Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatilal Polities: Proceedings of an International Symposium held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Mykenische Studien) 9783700177913, 3700177917

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Jörg Weilhartner • Florian Ruppenstein (eds) Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities

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Österreichische Österreichische Akademie Akademie der der Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Philosophisch-historische Philosophisch-historische Klasse Klasse Denkschriften, 487. Band Denkschriften 487

Mykenische Studien Volume 34

Series editors: Eva Alram-Stern – Barbara Horejs

Publication coordination: Estella Weiss-Krejci Editorial processing: Jörg Weilhartner

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Jörg Weilhartner – Florian Ruppenstein (eds)

Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities

Proceedings of an International Symposium held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, Aegean and Anatolia Department, Vienna, 1–2 March, 2013

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Vorgelegt von k. M. Barbara Horejs in der Sitzung vom 3. Juli 2015

This book was published with the support of: OREA, Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology

Coverdesign: Marion Frauenglas, Mario Börner

This publication has undergone the process of anonymous, international peer review.

The paper used for this publication was made from chlorine-free bleached cellulose and is aging-resistant and free of acidifying substances.

All rights reserved. ISBN 978-3-7001-7791-3 Copyright © 2015 by Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna English corrections: Mark Pluciennik (Academic Editing Services) Graphics and layout: Angela Schwab Printing and binding: Ferdinand Berger & Söhne Ges.m.b.H., 3580 Horn http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/7791-3 http://verlag.oeaw.ac.at Printed and bound in the EU

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Introductory Remarks

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Table of Contents Eva Alram-Stern (Vienna) – Barbara Horejs (Vienna) Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Florian Ruppenstein (Freiburg) – Jörg Weilhartner (Vienna) Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Vassilis Aravantinos (Thebes) The Palatial Administration of Thebes Updated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Anthi Batziou-Efstathiou (Larissa) The Mycenaean Settlement at Pefkakia: The Harbour of Iolkos? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Fritz Blakolmer (Vienna) Was there a ›Mycenaean Art‹? Or: Tradition without Innovation? Some Examples of Relief Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Birgitta Eder (Vienna) – Reinhard Jung (Vienna) ›Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno‹: The Mycenaean Palace System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Erik Hallager (Aarhus) Mycenaean Administrative Sealing Practice: A World of its Own? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 John T. Killen (Cambridge) Conservatism and Innovation in the Linear B Inscriptions on Stirrup Jars . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Marie-Louise Nosch (Copenhagen) The Wool Age: Traditions and Innovations in Textile Production, Consumption and Administration in the Late Bronze Age Aegean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Françoise Rougemont (Paris) Mycenaean and Contemporary Nuzi Administrative Practices: A Case-Study of ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru in Wheel and Chariot Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Cynthia W. Shelmerdine (Austin) Administrative Developments at Iklaina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Jörg Weilhartner (Vienna) The Design of Linear B Logograms: Palaeographic Traditions and Visual Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

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Abbreviations The abbreviations used in this volume for periodicals and series are those recommended by the German Archaeological institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut): http://www.dainst.org/richtlinien. Additionally, the following abbreviation is used: BCILL     Bibliothèque des cahiers de l’Institut de Linguistique de Louvain

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Preface When the Mycenaean Commission was founded by Fritz Schachermeyr in 1971 one of its main aims was the presentation of new research results in Aegean prehistory, especially for the Mycenaean period. He initiated the series ›Ägäische Frühzeit‹, the first series published by Schachermeyr himself, in five volumes from 1975 till 1982. Due to the immense increase in new finds this series was not continued in the original way. Instead, Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy, head of the department from 1988 till 2010, organised and published several conferences on Linear B and the post-palatial period LH IIIC, in which specialists presented new finds and their implications for the history of the Mycenaean Era. During recent years, important new finds as well as ground-breaking research on the Mycenaean administrative system have altered our view of the Mycenaean period, now seen as one of the earliest palatial systems of Europe. Therefore this conference ›Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities‹, held on March 1–2, 2013, was planned to bring excavators and staff members of important newly excavated Mycenaean sites such as Thebes, Pefkakia, Iklaina and Ayios Vasileios together with linguists, archaeologists, historians and other specialists to give an updated view of the Mycenaean palatial period and discuss new research perspectives. The conference was organised by Florian Ruppenstein and Jörg Weilhartner at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is now published as volume 34 in the series ›Mykenische Studien‹ of the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA), which was founded in 2013. The editors of the series would like to thank the sponsors of the conference, the PhilosophicalHistorical Class and the Holzhausen bequest of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy Foundation and the Vienna Convention Bureau. Hermann Hunger, in 2013 interim director of the newly founded institute, supported the conference in all ranks. Furthermore we would like to give our thanks to Florian Ruppenstein and Jörg Weilhartner for organising the conference and editing the contributions for publication as well as Marion Frauenglas and Mario Börner for the layout of the poster, the programme and the book cover. Estella Weiss-Krejci assisted with preparing the publication, Angela Schwab is responsible for the layout of this volume. The texts of the non-native speakers have been corrected by Mark Pluciennik. OREA financed further editing, native speaker corrections and layout. Financial support for printing this volume was generously granted by the Holzhausen Legat of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Finally, we would like to thank the contributors for sending their important contributions on time, so that we are able to present this publication within a relatively short time-frame. The collected papers present on-going and controversial debates on Mycenaean Palaces and their sociopolitical impact. We hope that these proceedings are used as an essential contribution to research into the Mycenaean world. Vienna, 12.1.2015

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Eva Alram-Stern Barbara Horejs (Editors of the series)

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Introductory Remarks

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Introduction

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Introduction F l o r i a n R u p p e n s t e i n – J ö r g We i l h a r t n e r

New Discoveries and Old Research Questions We are living in exciting times for scholars of Mycenaean culture, especially for those who focus on the palatial period (LH IIIA–LH IIIB, c. 1400–1200 BC). This is because of some spectacular recent discoveries. Pride of place is taken by the site of Ayios Vasileios in the Eurotas valley not far from Sparta, which was in all likelihood the palace of Laconia1, sought for a long time by some, yet not expected to exist by others. A megaron structure has not yet been found at Ayios Vasileios and perhaps never existed, but more than 100 fragments of Linear B tablets as well as luxury goods in gold, silver and ivory, fragments of figural wall-paintings and objects imported from far abroad leave little doubt that the massive structures of this building complex actually belong to a Mycenaean palace. Additionally, there are further significant finds that underline the importance of the site including evidence for a large Mycenaean settlement. Yet Ayios Vasileios is more than an addendum to the hitherto known palaces because it clearly had a different history. According to the preliminary excavation results the palace at Ayios Vasileios had its heyday in the LH IIIA period (14th century BC) and lost its importance after destruction at the end of LH IIIA2/ beginning of LH IIIB. This early destruction gives reason to re-evaluate our current view of the transformative processes and developments within the Mycenaean palatial period. Next to its potential to raise new questions, the discovery of this site may also allow old ones to be answered: the decline of the mansion on the nearby Menelaion Hill2 in LH IIIA2 is possibly related to the rise of this palace. The site of Iklaina in western Messenia, just 6 km southeast of the palace of Pylos (Ano Englianos), also ranks among the most important recent discoveries3. Iklaina was obviously an important regional centre, but not a palatial one. As a matter of fact, there are good reasons to believe that this site is to be identified with the second-order centre a-pu2-we, one of the district capitals of the Hither Province of the state of Pylos4. All the more surprising was the finding of a Linear B tablet of probably LH IIIA1/LH IIIA2 Early date. This is so far the only Linear B tablet found at a non-palatial site. One tablet is not enough to abandon the opinion that Linear B tablets were used exclusively within palatial administration, but it provokes rethinking the origin and early stage of Linear B based administrative practice in terms of interaction between palatial centres and related districts. Interestingly enough, the finds of this site include figural fresco fragments showing themes known from the palace of Pylos. The central building complex of the settlement at Dimini near Volos in southern Thessaly has been known for more years than the recent discoveries mentioned above, but the discussion

The first preliminary reports are now available: Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012; Petrakos 2012; 2013; Vasilogamvrou 2014. 2 Catling 2009. 3 Shelmerdine this volume with references. 4 On the state of Pylos, see Bennet 2007 with references. 1

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about its interpretation has barely started5. The so-called Megaron A and its adjacent rooms form an architectural complex that is very similar to the megaron structures of the Mycenaean palaces in southern Greece. As shown by inscriptions on a stone object and a pottery fragment, Linear B script was known in Dimini6. However, until now there is no evidence of palatial administration on a regular basis. What then was Dimini in the LH IIIB period (13th century BC)? A peripheral or provincial palace? A regional centre but not a palace at all? Understanding the situation in southern Thessaly has become even more vexed by the recent identification of two fragments of Linear B tablets among pottery sherds unearthed in an old excavation at the hill of Kastro-Palaia in the city’s centre of Volos. This find clearly points to bureaucratic activities7. As a consequence, the architectural remains of this site that belong to the Late Bronze Age are likely to be viewed as being part of an actual Mycenaean administrative centre. So what was the relationship between these two sites? Both Dimini and Kastro have been identified with Homeric Iolkos. To which particular site does this term refer to? A third important location in the region of Volos during the LH IIIB period was the Pefkakia Magoula, as has become clear by recent excavations8. The site itself was not a regional centre on its own but was arguably connected to Dimini and served as its harbour. In recent years more LH IIIA and LH IIIB remains have been excavated and important publications appeared that cannot all be mentioned here. Especially our knowledge of the palatial centres at Mycenae9 and Thebes10 is steadily growing. However, the sites presented above probably have the greatest potential to modify current views of the Mycenaean palatial period. Not only is the analysis of recent excavation results the task of current research, but some old problems also remain to be resolved. Among them the so-called Knossos problem is of great significance. This is the question of whether the Mycenaeans ruled the palace of Knossos and the island of Crete since the beginning of LM II or since the destruction of the Knossian palace at the beginning of LM IIIA2. The dating of most of the Linear B tablets from Knossos is related to this issue11. Strong arguments in favour of an early date for the Mycenaean takeover have been put forward in recent years12, and resistance against this view has slackened. Nevertheless, not every scholar seems to be convinced and a strike-back by advocates of a late beginning of Mycenaean rule in Knossos still seems possible. The question is of major significance for the understanding of the emergence of the Mycenaean palatial states. If the Mycenaeans actually controlled Knossos and large parts of Crete since LM II, then Knossos was the first Mycenaean palace and in all likelihood played a significant role in the formation of the palaces on the Greek mainland in LH IIIA113. The struggle about the Knossian chronology has for decades impeded the improvement of our understanding of this transformative process of great historical importance. Another basic research question is whether Mycenaean palaces were the centres of independent polities, or local residences in a single Mycenaean unitary state. The subject was not intensively discussed for many years because most scholars were convinced of the independence of the particular palaces. Only Tiryns’ subordination to Mycenae was proposed several times14. However, the theory of a single Mycenaean kingdom has gained adherents in recent years15

Adrimi-Sismani 2006; 2007; Pantou 2010. Adrimi-Sismani – Godart 2005. 7 Skafida et al. 2012. 8 Batziou-Efstathiou this volume. 9 The most recent monographs are Iakovidis 2013a; 2013b. 10 Aravantinos this volume. 11 On the chronology of the Linear B tablets from Knossos, see Driessen 2008, 70–72 with further references. 12 Hatzaki 2005a; 2005b. 13 Ruppenstein 2012, 54–59. 14 Maran 2006, 79 with references. 15 See e.g. Olivier 2006; Kelder 2010; Eder – Jung this volume. 5



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and we are probably just at the outset of this discussion. It will be a future challenge for the supporters of this view to explain why the palace of Ayios Vasileios was destroyed at the end of LH IIIA2/beginning of LH IIIB and lost its importance afterwards while one of the residences of a Mycenaean kingdom. Furthermore, in focusing on the similarities of Linear B tablets from different sites, there is a certain tendency to de-emphasise local variations that are not easily explained if all documents were the product of a single administration under the rule of a central authority. For example, the use of adjuncts (syllabograms used as acrophonic abbreviations and written immediately before a logogram) is widely attested within the tablets from Knossos. On the mainland, however, there are only few instances of this administrative device. In general, one can observe quite different ways of how to record human beings or animals. Whereas the documents from Knossos include long lists of women recorded by their personal names, no records of this kind exist from the palace of Pylos. Likewise the detailed Knossian book-keeping of single flocks of sheep has no match among documents of other palatial sites. Another old research task, which has not lost its significance, is the search for suitable models that help to explain emergence and functioning of the Mycenaean palatial polities16. In the past, the archaeological evidence was sometimes adjusted to match pre-existing theoretical models, but the reverse use of models is certainly more appropriate in order to achieve a better understanding of the Mycenaean society. Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities This, in short, is the state of research that forms the background of these proceedings which are based on the presentations given at the symposium ›Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities‹ in Vienna on the 1st and 2nd of March 2013. The central subject addressed in this volume is expressed in its title: The relation between traditional and innovative elements in the Mycenaean palatial polities. This topic was chosen because it is essential for understanding Mycenaean society in the palatial period but has not been in the focus of research. To some extent this ›interplay of opposites‹ was taken into consideration within the limits of iconography17. However, it seemed crucial to us to investigate the question from different points of view and, therefore, to bring scholars together who make use of different aspects of the archaeological data as well as the written evidence of the Linear B records. Among the concrete research questions we are especially interested in are the following: Was Mycenaean administrative practice a largely unchanged continuation of the Minoan model or rather a creative adaptation with many new and different elements that can inform us about Mycenaean realities? Do the Linear B texts provide evidence for traditional and/or innovative aspects of Mycenaean societal organisation and economic transactions? The architectural structure of the Mycenaean palaces is obviously not based on Minoan prototypes. Are the palaces best understood as a culmination of early Mycenaean developments or do they represent a new concept? Are changes in settlement structures, burial customs, iconography and material culture that are connected to the establishment and consolidation of the palatial polities detectable? Naturally enough, not all of these questions are discussed in this volume that contains ten contributions. Nevertheless, we hope that these proceedings can serve as a starting point and stimulus for future research. In some of the papers the results of recent excavations are presented: Anthi Batziou-Efstathiou gives a detailed overview of her excavations southeast of the Pefkakia Magoula, next to the modern city of Volos. She focuses on architectural features and portable finds of unusual character and suggests an interpretation in terms of a working area/activity. Another part of her paper is

16 17

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Parkinson – Galaty 2007; Nakassis et al. 2010 with references. See, e.g., Rehak 1992; Militello 2006.

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devoted to two cist-shaped structures and another structure of similar dimensions. As the latter housed a skeleton all of them are viewed as tombs (although no human bones were found in the two cist-shaped structures). In the course of her paper she provides insight into the rich ceramic material by means of a significant number of figures and indications of parallels from other Mycenaean sites. As regards the relevance of the site within the region of Volos she argues for its interpretation as an important trading station best viewed as the harbour of Dimini. Significantly, the Pefkakia Magoula was abruptly abandoned around 1200 BC. Vassilis Aravantinos presents an extensive survey of recent and old excavation activities in Thebes that underlines the great importance of this palatial centre. Due to continuous and dense habitation for thousands of years next to nothing was left untouched in the city of Thebes: it will never be possible to draw a coherent plan of the Mycenaean palace. Nevertheless, putting together the information of many archaeological investigations it becomes clear that in the palatial period the Kadmeia of Thebes housed a large and multifunctional architectural complex of palatial character, with multiple annexes that were enclosed by a Cyclopean fortification wall like its counterparts in the Argolid and other regions. Contrary to other palatial centres tholos tombs have never been found at Thebes. However, some of the chamber tombs are of such dimensions and quality (in terms of decoration and contents) as to allow them to be seen as ›royal tombs‹. Among the many finds referred to the following stand out: various deposits of Linear B tablets, inscribed stirrup jars and sealings, imports of Minoan Crete and other regions of the Eastern Mediterranean on a significant scale, fragments of figural life-size wall-paintings, jewellery of gold and semiprecious stones, (cylinder) seals and pieces of ivory. Putting them together Aravantinos makes a good case for viewing Thebes as the most powerful administrative centre of central Greece. Cynthia Shelmerdine gives a summary of the first results of the recent excavations at Iklaina. She concentrates on the history of the settlement and different phases of its occupation from LH II–LH IIIB. As regards the single Linear B tablet found at that site she argues on palaeographical and orthographical grounds for a LH IIIA1/LH IIIA2 Early date, making it the earliest tablet yet known from the Greek mainland. Furthermore, she discusses the development of relations between Iklaina and the palace at Pylos, and compares Iklaina to Nichoria, likely the district capital ti-mi-to-a-ke-e of the Further Province of the Pylian kingdom. Both sites seem to be residences of independent Early Mycenaean leaders whose territories were to be incorporated into the Pylian kingdom during LH IIIA1/2. Unfortunately, on present evidence it is not possible to come to a decision about which phase of occupation the tablet belongs to: thus it has to be left open whether Iklaina was an independent administrative centre in LH II–IIIA2 Early, or whether the administration of the Pylian state called for written records at second-order centres in LH IIIA Messenia. The excavator of the palace at Ayios Vasileios, Adamantia Vasilogamvrou, gave a presentation at the symposium entitled ›Remarks on the significance of the Mycenaean settlement of Ayios Vasileios at Xerocambi, Laconia, under the light of the recent finds‹. Unfortunately, she was not able to send us a paper for publication. All those who were present at the conference were much impressed by the many slides showing finds of unparalleled quantity and quality; among them a large hoard of bronze swords, fragments of wall-paintings showing griffins and Mycenaean warriors, precious seal-stones, a delicately modelled figure holding an animal, and Linear B tablets recording various kinds of textiles, aromatic substances (pointing to the production of unguents), a globular tripod with two handles, two double axes and a large number of items, arguably daggers or swords. Regrettably, neither was John Bennet able to deliver a paper for publication. At the symposium he gave a talk with the thought-provoking title ›Was there a Mycenaean culture?‹ which was followed by a lively discussion. He provided an overview of how the term ›Mycenaean‹ was used in scholarly literature, exploring the term’s formation in the late 19th century and its extension as an ethnic term (›Mycenaeans‹) which came to form an ethnic opposite to ›Minoans‹ in the 20th century. He cautiously advocated scholars not to overemphasise the homogeneity of (elite) material culture, warning against a subconscious acceptance of the apparent unity in Homeric epic. He also sounded a note of caution not to ignore the differences between the major Mycenaean centres. In

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doing so he pointed to the apparent regional diversities of LH IIIC after the elite culture disappeared, along with the palaces, around 1200 BC. Many of the points raised by Bennet are of crucial relevance to the contribution of Birgitta Eder and Reinhard Jung. They, in turn, take up the cudgels for a single Mycenaean kingdom using both archaeological evidence and written sources. The material culture of Mycenaean Greece is described as almost uniform and interpreted as an indication of a unified political entity stretching from Thessaly through central Greece to the Peloponnese and the adjacent islands (as far as the coasts of Asia Minor) as well as Crete. Among the artefacts and archaeological data referred to are seals of various materials and golden signet rings (including seal impressions on clay nodules), prestige items from abroad, warrior tombs and LH IIB–IIIA1/IIIA2 Early destruction levels of various sites. Next to the archaeological material they analyse references to geographical regions/ political entities of the Aegean world which appear in both Egyptian and Hittite texts in the form of k-f-tj-w/Kaftu, tj-j-n-A-jj-w/Tanaya and Ahhiyawa. Documents that bear Linear B inscriptions are also taken into account (tablets, sealings and especially stirrup jars). Although pointing out that these documents do not contain explicit information on the political organisation of Mycenaean Greece, they see some arguments in favour of viewing the term wa-na-ka-te-ro, wanakteros (cf. ἄναξ), ›royal‹, or its abbreviation wa, on coarse-ware stirrup jars as referring to the one and only wanax of a single Mycenaean political entity. They also deal with the question of how this cultural unity came into being, despite the cultural and social plurality of the Early Mycenaean period which is paralleled to some extent by the cultural and political fragmentation of LH IIIC. In the course of their paper they differentiate between a ›pre-palatial formative phase‹ (LH I–II), a ›palatial phase‹ (LH IIIA1–LH IIIB Final) and a ›post-palatial final phase‹ (LH IIIC). Marie-Louise Nosch deals with concepts of traditions and innovations in the Bronze Age Aegean from a technological and organisational perspective, focusing on the field of textile technology. This technology is often regarded as non-innovative. However, Nosch points to a number of innovative modifications in the sphere of breeding and herding patterns, as well as in the sphere of exploitation of wool and flax, which lead to new textile techniques and clothing. In doing so she refers to models of cross-craft movements and concepts of receptive environments as essential elements for innovations. In the course of her overview she touches upon interpretative models based on the Secondary Products Revolution or on ›centre versus periphery‹ trying to explore their different capacities on the concepts of innovation and tradition. On the one hand she introduces a European dimension to her paper by emphasising the universality and commonality in the interconnected European Bronze Age world; on the other she deals with the specialised textile terminology as evidenced by the Linear B documentation of the Mycenaean palaces in Late Bronze Age Greece. The latter illustrates both continuities and breaks between the Minoan and Mycenaean recording traditions and the administration of textile production. The whole craft of textile production was clearly transformed during the Middle to Late Bronze Age from the concerns of a local household to those of a commercially exploited industry. This transformation is apparent in Mycenaean palaces in terms of centralised administration and standardisation and is clearly not restricted to textile production. As Nosch herself notes »the evident specialisation in terms of commodities and terminologies in the Mycenaean economy and administration could open a debate regarding the extent to which crop specialisation as a palace innovation was a destabilising factor or even damaging to the palace economy«. Another part of her paper concentrates on how textiles are recorded graphically and rendered textually. In particular, she observes that despite the large number of inventions within the logographic repertoire of Mycenaean Linear B the creators (or would it be better to speak of just one creator?) of that script chose to continue to use the Minoan logograms when it came to record wool and textiles. Even more, and almost without parallel, when recording textiles the Mycenaean scribes maintained some of the Minoan Linear A ligatures. This leads to the assumption that despite the transformations just mentioned, Mycenaean textile technologies and textile types had not much changed from their Minoan counterparts. Obviously, in the field of textiles Mycenaean Greece shows a clear dependency on Minoan Crete.

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Concentrating on relief art Fritz Blakolmer comes to the same conclusions. To him, the iconography of relief images clearly demonstrates that in the Late Mycenaean arts, tradition was of greater importance than innovation. The iconography favoured by the Mycenaeans is to a large extent dependent on concepts shaped in Neopalatial Crete. What is even more interesting is the following: comparing examples from both regions one can observe that the artists on the Mycenaean mainland never tried to create (nor were they forced to do so) an iconography which stood in contrast to Minoan tradition, i.e. »Mycenaeans did not define themselves by constructing any basic difference or contradiction to Minoan ideology«. As Blakolmer shows, in Aegean iconography it is a vain enterprise to search for polarising ethnic characters and identities. The contrast of a peace-loving Minoan woman gathering flowers and a war-loving Mycenaean man killing his enemy may be understandable from its historic mis-preconception; however, it is not a reliable picture of the Late Aegean Bronze Age. Rather, since the Mycenaean attitude towards Minoan iconographic concepts is arguably characterised by acceptance and continuity, the non-individual and symbolic character of Minoan iconography fitted the demands of what Mycenaeans would like to see and to represent. However, it has to be taken into account that ›tradition in iconography‹ does not automatically imply ›tradition in reality‹. Rather, one can clearly doubt if Minoan bull leaping was still practised in the Mycenaean palaces despite being illustrated on mural paintings. The same holds true for the Minoan dress code for women performing ritual acts. Although in Mycenaean times the same dresses appear in the arts of the Mycenaean mainland, one wonders if women in Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece really dressed themselves with this kind of clothing. In the course of his paper Blakolmer offers a terminology and a classification that differ from traditional ones. He differentiates between the arts of the ›Shaft Grave period‹ (MH III–LH IIA), the ›Early Mycenaean period‹ (LH IIB–LH IIIA1) and the ›Late Mycenaean period‹ (LH IIIA2–LH IIIC). Contrary to the continuation of a Minoan model in administrative practice concerning textiles (as shown by Nosch), Erik Hallager argues that the sealing practices within the Linear B administration were profoundly different from those of the Minoan Linear A administration. To him, the Minoan and Mycenaean sealing systems represent two different worlds. After pointing out the differences in the various types of sealings used by different persons for different reasons, Hallager also discusses the importance of sealings/nodules in general, viewing them as an integral part of the administrative system without which the administrators would be lost. Next to the paper on textile production three more contributions deal with the analysis of Linear B records in a more detailed way. Françoise Rougemont elaborates on administrative procedures related to chariots and parts thereof (including wheels) as well as military equipment, focusing on terminology, administrative typology and context. In doing so she relies on Mycenaean and Nuzi administrative records by means of emphasising the structural as well as technical analogies of these two roughly contemporary corpora. In addition, she points to the difficulties in comparing Mycenaean documents with their Minoan predecessors. Although the comparison between Linear B records and contemporary cuneiform documents has a long pedigree, scholars are usually not familiar with both kinds of records to such an extent. In particular, drawing close analogies between a procedure called ta-ra-si-ja, talansiā (cf. ταλασία), in Mycenaean Greek and iškaru in Akkadian (referring to the allocation of raw materials by the central administration to craftsmen who are obliged to manufacture finished products and to deliver them, in turn, to the central administration) on a functional, contextual and administrative level, this analysis goes beyond the results of previous studies concentrating on these terms. Looking at different types of economic structures and administrative procedures more generally, it is suggested that the Mycenaean administration can be placed in a tradition documented by different sets of cuneiform palatial documents. On the whole, this paper is a plea for interdisciplinary research. John Killen’s paper is devoted to the palaeography of inscriptions on transport stirrup jars of LM IIIA2/IIIB date which were produced, at least to a large extent, in western and central Crete and subsequently sent to the Greek mainland. As he demonstrates, most of these inscriptions re-

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semble in writing style the signs of the tablets from the Room of the Chariot Tablets, viewed as the oldest records from Knossos (LM IIIA1). In general, this conservative writing style features complex or elaborated forms of signs. As regards the chronological gap between the dating of the manufacture of the stirrup jars (LM IIIA2/IIIB) and the dating of the writing style on them (LM IIIA1), this conundrum is explained by illiterate painters who used pre-existing patterns (of LM IIIA1 date), written with forms of signs that were no longer used by the scribes who were active when the inscriptions on the stirrup jars were made (LM IIIA2/IIIB). This conclusion is supported by the fact that the design of some sign forms differ from those of the regular scribes to such an extent that it is not easy to accept these inscriptions as the work of literate painters. Other examples, however, are likely to be the work of literate painters using contemporary forms of signs. Next to the examples adduced by Killen the longer inscriptions consisting of three words may also belong to this group. In any event, irrespective of the painter’s ability to write (and to understand Linear B) most of the inscriptions on stirrup jars are likely to have had a communicative function (with a possible element of decorative/prestige value)18. Palaeography19 continues to figure prominently in the contribution by Jörg Weilhartner. Putting together Linear B logograms denoting basic agricultural commodities and products, long-standing palaeographic traditions emerge by means of the affinity of the corresponding signs of the Linear A script and of Cretan Hieroglyphic. Other Linear B logograms are the result of new inventions. A large number of these signs are pictorial in nature and allow easy recognition of clearly identifiable objects as known from representations in wall-paintings, on pictorial vases and on seals or sealings. Among the signs referred to are logograms of military equipment including offensive weaponry as well as chariots and parts thereof20. As is shown, iconography is likely to be a reliable source of visual inspiration for a scribe when creating this kind of logogram. Interestingly enough, the phenomenon of iconographic impact is not confined to newly-created logograms. Although the majority of the logograms that are inherited are of a more abstract and rectilinear design in Linear B than in the predecessor scripts, some Linear B logograms are of a more vivid design than their Minoan antecedents. This speaks against a straightforward development towards simplification and stylisation of signs. Furthermore, taking into account some logograms for vessels, which lack photographic accuracy in perspective and rendering of details, it is argued that despite their vivid appearance logograms should not be viewed as accurate representations of a given object. As a consequence variations of signs are not regarded to imply any difference in meaning. Rather, like the logograms of a more abstract design these signs are likely to reflect the concept of the particular item in more general terms. In his talk Florian Ruppenstein evaluated the results of linguistic research concerning the origin of the terms ›wanax‹ (wa-na-ka) and ›lāwāgetās‹ (ra-wa-ke-ta) from an archaeological point of view. In short, he tried to explain the occurrence of these words in later Phrygian inscriptions and elaborated on the consequences for the reconstruction of the development and organisation of Mycenaean society21. As these summaries show, the concepts of tradition and innovation are viewed from a wide range of different perspectives. Various interpretative models are addressed and their capacities for contributing to the analysis of continuities and breaks are explored. In doing so, interdisciplinary and contextual approaches play a decisive role. In focusing on Mycenaean palatial polities in general, as well as on their origin and development, the administrative practices employed by their bureaucracies and the (elite) material culture that was left behind in particular, both the archaeological record and the written evidence are taken into consideration. This results in new

See Judson 2013, 71–83. On Linear B palaeography in general, see Palaima 2011. 20 See Rougemont this volume. 21 This paper has been published elsewhere, see Ruppenstein 2015. 18 19

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interpretations of texts and material culture. However, our intention was not only to provide possible new approaches for answering basic questions of the Aegean Late Bronze Age, but also to stimulate thinking about lacunae in this field of research. We hope that the contributions collected in this volume will inspire further discussion on the subjects they are devoted to.

Bibliography Adrimi-Sismani 2006 V. Adrimi-Sismani, The Palace of Iolkos and its End, in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – I. S. Lemos (eds), Ancient Greece: From the Mycenaean Palaces to the Age of Homer, Edinburgh Leventis Studies 3 (Edinburgh 2006) 465–481. Adrimi-Sismani 2007 V. Adrimi-Sismani, Mycenaean Northern Borders Revisited: New Evidence from Thessaly, in: M. L. Galaty – W. A. Parkinson (eds), Rethinking Mycenaean Palaces 2. Revised and Expanded Second Edition, The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 60 (Los Angeles 2007) 159–177. Adrimi-Sismani – Godart 2005 V. Adrimi-Sismani – L. Godart, Les inscriptions en linéaire B de Dimini/Iolkos et leur contexte archéologique, ASAtene 83, 2005, 47–70. Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012 V. Aravantinos – A. Vasilogamvrou, The First Linear B Documents from Ayios Vasileios (Laconia), in: P. Carlier – Ch. de Lamberterie – M. Egetmeyer – N. Guilleux – F. Rougemont – J. Zurbach (eds), Études mycéniennes 2010. Actes du XIIIe colloque international sur les textes égéens, Sèvres, Paris, Nanterre, 20–23 Septembre 2010, Biblioteca di ›Pasiphae‹ 10 (Pisa 2012) 41–54. Bennet 2007 J. Bennet, Pylos: The Expansion of a Mycenaean Palatial Center, in: M. L. Galaty – W. A. Parkinson (eds), Rethinking Mycenaean Palaces 2. Revised and Expanded Second Edition, The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 60 (Los Angeles 2007) 29–39. Catling 2009 H. W. Catling, Sparta: Menelaion 1. The Bronze Age, BSA Suppl. 45 (London 2009). Driessen 2008 J. Driessen, Chronology of the Linear B Tablets, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B. Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 1, BCILL 120 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2008) 69–80. Hatzaki 2005a E. M. Hatzaki, Knossos. The Little Palace, BSA Suppl. 38 (London 2005). Hatzaki 2005b E. Hatzaki, Postpalatial Knossos: Town and Cemeteries from LM IIIA2 to LM IIIC, in: A. L. D’Agata – J. Moody – E. Williams (eds), Ariadne’s Threads. Connections between Crete and the Greek Mainland in Late Minoan III (LM IIIA2 to LM IIIC). Proceedings of the International Workshop Held at Athens, Scuola Archeologica Italiana, 5–6 April 2003, Tripodes 3 (Athens 2005) 65–95. Iakovidis 2013a S. Iakovidis, Ανασκαφές Μυκηνών 3. Η Νοτιοδυτική Συνοικία (Athens 2013). Iakovidis 2013b S. Iakovidis, Ανασκαφές Μυκηνών 4. Η Οικία στις Πλάκες (Athens 2013). Judson 2013 A. P. Judson, The Linear B Stirrup Jars, Kadmos 52, 2013, 69–110. Kelder 2010 J. M. Kelder, The Kingdom of Mycenae. A Great Kingdom in the Late Bronze Age Aegean (Bethesda 2010).

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Maran 2006 J. Maran, Mycenaean Citadels as Performative Space, in: J. Maran – C. Juwig – H. Schwengel – U. Thaler (eds), Constructing Power – Architecture, Ideology and Social Practice (Hamburg 2006) 75–91. Militello 2006 P. Militello, Minoische Tradition und mykenische Innovation: Wandbilder und Kultaktivitäten in Agia Triada in SM IIIA, ÖJh 75, 2006, 185–203. Nakassis et al. 2010 D. Nakassis – M. L. Galaty – W. A. Parkinson, State and Society, in: E. Cline (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (Oxford 2010) 239–250. Olivier 2006 J.-P. Olivier, De ›l’empire mycénien‹ et de sa nécessaire fiscalité, in: M. Perna (ed.), Fiscality in Mycenaean and Near Eastern Archives. Proceedings of the Conference Held at Soprintendenza Archivistica per la Campania, Naples, 21–23 October 2004, Studi egei e vicinorientali 3 (Paris 2006) 183–188. Palaima 2011 T. G. Palaima, Scribes, Scribal Hands and Palaeography, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B. Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 2, BCILL 127 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2011) 33–136. Pantou 2010 P. P. Pantou, Mycenaean Dimini in Context: Investigating Regional Variability and Socioeconomic Complexities in Late Bronze Age Greece, AJA 114, 2010, 381–401. Parkinson – Galaty 2007 W. A. Parkinson – M. L. Galaty, Secondary States in Perspective: An Integrated Approach to State Formation in the Prehistoric Aegean, American Anthropologist 109, 2007, 113–129. Petrakos 2012 V. Petrakos, Αγ. Βασίλειος Λακωνίας, Ergon 2012, 50–53. Petrakos 2013 V. Petrakos, Αγ. Βασίλειος Λακωνίας, Ergon 2013, 27–30. Rehak 1992 P. Rehak, Tradition and Innovation in the Fresco from Room 31 in the ›Cult Center‹ at Mycenae, in: R. Laffineur – J. L. Crowley (eds), EIKΩN. Aegean Bronze Age Iconography: Shaping a Methodology. Proceedings of the 4th International Aegean Conference, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia, 6–9 April 1992, Aegaeum 8 (Liège 1992) 39–62. Ruppenstein 2012 F. Ruppenstein, Gesellschaftliche Transformationen und politisch-soziale Krisen im frühen Griechenland. Überlegungen zur Entstehung der mykenischen Palaststaaten, in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – A. Suppan (eds), Krise und Transformation. Beiträge des internationalen Symposiums vom 22. bis 23. November 2010 an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna 2012) 37–68. Ruppenstein 2015 F. Ruppenstein, Did the Terms ›Wanax‹ and ›Lāwāgetās‹ Already Exist before the Emergence of the Mycenaean Palatial Polities?, GFA 18, 2015, 91–107 ‹http://gfa.gbv.de/dr,gfa,018,2015,a,05.pdf› (last access 23.10.2015). Skafida et al. 2012 E. Skafida – A. Karnava – J.-P. Olivier, Two New Linear B Tablets from the Site of Kastro-Palaia in Volos, in: P. Carlier – Ch. de Lamberterie – M. Egetmeyer – N. Guilleux – F. Rougemont – J. Zurbach (eds), Études mycéniennes 2010. Actes du XIIIe colloque international sur les textes égéens, Sèvres, Paris, Nanterre, 20–23 Septembre 2010, Biblioteca di ›Pasiphae‹ 10 (Pisa 2012) 55–73. Vasilogamvrou 2014 A. Vasilogamvrou, Tracing the Rulers of Mycenaean Laconia: New Insights from Excavations at Ayios Vasileios (Xerokampi) near Sparta, BICS 57, 2014, 132–133.

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The Palatial Administration of Thebes Updated

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The Palatial Administration of Thebes Updated* Vassilis Aravantinos Abstract: Excavations in Thebes were undertaken from their very beginning with the target of elucidating the city’s most ancient past, echoed in Greek mythology. The initial as well as subsequent archaeological investigations showed that in the Mycenaean palatial period (c. 1400–1200 BC) Thebes was the prosperous centre of the most extended and powerful state in central Greece. The fortified citadel, later known as Kadmeia, was dominated by a large architectural complex with various annexes to it: workshops, magazines, shrines etc. The palace, like its counterparts in mainland Greece and Crete, was the heart of the state’s administrative, economic, political, cultural and religious life. Ιn the low hills surrounding the acropolis were arranged cemeteries of clustered chamber tombs. Some of them, the most conspicuous, were planned for the members of the palatial elite, while others, more ordinary, were for lower-ranking officers or people enlisted somehow in the service of the state. Pioneering excavations in Thebes (1906–1929) were followed by rescue archaeological work (1960 to present). Nonetheless, many aspects of Thebes’ history and culture, and their impact on the East Mediterranean social and political context in the Mycenaean palatial period, remain obscure. It is hoped that multidisciplinary research will render new data for study, shed more light on old questions and reduce the margin of remaining uncertainties. Present knowledge strongly suggests that the ruling authorities of Mycenaean Thebes, like their partners in the Peloponnese, were wide open to long-distance influences, primarily from Crete and the Levant, consisting of innovative and progressive ideas. Otherwise recent archaeological and textual evidence proves that Thebes developed a centralised administrative system mostly similar to those of contemporary Mycenaean and some Near Eastern palaces.

Until the dawn of the 20th century some trial excavations, short in duration and limited in extent, were carried out in Thebes (Fig. 1) in order to determine the course of the city’s fortifications and to limit illicit digging in its cemeteries1. However, archaeological work intended to uncover the most ancient remains of the city and its acropolis was not undertaken systematically until then. The main reasons are reflected in the account of H. and S. Schliemann’s visit to Thebes, on their way to Orchomenos (1880), where it is stated that ancient remains deserving serious investigation were not left on the Kadmeia2. Early excavations on the citadel of Thebes or in the surrounding hills, hosting extensive cemeteries of



*

1

2

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This article owes much to many colleagues, collaborators and friends who cannot all be mentioned. They promptly offered me their support and ideas in the long years of my service in Thebes (Boeotia) and continue to do this in many ways. I hope that all of them feel in these words my deep recognition. The present work resumes and updates various contributions of mine about Thebes in the Mycenaean Period. As a matter of fact my conclusions on this question must be considered yet rather tentative, preliminary and subject to continuous change, as systematic archaeological work is actually going on at Thebes. My sincere thanks go to the organisers of the International Symposium ›Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities‹ for the invitation to contribute and for the very successful organisation of the meeting. To our dear colleagues, Prof. Dr. S. Deger-Jalkotzy, Dr. E. Alram-Stern, Dr. F. Ruppenstein and Dr. J. Weilhartner, to the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, Aegean & Anatolia as well as to our very good friends of Vienna, Dr. A. Konecny and Mrs. D. Bakoli, we (I and my wife Margherita) would like to express once more our profound gratitude for their constant help, pleasant company and warmest hospitality. My special thanks are due to Prof. J. T. Killen and Prof. J. C. Wright for generously sharing with me fresh ideas, wide knowledge and wise experience. Finally, gratitude for the improvement of my English text is owed tο Prof. M. F. Lane and Dr. A. Livieratou. This paper is dedicated to the memory of my teacher, Prof. Sp. E. Iakovidis. Keramopoullos 1910, 152–158; 1917 (reporting the bibliography and work of his predecessors); Sotiriadis 1914, 22–40; Aravantinos – Fappas 2009; Aravantinos 2010b; 2014, 1–57 (with previous bibliography). For the visit of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann in Thebes and Orchomenos, see Papazoglou-Manioudaki 1990, 130–136; Aravantinos 2010b.

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Fig. 1: Thebes. Aerial view of the town and its suburbs (Photo from Google Maps adapted by I. Fappas)

chamber tombs, consciously and generically followed the model of previous or contemporary research at Mycenae and Knossos and in other significant Aegean sites. They also sought to prove the veracity of Greek mythology by new discoveries, but in fact Thebes gained less influence on the newly-founded scholarship of Aegean prehistory than the Argolid or Crete did. The first trial explorations were carried out by A. Keramopoullos in the area of the old Town Market. From their beginning they were occasional but soon became unexpectedly productive

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Fig. 2: Thebes. Kadmeia. Plan of the remains of the Mycenaean palatial complex known as the House of Kadmos or Kadmeion (Drawing by A. Dakouri. Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

in their results and were followed by sporadic excavations which lasted from 1906 to 19293. A substantial part of a large, perhaps multi-storeyed, building of obviously palatial character came gradually to light (Fig. 2) and was almost immediately identified as the Mycenaean administrative centre or palace of Thebes4. This building for long time remained the most important of its type in central Greece, although its partial excavation did not offer a legible plan nor a clear image of its nature and function5. It was named after a known passage of the ancient travel writer Pausanias (9, 12, 3–4) and was promptly identified as the House of Kadmos and his descendants, which later, according to literary tradition, became a cult place dedicated to the city’s mythical founder6. The excavator, like H. Schliemann and A. Evans before him, thought that the thorough investigation of Theban prehistory ought to confirm or refute the historical evidence concealed in the Theban mythological cycle7. The dating and interpretation of the finds from this excavation gave rise to long discussions, while the plan, function and relation of the architectural remains to other buildings uncovered later on the acropolis, are still open to debate8. Furthermore, the odd and only partially-preserved construction includes neither the main architectural features of the mainland palaces (e.g. the

3

4 5

6 7 8

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The excavations were interrupted in the years of conflicts or economic constraints (1912/1913, 1914–1918, 1922/1923). Thereafter, before, after and in the time of World War II, archaeological officers recorded and secured the antiquities, as is evident from the extant archives (1930–1950). At that time reference is made to a few rescue works in Thebes itself as well as to illicit activities in the town’s outskirts and in the rest of Boeotia. See Keramopoullos 1909; 1930; Raison 1968, 5–60; Aravantinos 2014, 1–57. Keramopoullos 1909; Faraklas 1998; Dakouri-Hild 2001; Aravantinos 2007, 240–252; 2014, 1–57. Raison 1968; Symeonoglou 1985, 39–50; Demakopoulou 1988, 75 f.; 1990, 311–314; Faraklas 1998, passim, esp. 182–192; Dakouri-Hild 2001. Keramopoullos 1909; 1917; Vian 1963; Edwards 1979; Aravantinos 2007, 229–252. Vian 1963; Edwards 1979; Aravantinos 2001b, 363–372; 2006; 2007; 2010b. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 25–27; Symeonoglou 1985, 39–50; Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Faraklas 1998, 182–192; Dakouri-Hild 2001; Aravantinos 2010a, 63–70; 2010b.

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›megaron‹) nor elements of its Cretan predecessors, in spite of claims to the contrary by some scholars9. Like other palatial complexes excavated on the Greek mainland, namely in the Argolid (Mycenae and Tiryns), in Messenia (Pylos) and, more recently, in Laconia (Ayios Vasileios), this building included workshops for gold, stone and ivory artefacts. In addition, it housed a large amount of pottery10. Some studies tried to reconstruct in detail the structure, plan, decoration and function of its various rooms, workshops and storerooms, as well as other aspects of everyday life revealed by the study of its finds, especially those of imported pottery and frescoes11. But as the area of the citadel was at that time occupied by various annexes to the central palace, the precise role of the Kadmeion in the overall palatial administration is still an open question12. During the last years of his work in Thebes Keramopoullos tried hypothetically to reconstruct the everyday life and range of interests of the palatial administration, and to offer a plausible image of the king, and the contacts and tasks with which he was engaged. He interpreted everyday life and the large quantities of stored objects accordingly13. Some of his observations are still of interest today, even though they were written in the first decades of the 20th century, many years before the decipherment of Linear B and before a single tablet had come to light in mainland Greece. Amongst the finds of the building was a large group of about 70 large-sized, coarse-ware stirrup jars, made specifically to transport fluid products, most probably olive oil. They were painted with Linear B inscriptions before being placed in the kiln. Their provenance from Crete, presumed at the time of their discovery, has since then been variously confirmed. At the time of their discovery, these inscriptions did not presuppose ipso facto the knowledge and use of Linear B script by the inhabitants of Thebes14. The script was by then considered an exclusive privilege of the Minoans and was believed to be limited to Crete, until 1939, when a large archive of Linear B texts was discovered at Ano Englianos (Pylos) in Messenia15. In the years between 1930 and 1960, before, during and after World War II and the Greek Civil War, archaeological officers were engaged to record and safeguard the excavated antiquities, as is shown by the preserved archives of those times. By then reference is made to a few excavations in Thebes itself, as well as to some illicit excavation activities that took place in the town’s outskirts and in the rest of Boeotia16. Later, in 1963/1964, rescue excavations changed the archaeological map of Thebes and tilted the balance of available data relevant to the history of the Mycenaean palatial period in the Aegean17. In the next four decades, between 1960 and the end of the 20th century, and especially after the earthquake of 1981 that necessitated the rebuilding of several old or damaged houses, the number of excavations in Boeotia increased rapidly. At Thebes the harvest of prestige goods, other precious items and various other finds coming from rescue excavations located mostly on the Kadmeia, was very rich, though not always made known through publication18. At the same time the area of the Mycenaean citadel yielded initially a few and subsequently an ever-increasing number of Linear B texts19. The unexpected archaeological discoveries of the 1960’s led some scholars to believe that Thebes could even be the centre of the entire Mycenaean world, the most appropriate site for

9 10 11 12 13 14

15

16 17 18 19

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See Faraklas 1998. See generally Wright 2005, 191–199. Aravantinos 2001a; 2005; Dakouri-Hild 2001; 2005, with a discussion on chronology. Faraklas 1998; Boulotis 2000; Dakouri-Hild 2001; Aravantinos 2001a; 2005; 2006; 2010a; 2010b. For a recent discussion, see Faraklas 1998, 182–192; Aravantinos 2010b. Keramopoullos 1930, 29–58. For a more analytical discussion, see Aravantinos 2008a, 9–21, with previous bibliography. Most recent finds are included in Aravantinos et al. 2014, 19–21. Raison 1968; Catling et al. 1980; Chadwick 1987; McDonald – Thomas 1990; Aravantinos 2008a, 9–21, with previous bibliography; 2010a, 63–99; 2010b. Aravantinos 2014, 1–57. McDonald – Thomas 1990; Shelmerdine 1997; 1998; Aravantinos – Fappas 2012; Aravantinos 2014. McDonald – Thomas 1990; Faraklas 1998; Aravantinos 2010b. Platon – Touloupa 1964b; Spyropoulos – Chadwick 1975; Piteros et al. 1990; Aravantinos 1996b; 1999a; 2008a; 2010b; Aravantinos et al. 1995; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2005; Andrikou et al. 2006; Alberti et al. 2012.

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testing and possibly answering many questions concerning Late Aegean Prehistory20. Thebes in fact was the most important city of central Greece during most of the second millennium BC, as also for large parts of the Archaic, Classical and Christian eras, and during shorter periods in-between21. Despite this, in many of the excavated areas little or nothing was left untouched because of centuries of continuous and dense habitation22. In the last few years multidisciplinary research work was resumed in order better to define the extent, character and building history, as well as the circumstances of the eclipse of the Mycenaean palatial complex (Fig. 3) and its multiple contemporary annexes23. Some, though not all of the latter were seemingly suddenly destroyed towards the end of the LH IIIB period, and were not repaired or rebuilt afterwards24.

Fig. 3: Thebes. Kadmeia. Excavated remains of the central Mycenaean palace and its annexes (Photo from Google Maps adapted by I. Fappas)

20 21 22 23

24

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Snodgrass 1975; Symeonoglou 1985; Faraklas 1998; Aravantinos 2010a; 2010b, with most recent bibliography. Symeonoglou 1985; Aravantinos 2009a; 2009b; 2010a; 2010b. Symeonoglou 1985; Aravantinos 1985; 1995a; 2010a; 2010b. A five-year project, under the title ›The excavation and study of the Mycenaean palace of Thebes‹ (2012–2016), funded generously by INSTAP and anonymous supporters, is currently being carried out in Thebes under my direction and with the participation of a team of specialists, my collaborators. The project is under the auspices of the Athens Archaeological Society and has been approved by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. For new research in an old excavation, see Tzonou-Herbst 2010, 47–56. Shelmerdine 1997; Andrikou et al. 2006. On Linear B chronology in general, see Driessen 2008.

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Fig. 4: Thebes. Kadmeia. Sections of the Mycenaean fortification wall (Photos by author. Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

The question of the identification of the fortifications of the Kadmeia was, from the very first, the most important motive behind the study of the topography of ancient Thebes, and the main reason for the excavation of selected points within the citadel or in the lower city. The ancient literary sources and artistic tradition links the narratives of the Theban mythic cycle with the earliest fortifications of the city25. Representations of the fortification walls as a background for episodes taken from the myths are quite early, and proved popular in Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. The excavations brought to light sections of defence works dating from diverse historical periods on the citadel and in the lower city26. However, the fragmentary nature of evidence and the inadequate documentation led scholars to contradictory conclusions: on the one hand the presence of Mycenaean fortifications at Thebes was fiercely disputed27, while on the other it was uncritically accepted28. In the absence of any new substantial published evidence, Mycenaean Thebes was thought to be an unfortified citadel, possibly like Pylos in Messenia29. Some parts of the previously uncovered fortifications are undoubtedly Mycenaean, but they consist mostly of the first course of foundation stones that seem unrelated to each other. Therefore, they were not seriously considered30. Thus uncertainty about the presence of Cyclopean fortifications has for long differentiated Thebes in comparison with other Mycenaean citadels. Rescue archaeological work in Thebes from 1981 onwards has located some sections of stone foundations (Fig. 4) undoubtedly belonging to the Mycenaean fortification wall31. The main features of the fortification wall at Thebes do not differ from those in other contemporary citadels. Some structural details depend on local conditions and materials. Foundations of differing width sustained a tall superstructure of mud bricks, material readily available in Thebes and also used in the fortified citadels of the Argolid, as shown long ago for the citadel of Myce-

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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Aravantinos 1988, 113–136; 1991, 89 f., with references to previous work. Keramopoullos 1917, 6–24. 300–312; Symeonoglou 1985; Aravantinos 1988; 1991; 2001c; Faraklas 1998. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 20; Iakovidis 1983, 108; Aravantinos 1988; 1991; 2001c. Symeonoglou 1985, 60; Aravantinos 1988; 1991; 2010a; 2010b; Faraklas 1998. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 20; Iakovidis 1983, 108. See also Aravantinos 1988, 115; 1991; 2010a; 2010b. On the question of the fortifications, see Aravantinos 1988; 1991; 2001c; 2010a; Faraklas 1998. Aravantinos 1988; 1991; 1996b, 260; 2010b.

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Fig. 5: Thebes. Mycenaean cemeteries of chamber tombs around the citadel (Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

nae32. Sections of the foundations, which were traced at Thebes, make it possible to follow the citadel’s outline. The hallmarks of the wall, and its frequent changes of direction through obtuse, internal or external angles are characteristic of the Mycenaean mode of fortification33. These are the main features of the Cyclopean defences at Mycenae, Tiryns, Athens, Midea, Gla and minor

32

33

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Mylonas 1966, 12. 17. 96. For a new approach and project in Korakou on Mycenaean fortifications, see Rutter 2003, 75–83; Tzonou-Herbst 2010, 47–56. For analogous and contemporary fortifications of the Hittites in Anatolia, see Schachner 2011.

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sites in Boeotia and elsewhere34. On the basis of pottery finds and observations of the stratigraphy of debris, the enceinte wall seems to have been built sometime in LH IIIB, certainly after a fire destroyed at least the eastern side of the acropolis. In the last decades of this period the entire citadel and numerous personnel of the palatial bureaucratic system were protected by sturdy walls, which were destroyed or rather abandoned a little before or after 1200 BC35. Another characteristic making palatial Thebes different from other Mycenaean palatial centres was the supposed absence of monumental royal tombs dating to this period. Old and more recent excavations located an imprecise number of chamber tombs in the low hills surrounding the acropolis (Fig. 5). However, only a few of them could be classified as monumental. More recently a detailed survey of the Mycenaean cemeteries has identified many tombs, elucidating their spatial and chronological development36. The difficulties in utilising old excavation data to contemporary standards persist, however. In the summer of 2011, a project was set up with the intention to locate and re-examine the material from the old excavations, to update the record, and to document the finds more fully37. The Mycenaean cemeteries consist almost exclusively of clusters of rock-cut tombs, some of them large and rich but along with many smaller ones, located mostly in the hills of Kolonaki, Ismenion, Mikro and Megalo Kastelli surrounding the acropolis38. These tombs were often exposed and visible and consequently plundered for long time and on a daily basis. For this reason their excavation was a pressing priority and a task for the first, pioneering investigations at Thebes39. Tombs of the tholos-type, like the Treasury of Atreus in Mycenae or the less famous Treasury of Minyas in Orchomenos – very similar indeed to each other in size and construction techniques – have never been excavated in Thebes40. This fact, though surprising in itself, should not be given a one-sided or biased interpretation. The total absence of tholoi in Thebes, unless it is due simply to the difficulty of finding appropriate construction material, is indeed surprising. Apart from the argumentum e silentio, that such graves have not yet been uncovered, other possibly more practical reasons may account for their absence. In any event, the fact does not presuppose that the Theban ruling class was different from those of other Mycenaean palatial states. On the contrary, numerous prestige objects found at Thebes reflects the existence of an upper class with old traditions41. The difficulty of accessing good-quality construction material is always present at Thebes. On the contrary, the easiness of carving into the soft cores of the hills surrounding the Kadmeia may justify the preference for chamber tombs instead of built ones42. As a matter of fact, very large chamber tombs were not lacking in Thebes, although many could have been destroyed or re-used, and those preserved today had suffered damage or plundering long before their excavation. The chamber tomb in the hill of Megalo Kastelli (Fig. 6), the

34 35 36 37

38 39 40

41 42

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Iakovidis 1983; 2001; Wright 2005. For parallels in Anatolia, see Schachner 2011. Aravantinos – Fappas 2009 with references to previous bibliography and reports. The project is directed by V. Aravantinos with the participation of Dr. I. Fappas and Prof. A. Dakouri-Hild. It was announced in the AIA meeting in 2014. The 2011 campaign did not include material from subsequent excavations (post 1960s). Faraklas 1998, 206–227; Aravantinos – Fappas 2009. Keramopoullos 1910; Sotiriadis 1914; Aravantinos 2014. Some years before World War II (1935) the Benaki Museum purchased some Mycenaean gold finger-rings and other valuable jewellery. These were all said to be of Theban origin and presumably all of them could had been placed once as offerings in rich Mycenaean tombs. See Pini 1975, 146–154; Boulotis 1999, 17–86; Aravantinos 2014. Aravantinos 1995a; 1996b; 2010a; 2010b. Aravantinos – Fappas 2009. See note 37. The revised and up-to-date publication of the Theban cemeteries is funded generously by INSTAP and is actually carried out.

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Fig. 6: Thebes. The royal chamber tomb in the hill of Megalo Kastelli (Photo by and courtesy of I. Fappas)

Tomb of Oedipus’ Children, is the largest of its type in size and unique also in terms of the rich painted decoration of its interior walls and entrance43. It is a spacious monument with two ascertained construction phases44. During the second phase, the original large chamber tomb was further extended and wall-painted. Its interior was unified and renovated in the last phase and finally decorated with frescoes (Fig. 7 a. b). On the left, (the northern and eastern side of the chamber), the wall was decorated, as said in the afore-mentioned report, by »a zone with worshipping and mourning women and possibly with a two-storied object (bier)«45. Opposite to the original (later closed) entrance of the tomb there was a scene set in a rocky landscape, with a circle, possibly the sun-disk. We cannot now test the veracity of the description and interpretation, as many of the fresco fragments are now badly damaged and, moreover, were never collected46.

43

44

45

46

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Mythical labels used to be applied to significant tombs at Thebes. The common Tomb of Oedipus’ Children in the hill of Kastellia, just east and outside the acropolis is the best known example. Another common ›mythical‹ grave is that of the twins Amphion and Zethos, believed to be buried in a tumulus found on a hill lying just to the north of the Museum and once planted with vines. See Spyropoulos 1971, 160–164; 1977, 309–312. These identifications, needless to say, are not safe and of no good service to scholarship, as they are not based on extant and reliable evidence. See Faraklas 1998, 193–205 and, most recently, Aravantinos – Psaraki 2011, 401–413. The chamber tombs of Kastellia are known only by excavation reports and occasional notes on their painted decoration: Spyropoulos 1971; 1977; Faraklas 1998, 214–227; Boulotis 2000; Aravantinos – Fappas 2009; 2015. Spyropoulos 1971; 1977; Faraklas 1998, 214–227; Aravantinos – Fappas 2009; Aravantinos 2014; Aravantinos et al., in press. Faraklas 1998, 216–227; Aravantinos – Fappas 2009; 2015. The project for the study and publication of the Theban wall-paintings is currently being carried out, funded by INSTAP. It has revealed recently that the badly-preserved female figure represents probably not a mourner of the type known to us from the Tanagra larnakes, as was assumed in the first reports, but rather a worshipper praying in the characteristic posture of Aegean art. The restoration work is in progress with the restorers P. Angelidis and M.-P. Louka as well as by the painter N. Sepetzoglou. See Aravantinos et al., in press.

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Fig. 7: Thebes. The fresco-painting of the tomb at Megalo Kastelli; a: The fresco after its restoration by P. Angelidis & M.-P. Louka; b: painted reconstruction by N. Sepetzoglou (Photo by and courtesy of I. Fappas)

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Much more could be written about the tomb’s architecture. Its chamber measures 11.5 m × 7.0 m × 3.5 m and its dromos is 25 m long, 10 m tall and 4 m wide (Fig. 8 a. b).

Fig. 8 a: Thebes. Plan of the royal tomb at Megalo Kastelli (Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

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Fig. 8 b: Thebes. Section of the royal tomb at Megalo Kastelli (Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

It is obvious that the tomb at Kastelli became twin or ›siamese‹ in a second stage when its chamber was extended47. The theory that the more recent (i.e. eastern part of the tomb) was dug because of wrong estimates and accidentally fell upon the chamber of the first one, seems rather unlikely on architectural and archaeological grounds48. Equally unlikely is the hypothesis that initially the monument had two dromoi because it was planned to receive the corpses of the two mythical brothers, princes Eteokles and Polyneikes, who died contemporarily in a fatal duel49. The original, western part of the tomb was exceptionally large and monumental as in many early palatial tombs of similar type in the Peloponnese. Later, perhaps during the years of crisis, a few decades before the end of the 13th century BC and the palatial polity in Thebes, a new dromos was opened and the large chamber was extended and had a simple sloping roof. It was then that the initial low part of the floor of the tomb was raised up and both the benches and the right door jamb of the new entrance were built up. Subsequently, the unified space thus created was painted. The idea of one tomb provided with two dromoi is a highly speculative one. It is not supported at all by the excavation data nor by the structural analysis of the monument. On the contrary, the interpretation of the extant evidence as the result of the refurbishment of a pre-existing state monument is the only one plausible. The tomb was a rich one in contents as attested by the valuable but scanty remains of its grave goods, few but useful for dating and the evaluation of its status. What was left from looting is a small ivory pyxis (Fig. 9) decorated with heraldic sphinxes, a truly prestigious item of very fine craftsmanship50. The lid (Fig. 10) of a very similar object was discovered in a neighbouring tomb51. The hypothesis that members of the royal family were buried in this monument, given the pre-eminence of the most conspicuous hill and tomb in Thebes, is compatible with the finds and could be considered in fact rather strong52. On the basis of the architectural data and the tomb’s decoration it can be concluded that this and the other monumental chamber tombs in the area apparently met the needs of the local dynasty. It should be stressed here, however, that this tomb

47 48 49

50 51 52

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Faraklas 1998, 214–227. Rejected by Faraklas 1998, 214–227. Spyropoulos 1971; 1977; Spyropoulos – Chadwick 1975; Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 23. But see Faraklas 1998, 214–227. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, pls. 26. 27; Aravantinos 2010a, 88 f. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, pls. 26. 27; Aravantinos 2010a, 88 f. But see Faraklas 1998, 221–225.

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Fig. 9: Thebes. Ivory pyxis with sphinxes from the royal tomb at Megalo Kastelli (Photo by and courtesy of S. Mavrommatis)

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Fig. 10: Thebes. The lid of an ivory pyxis from a chamber tomb at Megalo Kastelli (Photo by and courtesy of S. Mavrommatis)

is neither the only large nor the only wall-painted tomb in this particular cemetery or in the rest of Mycenaean Greece53. It appears to have quantitative and qualitative differences to other tombs of the same type at Thebes and in other centres. In fact, it is the only chamber tomb known so far painted with figural representations. However, notwithstanding its painted decoration, this princely tomb, like the others similar to it, lacks the magnificence and brilliance of the royal tholoi at Mycenae and Orchomenos. The excavations that took place in the area of the town from 1960 until today followed the ever-increasing pace of the construction of new buildings and public infrastructural works54. The excavations – conducted mostly in building-plots located at various points of the acropolis – did not reveal a complete archaeological complex but only separate parts that can hardly form a comprehensive picture (Fig. 11). Although piecemeal in nature, the rescue excavations have added many new data to the picture of Mycenaean Thebes. The published finds and the historical conclusions included in brief articles, reports and in specialised monographs delineate the image of Thebes as the most powerful and rich administrative centre in the broader geographical and political scene of central Greece55. In the early Mycenaean period, which is marked by great political upheavals in the Aegean, Crete and the Eastern Mediterranean, the reverberations of these events were also felt at Thebes, where the imitation of the Cretan way of life was intensive56. The main innovation in this period was the massive import of Cretan artefacts, in particular fine-quality pottery, as well as the manufacture of the latter by itinerant Cretan craftsmen and the clumsy adaptation of it to the artistic standards of mainland Greece57. Artistic and social amalgamation and the general assimilation of Minoan cultural elements by the mainlanders can also be discerned in finds from Thebes58. However, Cretan influences on the art and life of the latter were by no means stronger than in other

53 54 55 56

57 58

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Faraklas 1998; Aravantinos – Fappas 2009. Symeonoglou 1985; Aravantinos 2014. Aravantinos 2000b; 2005b, 310–318; 2009b; 2010a; 2010b. Dickinson 1977, especially 97–99; Aravantinos 1986, 215–231; 1995a, 615 f.; Dakouri-Hild 2001; 2005, 209. 218–220; Aravantinos – Fappas 2012. For similar developments in Messenia, see Bennet – Galanakis 2005. Generally Shelmerdine 1997. Aravantinos 1995a, 615. Aravantinos 1995a; 1995b; 2001b; 2008b; 2009a; 2010a.

