1200 BCE

The Lion Gate at Mycenae

The Lion Gate at Mycenae

The lion relief on the famous Lion Gate is another possible reference to a goddess, with the lions around a central column. The cyclopean architecture on either side slowly corbels toward the center, another feature of Mycenaean architecture. The tholos tombs, such as the so-called Treasury of Atreus, also feature corbelling, this time forming beehive-shaped vaults. These were tombs for the elite, possibly postdating the grave circles also found inside the walls that contained shaft tomb burials of other elites, with burial objects that included the famous repoussé gold masks, such as the so-called Mask of Agamemnon. Since Heinrich Schliemann, the 19th century German "archaeologist" who found the city of Mycenae, in an effort to prove that the Iliad and Odyssey were true did modify many of the artifacts found there, it is important to view the names of the objects, and often their appearance, with suspicision.

Exterior, Treasury of Atreus

Exterior and Interior, Treasury of Atreus

Grave Circle A, Mycenae, 16th century BCE

Grave Circle A, Mycenae, 16th century BCE

Mask of Agamemnon, Mycenae, Grave Circle A, 16th century BCE Mask of Agamemnon, Mycenae, Grave Circle A, 16th century BCE

After the fall of Mycenaean societies in the 12th century BCE for still-disputed reasons, Greek entered a so-called Dark Ages, where there seems to have been a lack of a unifying group of cultural characteristics and possibly a decline in writing.