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Fig. 11: Thebes. Kadmeia. Plan of the citadel with find-places of Linear B inscriptions (Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

parts of south and central Greece, despite contrary views59. Indicatively, the theory that there are many Minoan elements in the architecture of the LH III palatial complex on the Kadmeia60 has never been confirmed by comparative analysis of its individual structural details61. It seems that the extensive system of buildings that made up the citadel after 1400 BC was administered by a central palace. Workshops, magazines, shrines and living quarters for the working personnel occupied almost the entire area of the citadel, which was later included within a Cyclopean fortification62. The widespread presence of Linear B archives and deposits of documents in

59 60 61 62

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Edwards 1979; Symeonoglou 1985, 44. Keramopoullos 1930, 33; Symeonoglou 1985. But see Faraklas 1998. Catling et al. 1980, 97; Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Dakouri-Hild 2001. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 24–26; Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Aravantinos 2010a; 2010b; Aravantinos – Fappas 2012.

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the inhabited area of the citadel demonstrates the large-scale and far-reaching economic control exercised by the central administration63. Excavations uncovered several building complexes of Late Mycenaean date that were consequently considered to be palatial structures64. The latter were variously classified as parts of the central palace or of annexes to it for two main reasons: either because of their strong and meticulously-built foundations, or because of the large quantities of valuable objects found in them, some of which were real prestige items. Among them are wall-paintings, decorated or plain pottery of fine quality in large quantities, weapons, horse-trappings, jewellery of gold and semi-precious stones, seals and cylinder seals, artworks and semi-worked pieces of ivory or hippopotamus tusk, clay tablets and seal impressions (sealings) bearing Linear B inscriptions65. The building known as the House of Kadmos appears to have had the structure and contents of a special workshop and storeroom, possibly with some religious associations and functions (Figs. 2. 3). Although tablets were not found in it, other precious items like unfinished jewellery made out of imported raw materials (gold, ivory, agate, rock crystal etc.) came to light in its interior as well as in similar buildings66. Moreover, the large group of commercial stirrup jars, which bear painted Linear B inscriptions, denoting their origin, their owner or the administrative structures responsible for their dispatch, confirms large-scale importation of olive oil from western Crete to Boeotia67. Another architectural complex near the highest point of the acropolis has revealed some impressive features (Figs. 3. 12), despite the fact that it was found in very poor condition68. It had very thick walls, supporting a heavy roof covered with different types of tiles (Figs. 12. 13), precursors of the tiling system of the historic period69. These buildings were mostly decorated with wall-paintings of diverse sizes which, in terms of their high quality and thematic variety, rival those of the palatial centres of the Peloponnese. In the debris of their remains, left untouched after their sudden destruction, were preserved a multitude of objects revealing occupations, cult practices, military equipment, leisure, feasting and entertainment70. A few selected weapons, pieces of jewellery or personal items were intended to demonstrate the power, luxurious way of life and prestige of the ruling class. The most important building remains, which also happened to have produced the most significant wall-painting assemblages, are located on the northern, southern and eastern sides and, of course, in the central parts of the acropolis (Fig. 11). These parts include areas most probably built to house various ancillary departments and annexes to the palatial administration, while the architectural complex of the main palace occupied the central part of the hill71. The west side which slopes steeply towards the Dirce stream, being unsuitable for large building complexes, was not used. In contrast, significant palatial services were established in buildings on the gently-sloping east side of the acropolis. Among them were the Armoury and a kind of guard-post. In the latter about sixty inscribed sealings were discovered, testifying to the receiving, controlling

63

64 65

66

67 68 69

70 71

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Platon – Touloupa 1964b; Spyropoulos – Chadwick 1975; Piteros et al. 1990; Melena – Olivier 1991, 35–50; Aravantinos 1996a; 1996b; 1999a; 2000a; 2010b; Aravantinos et al. 2001; 2002; 2005; Andrikou et al. 2006. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 24–26; Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Aravantinos – Fappas 2012. See Aravantinos 2010a; 2010b. On various finds see Cline 1990; Boulotis 2000; Aravantinos 2001a; 2005; Dakouri-Hild 2005; Aruz 2008; Aravantinos – Fappas 2015. Keramopoullos 1909; 1930; Platon – Touloupa 1964a; 1964b; Symeonoglou 1985; Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981; Aravantinos 1995b; 2000a, 27–59; 2010b; Aravantinos – Fappas 2012. Aravantinos 2008a. Aravantinos – Fappas 2012. Aravantinos – Fappas 2012. For the Mycenaean roofing system, see especially Iakovidis 1990, 147–160. A programme for the reconstruction and publication of this exceptional roofing material is being carried out by myself, Dr. I. Fappas and Dr. Y. Galanakis. The programme is funded by INSTAP. Palaima 2004; Bendall 2004, 105–135; 2008, 77–100; Aravantinos – Fappas 2012. Aravantinos – Fappas 2015.

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Fig. 12: Thebes. Kadmeia. Plan of the excavation in the Theodorou plot (Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

Fig. 13: Thebes. Kadmeia. The roof tiles from the Theodorou plot (Photo by and courtesy of I. Fappas)

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and recording of commodities imported from the provinces of the state, from the hinterland or from overseas72. In 1963 the unexpected discovery of important and precious finds as well as Linear B records, during rescue excavations outside the outline of what was then considered to be the main palace, put fresh ideas for discussion on the table and also serious doubts about the identification, the plan, the extension and finally the dating of the Mycenaean palatial complex on the Kadmeia (Fig. 3). More recent investigations in the Armoury and Treasury of the palace have fully confirmed the importance attributed to them, when they were initially and partially uncovered in the winter of the years 1963/196473. In the Armoury (Figs. 3. 14), to the east and under the pavement of Pelopidas Street, not far from the excavated centre of the acropolis, a Linear B archive (or a large deposit of texts), consisting of hundreds of fragmentary tablets was found in successive excavation campaigns (1964, 1970, 1993/1994)74. It is indeed a matter of fortune that more than half a century after the decipherment of Linear B (1952) the archaeological finds at Thebes continue to supplement the corpus of Linear B in-

Fig. 14: Thebes. Kadmeia. The Armoury of the Mycenaean palace (Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

72

73 74

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Piteros et al. 1990; Aravantinos 1990; 2010a; 2010b. On relations with the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, see Keramopoullos 1930; Helck 1979; Catling et al. 1980; Aravantinos 1986; 1995b; 2001a; 2005; 2008a; 2009b; 2010a; 2010b; Cline 1990; Aruz 2008. Platon – Touloupa 1964a; 1964b; Aravantinos 2001a; 2005; 2010a; 2010b; Petrakos 2012, 53–57. Platon – Touloupa 1964b; Spyropoulos – Chadwick 1975; Melena – Olivier 1991, 38–41; Aravantinos 1995b; 1996a; 1996b; 1999a, 45–78; 1999b; 2000a; 2000c; 2000d; 2009c; 2010a; 2010b; Aravantinos et al. 2001; 2002, 26–36; 2005, 100–111; 2006; 2008; Andrikou et al. 2006.

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Fig. 15: Thebes. Kadmeia. The Room of the Treasure or Treasury of the Mycenaean palace (Photo by and courtesy of author)

scriptions75. After newer discoveries (1993–1995), evidence pertaining to the centralised political, military and economic administration, shrines, the geography of the territory and the boundaries of the state, areas of direct or indirect influence, foreign relations and to society, cult and production, may be cross-checked against the most authentic source of information i.e. the inscriptions76. A substantial group of fine-quality Mycenaean ivories was uncovered in 1995 in a niche of the Armoury77. The ivories form an almost homogeneous group consisting of dozens of small and larger pieces78. Most of them join together and thus belong to a relatively limited number of objects. Some plaques clearly adorned furniture, though the kind and shape is unknown. Some of the pieces of ivory found in the Armoury, however, seem to have belonged to decorative and not functional items of horse-trappings79. These are certainly not the first ivory pieces found in Thebes, but supplement those – some of them real masterpieces – discovered in earlier and in more recent excavations80. Over the years only a few parts of the palatial complex, but several annexes to it, have been successfully investigated, more than in any other Mycenaean centre81. None of the above-mentioned buildings, annexes to or ancillary departments of the palace were of lesser importance. On the contrary, they all produced significant finds, among them precious prestige items as well as Linear B documents. The latter have come to light at more than six different spots of the acropolis.

75 76

77 78 79 80 81

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Chadwick 1987, 11; Shelmerdine 1998; Aravantinos 1999a; 2010a; 2010b. For general information on the tablets, see Ventris – Chadwick 1973; Chadwick 1987. On Theban Linear B documents, see Catling et al. 1980; Aravantinos 1987, 33–40; 1990; 1996a; 1996b; 1999a; 2008a; 2008b; 2010b; Aravantinos et al. 1995; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2006; 2008; Piteros et al. 1990; Killen 1992; 1994; 1996; 2006; Andrikou et al. 2006; Nosch 2008; Alberti et al. 2012. Aravantinos 1996a; 1996b; 2000a; 2000b; 2000d; 2009c; 2010a; 2010b. Aravantinos 2000a; 2000b; 2009c; 2010a; Papadaki 2008, 219–252. Foltiny 1967, 11–37; Aravantinos 2000b; 2009c, 41–65. Aravantinos 2000a; 2000b; 2009c; 2010a; 2010b; Papadaki 2008. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981; Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Faraklas 1998, 179–192; Dakouri et al. 2003, 49–56; Aravantinos 2010a. Most of them have been partially published or only briefly presented, while for some others there is not even a brief report.

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Fig. 16: Thebes. Kadmeia. The Room of the Pithoi in the Mycenaean palace (Photo by and courtesy of author)

The complex, which continues to be called conventionally the House of Kadmos was itself a vital part of the palatial administrative complex. Additional work carried out in the Room of the Treasure (Figs. 3. 15) has revealed the expected continuity of the sturdy external walls southwards and westwards (1996/1997, 2005), forming the now recognizable north-eastern corner82. This building housed the large collections of gold jewellery and stone cylinder seals as well as others of lapis lazuli, mixed up with seals and jewellery made of other raw or even scrap materials83. The rulers who dominated Thebes in the second half of the 13th century BC owned the rich collections of the Treasury (Hom. ›thalamos‹), showing them off to their guests as a Homeric king used to do some centuries later84. The various exotic artefacts and raw materials came to Thebes, perhaps through the region of Tanagra, as royal heirlooms from the harbours of the Eastern Mediterranean, being gifts or rather exchange gifts85. The complementary excavation of the Treasury and its neighbouring storeroom led to the discovery of some stacked pithoi, whose contents have not yet been analysed (Figs 3. 16). The Room of the Pithoi to the south of the Treasury was found packed with large storage pithoi, probably once containing olive oil, wine or other commodities. On a floor with wall-paintings, collected and buried in pits, were erected the foundations of the palatial building, known as the New Palace86. It has now been ascertained that this building was erected on the destruction

82

83 84 85

86

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Platon –Touloupa 1964a; 1964b; Aravantinos 2001a; 2001d; 2002; 2010a; 2010b; Aravantinos et al. 2008; Petrakos 2012, 53–57. Porada 1981, 1–78; Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981; Aruz 2008; Aravantinos 2010b. Foltiny 1967; Aravantinos 2000a; 2000b; 2010b. For the movement of goods and precious materials across the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, see Zaccagnini 1987, 47–56; Cline 1990 with all the previous bibliography; Liverani 2001; Aruz 2008; Aravantinos 2009b. Aravantinos 2001d; 2002; Aravantinos – Fappas 2015.

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Fig. 18: Thebes. Kadmeia. The inscribed clay sealing TH Wu 429 with a seal impression of bull-leaping from the Treasury (Photo by and courtesy of S. Mavrommatis)

Fig. 17: Thebes. Kadmeia. The tablet TH Uq 434 from the Room of the Pithoi (Photo by and courtesy of S. Mavrommatis)

Fig. 19: Thebes. Kadmeia. The inscribed sealing TH Wu 430 from the Treasury (Photo by and courtesy of S. Mavrommatis)

level to which the Kadmeion belonged. These two phases were also noted by the excavators in the past (1963–1965), when only a small part of the complex was uncovered87. Moreover, Linear B documents belonging to two administrative levels (i.e. sealings and tablets) were discovered in these two rooms, probably from a discarded local archival deposit. Two tablets, in the shape of a small and a large page respectively, and some clay prismatic nodules bearing seal impressions and inscriptions, were uncovered from the thick burned debris of the destruction. Among the pithoi was found a large page-shaped tablet (TH Uq 434: Fig. 17) in three fragments. Its text refers to hides collected from various individuals as a contribution paid by each one under different conditions88. On a sealing (TH Wu 429: Fig. 18) with a bull-leaping scene, the ideogram *180 is ligatured with the syllable di used as an acrophonic abbreviation which stands for di-pte-ra, diphtherā (cf. διφθέρα), an entry used for animal skins, destined perhaps for making a type of parchment89. Another sealing (TH Wu 430: Fig. 19) is inscribed with the rare word e-pi*19-ta, which refers to spare parts for chariots90.

87 88 89 90

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Platon – Touloupa 1964a; 1964b; Aravantinos 2001a; 2001d; 2002. Aravantinos et al. 2002; 2006, 1–9; 2008, 23–33. Aura Jorro 1985; Aravantinos 2001d, 263; 2004, 551; Aravantinos et al. 2002, 215; 2006, 4; 2008. Aura Jorro 1985; Aravantinos 2004, 554; Aravantinos et al. 2002, 216; 2006, 5 f.; 2008.

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The discovery of Linear B documents in the place in which the Oriental cylinder seals were also found, strongly argues for these rooms also to be considered parts of the central palace complex on the Kadmeia91. The issue of the Mycenaean palace of Thebes continues to be the most discussed and admittedly the most relevant and attractive one. It has been observed that dating the palace is one of the most difficult problems92. The excavations at the beginning of the 20th century sought to identify the central palace of Thebes, but they were fragmentary and finally associated with mythology, reproducing outdated and biased interpretations of the extant data. The well-built foundations, the life-size wall-paintings, the workshops and storerooms full of prestige objects and jewellery of a high technical level, together with the inscriptions on large stirrup jars, were ascribed to the ruins of a true palace, similar to those of Knossos, Tiryns and Mycenae. Then the issue of its identification, and further investigation, was closed and not re-opened for decades. In the following years excavation finds, in combination with written evidence, provided at last a representative picture of the size of the Mycenaean city, its fortifications, its burial grounds, the everyday activities that took place inside and outside the walls and the form of its buildings and their furnishings, including architectural details and wall-paintings93. In spite of the fragmentary nature of the available evidence, Thebes appears to have been equal in its standards of quality to the other great Mycenaean palatial powers of Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and Knossos, in each of the above-mentioned sectors of material culture and art. Moreover, with regard to the art of painting in particular, at Thebes a unique combination of finds from residential quarters and from burial contexts can be observed. There is a great variety of painted material, including architectural structures (walls, floors, door frames, and benches) and movable clay objects (offering tables, figurines, six-sided prismatic plaques, vases, bathtubs, and larnakes)94. When the northeast corner of a monumental building with rich contents was discovered, just to the south of the Kadmeion, it was named ›New Kadmeion‹ or ›New Palace‹ since the first ›Old Palace‹ was then taken for granted. But even the idea of a unified central palatial building, extending in width and length over many central building blocks of the city, did not take into account that the eastern wall of the Treasury continued straight on to the south, leaving out of this outline other excavated areas of the citadel and especially the Armoury. The Treasure Room that came to light in the north-eastern corner of this building betrays richness, power and international relationships while the high quality wall-painting decoration shares similarities to those from the Argolid, especially from Mycenae95. It is obvious that this very small part of the building is now considered a foretaste of the main body of the central palatial complex, from the architectural as well as administrative points of view. This means that the central core of the palace, with its courts, archives, large weaponries, rooms, wall-paintings and all the other main components, is still buried under deep deposits. A very small part of it was discovered during excavations by Touloupa and Platon (1963–1965),

91 92

93

94 95

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Aravantinos 2001a; 2001b; 2005b, 317; 2008a; Aravantinos et al. 2008. Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Faraklas 1998; Aravantinos 2010a. Field research, conservation and study aiming at the discovery of new epigraphic and archaeological data that will define and date the Mycenaean palatial complex (approved by the Ministry of Culture and Sport and under the auspices of the Athens Archaeological Society) is carried out thanks to the financial support of INSTAP in cooperation with the 9th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. See Petrakos 2012, 53–57. The support of the municipality of Thebes, of many citizens, especially young volunteers and the help we receive from donors and supporters, wishing to remain anonymous, are vital for the progress of our research programme. Aravantinos 1988; 1991; 1996a, 260 f. fig. 1. For cemeteries see Aravantinos – Fappas 2009. For a brief outline of the most important excavated buildings within the Kadmeia acropolis (i.e. buildings which may once have been parts or annexes of the Mycenaean palace of Thebes), see Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981; Demakopoulou 1988; 1990; Faraklas 1998. Aravantinos – Fappas 2015. Boulotis 2000; Aravantinos – Fappas 2015.

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Fig. 20: Thebes. Kadmeia. Plan of the excavated parts of the central Mycenaean palace (Drawing by S. Kazakidis. Courtesy of the archives of the Ephorate of Boeotia)

Spyropoulos (1970/1971) and myself (1996/1997, 2005, 2012/2013)96. In these few and partly-excavated rooms (Fig. 20), three groups of Linear B documents (tablets and sealings) have been found so far, but not yet the central archives97. Notwithstanding, the status of knowledge of Mycenaean bureaucratic practices leads one to envisage, as at Pylos, a huge man-power in the service of the palace of Thebes. At Pylos the personnel recorded in the documents from the archive are estimated to reach about eight thousand persons. At Thebes, it might have reached eight or even ten thousand. This evidence suggests that the larger number of buildings belonging to the palatial complex was a necessity. Each one of them had strictly ascribed functions and obligations, as we learn from the inter-palatial study of tablets, and especially from those of the Theban archives. Buildings could be classified on the basis of their contents and structure, as well as according to the tablets’ texts, as departments, offices, archives, workshops, redistribution storerooms, shrines, leisure halls or residences of officials or officers of all levels and ranks. They were allocated across the citadel, near and around the central complex, the basic administrative core and the centre of all political, economic and religious activities. Together they represent the nature of the palace as

96 97

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Aravantinos 2000a, 27–59; 2001a; 2001b; 2010b; Aravantinos – Fappas 2015. Aravantinos 1999a; Aravantinos et al. 2002; 2003; 2006; 2008.

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an administrative centre and as an industrial and economic machine. It was, as for example at Pylos, a strongly centralised system. At this point solving old problems and correcting new misunderstandings relevant to the issues examined above seems possible. On all these issues palatial Thebes stands between old traditions and radical innovations. In our way of thinking, archaeological, textual and natural scientific data are reflexively related. Any class of information may contradict another one, forcing us to reconsider the so-far received wisdom and long-cherished interpretations of the past. In that palatial period Thebes emerged as the main administrative centre of a large, powerful Mycenaean state that exercised its influence on the political scene of the time. Starting with a comparative study of finds from recent and earlier excavations conducted at Thebes, it is possible now to sketch a picture of its administrative centre during the Mycenaean palatial period (1400–1200 BC)98. For reasons not well known so far, Thebes became a fully-developed palatial centre between c. 1400 to 1200 BC. Each palace exercised combined administrative, economic, commercial, religious or ceremonial, military, possibly social – and in general political – functions in its territory. In other words the palace, using its fortified citadel and a rigid highly-centralised administrative system with highly hierarchically-stratified and qualified personnel, controlled the society as well as the state’s resources, including those of the sanctuaries99. By the end of the 13th century BC the Theban state began to be threatened by unknown factors to which it finally succumbed. The fortified citadel was destroyed rather suddenly by a strong fire, and afterwards was gradually or partially abandoned. As yet there is not enough evidence to permit a full explanation for these developments that resulted in the break-up of the Mycenaean palace system at Thebes in the transition from LH IIIB to IIIC (c. 1200–1180 BC)100. But a combination of factors rather than a single cause, whether human or natural, was most likely responsible. It is hoped that future discoveries and continued study of the finds from the old and most recent excavations will throw plenty of light on the less-well known, but no less important aspects of Mycenaean palatial civilisation at Thebes. Thebes today can at last offer all the necessary material for further investigation and interpretation of its Mycenaean palatial period. The evaluation of past discoveries begins to be completed now, as the archaeological material taken out of its quantitative and ›raw‹ state is placed within the framework of a synthetic narrative. Re-evaluation of the old interpretations by confronting old problems with new ideas and new ways of looking and thinking, occupies a central place in the archaeological discourse dedicated to Mycenaean Thebes. Using the evidence, but without overriding it, archaeological work in Thebes will be capable to articulate in the near future a modern, multilateral interpretative approach, conscious that the final goal of archaeology is interpretation. Bibliography Alberti et al. 2012 M. E. Alberti – V. L. Aravantinos – M. Del Freo – I. Fappas – A. Papadaki – F. Rougemont, Textile Production in Mycenaean Thebes. A First Overview, in: M.-L. Nosch – R. Laffineur (eds), KOSMOS. Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 13th International Aegean Conference, University of Copenhagen, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, 21–26 April 2010, Aegaeum 33 (Liège 2012) 87–107.

98

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Keramopoullos 1917, 2–32. 80–252; 1930; Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981, 18–27; Symeonoglou 1985, 26–63; Aravantinos 2009b. For resources related to religion in the Mycenaean palace economy, see Killen 1984; 1985; 1992; 1994; 1996; 2006; Lupack 1999, 25–34; 2008; Bendall 2007; 2008. Aravantinos 1985, 349–357; Andrikou et al. 2006.

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Aravantinos 2000b V. L. Aravantinos, Νέα μυκηναϊκά ελεφαντουργήματα από την Καδμεία (Θήβα), in: V. L. Aravantinos (ed.), Γ᾽ διεθνές συνέδριο Bοιωτικών Mελετών, Θήβα, 4–8 Σεπτεμβρίου 1996, EpetBoiotMel 3/1 (Athens 2000) 31–120. Aravantinos 2000c V. L. Aravantinos, Θήβα. Οδός Πελοπίδου 28 (μυκηναϊκό αρχείο), ADelt 50 Β1, 1995 (2000), 275–278. Aravantinos 2000d V. L. Aravantinos, Θήβα. Οδός Πελοπίδου 28 (›οπλοθήκη‹), ADelt 50 Β1, 1995 (2000), 278–281. Aravantinos 2001a V. L. Aravantinos, Contenu, contexte et fonction du trésor du palais mycénien de Thèbes (Béotie): une approche économique et administrative, Ktema 26, 2001, 87–99. Aravantinos 2001b V. L. Aravantinos, Influenze orientali a Tebe? La documentazione archeologica ed epigrafica micenea, in: S. Ribichini – M. Rocchi – P. Xella (eds), La questione delle influenze vicino-orientali sulla religione greca. Stato degli studi e prospettive della ricerca. Atti del colloquio internazionale, Roma, 20–22 maggio 1999 (Rome 2001) 363–372. Aravantinos 2001c V. L. Aravantinos, Θήβα. Οικόπεδο Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Θηβών, ADelt 51 Β1, 1996 (2001), 259–261. Aravantinos 2001d V. L. Aravantinos, Καδμείο (›Δωμάτιο του Θησαυρού‹), ADelt 51 Β1, 1996 (2001), 262–264. Aravantinos 2002 V. L. Aravantinos, Καδμείο (›Δωμάτιο του Θησαυρού‹), ADelt 52 B1, 1997 (2002), 359–363. Aravantinos 2005 V. L. Aravantinos, To Have and to Hoard: A Gold Disc from the Palace of Thebes, in: A. Dakouri-Hild – S. Sherratt (eds), Autochthon. Papers Presented to O.T.P.K. Dickinson on the Occasion of his Retirement, BARIntSer 1432 (Oxford 2005) 252–258. Aravantinos 2006 V. L. Aravantinos, Le cas de Thèbes (Béotie): mythe, idéologie et recherche au début du XXe siècle, in: P. Darcque – M. Fotiadis – O. Polychronopoulou (eds), Mythos: la préhistoire égéenne du XIXe au XXIe siècle après J.-C. Actes de la table ronde internationale d’Athènes (21–23 novembre 2002), BCH Suppl. 46 (Paris 2006) 165–174. Aravantinos 2007 V. L. Aravantinos, H εικόνα του μυκηναϊκού κόσμου στην ελληνική μυθολογία. Η αρχαιολογική άποψη του ελληνικού μύθου, in: K. Bourazelis – M. Stefanou (eds), Mythos with Logos. Dialogues on the Essence and Timeless Value of Ancient Greek Myths, Ag. Kirikos, Ikaria, June 17–20, 2005 (Athens 2007) 229–252. Aravantinos 2008a V. L. Aravantinos, Le iscrizioni in Lineare B rinvenute a Tebe in Beozia. Osservazioni storico-topografiche sulle scoperte, in: A. Sacconi – M. Del Freo – L. Godart – M. Negri (eds), Colloquium Romanum. Atti del XII colloquio internazionale di micenologia, Roma, 20–25 febbraio 2006 (Pisa 2008) Pasiphae 1, 9–21. Aravantinos 2008b V. L. Aravantinos, Τα τοπωνύμια των πινακίδων Γραμμικής Β των Θηβών. Συμβολή στη γεωγραφία της μυκηναϊκής Βοιωτίας, in: V. L. Aravantinos (ed.), Δ᾽ διεθνές συνέδριο Bοιωτικών Mελετών, Λιβαδειά, 9–12 Σεπτεμβρίου 2000, EpetBoiotMel 4/1 (Athens 2008) 123–180. Aravantinos 2009a V. L. Aravantinos, Boeotia. Historical and Archaeological Background, in: Α. Vlachopoulos (ed.), Archaeology. Euboea & Central Greece (Athens 2009) 214–227. Aravantinos 2009b V. L. Aravantinos, Thebes, in: A. Vlachopoulos (ed.), Archaeology. Euboea & Central Greece (Athens 2009) 234–247. Aravantinos 2009c V. L. Aravantinos, Μυκηναϊκά παραγναθίδια (παρήια) χαλινών. Ένα παλιό ερμηνευτικό αίνιγμα, in: D. Danielidou (ed.), Δώρον. Τιμητικός τόμος για τον καθηγητή Σπύρο Ιακωβίδη (Athens 2009) 41–65.

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Catling et al. 1980 H. W. Catling – J. F. Cherry – R. E. Jones – J. T. Killen, The Linear B Inscribed Stirrup Jars and West Crete, BSA 75, 1980, 49–113. Chadwick 1987 J. Chadwick, Linear B and Related Scripts (London 1987). Cline 1994 E. H. Cline, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International Trade and the Late Bronze Age Aegean, BARIntSer 591 (Oxford 1994). Dakouri-Hild 2001 A. Dakouri-Hild, The House of Kadmos in Mycenaean Thebes Reconsidered: Architecture, Chronology and Context, BSA 96, 2001, 81–122. Dakouri-Hild 2005 A. Dakouri-Hild, Breaking the Mould? Production and Economy in the Theban State, in: A. Dakouri-Hild – S. Sherratt (eds), Autochthon. Papers Presented to O.T.P.K. Dickinson on the Occasion of his Retirement, BARIntSer 1432 (Oxford 2005) 207–241. Dakouri-Hild 2012 A. Dakouri-Hild, Making La différence: The Production and Consumption of Ornaments in Late Bronze Age Boeotia, in: M.-L. Nosch – R. Laffineur (eds), KOSMOS. Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 13th International Aegean Conference, University of Copenhagen, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, 21–26 April 2010, Aegaeum 33 (Liège 2012) 471–481. Dakouri-Hild et al. 2003 A. Dakouri-Hild – E. Andrikou – V. L. Aravantinos – E. Kountouri, A GIS in Boeotian Thebes: Taking Measures for Heritage Management. Archaeological Research and Public Outreach, in: K. P. Foster – R. Laffineur (eds), METRON. Measuring the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 9th International Aegean Conference, New Haven, Yale University, 18–21 April 2002, Aegaeum 24 (Liège 2003) 49–56. Demakopoulou 1988 K. Demakopoulou, To μυκηναϊκό ανάκτορο της Θήβας. Προβλήματα ταύτισης και χρονολόγησης, in: A. P. Bekiaris (ed.), Proceedings of the 1st International Congress of Boeotian Studies, Thebes 10–14 September 1986, EpetBoiotMel 1 (Athens 1988) 75–87. Demakopoulou 1990 K. Demakopoulou, Palatial and Domestic Architecture in Mycenaean Thebes, in: P. Darcque – R. Treuil (eds), L’habitat égéen préhistorique. Actes de la table ronde internationale, Athènes, 23–25 juin 1987, BCH Suppl. 19 (Paris 1990) 307–317. Demakopoulou – Konsola 1981 K. Demakopoulou – D. Konsola, Archaeological Museum of Thebes (Athens 1981). Dickinson 1977 O. T. P. K. Dickinson, The Origins of Mycenaean Civilisation, SIMA 49 (Gothenburg 1977). Driessen 2008 J. Driessen, Chronology of the Linear B Tablets, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B. Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 1, BCILL 120 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2008) 69–80. Edwards 1979 R. B. Edwards, Kadmos the Phoenician. A Study in Greek Legends and the Mycenaean Age (Amsterdam 1979). Faraklas 1998 N. Faraklas, Θηβαϊκά, ΑΕphem 1996 (1998), 1–238. Foltiny 1967 S. Foltiny, The Ivory Horse Bits of Homer and the Bone Horse Bits of Reality, BJb 167, 1967, 11–37. Helck 1979 W. Helck, Die Beziehungen Ägyptens und Vorderasiens zur Ägäis bis ins 7. Jahrhundert v. Chr. (Darmstadt 1979).

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Iakovidis 1983 S. Iakovidis, Late Helladic Citadels on Mainland Greece (Leiden 1983). Iakovidis 1990 S. Iakovidis, Mycenaean Roofs. Form and Construction, in: P. Darcque – R. Treuil (eds), L’habitat égéen préhistorique. Actes de la table ronde internationale, Athènes, 23–25 juin 1987, BCH Suppl. 19 (Paris 1990) 147–160. Iakovidis 2001 S. Iakovidis, Gla and the Kopais in the 13th Century BC (Athens 2001). Keramopoullos 1909 A. Keramopoullos, Η Οικία του Κάδμου, ΑΕphem 1909, 58–122. Keramopoullos 1910 A. Keramopoullos, Ανασκαφή τάφων εν Θήβαις, Prakt 1910, 152–158. Keramopoullos 1917 A. Keramopoullos, Θηβαϊκά, ΑDelt 3, 1917, 1–503. Keramopoullos 1930 A. Keramopoullos, Αι βιομηχανίαι και το εμπόριον του Κάδμου, ΑEphem 1930, 29–58. Killen 1984 J. T. Killen, The Textile Industries of Pylos and Knossos, in: T. G. Palaima – C. W. Shelmerdine (eds), Pylos Comes Alive. Industry and Administration in a Mycenaean Palace (New York 1984) 49–63. Killen 1985 J. T. Killen, The Linear B Tablets and the Mycenaean Economy, in: A. Morpurgo Davies – Y. Duhoux (eds), Linear B: A 1984 Survey. Proceedings of the Mycenaean Colloquium of the 8th Congress of the International Federation of the Societies of Classical Studies, Dublin, 27 August – 1st September 1984, BCILL 26 (Louvain-la-Neuve 1985) 241–305. Killen 1992 J. T. Killen, Observations on the Thebes Sealings, in: J.-P. Olivier (ed.), MYKENAÏKA. Actes du IXe colloque international sur les textes mycéniens et égéens organisé par le Centre de l’Antiquité Grecque et Romaine de la Fondation Hellénique des Recherches Scientifiques et l’École française d’Athènes (Athènes, 2–6 octobre 1990), BCH Suppl. 25 (Paris 1992) 365–380. Killen 1994 J. T. Killen, Thebes Sealings, Knossos Tablets and Mycenaean State Banquets, BICS 39, 1994, 67–84. Killen 1996 J. T. Killen, Thebes Sealings and Knossos Tablets, in: E. de Miro – L. Godart – A. Sacconi (eds), Atti e memorie del secondo congresso internationale di micenologia 1, Roma–Napoli, 14–20 ottobre 1991, Incunabula Graeca 98 (Rome 1996) 71–82. Killen 2006 J. T. Killen, Thoughts on the Functions of the New Thebes Tablets, in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – O. Panagl (eds), Die neuen Linear B-Texte aus Theben. Ihr Aufschlußwert für die mykenische Sprache und Kultur. Akten des internationalen Forschungskolloquiums an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 5.–6. Dezember 2002, Veröffentlichungen der Mykenischen Kommission 23 (Vienna 2006) 79–110. Kopanias 2008 K. Kopanias, The Late Bronze Age Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from Thebes (Greece) and their Historical Implications, AM 123, 2008, 39–96. Liverani 2001 M. Liverani, International Relations in the Ancient Near East, 1600–1100 BC. Studies in Diplomacy (New York 2001). Lupack 1999 S. Lupack, Palaces, Sanctuaries and Workshops: The Role of the Religious Sector in Mycenaean Economics, in: M. L. Galaty – W. A. Parkinson (eds), Rethinking Mycenaean Palaces. New Interpretations of an Old Idea (Los Angeles 1999) 25–34.

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Lupack 2008 S. Lupack, The Role of the Religious Sector in the Economy of Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece, BARIntSer 1858 (Oxford 2008). McDonald – Thomas 1990 W. McDonald – C. Thomas, Progress into the Past. The Rediscovery of Mycenaean Civilization ²(Bloomington 1990). Melena – Olivier 1991 J. L. Melena – J.-P. Olivier, TITHEMY. The Tablets and Nodules in Linear B from Tiryns, Thebes and Mycenae, Minos Suppl. 12 (Salamanca 1991). Mylonas 1966 G. E. Mylonas, Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age (Princeton 1966). Nosch 2008 M.-L. B. Nosch, The Mycenaean Textile Industry on the Kadmeia, in: V. L. Aravantinos (ed.), Δ᾽ διεθνές συνέδριο Bοιωτικών Mελετών, Λιβαδειά, 9–12 Σεπτεμβρίου 2000, EpetBoiotMel 4/1 (Athens 2008) 191–202. Palaima 2004 T. G. Palaima, Sacrificial Feasting in the Linear B Documents, in: J. Wright (ed.), The Mycenaean Feast, Hesperia 73, 2004, 97–126. Papadaki 2008 A. Papadaki, Τεχνικές της κατεργασίας του ελεφαντόδοντου στη μυκηναϊκή Θήβα. Μερικές παρατηρήσεις, in: V. L. Aravantinos (ed.), Δ᾽ διεθνές συνέδριο Bοιωτικών Mελετών, Λιβαδειά, 9–12 Σεπτεμβρίου 2000, EpetBoiotMel 4/1 (Athens 2008) 219–252. Papazoglou-Manioudaki 1990 L. Papazoglou-Manioudaki, Ορχομενός, in: K. Demakopoulou (ed.), Τροία, Μυκήνες, Τίρυνς, Ορχομενός. Εκατό χρόνια από το θάνατο του Ερρίκου Σλήμαν (Athens 1990) 130–136. Pini 1975 I. Pini, Kleinere griechische Sammlungen, CMS V (Berlin 1975). Petrakos 2012 V. Petrakos, Θήβα, Ergon 2012, 53–57. Piteros et al. 1990 Chr. Piteros – J.-P. Olivier – J. L. Melena, Les inscriptions en linéaire B des nodules de Thèbes (1982): la fouille, les documents, les possibilités d’interprétation, BCH 114, 1990, 103–184. Platon – Touloupa 1964a N. Platon – E. Touloupa, Oriental Seals from the Palace of Cadmus: Unique Discoveries in Boeotian Thebes, Illustrated London News, 28 November 1964, 859–861. Platon – Touloupa 1964b N. Platon – E. Touloupa, Ivories and Linear B from Thebes, Illustrated London News, 5 December 1964, 896–897. Porada 1981 E. Porada, The Cylinder Seals Found at Thebes in Boeotia, AfO 28, 1981, 1–78. Raison 1968 J. Raison, Les vases à inscriptions peintes de l’âge mycénien et leur contexte archéologique, Incunabula Graeca 19 (Rome 1968). Rutter 2003 J. Rutter, Korakou. Old Approaches, New Problems, in: C. K. Williams – N. Bookidis (eds), Corinth, the Centenary: 1896–1996, Corinth 20 (Princeton 2003) 75–83. Schachner 2011 A. Schachner, Hattuscha. Auf der Suche nach dem sagenhaften Großreich der Hethiter (Munich 2011).

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Shelmerdine 1997 C. W. Shelmerdine, Review of Aegean Prehistory VI: The Palatial Bronze Age of the Southern and Central Greek Mainland, AJA 101, 1997, 537–585. Shelmerdine 1998 C. W. Shelmerdine, Where Do we Go from here? And How Can the Linear B Tablets Help us Go there?, in: E. H. Cline – D. Harris-Cline (eds), The Aegean and the Orient in the Second Millennium. Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Symposium, Cincinnati, 18–20 April 1997, Aegaeum 18 (Liège 1998) 291–299. Snodgrass 1975 A. Snodgrass, Review of S. Symeonoglou, Kadmeia 1. Mycenaean Finds from Thebes, Greece: Excavation at 14 Oedipus Street (Gothenburg 1973), Gnomon 47, 1975, 313–316. Sotiriadis 1914 G. Sotiriadis, Περί της τοπογραφίας των αρχαίων Θηβών (Athens 1914). Spyropoulos 1971 Th. Spyropoulos, Μυκηναϊκός βασιλικός θαλαμωτός τάφος εν Θήβαις, AAA 4, 1971, 160–164. Spyropoulos 1977 Th. Spyropoulos, Θήβαι. Μεγάλο Καστέλλι, ADelt 27 Β2, 1972 (1977), 309–312. Spyropoulos – Chadwick 1975 Th. Spyropoulos – J. Chadwick, The Thebes Tablets 2, Minos Suppl. 4 (Salamanca 1975). Symeonoglou 1985 S. Symeonoglou, The Topography of Thebes from the Bronze Age to Modern Times (Princeton 1985). Tzonou-Herbst 2010 I. Tzonou-Herbst, Ἡ πρώτη πόλη τῆς Κορίνθου: ἔρευνες στὸ Κοράκου 1915–2008, in: I. Giannaropoulou (ed.), Acts of the VIII International Congress of Peloponnesian Studies, Corinth, 26–28 September 2008 (Athens 2010) 47–56. Ventris – Chadwick 1973 M. Ventris – J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek ²(Cambridge 1973). Vian 1963 F. Vian, Les origines de Thèbes. Cadmos e les Spartes (Paris 1963). Wright 2005 J. Wright, Offsets in Mycenaean Architecture, in: A. Dakouri-Hild – S. Sherratt (eds), Autochthon. Papers Presented to O. T. P. K. Dickinson on the Occasion of his Retirement, BARIntSer 1432 (Oxford 2005) 191–199. Zaccagnini 1987 C. Zaccagnini, Aspects of Ceremonial Gift Exchange in the Near East during the Late Second Millennium BC, in: M. Rowlands – M. T. Larsen – K. Kristiansen (eds), Centre and Periphery in the Ancient World (Cambridge 1987) 47–56.

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The Mycenaean Settlement at Pefkakia: The Harbour of Iolkos?* Anthi Batziou-Efstathiou Abstract: Magoula-Pefkakia, located on the south side of Volos, constitutes a well-known prehistoric site, occupied from the Final Neolithic to the end of the Mycenaean period and first excavated by D. Theocharis and V. Milojčić in the 1950s and 1960s. The first definite evidence for the existence of a Mycenaean settlement beyond the area previously excavated was found between 1986 and 1991. During the last three years of excavation at the site, parts of a new undisturbed set of building structures were located and dated to the time when the settlement reached its peak; in other words in the period LH IIIA2–IIIB. The idiosyncratic and unexpected character of the architectural features as well as the portable finds from these buildings invites serious speculation about their use. The abrupt and final abandonment of the settlement occurs at the end of the LH IIIB2/LH IIIC Early period, i.e. at the end of the 13th century BC and the beginning of the 12th century BC. That means it took place immediately after the last Mycenaean koine and the destruction of the palatial centres.

»Ἡ Νήλεια εἶναι κατ’ οὐσίαν ὁ λιμήν τῆς Ἰωλκοῦ« D. R. Theocharis1 Magoula-Pefkakia lies 1.5 km south of the modern city of Volos (Fig. 1). Archaeological finds dated to the Mycenaean period became known towards the end of the 19th century, when illegal excavations brought to light an unknown number of tombs that P. Wolters published in 1889 (Figs. 2–5)2. Some years later A. Arvanitopoulos mentioned that the site had been excavated for many years ago and that he had found Mycenaean pottery, figurines and tombs3. D. Theocharis conducted a stratigraphic research to the southwest of the Magoula, where he uncovered successive archaeological embankments dated from the end of the Neolithic to LH IIIC Early4. To the east of the stratigraphic trench he excavated a large building with many rooms. He expressed the opinion that some of them were used as a workshop for the elaboration of murex. D. Theocharis continued the excavations in cooperation with V. Milojčić during the years 1967–19775.



*

1 2 3 4 5

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Many thanks are owed to the Organising Committee of the International Symposium ›Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities‹ held at Vienna in March 2013 and especially to S. Deger-Jalkotzy for inviting me to attend the Symposium as well as for the splendid hospitality in Vienna. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Institute for Aegean Prehistory and Psycha Foundation of Athens for their help and support for the Pefkakia project. Lastly I would also like to thank Dr. D. Rousioti, Dr. Gr. Stournaras, Ath. Efthymiopoulos, Alex. Efthymiopoulos and Dem. Efstathiou for their professional contribution to the project. Theocharis 1957, 69. Wolters 1889, 262–270. Arvanitopoulos 1912, 172–175. Theocharis 1957, 54–69. Milojčić 1973; 1974, 43–75. See also Maran 1992.

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Fig. 1: Pefkakia, aerial view (courtesy of author)

Fig. 2: Pottery from the Mycenaean tombs (courtesy of author)

Fig. 4: Pottery from the Mycenaean tombs (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 3: Pottery from the Mycenaean tombs (courtesy of author)

Fig. 5: Pottery from the Mycenaean tombs (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 6: Plan of the current excavation (courtesy of author)

Excavations to the South of Magoula-Pefkakia The first indications of the existence of Mycenaean finds beyond the limits of Magoula-Pefkakia came through excavations by A. Arvanitopoulos, near a temple of Cybele6 and were proved by our excavations (during the years 1988–1991) that took place in a field in the south of MagoulaPefkakia, where the sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods came to light7. The area of the recent excavation project that constitutes the main issue of the current paper is located in the southeast area of Magoula-Pefkakia (Fig. 1)8. The excavations began in 1986 and went on periodically until 19919. From 2006 a new excavation project began with the support of the Institute for Aegean Prehistory and the Psycha Foundation of Athens10. The buildings that belong to the Mycenaean settlement are located beneath the Hellenistic strata of ancient Demetrias. All of them have stone foundations and mud-brick upper structures. The rooms are paved with earth and some walls are covered with clay plaster. The first house (Fig. 6, 9−11), which is not fully excavated, is fragmentarily preserved due to the construction of substantial Hellenistic walls. In the northwest corner of the building the entrance leads to a corridor. Remnants of two rooms are preserved on the east side of it. On the northern entrance a threshold is preserved. Several drinking (monochrome and unpainted kylikes) and cooking pots have been found in a pit. On the floor of the south room female and animal figurines as well as stone tools were found.

6 7 8 9 10

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Arvanitopoulos 1916, 121; Kavvadias 1916, 31 (referring to A. Arvanitopoulos). Batziou-Efstathiou, in press. Batziou-Efstathiou 1995a, 227 f.; 1995b, 201. Batziou-Efstathiou 1992a, 279–285; 1992b, 251 f. For the results of the excavation seasons 2006–2008 that have been recently published, see Batziou-Efstathiou 2012, 177–192.

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In the second house (Fig. 6, 1−3. 7) a corridor on the north side (10.5 m × 2.8 m) and three rectangular rooms on the south were excavated. The building is estimated to cover 70 to 80 m2. Next to the north wall of the east room (Room 3) there was a hearth with part of a cooking amphora on it. Among the pottery inside the central room (Room 1) there is a sherd bearing a Cypro-Minoan character incised as a mark11, which implies that this vessel was designated for trading12. On the west side of Room 7 (Fig. 6, 7) a large concentration of painted and plain pottery (deep bowls, kylikes, stirrup jars, cups, cooking pots and a feeding bottle) was found mainly in the western half of the room and a painted krater FS 9 (ΒΕ 41711) next to the west wall13. To the west of Room 7, on a semi-circular construction, an amount of painted and plain pottery was found. This included a painted deep bowl FS 284 (Group A with FM 50 decoration) and cooking pots as well as shells, mainly murex, both intact and broken, and a stone tool perhaps used in association with the shells. The excavation continued to the south of the second house and uncovered two rooms, 4 and 5, that probably belong to a third building. They are bigger than all the other excavated rooms so far and their excavation is still in progress. The dimensions of Room 4 (Fig. 6, 4) are 3.7 m (E−W) and 4.6 m (N−S). The N−S dimension is not the final one: it may be longer, due to part of the excavation that is off limits. The north and east walls are plastered with clay (9 cm thick), which is smoothly inclined to the floor, except in the northeast corner where it is cut vertically, forming a space of 2.3 m by 0.8 m. Next to the east wall there are three holes in the floor, one in the corner, the second 0.9 m away and the third a further 1.1 m distant. These elements probably indicate the existence of a rectangular, wooden construction whose supports were anchored in the three holes. This wooden construction could possibly be used as either a bench or a bed14. On the floor the head of a female figurine was found. The west wall of the room is badly preserved and the stratigraphy is the most disturbed in comparison to the other rooms due to the existence of a large Hellenistic pit (diameter: 1.8 m; depth: 3.0 m). Room 5 is located to the west of Room 4. This is the largest excavated room measuring 4.3 m by 4.0 m (Fig. 6, 5). The walls have a width between 0.65 m to 0.70 m and are preserved to a height of 1.25  m. The superstructure was of mud-brick, evidenced by the multitude of fallen bricks inside the room. The layers in this room were disturbed to a depth of 1.75 m as evidenced by the presence of Hellenistic pottery among the Mycenaean pottery. In the centre of the room there was a stone pile with fallen bricks and white mortar between the stones without any traces of pottery (Fig. 7). Below the stone pile there are layers of burnt clay and ashes. It seems that under the stones there is a hearth in the centre of the room. The floor is primarily made of clay, but in the entrance to the east, in the possible place of the threshold, it is paved with flat rectangular stones. Within 1.2 m of the southwest corner of the south wall of the room, there is an opening of 0.7 m width in the form of a niche where a large quantity of pottery was found. This niche is similar in size and construction to those already identified in two walls situated to the west of this room, on the east and the south of a rectangular hearth, as here. The reasons for the opening and the use of the niches are still being investigated, although it is possible that they are linked to the activities which were taking place in connection with the hearths. A Workshop/Working Area? The undisturbed part of a room (Figs. 6, 6; 7) has been unearthed during the 2011/2012 field seasons. In the centre of the trench, at a depth of 1.5 m, appeared the outline of a roughly ovoid

11 12 13 14

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On the Cypriot syllabary, see Chadwick 1987, 54 fig. 34. For a similar symbol on the handles of a stirrup jar from Tiryns, see Olivier 1988, 267 fig. 5. Batziou-Efstathiou 2012, 180 fig. 7. Darcque 2005, 179.

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Fig. 7: The SW sector of the excavation (courtesy of author)

structure of packed clay, which had been subjected to high temperatures and lined along the north and east sides with a border of coarse fired clay (Fig. 8). This structure encloses a now empty space, probably representing the space once occupied by a clay vessel and only the imprint of which has survived. The shape of the latter resembles that of a clay larnax/bathtub (BE 50885) whose parts were found around the ›clay construction‹ between the hearth and the west wall (Figs. 9; 10 a. b)15. This packed clay was lying on a large, almost rectangular hearth, comprising 1.4 m × 1.3 m of hard, burnt clay within a distinct clay plaster (?) border. At the southeast corner of this border was located a small square hole (0.1 m by 0.115 m) (Fig. 11). The burnt state of the clay-packing around the clay vessel, the imprint of which has survived, and the traces of burning on the hearth underlying and surrounding the clay structure enclosing this vessel suggest that the whole arrangement was meant to heat up the contents. Next to the hearth was also found an object in the form of a hollow tube (BE 50904), which might have been a torch holder or bellow (Fig. 12). The interpretation proposed by Tournavitou16 for the two restored examples from the House of the Sphinxes at Mycenae does not contradict the evidence for activities involving the use of fire and liquid substances. She suggests that these vessels could have served for the decanting of hot oil and the spillage could have been collected in the bowl. Cooking pots, jugs, basins and big jars (Fig. 13 a. b) were found around the hearth

15

16

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The dimensions of the clay larnax are as follows: width: 0.42 m; height: 0.35 m. Its exact length is yet unknown. We estimate that it is 1.0 m long and expect to find other parts of it in the unexcavated south area. Tournavitou 1995, 94–96. See also Karageorghis 1986, 22; Κarantzali 1999, 290 f. fig. 18; Kilian 1986, 152; Darcque 2005, 198.

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Fig. 8: The ›workshop‹ with the packed clay in the centre, the pottery and the four vessels along the west wall (courtesy of author)

Fig. 9: The parts of the clay larnax and the big stirrup jar next to the hearth (courtesy of author)

Fig. 10 a. b: Parts of the clay larnax (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 11: The hearth and the stone ›trapeza‹ in the ›workshop‹ (courtesy of author)

Fig. 12: Hollow tube (courtesy of author)

Fig. 13 a. b: Jar with plastic decoration (courtesy of author)

Fig. 14: The brazier FS 312 (BE 50883) found next to the hearth (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 15: The stone ›trapeza‹ (courtesy of author)

Fig. 16: The pottery and the animal bones between the hearth and the stone ›trapeza‹ (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 18: Stirrup jar FS 171 (BE 50898) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 17: Stirrup jar FS 35 (BE 50899) (courtesy of author)

as well as a brazier FS 312 (BE 50883: Fig. 14) with traces of burning on the inside, related to its common use to transfer coal17. Apart from that usage, this kind of vessel has also been linked to ritual practices as if used for disinfection or as an incense burner. A set of four vessels, associated with the transfer, consumption or distribution of liquids was found along the west wall18 in the following order from north to south (Fig. 8): an unpainted polished large-sized mug FS 226 (BE 50879); a jug FS 110 (BE 50880); a large kylix FS 259 (BE 50881); and a painted, large-sized mug FS 226 (BE 50882). The rectangular flat stone (0.66 m × 0.25 m × 0.08 m) discovered next to the east wall of the room, to the east of the hearth and the clay structure, was lying on two or three rows of small stones embedded in the floor surface (Figs. 11. 15). In the intermediate space, between the rectangular stone and the hearth (Fig. 11) and next to a shallow cavity made in the ground19, an interesting group of finds was uncovered (Fig. 16): It comprises painted and unpainted pottery, mostly open shapes such as carinated cups FS 267 and basins FS 294 (ΒΕ 50922) but also two semi-globular cups FS 215 (ΒΕ 50926, 50927) and a miniature vessel (BE 50814), as well as bones and shells, some of which might have not been placed accidentally in their findspots. All were found above the floor. Samples from the hearth have been collected for future analysis. Between the hearth and the west side of the room, there has been a great concentration of pottery, painted and unpainted, cooking pots and many utensils. All the closed and open shapes associated with consumption of food or liquids of the Mycenaean repertoire are represented in this room, as well as utensils such as the clay larnax, the brazier and the torch holder. A stirrup jar FS 35 (ΒΕ 50899: Fig. 17) with linear decoration, whose false mouth was found with the parts of the clay larnax on the floor and next to the hearth, is the largest vessel of this category found until

17 18 19

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Blegen – Rawson 1966, 352. 412; Tzedakis – Martlew 1999, 134; Bendall 2004, 119; Vitale 2008, 233. The same situation is described in the Mycenaean settlement of Dimini by Adrimi-Sismani 2003, 95. Depth: –2.1 m. Dimensions: 2.6 cm × 3.0 cm. Depth calculated from the cavity’s rim: 6 cm.

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Fig. 21: Straight sided alabastron FS 94 (BE 50916) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 19: Piriform jar FS 35–39 (BE 50896) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 20: Rounded alabastron FS 85 (BE 50917) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 22: Jug FS 110 (BE 50880) (courtesy of author)

now20. The two smaller specimens belong to FS 171–174: one with flower FM 18 on the shoulder (BE 50898: Fig. 18), and one (BE 50928) whose body is only partially preserved. All of them have linear decoration on the body. The piriform jars are represented by two vessels, one (BE 50925) with vertical wavy lines and flower FM 18 on the shoulder, and a jar FS 35–39 (BE 50896) decorated with wavy line FM 53 on the shoulder zone (Fig. 19). A brown strip decorates the upper surface of the lip, the base of the neck and the handles. Part of the body of a large closed vessel with linear decoration perhaps belongs to an amphora FS 69 (BE 50897), whose height is 0.23 m. The clay is brown with a glossy coat and the linear decoration is of red paint. A rounded alabastron FS 85 (ΒΕ 50917) is decorated with rock pattern FM 32 and on its inner side there are signs of the potter’s finger prints (Fig. 20)21. A straight sided alabastron FS 94 (ΒΕ 50916) with an FM 25 bivalve shell on the shoulder

20

21

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The clay with inclusions is very pale brown. The slip is almost yellow and the paint brown. The disk is flat with two concentric circles. In the connection of the false neck with the shoulder there is a plastic ring. The body has linear decoration. The handle has two holes and a wavy line (height: 37.2 cm; disk diameter: 8.5 cm). The rounded alabastron may be dated earlier than all other material from the room because it comes from the earlier layer of habitation, below the floor of this room, as it was collected during our attempt to elicit the jar BE 50886.

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and linear decoration on the body (Fig. 21) is a vessel that is also found in other excavations of the same period22. The jug FS 110 (BE 50880) with a globular shape, a high wide neck and linear decoration (Fig. 22) is one of four vessels that were Fig. 23: Miniature conical cup FS 204–206 (BE 50814) found one after another along the west side (courtesy of author) of the room, between the unpainted mug and oversized kylix FS 259. The almost yellow slip and the brown paint are badly preserved because of poor firing23. A similar jug comes from Kastro (Palia)24. The conical cup FS 204–206 (BE 50814) is a miniature vessel (Fig. 23) with a red band at the rim. It was found near the rectangular stone, the so-called ›trapeza‹. Its small dimensions limit its possible uses25. We must exclude any use for liquids, and as it has no signs of burning it may have been used for the distribution of rations or for the placing of a substance of which a small amount would be sufficient. The conical bowls are known to be of Minoan origin in deposits that might be interpreted as religious, while in the Mycenaean deposits they are more often found among domestic material. Besides this conical cup, at the same place near the rectangular stone trapeza was also found the unpainted conical cup BE 50924. The coexistence of two conical cups in combination with other finds Fig. 24 a. b: Mug FS 226 (BE 50882) could give the stone trapeza both a practical (courtesy of author) and a ritual role. The large mug FS 226 (BE 50882) is one of four vessels that were found one after another along the west side of the room, being the last one to the south (Fig. 24)26. Two large bowls were found in the same area, together with an unpainted one (BE 50879). One wonders about the use of these vessels in the same domestic or workshop area at the same time. It has been suggested that mugs of large scale were probably used for shared consumption and sometimes there are cues about their use for libations27. The large painted mugs in this period are rare in relation to other

22

23 24 25 26

27

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In the islet Mitrou: Vitale 2008, 233 pl. 46 c. In Dimini: Adrimi-Sismani 2003, 82. In Midea, where alabastra of the globular rounded type (FS 85–86) and the straight-sided type (FS 94–96) have been found in a similar context: Demakopoulou 2003, 86. Dimensions: height 18.5 cm; diameter of base: 69 cm. Batziou-Efstathiou 2003, fig. 2. Dimensions: height 1.45 cm; diameter of rim: 7 cm; diameter of base: 4.2 cm. See Shelton 2008, 225 f. The clay is light brown, the slip yellow and the paint red to brown. The strap handle has a reserved triangle on top, and two tails. It is decorated in two zones with curved strips FM 67 and concentric circles on the bottom. There is a reserved band on the inner side of the lip. Adrimi-Sismani 2003, 93; 2004/2005, 40; Shelton 2008, 225.

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Fig. 25: Semi-globular cup FS 215 (BE 50910) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 27: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50900) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 26: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50894) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 28: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50901) (courtesy of author)

shapes: one large mug was found in Midea28, one in Tiryns29, only three at the palace of Pylos30, and two in Dimini31. The lip-band semi-globular cups FS 215 (BE 50910: Fig. 25; BE 50926, 50927) are very common and characteristic in the layers of LH IIIC Early32. The last two of them were found on the floor very near the rectangular stone, together with a basin (BE 50922) and two conical cups (BE 50814, 50824). The three FS 215 cups have a deep hemispherical shape with a protruding mouth and a simple ring base. The interior is monochrome with a reserved circle on the interior base and a band at the rim. The only preserved handle (BE 50927) has a reserved triangle. E. Andrikou assigns the Thebes material to LH IIIB233, contemporary with the LH IIIB Final deposits from the Tiryns ›Unterburg‹. The deep bowls FS 284 Group A are the most common shape with typical LH IIIB2 decorative motifs such as FM 75 triglyph central, in combination with FM 43 isolated semi-circles (Fig. 26) and the interior monochrome (BE 50894). Similar examples come from the Barbouna area in Asine, Aigeira and Nichoria34. The bowl BE 50900 has a monochrome interior and is decorated with FM 75 triglyph central, with chevrons and a wavy line above them, in combination with FM 51 stemmed spiral (Fig. 27)35. The decoration of the deep bowl BE 50901 (Fig. 28) is very popular in LH IIIC Early and in the Transitional Period at Tiryns36, Kastro (Palia)37 and Dimini38.

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

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Demakopoulou 2003, 85. Stockhammer 2009, 70. Bendall 2004, 118. Adrimi-Sismani 2004/2005, 40 fig. 26. Aravantinos 1996; Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 9; Deger-Jalkotzy 2003, 57 figs. 2, 2; 6, 3; Darcque 2005, fig. 62 d. Andrikou 1999, 86. Tzedakis – Martlew 1999, 204 f. n. 208; Deger-Jalkotzy 2003, fig. 3, 4; Vitale 2006, 185 fig. 7, 2; 189 fig. 9, 1. 2. Demakopoulou 2003, 82 fig. 5, 1. Vitale 2006, 182 fig. 4, 2. Batziou-Efstathiou 2003, 254 fig. 2. Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 8 (ΒΕ 36008).

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Fig. 29: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50903) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 30: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50902) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 31: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50892) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 32: Deep bowl FS 284 (BE 50893) (courtesy of author)

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The interior is monochrome with a reserved circle on the interior base. It is decorated with FM 46 running spiral. The bowl ΒΕ 50903 (Fig. 29) is decorated with a simplified version of isolated semicircles in panel FM 43. There is one deep bowl with dotted rim FS 284 (BE 50902) and small splashes on the handles (Fig. 30). The interior is monochrome with a reserved circle on the interior base. It has the shape of the socalled ›rosette type‹ but instead of the rosette it is decorated with a strip of N-pattern on the belly and two horizontal strips39. The two deep bowls BE 50892 and BE 50893 (Figs. 31. 32) belong to Type 2 of the so-called Transitional LH IIIB2–LH IIIC Early phase (according to P. Mountjoy)40. The first (BE 50892) has a thin band on the rim and another wider band just below41, while the second one (BE 50893) has a lip-band42. The use of the wavy band decoration on deep bowls (Fig. 32) is a characteristic feature of the Transitional Phase. This motif appears on many sherds from the Pefkakia excavation. The application of the horFig. 33 a. b: Basin FS 294 (BE 50922) (courtesy of author) 39 40 41 42

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Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 8 (ΒΕ 36011). Mountjoy 1995; 1997; 1999, 36–38. Vitale 2006, fig. 2, 6. Vitale 2006, fig. 2, 3.

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Fig. 34: The stone lid and the rim of a jar FS 58 (BE 50886) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 35: The stone lid and the rim of a jar FS 58 (BE 50886) (courtesy of author)

izontal wavy band to a series of shapes, such as the deep bowl among others, is one of the features that characterise the LH IIIC Phase 1 (according to J. Rutter). The wavy band decoration is attested in the so-called ›Epichosis IIb‹ material from Tiryns43, at Nichoria44, Thebes45 and Gla46. Small deep bowls decorated with horizontal wavy bands are found in Iria, Menelaion, Ayios Stephanos and Sykea in Lakonia47. There are fragments of several basins FS 294, but only one has been restored (BE 50922: Fig. 33). The abundant plain pottery includes storage vessels like the jar FS 58 (BE 50886) with its stone lid sealed with clay (Figs. 34. 35). It was found at the north side of the hearth. The stone lid was found on the level of the floor and the vessel was under it. The vessel was empty. Only a thin 5 cm layer of soil covered its bottom but microscopic analysis has not Fig. 36: Jar FS 58 (BE 50886) enabled specification of its contents. The dia(courtesy of author) meter of the rim and the neck allows an adult arm to reach the bottom, but only if holding a very small dipper as the opening is not large enough to allow the insertion of a standard dipper (Fig. 36). Next to the storage jar a Spondylus gaederopus was found, which is appropriately formed in order to be used as a small dipper. This fact may indicate that the content of the jar was a solid substance. The closest published parallels to this jar are those of Mycenae48 and Pylos, Rooms 32, 46 and 9749. All of them have been found in a context of domestic (in storerooms) or

43 44 45 46 47 48 49

051_086 Batziou.indd 64

Verdelis et al. 1965, 137–152; Vitale 2006, 182 n. 26. Vitale 2006, fig. 9, 5. Vitale 2006, fig. 10, 7. Vitale 2006, 193. Rutter 2003, 196–198 fig. 10. Tournavitou 1995, 73 pl. 9 b. Blegen – Rawson 1966, 382.

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Fig. 37: Jar in situ (BE 50884) (courtesy of author)

industrial environments. The fabric of these jars can be distinguished from that used for small undecorated vessels and that used for coarse or cooking ware. It consists of orange-brown clay, while the surface is well-smoothed and burnished. Like all these vessels it is undecorated. A second jar (BE 50884) fabricated from coarse orange clay is decorated with five horizontal plastic zones and vertical handles (Figs. 37. 38)50. Many jugs of different sizes are partly preserved (ΒΕ 50914, 50906, 50908). One conical cup FS 204–206 (ΒΕ 50924: Fig. 39) has been found near the rectangular stone trapeza with the two semi-globular cups FS 215, the basin FS 294, the miniature conical cup BE 5081451 and the shells and bones. Several conical cups are mentioned from Tsoungiza52, possibly from an earlier context (since there is no example of a conical kylix) and from the Petsas House, also dated earlier53. A large polished mug FS 226 (BE 50879) is one of four vessels that were found in line along the west side of the room, the first one to the north (Fig. 40 a. b).

50 51 52 53

051_086 Batziou.indd 65

Height: 62 cm; diameter of base: 19.5 cm. See comments on painted pottery. Thomas 2011, 181. Shelton 2008, 225 fig. 36 b.

Fig. 38: Jar (BE 50884) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 39: Conical cup FS 204–206 (BE 50924) (courtesy of author)

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There are some incisions in the body at the height of the handle on both sides of the vase which are possibly associated with measurement and the capacity of the vessel. Traces of combustion are observed at a point on the bottom, where the vessel walls are damaged by heat. A large unpainted mug has been found in Midea54 in a similar context to that of Pefkakia. A semi-globular medium coarse dipper FS 236 (ΒΕ 50911: Fig. 41)55 was probably used for cooking or serving activities56. A three-handled kylix FS 259 (BE 50881), one of the four vessels that were found along the west side of the room, was found between the jug BE 50880 and the painted mug BE 50882 (Fig. 42 a. b). Only one similar kylix with three handles is known from the Mitrou islet, and a cup from Asine for all the period from LH IIIA2–LH IIIC Early. S. Vitale comments by saying that the presence of the kylix with three handles cannot be attributed to everyday use57. On the contrary, it could be linked to the consumption of wine by two or more persons, an action that is obviously linked to drinking as a group activity. The presence of oversized vessels is associated with banquets58. It is also estimated that its capacity would be useful to measure rations59. Its co-existence with the two big mugs and a jug may enhance speculation about having

Fig. 40 a. b: Mug FS 226 (BE 50879) (courtesy of author)

54 55 56 57 58 59

051_086 Batziou.indd 66

Demakopoulou et al. 1996, 21 f. figs. 31–33; 1997/1998, 66; 2000/2001, 39–41 fig. 19. Height: 7 cm; diameter of rim: 15.1 cm. Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 4; Darcque 2005, 216 fig. 62 c (Asine). 218 fig. 64 c (Pylos); Vitale 2008, 231 fig. 45 g. Vitale 2008, 232. Dabney et al. 2004, 83. Darcque 2005, 214.

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Fig. 41: Dipper FS 236 (BE 50911) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 42 a. b: Three-handled kylix FS 259 (BE 50881) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 43: Carinated cup FS 267 (BE 50888) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 45: Shallow angular bowl FS 295 (BE 50887) (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 44: Conical kylix FS 274 (BE 50889) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 46: Cooking pot (BE 50895) (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 47: Tripod cooking pot (BE 50905) (courtesy of author)

Fig. 48: Female figurine (BE 50840) (courtesy of author)

four vessels in order to measure the quantity of wine and distribute it. It is also estimated that the oversized kylikes60 and the stemmed bowls are appropriate for shared consumption among the feast participants. The carinated cups FS 267 (BE 50888, BE 50923) are perhaps the most common utensils of LH IIIB–IIIC Early at Pefkakia. They are represented by a large number of samples in all areas and not just in the room where we are focused (Fig. 43). Generally, they are of brown, relatively clean clay. As has already been pointed out they are mass-produced. Many of them have manufacturing defects in shape. The rate of absorption of any liquid poured into them is a problem in their use as drinking vessels, as the other open shapes – conical kylikes and bowls – are less impermeable61. The conical kylikes FS 274 (BE 50889, 50890, 50891, 50913, 50924 and many partly-preserved others) are also a very common vessel shape (Fig. 44). They may have straight lipless sides or incurving rims. The same types of conical kylikes are present in LH IIIC levels of Aigeira62, the Cyclades63 and Dimini64. The carinated cups FS 267 and the conical kylikes FS 274 are LH IIIC Early shapes65. Another characteristic shape of the same period is the shallow angular bowl FS 295 (BE 50887: Fig. 45) represented by many sherds66. Many cooking pots of closed shapes with flat bottoms (BE 50895: Fig. 46) and tripod-legged cooking pots (BE 50905: Fig. 47) supplied with potter’s marks at or near the handles or near the feet were probably exports from Aigina67. Apart from the pottery, other small finds were found close to the rim of the jar. Among them was a stone mortar fallen upside down on the east side of the hearth. Furthermore, a female

60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

051_086 Batziou.indd 68

Shelton 2008, 226. Darcque 2005, fig. 60 b (Dimini, maison A); Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 4; Shelton 2008, 226. Deger-Jalkotzy 2003, 61 fig. 4, 5. Rutter 2003, 197 fig. 9, 10. Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 4. Vitale 2006, 183. Adrimi-Sismani 2003, fig. 4; Darcque 2005, fig. 56 b. Rutter 2003, 196 f.; Lis 2008, 141–150; 2009, 152–163.

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figurine (ΒΕ 50840: Fig. 48) decorated with vertical wavy lines on the body with the foot monochrome, and parts of two animal figurines were found. Some typical small finds of clay spindles, stone cones and tools, an animal tooth (that has undergone modification) and a lot of shells (mainly Spondylus gaederopus, murex and Pinna nobilis) were also uncovered. The presence of the two large-sized mugs, one painted and one unpainted, is impressive if one thinks of the case of the palace of Pylos. Among 8.540 vases from eight rooms (60, 18–22 and 67–68) of the last period of habitation, LH IIIB–IIIC Early, there were found 3.454 kylikes and only three large-sized mugs68. The case of Tiryns, where just one painted mug has been found dated to the beginning of the post-palace period, LH IIIC Early, indicates that the shape was very rare and a symbol of prestige69. The large scale of the shape is probably indicative of sharing or measuring purposes70. Another interesting feature is the presence of the clay larnax, the stirrup jars, the large jars and the four vessels used probably for measuring or sharing, and the hearth. The co-existence of a larnax and big jars/pithoi is testified also in Pylos Room 7171. Since the stirrup jars are vessels used for storing perfumed or plain oil, their presence next to the clay larnakes, which also happens at Thebes and elsewhere72, is indicative of the use of the larnakes as bathtubs or vessels for the processing of woollen fabrics. The Linear B tablets testify to this process in the palatial centres. In addition, the large quantity of murex and some Pinna nobilis, shells that are used for dyeing textiles73, may indicate that in this room, the big rectangular hearth and the clay larnax that was positioned on it, were utilised either for the dyeing of, or another treatment of woollen fabrics for which quantities of oil were required. Perhaps the vases that were found so close to the hearth, such as the unpainted mug with the incisions, are related to the measuring of oil needed for processing fabrics. The Tombs To the north of the working area and below the depth of its floor, a layer of stone slabs appeared. The pottery below the slabs included a partly-preserved painted piriform jar FS 35 (ΒΕ 50915), decorated with tricurved arch FM 62 and stemmed spiral on the shoulder and linear decoration on the body (Fig. 49), sherds from kylikes of ›Zygouries‹ type (Fig. 50), many sherds of goblets with spiral decoration (Fig. 51 a. b), of monochrome goblets (Fig. 51 c), of carinated cups FS 267, basins FS 295, closed red slipped storage jars (Fig. 51 d. e), of monochrome jugs (Fig. 51 f) and tripod cooking pots and a handle of a brazier FS 312 (the same type as the brazier BE 50883), found near the rectangular hearth of the room to the south. Of particular interest is an open, handmade, spouted vessel (BE 50912) made from coarse clay like the cooking pots and with flat base (Fig. 52 a. b). The vessel has intense traces of burning, except on the interior base. There is a strong possibility that it was used as a lamp. On the exterior surface there are traces of grinding, probably due to the continuous use of this particular side74. The small finds are stone tools (BE 50831), a grinder (BE 50832) and a cone (BE 50833). In the eastern part of the trench (Fig. 53), below two limestone slabs and a thick layer of ashes, a rectangular hearth built of stones covered with clay was uncovered75. As the wall of the recent

68 69 70 71 72 73

74 75

051_086 Batziou.indd 69

Bendall 2004, 118–120 tab. 6, 4. Stockhammer 2009, 70. Shelton 2008, 225 f. Bendall 2004, 119. Fappas 2009, 294–298 n. 114. On the byssus of Pinna nobilis as used for producing textiles, see Burke 2012, 171–177. The existence of many parts of Pinna nobilis is an indication that Pefkakia might have been a place of Pinna fibre production. Evidence of future excavations and the results of their study may prove this hypothesis. Height: 68 cm; diameter of lip: 10.4–11.8 cm; diameter of base: 49 cm. Dimension: 66 cm × 74 cm × 57 cm.

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Fig. 49: Piriform jar FS 35 (BE 50915) (courtesy of author)

a

Fig. 50: Kylikes of ›Zygouries‹ type above the cists (courtesy of author)

b

c

e

d f Fig. 51: Pottery above the cists. a. b: goblet with spiral FM 46 and FM 77 stipple decoration; c−f: plain pottery (courtesy of author)

051_086 Batziou.indd 70

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Fig. 52 a. b: Clay lamp (BE 50912) (courtesy of author)

Mycenaean building covers the layer of ashes it is possible that the entire surface of the hearth, which is fenced by twο low, thin walls, is not visible. The pottery on the hearth includes cooking pots and large, closed, red and polished vessels (Fig. 54 a. b) as well as painted goblets which are local products, and many shells. Two cist-shaped structures, named A and B, are situated next to each other at a depth of 2.50 m below of the earlier Mycenaean architectural remains, in front of the hearth (Figs. 55. 56). Cist A was covered with slabs76. The cist has two slabs on the long side and one on the narrow side. The orientation is from north to south. In its interior the soil was very soft, wet and clean, and

Fig. 53: The stratigraphic horizon above the hearth and the cists (courtesy of author)

76

051_086 Batziou.indd 71

Cist Α: length: 1.90 m; width: 0.56–0.60 m; height: 0.50 m.

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Fig. 54 a. b: Red-polished closed vessels found above the hearth (courtesy of author)

Fig. 55: The hearth and the cists (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 56: The hearth and the cists after excavation (courtesy of author)

its colour was brown approaching black. A very thin layer of sand was found at a depth of 2.80 m, which coincides with the bottom of the tomb. The tombs are constructed directly above the sea level, which appears at 3.00 m depth. The pottery mainly consisted of monochrome goblets and matt-painted Middle Bronze Age pottery, but the most interesting finds were the burnt bones, shells and charcoals (Fig. 57 a–c). Cist B, found in contact with cist Α, was also uncovered. Its construction, dimensions and contents were similar to those of cist Α77. The only difference between them was the greater amount of pottery in Cist B. The finds of the interior of the cist are divided in two groups, according the depth at which they were found, since the cist had no cover slabs and at least the uppermost 20 cm were probably disturbed. In the upper layer the pottery includes cooking pots, open and closed vessels with band decoration and unpainted pottery. Deeper, in the second layer the finds are similar those in Cist A, including goblets with spiral decoration and monochrome; open unpainted vessels; pottery with linear decoration; burnished and matt-painted pottery dated to the Middle Bronze Age; a female figurine of type Φ; and burnt bones (Fig. 58 a–f). Both cists are dated to the Early Mycenaean period since they contain decorated pottery dated to LH IIIA1/2 as well as matt-painted Late MH and unpainted pottery. According to preliminary analysis by V. Tzevelekidi of the few faunal remains found in the cists, various anatomical elements from different species (cattle, pig, sheep, goat and possibly donkey) have been identified. No specific pattern regarding the anatomical representation of the different species was detected, since the assemblage includes elements that could represent different stages of carcass processing (primary butchery and mundane consumption waste). The majority of the bones were encrusted and whenever possible removal of the encrustation revealed evidence of patchy burning. Some of the bones preserved traces of cut-marks made by metal knives and in one case (the possible donkey radius) by cleaver during dismembering and filleting. Even though the sample is extremely small for any firm conclusions, it appears that larger animals (cattle) were consumed off the bone, as indicated by the presence of filleting marks, unlike sheep, goats and pig, which were cut into small meat parcels and cooked on the bone. The morphology

77

051_086 Batziou.indd 73

Cist Β: length: 1.80 m; width: 0.53–0.63 m; height: 0.60 m.

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a b

c Fig. 57 a: Matt-painted vessels from Cist A; b: Plain vessels from Cist A; c: Burnt bones from Cist A (courtesy of author)

of the traces of burning on the sheep, goat and pig elements is also in accordance with this suggestion. The comparative study of the faunal material from other contexts is necessary in order to identify potential differences in patterns of consumption and in the deposition of post-consumption bone, as has been recently shown e.g. in Pylos78. So far, it seems that the bones deposited in the cists at Pefkakia derived from consumption events. However, neither the quantities nor composition of the deposits are indicative of the nature of these events. Whether the remains found in the cists represent only part of the consumed animals, possibly in an attempt to ›please‹ the gods too, remains to be investigated. Nonetheless, their differentially more elaborate deposition in the cists must be indicative of their ›special‹ role in these specific consumption events. The co-existence of a human bone also showing evidence of patchy burning in one of the cists, most definitely strengthens the scenario that these bones were part of a structured deposit. As regards the contents of the cist-shaped structures, the microscopic-environmental analysis carried out by H. Chrysopoulou did not return useful results. An unexpected find during the 2013 field season helped us to rethink the uses of Cists A and B, which were excavated in 2010. Below the architectural remains of LH IIIB–IIIC Early and LH IIIA2–B to the south of the third house/Room 5, there is a very limited space between a wall to the west and a staircase to the east. The soil was very soft and loose and fell easily, until a large gap was revealed. After removing 2.60 m of backfill, the stone cover slabs of a tomb were discovered (Figs. 59–61). In the northern half of the grave the cover slabs were preserved only along the perimeter. The tomb has two slabs on the long side and one on the narrow side79. Its orientation is

78 79

051_086 Batziou.indd 74

Isaakidou et al. 2002. Dimensions of the tomb (interior): length: 1.44 m; width: 0.50–0.565 m; height: 0.48–0.52 m.

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a

b

c

e

75

d

f Fig. 58 a−d: Pottery from Cist B; e: Female figurine from Cist B; f: Burnt bones from Cist B (courtesy of author)

051_086 Batziou.indd 75

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Fig. 59: The tomb and the architectural remains around it (courtesy of author)

Fig. 60: The tomb with the cover-slabs (courtesy of author)

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Fig. 61: The tomb after the excavation (courtesy of author)

north-south. The interior had a void for approximately 0.1 m below the cover slabs. The soil was very wet80. In dimensions, material and construction the tomb resembles Cists A and B. The skeleton was in bad condition because of the humidity. It was placed in a supine position, inclined to the right. The hands were bent at the elbows and placed on the belly, as clearly illustrated by the left forearm and the right, though not in good condition. The left leg seems positioned over the right and generally both feet appear to have been squeezed to fit the boundaries of the tomb. The same phenomenon occurs in the positioning of the skull to the north, which was facing west towards the right of the deceased. The burial is of an older adult female and lacked associated grave goods. After discerning the basic biological profile various trauma and pathological lesions on the skeleton have been found and described81. This tomb of the last excavation period poses questions for the interpretation of the cists described above. The first impression after the excavation of Cists A and B was that we were dealing with tombs. However, the tombs excavated at the end of the 19th century at Pefkakia have all been destroyed. No other tombs have been excavated until now in the area of Pefkakia. Unfortunately there are neither photos nor plans from the tombs previously found, and for that reason their layouts and dimensions are doubtful82. It is only reported that they were built chamber tombs, while their pottery is dated back to the early Mycenaean period83. The best parallels of this type

80

81

82 83

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The soil was gathered and washed in the water sieving for the identification of the palaeobotanical material by H. Chrysopoulou, but without any results. Reports on the analysis of the skeleton will be presented by S. Fuehr, N. P. Herrmann, K. Kulhavy and A. BatziouEfstathiou. Papadimitriou 2000, 211–224. Müller 1999, 223 f.

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in Thessaly are those of Ayios Antonios in the area of Pharsalos and Pherae84. A built rectangular tomb, used from LH IIB–IIIA1 to LH IIIC Early, has been excavated recently in Makrychori to the north of Larissa85. From the study of the Mycenaean cemetery of the settlement Kastro (Palia) Volos86, dated to LH IIB–IIIA1, and tombs of the same period throughout Thessaly, we know that cist-graves are the main type of tombs of this period. Their dimensions are between 1.00 m and 1.48 m in length and between 0.50 m and 0.70 m in width, meaning that they are shorter and wider than those of the cist-shaped structures at Pefkakia, due to the contracted position of the deceased. The dimensional ratios of the cist tombs in the Mycenaean cemetery of Kastro (Palia) Volos87 changed during the Protogeometric Period, and as a result they became longer, narrower and with a slab at their bottom, due to alteration of the burial position, which became supine instead of the former contracted position88. We do not have any of these elements from the LH IIIA2 and LH IIIB periods. As shown above, study of the Mycenaean cemetery of the settlement Kastro (Palia) of Volos documents that the earliest cist tombs are dated to LH IIB–IIIA1 and that there is a gap between this period and LH IIIC Late. The tholos tomb at Kapakli89 belongs to the same early period (LH IIIA1), and the tholos tomb at Kazanaki90 as well as the tholos tomb known as ›Lamiospito‹ at Dimini are dated to LH IIIA1–2. The LH IIIB and LH IIIC Early and Middle periods are not represented so far in burial monuments. The first cist tomb at Pefkakia, below the architectural remains of the earlier residential horizon dated to LH IIIA2–B, although without grave goods, offers new and completely different elements within the burial customs of the region of Volos. The skeleton in the new tomb was not buried in a contracted position, unlike the LH IIIA1 burials known in the area. Perhaps this differentiation is due to the date. The cultural elements of the Middle Bronze Age, such as the burial customs and the pottery, survive until LH IIIA1, as is testified by all excavations in the area of Volos, at Kastro (Palia), Dimini and Pefkakia. During LH IIIA2 changes occurred, as is shown by expansion of the settlement founded over burials of the same period or a little earlier. Since the two cist-containers and the tomb were found at the same depth, there is a strong possibility that the two cists were initially graves. These graves for some special and important reason were built next to each other. Similarly the new settlers constructed the rectangular hearth in contact with them. There are three specific elements: the complete lack of skeletal material, the presence of burnt animal bones and the presence of goblets, vessels characteristic for ritual offerings to the dead or for banquets. We should certainly not ignore the presence of a female figurine. One might assume that we are dealing with the ceremony of a funeral banquet which may have happened before the building of the houses, as a gesture of respect to the dead and a request for their protection. After this ceremony the cists were sealed. Conclusions The geophysical location of Magoula Pefkakia defined the settlement’s development from the Neolithic onwards and during the Bronze Age, as it evolved into an important trading station in contact with many areas throughout the Aegean91. The consequence of the nautical and commer-

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91

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Arachoviti 2000, 367. Toufexis et al., in press. Theocharis – Theochari 1970, 198–203; Batziou-Efstathiou 1991, 17–70. Batziou-Efstathiou 1999, 117–130. Indicative dimensions: 1.38 m × 0.35 m, 1.55 m × 0.45 m, 1.77 m × 0.40 m. Kourouniotis 1906, 212–240; Avila 1983. Adrimi-Sismani – Alexandrou 2009, 133–149. Weisshaar 1989; Maran 1992; Christmann 1996.

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cial activity was contact with the Mycenaean civilisation from the first stages of its development, before the Palatial period. D. Theocharis gave to the prehistoric settlement at Pefkakia the name ›Neleia‹92. He highlighted the importance of the prehistoric settlement at Pefkakia for navigation during the Bronze Age, and expressed the view that this settlement was the port of the Neolithic settlement at Dimini. He saw that the site of the Mycenaean settlement dominates the entrance to the inner Pagasetikos bay and believed that »through this port was carried out predominantly the trade with the Mycenaean world between the south Greek mainland and islands and the interior of Thessaly, as of course this port was under the control of Iolcus: Neleia is in substance the port of Iolcus«. The commercial activity during the LH ΙΙΙΑ–Β period is indicated on the one hand by the recorded pottery, the painted krater of possible Argolid origin93, the kylikes of ›Zygouries‹ type and the stirrup jars, and on the other hand by imported pots bearing the marks of potters, such as a sherd with engravings of the Cypro-Minoan writing (Fig. 62 a) and some examples of cooking pots imported from Aigina with engravings, for example, on the handle of an open vessel – probably a cooking pot – (with five parallel engravings in two groups of three and two), and on legs of tripod cooking pots (Fig. 62 b–d). Two one-handled cups, plain local pieces (Fig. 62 e–f) resemble metallic patterns and are marked on their bases with simple linear pot marks (Volos Museum Κ 524) or groups of parallel strokes (Volos Museum Κ 2466). The practice of marking served specific purposes and indicates that a common system of signs was in use on the mainland and islands, but the identification of these isolated signs is difficult94. We note again the very close similarities with the pottery material of Mitrou islet, recovered inside the room delineated by Walls 17 and 1895, as well as with Mycenaean centres from the Peloponnese such as Midea, Aigeira and others. The current excavation has successfully proved for the first time the expansion of the Mycenaean settlement beyond the limits of Magoula Pefkakia during LH ΙΙΙΑ, as shown by the earlier finds that have been detected in the area. The earlier pottery has characteristics of the Middle Bronze Age (matt-painted and burnished ware) mixed with monochrome goblets or painted with spirals. The architectural remains and the tombs testify that the expansion of the settlement occurs during LH IIIA and is probably related to the development of the powerful Mycenaean centre at Dimini. It is important that for the first time we have an undisturbed and closed deposit representing the last occupation at Pefkakia, with all the characteristics of the painted and plain pottery, and even more that it is a place that was used not only for domestic but also other interesting activities such as the industrial. The portable finds and pottery discovered in this area suggest activities related to the distribution or measuring of rationed substances beyond normal household needs and use. The built structures inside the room, including the rectangular hearth and the clay structure lying on its upper surface, the flat stone to its east, possibly serving as a working surface, as well as the quantity and character of the pottery assemblage inside the room, strongly suggest an original use associated with fire-related activities involving liquid substances, with the room itself serving as a working area. The shapes represent the repertoire of Mycenaean pottery at the end of the palatial period. In this phase kylikes of the ›Zygouries‹ type that existed in areas of the north building (second house) no longer appear. In the so-called ›workshop‹ there is only the last phase of habitation in which new shapes, usually regarded as LH IIIC Early, appear. They include semi-globular cups FS 215 and linear deep bowls with monochrome interior and wavy band decoration.

92 93 94

95

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Theocharis 1957, 68 f.; 1958, 12. Batziou-Efstathiou 2012. Halepa-Bikaki 1984, 31 f. On pottery marks see also Lindblom 2001, 37. The LH IIIB–LH IIIC Early cooking pots from the Pefkakia excavation are part of the material studied in a project on the mobility of potters. The first results have been presented at the 5th Conference on Archaeological Work in Thessaly and the Greek Mainland at the University of Thessaly in February 2015. Vitale 2008, pls. 45. 46.

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a

b

c

d

e

f

Fig. 62 a−f: Pottery with potter’s mark (courtesy of author)

The pottery from the workshop has many similarities with the material from Dimini, although there are some differences. For example, there is an absence of deep bowls with horizontal wavy bands at Dimini and of the pseudo-Minyan96 pottery at Pefkakia. These differences make clear that at Pefkakia the abandonment was definitive, while in the case of Dimini the buildings were at least partly reused until LH IIIC Middle97. The pottery of Pefkakia is import-

96 97

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Adrimi-Sismani 2006. Adrimi-Sismani 2000, 279–291; 2003, fig. 17; 2011, 249.

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ant because it comes from a settlement context next to a Mycenaean centre, Dimini, which is at the same time a harbour with contacts with the Mycenaean world of the central and southern mainland and the islands. The houses at Pefkakia have been reconstructed and reused, as is indicated by the blocking of doors and the reconstruction and building of walls parallel to those that existed earlier. There are no signs of fire. The abrupt and final abandonment of the settlement took place at the end of LH ΙΙΙΒ2–LH ΙΙΙC Early, as is proved by the undisturbed layers identified in the storage room. The causes of its abandonment must be sought in the combination of factors that influenced the great palatial centres and many contemporary settlements, and not in facts that are associated solely with the use of these specific buildings. The chronological synchronisation of the residential phases as well as of the rise and the abandonment of the Mycenaean settlements in Dimini and Pefkakia, the similarities of the material, the destruction layers with the household – despite the obvious differences in the area that has already been excavated in Dimini – prove their interdependence and linkage that derives from their role as a potential palatial centre and port respectively. We hope to acquire a more complete picture of the Mycenaean settlement at Pefkakia by continuation of the excavations and study of the excavated material, since it served as the port of Iolkos which is now starting to reveal its identity. Besides, Argo was the area’s favourite landmark, from antiquity up to our own days.

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Theocharis 1957 D. R. Theocharis, Ανασκαφαί εν Ιωλκώ, Prakt 1957, 54–69. Theocharis 1958 D. R. Theocharis, Νεολιθικά εκ της περιοχής της Ιωλκού, Thessalika 1, 1958, 3–15. Theοcharis – Theochari 1970 D. R. Theοcharis – M. Theochari, Εκ του νεκροταφείου της Ιωλκού, AAA 3, 1970, 198–203. Thomas 2011 P. M. Thomas, A Deposit of Late Helladic IIIA2 Pottery from Tsoungiza, Hesperia 80, 2011, 171–228. Tournavitou 1998 I. Tournavitou, The ›Ivory Houses‹ at Mycenae, BSA Suppl. 24 (London 1995). Toufexis et al., in press G. Toufexis – A. Batziou-Efstathiou – Th. Papantonis – R. Exarchou, Ανασκαφή μυκηναϊκών τάφων στο Μακρυχώρι στο πλαίσιο της κατασκευής της Εθνικής οδού Αθηνών-Θεσσαλονίκης (Π.Α.Θ.Ε.), in: A. Mazarakis Ainian (ed.), Αρχαιολογικό Έργο Θεσσαλίας και Στερεάς Ελλάδας 4. Πρακτικά επιστημονικής συνάντησης, Βόλος 16.–18.03. 2012 (in press). Tzedakis – Martlew 1999 Y. Tzedakis – H. Martlew, Minoans and Mycenaeans. Flavours of their Time (Athens 1999). Verdelis et al. 1965 N. M. Verdelis – E. B. French – D. French, Τίρυνς: Μυκηναϊκή επίχωσις έξωθεν του δυτικού τείχους της Ακροπόλεως, ΑDelt 20 Α, 1965, 137–152. Vitale 2006 S. Vitale, The LH IIIB–LH IIIC Transition on the Mycenaean Mainland, Hesperia 75, 2006, 177–204. Vitale 2008 S. Vitale, Ritual Drinking and Eating at LH IIIA2 Early Mitrou, East Lokris, in: L. A. Hitchcock – R. Laffineur – J. Crowley (eds), DAIS. The Aegean Feast. Proceedings of the 12th International Aegean Conference, University of Melbourne, Centre for Classics and Archaeology, 25–29 March 2008, Aegaeum 29 (Liège 2008) 229–237. Weisshaar 1989 H. J. Weisshaar, Die deutschen Ausgrabungen auf der Pevkakia Magula in Thessalien 1. Das späte Neolithikum und das Chalkolithikum, BAM 28 (Bonn 1989). Wolters 1889 P. Wolters, Mykenische Vasen aus dem nördlichen Griechenland, AM 14, 1889, 262–270.

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Was there a ›Mycenaean Art‹? Or: Tradition without Innovation? Some Examples of Relief Art* Fritz Blakolmer Abstract: Based on the discussion of relief images in stone, ivory, gold and silver from Mycenaean mainland sites, this paper presents an overview of the character as well as the development of the iconography in three chronological steps: the arts of the Shaft Grave period (MH III–LH IIA), ›Early Mycenaean‹ art (LH IIB–IIIA1) and ›Late Mycenaean‹ art (LH IIIA2–IIIC). Mycenaean art, i.e. objects bearing iconographical motifs produced on Greek Mainland sites, can only be defined by artistic features differing from the arts of Minoan Crete. This is best demonstrated during the Shaft Grave period. In the Early Mycenaean period the process of ›learning‹ of Minoan artistic concepts was intensified. It is remarkable that the orientation towards Cretan iconographical motifs becomes most obvious in the Mycenaean palatial periods. As a consequence, the arts on the Greek Mainland in the Late Bronze Age can hardly be defined by searching for some autochthonous Helladic stock element but rather by assessing the degree of integration of the iconographical concepts as shaped by Neopalatial Crete. At least the more complex iconography of relief arts does not allow for a distinctly ›Mycenaean‹ character differing from the rich and versatile Minoan artistic tradition.

»Überall, wo es sich controllieren lässt, gehen die Motive der figürlichen Darstellungen und ihre Stilisierung [sc. in Mycenaean mural-painting] auf ältere Vorbilder, in letzter Linie der eigentlich schöpferischen Zeit der kretisch-mykenischen Kunst, der ersten spätminoischen Periode zurück. […] Neue künstlerische Werte hat diese Malerei nicht geschaffen, aber sie hat mit grosser Zähigkeit die Traditionen der kretischen Blütezeit bis in den Ausgang der festländisch mykenischen Kultur erhalten«. G. Rodenwaldt1 Compared with Minoan Crete, arts have certainly not been a favourite topic to address within Mycenaean studies. As a scholar of Minoan as well as Mycenaean arts, I have to confess that, on the one hand, this is absolutely understandable, given the fact that until now there has never been any attempt to write a history of Aegean art focusing more closely on the Mycenaean mainland2. On the other hand, investigating the arts in Mycenaean Greece is an even more challenging and tricky matter requiring a thorough knowledge of Minoan iconography, yet leading us to the conclusion that the Cretan ›parallel‹ looks somehow different. It is no wonder that from the 1890s until today, there has been a lively discussion concerning the Mycenaean or Minoan origin of artistic objects found on the Greek mainland whereas on the island of Crete a Mycenaean mainland character has only seldom been attributed to any object bearing iconography3. Moreover, as shown in the recently-published CMS volumes of sealings from Neopalatial Crete, in my opinion a considerable number of so-called ›Mycenaean artistic features‹ have turned out in fact to be of Neopalatial Cretan origin4. Therefore, after 140 years of research, we have to confess that ›Mycenaean art‹ can only be defined by artistic features which differ from those of Minoan Crete. It is



*

1 2 3 4

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I am very grateful to the organisers of this conference for their invitation. I also thank Sarah Cormack for patiently correcting my English. Rodenwaldt 1911, 204. 206. Cf. studies by Vermeule 1975; Poursat 1977a; Hurwit 1979; Kopcke 1981; Blakolmer 2007a. See, e.g., Xenaki-Sakellariou 1991, esp. 61 f.; Kopcke 1999. Cf. Krzyszkowska 2004, esp. 277.

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Fig. 1: Relief stele from Shaft Grave V, Mycenae (after Evans 1935, 551 fig. 189)

Fig. 2: Minoan ivory plate from Palaikastro (after Dawkins 1904/1905, 285 fig. 14 a)

thus necessary and permissible to ask the question: Was there a ›Mycenaean art‹ understood as an artistic tradition consistent in character and flourishing more or less independently on the Greek mainland during the Late Bronze Age? Based on a discussion of relief images in stone, ivory, gold and silver from Mycenaean mainland sites, in this paper I will present some insights into the character as well as the development of artistic objects produced on the Greek mainland. Although relief art in the Aegean Bronze Age mostly consists of highly-individual examples and unique objects of prestige, they allow us to define some common artistic traits and tendencies in order to reconstruct a chronological development of artistic production in Mycenaean Greece. Even though, in Aegean Prehistory nowadays, a development of form and style is often accepted only in painted pottery, a development of Mycenaean relief art can be sketched at least in three chronological steps: the arts of the Shaft Grave period (MH III–LH IIA), followed by what I will call the ›Early Mycenaean period‹ (LH IIB–LH IIIA1) and finally the ›Late Mycenaean period‹ (LH IIIA2–LH IIIC). These three phases of development will be explored in this study by looking more closely at three characteristic examples from each period. The Arts of the Shaft Grave Period (MH III–LH IIA) The iconography on the so-called ›plastic relief stele‹ from Shaft Grave V at Mycenae (Fig. 1) combines Helladic and Minoan elements5. Among the autochthonous Helladic elements can be mentioned the distinct chariot motif with a horse in ›jumping gallop‹ probably running over a fallen warrior, the flat, two-layered relief style and the large framing of the image. Among the elements associated with Minoan tradition we can define the plastic relief style of several figures and the running lion in ›flying gallop‹ in the lower zone as well as the rockwork motifs with their concave contours at the lateral sides of the image which, in fact, represent maritime coralline forms obvi-

5

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Müller 1915, 286–288 fig. 13; Heurtley 1921–1923, 128 f. 143 pl. 19; Mylonas 1951, 141–147 fig. 6; Marinatos – Hirmer 1973, pl. 168; Hood 1978, 99 f. fig. 81; Younger 1997, 235 (no. 1) pl. 90.

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ously borrowed from marine scenery6 such as that on a Minoan ivory plate from Palaikastro7 (Fig. 2). Thus, this hybrid, patchwork-like iconography unifying a war-like motif and an animal attack in the same image does not reflect the homogeneous concept of a ›simile‹ as has been argued8 but rather presents several features demonstrating its inconsistent character, just as in the case of the relief stelai from Shaft Grave circle B9. It has to be emphasised that none of the Helladic features of this image survived the end of the Shaft Grave period. A remarkable relief image is also preFig. 3: Silver cup from Shaft Grave Delta, Mycenae served on a fragmentary silver cup from (after Mylonas 1972, pl. 71 a) 10 Shaft Grave Delta at Mycenae (Fig. 3). Although the vessel form is in Minoan tradition, the iconography is certainly not. In extremely low relief a lion is shown with raised fore-legs, thus depicted in the same ›jumping gallop‹ as the horses on the Shaft Grave stelai at Mycenae11. Below the lion’s belly, we notice an armed hunter whose size conforms to the thigh of the lion. The striking inconsistency in the scale of the figures, the jumping position of the lion, its curious tail and claws as well as the peculiar relief style let us define this vessel as having been produced outside any Cretan artistic tradition. Besides the shape of the vessel, Minoan influence can be discerned in the rendering of the lion’s legs in pairs, in the ridge on the belly and in the indication of two ribs as is often the case in Minoan depictions of quadrupeds. In any case, the artistic differences between this Helladic relief image of a hunting scene and that on the synchronous inlaid dagger from Shaft Grave IV (Fig. 4) are con-

Fig. 4: Inlay dagger from Shaft Grave IV, Mycenae (after Demakopoulou 1990, 142 fig. 2)

6

7 8 9

10

11

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See already Müller 1915, 287; Evans 1935, 252; Mylonas 1951, 146 f.; Hood 1978, 99 f. with fig. 81; Blakolmer 2007a, 71; 2008a, 67 f.; 2010a, 513. Dawkins 1904/1905, 284 f. fig. 14 a; Hood 1978, 120 fig. 109. See, e.g., Kopcke 1981, 41; Younger 1997, 235 n. 45. Marinatos 1953, 66–78 fig. 2. pls. 8. 9; 1968, 175–177 figs. 1. 3; Mylonas 1972, 33 f. pl. 12 A. B; 50 f. pl. 40; Younger 1997, 237 f. (nos. 13. 14) pls. 89 b–d; 94 a. Mylonas 1972, 88 pl. 71 a; Davis 1977, 136 f. (cat. no. 30) fig. 105; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1991, 61; Thomas 1999, 300–302 pl. 63, 1. 13; 2004, 174 fig. 9, 18; 194. For the comparison of this relief image with the stone relief stelai of Mycenae, see also Davis 1977, 136 f.

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Fig. 5: Gold plates from a hexagonal pyxis from Shaft Grave V, Mycenae (after Kaltsas 2007, fig. on p. 101)

siderable12. We can hardly imagine that both images were produced at the same site or in the same region. Both types of gold plates from a hexagonal pyxis from Shaft Grave V at Mycenae (Fig. 5) depict scenes of a lion in ›flying gallop‹ attacking a horned animal in combination with gold plates showing interlocked spiral ornaments in a similar manner to that found on some Shaft Grave stelai13. The unusually flat relief style is reminiscent of the aforementioned silver cup from Shaft Grave Delta (Fig. 3) and has no parallel in Crete. In both relief images, the arrangement of the motif of the lion attack in the rectangular field caused much effort to the metal worker and resulted in an unbalanced composition by emphasising the figure of the lion. The background is densely filled with Minoan floral motifs, among them palm-trees of the same kind as in wall-paintings from Knossos (Fig. 6) and Akrotiri14. The combination of running lions in front of a palmtree is well-known in Minoan seal images15 (Fig. 7), and the motif of the goat standing up and turning its head backwards occurs in Neopalatial seal glyptics16 (Fig. 8) and makes a connection with a »Eurasian animal style« unnecessary17. On one type of gold plate, a unique bull’s head appears shown en

12 13

14 15 16 17

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Fig. 6: Fresco fragment from Knossos (after Cameron – Hood 1967, pl. 4 fig. 8)

Fig. 7: Seal image from Kato Zakros (CMS II 7, no. 71)

Fig. 8: Seal image from Kato Zakros (CMS II 7, no. 62)

Marinatos – Hirmer 1973, col. pl. 50 below; Xenaki-Sakellariou – Chatziliou 1989, 25 (no. 1) pl. 1. Müller 1915, 294–297 fig. 16; Karo 1930, 143 f. (nos. 808–811) pls. 143. 144; Marinatos – Hirmer 1973, pls. 220. 221; Vermeule 1975, 24 f. figs. 26. 27. Cameron – Hood 1967, 29 f. pl. 4 fig. 8; Doumas 1992, 64 f. pls. 30. 31. CMS II 7, no. 71; CMS II 8, no. 298. CMS II 7, no. 62. This has been supposed by Demargne 1964, 185; Laffineur 1977, 64; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1991, 60.

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Fig. 9: Ivory pyxis from Athens, drawing by Piet de Jong (after Shear 1940, 288 fig. 29)

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Fig. 10: Seal image from Kato Zakros (CMS II 7, no. 96)

face with the mouth in profile and the eyes one above the other, which remains unparalleled in Aegean arts. It has no relation to the main motif and thus points to a hybrid, inconsistent iconography. Without any doubt, both gold plates can be seen as Helladic imitations of Minoan images, and the bull’s head constitutes a ›Minoanising‹ da capo. It is also remarkable that the eyes of the five animals on both plates are given in five different manners. It is clear that images such as these certainly do not form the foundations of a consistent, independent ›Mycenaean art‹ rivalling that of Neopalatial Crete18. Let me close these considerations of the Helladic sample of the Shaft Grave period by suggesting that, when compared with these and related examples, by far the majority of objects bearing iconography of this period possess a purely Minoan character. This includes all seals and signet-rings19 and metal inlaid objects (Fig. 4) as well as most gold and silver vessels, all of them standing in sharp contrast to relief objects of Helladic origin20. ›Early Mycenaean‹ Arts (LH IIB–LH IIIA1) In the ›Early Mycenaean period‹, during LH IIB and LH IIIA1, the process of ›learning‹ of Minoan artistic concepts amongst mainland workshops became intensified. The prominent ivory pyxis with griffins and deer from a LH IIIA1 chamber tomb at Athens (Fig. 9) provides a good example of the new artistic trends21. The image on the vessel is organised in the form of a panel showing two griffins hunting five deer in remarkably high relief. Although the compositional scheme has been conceived in axial order, the syntax of the motifs lacks any coherent organisation and appears chaotic, improvised and unparalleled. This relief vessel shows an unappealing, hypertrophic compilation of genuinely Minoan motifs (Fig. 10) and is dominated by a Mycenaean horror vacui which is also responsible for the unrelated inclusion of rockwork segments and a tree. The uncoordinated character is also demonstrated by the disproportionate figures resulting in misconceptions such as the griffin to the right seizing with its right forepaw the deer to his left side and with its left forepaw the animal to his right. There is no narrative coherence and the small lion figures used for closing the vessel have obviously been borrowed from another iconographic cycle. Although the different animal motifs possess good parallels in Cretan iconography (Fig. 10), the

18 19

20 21

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See also Dickinson 1997, esp. 49; Blakolmer 2007a, 83–85; 2010a, 517. For iconographical and stylistic reasons, the seal-stone with hunting scene from the Vapheio tholos tomb (CMS I, no. 227) could be among the earliest seals produced on the mainland. See Blakolmer 2008b. Cf. Blakolmer 2007a; 2007b, 221–224. Shear 1939, 581–585 figs. 12–14; 1940, 283–288 figs. 27–29; Kantor 1960, 15 f. fig. 3; Immerwahr 1971, 106. 166 (1-16) pl. 32; Hood 1978, 123 f. fig. 112.

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Fig. 11: Ivory plate from the Prehistoric Cemetery at Mycenae (after Poursat 1977b, pl. 20 upper, no. 242)

modes of composition are highly un-Minoan in character22. Images such as this do not enable us to recognise any new concepts, but rather show freedom of reception, experimental imitation and individual transformations of traditional Minoan motifs. We can hardly talk of a ›syncretism‹, in its strict sense, of two contrasting traditions, but the iconography remains unique in the Aegean. An ivory plate from the Prehistoric Cemetery at Mycenae (Fig. 11) derives from an LH IIB context and presents in its centre a griffin23. Although, recently, Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki has reconstructed this fragment as a symmetrical composition of two antithetical griffins24, the position of the hind-leg of the feline to the left side possibly suggests rather the reconstruction of a griffin attacking with its beak another feline at its back, as can be seen on Cretan examples25. Although the extremities and the wing of the griffin are rendered in detailed manner, the muscles and sinews on the legs are more stylised and mannered than in any other examples and the body and legs appear disproportional in a similar fashion as on the animals of the ivory pyxis from Athens (Fig. 9). The handling of the terrain motifs is also unique in many respects: the scaled rockwork segments are more stylised and regular than on any contemporary or older example from Crete. In contrast to the Minoan artistic convention, the rockwork does not fill the void spaces, but the griffin partly overlaps it. This LH II relief image well demonstrates the pronounced freedom of Mycenaean artists in picking up Minoan motifs and modes of representation by experimenting with stylistic preferences such as formalism, geometrisation Fig. 12: Octopus rhyton from chamber tomb 26 at and rigidity. Mycenae (after Sakellarakis 1976, pl. 11, 31)

22

23

24 25

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Cf., e.g., CMS II 6, no. 96; CMS II 7, no. 96; CMS II 8, no. 192; CMS IX, no. 20 D; Immerwahr 1971, 166; Hooker 1976, 66. Wace 1953, 8 pl. 5; 1965, 343 (no. 33) pl. 77; Poursat 1977b, 69 f. (no. 242) pl. 20; Papazoglou-Manioudaki 2012, 450 f. Papazoglou-Manioudaki 2012, 450 f. pls. 109–112. CMS II 6, no. 103; CMS II 7, no. 96; Pini 1985, esp. 159–161 figs. 12–14. Cf. also a comparable motif on a weapon from Zafer Papoura: Evans 1935, 863–867 fig. 841; Marinatos – Hirmer 1973, 147 f. fig. 21. pls. 116. 117; Hood 1978, 184 f. fig. 183. For an interpretation as a lion or a griffin, see also Poursat 1977b, 70.

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Although the composite Octopus rhyton from chamber tomb 26 at Mycenae (Fig. 12) comes from an LH IIIA2 context, its characteristic features could also be slightly earlier26. This stone vessel enables us to reconstruct the biography of a hybrid artefact and the observations made by Georg Karo in 1930 basically hold true even nowadays27. Given that this fragmented Minoan rhyton has been repaired by combining it with a newly-produced lower part of different stone material, this vessel allows a direct comparison of the relief style of the octopus tentacles and coralline rockwork on the LM I upper part and on the LH IIIA lower part. The lower, Mycenaean half is characterised by a less naturalistic and more schematised tectonic and stereotyped rendering, a more plastic relief style as well as by its tendency towards axiality, symmetry, clearness and rigidification28. These distinct Mycenaean features constitute stylistic preferences of rather minor importance and are not completely absent from Minoan art. Apart from the relief decoration, the Mycenaean distance to the Cretan originally ovoid rhyton is demonstrated by the unusual pyxis-like vessel form and its transformation into a strainer by nine perforations in the base of the vessel. Examples such as this demonstrate that by this period artists were no longer struggling with the foreign technique and style of the Minoan prototypes as was the case during the Shaft Grave period. The main problem, however, remains the iconographic and compositional adaptation of Minoan motifs within another artistic medium, as we have seen already in the aforementioned examples. ›Late Mycenaean‹ Arts (LH IIIA2–IIIC) Probably the most prominent example of ›Late Mycenaean‹ art is the relief block of the Lion Gate at Mycenae built in LH IIIB29 (Fig. 13). Its iconography is firmly embedded in the Minoan tradition; none of the pictorial elements is absent from the imagery of Neopalatial Crete30 (Figs. 14. 15). The combination of the particular elements, the axial composition and emblem-like character, the interchangeable felines and stylistic features of this relief image all possess firmly dated antecedents in LM I seal glyptic and other art forms. They are continuously attested in various versions until the Late Mycenaean period, when this and related motifs occur in different media of the minor arts31. As Reusch, Hiller and my-

26 27

28 29

30 31

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Fig. 13: Relief block of the Lion Gate at Mycenae (after Perrot – Chipiez 1894, pl. 14, facing p. 732)

For a discussion of the archaeological context, see Kaiser 1974; 1976, 33–41. Karo 1930, 64. See also Karo 1911, 269; Matz 1950, 293; Warren 1969, 174–176. 181; Kaiser 1974, esp. 38–41; 1976, 29 (›Mykene 1‹). 33. 38–41; Sakellarakis 1976, 183 f. pl. 11, 31; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1985, 89–92 pl. 18 (no. 2490); Dickers 1990, 169 pl. 8, 6. Cf. also Kaiser 1976, 33–38. Adler 1865 with pl. 193; Evans 1901, esp. 156–163; Wace 1921–1923; Mylonas 1957, 25–29 pls. 8. 9; 1965, 74–100; 1966, esp. 17 f. 20 f. 173–176; Aström – Blomé 1964; Shaw 1986; Bloedow 1996. Charbonneaux 1929, 27; Mylonas 1966, 174; Blakolmer 2011a, 68–71. For comparable motifs in seal images, see CMS I, nos. 19 (= Müller et al. 1998, 17–19 [no. 1] fig. 1). 58. 87. 98. 171. 218; CMS II 3, no. 165; CMS II 6, no. 74; CMS II 7, no. 73; CMS II 8, nos. 164. 326. 327; CMS V Suppl. 1 B, no. 195; CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 308; CMS VII, no. 187.

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Fig. 14: Seal image from Knossos (CMS II 8, no. 326)

Fig. 15: Seal image from Kato Zakros (CMS II 7, no. 74)

self have argued, the combination of the elements of this highly-variable motif can even be seen in connection with the iconographical ensemble of the Throne Room at Knossos32. The only diagnostic elements pointing to a Late Mycenaean date for the relief block of the Lion Gate are some stylistic details: although the abstract marks on the joints and the diagonal sinews at front and rear legs of the lions can already be found occasionally in LM I Crete, this mannered version possesses its closest parallels in LH/LM III relief images from Mycenae (Fig. 16), Thebes and Chania33. Thus, here as well as in many other Mycenaean relief images, temporal distance and development cannot be defined by any changes in iconography, composition or the thematic range but only by minor adaptations to contemporary stylistic predilections. Even though the relief motif of this monumental block could well have been perceived as a symbol of the palatial power of Mycenae, its entire iconography is adopted from the Minoan tradition, and even the association of this image with the entrance into a settlement had already occurred in Neopalatial Crete, as is demonstrated by LM I sealings from Kato Zakros (Fig. 15) showing a city gate with ›half-rosette‹ motifs flanked by lions34. Thus, this heraldic motif is by no means a novel emblem invented by the rulers of Mycenae. Instead, a traditional Minoan motif and the symbolism associated with urban entrances in LM I Crete have been taken up and given a monumental form. The ivory pyxis lid from Minet el-Beida / Ras Shamra in modern Syria (Fig. 17) was associated with Fig. 16: Stone relief fragments from chamber tomb 102, Panayia hill, Mycenae (after Xenaki-Sakellariou 1985, pl. 3, no. 4911) Syrian, Cypriot and LH IIIB pottery

32 33

34

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Evans 1930, 510–517; Reusch 1958, 346–349; Hiller 1973, 23; Laffineur 2007, 124; Blakolmer 2011a, 63–74. Cf. esp. Symeonoglou 1973, 48–52 pls. 70–75; Poursat 1977b, 43 f. (no. 138) pl. 12 top left; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1985, 279 (no. 4911) pl. 3; Andreadaki-Vlazaki 2003, 1010 pl. 384 a. CMS II 7, no. 74.

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Fig. 18: Seal image from Chania (CMS V Suppl. 1 A, no. 175)

Fig. 17: Ivory pyxis lid from Minet el-Beida (after Kantor 1947, pl. 22 J)

and, obviously, counts amongst the most puzzling relief works with respect to its artistic character and origin35. Without going into details, the origin of the basic motif of the ›potnia theron‹ heraldically flanked by wild beasts is rooted in Near Eastern iconography. The actual motif of a goddess wearing a flounced Fig. 19: Fresco from the Room of the Frescoes in the Cult skirt and feeding wild goats occurs in Centre of Mycenae (after Hampe – Simon 1980, pl. 76) the Aegean for the first time in LM I examples such as on sealings from Ayia Triada and Chania36 (Fig. 18) as well as in the mural painting from Room 14 of the Royal Villa at Ayia Triada37. As for the actual motif version on the pyxis lid from Minet el-Beida, several elements occur which are foreign to Minoan and Mycenaean iconography. These include the broadened hip, the arm muscles, facial details and possibly also the hairstyle of the deity, several mannered details of the goats, the altar floating above an enigmatic dotted socle zone and the unusual rockwork at the bottom. The flounced skirt of the goddess is not really flounced, and her upper body is naked instead of wearing the usual bodice of Aegean women. Moreover, the abnormal sitting position of the goddess on the altar possibly points to a hybrid combination of two different Aegean motifs: that of the goddess feeding a goat (Fig. 18) and that of two animals heraldically flanking an altar (Figs. 13. 14). These observations point to the suggestion that this ivory relief lid presents a Cypro-Levantine adaptation of an Aegean motif prototype38.

35

36

37

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Schaeffer 1929, 292 f. pl. 56; Kantor 1947, 86–89 pl. 22 J; Yon 1979, 68 fig. 2; Gates 1992; Caubet – Matoian 1995; Rehak – Younger 1998, 249 f.; Poursat 1999, 683 f. pl. 145 a; Cornelius 2004, esp. 110 f. (no. 2, 7) with bibliography. CMS II 6, nos. 30. 31; CMS V Suppl. 1 A, no. 175. For antithetical goats, see CMS I, no. 379; CMS II 8, no. 255; CMS V, no. 201. See in general Hiller 2001. Halbherr et al. 1980, 91–93. 229–233; Rehak 1997a; Militello 1998, 99–132 pls. 1–8; 2000, 78–85 pls. A–H; Stürmer 2001; Jones 2005. Kantor 1947, 86–89; Poursat 1977a, 144; Gachet 1992, 69 with fig. 3 b; Poursat 1999, 683 f.; Blakolmer 2012, 95–97.

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Fig. 20: Stone vase fragment from Kynortion, drawing by K. Iliakis (after Sakellariou 1971, 5 pl. 3)

Fig. 21: Stone vase fragment from Kynortion (after Lambrinoudakis 1975, 106 fig. 102)

Although an interpretation as an object produced by Mycenaeans for the »Levantine market«39 could well fit our modern economic mindset, this does not explain why a trained Aegean artist should have neglected or misunderstood Aegean artistic rules. Of importance for our question, however, is the fact that this variable motif of ›aigotrophos‹ was travelling throughout different regions, periods and artistic media. In the Aegean it received its standardised form in Neopalatial Crete and lived on until the Late Mycenaean period. Although it appears tempting to identify the so-called ›Goddess with grain‹ in a wall-painting from Mycenae belonging to this motive tradition40 (Fig. 19) with the deity known as si-to-po-ti-ni-ja, sitōn potnia (cf. σῖτος, πότνια), on a Linear B tablet from Mycenae itself41, grain or wheat would be a rather atypical food for goats. An interpretation of bundles of green grass appears more reasonable and thus makes a connection with the theonym si-to-po-ti-ni-ja rather doubtful. Although the fragments of one or two stone relief rhyta from Mount Kynortion near Epidavros (Figs. 20. 21) are not well-dated42 and have been interpreted occasionally as imports from Crete43, it is more likely that a Late Mycenaean origin should be ascribed to them44. They clearly reflect a prominent iconographical cycle invented in Neopalatial Crete45, well comparable, for example, with the miniature friezes from the West House of Akrotiri46 (Fig. 22). However, some stylistic features such as the mannered human legs sharply divided into vertical edges, the remarkably schematic rendering of the heads, the careless engraving on the body of the dolphin figure decorating the stern of the ship, the schematic rockwork motifs as well as other details demonstrate the Late Mycenaean date of these stone relief vase fragments47. At least, it has to be stressed that stylistic features such as these do not occur on any stone relief vessel from Minoan Crete.

39 40 41 42

43 44

45 46 47

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Gates 1992; Militello 2003, 536. See esp. Marinatos 1988, 246 fig. 2; Rehak 1992, 50–58 pls. 10. 15 a. 18 a; Morgan 2005, 167 f. pl. 24 b. Rougemont 2006, 347 f. Sakellariou 1971; 1981, 532–534 pl. 180; Döhl 1980, 25 fig. 8 a. b; Morgan 1988, 151–154 pls. 193. 194; Dickers 1990, 187 f. pl. 10, 4 a. b; Koehl 2006, 185 (nos. 818. 819) pl. 48; Blakolmer 2011b, 469 f. fig. 7. Laffineur 1983, 116; Morgan 1988, 151. Vermeule 1964, 103 fig. 20 b; Sakellarakis 1973, 163; 1976, 184 f.; Kaiser 1976, 133 f.; Hägg 1984, 121; Niemeier 1990a, 271 f. Blawatskaja 1975, esp. 358 f.; Warren 1979; Sakellariou 1980; 1981; Morgan 1988, 166–171. Morgan 1988, 150–154 figs. 144. 145; Doumas 1992, 60 f. pl. 28; Televantou 1994. For a dating in LH III, see also Vermeule 1964, 103 fig. 20 b; Sakellarakis 1973, 163; 1976, 184 f.; Kaiser 1976, 133 f.; Hägg 1984, 121; Niemeier 1990a, 271 f.

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Fig. 22: Miniature frieze from the West House at Akrotiri, Thera, North wall (after Doumas 1992, 58 pl. 26)

Reinforcing the Late Mycenaean character of the relief rhyton fragments from Mount Kynortion is the fact that a stone vase fragment from the acropolis of Athens presenting a bull-leaping motif (Fig. 23) shows comparable features48. Although the motif of the man making an authoritative gesture in front of a bull possesses a close parallel in the Minoan Taureador frieze from Tell el-Dabca49 (Fig. 24), the schematic human body and the limbs as well as the neglected rendering of the head with the engraved circular eye on the stone vase fragment are hitherto unparalleled among miniature relief vessels from Minoan Crete, whereas the fragments from Kynortion represent a unique parallel in style. Thus, both examples, that from the Argolid (Figs. 20. 21) and that from Athens (Fig. 23), can hardly be interpreted as imports from Minoan Crete. They rather constitute hybrid, almost perfectly ›Minoanising‹ artefacts created in Late Mycenaean Greece. Concluding Remarks What general conclusions can be drawn from these observations on these and further examples of relief art produced on the Late Bronze Age Greek mainland? Although Mycenaean iconography is strongly marked by Cretan models throughout all three phases, the distinct relationship of mainland artists to Minoan arts allows us to recognise some variations. Even in the Shaft Grave period, there is no Helladic example of relief work which lacks any Minoan features, be it in iconography, style, border ornaments or the vessel shape. However,

48

49

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Mayer 1892, 80 f. with fig.; Reichel 1909, 93 f. (no. 22) fig. 13; Kaiser 1976, 30; Sakellarakis 1976, 184 pl. 12, 32; Younger 1976, 130 (no. 2, 5) fig. 2; Dickers 1990, 187 pl. 10, 2; Younger 1995b, 522. 528 (no. 48); Blakolmer 2011b, 470 f. fig. 8. Bietak et al. 2007, 64 fig. 65. Cf. further CMS II 3, no. 271; CMS II 8, no. 233.

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Fig. 23: Stone vase fragment from Athens (after Sakellarakis 1976, pl. 12, 32)

Fig. 24: Fresco fragment from Tell el-Dabca (after Bietak et al. 2007, 64 fig. 65)

this initial phase of Late Bronze Age art on the mainland is the period when autochthonous Helladic (i.e. non-Minoan) artistic features are discernible to the greatest extent. A couple of years ago, I tentatively summarised these non-Minoan artistic features of the Shaft Grave period by the term ›Middle Helladic artistic tradition‹, although the existence of a standardised Middle Helladic figurative art remains questionable50. What appears remarkable in relation to our question, though, is the fact that this ›Middle Helladic tradition‹ was by no means a strong, long-lived element constituting the foundation of a ›Mycenaean art‹ in contrast to ›Minoan art‹. Exactly the opposite was the case. Although the term ›Early Mycenaean‹ might be misleading for designating the succeeding periods LH IIB and IIIA1, other terms appear even more inappropriate when we try to characterise mainland art. In these periods, the artistic trend of imitating Cretan iconography was strongly intensified. However, hardly any argument can be brought forward in favour of the assumption by Jeffrey Hurwit and others of a ›Minoan-Mycenaean artistic koiné‹ in these periods51. In the respective examples from Mycenae, Dendra and other sites we can well distinguish between ›true‹ Minoan pieces which could have been found also in Minoan Crete, on the one hand, and on the other obviously ›Minoanising‹ pieces presenting iconographically and stylistically hybrid features atypical of Minoan art, such as the examples discussed above. What can now be defined as Mycenaean features are some general artistic preferences such as formal rigidity and schematisation, an increased abstraction, geometrication and segmentation, and a tendency towards formalism, axiality and seriation. The artistic result is a hypertrophic, overabundant accumulation and combination of traditional Minoan and sometimes ›Minoanising‹ motifs mostly composed in an idiosyncratic way – individual creations à la minoenne or ke-re-si-jo we-ke, Krēsiowergēs (cf. Κρήτη, ἔργον). But they remain only imitations and thus give the impression of rather clumsy forgeries of truly Minoan art, at least as judged from our modern archaeological point of view. What distinguishes these ›Early Mycenaean‹ relief images from those of the preceding Shaft Grave period is their gradually maturing character, i.e. a closer proximity to the Minoan prototypes than before. From that point on, Mycenaean artists had a better grasp of the techniques and the relief styles developed in Neopalatial

50 51

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Blakolmer 2007a; 2010a. Biesantz 1954, 39; Hooker 1976, 90; Hood 1978, 239; Hurwit 1979; Laffineur 1984; Younger 1985, 54.

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Crete, whereas the iconographical syntax and composition often continued to be non-Minoan and of less importance. Unfortunately, further questions of provenience have to remain open, since there is insufficient material from LM II and LM IIIA Crete at our disposal52. In any case, however, the iconographical models for artists on the Mycenaean mainland as well as in post-Neopalatial Crete can be seen mainly in the arts of LM I Crete and only occasionally in that of later periods. It is remarkable that the orientation towards Cretan iconographical motifs becomes the most obvious in the next period, the Mycenaean palatial phases. Instead of the hybrid, experimental and unique attempts during the preceding periods, this ›Late Mycenaean‹ relief art is less inventive and comes closer to the prototypes shaped by Neopalatial Crete. We cannot do otherwise but draw the curious conclusion that these imitations of Minoan iconography – in spite of the temporal distance – succeeded almost perfectly. Only some stylistic incongruities point to a Late Mycenaean date of examples such as the stone block of the Lion Gate (Fig. 13) or the bull relief blocks from the Atreus tholos53. Possibly, these and further examples such as stucco relief images in the Argolid54 and the spiral relief ceiling in the tholos tomb at Orchomenos55 allow us to suppose a kind of ›Minoan Renaissance‹ on the Mycenaean mainland56: a deliberate connection with ›ancient Cretan‹ imagery which occasionally was even surpassed by the use of monumentality and durable stone. Only by some stylistic predilections as well as a certain indifference towards quality does the Late Mycenaean date become apparent. However, it cannot be ruled out that even examples such as these constitute imports from LM I–II Crete as argued by John Younger and others57. In any case, the Late Helladic development of relief art did not lead to emancipation from Minoan art, but rather led in the opposite direction, into a more thorough adoption of Minoan prototypes. As a consequence, the arts on the Greek mainland throughout the entire Late Bronze Age can hardly be defined by searching for any autonomous ›Helladic stock element‹ but rather by assessing the degree of integration of the iconographical concepts as fixed by Neopalatial Crete. At least the more complex iconography of relief arts does not allow for a distinctly ›Mycenaean‹ character differing from the rich and versatile Minoan artistic tradition. With the possible exception of the Shaft Grave period, ›hybridisation‹ is not an appropriate category to apply, since we can well define the Minoan prototypes but hardly any homogeneous alternative ›Helladic‹ artistic component with which it could have been mixed. Thus, during the entire Late Helladic period, there is no tendency of emancipation from, or resistance towards, Minoan art. In other words: artistic production on the Mycenaean mainland never stood in contradiction to the overwhelming tradition of what was once created in Neopalatial Crete. A further point is worth mentioning: whereas Minoan art in Neopalatial Crete appears remarkably homogeneous in its entirety, this certainly does not apply to the relief images produced on the Mycenaean mainland. If I am correct in assuming that the monumental stucco relief images in the palace of Knossos functioned as the prototypes of a centralised unifying iconography radiating to all the artistic media of the Neopalatial period58, we have to bear in

52

53 54

55 56 57

58

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See esp. Poursat 1977a, 168 f.; Pini 1982; Thomas 1995; Niemeier 1997; Poursat 1997; Rehak 1997b; Thomas 2000, 314 f.; Younger 2000. Blakolmer 2011b. See further Hiller 2009. For a stucco relief fragment from the Argolid (Mycenae or Tiryns), see Kaiser 1975, 125 f. figs. 35. 36; 1976, 306 fig. 473 b; pl. 26; 1980, 19 fig. 4; pl. 8, 2. 3; Shaw 1998, 68. Cf. also Immerwahr 1990, 111; Rahmsdorf 2008, 184 f. (no. 2314) pls. 71. 94, 7. For a further stucco relief from Schliemann’s excavations at Mycenae showing a similar motif, see Rodenwaldt 1921, 69. 154; 1923/1924, 275 f. fig. 3; Kaiser 1976, 306. Schliemann 1891, 33 f. pls. 1. 2; Marinatos – Hirmer 1973, 170 pl. 183; Pelon 1976, 237. 415 f. fig. 136. Cf. Blakolmer 2011b, 472 f. For an earlier date of the relief block from the ›Lion Gate‹, see, e.g., Casson 1933, 30 n. 3; 34; Hood 1978, 101; Younger 1984, 62; 1987a, 147; 1987b, esp. 63 f. 68; 1995a, 346 f. Contra: Wright 1980, 539; Küpper 1996, 43; Blackwell 2014. Blakolmer 2007b, 221–223; 2007c; 2010b, 99–108; 2012, 92–98.

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mind two points. Firstly, on the Mycenaean mainland there never existed an artistic medium of comparable predominant position. Secondly, the highly-individual character of mainland relief objects makes it plausible to suggest that essentially imported ›antiques‹ from Neopalatial Crete – well evidenced in the archaeological record – constituted the models of the mostly individual iconography of the Early and Late Mycenaean products59. Moreover, from MM III onwards, it can be observed that Aegean iconography was not only basically constant in its fundamental character, but also lacked any closer regional diversities or specificities. This observation applies to Neopalatial Crete as well as to the Late Helladic Greek mainland in its entirety. This does not mean, however, that any innovative character was completely absent from all Mycenaean arts. The situation is certainly more complicated when it comes to Mycenaean mural-painting, figurines, pictorial style pottery and larnakes as well as a number of ivory objects. In these artistic media, there is at least a higher probability that truly ›Mycenaean‹ innovations could have led to a new tradition on their own. However, in images showing a more complex iconography, the traditional Minoan prototypes once more become evident: in mural-painting, for example, Minoan themes such as procession scenes and large-scale griffins and lions in the palaces of Pylos and Mycenae again demonstrate that in Late Mycenaean arts tradition was of greater importance than innovation. As I have tried to demonstrate, in Aegean iconography it appears legitimate, possible and necessary to distinguish between Minoan artefacts and those produced in a non-Minoan artistic sphere on the Mycenaean mainland. While this regional artistic bias sounds like an old-fashioned stereotype, nevertheless the first ones possess a long, consistent and well-defined tradition, whereas from the Shaft Grave period until LH IIIB, a complex iconography produced by Mycenaeans continuously possessed a mostly imitative character strongly dependent on concepts shaped in Neopalatial Crete. Although in our ›etic‹ approach, ›Minoanness‹, obviously, constitutes an important code of the character of objects of elite prestige on the Late Bronze Age Greek mainland, it is difficult to decide to what extent this is also the case in an ›emic‹ view60. Nevertheless, in the artistic realm, Mycenaeans did not define themselves by constructing any basic difference or contradiction to Minoan ideology. Exactly the opposite seems to be the case. This is why it would be preferable to talk in a less distinct sense, of ›Aegean arts‹61. It remains unknown whether the Minoan-rooted iconography in the arts of the Mycenaean mainland really applied to the reality of the advanced Late Bronze Age. When in Mycenaean procession images such as the Minoan flounced skirt constituted the standardised dress of women62, we should not automatically take it for granted that this Minoan or ›Minoanising‹ court dress remained en vogue and unchanged for more than half a millennium. It could just as well be that the dress code for women in elevated ritual positions was perpetuated in images through the ages63. The Minoan breechcloth could have undergone a similar formularisation in iconography, occurring also in Mycenaean seal images of the ›potnios theron‹ type64 as well as in a bull-leaping scene in a mural-painting from the palace of Pylos65. Although the long hair of men occurs in numerous iconographical themes on the Late Mycenaean mainland, in several instances it seems to be reminiscent of traditional Cretan imagery. As Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier and Robin Hägg have already suggested, the architecture in procession scenes on Mycenaean signet rings corresponds closely with traditional Minoan concepts66. Finally, it is

59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

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Cf. Vermeule 1964, 225; Hurwit 1979, 416; Pini 1982; 1983; Krzyszkowska 2005, esp. 234 f. Cf. Vermeule 1975; Hurwit 1979; Whittaker 2002; Maran – Stavrianopoulou 2007; Blakolmer 2011a. Cf., e.g., Crowley 1989, 136. See, e.g., Immerwahr 1990, 114; Whittaker 2012, 195. Cf. Blakolmer 2008c, 264 f. 267; Blakolmer – Weilhartner, in press. Crowley 2010, 81. Lang 1969, 49 f. 77 (36 H 105) pls. 24. 116. 124 C; Immerwahr 1990, 110 f. 196 (Py No. 1) pl. 17. Niemeier 1990b, 166 with n. 22; Hägg 2001, 144.

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the iconography of bull-leaping which allows us to question whether this Minoan ritual activity had been practised continuously on the Mycenaean mainland or was instead reduced to a poor iconographical formula: »The theme of bull-leaping is eventually transferred to the Mycenaeans where its apparently exclusive palatial contexts suggest that it was appropriated as a claim to power through the symbol’s association with the glory that was Knossos«67. It seems obvious that, throughout the entire Late Bronze Age, artists, commissioners and viewers on the Mycenaean mainland never intended to create an iconography which stood in contrast to the Minoan tradition shaped in Neopalatial Crete. Thus, was »the ›Mycenaean‹ […] only a provincial variant of the same ›Minoan‹ civilization«, to quote Arthur Evans in an article published one century ago68 – a »second hand culture« in the wording of Fritz Schachermeyr69? At least within the sector of iconography the answer tends towards the positive. It appears at least highly doubtful that Mycenaean artists and sponsors intended to create an iconography which would provide a contrast to that of the Creto-Minoan tradition. The outdated scholarly expectation of polarising ethnic character and identities of the Bronze Age Aegean is rooted in the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the German ›Strukturanalyse‹, and is mainly due to the preconception that two interrelated cultural entities have to contrast in every respect: you and me, female and male, peace and war, Minoan and Mycenaean70. At least concerning iconography, the Mycenaean attitude to Minoan concepts seems to have been a completely different one which was strongly characterised by integration and continuity, rather than by aversion, resistance or innovation. Such an attitude, however, makes sense only when continuity was basically attempted also with regard to the iconological contents and messages in the fields of ritual, the religious system and political power71. Thus, the generic, non-individual and symbolic character of the Neopalatial iconography of Crete not only enabled its adoption by and continuity among the elites on the Late Helladic mainland, but obviously also fitted the demands of Mycenaean authority and kingship. Bibliography Adler 1865 F. Adler, Das Relief am Löwenthor zu Mykenae, AZ 23, no. 193, January 1865, 1–13. Andreadaki-Vlazaki 2003 M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki, Χανιά, ADelt 52 B 3, 1997 (2003), 1004–1012. Aström – Blomé 1964 P. Aström – B. Blomé, A Reconstruction of the Lion Relief at Mycenae, OpAth 5, 1964, 159–191. Biesantz 1954 H. Biesantz, Kretisch-mykenische Siegelbilder. Stilgeschichtliche und chronologische Untersuchungen (Marburg 1954). Bietak et al. 2007 M. Bietak – N. Marinatos – C. Palivou, Taureador Scenes in Tell el-Dabca (Avaris) and Knossos, DenkschrWien Gesamtakademie 43 = Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts 27 (Vienna 2007).

67 68 69 70

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Shaw 1997, 501. Evans 1912, 282. Schachermeyr 1984, 74: »Hochkultur zweiter Hand« and »Satellitenkultur«. See the criticism by Bintliff 1984; Starr 1984; MacEnroe 1995; Treuil 2006; Blakolmer 2009, 11–14; Militello 2005–2008, 1184–1192. See in general Wimmer 1997. See above n. 60.

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Bintliff 1984 J. L. Bintliff, Structuralism and Myth in Minoan Studies, Antiquity 58, 1984, 33–38. Blackwell 2014 N. G. Blackwell, Making the Lion Gate Relief at Mycenae: Tool Marks and Foreign Influence, AJA 118, 2014, 451–488. Blakolmer 2007a F. Blakolmer, Der autochthone Stil der Schachtgräberperiode im bronzezeitlichen Griechenland als Zeugnis für eine mittelhelladische Bildkunst, ÖJh 76, 2007, 65–88. Blakolmer 2007b F. Blakolmer, The Silver Battle Krater from Shaft Grave IV at Mycenae: Evidence of Fighting ›Heroes‹ on Minoan Palace Walls at Knossos?, in: R. Laffineur – S. P. Morris (eds), EPOS. Reconsidering Greek Epic and Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology. Proceedings of the 11th International Aegean Conference, Los Angeles, UCLA – The J. Paul Getty Villa, 20–23 April 2006, Aegaeum 28 (Liège 2007) 218–223. Blakolmer 2007c Vom Wandrelief in die Kleinkunst: Transformationen des Stierbildes in der minoisch-mykenischen Reliefkunst, in: F. Lang – C. Reinholdt – J. Weilhartner (eds), ΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΙΟΣ. Archäologische Forschungen zwischen Nil und Istros. Festschrift für Stefan Hiller zum 65. Geburtstag (Vienna 2007) 31–47. Blakolmer 2008a Blakolmer, Gab es eine mittelhelladische Bildkunst?, in: G. Grabherr – B. Kainrath (eds), Akten des 11. Österreichischen Archäologentages in Innsbruck, 23.–25. März 2006, Innsbrucker klassisch-archäologische Universitätsschriften = Ikarus 3 (Innsbruck 2008) 65–72. Blakolmer 2008b F. Blakolmer, Zum Lentoidsiegel mit Keilerjagd aus dem frühmykenischen Tholosgrab von Vapheio, in: Ch. Franak – S. Lamm – T. Neuhauser – B. Porod – K. Zöhrer (eds), Thiasos. Festschrift für Erwin Pochmarski zum 65. Geburtstag. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Archäologie der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Vienna 2008) 89–100. Blakolmer 2008c F. Blakolmer, Processions in Aegean Iconography II: Who are the Participants?, in: L. A. Hitchcock – R. Laffineur – J. Crowley (eds), DAIS. The Aegean Feast. Proceedings of the 12th International Aegean Conference, University of Melbourne, Centre for Classics and Archaeology, 25–29 March 2008, Aegaeum 29 (Liège 2008) 257–268. Blakolmer 2009 F. Blakolmer, Die Erforschung der Altägäis in den 20er und 30er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts, in: J. Bouzek (ed.), Akten des Kolloquiums ›Zeitbrücken – Art Déco, Kubismus, Neoklassizismus und die Antike‹, April 2008 in Prag, Studia Hercynia 13 (Prague 2009) 5–18. Blakolmer 2010a F. Blakolmer, The Iconography of the Shaft Grave Period as Evidence for a Middle Helladic Tradition of Figurative Arts?, in: A. Philippa-Touchais – G. Touchais – S. Voutsaki – J. Wright (eds), Mesohelladika. La Grèce continentale au Bronze Moyen. Actes du colloque international organisé par l’École française d’Athènes, en collaboration avec l’American School of Classical Studies at Athens et le Netherlands Institute in Athens, Athènes, 8–12 mars 2006, BCH Suppl. 52 (Athens 2010) 509–519. Blakolmer 2010b F. Blakolmer, Small is Beautiful. The Significance of Aegean Glyptic for the Study of Wall Paintings, Relief Frescoes and Minor Relief Arts, in: W. Müller (ed.), Die Bedeutung der minoischen und mykenischen Glyptik. VI. Internationales Siegel-Symposium aus Anlass des 50-jährigen Bestehens des CMS, Marburg, 9.–12. Oktober 2008, CMS Beih. 8 (Berlin 2010) 91–108. Blakolmer 2011a F. Blakolmer, Vom Thronraum in Knossos zum Löwentor von Mykene: Kontinuitäten in Bildkunst und Palastideologie, in: F. Blakolmer – C. Reinholdt – J. Weilhartner – G. Nightingale (eds), Österreichische Forschungen zur Ägäischen Bronzezeit 2009. Akten der Tagung vom 6. bis 7. März 2009 am Fachbereich Altertumswissenschaften der Universität Salzburg (Vienna 2011) 63–80.

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Blakolmer 2011b F. Blakolmer, Creto-Minoan Art abroad or Mycenaean Imitation? The Case of the Bull Reliefs from the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, in: Acts of the 10th International Cretological Congress, Khania, 1–8 October 2006, A 3 (Khania 2011) 461–482. Blakolmer 2012 F. Blakolmer, Image and Architecture: Reflections of Mural Iconography in Seal Images and Other Art Forms of Minoan Crete, in: D. Panagiotopoulos – U. Günkel-Maschek (eds), Minoan Realities. Approaches to Images, Architecture, and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegis 5 (Louvain 2012) 83–114. Blakolmer – Weilhartner, in press F. Blakolmer – J. Weilhartner, Eberzahnhelmträger und ke-se-nu-wo: Die Aussage der Bildkunst und der Linear BTexte zu Identität und Fremdenbild in der ägäischen Frühzeit, in: Das Eigene und das Fremde, Tagung an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 26.–27. März 2012, Origines 4 (in press). Blawatskaja 1975 T. Blawatskaja, De l’épopée crétoise du XVIIe s. au XVe s. av. notre ère, ŽivaAnt 25, 1975, 355–361. Bloedow 1996 E. F. Bloedow, The Lions of the Lion Gate at Mycenae, in: E. De Miro – L. Godart – A. Sacconi (eds), Atti e memorie del secondo congresso internazionale di micenologia, Roma – Napoli, 14–20 ottobre 1991, Incunabula Graeca 98 (Rome 1996) 1159–1166. Cameron – Hood 1967 M. Cameron – S. Hood (eds), Sir Arthur Evans’ Knossos Fresco Atlas (Farnborough 1967). Casson 1933 S. Casson, The Technique of Early Greek Sculpture (Oxford 1933). Caubet – Matoian 1995 A. Caubet – V. Matoian, Ougarit et l’Égée, in: M. Yon – M. Sznycer – P. Bordreuil (eds), Ras Shamra-Ougarit 11. Le pays d’Ougarit autour de 1200 av. J.-C.: Histoire et archéologie. Actes du colloque international, Paris, 28 juin– 1er juillet 1993 (Paris 1995) 99–112. Charbonneaux 1929 J. Charbonneaux, L’art égéen (Paris 1929). CMS F. Matz – I. Pini (eds), Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (Berlin 1965–2009). Cornelius 2004 I. Cornelius, The Many Faces of the Goddess (Fribourg 2004). Crowley 1989 J. L. Crowley, Minoan Influence on Mycenaean Art: Chronological Problems with the Prototypes, in: P. Åström (ed.), High, Middle or Low? Acts of an International Colloquium on Absolute Chronology Held at the University of Gothenburg 10th – 22nd August 1987, Part 3, SIMA Pocket-book 80 (Gothenburg 1989) 124–141. Crowley 2010 J. L. Crowley, The Aegean Master of Animals. The Evidence of the Seals, Signets, and Sealings, in: D. B. Counts – B. Arnold (eds), The Master of Animals in Old World Iconography (Budapest 2010) 75–91. Davis 1977 E. Davis, The Vapheio Cups and Aegean Gold and Silver Ware (New York 1977). Dawkins 1904/1905 R. M. Dawkins, Excavations at Palaikastro IV, BSA 11, 1904/1905, 258–292. Demakopoulou 1990 K. Demakopoulou (ed.), Troja, Mykene, Tiryns, Orchomenos. Heinrich Schliemann zum 100. Todestag, Ausstellungskatalog Athen, Nationalmuseum, Berlin, Altes Museum (Athens 1990).

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Younger 1997 J. G. Younger, The Stelai of Mycenae Grave Circles A and B, in: R. Laffineur – Ph. P. Betancourt (eds), TEXNH. Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 6th International Aegean Conference, Philadelphia, Temple University, 18–21 April 1996, Aegaeum 16 (Liège 1997) 229–239. Younger 2000 J. G. Younger, The Spectacle-Eyes Group: Continuity and Innovation for the First Mycenaean Administration at Knossos, in: I. Pini (ed.), Minoisch-mykenische Glyptik. Stil, Ikonographie, Funktion. V. Internationales Siegel-Symposium, Marburg, 23.–25. September 1999, CMS Beih. 6 (Berlin 2000) 347–360.

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›Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno‹: The Mycenaean Palace System Birgitta Eder – Reinhard Jung Abstract: The cultural unity that shapes the character of the Mycenaean palatial period between LH IIIA1 and LH IIIB Final has chronological as well as geographical limits, and thus cannot be merely accidental. As a historical phenomenon it deserves a thorough explanation, and recent discussion sees a growing number of scholars arguing for the existence of a unified political system. We attempt to sketch a series of arguments supporting the idea of a single Mycenaean political entity in the southern and central Aegean. Apart from a discussion of the limited data of the Linear B texts we offer an archaeological perspective to the rise of the politically-unified system of the Mycenaean palatial period. In addition, we analyse the available historical references to the political power(s) of the Aegean in Egyptian and Hittite texts in the framework of Mycenaean international relations.

The almost uniform material culture of Mycenaean Greece was created during the palatial period of LH IIIA and B of the 14th and 13th centuries BC, and the ›Mycenaean koine‹ is truly a historically remarkable phenomenon which is anything but self-evident and demands a thorough explanation. Chronologically it is set apart from the pre-palatial and post-palatial periods. It succeeds a formative phase of LH I–II which is characterised by cultural and social plurality, and precedes the final phase of cultural and political fragmentation and ultimate decline of LH IIIC. Geographical limits are made apparent by the distribution of Aegean LBA seals, Mycenaean relief glass and gold jewellery with figurative motifs, the comprehensive and exclusive use of Mycenaean painted and unpainted wheel-made pottery and kitchen wares and Mycenaean tholos and chamber tombs. A complex network of social rules lies behind the varied and multi-faceted combination of artefacts of Mycenaean workmanship in the tombs and settlements of the Greek mainland and the southern Aegean. Beyond the Aegean different rules applied, and the Bronze Age societies of Macedonia, Italy, Asia Minor and the wider Eastern Mediterranean integrated Mycenaean artefacts in very different ways into their cultural set-up. Mere chance is certainly not the ruling principle behind this historical phenomenon which urgently needs an up-to-date discussion. We acknowledge the growing interest into the question of how the Mycenaean palace system functioned on an overall basis. The idea of a unified political system in Mycenaean Greece has gained considerable support in recent years from scholars working with the evidence provided by the Linear B tablets1. Administrative Tools: Tablets, Seals, Vase Inscriptions The uniformity of the documents written in Linear B, which cover a period of about 250 years from the second half of the 15th century BC until the end of the 13th century BC, remains particularly striking. From Knossos to Thebes and from Pylos to Mycenae the administrative texts are remarkably similar, not only as far as formal criteria of shape and palaeography are concerned, but also with respect to lexicon and dialect. Moreover, these texts illustrate a uniform system of

1

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Olivier 2006, 187: »Mais lorsque des idées sont dans l’air, elles ont tendance à se répandre et arrivent même à se rencontrer. Peut-être certaines finiront-elles par s’imposer? (…) Sommes-nous à la veille d’un ›reconnaissance‹, non pas diplomatique mais simplement ›académique‹, d’un empire mycénien?«. See also below.

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weights and measures, an apparently similar system of taxation, the same terminology for land use and for the hierarchy of officials and functionaries2. That is certainly unusual for independent polities, but also uncommon for vassal kingdoms depending on one and the same Great King, as the Near Eastern kingdoms in the realm of Hatti illustrate. The orientalist Nicholas Postgate has taken this to indicate a common system of administration for all the Mycenaean palaces, and the existence of a central authority which was interested in the preservation of this unity and had the means to secure it3. In fact, even administrative systems of the same language, with a common origin and historical phases of unity or conversion tend to develop their own terminology when they function separately from each other. A case in point is offered by the administrative jargon used in Germany and Austria where German is the national language. We have arranged this table with a few examples of differences in the bureaucratic terminology of the republican states of present-day Germany and Austria, which could easily be extended. Austria

Germany

English translation

State Administration Abgeordneter zum Nationalrat

Bundestagsabgeordneter

member of parliament

Landeshauptmann

Ministerpräsident

leader of a federal state

angeloben

vereidigen

to take the oath of office

Bundesheer

Bundeswehr

federal armed forces

Jus

Jura

law

Anmeldebescheinigung

Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung

residence permit statement (within EU)

Labour Matura

Abitur

diploma qualifying for university admission

Kollektivvertrag

Tarifvertrag

labour contract / wage agreement

karenzieren

beurlauben

to grant so. leave of absence

pragmatisieren

verbeamten

to give so. the status of a civil servant

Abfertigung

Abfindung

severance payment

Pension

Rente

pension

Table 1: Examples of differences in the bureaucratic languages of Austria and Germany

What we would like to stress is that administrative uniformity needs a thorough explanation and is far from being self-evident. We suggest one driving force behind this phenomenon in Mycenaean Greece and consider the uniformity to indicate administrative bonds which tied the regions together. The same applies to Mycenaean clay nodules, which were employed at the interface of the central palace administration and the people and institutions outside the palace. The Mycenaean clay nodules are indeed different and less varied than the Neopalatial Minoan ones, but from palace to palace they remain in form and function almost identical4. However, Linear B texts do not contain any explicit information about the character of the relations between the individual Mycenaean palaces. The existence of relations among these palaces is beyond any doubt, because of the tight material interconnections between the sites over time.

2

3 4

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Olivier 2006, 185 f.; Killen 2007. See Palaima 2003a, 159. 162: »This in itself argues for a common and traditional ›professionalism‹ among the ›administrators‹ who wrote the records«. Postgate 2001. Hallager 2005, 249–263.

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Fig. 1: Distribution of Linear B tablets and inscribed stirrup jars (after Haskell et al. 2011, 4 ill. 1. 5; Zurbach 2006, 17 fig. 1 with additions and alterations)

Fig. 2: Map of Bronze Age sites mentioned in the text

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Therefore it is due to the specific character of the Linear B texts – and not a result of a fragmented political landscape – that they do not contain direct information on the political organisation of Mycenaean Greece. Inscribed transport or coarse-ware stirrup jars form the only group of Linear B documents which we can see to have been inter-regionally distributed (Fig. 1). Raw oil is one of the commodities most commonly transported in these coarse-ware stirrup jars5, which were only produced in western and central Crete, but subsequently also sent to the Greek mainland. Peter van Alfen has recognized the written formula on those stirrup jars as referring to a production manager by his name, a production place by its toponym and the owner of the production unit by his name6. In the course of vase production the scribe in charge would inform the responsible potter how many jars were needed for a special order, and that scribe would write the necessary information on one or a few jars only in order to document the production and delivery process for the production manager(s)7 and the ordering party. The rest of the associated batch of jars remained uninscribed and was attached to the one carrying the written information. The batch of vases would stay together, because the administrative centre giving out the order was the receiver at the same time, and no free market trade was involved that could split up the group of stirrup jars and separate the inscribed from the non-inscribed ones. The inscription would refer to an order given out by a mainland or a Cretan centre, and the responsible scribes would register – partly on jars, partly on tablets – the data needed by the palatial bureaucracy on Crete and/or the mainland in order to organise production and transport to the final destination8. As van Alfen explains, the longer inscriptions on the stirrup jars indicate obligations on a different hierarchical level than the shorter ones, because the distance between oil production and the administrative centre ordering the oil was longer than in the instances in which only the production manager’s name was needed9. In four of those longer inscriptions the term wa-na-ka-te-ro, wanakteros (cf. ἄναξ), ›royal‹, or its possible abbreviation wa, appears in the place of the owner’s name. One each of these stirrup jars was found at Khania (KH Z 43)10, at Thebes (TH Z 839), at Eleusis (EL Z 1) and at Tiryns (TI Z 29). These four inscriptions likely refer to production on royal estates11. Assuming that these four Cretan stirrup jars were found at the place of their first and final destination, one would like to understand what the term wa-na-ka-te-ro meant to the recipients of the three jars in Boeotia, in Attica and in the Argolid. The administration on the mainland, where three of the stirrup jars arrived, was obviously interested to know, whether the oil came from a named owner or from one of several royal estates that existed at various places. However, there is no additional information making clear which wanax owned the royal estate referred to in the inscription. There are two possible explanations: 1. The exclusive production of those coarse-ware stirrup jars on Crete implied that it must have been the king of Crete (if one supposes that there was one and only one). 2. There was only one wanax in all of Greece anyway and no confusion could arise from the designation wa-na-ka-te-ro. The wanax would then have had his royal estates for various agricultural products in all Greek regions, where his administration worked, just like the Egyptian pharaoh had royal estates even in the Levantine vassal kingdoms12, where it was clear to

5 6 7

8

9 10 11 12

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van Alfen 1999, 267 f. n. 56; Haskell et al. 2011, 5. van Alfen 1999; 2008. Cf. Judson 2013. We do not think that one can assume that the production manager for the olive oil and the one responsible for the stirrup jar production was one and the same person (contra van Alfen 1999, 268 f.), because it is not certain that the pottery production was much decentralised. In fact some arguments suggest that the number of pottery workshops was smaller than the number of place names on the stirrup jars. See Killen 2011, 104. van Alfen (1999, 263 f.) gives an example for the possibility that a number of stirrup jars (ka-ra-re-we, khlārēwes [cf. χλαρόν]) is recorded together with a personal name on a tablet (PY Fr 1184), so that there were independent mechanisms of control for transfer of groups of pots (whether full or empty). van Alfen 1999, 270. Andreadaki-Vlasaki – Hallager 2007, 17–20. van Alfen 1999, 270 f. Bavay 2015.

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everybody that there was only one ›Sun‹ shining in the empire. In this sense, one can simply extend van Alfen’s basic conclusion that the inscribed stirrup jars »operated presumably within a closed system«13 to the closed system of the whole Mycenaean Great Kingdom called Ahhiyawa (at least by the Hittites, for which see below). This remains true, even if one Linear B inscribed stirrup jar was found outside the Aegean circle at the site of Sidon in the Levant14. First, large numbers of inscribed stirrup jars were sent to various places on the Greek mainland15. Second, such inscribed jars were almost never sent to places outside the realm of Mycenaean administration, while uninscribed coarse-ware stirrup jars of Cretan production did reach various Levantine harbours16. This speaks against the assumption that the stirrup jar inscriptions had no meaning outside of Crete. In contrast, the inter-regional distribution of the inscribed coarse-ware stirrup jars within the Aegean makes it likely that an inter-regional administrative process was at work drawing on the inscriptions of those jars – as opposed to other Linear B document types, which functioned only on a regional level and thus had no inter-regional distribution. One can only speculate why the jars were inscribed before firing. Apparently, the Mycenaean administrators did not consider other kinds of attached documents such as sealings or accompanying letters (e.g. on a diptychon) sufficient. An inscription painted before firing will certainly stay on the jar and give information about its content no matter what happens on the intermediate stages of transport. It is forgery-proof. This can be taken to indicate that the ordering party took special care to control the agricultural producer and the administrator in charge of that production. This gained special importance when producer and associated administration were geographically distant from the administrator who assigned the production order. In other words, the inscribed stirrup jars were most probably designed for economic and administrative processes encompassing both a regional and an inter-regional level, but they were not produced for trade with foreign kingdoms. This pattern compares well to the distribution of Aegean seals and relief jewellery, which also occurs in a congruent area in the Aegean with very few outliers in regions of intensive Aegean contacts. Although several thousand Aegean seals are known, their circulation is almost confined to the Late Bronze Age Aegean, and only a very few exceptional pieces have been found on the western coast of Asia Minor, in Cyprus and the Levant. This suggests that they were not actually considered as ornaments which could become objects of trade and exchange. If we understand them as tokens of an administrative system, as clay sealings suggest, Aegean seals had bureaucratic limits of function; and this circumstance may be reflected by their geographical diffusion17. Seals of different categories display a comprehensive distribution across the area of the Peloponnese, central and northern Greece. This applies to the groups of various materials (semi-precious stones, pressed glass, steatite and fluorite) as well as to the different glyptic styles. It is interesting to note that the different groups of seals cannot be attributed to the regional catchment areas of individual palaces, but that common features characterise their supra-regional distribution pattern. This is true for seals but also for seal impressions on clay nodules from the various Mycenaean palaces, which reflect a common repertoire of motifs. This gives the impression of a unified administrative system, which is reinforced by the uniformity of the Linear B texts from the various Mycenaean palaces. Seals made of semi-precious stones and golden signet rings appear only from LH IIB/IIIA1 in the tombs of Thessaly, central Greece and the north-western Peloponnese. The group of people wearing seals was significantly enlarged with the creation of the Mainland Popular Group, the moulded glass and ornamental fluorite seals from LH IIIA(1) onwards. Seals of semi-precious stones and golden signet rings increasingly became rather exclusive antiques which were, accord-

13 14 15 16 17

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van Alfen 1999, 264. 267. Karageorghis 2008. Killen 2011. Haskell et al. 2011. Eder 2007a; 2007b with distribution maps.

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ing to clay impressions on nodules found in the Mycenaean palaces, used in the highest circles of the palace administration for sealing. Each of the individual seal groups is linked via materials, motifs and sealings to the Mycenaean palaces and their administrative system, which we hold responsible for designing the rules under which seals were distributed and used. The contemporaneous distribution of the very different categories of seals goes hand in hand with the intensive dissemination of Mycenaean material culture on the Greek mainland and the adjacent islands starting in LH IIB/IIIA1. Thus we suggest that the distribution of Aegean seal groups from LH IIB/IIIA1 onwards can be explained in terms of the administrative development of the Greek mainland by the Mycenaean palace system. The extension of the territorial basis would have formed the framework which required developing and expanding the various categories of seals. With regard to the distribution of the different seal groups in the area of the so-called northern and western periphery, the regions from Thessaly through central Greece to the north-western Peloponnese are inseparably part of the Mycenaean koine of the palatial period. Even if we still have no clay nodules from these regions which could offer the ultimate proof of an administrative use of these seals, the presence of seals forms in any case the basic material condition for the possibility of sphragistic use within an administrative system18. The new Linear B texts from Volos19 confirm this perspective, which was developed solely on the distribution of Aegean seals. Mycenaean administrative records prove the presence of Mycenaean palatial administration in an area which was formerly termed the ›periphery‹. To our minds this region was incorporated into the unified Mycenaean palace system in the same way as any other region of southern and central Greece. Now, one might argue that the existence of a Mycenaean palace in most of those regions for which a Linear B administration is attested, speaks against a unified Mycenaean kingdom with a single wanax. However, one needs only to think of contemporaneous 18th and 19th dynasty Egypt to see a single ruling king with different palaces at his disposal in the various regions of his kingdom. Such an analogous model suits the repetitive design of the throne rooms in the three LH IIIB palaces at Pylos, Mycenae and Tiryns20 which are almost identical in their overall dimensions, structure and internal design, suggesting the performance of identical ceremonials21. The earliest throne room compound of the classical type was identified at Tiryns and dates back to LH IIIA1 or IIIA222. The convergences in architectural design of the LH IIIB palaces may be interpreted as resulting from central decisions, because there are indications that earlier palace plans followed different models23. Mycenaean Rule over Crete In order to support this perspective we have to understand the formative phases of the Mycenaean kingdom. Let us start this investigation on Crete, where the oldest Linear B tablets have been found in the palace of Knossos, in the Room of the Chariot Tablets, stratified at the beginning of LM IIIA124. Jan Driessen assumes a Mycenaean conquest of Crete at the end of LM IB, when Minoan Neopalatial administrative structures were destroyed. As a result, a Mycenaean administration

18 19 20 21 22 23

24

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Cf. Eder 2009b. Skafida et al. 2012. Jung 2015. For the comparison of the three throne room complexes, see already Mylonas 1966, 63 fig. 16. Kilian 1987, 209. 211 f. figs. 6. 7; Maran 2001. This particularly applies to Pylos, where the first palaces show specific Minoan building techniques and may have had a layout inspired by Minoan palatial compounds, while the LH IIIB plan follows Argive models (Kilian 1987, 213–217 fig. 12; Rutter 2005, 20–32 figs. 1–7 [quoting results by Michael Nelson]). For the date see Driessen 2000, 218.

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was installed during LM II25. In Driessen’s words »some Mycenaean king established himself at Knossos, placing troops in a few strategic settlements, such as Khania and Rethymnon in the west«26. In this reconstruction, an archaeological correlate of Mycenaean political control emanating from Knossos is the LM II and IIIA1 pottery of Knossian style27. However, recent excavations at Khania in 2004 brought to light warrior tombs dating to the early period of the Mycenaean rule over Crete. The pit and shaft graves with warrior burials date to LM II/IIIA1 and are comparable to the famous Knossian warrior tombs, as well as those from the Mycenaean mainland. A rich warrior burial equipped with sword, arrows (a group of arrowheads was found), mirror, knife and razor28 also includes LH IIIA1 pottery imported from the Greek mainland – possibly from the Argolid29. Interestingly, the built walls lining the burial shaft of tomb 46 are features that only recur on the Greek mainland and have no parallel at Knossos30. The sword of this warrior is embellished with gold fittings underlining his high military and social rank31. One may speculate that the Mycenaean take-over did not only start at Knossos, but had two bridge-heads at the same time, at Knossos and at Khania. We are certainly not the only ones who see Mycenae as the driving force behind the Mycenaean expansion to Crete. The dominant role of Mycenae within the group of Mycenaean sites of the Argive plain was established since the time of the shaft graves with their multitude of foreign grave goods and continued with an unrivalled series of nine tholos tombs, of which six belong already to LH IIA32. The Mycenaean Military-Political Complex The LH IIB and IIIA1 periods apparently witnessed a series of dynamic developments powered by military expansion33. The well-known cuirass tomb from Dendra belongs to the transition from LH IIB to LH IIIA1 and offers the typical set of weapons, metal vessels and pottery, which are so characteristic of the warrior burials of the time (Figs. 3–5)34. However, this is not a local phenomenon restricted to the Argolid and Crete. During the LH IIB and IIIA1 periods, we find similar burials also in Messenia, Achaea, central Greece, Thessaly and on the Dodecanese. Imma Kilian-Dirlmeier and Hartmut Matthäus have shown that differences in the combinations of the grave offerings reflect various classes of social status of the deceased35. In Messenia the bronze assemblage found in pit 3 of the Nichoria tholos may represent such a warrior burial of LH IIIA1, which was re-deposited later36. In central Greece, in the area of ancient Phokis, excavations in the late 1990s revealed a chamber tomb cemetery near Kalapodi.

25 26 27 28 29

30

31 32 33 34 35 36

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Driessen 2000, 219 f. Driessen 2000, 220. Driessen 2000, 220 with n. 11. Andreadaki-Vlasaki 2010, 18. 27 fig. 6 α–δ. The two piriform jars clearly show LH IIIA1 decoration and motifs (Andreadaki-Vlasaki 2010, 27 fig. 6 γ; cf. French 1964, 244 fig. 1, 6; 247 pl. 68 a, from the Atreus Bothros at Mycenae). The decoration of the beaked jugs also corresponds better with mainland patterns of LH IIIA1 (Andreadaki-Vlasaki 2010, 27 fig. 6 β; cf. Mountjoy 1999, 838 with respect to the monochrome neck decoration) than with Cretan LM II, but these two vessels do not have exact parallels in the Argolid. Andreadaki-Vlasaki 2010, 18. 27 f. drawings 3–5. For discussion of the central Cretan variety of shaft graves (rockcut with a ledge for covering slabs) around Knossos, see Evans 1906, 11–15; Kallitsaki 1997, 220–227; Miller 2011, 49–56. Andreadaki-Vlasaki et al. 2008, 102 f. cat. no. 75. See most recently Voutsaki 2010, 93–100. Cf. Eder 2009a, 14–20. Cf. Catling 1989; Eder 2009a, 13–15. Åström 1977, 7–25 pls. 1–7; Verdelis 1977, 28–65 pls. 8–30. Matthäus 1983; Kilian-Dirlmeier 1985; 1986. Nichoria: Wilkie 1992, 260–264. For a detailed discussion of the complicated stratigraphy of the tholos including arguments for an earlier construction date and a date for the warrior burial in LH IIB/IIIA1, see Zavadil 2013, 425.

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1

2

3

4 Fig. 3: Dendra chamber tomb 12, cuirass tomb, ceramic vessels: 1) Alabastron 1 (after Åström 1977, 14 f. no. 10, fig. 5, pl. V. 3–4. Scale 1:4); 2) Alabastron 2 (after Åström 1977, 15 f. no. 16, fig. 6, pl. V. 5–6. Scale 1:4); 3) Alabastron 3 (after Åström 1977, 17 f. no. 25, fig. 7, pl. V. 1–2. Scale 1:4); 4) Piriform amphora (after Åström 1977, 13 f. fig. 4, pl. VI. 2. Scale 1:4)

In tomb 1 a warrior burial lay still in situ together with a type C sword, one spearhead, two knives, one dagger, many arrowheads, a pair of bronze scales, tweezers, gold ornaments, two seals of agate and Mycenaean alabastra of LH IIB style37. Another similar burial, although

37

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Kalapodi-Kokkalia (tomb I): Dakoronia – Dimaki 1998, 394 pl. 1α (alabastron); Dakoronia 2006, 24–26 (fig. 16: scales; fig. 17: sword); Dakoronia 2007, 59. 64 fig. 1 (scales); Dakoronia 2008, 293 figs. 488. 489 (type C sword and gold disks with rosettes); CMS V Suppl. 3 no. 63. 64 (seals).

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1

2

3 4 Fig. 4: Dendra chamber tomb 12, cuirass tomb, metal vessels: 1) Two handled bronze basin (after Matthäus 1980, 130 no. 153, pl. 17. Not to scale); 2) Spouted bronze bowl (after Matthäus 1980, 264 f. no. 392, pl. 46. Scale 1:3); 3) Silver cup (after Åström 1977, 54 f. no. 11, pl. IX. 3. Not to scale); 4) Piriform bronze jar (after Matthäus 1980, 190 no. 286, pl. 34. Scale 2:7)

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1 2

3

4

Fig. 5: Dendra chamber tomb 12, cuirass tomb, weapons and tools: 1) Mirror (after Åström 1977, 16 no. 19; 51 no. 7, pl. VI. 3. Not to scale); 2) Knife (after Åström 1977, 50 f. no. 6, pl. XXIII. 3. Not to scale); 3) Swords (after Åström 1977, 18 nos. 30. 31, pl. VII. 1. 2. Not to scale); 4) Cuirass (after Papachatzis 1978, 23 fig. 8. Not to scale)

equipped with lesser gifts, is part of the cist tomb cemetery at Volos-Nea Ionia in Thessaly and also dates to LH IIB38. All these warrior burials are part of a super-regional phenomenon in LH IIB/IIIA1 and may be seen in terms of an expansionist ›political-military complex‹ seeking control over large parts of the Aegean, a political power that within the few decades of LH IIB/IIIA1 intervened in Crete and in areas of the Greek mainland as far as Thessaly and the Aegean islands. It was

38

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Batziou-Efstathiou 1991, 33–42 figs. 14–19 pls. 21–24.

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precisely during this time when on Crete the first Mycenaean administration was set up, and the new Linear B inscription found at Iklaina near Pylos in a LH IIB–IIIA1/A2 Early context may be read in a similar way39. We suggest that Linear B administration was established on the Greek mainland in the course of LH IIB and IIIA1 after it had been developed under Cretan influence. Exotic Goods and Taxation Military aggression was only one of the means used to establish Mycenaean administration, and a kind of indirect military threat emanating from the wanax was certainly a permanent phenomenon. However, more political instruments of domination may have been used by the emerging wanax. During LH IIB and IIIA1 Mycenaean material culture spread all over the Greek mainland. Most chamber tomb cemeteries in the north-western Peloponnese, central Greece, Thessaly and the Aegean islands make their start in LH IIB/IIIA1, and pottery (painted as well as unpainted), figurines and jewellery, weapons and utensils gained the uniform character that we are used to call ›Mycenaean‹ despite a few regional idiosyncrasies. Raw materials from the Near East, as well as finished items of glass, gold, ivory and semi-precious stones in different quantities and qualities found their way into the regional hierarchies of the living and the dead. Apart from the foreign qualities of objects and materials, it was important that they were not available locally. Access to these materials and items was therefore limited and the channels subject to palatial control. Early palatial workshops shaped semi-precious stones, ivory, glass and gold into various items of specialised craftsmanship, which were decorated with the repetitive designs of an overall pervasive ideology. The access to new materials and items from palatial workshops will have been attractive to local chiefs for a variety of reasons40. First of all, local chieftains could employ these materials in the form of e.g. seals, jewellery, toiletries (mirrors, combs) and furniture to enhance their own status. By distributing these special luxuries, they will have gained means to tap the resources of their region and to mobilise work forces. In return, this will have enabled them to provide services and taxes to the early palatial centres which formed the source of these desired goods. In addition, religious ideology and festivals, burial rites in long dromoi leading to underground chambers, drinking and feasting rituals with Mycenaean type pottery will have offered means to bolster social cohesion41. If local rulers sooner or later turned into officials of the new palatial bureaucracy, they gained important new sources of income and were allowed to enforce regular tax collection from the population. Moreover, in the formative phases of that system different types of collective and communal property were certainly reduced in extent, in order to give estates to the new officials, for example to the priests of the new palatial religion. Much of the property regime must have changed. This almost certainly provoked conflict42, and such kind of conflicts must have been much more frequent in the formative phase of the kingdom. They may even have resulted in armed struggle between independent local communities and the new administrative powers, while the latter were extending their claims on land and work force.

39 40 41 42

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Linear B at Iklaina: Shelmerdine 2012; this volume. Eder 2015. Cf. Bennet 2008; Burns 2010. Cf. Eder, in press. One may recall the conflict over landholdings between the priestess Eritha and the dāmos recorded on Pylos tablet PY Ep 704. Cf. Deger-Jalkotzy 1988; Ruijgh 1989, 416–418; Shelmerdine – Bennet 2008, 300 f.

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Force and Punishment The process of unification will have taken a few decades, and will not have met uniform consent and approval. We present a few cases in point where we think that sites were affected by the expansion policy of the young kingdom of Mycenae. At Iklaina – few kilometres southeast of the palace at Pylos – the dominant feature of the site consists of a massive rectangular terrace with dimensions of 8 m × 23 m and constructed with Cyclopean limestone blocks, the construction date of which is currently placed in LH IIIA2/IIIB1. The site suffered a major destruction in the period LH IIB–IIIA1/2 Early, and the Linear B tablet most likely also belongs to this phase. Afterwards the architectural layout of the subsequent settlement at Iklaina was changed in its entire character43. The well-known site of Kakovatos on the west coast of the Peloponnese also suffered destruction by fire towards the end of LH IIB. The major building complex on the top of the acropolis with a Cyclopean terrace wall was destroyed and never rebuilt again. The site, with its three huge and rich tholos tombs of the Early Mycenaean period, lost its leading role within the regional settlement hierarchy44. The islet of Mitrou lies on the east coast of central Greece in the modern nomos Phthiotida, where recent Greek-American excavations have revealed a rich Bronze Age settlement sequence. Also here, the major building complex D within the settlement suffered a major destruction by fire in LH IIIA2 Early. After this destruction the nature of the occupation changed drastically, and Aleydis van de Moortel suspects that the destruction is related to the expansion of territorial power on the part of the Mycenaean centres of Thebes or Orchomenos45. Orchomenos is certainly the candidate which may be considered because of its strategic position governing the entrance to the upper Kephissos valley and thus to the road system of central Greece46. The Mansion II at the Menelaion in Lakonia may have suffered a similar fate of destruction and abandonment in LH IIIA1/IIIA2 Early, although Hector Catling pointed out in his final publication of the site that the history of events is not entirely certain and a continuous use of the Mansion in LH IIIA2 and IIIB1 cannot be entirely excluded. However, the evidence of site use in the LH IIIA2 and IIIB1 is sparse, and the Menelaion apparently never became an administrative centre47. At Phylakopi, the so-called Megaron replaced an earlier substantial building called Mansion of LBA I, a period of Minoan influence48. The Megaron was erected in LH IIIA149, which was

43

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45

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47 48 49

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Iklaina: Cosmopoulos 2012a, 43 f.; 2012b, 2 f.: »Based on current evidence, it seems that buildings T and V were constructed in LH IIA and continued to be used, with alterations, in LH IIB/IIIA1. They were destroyed in LH IIIA2, possibly when the Cyclopean Terrace was erected. These conclusions have wider implications for the issue of the formation of the Mycenaean state of Pylos, as they allow us to reject part of our original working hypothesis. Specifically, before this season our working hypothesis had been that the Cyclopean Terrace Building could have been constructed during LH IIB/IIIA1, which would mean that it would have been the result of a major building project undertaken by the early rulers of Iklaina, before the annexation of the site by the Palace of Nestor. The late date that we have now for the construction of this massive building places it in the post-annexation period, suggesting that it may have been the outcome of an effort by the new rulers of the site to establish firmly their authority and erase the signs of the previous political ruler(s)«. Linear B tablet: Shelmerdine 2012; this volume. Site reports: Petrakos 2008; 2009; 2010; 2011; 2012. Kakovatos: Eder 2011b; 2012. Eder 2011a argued for strong cultural, even political ties between Triphylia and Messenia in Mycenaean times, even before she started the recent excavations. Cf. Cavanagh 2011, 24. Mitrou: van de Moortel 2007, 247; Whitley et al. 2005/2006, 64 f.; 2006/2007, 40; Morgan 2007/2008, 58; Cavanagh 2011, 24; Vitale 2011, 332; Van de Moortel – Zahou 2012, 1135 f. Eder 2007a, 90–92. Eder 2007b, 39 argues on the basis of the distribution of pairs of pressed glass seals in central Greece for a production in the palatial centre of Orchomenos. Catling 2009. Renfrew et al. 2007b, 36. The latest pottery in the fill underneath the Megaron floor dates to LH IIIA1. Cf. Mountjoy 2007, 308.

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a time of strong Mycenaean influence, and in which also the fortification that had been erected during LBA I (the so-called outer city-wall) was reconstructed50. However, already during the LH IIIA period the fortification had fallen into disuse and partially collapsed, while a new fortification wall (the inner city wall) was erected only during or after the first half of LH IIIB51. The so-called Megaron might be interpreted as the seat of a local administrative official. It is interesting to note that apparently this official did not have the power or the political autonomy to protect his centre by a fortification. Only during the last phase of the Mycenaean palatial system characterised by the well-known crisis phenomena did the political administration of Phylakopi again take measures of military protection by fortifying the settlement. The archaeology of the Aegean in LH IIB–IIIA1/IIIA2 Early suggests that this was a major phase characterised by cultural unification including everyday culture and all realms of ideology. We recognise the ostentatious representation of military power, and, contemporaneously, the apparently selective destructions and/or abandonments of primary and secondary centres. Finally, the conspicuous reduction of rich burials with weapons by LH IIIA2 and of representative tholos tombs appears to indicate that fewer people were entitled to ostentatious burial display. The considerable variety of earlier seats of local power does not survive in this period. Instead, evidence for administration concentrates mainly in the vicinity of the palatial centres. The International Role of Mycenaean Greece Although the evidence of the Linear B tablets, the nodules and the seals found in Mycenaean Greece does not offer the crucial argument for the existence of a unified Mycenaean kingdom, there are contemporary written sources that may help us to understand the relationships between the different Greek regions. The first source is one of the inscriptions placed on statue bases inside the mortuary temple of pharaoh Amenhotep III (1386–1348 BC)52 at Kom el-Hettan in western Thebes. As Amenhotep III is securely linked to the phase LM IIIA153, the inscription is roughly contemporary with the earlier phase of Linear B administration of Minoan Crete. On the statue base concerning us here a list of foreign geographic names is written on both sides of a central motif, with two captive foreigners below the cartouches of the pharaoh. To the right of the motif only two names appear: k-f-tj-w and tj-j-n-A-jj-w, while on the left 13 names are partly preserved (15 can be reconstructed based on the size of the base). The remarkable asymmetry of the list led to the interpretation of the two names k-f-tj-w and tj-jn-A-jj-w on the right side as a kind of heading or title for the other names on the left side. The identification of k-f-tj-w/Kaftu with Crete was suggested by the tomb paintings in the tombs of 18th dynasty officials and is in line with the names of Amniša/Amnissos, Kutunaya/Kydonia and Kunuša/Knossos on the left side of the base. These Cretan names appear in two groups at the beginning and at the end of the left list. Another group of names in the middle contains Mukanu, which can be identified with Mycenae. Nupilayi or Nupilia may be Nauplia, Mizana may be somehow associated with Messene or Messenia, Diqayas may be Thebai (Thebes). Tanaya is supposed to form the heading for these names on the Greek mainland54. In this context the famous faience plaques with the cartouches of Amenhotep III from Mycenae have always been mentioned, because they support the view that there was direct contact between

50 51 52 53 54

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Renfrew 2007, 486. Renfrew et al. 2007b, 64. Schneider 2010, 402. Warren – Hankey 1989, 146–148; Phillips 2008, 129; Höflmayer 2012, 198 f.; Bunimovitz et al. 2013. Helck 1979, 29–32; Haider 2000 (for the reading Diqajas = Thebes).

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Egypt under Amenhotep III and Mycenae – although none of the fragments has been found in a LH IIIA1 context55. The information provided by the Kom el-Hettan inscription may suggest that from the viewpoint of the Egyptian bureaucracy there were two larger geographic and/or political entities in the Aegean – one comprising central and western Crete and another encompassing the Peloponnese and perhaps Boeotia. This may be interpreted in terms of a political unification of the Peloponnese and perhaps also part of central Greece during LH IIIA1, while Crete appears as a separate entity. We return to this issue in a moment. The conclusion that Tanaya refers to a political entity, can be supported by the reference to the same country Tanaya in the annals of Thutmosis III. In this inscription a person from Tanaya, most probably to be restored as ›ruler of Tanaya‹, is said to have sent a tribute in the 42nd regnal year of the pharaoh56. According to Thomas Schneider’s recent chronology this would equal 1435 BC57. Such a date late in the pharaoh’s reign would approximately fall at the beginning of LM II or LH IIB according to the synchronisms between the regnal periods of the 18th dynasty and the Minoan relative chronological phases as they are accepted today58. We can conclude that the Egyptians knew a land of Tanaya that probably had a single ruler as early as LH IIB. Wolfgang Helck has suggested that in year 42 of Thutmosis III that ruler of Tanaya sought to establish direct contact with Egypt, and this implies for the first time without Cretan intervention59. It nearly goes without saying that the size of that country may have expanded in the time between the start of LH IIB at the end of the reign of Thutmosis III and LH IIIA1 during the reign of Amenhotep III. The Hittite bureaucracy used another name referring to a political entity in the Aegean. That name appears in the variations Ahhiya and the more recent Ahhiyawa. The texts mentioning Ahhiya can probably be dated to the beginning of the 14th century BC60 and are thus most likely contemporary with the Tanaya name at Kom el-Hettan. The texts using the version Ahhiyawa date from the late 14th to the late 13th century BC61. The chronology of the Egyptian and Hittite written sources seem to suggest that both political designations existed contemporaneously and parallel to each other62. The existence of two names might be due either to different territories occupied by two different political entities, or to different perceptions of the Late Bronze Age Aegean by the Egyptians and the Hittites respectively63. The latter assumption is supported by the fact that both Tanaya and Ahhiyawa find linguistic counterparts in two of the three names used interchangeably in the Homeric epics of the 8th/7th centuries BC for the Greeks. Indeed, many scholars share the opinion that the name Tanaya is somehow linked to the Homeric Δαναοί, while Ahhiyawa is connected to the word Ἀχαιοί64. As Trevor Bryce put it, to deny the derivation of Ἀχαιοί from Ahhiyawa and the identity of Ahhiyawa and Mycenaean Greece (for which see below) would mean that in the Aegean of the

55

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59 60 61 62 63

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See now the detailed discussion by Phillips 2007: According to her, it cannot be excluded that these plaques were not made in Egypt (ibid. 488 f.). However, a whole series of objects (mainly scarabs) with Amenhotep’s names and others with the name of his wife Tiyi have been found in the Aegean (Cline 1994, 38–40 map 3; Haider 2000, 152 fig. 2), more than from any other New Kingdom pharaoh. This makes it seem very likely that the plaques were indeed sent from Egypt during the reign of Amenhotep III. Helck 1979, 28. 52. For the hieroglyphic inscription, see Sethe 1984, no. IV, 733, 4–7. The official reign of Thutmosis III (including the reign of Hatshepsut) lasted 54 years, from 1476 to 1422 BC. Cf. Schneider 2010, 402. The transition between LM IB and LM II can be placed during the later reign of Thutmosis III with good evidence from both Egypt and Crete. Cf. Matthäus 1995, 186; Höflmayer 2008. Helck 1979, 52. Heinhold-Krahmer 2007, 195; Beckman et al. 2011, 4 f. 7 f. Heinhold-Krahmer 2007, 195; Beckman et al. 2011, 7 f. Kelder (2010, 46. 85 f. 120) arrived at the same conclusion. See, e.g., the case of Germany. Nearly every modern neighbour of Germany uses a different name for that country, i.e. Germany, Allemagne, Duitsland, Tyskland, Niemcy, Německo, Deutschland. See also the case of Greece. Helck 1979, 30. 37; Lehmann 1985, 10 f. 51–54; Carruba 1995; Eder 2009a, 7 f.

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second millennium two different entities existed »with remarkably similar names«. One was a kingdom for which we have no archaeological correlate, while the other was an archaeologically defined civilisation, which left »no identifiable trace in the documentary record«65. Unfortunately, the Hittite sources, valuable as they are, do not provide especially clear evidence for the location of Ahhiyawa. However, recent reconstructions of the political geography of Asia Minor do not leave space for a large kingdom called Ahhiyawa on the mainland of Asia Minor, neither in Cilicia nor along the west coast. In the so-called Tawagalawa letter it is reported that Piyamaradu, an enemy of the Hittite Great King, escaped by ship from Milawanda to Ahhiyawa66. In another text, a Hittite queen begs the sea to extradite Piyamaradu to her. Ahhiyawa is therefore located ›in the sea‹, not on the Asian mainland. Both texts are dated to the time of Hattusili III67, i.e. the middle of the 13th century BC68. Yet another unfortunately fragmentary text from the annals of Muršili II (years 3–4, late 14th century BC) provides evidence that Ahhiyawa was not located on the Asian mainland, but could be reached by ship69. However, the sphere of influence of Ahhiyawa was not limited to the Aegean, but extended also onto the Asian mainland, because Milawanda, identified with ancient Miletus, was a city in the sphere of influence of Ahhiyawa. The results of the German excavations starting in the 1950s show that a predominantly Mycenaean material culture characterised Miletus from settlement phase V on, starting in LH IIIA170. Moreover, during Miletus phases V and VI (LH IIIA–IIIC) the coastal territories to the south, as well as the islands of Samos and the Dodecanese, display a similar, pronouncedly Mycenaean material culture. By contrast, the Mycenaean character of contemporary settlements situated further to the north along the western coast of Asia Minor is much weaker when compared to Miletus71. When seen against the background of the role of Milawanda as a city dependent on the king of Ahhiyawa, the Mycenaean culture of Miletus and the adjacent areas of south-western Asia Minor lends support to the hypothesis that Ahhiyawa is to be identified with part of the Mycenaean world or with all of it72. The position of the Ahhiyawan king in the Late Bronze Age diplomatic system of the eastern Mediterranean is indicated in at least two letters of the middle and later 13th century BC, in the Tawagalawa letter and in the Šaušgamuwa treaty. The king of Ahhiyawa is explicitly treated as a peer by the Hittite Great King by using the diplomatic expressions of ›my Brother‹, ›equal‹ and ›Great King‹73. These titles were used very restrictively by the Hittite Great King and applied by him only to the pharaoh, the king of Babylonia, the king of Assyria, and the king of Ahhiyawa74. The earliest historically known conflict between Ahhiyawa and Hatti is mentioned in the indictment of Madduwatta, probably dating from the reign of Arnuwanda I at the beginning of the 14th century BC contemporary with LH IIIA1. However, several events recorded in the text refer to his father, who was Tudhaliya I reigning around the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 14th century BC, in other words most probably contemporary with LH IIB/IIIA175. Here a certain Attariššiya appears, whose name is most probably a Luwian version of Greek Ἀτρεύς76 and who is called twice ›man of Ahhiya‹ (meaning presumably ›ruler of Ahhiya‹ in

65 66 67 68 69 70 71

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73 74 75 76

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Bryce 2005, 58. Klengel 1999, 265; Heinhold-Krahmer 2007, 193 f.; Beckman et al. 2011, 104 f. (§ 5). 120. Heinhold-Krahmer 2007, 195; Beckman et al. 2011, 7. 248–252. For the dates of the Hittite kings, see also Klengel 1999, 392 f. Heinhold-Krahmer 1977, 117–119; Beckman et al. 2011, 7. 22 f. This settlement phase lasted until LH IIIA2 Late/IIIB Early. Cf. Niemeier 2005, 10–21. This assessment (cf. Niemeier 2005, 13 f. fig. 35) seems to be valid, although one has to admit that our current knowledge of Late Bronze Age settlements and cemeteries along the Turkish west coast is very incomplete. Niemeier 2005, 18–20 (who, however, argues against the reconstruction of a Mycenaean kingdom comprising mainland Greece, the Aegean and parts of western Asia Minor). Klengel 1999, 264; Heinhold-Krahmer 2007, 196. Bryce 2005, 58. The whole list is found in the Šaušgamuwa treaty § 13, 1–3. Cf. Beckman et al. 2011, 60 f. 67 f. Beckman et al. 2011, 7 f. 69–100. Starke 2001, 38.

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the Hittite text)77. In our present context, several points are of importance. First, Attariššiya was designated neither as king nor as Great King. The same title ›man of Ahhiya‹ is used without a personal name in another Hittite text, an oracle report, written during the reign of Tudhaliya I in the late 15th/early 14th century BC78. Second, Attariššiya was able to invade a land on the west coast of Asia Minor and to expel its ruler Madduwatta79. Third, he eventually went into battle with 100 chariots against the Hittites, who had come to help Madduwatta80. In addition, the Madduwatta-indictment tells us that at a still later stage Attariššiya, now in coalition with Madduwatta and with the ruler of Piggaya, had defeated Alašiya, i.e. Cyprus, which according to this same text was claimed by the Hittite Great King81. Mario Benzi and Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier proposed to interpret Attariššiya as a Mycenaean aristocrat who fled the destructions on the Greek mainland82. According to Niemeier those events were caused by rivalry between LH IIIA1 Mycenaean chiefdoms. In his interpretation of the archaeological record, during LH IIIA2 Late a »second wave of Mycenaean expansion« would have occurred in south-western Asia Minor, and that would have been »connected with one or more of the newly installed Mycenaean palace centres«83. However, we have to see Attariššiya in the context of Mycenaean influence in the central and south-eastern Aegean. Since LH I Mycenaean pottery from the Argolid was imported to the settlement of Trianda on Rhodes84. This attests to Argive-Rhodian contacts preceding the phase of Mycenaean expansion. By LH IIB people with a Mycenaean material culture, including burial practices inside rock-cut chamber tombs, inhabited the north-western part of Rhodes opposite Asia Minor85, while at the same time (LH IIB/IIIA) a new settlement plan was established at the settlement of Trianda86. The analyses of the pottery reveal that the Argive workshops remained ›principal suppliers‹ of imported Mycenaean pottery at Trianda/Ialyssos throughout the LBA87. On the island of Kos the cemetery of Eleonas started with chamber tombs in LH IIIA188. Thus, Attariššiya probably did not operate in hostile territory, but had a local power base in south-western Asia Minor and on the south-eastern Aegean islands. The possible existence of such a power base is also supported by the fact that among the early tombs at Ialissos there are several warrior burials, e.g. one from a seemingly closed LH IIIA1 context in chamber tomb 7489. Coming back to the role of Attariššiya,

77 78 79 80 81 82

83 84 85

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Beckman et al. 2011, 70 f. 80 f. (§ 1. § 12). Cf. Beckman 1996, 145 (§ 1): »ruler of Ahhiya«. Beckman et al. 2011, 7. 224 f. Heinhold-Krahmer 1977, 260; Kelder 2004/2005, 154 f.; Beckman et al. 2011, 70 f. (§ 1). Beckman et al. 2011, 80 f. (§ 12). Heinhold-Krahmer 1977, 262. 265; Beckman et al. 2011, 94 f. (§ 36). Niemeier 2002a, 295 f. Benzi (1996, 951) writes of »displaced aristocrats […] who set sail to the Aegean in order to try their fortune there at the expense of the local communities«, when in LH IIIA1 mansions were destroyed and »the principalities of early Mycenaean Greece were superseded by the centralized palace system«. Niemeier 2005, 16. Marketou et al. 2006, 14–20. 28. 44–49. 54. Niemeier 2005, 10–14. This can be seen at the settlement of Trianda and the cemeteries at Ialissos, Paradhissi and Tholos. Cf. Marketou 2010, 785 f. At Trianda a steatite mould for Mycenaean jewellery was found in a context, which is said to date to LH II/IIIA1. Cf. Karantzali 2005, 148. Similarly, the earliest Mycenaean finds from Iasos also date to LH IIB/IIIA1. Cf. Benzi 2005, 207 pl. 50 a–j. Karantzali 2005, 144. However, a local pottery production, as identified by chemical analyses (cf. Marketou et al. 2006), shows also local stylistic elements partially of Minoan derivation, partially influenced from the Greek mainland styles. Cf. Karantzali 2005, 148. Marketou et al. 2006, 54. Benzi 1996, 949; Vitale 2009, 1242 tab. 2. Benzi 1992, 210 f. 383 f. pls. 104 d–g; 177 b; 178 h; Kilian-Dirlmeier 1993, 45 cat. no. 63 pl. 12, 63. A problem arises from the presence of a large piriform jar FT 35, whose decoration suggests a date in LH IIIA2 Late. The vase is clearly visible on the excavation photograph, but was later ascribed to another tomb by the excavator. Cf. Jacopi 1933, 297 fig. 42, left; Benzi 1992, 383 f. no. a. Nevertheless, tomb 74 with its single inhumation was considered as a closed LH IIIA1 context (on the basis of four LH IIIA1 vessels) by Benzi (1992, 211. 225 tab. I) and KilianDirlmeier (1993, 45 cat. no. 63).

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this  man was able to establish himself in a foreign country either by taking with him troops including chariots90 or by building up his own army upon his arrival in Asia Minor. If he was a refugee, one might ask, why did he leave for a military adventure with very uncertain success instead of defending his own territory in Greece, a territory that was under threat by his neighbours according to Benzi and Niemeier? For these reasons, it seems conceivable to see Attariššiya as a political and military leader who was systematically engaged in expanding the land of Ahhiya on the eastern coasts of the Aegean. He could have been either a high military officer or a brother of the king like Tawagalawa/Ἐτεϝοκλής in the 13th century, or even the king of Ahhiya himself. In the latter case he was not yet recognised as such by the Hittites, because it was their first encounter with that new political power. There is yet another document from Hattuša that gives us some information about Ahhiyawan politics at the time of Tudhaliya I, during LH IIB/IIIA1. A letter, probably written by a later king of Ahhiyawa during the 13th century BC, is concerned with some unnamed islands that were claimed by both Ahhiyawa and Hatti. The Ahhiyawan king argues that those islands had been in the possession of his ancestor during the reign of Thudhaliya I, before the latter subjugated them. If the restoration and interpretation of the text are correct, the islands had been given previously to Ahhiyawa as a result of a dynastic marriage between the courts of Ahhiyawa and Aššuwa91. To conclude, in the actions reported for the time of Tudhaliya I we may be seeing the very phase of expansion of the Mycenaean kingdom. These politics of aggression may also have been behind the destruction of Miletus IV, which had very much a Minoan character. It happened while LH IIB pottery was in use. Subsequently Miletus V, a new settlement of predominantly Mycenaean character, was built92. At the same time the young Ahhiyawan kingdom probably also used the diplomatic instrument of dynastic marriage for extending its borders. If so, it would be an ultimate argument for seeing here the systematic strategy of a growing empire. This interpretation would fit the expansion of Mycenaean material culture and administration on the Greek mainland, and the Aegean islands as far as the coasts of Asia Minor during LH IIB and IIIA1. The Ahhiyawan military interventions, which also happened in the later 14th and in the 13th centuries, and the recognised hierarchical equality between the Great King of Ahhiyawa and the Great King of Hatti make it difficult to believe that small Greek regions such as the Argolid or Boeotia (as suggested by Niemeier) form the historical reality behind that Great Kingdom of Ahhiyawa93. We must remember that all Hittite documents refer only to one kingdom situated further west than the shores of Asia Minor, a kingdom that had only one king94. This lends support to the idea that we have to imagine one single Mycenaean kingdom and not several small and – compared to the Hittite empire certainly rather weak – kingdoms all over southern and central Greece. The philologists working on Hittite texts were quick to arrive at such a conclusion95. By contrast, the philologists working on the written sources from Greece, who insist that the Linear B record can only be interpreted in terms of independent kingdoms with one wanax each, prefer to compromise: They imagine many wanakes and one hegemonial wanax, who would be the Great King

90

91 92

93 94 95

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Chariot transport by sea might have been possible, as chariots were also stored disassembled by the Mycenaean palaces (see the tablets from Knossos and Pylos: Hiller 1986). However, the hypothetical transport of the necessary horses would have caused much more serious problems. However, if one follows that interpretation, Attariššiya would have had the possibility to leave the Greek mainland in a very organised way with considerable military forces. Beckman et al. 2011, 134–139. Niemeier 2005, 10 f. fig. 24. Interestingly, pottery of LH IIB style (Voigtländer 1986, 24. 34 fig. 10 A) was already produced locally (Niemeier 2002b, 56 f. fig. 7 a; 2002c, 95 cat. no. 1), which testifies to Argive contacts preceding the probable immigration of settlers from the Greek mainland in LH IIIA1. Cf. Kelder 2010, 44. Carlier 2008, 122. 130; Eder 2009a, 8. Starke 2001, 34 fig. 41. 38.

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known to the Hittites96. However, Pierre Carlier rightly remarked that a system like this would have generated confusion in the Mycenaean administration, because the officials would have had to manage the affairs of a local wanax and his suzerain, the Great King, at the same time97. But the texts do not indicate that this was so. By contrast, the scribes only had a single term ›wanax‹ for the king, a term which is never specified in Linear B – neither ›wanax of so and so‹ nor ›great wanax‹ or in any other way. Pierre Carlier arrived at the solution for that problem, however without subscribing to it: »Il y aurait une manière radicale de surmonter cette difficulté, ce serait de supposer que toutes les comptabilités de tous les sites palatiaux sont tenues une seule administration au service du seul grand roi, et que toutes les mentions de wa-na-ka renvoient à ce même souverain; les divers palais ne seraient alors que les centres provinciaux de l’administration panachéenne. Je crois que personne jusqu’à maintenant n’à suggéré cette hypothèse extrême…«98. Well, we would like to be those, who do. To conclude, we believe that the simplest historical proposal provides the best explanation for combining the written and the archaeological sources from within the Aegean and its neighbouring countries from the later 15th down to the end of the 13th century BC: (a) a reconstruction with one Great Kingdom covering all those territories, where Mycenaean administrative documents (tablets and sealings) and instruments (seals) regularly occur (b) an administration led by a single wanax and his representative, the lawagetas (c) a political and economic organisation that is identical in all territories of the kingdom, but at the same time based on geographical units that were inherited from the formative phase of the kingdom and could never be merged into a true territorial state administered from a single central place. A Note on Kelder 2010 Jorrit Kelder, another advocate of the Mycenaean Great Kingdom, assumed that the »Ahhiyawan military […] must have had the military capacity at least three times the size of that of the Kingdom of Pylos«99. He based this conclusion on some very speculative calculations of population numbers and possible army sizes in Egypt and Mycenaean Pylos. He then went on to argue that »the military capacity of Ahhiyawa as indicated in the Hittite texts, as well as certain political and geographical characteristics, point towards a larger entity in the Aegean than anything that is attested in Linear B texts«100. Therefore Kelder opted for seeing Ahhiyawa »as a conglomerate of some – or all – of the known palatial states [of Mycenaean Greece]«101. Kelder assembled many more arguments for this hypothesis in his recent monograph. However, his theory is seriously flawed, because he excludes one of the most important areas of Mycenaean palatial administration from the kingdom of Ahhiyawa – that is Crete. This astonishing conclusion results from his reading of the Kom el-Hettan inscription. He uses the often uncertain identification of the toponyms in the list and a one-to-one equation of Tanaya and Ahhiyawa to reconstruct a precise territory of that kingdom. According to Kelder it comprised the Peloponnese, the Thebaid, some unspecified islands in the Aegean and Miletus in Asia Minor. He excluded

96

97 98 99 100 101

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Cf. Palaima 2012, 347: »The palatial systems managed to place the Mycenaeans on the ›world stage‹ in the form of whatever coalition of palatial territories made up the kingdom of the Ahhiyawa«. Carlier 2008, 129. Carlier 2008, 129. Kelder 2004/2005, 157–159. Kelder 2004/2005, 159. Kelder 2004/2005, 157.

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much of central Greece, Thessaly and Crete from that kingdom102, because the mentioned regions of the mainland cannot be identified on the Kom el-Hettan list and because Crete appears as a separate entity in that list. To him, archaeology is not a reliable tool for reconstructing the state territory103. There are several chronological and historical objections to his approach. First, the Kom el-Hettan list dates from the early period of the Mycenaean Great Kingdom. One has to keep in mind that the Egyptians had a long tradition of diplomatic contacts with Crete as the series of Minoan frescoes decorating the Pharaonic palaces at Tell el-Dabca/Avaris illustrate104. ›Kaftu‹ may have been retained in a geographical list simply because of that strong historical tradition, even when it had become part of a larger kingdom. We may find an analogous case in the use of the political term ›Arzawa‹ by the Egyptians as late as the time of Ramesses III, although the kingdom of Arzawa had been split into smaller vassal kingdoms by the Hittites in the late 14th century BC. The vassal kingdom of Mira became stronger during the 13th century and this may be the reason why the name ›Arzawa‹ revived in the early 12th century BC105. Apparently, this could only happen if the political-geographic designation of the country had never been forgotten. Coming back to the issue of Kaftu/Crete, even the Greek-speaking Mycenaeans seem to have recognised the specific cultural character of Crete, when recording objects of ›Cretan workmanship‹106. One has to keep in mind that many of the toponyms of the Kom el-Hettan list cannot be identified with any certainty. Therefore one can only state which regions were most probably part of Tanaya, but one cannot use the list as a general description of that kingdom. Nor can one assume that such a description would be valid through all its time of existence. We are probably only dealing with a list of places which were known to the Egyptian seafarers and diplomats by personal experience at the start of the 14th century BC. Kelder’s theory meets a serious problem when excluding Crete from the Kingdom. This may seem justified by the Kom el-Hettan list, but only for LM/LH IIIA1 anyway. Kelder’s interpretation of the Linear B term ›wanax‹ as the title of the Great King and the term ›lawagetas‹ as the designation of his individual vassal kings in the different palaces all over Greece107, cannot be reconciled with the Linear B archives of Crete. From the time of the earliest Linear B tablets in the Knossian Room of the Chariot Tablets (early LM IIIA1 at the latest), the functions of both the wanax and the lawagetas are attested for Crete108. Furthermore, the assumption of a hegemonic political system based on vassal kings meets serious difficulties when it comes to the corpus of the Linear B texts in its entirety, as we have shown. These problems would become insurmountable by assuming one Great Kingdom Ahhiyawa/Tanaya with different vassal kings ruling over mainland Greece and large parts of the Aegean, and another independent kingdom on Crete, which used however an identical administrative system to the one on the mainland. If Kelder was right, the Cretan kingdom would have closely interacted with Ahhiyawa (see the inscribed stirrup jars), but would have failed to produce any clear sign of its independence in the Linear B archives.

102 103 104

105 106 107 108

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Kelder 2010, 118–120. Kelder 2010, 119. Bietak et al. 2007. The excavators date the palace district with the Minoan frescoes to the Tuthmoside period and propose Tuthmosis III as the most likely builder of the complex (Bietak 2007a). Manfred Bietak (2007b, 67. 85) argues for a stylistic date of the paintings to the Minoan Neopalatial Period, preferring the phases MM IIIB–LM IA though without excluding LM IB. Sturt Manning (2009, 222–225) prefers to link Thutmosis III and the Minoan frescoes at Tell el-Dabca with LM II and the Monopalatial Period and thus to the earliest years of Mycenaean rule over Crete. See Driessen 2000, 219 f. Hawkins 1998, 15 f. 21. Tripods in Pylos: PY Ta 641.1, Ta 709.3. Cf. Palaima 2003b. Kelder 2010, 45 f. Driessen 2000, 213 fig. 5. 6.

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Palaima 2012 T. G. Palaima, Security and Insecurity as Tools of Power in Mycenaean Palatial Kingdoms, in: Carlier et al. 2012, 345–356. Papachatzis 1978 N. Papachatzis, Mykene – Epidauros – Tiryns – Nauplia (Athens 1978). Petrakos 2008 V. Petrakos, Ίκλαινα Μεσσηνίας, Ergon 55, 2008, 64–80. Petrakos 2009 V. Petrakos, Ίκλαινα Μεσσηνίας, Ergon 56, 2009, 50–56. Petrakos 2010 V. Petrakos, Ίκλαινα Μεσσηνίας, Ergon 57, 2010, 24–28. Petrakos 2011 V. Petrakos, Ίκλαινα Μεσσηνίας, Ergon 58, 2011, 26–29. Petrakos 2012 V. Petrakos, Ίκλαινα Μεσσηνίας, Ergon 59, 2012, 29–32. Phillips 2007 J. Phillips, The Amenhotep III ›Plaques‹ from Mycenae: Comparison, Contrast and a Question of Chronology, in: M. Bietak – E. Czerny (eds), The Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium BC. Volume 3. Proceedings of the SCIEM 2000 – 2nd EuroConference, Vienna, 28th of May – 1st of June 2003 (Vienna 2007) 479–493. Phillips 2008 J. Phillips, Aegyptiaca on the Island of Crete in their Chronological Context: A Critical Review, Contributions to the Chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean 18 (Vienna 2008). Postgate 2001 J. N. Postgate, Editorial Note, in: S. Voutsaki – J. Killen (eds), Economy and Politics in the Mycenaean Palace States. Proceedings of a Conference Held on 1–3 July 1999 in the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge, Cambridge Philological Society Suppl. 27 (Cambridge 2001) 160. Renfrew 2007 C. Renfrew, Concluding Observations, in: Renfrew et al. 2007a, 485–492. Renfrew et al. 2007a C. Renfrew – N. Brodie – Ch. Morris – Ch. Scarre (eds), Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos 1974–77, BSA Suppl. 42 (Athens 2007). Renfrew et al. 2007b C. Renfrew – Ch. Scarre – T. Whitelaw – N. Brodie, The Excavated Areas, in: Renfrew et al. 2007a, 19–90. Ruijgh 1989 C. J. Ruijgh, Description du dialecte mycénien, in: R. Treuil – P. Darcque – J.-C. Poursat – G. Touchais, Les civilisations égéennes du Néolithique et de l’Age du Bronze, Nouvelle Clio 1 (Paris 1989) 410–423. Rutter 2005 J. B. Rutter, Southern Triangles Revisited: Lakonia, Messenia, and Crete in the 14th – 12th Centuries BC, in: A. L. D’Agata – J. Moody (eds), Ariadne’s Threads. Connections between Crete and the Greek Mainland in Late Minoan III (LM IIIA2 to LM IIIC). Proceedings of the International Workshop Held at Athens, Scuola Archeologica Italiana, 5–6 April 2003, Tripodes 3 (Athens 2005) 17–50. Schneider 2010 Th. Schneider, Contributions to the Chronology of the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, ÄgLev 20, 2010, 373–403. Sethe 1984 K. Sethe, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie. Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums 4, Text der Hefte 9–12 (Berlin 1984 [1907]).

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Shelmerdine 2012 C. W. Shelmerdine, Iklaina Tablet IK X 1, in: Carlier et al. 2012, 75–77. Shelmerdine – Bennet 2008 C. W. Shelmerdine – J. Bennet, Economy and Administration, in: C. W. Shelmerdine (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge 2008) 289–309. Skafida et al. 2012 E. Skafida – A. Karnava – J.-P. Olivier, Two New Linear B Tablets from the Site of Kastro-Palaia in Volos, in: Carlier et al. 2012, 55–73. Starke 2001 F. Starke, Troia im Machtgefüge des zweiten Jahrtausends vor Christus. Die Geschichte des Landes Wilusa, in: J. Latacz – P. Blome – J. Luckhardt – H. Brunner – M. Korfmann – G. Biegel (eds), Troia – Traum und Wirklichkeit. Exhibition Catalogue Bonn (Stuttgart 2001) 34–45. van Alfen 1999 P. G. van Alfen, The LM IIIB Inscribed Stirrup-Jars as Links in an Administrative Chain, Minos 31/32, 1996/1997 (1999), 251–274. van Alfen 2008 P. G. van Alfen, The Linear B Inscribed Vases, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B: Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 1, BCILL 120 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2008) 235–242. van de Moortel 2007 A. van de Moortel, The Site of Mitrou and East Lokris in ›Homeric Times‹, in: S. P. Morris – R. Laffineur (eds), EPOS. Reconsidering Greek Epic and Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology. Proceedings of the 11th International Aegean Conference, Los Angeles, UCLA – The J. Paul Getty Villa, 20–23 April 2006, Aegaeum 28 (Liège 2007) 243–254. van de Moortel – Zahou 2012 A. van de Moortel – E. Zahou, Five Years of Archaeological Excavation at the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Site of Mitrou, East Lokris (2004–2008): Preliminary Results, in: A. Mazarakis Ainian (ed.), Αρχαιολογικό Έργο Θεσσαλίας και Στερεάς Ελλάδας 3. Πρακτικά επιστημονικής συνάντησης, Βόλος 12.3.–15.3. 2009 (Volos 2012) 1131–1146. Verdelis 1977 N. M. Verdelis, The Metal Finds, in: Åström 1977, 28–65. Vitale 2009 S. Vitale, Serraglio, Eleona and Langada Archaeological Project (SELAP): Report on the Results of the 2009 and 2010 Study Seasons, ASAtene 87, 2009, 1233–1252. Vitale 2011 S. Vitale, The Late Helladic IIIA2 Pottery from Mitrou and its Implications for the Chronology of the Mycenaean Mainland, in: W. Gauß – M. Lindblom – R. A. K. Smith – J. C. Wright (eds), Our Cups Are Full: Pottery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age. Papers Presented to Jeremy B. Rutter on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday (Oxford 2011) 331–344. Voigtländer 1986 W. Voigtländer, Milets Beziehungen zur Argolis in späthelladischer Zeit, in: W. Müller-Wiener (ed.), Milet 1899–1980. Ergebnisse, Probleme und Perspektiven einer Ausgrabung. Kolloquium Frankfurt am Main 1980, IstMitt Beih. 31 (Tübingen 1986) 17–34. Voutsaki 2010 S. Voutsaki, From the Kinship Economy to the Palatial Economy: The Argolid in the Second Millennium BC, in: D. Pullen (ed.), Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age. Papers from the Langford Conference, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 22–24 February 2007 (Oxford 2010) 86–111. Warren – Hankey 1989 P. Warren – V. Hankey, Aegean Bronze Age Chronology (Bristol 1989). Whitley et al. 2005/2006 J. Whitley – S. Germanidou – D. Urem-Kotsou – A. Dimoula – I. Nikolakopoulou – A. Karnava – E. Hatzaki, Archaeology in Greece 2005–2006: Mitrou, ARepLond 52, 2005/2006, 64–66.

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Whitley et al. 2006/2007 J. Whitley – S. Germanidou – D. Urem-Kotsou – A. Dimoula – I. Nikolakopoulou – A. Karnava – D. Evely, Archaeology in Greece 2006–2007: Mitrou, ARepLond 53, 2006/2007, 40 f. Wilkie 1992 N. C. Wilkie, The MME Tholos Tomb, in: W. A. McDonald – N. C. Wilkie (eds), Excavations at Nichoria in Southwest Greece 2: The Bronze Age Occupation (Minneapolis 1992) 231–344. Zavadil 2013 M. Zavadil, Monumenta. Studien zu mittel- und späthelladischen Gräbern in Messenien, Mykenische Studien 33 (Vienna 2013). Zurbach 2006 J. Zurbach, Les vases inscrits en linéaire B: tentative d’interprétation globale, AM 121, 2006, 13–71.

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Mycenaean Administrative Sealing Practice: A World of its Own?* Erik Hallager Abstract: In 1989 Judith Weingarten presented at the international conference in Austin Aegean Seals, Sealings and Administration a paper ›Three Upheavals in Minoan Sealing Administration: Evidence for Radical Change‹. In that paper she argues for »the destruction of the Minoan System, and the development of a Mycenaean tributary sealing system«. Some scholars maintain a continuity in the administrative sealing systems from the Minoan to the Mycenaean period, but after my studies of the entire corpus of Minoan and Mycenaean sealings I can only conclude that Weingarten was right. The Minoan and Mycenaean sealing systems represent two different worlds. This paper presents the evidence for the two sealing systems and points out that there are so many similarities between the Mycenaean and the Cretan hieroglyphic sealing systems that they are probably related.

Among the topics addressed at the symposium ›Tradition and Innovation in the Mycenaean Palatial Polities‹ was: »Is the Mycenaean administrative practice a widely unchanged continuation of the Minoan model or rather a creative adoption with many new and different elements?«. When it comes to the sealing systems, it is argued here that sealing practices within the Linear B administration were profoundly different to those of the LM IB Linear A administration1. The Linear A and Linear B people may have recorded similar kinds of economic activities in their tablets, but they had different requirements for the use of seals. To understand that, it is necessary to present briefly the three sealing systems in the Aegean: the Hieroglyphic, the Linear A and the Linear B. The oldest system is that of the Hieroglyphic sealed documents, the knowledge of which was greatly extended with the discovery of the archive at Petras2. The sealed documents from this administration (Fig. 1) consist of roundels (which in all probability functioned as receipts)3; noduli (like the roundels not fastened to anything; they possibly functioned as dockets)4; crescents, triangular in profile, with a knotted string running through the long axis, and usually provided with both an inscription and seal impression5; combination nodules, which were fastened to an object and kept in place with a string inside; irregular nodules, (so far found only at Petras), i.e. lumps of clay that have been casually attached to a string or an object with a string; and flat-based nodules. The flat-based nodules, so far known only from the Hieroglyphic Deposit at Knossos, are problematic: Ingo Pini has argued on the stylistic grounds of their seal impressions that they do not belong in the Hieroglyphic Deposit6. I have a feeling that he is right, but it cannot be definitely proven. Finally we have different kinds of direct sealings that had been attached to objects, sometimes provided with a string7.

I want to thank the organising committee for inviting me to this symposium. I wish to express my gratitude to Judith Weingarten for correcting the English text. 1 First argued by Weingarten 1990, 112–114. 2 Tsipopoulou – Hallager 2010. 3 Hallager 1996. 4 Weingarten 1986, 18; Hallager 1996, 130–133. 5 On the crescents, see Karnava 2000, 116–123. 6 Pini 1990, 41. 43. 7 On the irregular nodules, combination nodules, flat-based nodules and direct sealings, see Tsipopoulou – Hallager 2010, 184–192 with further references. *

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Fig. 1: The Hieroglyphic sealed documents (courtesy of author)

Concerning the contexts for Hieroglyphic administrative documents we have to disregard those from the palaces at Knossos and Malia, since they were found out of context as levelling deposits8. The two deposits where the documents were found in situ, Petras and Quartier Mu,

8

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For Malia: e.g. Poursat 1990, 55. See also Hallager 1996, 58–61. For Knossos: Hallager 1996, 57 f., with further references.

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Fig. 2: The Linear A sealed documents (courtesy of author)

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are quite illuminating. In Quartier Mu, the documents are scattered all over the buildings often in store rooms and/or work rooms9 while at Petras they were found in an archive10. At Malia, the documents were produced or brought from somewhere else before they were collected and taken to the archive for further treatment – which is the situation reflected in the Petras material. For the Linear A sealed documents (Fig. 2)11, we shall concentrate on the LM I period, since the early Neopalatial period is Fig. 3: Reverse of flat-based nodules from Khania a time of transition and there were still a few (courtesy of author) ›hangovers‹ from the Hieroglyphic administration12. The roundel and the noduli have already been presented. The flat-based nodule (or parcel nodule, the term preferred by the CMS), is the document which proves that the Linear A administrators also used parchment or leather as a writing material13. Those pieces of parchment were usually rather small, although larger pieces may also have been used. A piece of A5-size paper folded and wound up with a piece of string gives the same impression as those found on some of the Hagia Triada flat-based nodules14. The procedure for creating such a nodule was to fold the parchment, wind a thin string around it and add a small piece of clay into which the string was also wound. Thereafter the surface of the clay was polished and stamped with the seal15. This procedure displays a characteristic reverse on such nodules (Fig. 3). The flat-based nodules exist in two main types: recumbent with one or two seal impressions and standing with two or three seal impressions16. The hanging nodules are the most frequent in the Linear A administration. The two-hole hanging nodules are rather scarce17 while the single-hole nodules are significant. A knot was formed at the end of a string and a piece of clay packed around it, after which the nodule was given one of four specific shapes before it was inscribed and sealed. The shapes are the pendant, the pyramid, the cone and the dome. The pear-shaped nodules belong with the early Neopalatial phase. There is no agreement as to what these latter nodules were used for, but there are indications that they might have been fastened to documents of a juridical nature18. At least there are parallels with both the Old and the New Hittite kingdom that single-hole nodules were attached to legal documents19. Concerning the Linear A sealed documents it is important to notice that the roundels, the flatbased nodules and the single-hole hanging nodules comprise more than 95% of the entire corpus of LM I sealings. The archaeological contexts of the Linear A sealed documents20 display a very clear pattern: they are always found clustered together wherever they were found – presumably in archives. At Hagia Triada the more than a thousand nodules had been stored in a room above the West Wing.

9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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Poursat 1990, pl. 2. Tsipopoulou – Hallager 2010. The section on the Linear A documents is based on Hallager 1996. Hallager 2010. Weingarten 1983. See Pini 1983, 559–563, esp. n. 16 with references to investigations carried out at the Deutsches Ledermuseum in Offenbach and at the Istituto delle Pelle in Rome. Illustrated in Hallager 1996, 141 fig. 53. E.g. in Hallager 1996, 135. A total of 708 flat-based nodules from nine Cretan localities are known. Most of them (492) were found at Zakros. 74 examples are known which comprise 7% of the entire corpus of 1067 hanging nodules. Hallager 1996, 237. See also Hallager 2010, 210–212. Old Kingdom: Marazzi 2000, 79–102. New Kingdom: Herbordt 2010. On the contexts see Hallager 1996, 39–77.

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Fig. 4: The Linear B sealed documents (courtesy of author)

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At Khania the documents were, except for a few stray pieces, found in the Katre excavation. At Pyrgos the small collection had been stored above Room 12, and at Tylissos the documents were found in a small storeroom η in Villa A. At Knossos the Linear A sealed documents were found in the East Temple Repositories and at Zakro in two areas: the well-known collection excavated by Hogarth in House A21, and a collection from the West Wing of the palace. That the latter group once existed we know from Nicholas Platon, who could unfortunately also inform us that they – together with many Linear A tablets – had decomposed22. Among the Linear B sealed documents (Fig. 4), the dome-noduli continued in use from the previous periods – but they are few in number. The best known Linear B sealed documents, which I prefer to call the regular string nodules (or just regular nodules), are usually found intact, and are the only sealed documents which are also inscribed. They are surprisingly uniform within Linear B administration regardless of find spot and chronology23: X-ray photographs by Walter Müller at the CMS have shown that the string going through the nodule has a knot preventing it from sliding24. This kind of nodule is therefore fit for travelling and this is, in fact, what is suggested for the regular nodules found at Thebes, Pylos and Knossos. They seem to have followed goods from the dependencies around the palace as argued by Piteros, Olivier and Melena25. This also means that when regular nodules are found they might well be nodules prepared in one of the dependencies before being sent to the centre. Such could be the case, for example, with the regular nodules found at Midea26 and/or the single uninscribed example discovered at Quartier Nu at Malia27. The flat-based nodules are problematic in the Linear B administration. In the entire corpus of more than a thousand nodules there exist only five, all from the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos28. They display the same main characteristics as the Minoan ones except that they are not folded so tidily and they are bound by a much thicker string than the Minoan ones. I shall not try to explain their presence here29, but only state that they are alien to the Linear B repertoire. Combination nodules30, however, are found in the palaces at Knossos, Pylos, Mycenae and Thebes, and two types exist: those that have been pressed against basketry, and those pressed against a flat surface. These nodules probably sealed containers of some sort. The irregular nodules are the most common in the Linear B sealing system. They represent 56% of all recognisable types and like the combination nodules are only found in the palaces at Knossos, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae. They exist in different variations. Some are fractured on both sides of the object they were fastened to (Fig. 5 a), while others are fractured on only one side of the object to which they were fastened – recalling the idea of direct sealings (Fig. 5 b). A few were folded over a flat string (Fig. 5 c)31.The important thing about the irregular nodules is that, with very few exceptions, they are always fractured. This probably means that they were deliberately broken off the objects to which

21 22 23 24 25

26

27 28

29

30 31

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Hogarth 1902. N. Platon in Platon – Brice 1975, 27. Hallager 2005a, 251 f. Pini 1997, pls. 37. 38. Piteros et al. 1990. For Pylos: e.g. Shelmerdine – Bennet 1995, 127. See also Killen (1996, 78 f.) who argues that information given on regular nodules coming from outside the palace at Knossos is transferred unmodified to Linear B tablets. For the nodules: Olivier 1999, 434 (MI Wv 1); 2009, 195 f. (MI Wv 2–5); Del Freo 2008, 217 (MI Wv 6). See also CMS V Suppl. 3, nos. 236–240. Also Flouda 2010, 63 n. 12 suggests that »travelling bureaucrats representing the palace at Mycenae« might have been at work at Midea. Driessen – Farnoux 1994, 54 pl. 4, 3; CMS II 6, 194 f. and no. 211. HMs 110. 111. 253. 1243. 1650. Cf. Müller 2002, 43 pl. 11; Hallager 2005a, 252 thinks that there might have been as many as seven in that he adds HMs 1621 and 1546. They are used by Driessen 1990, 63–65 as an argument for an early date of the Linear B documents from the Room of the Chariot Tablets; contra Pini in CMS II 8, 8 f. See also Hallager 2005a, 252. Weingarten 1988, 6 f. What has been named a »fold-over nodule«. Cf. Hallager 2005b.

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Fig. 5 a: AM 38.1014b showing fractures at both sides of a cord; b: HMs 133 showing only one fracture; c: HMs 256/6 folded over a flat string. Scale 1:1 (courtesy of author)

they had been fastened32. Sealed clay stoppers are the most widespread sealed object: usually used to seal stirrup jars, they were packed around the spout and then stamped all over33. The contexts of the Linear B sealed documents are totally different from those seen in the Minoan period in that they occur all over the site – mainly in workshops and storerooms – while only a few are found in archives as at Knossos34 and Pylos35, the two sites with the largest quantities of sealings. At Mycenae and Thebes too the sealings are spread across the site. To sum up the Linear B sealings and their distribution, it will be noted that, with the exception of the clay stoppers and the regular nodules (for which there might be a natural explanation, see above), the sealings are found in the palaces, with those from Knossos far outnumbering the others36. All together 1,160 sealed documents are known from the Linear B administration. When the distribution map of Linear B sealed documents is compared with that of the Linear A sealed documents, a difference between the two systems springs to the eye. In the Linear B system the sealed documents – with the two exceptions mentioned above – are found only in the palaces. This contrasts with the Linear A system where sealed documents were found all over the island and not only in palaces or palatial buildings37. In this connection it is worth posing the question: what constitutes a Mycenaean palace in an administrative sense? In my opinion, it is necessary for the site to have both written records in Linear B and also sealings/nodules without which the administrators would be lost. It may therefore be questioned whether, for example, Tiryns and Khania can on present evidence be considered palaces in the administrative sense38. Another major difference between Linear A and Linear B administration is how often a seal was used. This may be demonstrated by examples from Hagia Triada and Knossos showing seals used ten times or more (Fig. 6). At Hagia Triada one seal is used 252 times while those used more than ten times constitute 75% of the 1,108 sealings from that site. At Knossos, the most frequently used seal – found 54 times – is CMS II 8, no. 401 which has only been found on very fragmentary nodules for which no secure context is known, while those used more than ten times constitute only 14% of the 825 sealings from Knossos. Far more common among the Knossos sealings are those only found once or twice, indicating the activity of many individuals who had business with the administration39.

32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39

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Müller 2002, 55. For clay stoppers, see Müller et al. 1998, 10–13 with fig. 18, 12A; Hallager – Hallager 2007; Haskell et al. 2011, 3. For a possible identification of a central archive in the Northern Entrance Passage, see Driessen 1999. For distribution maps concerning Knossos and Pylos, see Hallager 2005a, figs. 6. 7. Hallager 2005a, 262 tab. 1. To this table should now be added three regular inscribed nodules and three irregular nodules from the New Kadmeion in Thebes. Cf. V. Aravantinos in: CMS V Suppl. 3, 545 f. nos. 369–373. For distribution maps, see Hallager 2005a, figs. 3. 4. Hallager 2004. Panagiotopoulos 2010, 301, however, argues that »the seal users which left their traces on the nodules known to us must have been employees of the palatial administration«.

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Fig. 6: Seals used ten times or more at LM IB Hagia Triada (left) and LM IIIB:1(?) Knossos (right). If these seals represent ›top-administrators‹ we see that there are no rules governing the kinds of seals nor the quality of the stones they should use. At Knossos two seals (nos. 200 and 401) are of soft stone and the remaining three of hard stone. At Hagia Triada there are two metal rings and four seals in soft stone (nos. 28. 85. 117. 132), while the remainder are in hard stone. The drawings of the seal devices are from CMS

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While the use and function of the regular nodules is well-known, those of the irregular nodules are less so. This has now been remedied by recent publications. The extensive Knossos material has been thoroughly presented and well illustrated by Müller (who, however, gives different descriptions to the group)40. The first Fig. 7: Two Knossos nodules with imprints from wool important thing to note is that we find the same on the reverse. a. HMs 134; b. HMs 699. Scale 1:1 variety of impressions at Pylos41, and among the (courtesy of author) few yet discovered at Mycenae and Thebes42. There is a uniform sealing system on the mainland and at Knossos. Second, these nodules have all been rather poorly attached to the objects they sealed, which means that they were not really fit for transportation. It is therefore most likely that the sealing procedure took place where the objects were stored43. One type of irregular nodule is, as far as I know, only found at Knossos: those with impressions from what the CMS called ›Tierhaare‹ or ›Fasern‹ or ›faserige[s] Material‹44. Two of the finest examples are illustrated (Fig. 7)45. I am convinced that these hair imprints are from the wool of sheep and/or perhaps goats46. I have made a few experiments with Cretan wool and cloth of Cretan wool, where the impressions appear very similar to those found on the Knossian nodules. Two of those nodules were found in the Southwest Basement47 close to three Linear B tablets recording large quantities of wool48. Most of the rest that have a context came from the Domestic Quarter49, where many tablets recording delivered – and missing – units of wool were found50. In my opinion, there is thus a good chance that wool was not only recorded but also stored in both the Southwest Basement and the Domestic Quarter. My interpretation of the irregular nodules is thus that the objects were sealed where they were stored or would be used, and that many different individuals were responsible for them. How should this be understood in an administrative sense? I would like to suggest one possible scenario. Let us say that a dependant of the palace has been ordered to deliver a blanket on a certain day. He or she brings the blanket to the palace where it is stored on a shelf. In order for the administrators to know who has delivered it, the person who brought the blanket attaches an identification mark on the blanket, i.e. a lump of clay on which his or her seal is impressed. When the administrator has identified and recorded the delivery in another medium, the sealing can be broken off and discarded – or in rarer cases brought to the archive room for further treatment. This would explain why there are practically no intact irregular nodules51. It seems that discarded nodules were collected: at Pylos, at least, collections of broken nodules were found in doorways where they could have had no practical function. I imagine that they may have been collected in small baskets or the like, quite simply to be reused for new documents. This is possible with sun-

40 41 42

43 44 45 46 47 48 49

50 51

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For Knossian reverses of irregular nodules, see Müller 2002, 59–64. Müller 1997, 53–66. The three irregular nodules from Mycenae display the same kind of imprints as found at Knossos and Pylos. Cf. Müller et al. 1998, pls. 12, 5. 7; 23. The same applies to the three new ones published from Thebes, CMS V Suppl. 3, nos. 370 (two examples) and 373. See Flouda 2010, 75 and fig. 19 for the reverse of no. 373. Against this e.g. Flouda 2010, 75 f.; Panagiotopoulos 2010, 302. E.g. CMS II 8, nos. 200. 257. 486. Casts of these two nodules are illustrated in Müller 2002, fig. 23 a. c. During my study of the Knossos sealings I noted 57 examples with what I called »fine threads«. HMs 134 and 135 (CMS II 8, no. 257) from the Room of the Seal Impressions. KN Dl 1060, Dp 1061 and Od 1062. Mainly from the Wooden Staircase (Area of the Daemon Seals). Of these as many as 13 were carrying the impression of the Daemon Seal. See above (fig. 6, right column, second from top). Many of the Dk tablets, esp. by hand 119. Müller 2002, 55; Panagiotopoulos 2010, 304.

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Fig. 8: Simplified chart of the possible development of the Aegean sealing systems (courtesy of author)

dried clay; there are very good indications from the Hieroglyphic Archive at Petras that discarded nodules were reused52. To sum up, what are the main reasons why the Linear B administration did not adopt the tools of the LM I Linear A administration? The first reason is suggested by the contexts, well illustrated at Knossos53. While Linear A documents were kept in archives and are usually found as complete documents, Linear B documents are – with the exception of the regular nodules – usually fragmentary and found scattered widely in storerooms and workshops. More important, however, are the sealing systems. In Linear A administration (Fig. 2) the roundel, flat-based nodules, and single-hole hanging nodules constitute more than 95% of nodules; these types of nodules are not found in the Linear B administration. In the Linear B administration (Fig. 4), on the other hand, regular string nodules, combination nodules and irregular nodules constitute more than 90% of the sealed documents; these types are not found in the Linear A administration. Both systems needed seals, but obviously for quite different reasons. While Linear A administrators issued receipts on roundels, communicated and kept records on perishable sealed material (the flat-based nodules), and perhaps even stored legal documents (the single-hole hanging nodules), there is not the faintest trace of such activity in the Linear B sealing administration. Here, on the contrary, the seals were used in connection with economic activities (the regular and the irregular nodules) and to secure containers (the combination nodules). The question that now arises is whether Linear B seal-use is an independent invention or whether it was inspired by or inherited from others. Here it is worthwhile comparing the Hieroglyphic (Fig. 1) and Linear B (Fig. 4) systems. In these two systems, the crescent and the regular nodules appear to be unique, but I wonder if they could not be the same kind of document. In both systems, they are the only documents that are both inscribed and stamped with a seal. Both documents are built around a string with a knot. According to Poursat54, the crescents may very well have been documents following items from the outside to the storerooms – exactly like the regular nodules in the Linear B administration. If this is correct, the use of seals in the Hieroglyphic administration resembles that of the Linear B administration to a large extent. In short, I believe that

52 53 54

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Tsipopoulou – Hallager 2010, 242. Hallager 2005a, figs. 5. 6. Poursat 1990, 29. See further Karnava 2000, 116–120.

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many of the direct sealings in the Hieroglyphic administration had, in fact, the same function as the irregular nodules. It may not be coincidence that the distribution of Hieroglyphic documents in Quartier Mu very much resembles that found in the Linear B administration. To sum up the development of sealing systems (Fig. 8), only the nodulus and the direct sealings are found in all three systems. Hieroglyphic administration had sealing types which continued into the Linear A administration, but the latter also invented a number of new types not found elsewhere: the two-hole and single-hole hanging nodules, and possibly the flat-based nodules. Other Hieroglyphic sealing types that we find in the Linear B administration are irregular nodules, combination nodules, and possibly also the regular nodule/crescent55. When and where the Mycenaeans learned this system is a matter of pure speculation, but I would not be surprised if it happened on the mainland during or shortly after the Shaft Grave period56, even though the archaeological evidence – on present knowledge – does not give the idea much support57.

Bibliography CMS F. Matz – I. Pini (eds), Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (Berlin 1965–2009). Del Freo 2008 M. Del Freo, Rapport 1996–2000 sur les textes en écriture hiéroglyphique crétoise, en linéaire A et en linéaire B, in: A. Sacconi – M. Del Freo – L. Godart – M. Negri (eds), Colloquium Romanum. Atti del XII colloquio internazionale di micenologia, Roma, 20–25 febbraio 2006 (Pisa 2008) Pasiphae 1, 199–222. Duhoux 1985 Y. Duhoux, Mycénien et écriture grecque, in: A. Morpurgo Davies – Y. Duhoux (eds), Linear B: A 1984 Survey. Proceedings of the Mycenaean Colloquium of the VIIIth Congress of the International Federation of the Societies of Classical Studies, Dublin, 27 August – 1st September 1984, BCILL 26 (Louvain-la-Neuve 1985) 7–74. Driessen 1990 J. Driessen, An Early Destruction in the Mycenaean Palace at Knossos. A New Interpretation of the Excavation FieldNotes of the South-East Area of the West Wing, Acta Archaeologica Lovaniensia, Monographiae 2 (Leuven 1990). Driessen 1999 J. Driessen, The Northern Entrance Passage at Knossos. Some Preliminary Observations on its Potential Role as ›Central Archives‹, in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – S. Hiller – O. Panagel (eds), Floreant Studia Mycenaea. Akten des X. Internationalen Mykenologischen Colloquiums in Salzburg vom 1.–5. Mai 1995, Veröffentlichungen der Mykenischen Kommission 18 (Vienna 1999) 203–226. Driessen – Farnoux 1994 J. Driessen – A. Farnoux, Mycenaeans at Malia?, AeA 1, 1994, 54–64. Flouda 2010 G. Flouda, Agency Matters: Seal-Users in Pylian Administration, OxfJA 29, 2010, 57–88. Godart 1979 L. Godart, Le linéaire A et son environnement, SMEA 20, 1979, 27–42.

55 56 57

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Hallager 2011. See also Godart 1979, 33–36; Duhoux 1985, 31. 34. Seals on the mainland are known from the period, but only become fairly common during the LH III period. That sealings have not been discovered, may well be due to the fact that no major settlement of the period has been destroyed by fire, which is necessary to bake the sealings.

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Hallager 1996 E. Hallager, The Minoan Roundel – and Other Sealed Documents in the Neopalatial Linear A Administration, Aegaeum 14 (Liège 1996). Hallager 2004 E. Hallager, A Palace without Sealings?, in: K. von Folsach – H. Trane – I. Thuesen (eds), From Handaxe to Khan. Essays Presented to Peder Mortensen on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday (Aarhus 2004) 157–163. Hallager 2005a E. Hallager, The Uniformity of Seal Use and Sealing Practice during the LH/LM III Period, in: A.-L. D’Agata – J. Moody (eds), Ariadne’s Threads. Connections between Crete and the Greek Mainland in Late Minoan III (LM IIIA2 to LM IIIC). Proceedings of the International Workshop Held at Athens, Scuola Archeologica Italiana, 5–6 April 2003, Tripodes 3 (Athens 2005) 243–275. Hallager 2005b E. Hallager, Fold-Over Nodules, in: M. Perna (ed.), Studia in onore di Enrica Fiandra. Contributi di archeologia egea e vicinorientale, Studi Egei e Vicinorientale 1 (Paris 2005) 105–112. Hallager 2010 E. Hallager, Development of Sealing Practices in the Neopalatial Period, in: W. Müller (ed.), Die Bedeutung der minoischen und mykenischen Glyptik, CMS Beih. 8 (Berlin 2010) 205–212. Hallager 2011 E. Hallager, On the Origin of Linear B Administration, in: Acts of the 10th International Cretological Congress, Khania, 1–8 October 2006, A 1 (Khania 2011) 317–329. Hallager – Hallager 2007 B. P. Hallager – E. Hallager, Sealed Clay Stoppers from LH/LM III Contexts, in: F. Lang – C. Reinholdt – J. Weilhartner (eds), ΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΙΟΣ. Archäologische Forschungen zwischen Nil und Istros. Festschrift für Stefan Hiller zum 65. Geburtstag (Vienna 2007) 143–148. Haskell et al. 2011 H. W. Haskell – R. E. Jones – P. M. Day – J. T. Killen, Transport Stirrup Jars of the Bronze Age Aegean and East Mediterranean, Prehistory Monographs 33 (Philadelphia 2011). Herbordt 2010 S. Herbordt, The Hittite King and his Court from the Perspective of Sealed Bullae from Hattusa, in: W. Müller (ed.), Die Bedeutung der minoischen und mykenischen Glyptik, CMS Beih. 8 (Berlin 2010) 213–224. Hogarth 1902 D. G. Hogarth, The Zakros Sealings, JHS 22, 1902, 121–149. Karnava 2000 A. Karnava, The Cretan Hieroglyphic Script of the Second Millennium BC: Description, Analysis, Function and Decipherment Perspectives (Diss. Université Libre de Bruxelles 2000). Killen 1996 J. T. Killen, Thebes Sealings and Knossos Tablets, in: E. De Miro – L. Godart – A. Sacconi (eds), Atti e memorie del secondo congresso internazionale di Micenologia, Napoli–Roma, 13–20 ottobre 1991, Incunabula Graeca 98 (Rome 1996) 71–82. Marazzi 2000 M. Marazzi, Sigille tavolette di Legno: le fonti letterarie e le testimonianze sfragistiche nell’Anatolia Hittita, in: M. Perna (ed.), Administrative Documents in the Aegean and their Near Eastern Counterparts. Proceedings of the International Colloquium, Naples, February 29 – March 2, 1996 (Naples 2000) 79–102. Müller 1997 W. Müller, Terminologie und Typologie der Tonplomben, in: Pini 1997, 53–66. Müller 2002 W. Müller, Untersuchungen zu Typologie, Funktion und Verbreitung der Tonplomben von Knossos, in: CMS II 8 (Berlin 2002) 24–93.

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Müller et al. 1998 W. Müller – J.-P. Olivier – I. Pini, Die Tonplomben aus Mykene, AA, 1998, 5–55. Olivier 1999 J.-P. Olivier, Rapport 1991–1995 sur les textes en écriture hiéroglyphique crétoise, en linéaire A et en linéaire B, in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – S. Hiller – O. Panagel (eds), Floreant Studia Mycenaea. Akten des X. Internationalen Mykenologischen Colloquiums in Salzburg vom 1.–5. Mai 1995, Veröffentlichungen der Mykenischen Kommission 18 (Vienna 1999) 419–436. Olivier 2009 J.-P. Olivier, Rapport 1996–2000 sur les textes en écriture hiéroglyphique crétoise, en linéaire A et en linéaire B, Pasiphae 3, 2009, 186–197. Panagiotopoulos 2010 D. Panagiotopoulos, A Systemic Approach to Mycenaean Sealing Practices, in: W. Müller (ed.), Die Bedeutung der minoischen und mykenischen Glyptik, CMS Beih. 8 (Berlin 2010) 297–307. Piteros et al. 1990 Ch. Piteros – J.-P. Olivier – J. Melena, Les inscriptions en Linéaire B des nodules de Thèbes (1982): La fouille, les documents, les possibilités d’interprétation, BCH 114, 1990, 103–184. Pini 1983 I. Pini, Neue Beobachtungen zu den tönernen Siegelabdrücken von Zakros, AA, 1983, 559–572. Pini 1990 I. Pini, The Hieroglyphic Deposit and the Temple Repositories at Knossos, in: T. G. Palaima (ed.), Aegean Seals, Sealings and Administration. Proceedings of the NEH-Dickson Conference of the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory of the Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, January 11–13, 1989, Aegaeum 5 (Liège 1990) 33–60. Pini 1997 I. Pini (ed.), Die Tonplomben aus dem Nestorpalast von Pylos (Mainz 1997). Platon – Brice 1975 N. Platon – W. C. Brice, Inscribed Tablets and Pithoi of Linear A System from Zakro (Athens 1975). Poursat 1990 J.-C. Poursat, Hieroglyphic Documents and Sealings from Malia, Quartier Mu: A Functional Analysis, in: T. G. Palaima (ed.), Aegean Seals, Sealings and Administration. Proceedings of the NEH-Dickson Conference of the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory of the Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, January 11–13, 1989, Aegaeum 5 (Liège 1990) 25–29. Shelmerdine – Bennet 1995 C. W. Shelmerdine – J. Bennet, Two New Linear B Documents from Bronze Age Pylos, Kadmos 34, 1995, 123–136. Tsipopoulou – Hallager 2010 M. Tsipopoulou – E. Hallager, The Hieroglyphic Archive at Petras, Siteia, Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens 9 (Athens 2010). Weingarten 1983 J. Weingarten, The Use of the Zakro Sealings, Kadmos 22, 1983, 8–13. Weingarten 1986 J. Weingarten, Some Unusual Clay Nodules, Kadmos 25, 1986, 1–21. Weingarten 1988 J. Weingarten, The Sealing Structures of Minoan Crete: MM II Phaistos to the Destruction of the Palace of Knossos. Part II: The Evidence from Knossos until the Destruction of the Palace, OxfJA 7, 1988, 1–25. Weingarten 1990 J. Weingarten, Three Upheavals in Minoan Sealing Administration: Evidence for Radical Change, in: T. G. Palaima (ed.), Aegean Seals, Sealings and Administration. Proceedings of the NEH-Dickson Conference of the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory of the Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, January 11–13, 1989, Aegaeum 5 (Liège 1990) 105–120.

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Conservatism and Innovation in the Linear B Inscriptions on Stirrup Jars John T. Killen Abstract: J. Driessen (2000, 149) has suggested that, generally speaking, the inscriptions on the LM III A2/B stirrup jars originating from Crete are closer in writing style to the tablets from the Room of the Chariot Tablets (as he has argued, the oldest records from Knossos) than the records from the rest of the site. The paper examines this suggestion and in particular the possibility that some stirrup jar inscriptions may not be written in the conservative style which Driessen posits.

1. In recent years serious questions have been raised about the unity of the archive at Knossos: whether the vast majority of the tablets derive from the same destruction, as Jean-Pierre Olivier argued in Scribes Cnossos and as Richard Firth has argued more recently on the basis of what he sees as links between the tablets from different areas of the palace1. The first blow against the unitarian position was struck by Jan Driessen2, who argued that, as is now widely agreed, and as Firth accepts in his discussions, the tablets from the Room of the Chariot Tablets (RCT) are older than the rest of the records at the site. In subsequent studies, Driessen has gone on to argue for two or three different strata among the post-RCT tablets, based on the palaeography of the different scribal hands at the site, and the degree to which each shows complex or elaborated forms of the signs as against simplified forms. Those showing a preponderance of complex forms he regards as ›conservative‹ and early; those showing a preponderance of simplified forms as ›progressive‹ and late; and those showing a mixture of complex and simplified signs as ›centrist‹ or ›hybrid‹ and intermediate in date. I. Knossos Conservatives: to this group, I reckon especially ›scribes‹ 104, 106, 107, 109, 120, 123, 127, 137, 141, 203, 222. II. Knossos Centrists: to this group, I reckon especially ›scribes‹ 102, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119, 122, 125, 126, 134, 136, 139, 201, 202, 204. III. Knossos Progressives: to this group belong ›scribes‹ 101, 103, 105, 108, 115, 116, 121, 128, 129, 130, 133, 131, 132, 135, 138, 1403. More recently, Christina Skelton4 has used the techniques of phylogenetic systematics to produce her own sub-division of Knossos hands, with results that are not dissimilar to those of Driessen. The main distinction between them is that Skelton places the tablets from the Arsenal among her Middle Knossos style while Driessen regards the Arsenal scribes as ›progressive‹.

1

2 3 4

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Olivier 1967; Firth 1999, 66–75 (the bulk of the tablets are contemporary, the major exception being the records from the Room of the Chariot Tablets); Firth 2002, 260–269 (the bulk of the tablets are contemporary, except those from the RCT and possibly those from the North Entrance Passage, the W. Insula and West of the Arsenal). Driessen 1990. Driessen 2000, 151. Skelton 2011.

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I. Early Style: RCT (h. 124). II. Middle Style: Room of the Column Bases; Northern Entrance Passage; Corridor of Sword Tablets; Arsenal (h. 141/104, 106, 107, 111, 114, 127, 102a, 110, 118, 123, 125/101, 102b, 105, 126/128, 130, 131, 132, 133). III. Late Style: W. Wing; E. Wing (h. 103, 108, 113, 115, 119, 121, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140/101, 117, 119, 221). 2. Examples of (a) ›conservative‹ and (b) ›progressive‹ forms of signs: 2.1. jo

Fig. 1: Linear B syllabic sign jo, h. 107 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 8)

Fig. 2: Linear B syllabic sign jo, h. 103 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 4)

(a) h. 107

(b) h. 103

Comment: Right example in (a) shows barred top frequent in ›conservative‹ jos (Fig. 1); this lacking in (b), as often in ›progressive‹ jos (Fig. 2). 2.2. do

Fig. 3: Linear B syllabic sign do, h. 107 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 8)

Fig. 4: Linear B syllabic sign do, h. 103 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 4)

(a) h. 107

(b) h. 103

Comment: Both examples in (a) show strokes on either side of the sign common in ›conservative‹ dos (Fig. 3); these lacking in (b), as often in ›progressive‹ dos (Fig. 4). 2.3. ma

Fig. 5: Linear B syllabic sign ma, h. 106 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 7) (a) h. 106

Fig. 6: Linear B syllabic sign ma, h. 103 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 4) (b) h. 103

Fig. 7: Linear B syllabic sign ma, h. 101 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 2) (c) h. 101

Comment: In (a) ›cheeks‹ at bottom of sign (which is derived from Linear A ›cat’s head‹ sign) are separate (Fig. 5). In (b), (c) and other ›progressive‹ mas ›cheeks‹ are close together, often forming circle, and giving the sign as a whole the appearance of a metal shears used for clipping wool (Figs. 6. 7). 2.4. ne

Fig. 8: Linear B syllabic sign ne, h. 106 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 7) (a) h. 106

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Fig. 9: Linear B syllabic sign ne, h. 103 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 4) (b) h. 103

Fig. 10: Linear A syllabic sign AB 24 on KN Zf 31 (after Godart – Olivier 1985, xxxii) (d) KN Zf 31

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Comment: Trace in centre of (a) reflecting circular body of vessel which sign originally depicted (Fig. 8) (see (d), Linear A KN Zf 31: Fig. 10). No trace of this element in signs shown as (b) (Fig. 9). 2.5. na

Fig. 11: Linear B syllabic sign na, h. 104 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 5)

Fig. 12: Linear B syllabic sign na, h. 103 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 4)

(a) h. 104

(b) h. 103

Fig. 13: Linear B syllabic sign na, h. 115 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 16) (c) h. 115

Comment: Signs in (a), as frequently with ›conservative‹ nas, consist of two horizontal strokes at the top, an inverted v below this, and two or three strokes making up the vertical stem of the sign (Fig. 11). Those in (b), (c), in contrast, show the two strokes at the top and, regularly, two continuous downward strokes, one commonly shorter than the other, which meet or come close towards the base of the sign (Figs. 12. 13). 3. Another observation of Driessen’s5 is that the forms of the signs in the ›dipinti‹, the painted inscriptions, on the LM IIIA2/B stirrup jars originating from Crete »in general agree more with a graphic tradition that is closer to that of the RCT [LM IIIA1?] than the Knossian styles«, i.e. that of the records which postdate the RCT. There is much evidence to support his contention. 3.1. I begin by listing the examples given in Scribes Cnossos as occurring in h. 124, i.e. as found on tablets from the RCT, of the five signs discussed in 2.1–5 above. 3.1.1. jo

Fig. 14: Linear B syllabic sign jo, h. 124 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 25)

3.1.4. ma

Fig. 17: Linear B syllabic sign ma, h. 124 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 25)

3.1.2. do

Fig. 15: Linear B syllabic sign do, h. 124 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 25)

3.1.3. ne

Fig. 16: Linear B syllabic sign ne, h. 124 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 25)

3.1.5. na

Fig. 18: Linear B syllabic sign na, h. 124 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 25)

Comment: It is encouraging for the belief that the tablets from the RCT are closest in date to the records from elsewhere in the palace which are in ›conservative‹ hands that the signs shown above have much in common with the ›conservative‹ repertory shown in the (a) column in 2. above. Thus three of the four examples of jo have the barred top common in ›conservative‹ jos (Fig. 14); do has the strokes or dots surrounding the sign that are standard in ›conservative‹

5

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Driessen 2000, 149.

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dos (Fig. 15); the dot in the centre of ne is a vestigial reminiscence of the origin of the sign as a kettle-like vessel (Fig. 16); although the ›cheeks‹ of ma are closer together than in some mas by ›conservative‹ scribes, they are kept apart by the central vertical stroke (Fig. 17); and the nas are of the classic ›conservative‹ type, as described above (Fig. 18). 3.2. It is striking how many signs on Inscribed Stirrup Jars (ISJs) have their closest affinities with signs in the RCT and by ›conservative‹ scribes. I discuss below the forms of jo, do, ma, ne, ku, na and wi on jars6. 3.2.1. jo

Fig. 19: Linear B syllabic sign jo on ISJs (after Sacconi 1974, 197)

Comment: All but two of these signs (Fig. 19) show the barred top familiar in RCT and ›conservative‹ hands. 3.2.2. do

Fig. 20: Linear B syllabic sign do on ISJs (after Sacconi 1974, 195)

Fig. 21: TH Z 842 (after Sacconi 1974, 124)

Comment: Only TH Z 842 (Figs. 20. 21: a-do-we) is well enough preserved to use, but the do here clearly shows the strokes on either side of the sign that are standard in RCT and ›conservative‹ hands, but are not found on signs by ›progressive‹ scribes.

6

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Drawings of signs, showing all the examples known on vases at the date of publication of Sacconi 1974, and vessels are derived from Sacconi 1974, except for those of ma, which are derived from Farnoux – Driessen 1991, 84. Drawings of Linear A signs are taken from Godart – Olivier 1985.

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3.2.3. ma

Fig. 22: Linear B syllabic sign ma on ISJs (after Farnoux – Driessen 1991, 84 fig. 15)

Fig. 23: Linear A syllabic sign AB 80 on AR Zf 1 (after Godart – Olivier 1985, xli)

Comment: Of the four signs here which show ›cheeks‹ at the base of the sign (Fig. 22), three (see MA Z 1, TI Z 9 and TH Z 850) show these separated, as is standard in RCT and ›conservative‹ Fig. 24: TH Z 850 (after Sacconi 1974, 132) hands. On the ›cheeks‹ on KH Z 3, see further below. As Farnoux and Driessen note7, the sign on MA Z 1 even shows the cat’s eyes common in the Linear A ancestor of ma (Fig. 23). TH Z 850 (Fig. 24: ka-ma-ti-jo-jo) shows both ma with separated ›cheeks‹ and jo with barred top (2 examples). 3.2.4. ne

Fig. 25: Linear B syllabic sign ne on ISJs (after Sacconi 1974, 196)

Comment: All four examples of the sign at Thebes (Fig. 25) have a circle in the centre, reflecting the origin of ne as a drawing of a kettle-like vessel. Traces of this kind are found in some (but not all) ›conservative‹ and ›centrist‹ hands, but are absent from most ›progressive‹ hands. 3.2.5. ku

Fig. 26: Linear B syllabic sign ku on ISJs (after Sacconi 1974, 202) 7

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Farnoux – Driessen 1991, 81.

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Comment: The closest tablet parallels for the kus on jars (Fig. 26) are those in h. 104, a ›conservative‹ writer (Fig. 27). With the form of the sign here compare the form in h. 117, a ›centrist‹ hand (Fig. 28): kus of this general type are widespread on the tablets.

Fig. 27: Linear B syllabic sign ku, h. 104 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 5)

Fig. 28: Linear B syllabic sign ku, h. 117 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 18)

(a) h. 104

(b) h. 117

3.2.6. na

Fig. 29: Linear B syllabic sign na on ISJs (after Sacconi 1974, 194)

Comment: As far as is possible to make out, all the nas on ISJs (Fig. 29) follow the form of the sign that is characteristic of ›conservative‹ hands and the RCT, and none is of the ›modern‹ type, with its two descending strokes in the lower part of the sign, favoured by ›progressive‹ scribes like h. 103 and h. 115. Note: the nas on AR Z 1 and MI Z 4 are virtually identical to that on KN Z 1716, which carries the same inscription. 3.2.7. wi

Fig. 30: Linear B syllabic sign wi on ISJs (after Sacconi 1974, 198)

Comment: wi on tablets normally has a ›plume‹ to the right; see (b) below for the form in h. 117, a ›centrist‹ writer (Fig. 32). The forms on ISJs (Fig. 30) are only paralleled in h. 104, a ›conservative‹ scribe, who also has forms with a ›plume‹: see (a) below (Fig. 31).

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Fig. 31: Linear B syllabic sign wi, h. 104 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 5)

Fig. 32: Linear B syllabic sign wi, h. 117 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 18)

(a) h. 104

(b) h. 117

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Note, too, that forms of the ISJ type are standard in Linear A, which would appear to confirm their ›archaic‹ nature (Fig. 33).

Fig. 33: Linear A syllabic sign AB 40 (after Godart – Olivier 1985, xxxv)

Among ISJs all of whose signs find their closest analogies on tablets by ›conservative‹ scribes and from the RCT is KN Z 1716 (Fig. 34: wi-na-jo)8. On wi and na, see immediately above (Figs. 29–31); on the barred-top jo characteristic of the RCT and ›conservative‹ scribes, see 2.1 above (Fig. 1). 4. How is this phenomenon to be explained? Driessen9 suggests that it is because the painters were illiterates Fig. 34: KN Z 1716 who used models or patterns (what Driessen calls ›pre(after Sacconi 1974, 178) fabs‹), written with forms of syllabograms that were no longer in use by contemporary administrators. There is a similar suggestion about the use of patterns by some painters, though not all, in Emmett Bennett’s discussion of the vase inscriptions in Studies Mylonas10. There appears to be some evidence to support this conclusion. In particular, some sign forms on ISJs diverge so widely from their tablet counterparts that it is difficult to believe that they are the work of literate painters. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that some sign-groups on ISJs are in reverse order to that originally intended. Some examples of both phenomena follow (Fig. 35: di-no-zo; Fig. 36: di-no-zo; Fig. 37: ]no-di-zo[; Fig. 38: ị-ṛụ; Fig. 39: ṛụ-ị).

Fig. 35: TH Z 857 (after Sacconi 1974, 139)

8 9 10

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Fig. 36: TH Z 858 (after Sacconi 1974, 140)

Fig. 37: TI Z 11 (after Sacconi 1974, 86)

The same name, painted almost identically, recurs on AR Z 1 and MI Z 4. Driessen 2000, 149. Bennett 1986, 136: »[T]here is a frequent impression that some of these painted inscriptions are drawn, rather than written, and by potters who do not read what they have drawn and who could not write without a text to copy«. See also ibid. 139: »Then with [TH Z] 858 and [TH Z] 857 drawn by imperfect memory of the model of TI [Z] 11 […]«. See further on the possible use of models or patterns Catling et al. 1980, 88. 90 (Killen); Demakopoulou – DivariValakou 1997, 327.

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Fig. 38: TH Z 867 (after Sacconi 1974, 144)

Fig. 39: TH Z 868 (after Sacconi 1974, 145)

Comment: Though the zo on TH Z 857 (Fig. 35) is unexceptional in tablet terms, there are oddities about the other two signs. The downward stroke at the bottom of di is at the left-hand side of the sign and not centred, and is attached to the upper part of the sign, rather than standing free, like the stem in tablet forms of di. In addition, there is a horizontal line at the base of the vertical strokes at the top of the sign which is again not found in dis on tablets. no, too, is missing the cross stroke at the top of the chevron at the base of the sign and the ›thumb‹ at the right which is an almost invariable feature of nos on tablets11 – though it is also absent from other nos on ISJs: see further below. Even odder in tablet terms are the signs on TH Z 858 (Fig. 36). The chevron at the base of no has evidently been transferred to the bottom of di, and the central stroke of zo has been extended well above the ›roof‹ of the sign. Both these inscriptions read di-no-zo; but that this was not the original order of the sign-group is suggested (a) by the appearance of the term no-di-zo (Fig. 37) on ISJs from Tiryns (these written in rather more convincing Linear B than the two Thebes vessels – though the nos still lack a ›thumb‹ – and (b) the occurrence of the term ]ṇọ-di-mi-zo-jo[ on KN F(2) 841.3, which is plausibly explained as the genitive of a variant form of no-di-zo, which is thus likely to have been the original form of the term on ISJs, with the two examples of di-no-zo due to faulty recollection of a no-di-zo archetype by an illiterate painter12. Note: All the examples of no in inscriptions certainly or possibly showing no-di-zo or di-nozo have a double horizontal line, drawn in the form of a loop, crossing the uprights in the upper part of the sign. The only parallel for this on tablets is on records in h. 103, who is a ›progressive‹ writer. Since the remaining signs of no-di-zo / di-no-zo are not distinctive enough to class them as ›conservative‹, ›centrist‹ or ›progressive‹, it is possible that no-di-zo / di-no-zo derives from an archetype of relatively late date – though it is also conceivable that the double horizontal is an archaic feature in the script which by chance only survives in h. 103. Another example of reverse writing of a sign-group is provided by TH Z 867 (Fig. 38: ị-ṛụ) and TH Z 868 (Fig. 39: ṛụ-ị), with TH Z 867 and the closely similar TH Z 866 perhaps showing the ›correct‹ order. Though the ṛụs on all three ISJs, with their ›hat-stand‹-like outline13, have no close parallel among tablet rus, the ịs on TH Z 867 and TH Z 866 have all the elements found in tablet is, including the chevron at the right found in this sign and others by two scribes at Knossos: h. 104 (i, pu2) and h. 117 (za, *18, pu2). In contrast, the version found on TH Z 868 probably lacks the horizontal stroke below the elements at the top of the sign (a central upright, and a diagonal stroke on either side of this) – though it is just possible that a vestige of this was lost in the damage at the centre and to the right of the sign; while the chevron appears at the left of the sign, not at the right, and almost touches the ṛụ. Once again, it is difficult to attribute the form

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The only no in Olivier’s tables of signs in Scribes Cnossos which lacks a ›thumb‹ is the smaller of the two examples shown for h. 135, see Olivier 1967. For the same conclusion, see Bennett 1986, 138 f. For the observation that the curves of ṛụ match the curves of the (octopus) decoration surrounding the inscription, see Catling et al. 1980, 91 (Killen).

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of the inscription here to anything other than faulty recollection by an illiterate painter of a pre-existing pattern14. 5. Even, however, if some – perhaps many – inscriptions on ISJs were derived by illiterates from patterns, it is possible to point to at least one example where it is tempting to suspect that the reverse is true, i.e. that the inscription is the work of a literate painter using contemporary script. The inscription in question is that on KH Z 3 (Fig. 40: ma-di-jọ). ̣ Erik Hallager has twice discussed the calligraphy of this inscription, writing as follows: (i) »[ma] is written with such skill that we must suspect that the scribe had wide Fig. 40: KH Z 3 experience in the use of Linear B«15 and (ii) »the brush has (after Hallager 1975, 66 fig. 18) been guided with such a secure hand and with such freedom and ease that the notion of imitation must be dismissed«16. Support for the conclusion that this is the work of a literate painter is provided by palaeography. Whereas, as we have seen earlier (Fig. 22), all the other mas on ISJs show the ›cheeks‹ of the sign separated, as regularly with ›conservative‹ scribes, the ›cheeks‹ of ma here are so close together that they form a virtual circle, as happens with the mas of ›progressive‹ writers h. 103 (who also draws a horizontal stroke beneath the sign, as happens here) and h. 101 (see 2.3 (b), (c) above: Figs. 6. 7). Moreover, while the di here, with its two strokes in the stem, is not diagnostic of a ›progressive‹ hand (it is also found on tablets by ›conservative‹ and ›centrist‹ scribes) it is attested on tablets by h. 103 viz. the same ›progressive‹ writer whose mas are closely comparable with the ma here. Again, while the jo here (if this is the correct reading) is also not diagnostic of a ›progressive‹ scribe, forms with a descender of the type here are found in a number of ›progressive‹ hands: 105, 108, 115, 130, 132, 135 (though not 103)17. In other words, therefore, there must be a reasonable chance that KH Z 3 is the work of a literate painter using contemporary forms of signs. It must be added, however, that if KH Z 3 is the work of a literate painter, this need not affect our conclusion that many at least of the inscriptions on ISJs are the work of illiterate painters dependent on pre-existing patterns. Apart from the differences between ma here and ma elsewhere, this inscription differs in two respects from those on the great majority of ISJs. First, the inscription here is on the disc of the false neck of the jar, not on the shoulder or belly, as with nearly all other inscriptions on ISJs; and the name on the vessel, if it is correctly read as ma-di-jo, is almost certainly a genitive (of the man’s name ma-di KN As 603.2, Db 1168.B), whereas the names found in single-term inscriptions elsewhere on ISJs all appear to be nominative. Given these differences, it will clearly not follow that what is true of the inscription in this instance will inevitably be true of the inscriptions on more typical jars. 6. Another possible, though more problematic example of a literate painter using contemporary forms of signs is provided by TI Z 30. I show below the text of this inscription (i) as given in Sacconi 1974 (Fig. 41) and (ii) as it now stands, following a join published by Hartmut Döhl in 1979 (Fig. 42). The drawing of (ii) is taken from Döhl’s article18.

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See Bennett 1986, 141 f. for criticism of the drawing of the signs on both TH Z 867 and TH Z 868 which in the case of the latter he terms »the mark of an illiterate painter«. See too Catling et al. 1980, 91 (Killen): »[N]one of these three inscriptions [sc. TH Z 866, 867, 868] is written in a manner which suggests that their painter was closely familiar with Linear B, at least in the form in which it appears on tablets«. Hallager 1975, 66. Hallager 1987, 176. Note, however, that not enough of the sign survives to enable us to rule out the possibility that it had a barred top, which would point in the direction of a ›conservative‹ or ›centrist‹ painter. Döhl 1979.

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Fig. 41: TI Z 30 (after Sacconi 1974, 100)

This is one of two inscriptions on ISJs (the other is EL Z 1) which Emmett Bennett Fig. 42: TI Z 30 (after Döhl 1979, 66 fig. 10) in his palaeographical study of the jar inscriptions19 reports as seeming to him »most influenced by the palaeographical tradition of the Linear B script«. One pointer in this direction, he feels, is the ruling above and below the inscription which is reminiscent of the ruling on tablets. Bennett also notes that »the shapes of ne and u are quite familiar from tablets. The u does not reach the upper rule, and this is not unusual for this sign on tablets«. Not only, however, is the shape of ne »familiar from tablets«, it differs from ne elsewhere on ISJs (see 2.4 above: Figs. 8. 9) in showing no element in the centre showing the origin of the sign as a drawing of a kettle-like vessel. Though absence of such an element is not confined to ›progressive‹ scribes, it is particularly common among such writers, like scribes 103 and 115. It is also noticeable that, like KH Z 3, TI Z 30 is written on the disc (and partly on the shoulders) of the false neck of the jar (though the name here is not in the genitive)20. Thus far, then, all would seem compatible with the conclusion that TI Z 30 is the work of a literate painter using contemporary forms of signs. There is, however, one difficulty. When Bennett wrote his comments on the text, he was unaware of the join published by Döhl, and it appeared that the sign to the left, before ne, might be a (reasonably orthodox) du. Now that we have the complete text, however, things are less straightforward. The sign at the beginning is certainly not a du; Döhl tentatively suggests a reversed qi, though notes what he thinks is a difficulty for this suggestion, that the two lower strokes of qi customarily join at the bottom of the sign, and do not as here stand apart from each other21. In fact, however, as José Melena has shown22, this is not a problem: whereas in almost all hands qi takes the form mentioned by Döhl and pictured below (Fig. 43), on tablets in h. 129 we find a form with separated ›legs‹ (Fig. 44). H. 129, moreover, is a ›progressive‹ writer: evidence which is again clearly consistent with the view that the author of TI Z 30 is a literate painter who used contemporary forms of signs.

Fig. 43: Linear B syllabic sign qi, h. 117 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 18) (a) h. 117

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Fig. 44: Linear B syllabic sign qi, h. 129 (after Olivier 1967, tab. 30) (b) h. 129

Bennett 1986, 143. Only one other text is written on the disc of the false neck of a stirrup jar, KH Z 13, which is unfortunately too fragmentary to use. Döhl 1979, 68. Melena 1982.

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The reversing of the sign (if indeed it is qi) does, however, raise doubts in the mind. Though sign *34 on tablets can be written with the ›horns‹ pointing either forwards or backwards, reversal of this kind does not happen with most other signs, including qi. Moreover, when reversal, wholly or in part, of signs is found elsewhere on ISJs it sometimes at least occurs in inscriptions which there is other evidence to suggest are the work of an illiterate painter. See for example TH Z 858 (Fig. 36), where the ›ribbon‹ across the ›fingers‹ of the sign opens to the left and not as elsewhere with the nos in no-di-zo / di-no-zo to the right, and TH Z 868 (Fig. 39), where the chevron of i appears to the left of the sign and not to the right, which the tablet evidence suggests is the correct position. For evidence suggesting that both these inscriptions are the work of illiterate painters, see above23. Against this background, we must clearly exercise much caution before regarding TI Z 30 as a further example of an inscription executed by a literate painter, in spite of its other features which appear to argue in favour of that conclusion. Bibliography Bennett 1986 E. L. Bennett Jr., The Inscribed Stirrup Jar and Pinacology, in: Φίλια Έπη εις Γεωργίον Ε. Μυλωνάν 1 (Athens 1986) 136–143. Catling et al. 1980 H. W. Catling – J. F. Cherry – R. E. Jones – J. T. Killen, The Linear B Inscribed Stirrup Jars and West Crete, BSA 75, 1980, 49–113. Demakopoulou – Divari-Valakou 1997 K. Demakopoulou – N. Divari-Valakou, New Finds with Linear B Inscriptions from Midea, Minos 29/30, 1994/1995 (1997), 323–328. Döhl 1979 H. Döhl, Bronzezeitliche Graffiti und Dipinti aus Tiryns II, Kadmos 18, 1979, 47–70. Driessen 1990 J. Driessen, The Room of the Chariot Tablets Reconsidered, in: Πεπραγμένα του ΣΤ´ διεθνούς Κρητολογικού συνεδρίου, Χανιά, 24–30 Αυγούστου 1986, A1 (Khania 1990) 267–275. Driessen 1999 J. Driessen, The Northern Entrance Passage at Knossos. Some Preliminary Observations on its Potential Role as ›Central Archives‹, in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – S. Hiller – O. Panagl (eds), Floreant Studia Mycenaea. Akten des X. Internationalen Mykenologischen Colloquiums in Salzburg vom 1.–5. Mai 1995, Veröffentlichungen der Mykenischen Kommission 18 (Vienna 1999) 205–226. Driessen 2000 J. Driessen, The Scribes of the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos. Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of a Linear B Deposit, Minos Suppl. 15 (Salamanca 2000). Driessen 2008 J. Driessen, Chronology of the Linear B Texts, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B. Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 1, BCILL 120 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2008) 69–79. Farnoux – Driessen 1991 A. Farnoux – J. Driessen, Inscriptions peintes en linéaire B à Malia, BCH 115, 1991, 71–93.

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It is true that the first two signs of the place-name *56-ko-we on TI Z 27, where the we is reversed, are respectably executed in tablet terms. But the form of neither sign is distinctive enough to allow us to categorise it as the work of a ›progressive‹ painter, and hence the inscription as probably the work of a literate painter using contemporary forms of signs.

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Firth 1999 R. J. Firth, The Find-Places of the Tablets from the Palace of Knossos, Minos 31/32, 1996/1997 (1999), 7–122. Firth 2002 R. J. Firth, A Review of the Find-Places of the Linear B Tablets from the Palace of Knossos, Minos 35/36, 2000/2001 (2002), 63–290. Godart – Olivier 1985 L. Godart – J.-P. Olivier, Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A. Vol. 5 (Athens 1985). Hallager 1975 E. Hallager, Linear A and Linear B Inscriptions from the Excavations at Kastelli, Khania 1964–1972, OpAth 11, 1975, 53–86. Hallager 1987 E. Hallager, The Inscribed Stirrup-Jars: Implications for Late Minoan IIIB Crete, AJA 91, 1987, 171–190. Melena 1982 J. L. Melena, The Reading of the Vase Inscription TI Z 30, Kadmos 21, 1982, 95–96. Olivier 1967 J.-P. Olivier, Les scribes de Cnossos, Incunabula Graeca 17 (Rome 1967). Sacconi 1974 A. Sacconi, Corpus delle iscrizioni vascolari in lineare B, Incunabula Graeca 57 (Rome 1974). Skelton 2011 C. Skelton, Reconstructing the History of Linear B Using Phylogenetic Systematics, Pasiphae 5, 2011, 71–80.

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The Wool Age: Traditions and Innovations in Textile Production, Consumption and Administration in the Late Bronze Age Aegean* Marie-Louise Nosch Abstract: Textile technology is often considered an important, yet unchanging and non-innovative technology of the Bronze Age. This paper explores traditions and innovations in Aegean textile technology and highlights the use of a series of new materials and techniques, in particular, the introduction of wool fibres, new ways of spinning and weaving, and derived innovations such as the use of plant dyes, mordants and murex dye. Very few archaeological textiles from the Aegean Bronze Age have so far come to light, but innovations and changes can be apprehended through the study of sheep bones, palaeobotany, textile tools and iconography, as well as through textile terminology.

»During the early days of his existence, man depended upon animal skins and furs to keep him warm. But as the years passed, his susceptibilities became more tender and his hide less coarse. A sheep-skin wrapped carelessly round the body may be better than nothing for keeping out the cold – but only just. Inflexible and uncomfortable, it would not fit homo sapiens as well as it had the sheep. Inevitably, man began to look around for something that would keep him warm more elegantly and more comfortably than an evil-smelling hide. At some point in history, he found that the long thin fibres produced by plants and animals could be twisted together to form a thread. These threads could then be interlaced to provide a flexible, warm and supremely comfortable material such as he had never known before. He had discovered cloth«1. A textile as a binary structure in itself is in essence one of humanity’s most brilliant and stable technologies; especially in the Aegean Bronze Age when flax meets wool, wool engenders dye and mordant technologies, and domestic production is transformed into palace-monitored industries which impact on the environment, labour organisation and economies, the production of textiles generates a series of innovations which transformed the existing commercial networks, and modified the visual expression of identities and culture. In Mycenaean times, textile production already had a more than 4000-year-old history in Greece. The basic technology of twisting fibres into yarn and interlinking yarns in a binary system dates back further than the Neolithic, and basically continues until today in our clothing. What has dramatically changed over the past 10,000 years is the fibre material from which yarn is made: flax, wool, silk, cotton, nylon and viscose; another significant modification includes the techniques and tools with which yarn is spun and woven into fabric, from Neolithic spindle whorls to spinning jennies, from prehistoric looms to the treadle loom in the Middle Ages, the jacquard looms in the early modern period and digital looms today. In this paper, textiles form the framework for discussing the concepts of traditions and innovation in the Late Bronze Age Aegean from technological and organisational perspectives. I also examine derivative innovation areas engendered by Neolithic innovations in fibre technologies.

* I thank Joanne Cutler, Malgorzata Siennicka, Kalliopi Sarri, Joanna Smith, Lise Bender Jørgensen, Antoinette Rast-Eicher, Orit Shamir, Anna Michailidou, Sabine Karg, Eva Andersson Strand, Ulla Mannering and Jörg Weilhartner for discussing this topic with me and for their original ideas and valuable suggestions. 1 Introductory paragraph in Cook 1993, xi.

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I will begin with an outline of the fibre innovations of both flax and wool. These are related to  the innovations in animal breeding patterns and practice as observed primarily through the Linear B documentation and Aegean archaeology, as well as to the innovations in the cultivation of textile crops. Then the paper discusses the various innovations in textile techniques, which also led to innovations in clothing and textile uses: from skin and fur, to felt and textiles, including clothing and sails. These changes are mirrored in traditions and innovations in the Mycenaean textile terminologies as evidenced by the Linear B documentation; thereafter, the paper illustrates some traditions and innovations in the administration of textile production and in how textiles are recorded graphically and rendered textually. The textual, terminological and logographical rendering of textiles can illustrate how textiles are perceived by administrators, and their role of textiles in the Bronze Age economies. Finally, the organisation of textile production in households and workshops, and the archaeologists’ interpretations of them, may shed light on Bronze Age innovations in more general terms. I will present some influential academic concepts of innovation and tradition and discuss how far they are applicable to the field of textile technologies. Traditions and Innovations in Animal Breeding Patterns and Practice Sheep in the Aegean Bronze Age2 The Aegean has archaeozoological traces of sheep since the seventh millennium BC, at Knossos3, the Franchthi Cave4 and in Thessaly5. The shift is highly evident at the Franchthi Cave: remains of wild animals define the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic layers, but from the beginning of the Neolithic, ovicaprid bones suddenly form 90% of the faunal remains6. In Early Neolithic farming sites in Greece, the sex and age ratios seen in the archaeological bone remains suggest meat consumption rather than animals kept for wool, according to Halstead7. In the Early Bronze Age there is an increase in the number of ovicaprids and in their age, suggesting that they were kept and maintained for their wool and milk. This forms part of what Andrew Sherratt termed the Secondary Products Revolution (commonly abbreviated SPR in later scholarly literature)8. Sheep and goats can be exploited for various resources, such as wool, milk, hides, horn, sinew and meat. These resource exploitations can be divided into two types: the living animals yielding milk and wool, and the slaughtered animals yielding hides, sinew and meat. Of these raw materials, it is significant that only meat and milk are immediately consumable and exploitable: wool, milk, meat, sinew, horn and hides can increase durability and value through processing into yarn, fabrics, strings, cheese9, dried meat, and tanned skins. All these processes take time and require skill, tools, and techniques, but also increase the processed commodities’ value considerably. From these processes stems the rise of specialisations and technical knowledge and eventually what we, using a modern term, would call professions.

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Cherry 1988, 6–34; Halstead – Isaakidou 2011, 67 f. Isaakidou 2006. Payne 1975. Halstead 1981. Payne 1975, 130: »The point of most obvious and immediate contrast between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic is the abundance in the Neolithic of Capra and Ovis. Straight away, in phase E1, they are more than 90%, and thereafter usually at least 70%. Ovis is absent in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic layers (…)«. For the dating of the Neolithic seeds in Knossos and Franchthi Cave to the early 7th millennium, see Perlès et al. 2013. Halstead 1981. Sherratt 1981; 1983. Lactose tolerance is supposed to have developed along with the SPR, but lactose intolerance is less problematic if the milk is transformed into cheese and yoghurt, see Sherratt 1981, 277.

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While highly convincing as an interpretative model, SPR nevertheless remains a model: not all innovations implied in the SPR model can be documented archaeologically10. Paul Halstead and Valasia Isaakidou question the evidence for a fourth to third millennium BC horizon of innovation as had been outlined by Sherratt. More recent faunal, archaeobotanical, palaeoecological and biomolecular studies suggest that the use of secondary products began earlier than the fourth to third millennium BC and that the intensity of use varied greatly between regions, periods and social contexts. They argue that the social and economic contexts would have had a strong influence on the degree to which the various secondary products as innovations were adopted11. Valasia Isaakidou recently analysed the faunal remains at Knossos and concluded that the Knossos Neolithic strata favour meat consumption. Sheep are slaughtered at a young age (between six months and two years for 50% of the assemblage) and there is a general scarcity of mature adult animals and a predominance of adult females12. In the Bronze Age faunal remains, by contrast, she finds an increased proportion of adult and male bones13. This denotes that regarding wool textile production, the SPR unfolds fully in the Bronze Age at Knossos. In the context of this paper, it is important to note that while the SPR brought about a series of innovations, weaving was not one of them. This technology existed long before wool textile production, with the earliest evidence so far being central European Palaeolithic textile and basketry impressions on clay14. Herding in the Aegean Bronze Age John Cherry has highlighted the Bronze Age patterns for ancient herding management strategies. These strategies are aimed at »maximizing economic return, or minimizing the expenditure of labour, or reducing the risk of subsistence crisis, or – very often – some combination which goes some way towards satisfying all these aims«15. There are several important ways of executing herding management strategies and these are clearly employed in the Late Bronze Age Aegean as we can verify in the Linear B tablets: 1. Monitoring reproduction schemes by castration (KN Da-Dg and Dn series). 2. Creating and monitoring reproductive flocks (KN Dk and Dl series). 3. Manipulating the sex balance in the sheep flocks by isolating one sex, such as the ewes (KN Dk and Dl series). 4. Manipulating the age balance in the flocks by isolating some lambs (ki), yearlings (WE) and adult animals (ovis). 5. Specific combinations of or specialisations of animal species, such as the widespread monoculture of sheep, cows or horses. 6. Decreasing the number of animals or kinds of animals by specific slaughter patterns. These strategies profoundly impact on herding praxes in the Mycenaean palace flocks. Furthermore, we can see that these herding praxes are also internalised in the palace administrations, since specialised scribes record each of these strategies on tablets stored in separate departments. Thus not only are ewes and lambs recorded by one group of scribes (120, 119, 118), while scribe

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See constructive criticism in Isaakidou 2006, 96. She emphasises how Sherratt’s model provides useful evidence of the diffusion of technological innovations, but cannot be extended to demonstrate a systematic and comprehensive exploitation of a new technology. See also Halstead – Isaakidou 2011, 61 f. Halstead – Isaakidou 2011, 61 f. Isaakidou 2006, 101. Isaakidou 2006, 107. Adovasio et al. 1996; Svoboda et al. 2009; Richter 2010; Mazare 2014. See also Halstead – Isaakidou 2011, 67: »Neolithic figurines from Greece suggest textiles played a significant role in projecting social identity well before the fourth–third millennium horizon of the SPR«. Cherry 1988, 6.

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117 records the castrated wethers, but the first group’s tablets are stored in the North Entrance Passage (I2 and I3), and the latter scribe’s in the East West Corridor. There is a general tendency to perceive transhumance16 as solely conditioned by the necessities of the environment, landscape and climate and to disregard it as a cultural praxis17. Whether transhumance was practised in the Aegean Bronze Age is debatable. John Cherry is reluctant to accept generally practised transhumance, while Vance Watrous finds evidence for it both in Early Bronze Age Myrtos in Crete, and Early Iron Age Karphi in central Greece18. In the Linear B records there is no evidence of transhumance, instead we have attestation to a specialised pastoralism set in a defined system on a large scale and with a strong element of ›state‹ intervention19. It seems to be a unique situation in ancient animal-breeding history of the Aegean. Thus in many respects, parallels from ethnographic sources or comparative studies of herding in other cultures and continents are not pertinent20. They may be introduced for analyses of ancient breeding praxes but are not necessarily reliable parallels for the highly specialised Mycenaean pastoralism21. The Properties of Bronze Age Wool Following the domestication of sheep and goats in the Neolithic, Bronze Age wool gradually developed new properties22: 1. Decreased hairiness and increased volume of under-wool This made the wool more spinnable and gave rise to a wider range of yarn qualities, which in turn could be used to produce a broader spectrum of fabric qualities. 2. Increasing fibre uniformity Histograms of fibre qualities show how primitive breeds have a large variety of fibres; gradually fleeces become more homogenous and have more and finer fibres (Fig. 1). 3. Gradual stop or control of the natural moulting of the fleece A shepherd would not want his sheep to lose their wool randomly; he would wish to collect it, preferably in a limited time frame. Instead of constantly combing and plucking the wool throughout the moulting season, the control over the moulting process places sheep herding in a more structured and seasonal scheme in which wool collection becomes organised and fixed in time.

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17 18 19 20

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For a discussion of transhumance in the Bronze Age as well as a valuable discussion of the history of research into pastoralism and transhumance by modern scholars, see Cherry 1988, 9. Cherry 1988, 14 f. Watrous 1977; Cherry 1988. Cherry 1988, 17. See the discussion of ethno-archaeology in Cherry 1988, 19 f. Hodkinson 1988 and Garnsey 1988 have emphasised that specialised pastoralism and transhumance are not natural outcomes based in a typical Mediterranean environment and climate. On the contrary, they are a result of very peculiar historical situations. Hodkinson 1988, 35–74 compares the situation in early modern Spain (the Meste of Castille) and southern Italy (the Dogana of Puglia) where large-scale transhumance and extreme sheep-herding specialisation were developed due to the large concentrations of land under a few wealthy families. Likewise, Hodkinson emphasises the Sarakatsani shepherds who conducted large flocks over long distances, but who were acting under large Turkish or Orthodox monastic estates and were profiting from the high demand for wool, meat and milk in the coastal areas, on the islands and in 19th and 20th century Athens. Hodkinson 1988, 56: »Long-distance transhumant pastoralism has usually been dependent upon specific historical circumstances, such as the weakness of lowland agriculture, a high level of market demand for pastoral products and a unified (and, ideally, dirigiste) political authority«. See also Garnsey 1988, 19 f. For a late 18th-century AD approach to shepherding, see Daubenton 1795. Ryder 1969, 495–521; Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensen 2013. It is important to notice that these developments did not only take place during the Bronze age but continue in historical periods.

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Fig. 1: Four histograms illustrating the four types of wool and their development over time: a. the hairy type, with a wide range of fibre diameters; b. mixed fibre type, with fibres of 13–80 microns; c. coarse and fine fibres; d. fine wools with fibres of c. 15–25 microns. The hairy type (a) has two distinct properties, hair and wool. In the subsequent types (b. c. d), hair disappears and wool becomes finer and more homogenous (after Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensen 2013, courtesy of authors)

4. Natural pigmentation could be altered or manipulated to achieve breeds of desired colours The natural pigmentation of sheep can be black, brown, reddish, grey and yellowish to white. White wool and light hues are especially desirable in order to be able to apply dyes. Experimental archaeology also demonstrates how the basic shades in pigmentation result in a wide spectrum of hues when over-dyed in one dye bath. This again enlarges the range of yarn and fabric types. These new properties arose from the targeted selection of animals with the desired characteristics via strategies of out-breeding and cross-breeding. It is thus a specialisation and the product of gradual innovation in the hands of shepherds. It is tempting to assume that the shepherds’ experience and knowledge of these processes and properties would enhance their status in Bronze Age societies. In the Linear B records at Knossos, about 330 shepherds are recorded by their personal name and the place name to which they are affiliated. Firth concludes that 38% of these names can be interpreted as Greek male names23. In English, the ›shepherd‹ is the keeper of ›sheep‹ which gather in a ›flock‹. Other animals are ›herded‹ by a ›herdsman‹, and gathered in a ›herd‹. Interestingly, in Mycenaean Greek, there is a specialist vocabulary on herding: the ›shepherd‹ is called po-me, poimēn (cf. ποιμήν), while the ›goat-herd‹ is a3-ki-pa-ta, aigipastās (cf. αἴξ, πατέομαι), the ›swine-herd‹ su-qo-ta, sugwōtās (cf. συβώτης), and the ›cow-herd‹ qo-u-ko-ro, gwoukolos (cf. βούκoλος). In the first millennium BC Greek, poimēn becomes a general designation of the herdsman of sheep or oxen regardless, and then specialises again into a shepherd only for sheep and goats (cf. the same semantic development of πρόβατα, first denoting domestic animals in general and then towards the end of the first millennium BC restricting its meaning to sheep/goats). From the occupational designation poimēn derives the verb ποιμαίνω.

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Firth 1995, 95; Landenius Enegren 2008, 37 questions the interpretation of this percentage.

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Brent Shaw24, followed by John Cherry25, views nomadic pastoralists as an archetype in contrast to farmers. He emphasises the cultural dichotomy in antiquity between farmers and nomads. I do not see evidence for such strict typological divisions in the Aegean, apart from the exceptional situation in the Mycenaean palace system. Archaeological Evidence for Wool Textiles in the Second Millennium BC Aegean and Beyond Regrettably, textiles and other organic remains are rarely preserved in the Aegean. At MBA Akrotiri, Thera, about 50 fragments of wool thread were discovered26; at LBA Chania in Crete, a tiny carbonised textile ribbon was recovered combining nettle (of uncertain identification), linen and goat hair27. At Arslantepe in Anatolia, the analysis carried out on a preserved textile fragment from the Royal Tomb revealed one of the world’s oldest pieces of what is probably a goat hair textile, dated to 3000/2900 BC28. In a tomb from the Old Kingdom was unearthed a tuft of white, unspun sheep wool. It had a fibre length of 2 cm and an average fibre diameter of 34.6 microns with a quite even distribution from the thinnest fibres of 12 microns to the coarsest fibres of 110 microns (thus between type a and b in Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensenʼs 2013 classification, see Fig. 1). This signifies that by 2000 BC in Egypt, this wool had lost its natural darker pigmentation. It had also lost its kemp character and became more homogeneous, what Michael Ryder terms the hairy medium wool29. Another example of raw wool from a temple store of Akhenatan at Tell el Amarna is dated to the 14th century BC. These samples also had no pigmentation and the fibres were c. 6.5 cm long. The qualities range from a generalised medium wool to a hairy medium type consisting of fine and medium fibres and only a few coarse fibres. These wool samples had an average fibre diameter range from 14 microns to 74 microns with the average diameter of 29 microns and the mean diameter between 26 and 43 microns30. Thus, based on these two samples only, we could suggest that during the Bronze Age in Egypt, wool fibres become longer, slightly thinner and more homogenous. In the southern Levant, rich evidence for plant-fibre textiles exists, especially in Chalcolithic contexts. Bone material shows the early use of sheep and goat, similar to the Aegean. Yet in the southern Levant, wool textiles occur only from the Middle Bronze Age, for example at Jericho or at Tall Mozan in Syria31. Orit Shamir suggests associating the Middle Bronze Age occurrence of wool textiles not with sheep domestication or wool developments, but with the introduction of the warp-weighted loom which we also see as a Levantine innovation from the Middle Bronze Age32. From central Europe, recent research has identified Bronze Age wool characteristics based on skins and textiles. Fleeces are short, less than 5 cm, and of a combination of fine light-coloured under-wool and coarser and darker fibres. Interestingly, in Hallstatt Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500–1245 BC) wool fibres in textiles are generally finer than those found on fleeces, suggesting that wool selection and sampling took place33. This points to another important strategy

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Shaw 1982/1983. Cherry 1988, 29: »It is well-known that nomads, ancient or modern, have never had a ›good press‹ and that, for classical antiquity, we depend largely on unsympathetic accounts, rarely based on personal autopsy, by historians, geographers, military men and administrators, to whom pastoralists were either an irrelevant curiosity or an irritating impediment«. Moulhérat – Spantidaki 2008; Spantidaki – Moulhérat 2012, 189. Spantidaki – Moulhérat 2012, 189. Frangipane et al. 2009, 19 f. Ryder 1969, 497–500. Ryder 1972; 1974, 100–110. This would correspond to fibre type b in Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensenʼs classification, see Fig. 1. Shamir 2014; Rothenhäusler, in press. Shamir 2014. Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensen 2013. On the available evidence for Early Bronze Age archaeological textiles in central and northern Europe, see also Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensen 2015.

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in animal breeding and fibre specialisation: when fibre qualities could only be controlled and genetically manipulated to a certain degree via cross-breeding, selective breeding and specialised shepherding, wool qualities could be controlled manually by sorting and gathering fleeces and tufts with specific qualities, hues, shine etc. Even with a sheep flock of highly mixed wool qualities, a skilled wool-sorter could identify and categorise a range of qualities destined for both the finest and the coarsest textiles. We have no Linear B evidence for wool-sorters as a professional occupation, neither do we have written evidence for wool categories34, but the standardisation of wool textile types suggests a rigorous distinction between wool qualities, and this is enabled by a specialisation in herding and wool sorting. Evolutionary Theories of Wool Fibres Michael Ryder sets the archaeological finding of wool into an evolutionary and binary scheme of wool fibres35: »About 1500 BC both the primitive people of northern Europe, and the civilisations of Egypt, had generalised types (….). The wool in North Europe was naturally brown, while that in Egypt was white. Surprisingly, however, the Egyptian wool was coarser. This theme of finer wool in more primitive areas, or in earlier periods, is repeated throughout subsequent history«36. Thus, Ryder uses an interpretive model based on ›centre versus periphery‹ and ›primitive versus modern‹ and their different capacities of innovation, blending, and conservation. The primitive peripheries become the keepers of the finer qualities, while the core areas decrease in quality and instead obtain more uniformity and average qualities according to Ryder. A more recent study of Bronze Age archaeological textiles reaches a similar conclusion: the wool qualities in Scandinavian Bronze Age textiles are generally finer than those found in central Europe. However, the textile experts Antoinette Rast-Eicher and Lise Bender Jørgensen interpret this result as being a trace of a special ›Nordic‹ sheep type which differs genetically from central European and Near Eastern sheep types37. Colin Renfrew38 presents another evolutionary model of how textile production and wool fibres evolved in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: »Much of the evidence is inferential since the products of the craft, the textiles, have not been preserved. That there was a considerable trade in woollen textiles in the Aegean Late Bronze Age seems likely enough. In Early Neolithic times, at least, flax was probably the principal fibre used. When the transition came we cannot be sure, but it may well have been at the end of the Neolithic period where there is, for the first time, plausible evidence for the warp-weighted loom. If these conclusions are sound, we must imagine a textile industry growing up in the same way as metallurgy, with the excellence of the new products creating a demand and an increase in production, which in turn led to technical innovations and further improved products. This standard positive feedback growth pattern will have operated in the same way for many developing crafts«. There are several comments to be made regarding Renfrewʼs model. Firstly, it is worth noting that Renfrew sets metallurgy as a normative and formative model for textile production, although textile techniques including weaving are much earlier crafts than metallurgy. Secondly, demand is fuelled by excellence and novelty, not by need or practicalities, according to Renfrew. Thirdly, Renfrew associates the appearance of the warp-weighted loom with the appearance of wool but this equation cannot be generally confirmed: there are loom weights from 5500 BC in central

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Nosch 2014. Ryder 1969, 500: »Most of the major variations in sheep, i.e. in the horns, tail length, and the appearance of a white, woolly type of fleece seem to have taken place by the time that illustrations and records first appeared in Mesopotamia about 3000 BC, i.e. during the first half of the period since domestication. This seems to be an example of the principle that evolution along a new line at first proceeds rapidly, and then slows down. In addition, the fact that evolution progresses more rapidly in smaller populations may have been a contributory factor«. Ryder 1974, 110. Rast-Eicher – Bender Jørgensen 2013. This conclusion is based on finds from Norway, Sweden, and Austria. Renfrew 1972, 350–354.

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Europe, long before wool is attested, and the warp-weighted loom can be used for linen as well39. Loom types, horizontal or vertical, do not correspond to the fibre types – flax and wool. The misunderstanding of connecting the occurrence of wool with the appearance of textile tools and textile production is also found in other scholarly works40. It may be correct in places such as the southern Levant (see above), but it is no general rule. Indeed, plant-fibre textiles existed long before wool, and textile and basketry impressions on clay have been recovered from the Upper Palaeolithic at 27,000 BP from Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov in the Czech Republic in central Europe41. Finally, fibre analysis of Bronze Age textiles indicates that an increase in production does not necessarily lead to improved products. Fibre qualities in northern Europe in the 14th century BC are finer than in contemporary Egypt with its state controlled production. This, as we have seen above, made Michael Ryder suggest that wool fibres evolved into a coarser and more standardised type in the core areas and remained finer in the peripheral areas of Europe. Bronze Age Wool Terms Elizabeth Barber suggests that since wool has a common root in the Indo-European languages – ›wool‹ in English, ›Wolle‹ in German, lēnos in classical Greek, hulana in Hittite – it is possible that the people speaking Indo-European languages (Anatolian, Celtic, Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Balto-Slavic, Armenian, Greek and Latin) would still have lived together somewhere in west-central Asia when around 4000 BC the soft and spinnable wool appeared as a further result of the domesticated sheep42. However, already in Mycenaean Greek there is another term for ›wool‹, eiros. It is attested indirectly in Linear B through its adjective we-we-e-a, werweheha (cf. εἶρος) meaning ›woolen‹, in KN L 178 and L 870. Pierre Chantraine suggests an interpretation for the etymology of eiros: »quant à l’étymologie, on peut entrevoir un rapport avec la famille du grec ἀρήν, latin vervex, etc., mais rien n’est démontrable«43. This means that in Greek there is a shared Indo-European root for wool, and another term for wool perhaps related to the technical term for wether. If this were true, it would suggest that the shared Indo-European term would mean hair/kemp/fleece/wool of sheep and goat, but that with domestication and the increased wooliness of sheep, the Bronze Age people generated a new and more specialised term for the wool fibres taken from the domesticated and castrated male Ovis. Flax: Specialisation and Intensification The first textile fibre, and the first textile crop, is flax44. One of the earliest pieces of evidence for a woven linen textile is from Egypt, from Fayum c. 5000 BC45. Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf conclude that »the available archaeological evidence clearly suggests that flax belongs to the first group of crops that started agriculture in the Near East […] the gradual increase in seed size and the use of linen indicate that flax cultivation was, very probably, already practiced in the Near East

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Hoffman 1964. Vandkilde 2007, 59 expresses the same common misunderstanding that weaving and spinning only appear with the appearance of wool as a secondary product. Vandkilde connects the shift towards cattle in the fifth and fourth millennia BC and sheep and goats kept for their secondary products with the occurrence of spindle whorls and loom weights in settlements: »Moreover, loom-weights and spindle-whorls begin to appear on the settlements, implying that weaving was practised. Some sites even have impressions of textiles on the surface of pots«. Adovasio et al. 1996; Svoboda et al. 2009; Richter 2010; Mazare 2014. Barber 1991; Chantraine 2009, 612. Chantraine 2009, 309 f. According to archaeobotanist Hans Helbæk, Linum cultivation began in the Near East around 5000–4500 BC, the so-called Halaf Period. See Helbæk 1959, 110. The plant would have been used also before domestication. Caton-Thompsen – Gardener 1934. See Helbæk 1959, 103–129.

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before 6000 BC«46. However, it is important to consider that this early evidence may attest to flax for linseed oil47 or for fibre, or both. Hans Helbæk believed that flax was first used for its seeds and later for its fibre, observing that: »In the Near Eastern region where the seed agriculture of the Old World took its first faltering steps several wild species of the genus Linum are distributed and undoubtedly the first farmers knew the commonest of them in advance for its nourishing seeds. Eventually they would have discovered also that its stem was highly useful in that the best fibres after suitable treatment could be spun to string and thread which ultimately would have given rise to the art of weaving«48. New data on linseed sizes may shed light on the early exploitation of the flax plant. In ancient Near Eastern excavations linen seeds have a length of c. 4.0 to 4.7 mm and a width of c. 2.3 to 2.7 mm. It is significant that these sizes remain consistent for data from 5000 BC to c. 1800 BC49. In contrast, in central Europe flax seems to split into two kinds at an early stage, one with large seeds for linseed oil, and another with smaller seeds for textile fibre. Archaeologists and archaeobotanists Christoph Herbig and Ursula Maier examined waterlogged flax seeds from a series of 32 wetland settlements from Late Neolithic sites (dated 4000–2200 BC) in the Alpine region. Flax seeds of the early phase 4000–3700 BC are significantly larger than seeds from the following periods50. This difference in size cannot be explained by natural or climatic variations. The researchers conclude that two varieties of flax were cultivated in the Late Neolithic: in the early phase, a flax type with larger seeds is used for both oil and fibre production, just as in the Near East51. However, in the middle of the fourth millennium BC, around 3400–3300 BC, a flax type with smaller seeds appears. From that moment textile production increases, and at around 3000 BC flax cultivation and textile production become intensified and specialised. An example is the Upper Swabian Alleshausen-Grundwiesen site where the prehistoric inhabitants were constantly occupied with flax cultivation and flax-fibre processing52, a real central European ›flax-boom‹53. This is concurrent with Sherratt’s proposed SPR54. Bronze Age Greece, where few flax seeds are preserved, thus seems located between two agricultural regimes: the area of large-seeded Linum attested in dynastic Egypt and in the Near East, and that of the small-seeded fibre-efficient Linum of Neolithic Switzerland55. It is, therefore, tempting to wonder if the double terminology in Linear B of SA for flax plants56 on the one hand and Mycenaean ri/ri-no, linon (cf. λίνον) and ›linen‹ for the linen textile products on the other hand is not only a conservation of the Minoan flax terminology but also echoes the conception of the use of this plant for two quite different purposes. Plant Fibre Innovations and Traditions There are other textile plants57 which we may assume were introduced along with flax in the Aegean although there is very little archaeological or epigraphical evidence for this. It is impor-

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Zohary – Hopf 2000, 132. See more generally 126–132. One of these few early flax finds are three flax seeds dated 5800–5600 BC from Tell es-Sawwan, middle Tigris, Iraq. See Renfrew 1969, 156. 167. Helbæk 1959, 104; McCorriston 1997. Helbæk 1959, 109 tab. 1. Herbig – Maier 2011, 529. Maier – Schlichtherle 2011, 571 f. Herbig – Maier 2011, 531. Herbig – Maier 2011, 532. See also Maier – Schlichtherle 2011, 571. Sherratt 1981, 261–305. Helbæk 1959, 105; Gavalas 2002/2003. However, the early 7th millennium evidence of cereal agriculture in the Argolid and Crete must be noted, see Perlès et al. 2013. Rougemont 2007 suggests instead that SA designated the fibres in a more raw or retted stage, while ri indicates the cleaned and processed fibres ready for spinning or already spun. See also Nosch, in press. André 1985.

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tant to remember that textile plant fibres, such as flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), nettle (Urtica dioica L.) and hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) grow in quite different environmental systems. Nettle can only be cultivated with difficulty but must be gathered, preferably near nitrogen-rich soils, while flax and hemp crops can be sown annually and integrate well within the shifting regimes of cereal cultivation. Thus, a centralised authority such as the Mycenaean palaces would choose flax and hemp as primary plant fibre crops since they can be exploited systematically. However, we still know very little about these textile crops in the Bronze Age Aegean, and the few random empirical finds tend to direct and define their interpretation, perhaps excessively. An example is hemp, an annual plant used for textile fibre. Hemp resembles flax, and is processed in a similar way. Hemp is often used for rope, sacks, caulking, nets, packing, mats and sailcloth, but it can also be processed into fine fibres and clothing which can scarcely be distinguished from linen in archaeological textiles58. Hemp has been known since the Neolithic in central Europe and Asia, but according to several scholars it was not used in the Mediterranean area before the Early Iron Age59. This late date is due to the fact that the earliest findings are from the first millennium BC: in eighth-century Gordion, textiles of hemp were recovered, and a hemp shirt was found in the fifth-century kurgans from Pazyryk60. Yet it seems unlikely to consider hemp a first millennium BC innovation or to imagine that the Mycenaeans, who mastered the mechanical and chemical treatments of plant fibres, who had boats and naval initiatives, who organised the extensive cultivation of various crops and who were engaged in international networks, would not have known or used hemp. Nettle is also not attested in any written sources as a fibre plant, but the situation is now different since it has probably been identified in a tiny ribbon from Late Bronze Age Crete61. Nettle fibres are similar to those of flax and hemp, but nettle-fibre use probably does not represent an innovation but rather the evidence of how different fibre plant species share a common highly developed fibre preparation technique. Innovation in Textile Techniques Spinning Research in Neolithic and Bronze Age plant-fibre based textile products in the Alpine region demonstrates that a new spinning technology appears, perhaps as a result of the gradual introduction of wool as spinnable material. Earlier, plant fibres were spliced together and subsequently spun on a heavy spindle whorl into thread; from the Early Bronze Age, a smaller type of spindle whorl appears with the regular range of textile tools, suggesting that splicing is no longer the only spinning technique, and that fibres – wool – can be spun directly from the fleece. This central European trend may have been a forerunner of innovation, or it may have originated in the Aegean. In Greece, this technical development can predominantly be analysed on the mainland, where many spindle whorls have come to light. In the southern Aegean, with fewer finds of spindle whorls, this change is less visible in the archaeological record. However, in the Aegean, the situation is less straightforward than in central Europe. In the Aegean Neolithic spindle whorl assemblages, there are both heavy and very light spindle whorls, whereas spindle whorls in the Early Bronze Age I–II assemblages are often heavier, more standardised, with fewer small and

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Barber 1991, 15. Barber 1991, 18. Barber 1991, 18. Spantidaki – Moulhérat 2012, 189.

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light specimens than in the Neolithic62. Thus, based on the study of spinning tools, there is no linear evolution towards finer threads in the Aegean63. Weaving There are different technical terms for weaving: Gr. plekein, ›to plait‹, and Gr. hyphainein, ›to weave‹. The word for ›loom‹, Gr. histos, is found in Mycenaean Greek in the occupational designations ị-ṭẹ-ẉẹ, histēwei or histēwes (dative singular or nominative plural respectively cf. ἱστός), and i-te-ja-o, histeiāhōn (genitive feminine plural) ›of the female weavers‹. This is based on the root *sta- in histamai, a stable, standing device64. The loom is called histos in first millennium BC Greek, and most probably also in the Late Bronze Age65. Loom weights are called agnuthes, a term without Greek etymology, or they are called ›stones‹, lāes66. This terminology may mirror the usage of stones as weights in the warp-weighted loom, especially in Mycenaean MBA–LBA Greece where clay loom weights are rarely found. While many elements of the loom are clearly Greek, it is significant that the terms for those devices for changing the shed are not Greek: the heddles (mitos) are of Semitic origin, the heddle bar (kanōn) and the shed bar (kairos) are of non-Indo-European roots67. This raises the question of twill which was long considered an Iron Age invention. However, this is questioned by the Chalcolithic twill textile fragment found in Alishar, Anatolia68, as well as a 2/2 twill from the Hallstatt Middle Bronze Age69. Furthermore, Agnete Wisti Lassen suggests interpreting some second millennium iconographical motifs as depicting twills with a pattern that is distinctly different from that of tabbies70. No Linear B term suggests the existence of twill. Heddle Innovation and the Mechanisation of the Loom In a passage of the Iliad (Hom. Il. 23, 759–763) a foot-race between Ajax and Ulysses is described, and Ulysses is right behind Ajax, as close as a girl pulls the heddle bar (kanōn) to her breast: ἔκφερ᾽ Ὀϊλιάδης· ἐπὶ δ᾽ ὄρνυτο δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς ἄγχι μάλ᾽, ὡς ὅτε τίς τε γυναικὸς ἐϋζώνοιο στήθεός ἐστι κανών, ὅν τ᾽ εὖ μάλα χερσὶ τανύσσῃ πηνίον ἐξέλκουσα παρὲκ μίτον, ἀγχόθι δ᾽ἴσχει στήθεος· ὣς Ὀδυσσεὺς θέεν ἐγγύθεν, αὐτὰρ ὄπισθεν ἴχνια τύπτε πόδεσσι πάρος κόνιν ἀμφιχυθῆναι71.

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Also Carrington Smith 1977, 260 observed the increasing sizes in the EBA (but I believe that her explanation, the arrival of flax, is incorrect): »The most notable difference between Neolithic whorls and Early Bronze Age whorls lies not so much in their forms, as in their sizes. There must have been a reason why larger, heavier whorls became popular in the Early Bronze Age, and that reason may well have been supplied by the arrival of flax in Greece«. This pattern is also observed in Tiryns, see Siennicka 2012. However, in Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Thassos, Vakirtzi et al. 2014 see a development towards a more diversified yarn production in the Early Bronze Age. Joanne Cutler and Malgorzata Siennicka are currently exploring these issues and I thank them for providing me with valuable information. See Siennicka 2012; Cutler et al. 2014; Cutler, in press; Siennicka, in press. See Del Freo et al. 2010. Del Freo et al. 2010. Del Freo et al. 2010, 358. Barber 1991, 7. 281: »The terms for the mechanization of the weaving process are also without Indo-European etymologies«. Cf. Harlizius-Klück 2004; Del Freo et al. 2010, 359. Barber 1991, 167. Grömer 2012, 32. Wisti Lassen 2013, 84. The translation within the Loeb series is by A. T. Murray (1924), and here I have underlined some of the problematic translations of textile terms: »Then speedily the son of Oïleus forged to the front, and close after him sped

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The passage refers to the kanōn and the image compares the extreme proximity between the two heroes and between a girl’s body and the loom. From a textile perspective, the passage sheds light on a pivotal innovation of weaving: the heddles (mitos) and the heddle bar (kanōn). Heddles are loops of thread attaching some of the warp threads to the heddle bar. When the heddle bar is pulled forward or back, the heddles follow and consequently pull out some warp threads and separate them from other warp threads, thus creating a shed. In his monograph, The Book of Looms, Eric Broudy discusses the innovative character of heddles (Fig. 2) and rates it as a significant invention, »a major technological advance«72. Weaving can simply be done by inserting the weft manually; or the natural shed is fixed on the loom while the countershed is created manually. However, with the innovation of heddles fixed to the heddle bar, weaving proceeds in the natural shed, with the heddles being pulled to create the countershed73. Once the heddles and the heddle bar had been invented, it would have been quite obvious to think of the addition of a second and a third heddle bar with other warp threads attached to their heddles, and this would open up for the possibility for the operationalisation of twills.

Fig. 2: Heddles (Photo by and courtesy of the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research)

Tapestry Weave as a Bronze Age Innovation Tapestry weave is conceptually very different to a shed controlled weave, in the technical freedom it offers: a tightly fixed warp, on a small or large frame, which forms the warp system into which closed blocks of wefts are inserted to form shapes of distinct colour and shape. Such large verti-

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goodly Odysseus; close as is the weaving-rod to the breast of a fair-girdled woman, when she deftly draweth it in her hands, pulling the spool past the warp, and holdeth the rod high to her breast; even so close behind ran Odysseus, and his feet trod in the footsteps of Aias or ever the dust had settled therein«. The translation of kanōn as weaving-rod should be changed to heddle bar since it is the heddle bar which is pulled to the breast by the weaver while weaving. The spool, pēnion, is also sometimes (and perhaps better) translated ›shuttle‹ but both terms have problematic modern industrial connotations in English. The tool is the instrument with which the weft is inserted into the weave and also the place where weft yarn is accommodated. Broudy 1979, 26: »Aside from robes and tapestries the Greek loom was used to weave dresses, clocks, mantles, curtains, and even rugs. Was it a ›true‹ loom with heddles? The question has been much disputed, but the current answer appears to be yes. Before the invention of the heddle a shed rod presumably kept one shed open, while the weft for the countershed had to be darned in by hand. The heddle enabled the second shed to be formed mechanically. A minor technological advance, some would think: why all the fuss? The fuss is because the heddle was not a minor but a major technological advance that overcame the greatest problem of textile production – its tediously slow pace«. Broudy 1979.

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cal looms are attested in images from Egypt from the 18th dynasty74, but the warp-weighted loom could also be used for tapestry weave75. Joanna Smith has made significant contributions to the interpretation of tapestry weaving in the Aegean and ancient Near East76. The innovative nature and technical advantage of tapestry is the possibility of making non-repeating forms and designs. The most powerful designs are made by using threads of different colours, generally threads of wool, since wool dyes better and brighter than plant fibres. It would be technically adequate to use a strong linen warp and insert dyed wool weft blocks. Thus a combination of both fibres would be a technically satisfactory solution. However, Joanna Smith rightly observes that the few Bronze Age archaeological remains of tapestry are entirely in linen77. An important issue to raise and a methodological challenge in the discussion of tapestry in the Bronze Age is that the archaeological textile evidence stems primarily from 18th-dynasty contexts in Egypt, while images and texts mentioning tapestry primarily originate from the ancient Near East78. The largest assemblage of Bronze Age tapestry pieces comes from the tomb of Tutankhamen with motifs, such as lotus flowers, geometric patterns, a falcon and hieroglyphs79. Most of the pieces belong to a wardrobe, such as tunics and gloves. They appear to belong to an Egyptian design tradition and are all made of dyed linen thread80. The earliest evidence for tapestry weave in Egypt is on a piece with the in-woven ka-name of Thutmosis III which was found in the tomb of Thutmosis IV, his grandson. Another fragment, probably from the 18th dynasty from the Valley of Kings, depicts captives and a lower edge composed of geometric patterns81. The captives seem to have been placed in three registers and Smith Fig. 3: Pin beaters (after Smith 2012, courtesy of author) estimates the original height to have been

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Kemp – Vogelsang-Eastwood 2001. Barber 1991; Smith 2012, 241; 2013, 163. Smith 2001; 2012; 2013; Wisti Lassen 2010, 278–281. This may probably be explained as a combination of the preservation situations (plant fibres survive better in the arid areas) and the fact that the practical considerations concerning the persistence of dyes are most pertinent regarding clothing but less pertinent for a decorative piece to be hung on the wall. Indeed, the colours of tapestries could even be enhanced with paint. See Smith 2013, 159. Smith 2013, 160: »The evidence for tapestries and tapestry weaving begins in the 19th century BC and can be traced first in Syria (including the Lebanon) and northern Mesopotamia, then in Egypt by the 18th dynasty, and eventually in the southern Levant, Cyprus, Cilicia, and the Aegean«. Smith 2013, 173 f. Smith 2013, 162: »Because of the use of colored linen thread in all examples of tapestry found in Egypt, the many designs incorporating Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the typically Egyptian forms of attire made with tapestry woven cloth, it seems that most of the tapestries in Egypt were made there rather than imported«. Smith 2013, 174 f.

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c. 80 cm. She interprets this tapestry as a throw cover for a throne or a stool: »Its use as a furniture cover for a stool would have been in keeping with the traditional depiction of the pharaoh trotting the enemies of Egypt« writes Smith82. Thus, in this early evidence for tapestry, the technology is already well advanced and explores the full potential of imagery. Tapestry scenes can be woven in separate rectangular panels and then stitched together into, for example, long procession scenes. Smith makes an attractive comparison of the rectangular tapestry woven panels, and the rectangular scenes in Old Babylonian and Old Syrian cylinder seals also depicting investiture, rulers, gardens and divinities83. The Akkadian textile term mardatum is by many considered the technical term for tapestry84. It is attested in an Old Assyrian private document from Kanish85 and also at Mari86. In Ugaritic it appears as mrdt87. Joanna Smith has also identified specialised tapestry weaving tools i.e. pointed and sometimes pierced bone beaters (Fig. 3) made from cattle ribs88. Such tools have come to light in excavations in Egypt, the Levant and Cyprus. It seems to be a practical and handy tool for several types of textile activities, and its use especially in tapestry weaving seems very attractive. Smith writes concerning Cyprus that »well preserved contexts from the 13th through the 11th centuries BC at Kition on Cyprus demonstrate clearly that tapestry weaving came to be the product of specialised weavers working in a large workshop possibly for a central authority as well as weavers who worked in a household context, also possibly for a central authority«89. The Spread of Tapestry Weave Techniques: Theories of the Diffusion of Textile Innovations The Annals of Thutmosis III describe Egyptian raids in Lebanon and Megiddo in the 18th dynasty, and the war booty includes clothing90, suggesting an efficient method to spread textile innovations. The hypothesis according to which (violent) encounters of peoples are a means of the diffusion of textile technologies was argued by Elizabeth Riefstahl in 1944. She believed that the Syrian captives in Egypt during Thutmosis III’s reign transmitted the tapestry technique to Egypt91. In addition, she introduced the concept of a receptive environment as a pertinent platform for innovations, termed the »relative unconventionality« of the New Kingdom92.

82 83

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87

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Smith 2013, 175. Smith 2013, 171: »It is tempting thus to see the register structure of Old Syrian seals as reflective of sectional tapestry design. Some motifs found in the registers of seal designs, such as the guilloche, could be shorthand for the borders associated with larger textile designs or even a general reference to a larger scale figural textile«. Smith 2012, 242. Veenhof 1972, 160. 179; Michel – Veenhof 2010, 235 f.; Wisti Lassen 2010, 279. Durand 2009, 61–65 (›tissu brodé‹). 65 f. (massitâtum as ›tapisserie‹). See further references in Smith 2012, 242. At Nuzi, there are mardatuhuli, who are mardatum-makers in 15th-century sources, and at Alalah there are families of such mardatuhuli suggesting that knowledge and skill is transferred from generation to generation in certain families, see Smith 2013, 161 n. 19. Vita 2010, 330 f.; Smith 2013, 166 n. 66; 172 n. 120. I am not convinced of the association between tapestry and Mycenaean pa-we-a, pharweha, as suggested by Smith 2012, 243 f. Pa-we-a are produced in great quantities and seem to be a rather standardised textile of either wool or linen. Smith 2001; 2013, 163–166. Joanna Smith combines this information with pottery styles and concludes that »Cypriot tapestry and cord-making both point to a technology that centred on geometric and figural designs arranged in horizontal bands«. See Smith 2013, 175–178. Smith 2013, 161 n. 14. Riefstahl 1944. Riefstahl 1944, 31: »It seems possible that the art of weaving in patterns may have been an importation during the New Kingdom. While patterned cloths from abroad must have found their way to Egypt at an earlier period, and simple woven or embroidered patterns may (…) have been produced in Egypt, perhaps chiefly for uses other than clothing, it may be that the relative unconventionality of the New Kingdom succeeded in breaking down, or partially breaking down, the custom of wearing white garments«.

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In reality, tapestry weave in its essence is so simple that it could have been invented in many places simultaneously. Yet the archaeological and iconographical evidence reveals high skill and complexity, with craftspeople mastering this technique at a very high level. The extensive knowhow and skill, the ability to incorporate tapestry into patterned weave or to combine tapestry weave and other weaving and braiding techniques requires expertise and creativity. It seems that this quite simple technique was taken to a very high level of complexity. Thus, the transmission of tapestry weave is essentially not so much about the transmission of a technical innovation but more about how some craftspeople and environments could master this technique, combine it with others and raise it to an art form. Derivative Innovations Associated with the Exploitation of Wool A derivative innovation is a secondary product or service derived from an innovation93. These innovations are slight modifications of the main product. Wool’s many natural hues and its capacity to absorb dyes generated derivative innovations in the cultivation and extraction of plant dyes, in the mineral exploitation of alum stone, and in the faunal extraction of murex for purple dye. Plant Dyes Archaeological textiles from the end of the second millennium in central Europe testify to a wide use of dyes94, and in the Aegean iconography and Linear B inscriptions attest to the extensive use of dye plants. The widely available, although not entirely colourfast sources of dyestuff, are the various plants yielding dyes95. Plants for large-scale textile dyeing in the Bronze Age are, for example, madder (Rubia tinctoria, red dye)96, woad (fermented Isatis tinctoria providing blue colour), saffron (Crocus), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), and weld (Reseda luteola) providing yellow dyes. From Minoan and Mycenaean frescoes we know that red, orange, blue and yellow were used in clothing. Henna, madder, and alkanet are all efficient providers of red dyestuffs, and the various terms used to designate red (po-ni-ki-jo, phoinikion (cf. φοῖνιξ), e-ru-ta-ra, eruthrā (cf. ἐρυθρός) suggest that different sources provided the red colour97. The intensive exploitation of safflower fields at Mycenae (the Ge series) and recordings of saffron (crocus logogram) demonstrate the stable supply of yellow dyestuff98. This use of saffron as dye is also suggested by the Minoan frescoes in which we see yellow garments and the saffron-gatherers from Thera and Knossos. Alum as a Mordant Alum (potassium aluminium sulphate) and alum stone is a mineral available in several parts of Greece, especially on the island of Melos99. It has astringent properties but is primarily an excellent mordant to fix dyes to wool fibres. Some plant dyes such as madder only become really potent when used with alum. It is known in the Linear B records as tu-ru-pte-ri-ja, struptēriā (cf. στρυπτηρία), and seems to be a traded commodity both at Pylos (PY An 35, Un 443) and at Tiryns (TI X 6). At Ugarit it is termed ›stone for colouring‹, abn srp100. Saffron and safflower can dye

93 94 95 96

97 98 99 100

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See http://www.innovarsity.com/coach/glossary.html (last accessed 11 March 2014). See Hofmann-de Keijzer 2010, 143–162. Cardon 1990; Roth et al. 1992. Schweppe 1986, 26 notes that it takes about three years before the madder plant has accumulated sufficient dye in its roots for dyeing purposes. Melena 1976, 195 f.; Murray – Warren 1976; Foster 1977; Nosch 2004. Killen 1983, 216. Firth 2007, 130–138; Michailidou 2008, 203 f. See van Soldt 1990, 352; Michailidou 2008, 203.

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yellow and red directly on linen without a mordant (direct dye), but the commonest dye method is to employ mordants as with madder or safflower on wool (mordant dyes)101. Depending on the shades to be dyed, between 15% and 25% of the clean wool’s weight must be added in alum. Purple Purple dye seems to represent a real Bronze Age textile innovation. Brendan Burke sees in murex one of the keys for the Minoans to enter the international trade networks in the beginning of the second millennium BC102. Murex is found in Neolithic excavations, but from around 2000 BC the amount of murex shells increases, especially in Crete, and Brendan Burke suggests that this is a true Minoan innovation which subsequently spread around the Mediterranean. By the end of the Late Bronze Age, Linear B tablet KN X 976 records po-pu-re-j̣ọ[, porphureyoi (cf. πορφύρα) probably ›royal‹ (wa-na-ka-te-ro, wanakteros [cf. ἄναξ]) purple dyers103. Murex yields an intense and extremely colourfast dye on wool textiles in particular. Innovations in Clothing: From Skin and Fur to Felt and Textiles It is crucial to note that also before the development of the wool fleece, sheep and goats provided skins and fur for clothing. But for skin clothing, animals had to be slaughtered. The Iceman, commonly referred to as ›Ötzi‹, who lived in the Alps around 3300 BC, was found wearing such clothing made of well-worked, soft skins and a cape of plaited plant fibres104. Felt is not attested archaeologically, but according to Michael Ryder it can be made from the non-fleeced sheep and therefore was the first form of wool textile105. However, the absence of felt on the Iceman led Ryder to conclude that felt is an Asian invention106. Bronze Age clothing in the Aegean, the ancient Near East and in Europe, shares some essential features and conditions: Bronze Age textiles are primarily woven in tabby technique; the costume consists of both plant fibre and animal fibre, and it contains costume elements of skin and fur107; further, costume is to a large degree gendered, women wear long skirts with rich woven decorations in Bronze Age (ritual?) art (Fig. 4); it combines tailored and fitted costume elements with draped and wrapped elements which are fixed with pins and fibulae. This is the technological framework of clothing in the Bronze Age, within which changes and innovations seem to take place. This wide range of clothing possibilities and choices seems to suggest that at the end of the second millennium BC costume traditions stem from many sources and incorporate technologies and inspiration from several of them. The innovations are difficult to pin-point and seem rather to consist of new combinations of different schemes. In the Aegean, iconography suggests fitted female bodices and wide, decorated dresses (as seen in Minoan Akrotiri frescoes, the Knossos and Mycenae frescoes, Mycenae ivories and images on sealings), while the simple rectangular shape of textile logograms in the Linear A and B tablets rather suggests a clothing practice of draping and wrapping. Frescoes and images on seal stones emphasise the gendered nature of clothing. Ritual costumes for women are depicted on the

101

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See Schweppe 1986, 12: Safflower contains two dyes. Safflower yellow dissolves in cold water and dyes wool on an alum mordant to a golden yellow, and red dye carthamin, which dyes silk, cotton and linen directly without a mordant. Burke 1999, 75–82; Militello 2007. See also Thureau-Dangin 1934 and van Soldt 1990 on purple dyes in Ugarit. Cf. Landenius Enegren – Meo, in press. Carlier 1984, 52; Palaima 1991, 291; Nosch 2004. Groenman-van Waateringe 1992; Spindler et al. 1995; Winiger 1995; Schlumbaum et al. 2010. Ryder 1993, 309. Ryder 1993, 310. Harris 2012, 86–88.

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Hagia Triada sarcophagus108. This may testify to two different ritual dress traditions in Aegean art, one Minoan and one Mycenaean. Some depicted women seem to wear skirts made of hides, while other women are dressed in long robes with a vertical band. The visual depiction of Mycenaean female priestly attire, apart from the long robe, also includes an elaborate headdress, a polos109. Brendan Burke has convincingly argued that the painted sarcophagus is »a hybrid of Minoan and Mycenaean elements«110 and Tina Boloti confirms this hybrid nature in her assessment of the Aegean female garments painted on the sarcophagus111. Contemporary to the Late Bronze Age Aegean is Middle Bronze Age central Europe (1600– 1250 BC) and the Scandinavian Early Bronze Age (1800–1100 BC). Susanna Harris compares synchronically 14th-century BC cloth cultures across Egypt, the Aegean, central Europe, and Scandinavia, with a focus on the choice of materials, e.g. plant fibre, wool, and skin. Through the narrow chronological window of the 14th century she finds comparable and common elements in these diverse cloth cultures112. There is in Harris’ primarily archaeological approach a notable vertical, or North–South, European dimension and focus emphasising the universality and commonality in the European Bronze Ages113. She concludes that these different cloth cultures »have their roots in the interconnected Bronze Age world«114. This stands in contrast to the philological approaches emphasising the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean horizontal, or East–West, connections and attempting to break down disciplinary and academic boundaries between Indo-European and Semitic textile terms115. These two clothing paradigms each draw on their own sets of data from archaeology and written sources respectively and only meet partly. Another parameter of innovations is how to wear a fabric: draping and wrapping clothing practice in particular provides the wearer with a rich range of possible costume types, since textiles can be draped and fixed in multiple ways, according to the wearers’ needs, gender, taste and culture. Karina Grömer, Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer and Lise Bender Jørgensen, based on a female Middle Bronze Age grave in Austria with only ›functional‹ jewellery, such as two long bronze pins, spiked pendants and a bronze girdle more than 1 m long and 9 cm wide, suggest the existence of several draped costume types which could be held by these accessories116. In central Europe, Hallstatt remains of hems and seams demonstrate how textiles are cut and sewn, but other contemporary finds from central Europe of fibulae, pins, buttons and belts also provide evidence of draping and wrapping costumes117. In 14th-century BC southern Scandinavian oak coffin graves, the Egtved Girl’s costume from Denmark is a combination of a corded skirt and a woven tight-fitting blouse, but this costume has recently been shown not to originate in Denmark, but possibly came from the Schwarzwald area118; the Borum Eshøj woman also wears a woven, tight-fitting blouse but her so-called skirt could not have been worn as such because it is more

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Long 1974; Militello 1998. Burke 2005 has demonstrated how the Hagia Triada sarcophagus and its clothing is a display of the emerging Mycenaean ideology in Crete. Boloti 2014. A long robe with diagonal bands is coined a ›Syrian‹ robe by Marinatos 1993, 127 f. and defined as a typical dress of Aegean priests. See Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1971; Trnka 2007; Tzachili 2007. Burke 2005, 419. Boloti 2014, 152: »On one hand, the indubitably Minoan hide-skirt, a peculiar type of ritual garment, used in Crete, in all probability from MM II onwards and on the other hand the long robe with vertical band, which, in combination with polos, emerges as its Mycenaean counterpart. It is important to stress here that the latter appears in Crete after LM II, a period characterised by the Mycenaean presence on the island, with the earliest examples attested in the aforementioned Knossian Procession fresco«. See also Trnka 2007. Harris 2012, 61–97. Harris 2012, 61–97. Harris follows paths laid out by Harding 2000; Kristiansen – Larsson 2005. Harris 2012, 88. Michel – Nosch 2010. Grömer et al. 2013, 218–241. Grömer et al. 2013, 226 f. Frei et al. 2015.

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Fig. 4: Various female Bronze Age clay figurines from Romania and former Yugoslavia (after Müller-Karpe 1980, pl. 326)

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b

Fig. 5 a. b: The Borum Eshøj female dress, dated 14th century BC (a. Photo by Roberto Fortuna, courtesy of the National Museum of Denmark; b. Drawing from Boye 1896)

than 120 cm long and would have been over-folded or worn in a different way (Fig. 5 a. b), perhaps falling from the shoulders like a peplos119. Thus a rich blend of technologies and material overlaps in Bronze Age clothing, and innovations appear to consist of new combinations of known fittings, techniques and practices. Furthermore, in the scholarly literature on Bronze Age clothing, elements of continuity and tradition dominate in the interpretations, and it is rare that authors identify clothing innovations. One of the few examples is the invention of the peplos as a result of a tubular woven textile stemming from central Europe and woven on a two-beam loom, a theory proposed by textile scholar Inga Hägg120. Hägg finds evidence for this tubular textile form used as a female garment, folded over and pinned on the shoulders, in second-millennium central Europe, and suggests that this garment type travelled south to Greece at the end of the Bronze Age and became an iconic female costume in the first millennium BC, especially in early classical Greece. Hägg thus connects the so-called Doric migration to the so-called Doric peplos121.

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I thank Ulla Mannering for explaining this to me. Also the Skrydstrup woman’s ›skirt‹ is too long to be worn as a skirt. Hägg 1996, 143. Hägg’s theory is discussed in Grömer et al. 2013, 233–235. The same type of garment is found in an Iron Age bog find in Denmark. For the Huldremose ›peplos‹ dated second to first century BC, see Mannering et al. 2010, 266.

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Fig. 6: Illustration of textile techniques attested in Romania in the Neolithic and Copper Age (after Mazare 2014)

Here, I would like to raise awareness of a significant tradition in textile technology which actually comes from a cross-craft movement122 from skin technology to textile technology. Nancy Thomas views craftsmanship explicitly from the perspective of the tools, and not from the finished products or from their uses. This craft-driven perspective highlights a cross-craft link in the use of needles. The transition from skin to textiles still continues today, but only as a seasonal transition, and the two clothing traditions – skin and textile clothing – co-exist side by side. Skin technology requires high skills in stitching, a technique which was for millennia only partly adopted in association with weaving. In Linear B we still see that the root *rap- is used for stitching both in leather and in textiles, despite the fact that these are quite different occupations and technologies. We see stitching as a shared occupational term (ra-pi-ti-ra2, raptriai [cf. ῥάπτω] on PY Ab 555, ra-pte-re, raptēres, attested on numerous tablets from Pylos and Knossos123). The adjective ra-pte-ri-ja, raptēriai, describes stitched reins as part of leather equipment for horses and chariots in PY Ub 1315 but the participle e-ra-pe-me-na, errapmenā, refers to textiles. KN L(2) 647 + 2012 + 5943 + 5974 (103) .A ] ‘nu-wa-ja , pe tela1[’ ] tela1 17 tun+KI 3 .B ]ra , / e-ni-qe e-ra-pe-me-na ‘nu-wa-ja’ tela1[ lat. inf. ] ⟦ẹ-ṛị-[ ] ṭẹḷạ 1 ⟧

]-ra­2 tela1

Furthermore, in the Linear B archives there are occupational titles, such as ra-pte, raptēr, ›male sewer‹ and ra-pi-ti-ra2, raptriai ›female sewers‹. The women seem to deal with textiles; the male ra-pte-re are land holders and occur in great numbers but never in textile contexts, and it seems possible that they work with leather. The use of stitching in association with weaving is only one of many different textile techniques that demonstrate the cross-craft of the needle; other techniques include looping and needle binding (Fig. 6), which are both attested archaeologically in fourth-millennium BC Europe124.

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Thomas 2012, 755–763. PY An 172, 207, 298, 424, Ea 28, 29, 56, 325, 460, 754; KN Fh 1056, V 159. Mazare 2014.

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Sails as a Bronze Age Textile Innovation From a chronological perspective we can be quite certain that looms and weaving existed long before sails on ships, as it was only in the Bronze Age that sails begin to appear125. This innovation is attested at the earliest in the late fourth millennium126. The sail in first millennium Greek is called histion, which derives from the Bronze Age term *histos, the ›loom‹127, and a mast with a sail is indeed a wooden construction upon which is a textile. It is not unlikely that Mycenaean sails were called *i-ti-ja, histia, given that nothing fundamental changes in either textile technology or sail technology between the introduction of sails and the Late Bronze Age. Ships with masts and sails are illustrated in the Akrotiri frescoes. A drawing on a Late Helladic Asine stirrup jar (Fig. 7) features a Fig. 7: Illustration of Bronze Age boat with a sail from Asine (after Frödin – Persson 1938) boat, and the grid pattern on the sail suggests that it is 128 made of textile and not of skin . Pierre Chantraine inserts the Greek maritime vocabulary into a historical and technological reconstruction. He assumes that the Greek migrations into the Aegean, probably in the third millennium BC, came with only a basic terminology for the boat. It was effectively through the encounter with non-Greek maritime praxis that the Greeks adopted the innovations of the mast (with the sail) and the keel, and introduced their own appropriate technical terms for the mast and keel129. Traditions and Innovations in Mycenaean Textile Terminologies Loanwords in Mycenaean, especially Semitic loans, are rather rare in the Linear B archives and belong primarily to the field of commercial exchange, to names of plants such as spices130, metals, precious materials131 and textiles. Thus Mycenaean Greek has »a small nucleus of terms with a Semitic etymology«, which belong to the field of »special terminology« and shed light on contacts and exchanges between Mycenaean Greeks and their immediate or more distant neighbours. Valentina Gasbarra classifies these terms as a special class of loanwords, so called ›Wanderwörter‹. »The textile loanwords in the Mycenaean archives point primarily to extensive commercial rela-

125 126

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Casson 1971; Zagal-Mach Wolfe 2013. Casson 1973; Cervicek 1974, fig. 156; Basch 1977, 1–10; Gertwagen 2014, 155: »The introduction of ships with sails, also equipped with long oars, first in the south-Eastern Mediterranean, marks a major nautical revolution. Harnessing wind power, in contrast to muscle power, gave them a dramatic advantage over both long boats and overland alternatives in terms of speed and capacity«. See also Darnell 2006. On the Linear B occupational designations ị-ṭẹ-ẉẹ, histēwei or histēwes, and i-te-ja-o, histeiāhōn, see above. Frödin – Persson 1938, 300 fig. 207, 2. Chantraine 1928, 24: »Dans ces notes rapides se dégage pourtant en ses traits les plus apparents la physionomie du vocabulaire maritime grec. Les envahisseurs indo-européens, venus du nord, ont rencontré la civilisation égéenne essentiellement maritime: mis en contact avec la mer et une navigation organisée ils en ont profité pour tenter des aventures nouvelles. Tout n’était pas neuf pour eux dans cette technique. Les indo-européens possédaient le nom du bateau (ναῦς) sans doute aussi celui de la poupe et de la proue (πρυμνή, πρῷρα). Ils savaient ramer ἐρέτης ›rameur‹, peut-être σκαλμός ›tolet‹). Mais le nom du mât (ἱστός) et celui de la quille (τροπίς) semblent des innovations helléniques«. Cumin: Myc. ku-mi-no/-na, kumīnon/a (cf. κύμινον), to be compared with Akk. kamunū(m), Ugar. kmn and Hebr. kammon. Sesame: Myc. sa-sa-ma, sāsama (cf. σήσαμον), to be compared with Akk. šamaššammū(m) and Ugar. and Phoen. ššmn. Cyperus (?): Myc. ku-pa-ro, kupairos (cf. κύπαιρος), perhaps in Hebr. koper. Gold: Myc. ku-ru-so, khrūsos (cf. χρυσός), Akk. ḫurāṣu(m), Ugar. ḫrṣ, Phoen. ḥrṣ and Hebr. ḫārūṣ. Lapis-lazuli: Myc. ku-wa-no, kuwanos (cf. κύανος). Ivory: Myc. e-re-pa, elephas (cf. ἐλέφας).

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tions with the Semitic East, but also to the high level of lexical (and, consequently, social and cultural) permeability between the Semitic and the Greek world«, writes Gasbarra132. In Mycenaean Greek, the bulk of textile terms are transparently Greek. A minority is foreign – pre-Greek or unidentified – or a loan word from Semitic languages. The Linear B textile term tu-na-no seems to be a loan word from an unidentified, non-Greek language. Another such example is the word for spindle whorl, which is not attested in Linear B, but the classical Greek term spondulos, ›spindle whorl‹, suggests a pre-Greek origin133. In the Knossos Linear B archives134, the textile term and Semitic loanword ki-to, khitōn (cf. χιτών), is attested. It occurs several times, in the nominative singular ki-to, khitōn (KN Lc(1) 536 and L 693), nominative plural ki-to-ne, khitōnes (KN L 771), accusative singular ki-to-na, khitōna (KN Ld(2) 785) and in the instrumental form ki-to-pi[, khitōmphi (KN Ld(2) 787). As Gasbarra concludes: »The term represents a good degree of adaptation into the Mycenaean lexicon, making a derivative and internally transparent adjective through the insertion of Greek affixes, like e-piki-to-ni-ja135, Gr. ἐπιχιτωνία, an adjective that specifies a cloth which is ›worn over the ki-to‹«. It is worth noting that we can follow this common Greek and Semitic clothing term and what it represents in various cultures of the Bronze Age. The Greek word for a long, unisex tunic, khitōn, Gr. χιτών is probably loaned from the Akk. kitû(m), which can be compared with Ugar. and Phoen. ktn, Hebr. kutonet136. The Akkadian term for linen is kitûmbut while the Old Assyrian kutânum denotes a wool fabric. In modern languages, we find the Arab el qutun, which gave Spanish algodón and English cotton. Thus, despite a common root, the meaning has changed significantly over the millennia. This may perhaps suggest that the garment type khitōn came into the Greek-speaking areas through trade networks which were familiar with the adoption of foreign terms for new and exotic goods. Another essential aspect of tradition and innovations in textile terminologies is that some Semitic textile terms for very fine fabrics are well-attested in the Bronze Age palace cultures around the Aegean, but not in Linear B (which could certainly be a coincidence of preservation). But they do appear in first millennium Greek. This can be observed for βύσσος, ›byssos‹ which is attested in Akkadian būṣu; in Ugaritic and Phoenician bṣ; and in Hebrew. būṣ; another example is σινδών, ›fine woven cloth, fine linen garment‹ attested in Akkadian sadinnu; and in Hebrew sadīn137. Tradition and Innovation in the Administration of Textile Production Here it is also relevant to examine the continuities and breaks between the Minoan and Mycenaean recording traditions. While about ¾ of the syllabary is parallel in Linear A and Linear B, this is not the case for logograms. Ilse Schoep concludes that c. 80% of the some 180 Linear A logograms did not continue into Linear B138. As John Bennet phrases it, »the creators and early users of Linear B devised a new logographic repertoire«139. Mycenaean scribes use textile logograms extensively, but they are not part of this newly created logogrammatic repertoire. Rather, the creators and early users chose to continue to use the Minoan logographic repertoire of how to record wool and textiles. Furthermore, when recording textiles Mycenaean scribes also maintained the Minoan Linear A tradition

132 133 134

135 136

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Gasbarra 2014, 160. Barber 1991; Del Freo et al. 2010. The term is only attested in the Knossos archives; this could, however, be due to the preservation situation and is not necessarily explained by a stronger terminological proximity to Semitic textile terms. In KN L 693 and, probably, in KN L 7514. Ellenbogen 1962, 96; von Soden 1965–1981; Masson 1967, 29; Beekes 2010, s.v.; Vita 2010, 330; Gasbarra 2014, 162. Gasbarra 2014, 162. Schoep 2002. See also Duhoux 1985 and Palaima 1988. Bennet 2008, 15.

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of extensive use of ligatures; and even when they eventually did create new textile logograms, they maintained these Minoan traditions of the rectangular textiles (such as in *164) or the tradition of ligatures (such as *146+WE and *166+WE, and tunica+RI, tunica+KI). A different graphical tradition was used for rendering wool by both Minoan and Mycenaean scribes. The logogram *145/lana for wool was a composition of two merged syllabograms in Linear A (ma- and ru-/lu- in Linear B), but to the Mycenaean scribes it had lost its monogrammatic character and become stylised into a logogram140. Vasilis Petrakis’ examination of monograms leads him to conclude that they are a rather recent invention in the Bronze Age graphical traditions, and again it is worth noting that monograms are not common in the textile realm141. Interestingly, in Linear B, the other major textile fibre, flax, is rendered by a logogram, SA, corresponding to the syllable sa-. In the landholding records of flax cultivation, SA functions as a logogram and its syllabic character suggests that it is probably the abbreviation of a pre-Greek name for flax. We do not have such a SA textile crop attested in Linear A, but it is likely that Minoan scribes would also have used this syllable to express a logogram for the flax plant. Thus in Linear B there is no conventional logogram for any textile fibre; moreover, the multitude of logograms which exist were invented for the various types of textiles by Minoan scribes, and the Mycenaean scribes continued using them. This would suggest that textile technologies and textile types did not change very much between the two administrations. Discussion Innovations shape our perceptions of the chronology of the past. We divide the past into Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age according to metallurgical innovations; the invention of writing sets the boundaries between prehistory, proto-history and history. However, if we were to use textile fibres as our chronological frame of reference, we would have the Plant Fibre Age from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, then the Animal Fibre Age since the fourth millennium BC, the Cotton Fibre Age from the Early Modern, and the Man-Made or Synthetic Fibre Age since the 20th century. In terms of significant textile tool innovations, the chronology would begin with the invention of weaving, then of the warp-weighted loom and the horizontal loom in a distant past, then the treadle loom at the turn of the second millennium AD, the Jacquard loom in the 18th century, and the electronic looms of today. Junius Bird, Curator Emeritus of the American Museum of Natural History, highlights the significance of textiles and especially the innovation of heddles in the Bronze Age: »In view of the importance of textiles in the lives of the majority of mankind, it is curious that the invention of the heddles is not recognised as one worthy to be ranked with, for instance, the discovery of methods for making fire. Both have played major roles in enabling man to utilise environments which otherwise would have been difficult or very discouraging. Both have an antiquity which, though by no means comparable, still remains a mystery, and both seem to have developed long after man was familiar with fire and textiles«142. The major innovations in textile technology occurred in the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age: the domestication of sheep and goats and the gradual development of fleeces with more wool and less kemp and hair gave a new animal fibre type to societies which had previously only used skin clothing and plant-fibre textiles. Despite the fact that sheep bones become increasingly important in the archaeological record of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, the earliest wool textile found thus far in the area is from 3000–2900 BC in Anatolia, and wool only occurs from the Middle Bronze Age in the southern Levant. It is not before the Late Bronze Age that wool tex-

140 141 142

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I thank John Killen for pointing this out to me, per litteras 8 January 2013. Petrakis 2012 rejects *145/lana as of monographic nature. Cited in Broudy 1979, 26. The text does not inform us about the source of the quote by Junius Bird.

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tiles become more common finds in the Eastern Mediterranean area143. This new animal fibre also gave rise to a series of derived innovations. It engendered a new spinning technique as is attested in central European Neolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements. The capacity of wool to absorb dyes and fix them permanently provided new possibilities for developing dyes and dye technologies based on the cultivation and extraction of dye plants, and this required wider exploitation of alum as a textile mordant. Murex gave rise to a new Minoan luxury product, and wool fibre scales have the capacity to entangle, and therefore this animal fibre can be fulled and transformed into felt. The two new technical terms relating to integral parts of wool treatment, ka-na-pe-u, knapheus (cf. γναφεύς), ›fuller‹ and tu-ru-pte-ri-ja, struptēriā (cf. στρυπτηρία), ›alum‹, both have no Greek etymology and may have derived from languages outside the Greek area144. However, by the end of the Bronze Age, they are clearly integrated in Mycenaean Greek as technical terms in the administration of the palace textile industry145. Thus we can imagine that in the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, an entirely new wool-related vocabulary came into Greek. During the Bronze Age, no fundamental changes in textile fibre or technology occur, but significant innovations do appear. First of all, the systematic search for better quality and larger quantities of animal fibres can be seen in the sheep-breeding strategies. Pivotal innovations and changes are seen in the administrative and strategic framework of palace textile production, and these strategies must have modified textile production in the Late Bronze Age much more than inventions or new fibres. The primary and most significant change in the Bronze Age is clearly how the widespread household production of textiles is transformed in some areas into a palace-organised production of standardised types with a clear division of labour. Here we can concur with Renfrew: »The whole craft of textile production was clearly transformed by Late Bronze Age times from a local household concern to a commercially exploited industry«146. The same transformation is apparent in all Mycenaean palaces in terms of centralised administration, intensification and standardisation, and similar features appear in Knossos, Pylos, Boeotia147 and Mycenae148. However, in many scholarly works, textile production is still perceived as a domestic occupation and not part of Bronze Age economy and trade, nor a significant part of agriculture. An example is the influential Handbuch der Vorgeschichte 4. Bronzezeit by Hermann Müller-Karpe. Here, textile manufacture is neither part of ›Landwirtschaft‹ nor of ›Handwerk‹ nor ›Rohstoffbeschaffung und Handel‹, but is briefly treated in the chapter ›Hauswirtschaft‹149. In scholarship, the extent of the textile craft is often neglected, and generally there is uncertainty as to how much importance to attribute to textile production in the assessment of the economy of an archaeological site. One of the sites in Crete that has been at the centre of the discussion of industrial versus domestic textile production in the Bronze Age Aegean is the Early Minoan II site Myrtos/Fournou Korifi150, a small settlement where many spindle whorls and loom weights came to light. In addition, the archaeological bone material was 90% ovicaprid151. This led the excavator to visualize »a textile town, 4500 years ago«152. Later analyses have challenged his view with a more ›primitivist‹ approach and questioned both the town and its textile profile153. Finally,

143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153

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Frangipane et al. 2009; Shamir 2014; Andersson Strand – Nosch 2015. Barber 1991, 227. Morpurgo 1979, 90 f. Renfrew 1972, 351. Nosch 2001; 2009; Del Freo – Rougemont 2012. On the Argolis textile production in the Linear B archives, see Varias Garcia 2012. Müller-Karpe 1980, 431–433. Warren 1972, 262 f.; Watrous 1977; Cherry 1988, 9 f.; Burke 1997, 416 f.; Smith 2013, 176 f. Jarman 1972. Warren 1968. Warren 1972, 262 f. See p. 263: »It also remains unknown whether textiles were produced at Myrtos for home use only, or were exported. We may feel that the latter is possible, in view of the number of finds connected with textile manufacture in so small a settlement«. See also with more reservations p. 263 note 5: »But with 8000 spindle whorls from the old excavations at Troy (…) the Myrtos evidence should not be pressed overmuch«.

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Vance Watrous depopulates the site when he suggests that Myrtos is in fact only settled during the winter, and that the inhabitants practise farming only on a seasonal basis, spending the summer upland following transhumance patterns154. Another related example of uncertainty is how to define textile production: specialised, professional, itinerant, attached, or domestic? For example, Joanna Smith identified a large non-household textile workshop in Cyprus at Kition, Area II, in an area with cult activities, rituals and metallurgy155. The workshop area was in use for three centuries and measures at least 225 m2. It contains bone textile tools, clusters of loom weights and even a preserved row of loom weights with a width of 80 cm. Moreover, permanent installations of textile production, such as vats for fibre treatment, fulling and dyeing were also uncovered. The workshop is located near the harbour and in close association with two small temples which suggests a shared productive structure or joint exploitations of the natural resources156. A significant overall trend in Mycenaean textile production is the intensification and extensive collection of textile crops, such as flax and dye plants (po-ni-ki-jo, phoinikion, probably madder; and ka-na-ko, knākos, safflower). Another trend is the standardisation of textile types. A constant terminological innovation throughout the Bronze Age must have been the introduction into Mycenaean Greek of foreign textile terms, such as words for new textile tool types, new weaving techniques, or for new clothing items such as ki-to, khitōn, from an ancient Semitic root. Mycenaean textile terminology is formed by some Greek names (te-pa cf. τάπης), and some textile names without an identified etymology (tu-na-no), perhaps an inheritance from Minoan. Generally, many of these textile terms seem to disappear in the first millennium BC, with ki-to, khitōn, we-a2-no, wehanos (cf. ἑανός), and pa-we-a, pharweha (cf. φᾶρος), as the only notable exceptions. In the first millennium BC a wide range of different – perhaps new? – clothing terms also appear: peplos, chlaina, chlamys, exōmis and himation. As demonstrated above, the technology of stitching comes from leather and skin technology. Textiles are woven into shape, and not cut: stitching only seems to appear gradually in textile technology. This amalgamation or cross-crafting of a skill from one medium to another may still be visible in the Mycenaean vocabulary of Linear B, where the same term designates women and children of the textile industry, and also the sewing of leather, and men with the occupation ra-pte-re, raptēres. Cross-craft movements are an essential element in innovation and should be investigated in other fields as well. Another example is tapestry weaving, which through processes of cross-craft processes may draw from – and inspire – painting, wood and metal inlay work and carvings of sealstones. The evident specialisation in terms of commodities and terminologies in the Mycenaean economy and administration could open a debate regarding the extent to which crop specialisation as a palace innovation was a destabilising factor or even damaging to the palace economy. In particular, intensified flax cultivation is detrimental to the soil: sheep breeding on a large scale transforms landscape morphology fundamentally and can engender erosion. Extensive and large scale textile cropping and breeding thus heavily deplete natural resources. If the palaces encouraged such specialisation into a few textile crops throughout the kingdoms, it would have required alternative systems to ensure food supply and other subsistence crops. Indeed, it seems in the Linear B tablets that the intensive production of a few commodities was a prominent feature of the palaces’ own estates; however, Cynthia Shelmerdine and Paul Halstead argue that outside the palace estates, villages and farmers lived off a much broader based agricultural economy157. Therefore, the collapse of the palaces would not have heavily influenced the agrarian economy, but may have led to shortcomings in high quality products, such as fine linen fabrics, linseed

154 155 156 157

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Watrous 1977. Smith 2002; 2009; 2013, 176 f.; Tzachili – Smith 2012. Smith 2002; 2009, 103. Shelmerdine 2001, 359 f.; Halstead 2007.

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oil and dye stuff158. The Mycenaean palace economies are another example of the adaptation of specialised herding strategies in a highly specific environment, and the Linear B texts highlight and perhaps overemphasise the specialisation, but which may well rest upon a more sustainable model of mixed farming. Bronze Age innovations may, however, have promoted other less fortunate developments. The intensification of sheep breeding and the accumulation of animals would provoke the rapid spread of animal diseases, some of which could even be transferred to humans. The sheep disease anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus antracis, and it is likely that it already existed as a problem in the Bronze Age. The name derives from Greek ἄνθραξ, denoting ›charcoal‹ in Greek, probably because of the dark skin lesions caused by cutaneous anthrax infection159. Likewise, intense flax processing produces a dust which is damaging to the health of textile workers. Exposure can cause the medical condition of byssinosis, also called ›brown lungs disease‹, and the cause is bacterial endotoxin in the plant-fibre dust. Thus in the Wool Age, textile technology becomes larger, more complex, more organised and more entangled with societies and trade. This may have constituted the basis for a later development in Greek language and literature of textile metaphorical innovations: fate is spun into a thread, plots are woven, and the sky and universe is a huge fabric160. Also in mythology, textiles and threads are often carriers of narratives: Ariadne’s thread, Theseus’ black sails and Jason’s golden fleece. Not only in Greek but also in other Indo-European languages, textiles generate a vast array of shared metaphors that permeate and innovate our languages. Some of these textile expressions persist to this day, probably reflecting the long traditions of textiles in human history. Bibliography Adovasio et al. 1996 J. M. Adovasio – O. Soffer – B. Kléma, Upper Palaeolithic Fibre Technology: Interlaced Woven Finds from Pavlov I, Czech Republic, c. 26,000 Years Ago, Antiquity 70, 1996, 526–534. Andersson Strand – Nosch 2015 E. Andersson Strand – M.-L. Nosch (eds), Tools, Textiles and Contexts. Ancient Textiles Series 21 (Oxford 2015). Andre 1985 J. Andre, Les noms des plantes dans la Rome antique (Paris 1985). Barber 1991 E. J. W. Barber, Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean (Princeton 1991). Barrelet 1977 M.-T. Barrelet, Un inventaire de Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta: textiles décorés assyriens et autres, RAssyr 71, 1977, 51–92. Basch 1977 L. Basch, Trières grecques, phéniciennes et égyptiennes, JHS 97, 1977, 1–10. Beekes 2010 R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden 2010).

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Mycenaean and Contemporary Nuzi Administrative Practices: A Case-Study of ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru in Wheel and Chariot Records* Françoise Rougemont Abstract: Linear B tablets have often been compared with more or less contemporary cuneiform documents, among them the Nuzi administrative records, which are dated to the 14th century BC. This paper aims at reviewing the administrative documents related to chariots and military equipment in both corpora and offers a comparison of the use and extent of two administrative procedures, Myc. ta-ra-si-ja, talansiā (cf. ταλασία), and Akk. iškaru, in this field. The analogies between ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru can be traced at functional and thematic as well as at organisational levels. The study of the Nuzi chariots and weapons iškaru suggests firstly that in the field of military equipment manufacture ta-ra-si-ja may have applied more widely than seems to be suggested by our texts; and secondly that the different fields of application of this procedure – which is well known in Mycenaean textile and metal working – might in fact have been intertwined.

1. Introduction Speaking of anything in terms of tradition and/or innovation implies determining a reference point considered as valid for the comparison. When it comes to Mycenaean written documents, theoretically the reference point can be either the Minoan predecessors of the Linear B documents, or their Near Eastern counterparts, that is the documents produced by more or less contemporary administrations of the Near East1. Of course, these options need not be mutually exclusive. However, comparisons between Mycenaean and Minoan administrations are obviously difficult, since neither Cretan Hieroglyphic nor Linear A are deciphered to date2. Moreover, it has been noted that the Linear A documentation, based on the relative level of understanding that can be achieved through logograms, figures, and some words whose general meaning can be grasped from the

* I wish to thank first of all the organisers of the Vienna conference for their invitation. The reflections presented in this paper are the preliminary results of an ongoing work on the administration in Nuzi and in Linear B records. Further investigation and study on the Nuzi records will be needed in the future, especially due to the state of the publications. Part of the chariot and weapon records are published in cuneiform copies only: on these texts, see the lists of texts provided by Kendall 1981, 201 and n. 1; Negri Scafa 1995, 55 f. This contribution owes a lot to the discussions I had with my friends and colleagues P. Darcque, M. Del Freo, Br. Lion, and J. P. Vita; Ph. Abrahmi, as well as V. Matoïan and J. P. Vita generously shared with me unpublished papers. M. E. Alberti, P. Darcque, M. Del Freo and J. P. Vita read a preliminary draft of this paper and considerably improved it. Finally, I wish to thank the editors for their work on the manuscript; of course any remaining mistakes are my own. 1 Tradition and innovation within Aegean Bronze Age administrations in general, and Mycenaean administration in particular, is a difficult subject to deal with, first of all because we have almost no chronological depth in the Linear B written documentation, unlike cuneiform texts. At best, the earliest preserved Linear B tablets are dated to the end of LM II/IIIA1 (c. 1425 or 1400 BC), whereas the latest are dated to the end of LH IIIB2 (c. 1200 BC). Two sites, Knossos on Crete and Mycenae in the Argolid, do offer deposits of archival documents dated to more than one period, but never in quantities sufficient to start comparing a range of administrative practices. Moreover, the general homogeneity of palaeography as well as administrative practices in Mycenaean times has often been stressed (see recently, e.g., De Fidio 2008). 2 For a synthetic reassessment of the documentary situation, see Olivier 2008.

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context3, does not relate to the same type, nor to the same scale of administration as Linear B4 and thus can hardly be compared in a perspective of tradition versus innovation. On the other hand, contacts between the Aegean world and different regions of the Eastern Mediterranean are attested both archaeologically and epigraphically5, e.g. at the time of the Linear A archives, by some Mari tablets6. A text from Ugarit, RS 16.238+RS 16.254, contemporary with the Mycenaean records, registers commercial dealings with Crete7. For the Bronze Age, the archaeological and epigraphical records, in both the Near East and the Aegean, attest to the existence of a number of variously-sized territories, organised around an architectural and political structure called ›palace‹8, which was the seat of a more or less centralised political, economic and administrative power. The scribes of the palaces produced written records related to the religious, political, economic and military administration of the territories under palatial control. These records were written on clay tablets, by means of a syllabic script and logograms. In the Near East, a much wider range of texts is attested, including letters, treaties, legal texts, omens, medical records and literary compositions, and written archives were not exclusively produced by the palaces. However, in both regions the palatial records not only deal with the same types of economic activities (sheep rearing, textile production, agriculture, food production, military equipment etc.), but also share a number of economic structures and procedures. These include the use of ration systems, duties comparable to the Akk. ilku and iškaru obligations, thus pointing towards the existence, if not of a true administrative tradition, of which the modalities would obviously be difficult to trace back, at least, of a set of common administrative practices9. As a matter of fact, since the very decipherment of Linear B10, structural as well as technical analogies between Mycenaean and Near Eastern administrations have been highlighted, and comparisons developed with archives such as those from Alalakh, Ugarit or Nuzi11. It is also useful to keep in mind a few basic reflections on what is expected from comparisons with Akkadian or Sumerian administrative texts and to ask ourselves how we should proceed12. The search for parallels arises, on the side of Linear B studies, from the scarcity of written documents as well as from their elliptic character. The aim of the comparisons is to help our understanding of the Mycenaean texts, sometimes to try to fill some of their lacunae, and more generally to assist in interpreting the data available. The selection of the relevant parallels can be made according to a number of criteria, such as contemporaneity, structural or technical analogy or provenance from an archaeological context demonstrably in contact with the Aegean (and preferably of course according to a combination of such criteria).

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E.g. the word presumably meaning ›total‹. On KU-RO, see recently Duhoux 2011. Olivier 1987, 228 and esp. 230–233: »(les) Minoens, gens du Linéaire A, se satisfaisaient par contre fort bien de l’argile pour leurs comptes que je qualifierai, faute d’avoir trouvé un terme plus approprié, de ›domaniaux‹. En tout cas, non palatiaux, non étatiques« (my emphasis). For a short review of archaeological and epigraphical evidence of contacts between the Aegean and different regions of the Near East, see, e.g., Rougemont – Vita 2010 with bibliography. The Mari texts document a journey of the king Zimri-Lim to Ugarit, where he met Cretan merchants. Cf. ARMT XXIII 556, ll. 28–31, recording a distribution of tin to the Cretans and their interpreter. On this text, see Villard 1986. Cf. Lackenbacher 2002, 310. For a picture of the tablet, see Aux origines de l’alphabet 2004, 108. On Near Eastern palaces, see Margueron 1982. For a definition of a Mycenaean palace, see Darcque 2005b, 54; Shelmerdine – Bennet 2008; Darcque – Rougemont, in press. On this subject, see also e.g. Negri Scafa 1996, esp. 376 f. As shown by the numerous quotations, e.g., of Ras Shamra texts in Ventris – Chadwick 1956. For more details on this topic, see Rougemont – Vita 2010, 126. It is not possible to give an extensive bibliography on the subject of comparative studies between the Mycenaean and Near Eastern texts within the limits of this contribution. For a short overview with references, see Rougemont – Vita 2010. For comparisons specifically with Nuzi texts, see Ventris – Chadwick 1956, e.g. 117. 132. 237 f. 255 etc. See also e.g. Melena 1983; 1984; 1987; Killen 1993; Landenius Enegren 2008; Rougemont 2011; in press. On the iškaru in Nuzi, see recently Postgate 2014, esp. 360 f. For methodological reflections on this subject, see, e.g., Foster 1987.

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The Nuzi texts, from both the palace and private archives, offer a number of interesting parallels for students of Linear B texts; moreover, they are dated to the 14th century BC, and are thus roughly contemporary. They record a wealth of information related to economic activities such as sheep rearing13, wool and textile production, spices and garden products, oil, weapons14 and war chariots, all of them also documented in Mycenaean texts. A closer look at the Nuzi and Mycenaean texts related to wheels and chariots15, as well as weapons, reveals some similarities, first of all, in the state of the documentation. The Linear B chariot records were initially mostly studied from a linguistic point of view, due to their very rich and difficult terminology16. The corresponding Nuzi records have been pointed out as one of the most detailed sets of documentation available on the subject of chariots in the Near East, but also as one of the most difficult due to their regional terminology, partly because of the influence of the local Hurrian language17. Secondly, the types of documents (records related to the manufacture of different items, but also inventories and allocations of military equipment) and the descriptions recorded by both documentations, in spite of their differences, share some common features. Thirdly, from an administrative point of view, it appears that the manufacture of military equipment was most likely partly managed, on both sides, by means of an analogous economic/administrative organisation system called ta-ra-si-ja, talansiā (cf. ταλασία), in Mycenaean Greek, and iškaru in Akkadian, on which this contribution will focus. This procedure is attested explicitly in a single Knossos record (KN So(2) 444218) related to the manufacture of wheels; it has been generally assumed that this record is only the tip of the iceberg and that a much wider use of the ta-ra-si-ja system should be hypothesised. This contribution does not aim at reviewing in detail either the iconographic evidence or the technical differences, already studied by different experts, between the Near Eastern and the Aegean chariots19 (as well as aspects of the military use of the chariots and associated weapons20).

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See Morrison 1981, quoted in particular by Killen 1993. On weapons see, e.g., Kendall 1981; Negri Scafa 1995. On warfare, including war chariots, see Kendall 1975; Zaccagnini 1977. On the social aspects linked with war chariots, see recently Dosch 2009. Chantraine 1956; Lejeune 1968 (= Lejeune 1972b) (which remains the main study on the subject); Doria 1972. Chariots have been dealt with by Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, in the perspective of a comparative study of logograms with corresponding archaeological artefacts as well as iconographic data. Further linguistic studies have focused on this difficult documentation, see Duhoux 1976, 95–101. 124–128; Plath 1994; 1996; Bernabé et al. 1995; Bernabé 1996. Milani 1972 deals with wood and woodworking, including some aspects related to chariots. J. Driessen has devoted more than one specific study to the documents of the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos, but these are more general studies on the stratigraphy, palaeography and administrative organisation behind a particular deposit of tablets, dated earlier than the bulk of the Knossos archives. See Driessen 1988; 1990; 2000. Driessen 1996 deals with the chariot records from a historical point of view. See also Schon 2011, esp. 220–224. On Nuzi war chariots, see Kendall 1975; Zaccagnini 1977. Kendall 1981 deals specifically with a particular piece of protective equipment, the helmet called gurpisu, for which he also gathers, inter alia, comparative evidence from the Aegean (see esp. 224–227). On the Hurrian influence in the language of the Nuzi text, see Wilhelm 1970. KN So(2) 4442 (131, L) .a ] o-pe-ro , .b ]-ja , / a-mo-te , pe-ru-si-nu-wa , / ta-ra-si-ja rota ⟦ẒẸ⟧ 1 Probably same tablet as Xf 4472 (if so, read: se-to[-]ị-ja…). »se-to-i]-ja (place-name), wheels, still due from last year’s ta-ra-si-ja wheel ⟦P̣ẠỊṚ⟧ 1«. Littauer 1972. On chariots and other wheeled vehicles both in the Aegean and in the Near East, see the collection of studies gathered in Littauer – Crouwel 2002. See also Richter 2004; Crouwel 2005; Vita 2008. The synthetic attempt by Feldman – Sauvage 2010 includes epigraphical and archaeological data from different regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. The bibliography on warfare in the Aegean is too abundant to be quoted exhaustively. See, e.g., the proceedings of the Aegaeum conference POLEMOS (Laffineur 1999). Such as the differences in the use of the chariot, and weapons such as the bow or shield. The Mycenaean chariot is generally thought to have been used more as a vehicle to bring the warriors to the battle field, and not as a mobile support for archers, as was the case in Egypt, for example. On this topic, see Littauer 1972; Littauer – Crouwel 2002, 70–72 (= Littauer – Crouwel 1996).

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Fig. 1: Map of the findspots of Linear B archival documents (courtesy of P. Darcque)

Nor is it intended to provide a full account of the Mycenaean21 or Near Eastern22 written documentation on this subject, which has been already studied in great detail by many scholars; it aims, first of all, at offering a short presentation of the information available from both documentations: it is assumed that an overview of the objects (weapons, chariots, chariot parts) produced by the craftsmen, as well as of the materials used for their manufacture, is crucial to the study of procedures such as ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru, which consist in the allocation of raw materials to craftsmen who are under the obligation of transforming them into specific finished products. Based on this overview of both documentations, it will be possible to offer a few reflections on some particular aspects of ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru applied to the manufacture of military equipment; more specifically, it is hoped that the Nuzi evidence will allow us to consider a wider range of possibilities for the interpretation of the more elliptic Mycenaean records, as well as to suggest new avenues of research.

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Cf. Chantraine 1956; Lejeune 1968 (= Lejeune 1972b); Ruijgh 1979; Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 76–149; Hiller 1992; Bernabé et al. 1994; 1995; Plath 1996. Specifically on weapons, see Cassola Guida 1973; Borgna 1992; Bernabé 2008. On wood and woodworking, see Milani 1972. On the documentation from Ugarit, see e.g. Vita 1995. On the Nuzi material, see e.g. Cassin 1965; Kendall 1975; Zaccagnini 1977. For data from different sites and periods, see e.g. Farber 1976–1980. For more recent reassessments of the written Near Eastern evidence, see Richter 2004; Vita 2008.

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2. Overview of the Documentation Related to War Chariots and their Equipment23 Linear B documents related to chariots and more generally military equipment come from Knossos and Khania on Crete, and from Pylos, Tiryns and Ayios Vasileios on the Greek mainland (Fig. 1 and Tab. 1)24. Chronologically, they are attested among both the more ancient Mycenaean written documents (c. 1425–1400 BC unearthed in the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos) and among the more recent ones (c. 1200 BC e.g. at Pylos). Technically, as already stressed by M. Lejeune25, the only chariots directly recorded in a military context are the Knossos Sc records, which relate to allocations to warriors, as demonstrated by the textual association with the logogram of the armour, *162 tun. The Nuzi tablets come from the modern site of Yorghan Tepe. Archaeological and epigraphical finds date the main occupation level at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 14th century BC26. In Nuzi, texts were found not only in the palace27 and in private houses on the main tell, but also in the ruins of two smaller tells, one of which yielded the house and archives of the prince Šilwa-Teššup, son of the king28. Texts were also found in the temples29. Records of chariots and weapons are found both in the documents from the palace and in the archives of Šilwa-Teššup, whose administrative records are in many ways comparable to palatial records, despite their private character30. One of their common feature is the use of iškaru for the organisation of different types of production, as discussed below. It might be interesting to stress here that this use of iškaru in the administration of private households is also found in the Middle Assyrian documentation, e.g. in the archive of Babu-aḫa-iddina31. Details of Nuzi texts used in this chapter are shown in Tab. 2. 2.1 Terminology and Materials Used for Chariots, Chariot Parts and Military Equipment The chariots are designated in Mycenaean Greek by the words i-qi-ja, ikkwiā, alph. Greek *ἰκκϝίᾱ32 (also registered by means of different logograms, according to the fact that they have their wheels [*240𐃌 big(a)], or not [*241𐃍 cur(rus)33], or that only the frame of the

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24 25 26

27 28 29 30

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This overview is based on all Linear B documents published to date, regardless of their findspot and date; of course chronological differences should be taken into consideration when comparing specific aspects of the documentation. For indications of findspot and chronology, see Tab. 1. See Fig. 1 and Tab. 1 with the different series of documents and their chronology. Lejeune 1968, 16 f. There are also chronological differences in the Nuzi archives, since four and possibly five generations of scribes have been identified, see Wilhelm 1970, 10 with tab. However, these generations of scribes are mostly identifiable in private records and documents including lists of witnesses, not in administrative texts. For a synthesis on texts from the palace at Nuzi, see Lion, in press. For a map of Nuzi, see Fig. 4. For the archives of Šilwa-Teššup, see the volumes published by G. Wilhelm (1980; 1985; 1992). These archives will be published by Lion – Stein, in press. On the relationship between palace and private archives in Nuzi, see Lacheman 1974, 364; Negri Scafa 1995, 55. 69; Negri Scafa 2006, 300; Rougemont 2011, 349–351; Postgate 2014, 358–362; Lion, in press. On weapons and chariot records in the archives of Šilwa-Teššup and other great households, see recently Lion 2008, 76 f. For the references and findspots of Nuzi texts quoted in this contribution, see Tab. 2. Cf. Postgate 2014, 202. Among the craftsmen working for this household, the presence of a coppersmith and a bowyer is particularly interesting for our present topic (see also Postgate 2014, 221 f. with indications on metal working, which might also have been performed under the iškaru?). Textiles were also produced under the same system (see Postgate 2014, 219–221). The author also mentions (Postgate 2014, 224) a text recording a quantity of alum allocated to a leather worker for a work to be performed on a chariot (but without mention of iškaru, if I understand correctly). The form is a feminine adjective used as a noun. A substantive like wo-ka, wokhā, alph. Greek *ϝοχᾱ, ›vehicle‹, attested in Pylos wheel records, might be implied. The logogram cur does not show the wheels, but sometimes they are nonetheless there, as indicated by the word a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na, ararmotmenā ›equipped with their wheels‹ (as opposed to a-na-mo-to, anarmostos), cf. Lejeune 1972b, 290. Ruijgh 1979 argues that a-na-mo-to in the Knossos Sf series means ›not assembled‹ and not ›without wheels‹.

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chariot is recorded, with the pole, but without wheels [*242 𐃎caps])34; we also find the term wo-ka, wokhā, alph. Greek *ϝοχά (›vehicle‹, ›chariot‹, attested in Pylos wheel records35); in Akk. the chariot is called narkabtu (also written by means of the Sumerogram GIŠ.GIGIR36). Wheels are also often recorded separately (Akk. magarru; Myc. a-mo, armo (cf. ἅρμα), Linear B logogram *243 𐃏 rota)37. War chariots were made primarily from wood (Myc. adjective do-we-jo, dorweios, alph. Greek *δόρϝειος, ›wooden‹, Akk. iṣu38 or Sum. GIŠ used as a determinative before words designating wooden objects39); the text HSS XV 92 (ll. 1–7) from the archives of Šilwa-Teššup records a contract for the manufacture of a chariot ›from wood and leather‹40. In Nuzi the documents provide us with numerous indications related to chariot parts or chariot equipments made of metal, leather and wool, both in inventories and in documents related to the manufacture of the items in question (see below). The Linear B documents include mentions of the material from which various parts of the chariot equipment were made, in particular for types of wood41; it is interesting to note that both Linear B and Nuzi texts record wheels manufactured from the same type of wood, namely a kind of willow (Akk. ša(k)kullu42; Myc. e-ri-ka43, helikās, alph. Greek ἑλίκᾱ, Lat. salix44). The My-

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37

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40 41

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See the table in Lejeune 1972a, 71, as well as the exhaustive study of the logograms in Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 76 f. For an alternative interpretation as ›workshop‹, ›work‹, see Duhoux 1976, 126–128; Bernabé 1996, 197 f. The translation is based on the attestations of the form wo-zo-me-na, wordzomena, which indicates that the objects recorded are ›currently being worked on‹. On wo-zo-me-no/-na, see also Killen 2001, 167. The Nuzi texts, as usual, offer a wealth of information not available (or not available through words noted syllabically) from the Linear B texts. Different types of chariots are named, such as the pirtawe chariots (HSS XV 192, l. 5), the mazzahušhu chariots (a Hurrian designation not precisely understood), chariots ša ṣêri (›of the battle‹, or according to an alternative interpretation [cf. CAD Ṣ p. 147, j] ›overland chariot‹), chariots ša šattakti (explicitly recorded with iškaru on HSS XV 196, ll. 8–9), or narkabtu qallu, ›light chariot‹, mentioned in the letter JEN 494. They seem to have been stored separately from the chariot boxes, see Lejeune 1968, 27. See also the two opposite indications a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-no/a-na-mo-to, understood by Lejeune 1968, 12 f. as ›equipped with wheels‹ versus ›without wheels‹, which are found in chariot records. Bernabé et al. 1995 argue that the term should be translated as ›assembled chariots‹. This word also designates the wooden parts of a chariot: iṣu ša GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ, literally ›the wood of the chariots‹, cf. HSS XV 78, l. 8 (same use in the singular, see l. 2, l. 11, l. 12), an inspection record (tuppi pazi) from Room N120 of the palace. Cf. Kendall 1975, 205. 365 f. (transliteration and translation); Mayer 1978, 56 (text no. 271); Dosch 2009, 134 f. (text no. 47). For wooden objects, see also the study of furniture inventories by Schneider-Ludorff 2002, with valuable indications of wood types and woodworking. See Zaccagnini 1977, 30 f. On wood and wood working in the Linear B texts, see Milani 1972, with bibliography, as well as with a good number of Near Eastern parallels. Linear B chariot records mention e-ri-ka, helikās (willow) and pte-re-wa, ptelewās (elm); the adjective ku-pa-ri-se-ja, kuparisseia qualifies wheels as made of cypress wood. On wood types, see also Lejeune 1968, 35. C. Milani (1972, 24–32) also deals in more detail with chariots (and boats). On the different types of materials used for chariot and military equipment manufacture, see also Melena 1972, 51 f. Cf. HSS V 1, ll. 2–3 (without iškaru). On wood types used for wheels, see Kendall 1975, 217 f.; Zaccagnini 1977, 30. On ša(k)kullu wood, see van de Mieroop 1992, 160 (for the Old Babylonian evidence) as well as Postgate 1992, 184 (for the Assyrian evidence, which is often very close to the one of the Nuzi texts). However, in Nuzi wheels were also made from other wood types, such as halwadru, a wood also attested for the manufacture of yokes (see also below). The CAD, Š/1, 177, describes ša(k)kullu as a designation for »a tree native to Babylonia used for cabinetmaking, special parts of chariots, and small ustensils«. It provides logs whose length vary between »one half and four cubits«. It is rarely mentioned in Babylonia after Ur III but frequently recorded in the Nuzi texts, where it is used for »table legs, chairs, pursītu bowls and other objects, and for overlaying cheaper materials«. Cf. KN So 894.4, So 4432, So 4434, etc. On wood and wood working in Linear B texts, see Milani 1972. Other types of wood are attested in the Linear B wheel records, as pte-re-wa, ›elm‹ (cf. Lejeune 1968, 35) or cypress (see also above, n. 41), as well as in the Nuzi texts (such as halwadru).

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cenaean adjective wi-ri-ne-jo, wrīneiois (cf. ῥινóς), ›made of leather‹, is applied to the blinkers (o-po-qo, opōkwois (cf. ἐπί, ὄψ), see below45). Precision related to the materials used is also found for inlays and decorations46 made of precious materials, such as ivory (e-re-pa-te, elephantei47), or horn (ke-ra-ja-pi, keraiāphi48); two more terms are related to shades of red decoration (po-ni-ki-ja, phoinīkiā, φοινικία, ›crimson, red‹; mi-to-we-sa, miltowessa, *μιλτόϝεσσα, ›red‹, ›vermilion‹49); these indications are mostly found in Knossos Sd, Se, and Sf records, which provide us with the more detailed descriptions of chariots. KN Sd 4407 is a good illustration of these texts: KN Sd 4407 + 4414 (128) .a do-]we-jo, i-qo-e-qe, wi-ri-ni-jo, o-po-qo, ke-ra-ja-pi, ‘o-pi-i-ja-pi’ cur 3 ̣[ .b ]vest./ se-to-i-ja , mi-to-we-sa, a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na [ »at/from se-to-i-ja (place-name) 3 chariots, with their wheels, (painted in?) vermillion, with wooden i-qo-e, leather blinkers, o-pi-i-ja (bits) made of horn« KN Sc 223 associates the logogram for bronze (*140 𐂚 aes) with the logogram big, but the tablet is elliptic and broken50. Pylos wheel records (series Sa) include descriptions of wheels that are ›bound‹ (de-de-me-no, dedemenō) with ›silver‹ (a-ku-ro, argurōi: PY Sa 287), with ›bronze‹ (ka-ko, khalkōi: PY Sa 794). Metal parts are also mentioned elsewhere, such as kake-ja-pi o-pi-i-ja-pi, khalkeiāphi opihiāphi, ›with bronze bits‹, on records of the Knossos Sd series51. Without entering into detailed considerations about the iconographic evidence related to chariots in the Aegean, it is interesting to note that new finds of ivory objects from Thebes in Boeotia include an ivory plaque representing a chariot with two human figures on it52. The representation is interpreted by the excavator as a hunting scene53. The Nuzi records provide us with numerous details about precious decorations not only for chariots54, but also for quivers (išpatu), which can be decorated with silver55 or gold56, or for whips (ištuhhu)57; parts of the harness that are made of wool and/or leather are sometimes described as dyed (bašlu)58. Nuzi records and Linear B texts do of course not coincide on all details, but a review of both documentations shows that the records are following the same lines while registering the com-

45

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47

48 49

50

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

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See, e.g., Lejeune 1968, 30, who considers that the leather is not precisely defined when the object described can only be made from this material, as for the reins (a-ni-ja, hāniai, alph. Greek ἁνίαι). The texts include indications of both a-ja-me-na, ajāimenā and a-na-to/a-na-i-to, anaitos *ἄναιτος, ›inlaid‹ and ›not inlaid‹. Alph. Greek ἐλέφας. On ivory items linked with horses and their harness, see the archaeological finds published by Aravantinos 2000, 63–69 and also esp. fig. 21 (an ivory plaque with a representation of chariot), and figs. 23–28 (with decorative harness elements). See Aravantinos 2009. Instr. pl. fem., alph. Greek *κεραίᾱφι. On bits made of horn, see Aravantinos 2009; Maran – van de Moortel 2014. Cf. Lejeune 1968, 29; Ventris – Chadwick 1973, 562: mi-to-we-sa, ›painted red‹; 572: po-ni-ki-ja, ›painted crimson‹. KN Sc 223 (C; „224“) ]DA 1 big aes [ or ]da 1? aes written below big. KN Sd 4409, Sd 4412, Sd 5091. See Aravantinos 2000, 55–60 (BEMΘ 29837). The two people pictured on the chariot have no helmets, and they are accompanied by a dog. HSS XV 17, ll. 26–27 with inlays of gold. HSS XV 2, l. 1, from Room N120 of the palace. HSS XV 17, ll. 2–3, from Room R76 of the palace. HSS XV 17, l. 11. HSS XV 17, l. 13 on the reverse of the tablet (Kendall 1975, 369 f.: ll. 27–28 with a continuous numeration of the lines).

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ponents of chariots. The main parts recurring in the tablets are the body of the chariot (Linear B logogram caps, Akk. bītu) and the floor of the chariot (Akk. nakbasu, Myc. pe-qa-to, peggwaton59); Linear B texts include a word for a ›running board‹, pte-no, pternō60; the pole (Akk. mašandu/ mašaddu61; this part is illustrated in the Linear B logograms62) and the yoke (Akk. niru or ṣimittu, also represented as part of the Linear B logogram63). In Nuzi the yoke is made of wood64 and also padded with wool65; the wheels (Myc. a-mo, armo, Linear B logogram rota66, Akk. magarru67); the axles (Myc. a-ko-so-ne, aksones, Akk. bubutu68). The Nuzi documents record a number of chariot parts less-well understood, such as the nawena and the hetennu69. In addition to these chariot parts, the Nuzi texts record a number of textile/woollen items used with the chariots and the horses, including three types of covers (iškušhu and puraku, associated with chariots; and paraššannu, specifically for horses) as well as a few other woollen items, more or less-well understood, some of them belonging to the chariot itself (ṣuppu), others to the harness of the horses (d/tutiwa70 and šušuppu, associated with the preceding). The Linear B texts related to textiles most probably also included such items, but they have not been identified as chariot equipment. The use of leather for chariots is rather well-documented in Nuzi, through references to the allocations of skins and the role played by the aškapu (leather worker) in chariot manufacture, as well as descriptions of chariot parts. It might also be interesting to compare the Akkadian designation šeranu (›tendon, muscle, fibre, cord‹71, on HSS XV 195) with the Mycenaean form a3ki-no-o, aiginohos (KN Se 879), for which M. Ventris and J. Chadwick tentatively suggested an interpretation as ›goat tendons?‹72. Sinews also appear among raw materials given for the iškaru of chariots in Middle Assyrian texts73. Sinews/tendons are very likely to have been used in the manufacture of other items of military equipment such as chariots, harness parts or bows74.

59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66

67

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71 72 73 74

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Alph. Greek *πέγγwατον. See Lejeune 1968, 30; Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 79. Well illustrated on KN Sc 219 and Sc 238. See Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 79. The form pte-no is understood as a dual, πτέρνω, see Lejeune 1958a, 266, »une paire de marchepieds«. Recorded among chariot parts given to a carpenter, without the mention of iškaru, on HSS XV 202, l. 7. See Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 105–107 with illustrations. Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 123–125. Either halwatru or šenu wood, cf. HSS XIII 283, ll. 1–2. See also below. The Mycenaean term o-da-ke-we-ta/o-da-ku-we-ta/o-da-tu-we-ta/o-da-twe-ta, odakwenta or odatwenta respectively is opposed in the records to the term te-mi-dwe-ta, termidwenta. Based on the etymology, the first word is understood as *ὀδατϝέντα, ›equipped with teeth‹, a designation which would correspond to the technique used to insert the spokes of the wheel; see Lejeune 1968, 35 and n. 64; Ruijgh 1979, 29 and n. 29. The term te-mi-dwe-ta is understood as *τερμίδϝεντ-ς (cf. Hom. τερμιόεις) and would refer to a technique using supports in order to attach the spokes to the wheel. Nuzi texts record two main types of wheels, the four-spoked (rubu’itu or tumnatu) and the six-spoked ones (šeššatu); see Kendall 1975, 217 f.; Zaccagnini 1977, 29. According to the CAD B, s.v. bubūtu B, the word would designate a »part of a chariot, probably the two lateral pieces of the chariot frame underneath the running board«. However, the AHw, p. 135 translates the word as ›(Wagen-)Achse‹; see also Zaccagnini 1977, 29 with the same translation. On hetennu, cf. CAD H, 178; AHw, p. 342 (with a more specific hypothesis, ›Deichselspitze?‹); Richter 2013, 160. On nawena see Richter 2013, 267. The word seems to designate, according to the context, a part of the harness of horses (belly-band) or a kind of breast-plate for men; on this word see Kendall 1975, 183–187; Zaccagnini 1977, 37; Negri Scafa 1995, 54. Kendall 1975, 309. Ventris – Chadwick 1956, 369. However Lejeune 1971, 344 considers the term as ›obscure‹. MARV 2.15. See Postgate 2014, 154. See on this point the interpretation of the logogram *142 (𐂜) as ›tendons‹ by Melena 1972, 44. However, an interpretation as ›goat’s hair‹ has also been suggested, see Perna 2004, 279 f. Melena 1972, 51 f. suggests that the animal products recorded on the Mc tablets are »precisely the raw materials for the building of chariots we find missing on the chariot tablets proper«, and makes the parallel with the word a3-ki-no-o in the Pylos records. However, the Nuzi texts show that goat’s hair is also among raw materials used for the equipment of horses.

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In Nuzi, various weapons are attested in relationship with the chariots; in Linear B records, however, we cannot be sure that they were used in association with the chariots. The main weapons75 recorded are the shield (Akk. aritu; not attested to date in Mycenaean76); the bow (Akk. qaštu; indirect evidence in Myc. through the designations to-ko-so-wo-ko, toksoworgos, alph. Greek *τοξοϝοργός, ›bowmaker‹77, as well as the word to-ko-so-ta, toksotās, alph. Greek τοξότᾱς, ›archer‹)78; cf. Akk. sassinu, Hurr. g/keltuhle, ›bowmaker‹79), the arrows (Akk. qanu, ›reed‹; illu, ›arrowshaft‹; šukudu, arrow; cf. also šiltahhu80; and Linear B logogram sag81); arrowheads (Akk. apellu, Myc. a3-ka-sa-ma, aiksmans, ›weaponhead, arrowhead‹) and the quiver (Akk. išpatu, unknown to date in Linear B); the spear (Akk. šukitu; Myc. e-ke-a, enkhea, and Linear B logogram has; cf. also pa-ta-ja, paltaia82; Myc. a3-ka-sa-ma, aiksmans, alph. Greek *αἰξμάνς, ›weaponhead, spearhead‹ (cf. Att. αἰχμή, ›spearhead‹)83 and the sword (Akk. paṭru, Linear B logogram pug, Myc. n. pl. pa-ka-na, phasgana, alph. Greek φάσγανα; see also the term e-pi-zo-ta, which is linked with designations for swords84). The two main craftsmen working on chariots in Nuzi were the leather worker (aškapu) and the carpenter (naggāru). In Pylos, wood cutters (du-ru-to-mo, drutomoi, whose function might have been closer to the Akk. professional designation maṣṣaru ša GIŠ.TIR.MEŠ, ›forest warders‹?) were expected to deliver axles85; the texts also record a form a-mo-te-wo, armotēwos (gen. of *a-mo-te-u, *ἀρμοτεύς, ›chariot maker‹86). The two other professional designations associated with military equipment (more specifically weapons) were the pi-ri-je-te, prientēr (a designation linked with a root meaning ›to saw‹) and the ka-si-ko-no, kasikonos87. The pi-ri-je-te and the ka-si-ko-no produced swords; it is unknown whether these were used in connection with the chariots. Both words appear in the Knossos Ra series, as well as in Pylos records of personnel (series An). M. Lejeune considers that both types of craftsmen were probably responsible for a ta-ra-si-ja88.

75

76

77 78

79

80 81

82 83 84

85 86

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The following lines do not aim at exhaustivity. For a list of weapons recorded in the Nuzi texts, see Negri Scafa 1995, 53 f. More specifically on the weapons used in connection with chariots, see recently Lion 2008, 76. On Mycenaean weapons, see Cassola Guida 1973. On defensive weapons, especially shields, see, e.g., Cassola Guida – Zucconi Galli Fonseca 1992, 5–21. On bows and arrows in the Mycenaean world, see Borgna 1992. The form, attested on KN V 150, can be understood as alph. Greek τοξότᾱς, ›archer‹; it has also been interpreted as a personal name. The representations of archers are not very numerous in the iconography (see also below n. 95); see, however, the recent publication by Brecoulaki et al. 2008 of an intriguing fresco fragment from Pylos representing an archer. The word is understood by Dietrich – Loretz 1966, 203, as ›Bogenhersteller‹. Cf. also Negri Scafa 1995, 60 and n. 21. Kendall 1975, 251; Zaccagnini 1977, 31. Numerous arrowheads are known from the archaeological record, for example from the North-Eastern Building in Pylos (on this building see Hoffstra 2000; Bendall 2003); arrowheads were also uncovered in the Arsenal at Knossos. On the archaeological material from the Arsenal, see, e.g., Hiller 1992, 314; Driessen 1996, 483–485, esp. 484 and fig. 2. See also Borgna 1992, chapter 3, esp. 32–36 with an overview of finds at different sites on both Crete and the mainland, and ibidem 39–41 on the Linear B logograms. See Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 56–59. Lejeune 1971, 344. The precise meaning of the word, which appears in the Knossos Ra records, along with the logogram pug, remains unclear. It is related to sword and now appears on the tablet HV Rb 1, recently found in Ayios Vasileios in Laconia; cf. Del Freo 2012, 17; Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012. See also below, with the formula o-di-do-si du-ru-to-mo, hō didonsi drutomoi on PY Vn 10. This chariot maker appears in a document recording a plot of land, PY Ea 421, and thus outside of the context of his professional activity. It is nonetheless interesting to see this professional designation appearing among the Pylos landholders. On this topic see mainly Bennett 1956; Lejeune 1974; Deger-Jalkotzy 1988; Del Freo 2005 (with bibliography). See Lejeune 1968, 58 f.; Hiller 1992, esp. 304–306. Lejeune 1968, 58 f.

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This short overview of the items and craftsmen recorded in relationship with the field of activity under study provides us with an outline of the topics to be taken into account when dealing with the military applications of the ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru organisations of production. 2.2 The Administrative Typology of the Texts The scope of the following will not be to give a full account of the documentation, but only to describe its main features and to illustrate a few interesting cases. 2.2.1 Linear B Texts In his fundamental study of the chariot records at Knossos, M. Lejeune distinguished two main types of records, which he called respectively (a) ›états de situation‹89 and (b) ›états de distribution‹90. The first category registers different items, presumably kept in the palatial storerooms, with occasional indications related to their condition, for chariots with or without wheels, but for other types of objects also bad versus good condition, useless versus in working condition, or old versus new. One example of such records for chariots is KN Sf(1) 4421, which records 24 inlaid chariot bodies without wheels: KN Sf(1) 4421 (128?, L) i-qi-ja , a-na-mo-to , a-ja-me-na caps 24 ̣ »chariots, without wheels, inlaid caps 24« This is also the case for texts such as the Pylos tablet Va 1323, from Room 99 of the North-Eastern Building91, which records 32 axles in a bad condition (ka-zo-e, katsohes92). PY Va 1323 (Cii, Room 99) a-ko-so-ne , ka-zo-e 32 »axles in a bad state 32« Indications related to the good or bad condition of objects are also available, for example for wheels, which are described as ›old‹ (pa-ra-ja, palaia: PY Sa 787) versus ›new‹ (ne-wa, newa: PY Sa 843) and as ›useless‹ (no-pe-re-e, nōphelehe: PY Sa 794, no-pe-re-a2, nōpheleha: PY Sa 682, 751, etc.) or, on the contrary, as ›of use‹, ›working‹ (we-je-ke-a2, uweikeha: PY Sa 487, 755, 758, etc.) or ›good‹, a-ro2-a, arroha (KN So 4430)93. One single and mutilated record from Knossos registers arrows; it might be a record of items in a storeroom. It is broken on the left side, but the empty space before the logograms and figures leads to the assumption that there were no syllabic indications qualifying the arrows and their condition written immediately before the logograms.

89

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Lejeune 1968, 47. These include the KN Sd, Sf, So records from a first ›bureau‹, as well as the KN Se, Sg and Sp records from a second ›bureau‹. See also Rougemont – Vita 2010, pl. 3. See Lejeune 1968, 16. The standard allocation for one man, in the Knossos Sc series, comprised 2 armours, 1 chariot, and 1 pair of horses (except if, as is the case in Sc 226, the individual recorded has already one [e-ko 1/ἔχων 1]: in this case, he receives only one horse). For the location of the North-Eastern Building at Pylos, see Fig. 2, map of the Pylos palace. On the archaeological finds from the Pylos palace, which include arrowheads and objects related to military equipment, see Hoffstra 2000; Bendall 2003; Darcque 2005a, 286–288 (on craft activities); Borgna 2012, 140–142. The form ka-zo-e is understood as a comparative form *κακyοhες. See Lejeune 1958b, 340. See also the form me-ta-ke-ku-me-na, metakekhumenā, alph. Greek *μετα-κεχυμένα, translated by Chantraine 1956, 57 as »dont les pièces sont répandues«, and by Lejeune 1958c, 227 and n. 29 as »renversé sens dessus dessous«.

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KN R 4482 (L, -) .1 ] sag 6010 .2 ] sag 2630 .1 Possible traces at left. 10 over ⟦ ⟧. (6000 changed from 8000). .2 Possible traces at left, perhaps of ⟦ ⟧. It is difficult to draw precise conclusions on the status of the record or of the items registered on this tablet; however, it is interesting to note that, according to the Nuzi data, there were 30 to 40 arrows per quiver94. As a consequence, if we rely on the Nuzi data, the two figures recorded on the Knossos record would correspond respectively to the contents of 150 to 200 quivers, and 65 to 87 quivers. For a variety of reasons, it is generally assumed that the Mycenaean war chariots were not used to throw arrows or spears while the vehicle was in movement95. However, this does not of course exclude a military use of the bows and arrows, which is attested in the iconography96, and it should be stressed here that KN R 4482 was found in the Arsenal, along with other records of military equipment, and that the Arsenal yielded not only part of the chariot tablets, but also a number of arrowheads97. Provided that the Nuzi data can be used at least hypothetically for such calculations, it might reasonably be suggested that an estimation of the number of quivers would constitute an interesting indication for the evaluation of the number of warriors which might be equipped with them. It might also be interesting to mention here the record of personnel PY An 1282, which registers groups of men with their occupations, designated by words in the dative plural. PY An 1282 (Room 99, Ciii) .1 a-qi-ja-i vir 18 a-mo-si vir 18 .2 ki-u-ro-i vir 13 po-qe-wi-ja-i vir 5 .3 do-ka-ma-i vir 36 .4-.5 vacant The indication a-qi-ja-i, on line 1, is considered as an error for i-qi-ja-i, ikkwiāhi98, ›for the chariots‹; a-mo-si, armosi is the dat. pl. of a-mo, armo, ›wheel‹, thus to be translated as ›for the wheels‹; ki-u-ro-i, kiūroihi is understood as a designation for baskets or food containers; po-qewi-ja-i, phorgwēwiāhi is an indication related to the harness99; do-ka-ma-i, dorkhmāhi is the dat. pl. of a word do-ka-ma also attested e.g. on PY Wr 1480, in close association with pa-ta-jo, paltaiōn (›darts‹ or ›javelins‹)100; do-ka-ma might have been the shaft of the javelin vel sim. PY An 1282 might thus be understood as a record of personnel assigned to different types of objects and tasks related to chariots and military equipment, and would link the spears/javelins to the chariots and wheels. The second category of documents that Lejeune described as ›états de distribution‹, can be illustrated by the Knossos tablet Sc 103:

94

95

96 97 98

99

100

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On the average number of arrows contained in a quiver, see Kendall 1981, 222. Each war chariot seems to have been equipped with two quivers. See, e.g., Littauer 1972, 149; Littauer – Crouwel 2002, 58 f. 61. Archers and bows are not very numerous in the iconography. When represented in fighting scenes they seem to be on foot, e.g. on the silver vase from Shaft Grave IV at Mycenae, an object dated from the end of the 16th century BC, and thus at the beginning of the Mycenaean period (see, e.g., Sakellariou 1968, esp. fig. 3; Hood 1988, 160 f. and fig. 155; Borgna 1992, 43 f.). See also the recent publication of wall-painting fragments from Pylos with the representation of a (female?) archer by Brecoulaki et al. 2008. See previous note. See Driessen 1996, 483–485, esp. 484 and fig. 2, and above n. 81. Ruijgh 1967, 111 (§ 90) explains the mistake made by the scribe by the anticipation of the word a-mo-si, written in the second part of the same line. Alph. Greek *φοργwηϝιά, Att. φορβειά. See Lejeune 1958b, 335 ›licou‹, for the occurrence of the same term on PY Ub 1315 (quoted by Lejeune as Sb 1315). On this document see Shelmerdine – Bennet 1995, esp. 125–127. See also ibidem, 131, specifically on PY An 1282.

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KN Sc 103 (C, “124”i?) ki-ra2-i-jo tun 2 big 1 ̣equ »(to/for) ki-ra2-i-jo (PN) armours 2 chariot 1 horse« The number of items and horses allocated seems to depend on the equipment already held by the individual recorded. For example, KN Sc 130 records tun 2, big 1 and equ ‘ZE’ 1, thus one pair of horses; KN Sc 226 records big 1 but only tun 1 and one horse, with the precision e-ko, ekhōn 1 (›having one [horse]‹). KN Sc records come from the Room of the Chariot Tablets and are dated earlier than the bulk of the Knossos tablets. One might wonder if this is a pure coïncidence that the tablet KN Ca 895, which records horses and foals101, was found in I3 (Northern Entrance Passage), along with the KN Ra, Se, Sg and So records. In the Pylos records, it might not be a coïncidence if the personal name a-me-ja occurs both in records of wheels (PY Sa 834) and on PY Sh 736, which registers to-ra-ke, thōrākes pl. form of θώραξ, ›armour‹, represented by the logogram *163 arm𐂫 (cf. also TI Si 5). The indirect association between *163 arm and chariot wheels at Pylos may recall the KN Sc texts, where *162 tun𐂪, another logogram for ›armour‹, is recorded in association with the logogram big (see above). The Pylos Sa records include both types of documents (›états de distribution‹ and ›états de situation‹, already exemplified through PY Va 1323: see above); the distribution records concern both wheels (e.g. PY Sa 761) and horses (PY Sa 22). It might be interesting to note that Nuzi records related to distributions of weapons seem to include, in some cases, detailed information about their condition102. 2.2.2 Nuzi Texts The only comprehensive study of military records from Nuzi is an unpublished PhD dissertation by T. Kendall103. However, chariot and horse records, and documents related to the army have both been the subject of synthetic studies, by C. Zaccagnini104 and Br. Lion105 respectively. Moreover, an administrative classification of documents registering weapons has been elaborated by P. Negri Scafa106, who distinguishes: (a) registrations of distributions or allotments of (finished) weapons; (b) registrations of distributions or allotments of materials for the making of weapons; (c) lists of various objects among which are weapons; (d) lists of persons and the condition of their respective weapons or outfits or armour, and (e) contracts or certificates, the subject of which is sometimes weapons. This classification can be extended and adapted to study texts related to chariots and chariot parts, which include (a) records of raw materials allocated for the manufacture of chariots, chariot parts or items of military equipment such as arrows; (b) records of allocations of chariot parts to be assembled by craftsmen (aškapu and naggāru); (c) allocations of finished items (chariots, quivers and arrows, armour and swords), and (d) records of chariots or items of military equipment which are more or less damaged. Inspection records (tuppi pazi) are attested e.g. for bows (cf. HSS XV 18)107 but also for chariots (e.g. HSS XV 78)108.

101 102 103 104 105

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Along with three she-donkeys. Negri Scafa 1995, 58 with reference to HSS XV 21, XV 37, and XV 18. Kendall 1975. See also Kendall 1981, focused on one particular piece of military equipment, the helmet (gurpisu). Zaccagnini 1977. Lion 2008. On other aspects of the metals in the Nuzi texts, such as payments in metals, loans, and the role of bronze in economic transactions, see Lion 2013. Negri Scafa 1995, 55 f. HSS XV 18, l. 1: ṭup-pu pa-zi ša GIŠ.BAN, from Room N120 of the palace. Cf. also HSS XV 37. HSS XV 78, ll. 1–2: ṭup-pí pa-zi ša GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ, from Room N120 of the palace. See also the mentions of old or broken chariots, on HSS XV 212, l. 11 and HSS XV 305, l. 1 respectively.

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3. The Main Stages of the ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru Procedures in Linear B and Nuzi Records: A Case-Study of Chariots and Military Equipment 3.1 Historiography of the Parallels between Myc. ta-ra-si-ja and Akk. iškaru The Mycenaean word ta-ra-si-ja (alph. Greek ταλασία)109 designates a system organising an obligatory work system, on an annual basis, as shown by the mention of a pe-ru-si-nwa ta-ra-sija, perusinwā talansiā ›last year’s ta-ra-si-ja‹110. This procedure is attested for textile production and bronze-working as well as wheel (and presumably chariot) manufacture. The main steps of the procedure are the allocation of raw materials to the craftsmen or workers, the transformation of the raw material into finished products, and the delivery of the finished products to the administration. The Akkadian iškaru was first compared by J. L. Melena to the Mycenaean word o-pa, hopā111, that he interpreted as the designation of a kind of ›work‹ (rather than ›workshop‹, as it had been understood earlier)112. J. T. Killen, in his reassessment of the term o-pa, suggested that o-pa designated a ›finition‹ work and that the Akkadian term iškaru and its use were closer to Mycenaean ta-ra-si-ja113. Both the Mycenaean ta-ra-si-ja and the Near Eastern iškaru procedures share, as is well known by now, a number of characteristics which make up both the justification for and the interest of the comparison114. They both consist of (a) the allocation of raw materials by an administration to one or more craftsmen or workers; (b) the obligation for the craftsmen to perform a work for the administration, and (c) the return/delivery of the finished product to the administration that has provided the raw material and supervised the manufacture of the product. The two systems also share some organisational aspects, for example with work at least partly decentralised to towns and villages outside the palatial centre115. A closer examination of the uses of iškaru in records contemporary with the Linear B texts, here in the Nuzi documents, might enable us both to shed light on some characteristics of the Mycenaean texts and to suggest new possibilities regarding less well-documented aspects of ta-ra-si-ja production. In particular the comparison might offer new insights into problems such as the degree of decentralisation, or the modes of application of the procedure to activities for which at the moment Linear B attestations are limited and fragmentary, as in wheel and chariot manufacture. Finally, it might allow us to consider a wider range of possibilities for their interpretation – without of course considering that the attestation of a particular fact in cuneiform texts is proof of its existence also in Mycenaean records. 3.2 Overview of the iškaru and ta-ra-si-ja Procedures in the Nuzi Texts116 and in Linear B Tablets The analogies between ta-ra-si-ja and iškaru in Nuzi can be traced at different levels. Firstly, at a functional or structural level, a quantity or raw material is allocated in order to perform a work set

109 110 111 112

113 114 115

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On Mycenaean ta-ra-si-ja, see, e.g., Killen 1974; 2001; Duhoux 1976; Nosch 2000; 2001; 2006. See also below. Melena 1983, 282–285. Lejeune 1968, 24 f. considers o-pa, in the context of manufactured objects, as »une désignation générique de la ›fabrication‹ ou de la ›fabrique‹, le nom spécifique de l’atelier de charron étant ἀρμοτειών« [cf. the allative form a-mo-te-jo-na-de, armoteiōnade]. Killen 1999. For a short reassessment of this comparison, see recently Postgate 2014, 412. Cf. Nosch 2001. See, e.g., HSS XIV 607 (l. 28 and ll. 36–37), iškaru deliveries of textiles made by two towns. See also below. Additional data will be occasionally quoted from Middle Assyrian texts. For synthetic studies on these texts, see mainly Jakob 2003 and more recently Postgate 2014. On the iškaru in Middle Assyrian texts, see also Postgate 2010, esp. 21–23.

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in advance. Thus attestations of both words are and can be found at different stages of management of the manufacturing process117. Allocations of raw materials118, the assignment of work119, delivery of the finished products and, in some cases in Nuzi, even the use of the finished iškaru product are documented. Secondly, at a thematic level, ta-ra-si-ja appears in Linear B tablets related to bronze-working (Pylos Jn series120), textile production and, based on one Knossos record, (chariot) wheel production121. In the Nuzi archives, iškaru is attested in textile122 and chariot (and military equipment) records123, but also in texts related to certain agricultural productions (see also below). I have not yet been able to identify in Nuzi any example of iškaru applied to bronze-working or metallurgy in general, but my investigation is only at its beginning124. However, in the main outlines the thematic coincidences remain striking. Thirdly, at an organisational level, there is a parallel with records of the iškaru of individuals125 or of towns126, and the decentralisation of some production in towns and villages127. Very few indications are available on the iškaru or ta-ra-si-ja work itself, except indirectly through the professional designations of people submitted to the obligation128. A number of Nuzi texts just record allocations ›for PN for his/her iškaru‹, and sometimes the finished product expected is specified129. Linear B tablets related to ta-ra-si-ja textile production targets simply record a combination of the number and types of textiles to be produced and of the wool quantities to be used for that purpose130. In the case of the bronze ta-ra-si-ja there are no targets recorded. Interesting information can be derived from the Nuzi texts as well as Middle Assyrian records with regard to institutions and people linked with the iškaru131, which is a procedure used by the administration of great institutions including, but not exclusively, the palaces. The texts provide us with information about the people and institutions submitted to the iškaru. They

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119

120

121 122 123

124

125 126

127

128

129

130 131

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This is best exemplified by the more numerous and detailed documents related to the iškaru of textiles, both in the palace archives and in the House of Šilwa-Teššup. For a comparison with Linear B data, see Rougemont, in press. Only wool and bronze are to date attested in allocations of raw materials for the ta-ra-si-ja. For a recent suggestion related to lead and the ta-ra-si-ja, see Del Freo 2014, esp. 24. Directly known for textiles, and indirectly for bronze-working (but without indication of the finished product expected, unlike what is attested in target records for textile production). The tablets from the Pylos Jn series (except Jn 829) record lists of bronzesmiths and indicate who had (or had not) a ta-ra-si-ja allocation of bronze. On this series see Smith 1995 with bibliography. KN So(2) 4442 (see also below). For a preliminary study of wool allocations in Nuzi and in the Linear B tablets, see Rougemont, in press. Examples of iškaru assignments related to chariot-making and woodworking are also attested in Middle Assyrian records. See below for the texts from Tell Billa (Finkelstein 1953) and, more recently, Postgate 2014, 171–173. In the contexts described by the author, there seem to have been contractual aspects to these work assignments: on these questions see also Postgate 2014, 138 f. 175. 412 with a comparison with Linear B data. On metallurgy and metal objects in Nuzi, see Negri Scafa 1996; 2009. There are allocations of copper for the manufacture of arrowheads, e.g. on HSS XIV 227 (but without iškaru): see below. See, e.g., HSS XIII 274 (allocation for Kupasa) from the archives of Šilwa-Teššup (AdŠ 80). Cf. HSS XIV 6, l. 12 iš-ka3-ru ša URU a-šu-hi-iš, ›iškaru of the town of Ašuhiš‹ (textiles, including 3 šušuppu on l. 9). In the case of weapon manufacture in Nuzi, craftsmen occasionally seem to have been sent to work in towns other than Nuzi, see Negri Scafa 1995, 64. On the geographical aspects of the Mycenaean textile ta-ra-si-ja, see Nosch 2001; Killen 2001, 164 f. For reflections on the localisation of the ta-ra-si-ja wheel production, see Killen 2001, 165. 171. Work itself, independently of the ta-ra-si-ja procedure, is not really described or detailed. However, attestations such as use of the present participle wo-zo-me-no/-na on wheel records, e.g. on KN So 4433, 4438, indicate that the objects are currently being worked on. Killen 2001, 167 suggests that the work in question is not necessarily the manufacture of the wheels, but might refer to »repair or refurbishment«. See, e.g., HSS XIII 227, l. 6 a-na ši-a-na-at, ›for šianatu (textiles)‹, with the precision, on ll. 7–8, with the total of wool, which was given a-na eš-ka4-ri-šu, ›for his iškaru‹. This is the case of the target records of the Knossos Lc series. On these records see Killen 1966; 1974; Nosch 2011. On iškaru see mainly Postgate 1974; 2010, esp. 21–26; 2014.

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record the iškaru of individuals recorded by their personal names (for textiles, chariots, leather/ skins)132, iškaru of people recorded by professional designations133, iškaru of towns, including Nuzi itself (for textiles, chariots and military equipment)134, and the iškaru of the palace of a town other than Nuzi135. The Nuzi texts also inform us about the beneficiaries of the iškaru deliveries136. Here there is much greater variety than in the Linear B texts. To take only a few examples, it is not only the palatial administration, responsible for writing the records, which imposes iškaru work to craftsmen and centralises the corresponding deliveries of finished products. It is also attested for the household of Šilwa-Teššup, son of the king, who uses iškaru procedure to organise both textile production and activities related to war chariots. The queen of Nuzi also benefits from her own textile iškaru, as attested on the palace text HSS XIV 121137, which lists 8 garments in five rubrics as her iškaru. Middle Assyrian texts record the iškaru associated with an even greater variety of professional designations and activities, such as oil pressmen, beer brewers and bakers138. These people received the materials used in their activities under the system of the iškaru and delivered the finished products to the temple of Assur (for use also in the palace)139. The implication of the temple of Assur in the iškaru system may remind us, for example, of the involvement of groups of po-ti-ni-ja-we-jo, potniaweioi bronze-workers in the ta-ra-si-ja at Pylos (see, e.g., PY Jn 310, ll. 14–16, and Jn 431, ll. 16–20), but the temple of Assur is the recipient (and distributor?) of the product, while the po-ti-ni-ja-we-jo people, who are among the producers, are recorded by and seem to work for the Pylos palace. Different documents show indications of time for the iškaru: a fragmentary Middle Assyrian text presumably coming from Assur mentions the iškaru of a perfume maker140. The record includes the indication of the quantity of oil, the name of the person responsible for it, and who is issuing the oil to the perfumer, with the formula [a-n]a GIŠ.GAR-šu ša li-me + name, ›for his iškaru of the eponym X‹141. In Nuzi, the iškaru is sometimes also recorded with a specific month name, as on HSS XIII 315142; this is the date of the delivery. In some cases, not only the raw materials were delivered to craftsmen or workers in the frame of the iškaru, but the appropriate tools were also provided. For example, this is the case for Assyrian brewers preparing beer under the iškaru system: when particular qualities of beer are wanted, different kinds of millstones are provided in order for the workers to obtain the proper degree of thinness when crushing the grain143.

132

133

134 135

136

137 138 139 140 141 142

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E.g. HSS XIII 110 iškaru ša + PN, thus parallel, for the formula, to what we find in some Linear B documents (e.g. MY Oe 110 with the fem. personal name re-ka-sa, in the field of wool allocations). E.g. HSS XIII 315 with an iškaru delivery of wooden implement recorded as made by the ›forest warders‹ (LÚ. MEŠ [m]a-aṣ-ṣa-ar ša GIŠ.TIR.MEŠ). Cf. Zaccagnini 1979, 13 f. E.g. HSS XIV 6. HSS XIV 7. XIV 260. HSS XV 159. HSS XV 171. The text deals with a wagon of ampannu-wood which is described as iš-ka4-ru ša é-kál-lì ša URU na-ma-ah-hé, ›iškaru of the palace of Namahhe‹ [HSS XV 98]. Cf. Mayer 1978, 93 (see above). Deliveries are documented mostly by receipts (iškaru ša PN ša mahru), occasionally by records about deliveries still expected. See below HSS XVI 441. On the lower edge, ll. 1 and 2: an-nu-tu4 iš-ka4-ru ša MUNUS.LUGAL-ti, ›this is the iškaru of the queen‹. On iškaru with bakers and brewers, see recently Postgate 2014, 109 f. On iškaru assignments, see also ibidem, 114. Cf. Jakob 2003, 180. MAH 16467. For this text, see Postgate 1979, esp. 7 (quoted by Jakob 2003, 478 f.). Jakob 2003, 479 translates as follows: »Als Arbeitsmaterial für das Eponymat des Aššur-da’’issunu«. Cf. ll. 26–30: [an-n]u-tu4 iš-ka4-ru [š]a URU nu-zi ù LÚMEŠ [m]a-aṣ-ṣar ša GIŠTIRMEŠ [i-n]a ITU-hi še-ha-li ša dIM u-bi-lu-ni, »this is the iškaru of the town of Nuzi which the forest warders brought in the month Šehalu of Tešup«. Cf. Zaccagnini 1979, 13. The text MARV 3.69 distinguishes between sāmidu- and tē’inu millstones. Cf. Jakob 2003, 405. On allocations of grindstones for the iškaru work (in MARV 3.69 and 1.30), see also Postgate 2014, 155.

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3.3 The iškaru at Nuzi as a Means to Procure Wood and Spices One aspect of iškaru in Nuzi that is not attested to date in Linear B records is its application to a number of agricultural resources, such as garden produce and wood. HSS XIV 239 (from Room L1 of the palace) records the delivery of a number of aromatic plants qualified as iškaru144. The text is divided in eleven rubrics with a line traced at the end of each section: each rubric ends with the indication iškaru ša GIŠ.KIRI6 ša…, ›iškaru of the garden of…‹145. This text was already quoted as a possible parallel to the Mycenae Ge spice records, although »in a rather different context«, by M. Ventris and J. Chadwick146. The parallel has also been studied by J. L. Melena147. The Mycenae Ge spice records list deliveries of spices and aromatic products148 in the frame of what has been interpreted by J. T. Killen as taxation records149. As already said, the Nuzi archives provide us with information on an aspect of iškaru which seems without equivalent in the extant Linear B documentation. Besides the deliveries of spices mentioned above, the text HSS XIII 110 from Room L14 of the palace is a receipt for five different sorts of vegetal products. The record is described by different scholars as »a wood list«; the total weight is of 1680 kg150; and it is delivered as iškaru by an individual named Hutia, who is known as a carpenter/wood worker. Each line records a weight of wood/plants; ll. 6–7 conclude: »(this is the) iškaru of Hutia that was received«. HSS XIII 110 (palace, L14) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

20 GÚ GIŠ.ši-qí-it-tu151 4 GÚ GIŠ.ha-ši-i[x]152 4 GÚ GIŠ.za-ta-a-ru153 8 GÚ GIŠ.bu-ṣe-en-nu-ú154 20 GÚ GIŠ.il-pí-i-tu4155 iš-ka-ru ša m m hu-ti-ia ša mahru

Another text, HSS XV 98, records the declaration of an individual who will bring a wagon with a load of ampannu wood described as iš-ka4-ru ša é-kál-lì ša URU na-ma-ah-hé, ›iškaru of the palace of the town of Namahhe‹. The term ampannu has sometimes been interpreted as a kind

144

145 146

147 148

149 150 151

152

153

154 155

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HSS XIV 239 (cuneiform copy) = HSS XIV 601 (transliteration). On this text, see also Kendall 1975, 208; Zaccagnini 1979, 128. The deliveries include, among others, cumin, black mustard, coriander, and fennel. Cf. Ventris – Chadwick 1956, 225. The text is quoted based on the indications given by Lacheman 1939, 534 f. (= Appendix D: Epigraphic evidences of the material culture of the Nuzians, in: Starr 1939). Melena 1984, 21 f. The products listed in the MY Ge series include, e.g., sesame, cumin, fennel, mint and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). Killen 1983. If we take for GÚ (Akk. biltu) a value of 30 kg. Cf. šiqittu, ›almond (tree?)‹. CAD Š, s.v. šiqittu, 95 quotes HSS XIII 110 and indicates: »among other woods, as iškaru delivery«. Cf. also Watson 2004, 117 f., on Ug. tqdy ›almond tree‹ with comparative material including Akk. šiqdu(m), and 126, šuqdu ›almond‹ (in a list of terms occurring in syllabic spellings). Cf. hašû, ›a plant yielding seeds and used as a spice‹? Cf. CAD H, s.v. hašû, 144 f. without mention of the Nuzi texts. Moreover, four talents seem a huge quantity for a kind of spice. Cf. zateru? CAD Z, 74, s.v. makes no reference to the Nuzi texts. Cf. AHw 1033a, ›thyme, savory‹. On zataru, see also Watson 2004, 131 f., who concludes that it would be ›marjoram‹ (Majoranna syriaca). Wick willow? Cf. CAD B, s.v. buṣinnu, 348 with the quotation of tablet HSS XIII 110. elpetu/elpatu/ilpitu, ›reed‹. Cf. CAD E, s.v. elpetu, 108 f. According to CAD »elpetu was a weed which was to be removed […] from fields and which grew along canals«; its main uses were for weaving baskets, building boats and houses. It has been identified with Arabic ḥalfa. CAD E, 109 quotes HSS XIII 110, l. 5 and translates as: »8 loads of (branches of) the ›wick willow‹, 20 loads of elpetu«.

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of tool156. However, it is understood by different scholars as a designation for a type of wood157. One of the interesting points in HSS XV 98 is that the delivery is to be made to Erwišarri, governor of the palace at Nuzi158, thus indicating that iškaru deliveries were, in some cases, centralised from other secondary palaces of the kingdom to the palace at Nuzi159. However, to my knowledge, none of the vegetal products recorded on HSS XIII 110 can be traced in tablets recording wooden chariot parts; moreover, I have not yet been able to identify an allocation of wood, as a raw material, for the manufacture of a chariot part in the Nuzi documents. 3.4 Iškaru in Documents Related to Chariots and Military Equipment in Nuzi For the chariots, it should be noted that a number of attestations of the word iškaru are in fact documents of secondary type, i.e. not directly related to the manufacture process itself, but written by scribes when iškaru chariots (finished objects, which were apparently luxury and/or ceremonial items) were given to foreign officials160. This type of text is, of course, of less use for our present study; they mainly record the chariots as outgoing goods, as on HSS XV 87 or AASOR XVI 83 (both from Room N120 of the palace). 3.4.1 An Elliptic (and Incomplete?) Documentation In general, the Nuzi texts related to military equipment offer much more information on the iškaru procedure than their Mycenaean counterparts on ta-ra-si-ja. However, a document such as HSS XVI 441 shows that, just as in the case of KN So(2) 4442, a single text can give us an insight into an important aspect of the procedure not otherwise documented in the preserved tablets. KN So(2) 4442, by scribe 131, found in the Arsenal, is the only document preserved related to the ta-ra-si-ja in the field of wheel manufacture. It records a wheel that has not been delivered, from last year’s ta-ra-si-ja161: KN So(2) 4442 (131, L) .a ] o-pe-ro , .b ]-ja , / a-mo-te , pe-ru-si-nu-wa , / ta-ra-si-ja rota ⟦ẒẸ⟧ 1 Probably same tablet as Xf 4472 (if so, read: se-to[-]ị-ja…). »se-to-i]-ja (place-name), wheels, still due from last year’s ta-ra-si-ja wheel ⟦P̣ẠỊṚ⟧ 1« We owe this record to the fact that, at the time of the destruction which burnt and preserved the KN So tablets, one wheel was still due (o-pe-ro, ophelos, alph. Greek ὄφελος162) from the previous year’s ta-ra-si-ja by the people of se-to-i-ja. Based on this single tablet, we get a glimpse into the application of the ta-ra-si-ja to wheel production, on an annual basis, just as in the field of textile manufacture. It has been assumed by a number of scholars that this record was only the tip of the iceberg, namely, that the extent of the ta-ra-si-ja was not limited to wheel manufacture. Different criteria have been put forward in order to suggest the potential extent of the system in this field of production: documents belonging to the same series, found at the same findspot or

156

157

158 159 160 161

162

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According to CAD, ampannu would designate a rudimentary agricultural tool, which would explain why it is delivered along with wood; CAD indicates at the end of this rubric that ampannu is measured by ›wagon load‹. Mayer 1978, 93 speaks of ›ampannu Holz‹ and Schneider-Ludorff 2002, 119 n. 28 seems to suggest that it might have been a kind of ›Brennholz‹. See, recently, Richter 2013, 20. Mayer 1978, 133. Cf. also Richter 2013, 92, s.v. e/iwri. On the secondary palaces in the kingdom of Arraphe, see Fincke 1993, 417; Lion, in press. In particular to people from Hanigalbat. On these texts, see e.g. Lion 2008, 72 with bibliography. On this text, see e.g Lejeune 1968, 24; Duhoux 1976, 73 f.; Killen 2001, 163–165; Nosch 2006, 162. The indication of the ›pair‹, ZE for dzeugos has been erased by the scribe. o-pe-ro, alph. Greek ὄφελος. On this term, see Lamberterie 1992.

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sharing the same scribal hand163; J. T. Killen suggests that »the term ta-ra-si-ja on So(2) 4442 is descriptive of much if not all the production which is described (or whose results are recorded) in the S- series«164. In any case, this Knossos text might find an interesting analogy in the fragmentary Nuzi record HSS XVI 441165, which indicates that the d/tutiwa166 recorded on l. 4 of the recto constitute an iškaru that has not been fulfiled (iškaru ša lā ipšu, l. 11, on the verso). Another Knossos tablet records wheels still due to the administration: KN So(2) 4446, also by the hand of scribe 131, but without the word ta-ra-si-ja. KN So(2) 4446+5977 (131, L) .1 a-mo-ṭạ[ / e-]ri-ka , o-da-ke-we-ta rota ZE 6 ̣2 ̣[ ] MO rota[ 1 .2 ⟦ to[ ] ⟧ o-pe-ro rota ZE 16 [ lat. inf. rota The mentions of de-do-me-na, dedomenai in wheel records might also be understood as indications of regular deliveries – this time already made (cf. KN So 4429, 4440, 4441)167. 3.4.2 Allocations of Raw Materials to Craftsmen for the Manufacture of Military Equipment (with or without Mention of their iškaru) Not all documents recording allocations of raw materials for the manufacture of military equipment explicitly mention the term iškaru, even for items which are, at a later technical and/or administrative stage, clearly recorded as produced under the iškaru. As already mentioned, I have not been able to identify records of allocations of wood to craftsmen for the manufacture of chariots168. Wood must have been provided, at least in some cases, as a raw material, since wooden objects other than chariots are delivered as iškaru. However, allocations of other raw materials, such as reeds (for arrows), and wool and leather (for chariots and chariot parts, or for protective equipment), are quite often recorded with, but also without the word iškaru. Some of the wool allocations for chariots and chariot equipment are found in documents recording mostly textile items and garments: this is the case, for example, for types of blankets/covers used with horses and chariots (see below). No parallel for this kind of iškaru deliveries is known from Linear B texts related to military equipment. 3.4.2.1 Reeds and Materials for Arrows and Bows A number of Nuzi texts record allocations of reeds for the manufacture of arrows, as for example HSS XIII 99, from Room M79 of the palace, without iškaru:

163

164 165 166

167 168

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Duhoux 1976, 95 considers that ta-ra-si-ja applies to all documents belonging to the KN So series, even if not written by the hand of scribe 131. The So series is subdivided in two sets, So(1), by Hand 130, and So(2), by Hand 131. Six of the So tablets are not attributed to a scribal hand (So 894, 1053, 4435, 5789, 8251, and 8561). So 4447 is tentatively attributed to Hand 129 (?). The extension of the ta-ra-si-ja system to the So(1) set would add ten records to our list; the extenstion to So(2) would add eight tablets to the one effectively recording the word ta-ra-si-ja in the series. Duhoux considers even the extension to the other two series of documents unearthed in the same ›bureau‹ L, namely Sd and Sf documents. He states in particular that the three documents So 4433, 4438 and 4446 can hardly be separated from So(2) 4442. Killen 2001, 165. The findspot of this record is apparently unknown. For a transliteration of the text, see p. 131 of HSS XVI. The d/tutiwa can be either a kind of breast-plate, or a part of the harness; in the second case, they are often associated with the reins (ašatu) and are understood as a belly band. Cf. Kendall 1975, 183–187. Lejeune 1968, 24 suggests that this would refer to an a-pu-do-si, apudosis, alph. Greek ἀπύδοσις. Despite the indication provided by Kendall 1975, 208 that »various kind of woods were also provided by the state to certain craftsmen so that in fulfillment of their their iškaru duties they could manufacture wooden objects such as furniture, weapons, and chariot parts«.

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ll. 1–3: [x +] 5 li-mi 4 ma-at GI.MEŠ šu-ú-le-e a-na šu-ku-du [a]-na [e-pè-ši] »5400+ šulu reeds for arrows, in order to manufacture them«169 However it appears clearly in records related to the deliveries of arrows, meaning that at least some of the arrows were manufactured under the iškaru170. Moreover, Middle Assyrian texts attest allocations of raw materials such as glue and sinews/ tendons to bowmakers for their iškaru work171. The text MARV 3.46 records what might be sets of horns, as well as important quantities of glue and tendons allocated to bowyers in order to manufacture 500 bows which are their iškaru work assignment172; the document is all the more interesting for comparisons with Linear B texts since, as already mentioned, the first entry on this part of the tablet may have recorded a number of sets of horns173. In his recent book, J. N. Postgate offers the following transliteration and translation of the relevant part of the tablet (rev. L. 4’–13’): MARV 3.46 .1 PAB-ma 3 ME 75 NÍG.LÁ pu-[x (x x)] .2 3 GÚ.UN 29 MA.NA ŠE.Š[EN] .3 1 GÚ.UN 54 MA.NA gi-[du] (seal impression) .4 ša É.GAL-lim ša ŠU I dsa-˹ma?-nu-ḫa˺-[SAG] .5 AGRIG i+na UGU 8 ÉRIN.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ .6 LÚ.ZADIM BAN.MEŠ a-na GIŠ.GÀR-šu-nu .7 ša 5 ME BAN.MEŠ a-na-e-pa-še .8 ta-ad-na-áš-šu-nu .9 e-pu-u id-du-nu .10 tup-pu-šu-nu i-ḫap-pi-[u] (seal impression) »(l. 1) In total: 375 sets of h[orn(?)] (l. 2) 3 talents 29 minas of g[lue] (l. 3) 1 talent 54 minas of ten[dons]. (l. 4) Of the palace, in the charge of Samanuha-[ašared], (l. 5) the steward, owed by 8 men, Chief Bowyers. (l. 6) For manufacturing their work-assignment (l. 7) of 500 bows (l. 8) it is issued to them. (l. 9) They shall manufacture (them), deliver them, (l. 10) (and then) may break their tablet« It is interesting to note that the Nuzi texts also record allocations of copper for the arrowheads, as on a partly-broken text which does not seem to include iškaru (HSS XIV 227, ll. 3–5: 1 MA. NA URUDU.MEŠ a-na KAK.TAG.GA ša a-na ke2-el-du-uh-le, »1 mina of copper for the arrowheads that (are given?) to the bowmakers«)174. When it comes to metals used to manufacture different types of objects in Nuzi, it is interesting to note that more than 1000 metal artefacts were brought back to Harvard by the excavators, eight of which were submitted to analyses in order to determine their composition175. A recent study of the composition of metal objects showed that even though the texts mention both copper and bronze arrowheads, all the arrowheads analysed

169

170 171 172 173

174 175

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See also HSS XIII 100. HSS XIII 103. HSS XIII 116 etc. Negri Scafa 1995, 55 gives a list of the references with their findspots. See, e.g., HSS XIV 221. Cf. Postgate 2014, 172. On this text see Postgate 2014, 160 with transliteration and translation. The logogram *151 corn (𐂠), attested on the Mc fiscal tablets from Knossos, has been identified as horns from ›agrimi‹ goats by A. Evans (1935, 833) and interpreted as material used for the manufacture of composite bows. On the commodities recorded in the Knossos Mc tablets (which with the exception of two tablets were unearthed in the Arsenal), see Melena 1972; Perna 1996; 2004. On this designation for bowmakers, see above p. 211 and n. 79. Shortland et al. 2008, 219. See also ibidem 220 on the textual data related to metals and objects made of metal in Nuzi. The authors of the study have recently analysed 25% of the artefacts kept in the Harvard Semitic Museum and conclude that the majority of them are bronze or copper (Shortland et al. 2008, 227). They suggest that the objects

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to date are made of copper176. The same kind of discrepancy arises for armour plates: all those described by the tablets are of copper, while the corresponding artefacts analysed are of bronze177. 3.4.2.2 Wool Allocations of wool for chariots are found both with178 and without the indication of the word iškaru179. Chariot parts made from wool include elements for harnessing the horses (dutiwa180, ašatu, which are also made from leather), covers for the chariot (iškušhu, puraku) and for the horses (paraššannu181) and chariot parts more or less well-identified (suppu182). Allocations of wool for military items appear both in the Šilwa-Teššup and in the palace archives. HSS XV 208, from the Šilwa-Teššup archive, records four different allocations of wool, three of which are in relation with iškaru (all three concern the same quantity, 3 minas)183. The first one (ll. 1–4) is meant for the d/turāu184, for the iškaru of a chariot and is received by an individual named Du-ul-du-ka4; the second (ll. 5–8) is an allocation of wool qualified as ›u-[pasa-na du-r]a-sa-a-na‹, also for the iškaru of a chariot185, and received by Kupasa, who is known as a leather worker dealing with chariots; the third, (ll. 9–12) is meant for the manufacture of two gurpisu and given to Hutip-Tilla. HSS XIII 288, a text from Room L2 of the palace, records wool for a number of textile items, including an iškušhu for a chariot (l. 6) and specifies, on ll. 10–11, 18 na-ri-i 2 ku-duk-ti ù [x x x] SÍG a-na iš-ka-ri-[šu], »18 nariu 2 kuduktu and [?] of wool for [his] iškaru«, which implies that the manufacture of the iškušhu, which is a kind of cover used with chariots, was made under the iškaru. With or without iškaru, the manufacture of textile items linked with chariots is often recorded on texts listing textiles. 3.4.2.3 Leather Leather/hides are regularly allocated for the manufacture of military equipment, with or without iškaru. To give a few examples, they are used for the manufacture of the harness (along with wool), for the reins [ašatu] and the belly-band [du-ti-wa]), for the chariot floor (nakbasu186), but

176 177 178 179

180 181

182 183

184 185 186

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recently analysed represent only a small proportion of the arrowheads, and a possible explanation would be that bronze arrowheads might have been of a different form than those of copper. Shortland et al. 2008, 227. Shortland et al. 2008, 228. HSS XV 208. HSS XIII 227, l. 9: 9 MA.NA SÍGMEŠ a-na ṣí-me-ed-d[ú ha-a]l-wa-at-hu, »9 minas of wool for the yoke [made of halwatru wood]« (most probably for padding the wood in order to protect the horse’s back). On this document, the word iškaru is indeed recorded by the scribe, but on l. 7, at the end of a first section of the text, which is separated from the following rubrics of the record by a line drawn between l. 8 and l. 9 of the text. We should thus consider that iškaru does not apply to the wool quantity allocated for the yoke. HSS XV 213, l. 5, with a quantity of wool for the manufacture of a set of plaited dutiwa for horses. According to Kendall 1981, 242 the word designates a thick blanket for the horse, serving as armour or as »undergarment for an armoured pad«. It is manufactured with hair, and regularly listed along with pieces of armour. On this word, see also Richter 2013, 298 f. Cf. CAD S, 394, s.v. suppû B. The fourth allocation (ll. 13–16) is also of three minas of wool. The corresponding lines are not easy to read on the cuneiform copy; the allocation seems to be intended for buying something (a-na ši-im) but the object of the transaction is not legible. In any case, the recipient in this rubric must be one of the three individuals recorded at the beginning of the tablet, since there are only three names indicated on ll. 17–19, where the people sealing the record are named (NA4 du-ul-du-ka4-a, NA4 ku-pá!-sa-a and NA4 hu-ti-ip-ti[l-la]. Cf. CAD T, s.v. turāu, 484 f. Cf. Kendall 1975, 239. Cf. HSS XV 333 from the archives of Šilwa-Teššup. The text records nine sheepskins, which are allocated ana nakbasu ša GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ, ›for the floor or chariots‹ and received by Kupasa, who also seals the document.

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also of helmets (gurpisu187). HSS XV 196 (ll. 8–9)188 indicates that an aškapu named Kupasa received goatskins »for an iškaru chariot of the šattaktu type«. An allocation of skins for the iškaru189 is also recorded on HSS XV 199, ll. 4–5190. Leather/hide allocations for the iškaru of chariots also appear in a number of documents from the Middle Assyrian period, for example in a text from Tell Sheikh Hamad, listing annual calculations of the liability of a herdsman/shepherd191. The text includes a rubric indicating that »1 hide from an adult cow had been issued to the leatherworker for the work-assignment of a chariot« [a-na GIŠ.GÀR GIŠ.GIGIR]. 3.4.2.4 Animal Fat and Oil HSS XIII 142 records a series of allocations of oil for women, but also for horses (l. 11) and for skins (l. 13)192. Two allocations of animal fat (lipu) are recorded, one for chariots (l. 17) and another (l. 19), which reads as follows: 1 MA.NA li-pu-ù a-na iš-ka4-ri-šu / ša mKu-ba-sa na-din, »1 mina of (animal) fat is given for the iškaru of Ku-pa-sa«. Kupasa is a leather worker attested in a number of records related to chariots in the archives of Šilwa-Teššup. Oil was most probably rubbed into wooden parts of the chariots such as wheels for their maintenance. HSS XIII 439, l. 1 records the indication Ì.GIŠ ša GIŠ.MA.GAR = ša magarri, ›oil of the/for the wheels‹193. The text is not related to iškaru and records two quantities still owed by two individuals (ina muh-hi PN ša ašbu). Leather workers are also attested in Linear B texts. The extant texts do not link them explicitly with chariot manufacture; it is known, however, that a number of chariot parts were made of leather, such as, for example, the harness and maybe the box sides, and records of leather have been found together with records of military equipment194. It is also interesting to note that 16 skins dyed in (?) a red colour are recorded on Pylos Ub 1315.1 (di-pte-ra3 e-ru-ta-ra 1˻6[, diphtherai eruthrai), which also includes four mentions of reins (a-ni-ja, hāniai), and are thus items likely to be used with chariots. This mention of dyed skins might be paralleled in the Nuzi record HSS XIV 253, which lists (ll. 1–4) ›23 hašmanu-colored skins for dutiwa‹ (here most probably breast-plates). The colour designated by the word hašmanu seems to be different according to the context; P. Negri Scafa translates the shade designated by hašmanu as red195. However, in many textile records hašmanu is understood a blue-green hue196, e.g. in Mari197 but also in documents from other sites198. In Ugarit, however, the colour designated by the corresponding word pḥm would be bright red199. Mycenaean leatherworkers (wi-ri-ne-we, wrīnēwes) do sometimes receive allocations of olive oil, but mostly without indication of a specific purpose, even though this is not in the ta-ra-si-ja

187

188 189 190 191 192

193 194 195 196

197 198 199

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HSS XV 196, l. 12. Cf. Kendall 1981, 207: seven goatskins are given to make three leather helmets (gurpisu), an interesting indication giving us an approximate idea of the quantity of leather needed for a single helmet. The document was found in A23 and belongs to the Šilwa-Teššup archives (AdŠ 463). At the end of l. 5, the word eš-ka4-r[u3] can be read on the cuneiform copy. Both documents come from the archive of Šilwa-Teššup. Röllig 2008, no. 39, quoted by Postgate 2014, 307. See below for allocations ›for the skins‹ (Myc. de-ma-si, dermasi, alph. Greek δέρμασι) in the Knossos Fh 353 and Fh 5432 oil records. On KN Fh oil records, see Rougemont 2008 with previous bibliography. Kendall 1975, 240; Zaccagnini 1977, 30. In Room 99 of the North-Eastern Building at Pylos Ub 1318 was found which records different types of hides. Negri Scafa 1995, 67 quotes the document as a record of »skins dyed red for the making of tutiwa«. CAD H, s.v. hašmanu, p. 142 considers that the colour indicated by this word is a blue-green hue (well attested in textile records). The text is listed by Mayer 1978 among the palace texts (no. 534), but without indication of room. Durand 2009, 172. See also Richter 2013, 142 s.v. hašmanuhhe. On hašmanu in Nuzi textile and wool records, see Abrahami, in press. Cf. van Soldt 1990, 343 f. on hašmanu and pḥm. See, more recently, Matoïan – Vita, in press (pḥm: ›deep red/fiery red/ruby purple‹).

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system: they appear on KN Fh 5428 (wi-ri-ne-we ole 12 s 1, wrīnēwei) or Fh 5435 (only wi-rine-we preserved). The evidence of Fh 346 relates to a goatherd (a3-ki-pa-ta ole 2[, aigipa(s)tās), and two other texts, Fh 353 (ra-ma-na-de200/de-ma-si ole s 1) and Fh 5432 v. (]de-ma-si ole 2), record allocations ›for the skins‹ (de-ma-si, dermasi)201. The variety of raw materials allocated for the manufacture (with or without iškaru) of military equipment (wood, wool, animal fat, oil and skins) might find a parallel in J. T. Killen’s interpretation of the commodities recorded on the Pylos Ma tablets as materials needed by the palace for the manufacture of military equipment202. 3.4.4 Allocations of Chariot Pieces to be Assembled According to Kendall, who provides a general description of the process203, the manufacture or assemblage of chariots in Nuzi included two main steps: the shaping and assembling of the wooden parts by carpenters (NAGAR/naggāru), and the work done by the leather workers (AŠGAB/ aškapu) on the leather and woollen parts of the chariot. At least part of the process is reflected in one of the most informative documents related to chariot making in Nuzi, HSS XV 202204, which lists the chariot parts given (as well as those not given) to a carpenter who is going to assemble them (without iškaru). It is interesting to note that a Middle Assyrian document from the Tell Billa archives registers a yoke of šakullu wood given to a craftsman for his iškaru (which presumably also consisted in the manufacture of a chariot): Finkelstein 1953, no. 25: .1 ṣi-mi-tu ša GIŠ.ša-ku-li .2 ša ŠU I d30.IBILA.KAM .3 lùha-síh-li uruŠi-[b]a-ni-be .4 IDU10.GA-mil-ki-a-bi DUMU dUTU-ki-nu .5 ša GIŠ.nam-ša-ra-te .6 ša e-kal-lim .7 a-na iš-ka-ri-šu .8 ma-hi-ir »(l. 1) 1 yoke of šaku(l)lu-wood (l. 2) from the hand of Sin-apla-eriš (l. 3) the hasihlu of the city of Šibanibe, (l. 4) Ṭāb-milki-a-bi son of Šamaš-kīnu, (l. 5) from among the implements (l. 6) of the palace, (l. 7) for his iškaru (l. 8) has received«205 In Pylos we do not have records of chariot parts delivered to craftsmen, but one text records the obligation for ›wood cutters‹ (Myc. du-ru-to-mo, drutomoi, alph. Greek δρυτόμοι) to deliver (chariot) axles ›to a wheel workshop‹: PY Vn 10 (AC, H3) .1 o-di-do-si , du-ru-to-mo , .2 a-mo-te-jo-na-de , e-pi-[•]-ta 50 .3 a-ko-so-ne-qẹ̣ 50 .4 to-sa-de , ro-u-si-jo , a-ko-ro , a-ko-so-ne .5 100 , to-sa-de , e-pi-[•]-ta 100

200 201 202

203 204 205

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Place name in the allative form. On these oil allocations, see Rougemont 2008. Killen 2008, 437 f. brings together Pylos Ma tablets and KN Nc 5100 and Nc 8175, with the beginning of the word o-pe[-ro(?) on lat. inf. On raw materials and the ta-ra-si-ja, see also Killen 2001, 171. Kendall 1975, 236 f. 364. On this text see also Zaccagnini 1977, 29 and, more recently, Lion 2008, 75. The scribe then recorded the witnesses and the date (ll. 9–15). Cf. Finkelstein 1953, 129. On this text see also recently Postgate 2014, 275.

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»(l. 1) this is what the woodcutters will give (l. 2) to the wheel workshop, e-pi-[•]-ta 50 (l. 3) and axles 50 (l. 4) so much, ro-u-si-jo a-ko-ro (place-name), axles (l. 5) 100, so much, e-pi[•]-ta 100« 3.4.5 Deliveries of Finished Products to the Administration Records of deliveries made under the iškaru are well known for textiles, both in Linear B (KN Le 642) and in Nuzi texts (e.g. HSS XIV 260). When it comes to wooden objects, a greater variety of objects seems to be delivered to the Nuzi administration under the iškaru. Wagons (GIŠ. MAR.GÍD.DA) are delivered as iškaru: for example, HSS XV 74 from Room R76 of the palace records a number of wagons received from different towns206. The document is partly mutilated but records the word iš-ka4-ri on l. 12. Moreover, the iškaru deliveries can include a variety of wooden objects other than vehicles: HSS XIII 101 records four different types of objects as the iškaru: HSS XIII 101 (palace, Room L14) .1 15 GIŠ.ha-ar-wa-ra-ah-hu .2 22 GIŠ.ku-du-ra-tu4 .3 5 GIŠ.ha-ar-wa-ra-hu-zu .4 21 GIŠ.ga-a-nu .5 iš-kà-ru .6 ša mha-ma-an-na .7 DUMU mtu-ub-ki-ia .8 ša mah-rù »(l. 1) 15 pitchforks (l. 2) 22 (wooden) containers207 (l. 3) 5 pitchforks (l. 4) 21 (wooden) racks (l. 5) iškaru (l. 6) of Hamanna (l .7) son of Tubkia (l. 8) that was received« HSS XIII 315 (from Room L2 of the palace) is also a similar type of record: a series of wooden items is listed208. Ll. 26–29 indicate that this is the iškaru of the town of Nuzi and the forest warders ([an-n]u-tu4 iš-ka4-ru [š]a URU nu-zi ù LÚ.MEŠ [m]a-aṣ-ṣa-ar ša GIŠ.TIR.MEŠ) for a particular month209. The term iškaru is associated with raw materials, chariots and chariot parts. Finally, it is interesting to note that a document from the palace, HSS XV 51, is a receipt for teams of horses delivered as iškaru210: HSS XV 51 (palace, Room N120) 1. 3 ṣi2-mi-it-tu4 2. GIŠ.GIGIR te-hu-uš-šu-ra-an-nu iš-ka4-ru 3. a-na ŠU mwa-an-ti-ia 4. na-ad-nu ________________ 1. NA4 mwa-an-ti-ia

206 207

208 209 210

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Six towns, including Nuzi, which makes the first delivery registered. Containers or boxes might be recorded on a Pylos record, Vn 19, where at least eight different place-names are recorded with a number of sa-pi-de, sarpides if this word is to be understood as meaning ›boxes‹, cf. alph. Greek σαρπίδες. However, the record belongs to a V series (whose characteristic is the absence of logograms), and consists simply in a list of place-names along with the word sa-pi-de and a figure; in any case, it is not a ta-ra-si-ja record. Including harwarahu (ll. 1–6), as on HSS XIII 101, ll. 1 and 3. On this record see Kendall 1975, 207; Zaccagnini 1979, 13. On this document see, e.g., Dosch 1993, 40.

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» (l. 1) 3 teams (l. 2) of tehuššurannu (horses)211, iškaru (l. 3) in the hands of/to Wantia (l. 4) was given (l. 1) seal of Wantia« In the Nuzi texts, iškaru deliveries are often recorded with the names of people, or the towns from which the deliveries came. Geographical indications are not very numerous in the Linear B texts related to chariots and wheels. However, a small number of place-names or ethnonyms are likely to indicate the origin of the items recorded212: ku-do-ni-ja (Khania in Western Crete, where a record of wheels has also been found213) for chariots (cur) on KN Sd 4404; se-to-i-ja on Sd 4407; pa-i-to (Phaistos) for chariots on Sd 4413 and for wheels on So 4448214. As a consequence, it is generally assumed that this particular type of production was less decentralised than that for textiles, and J. T. Killen has concluded that if the KN S- series do indeed record ta-ra-si-ja production, then decentralisation cannot be a defining characteristic of the ta-ra-si-ja215. 3.4.6 Distributions/Allocations of Finished iškaru Products The vehicles described as iškaru-chariots seem to have been luxury items, which were occasionally given to foreign officials on the occasion of religious festivals, as attested by AASOR XVI 83 from Room N120 of the palace. AASOR XVI 83 (Mayer 222) 1. 1 GIŠ.GIGIR i-na 2. iš-ka4-ri 3. ša URU nu-zi 4. a-na LÚ ú-bá-ru-ú-ti 5. ša KUR ha-ni-gal-bat 6. i-na i-sí-ni 7. ki-nu-ni 8. ša URU DINGIR[MEŠ] 9. na-di-na reverse seal 10. [NA4 m] šur-ki-til-la 11. DUMU a-kip-ta-še-en-ni »(l. 1) 1 chariot from (l. 2) the iškaru (l. 3) of the town of Nuzi (l. 4) for ubaru (officials) (l. 5) from Hanigalbat (l. 6) for the festival (l. 7) of the Kinunu (l. 8) of the town of Al-Ilani (= Arrapha) (l. 9) was given (l. 10) seal (of) Šurki-tilla (l. 11) son of Akiptašenni« Other texts of the same type appear in the corpus, such as HSS XV 105, etc. These iškaru-chariots appear in iškaru deliveries, along with more common types of chariots as indicated by HSS XV 87, where one iškaru-chariot with six-spoked wheels (l. 1: 1 GIŠ.GIGIR še-ša-tu iš-ka4-ru), as well as one old chariot with four-spoked wheels (l. 2: 1 GIŠ.GIGIR tù-umna-tù la-bi-ru) are indicated on ll. 3–4 as the iškaru of the town of Nuzi (an-nu-tu4 iš-ka4-re-e iš-tu3 URU nu-zi).

211

212 213 214

215

203_242 Rougemont.indd 226

Cf. Kendall 1975, 321: tehuššurannu is »a type or classification of chariot horses (mistakenly listed under huššurannu in CAD H)«. Lejeune 1968, 23 f. KH Sq 1. Cf. Hallager et al. 1990, esp. 29. The text reads as follows: ]rota ZE 10[, ›ten pairs of wheels‹. On this subject see also Nosch 2006, 174 f. who mostly stresses the fact that unlike the textile ta-ra-si-ja, which is dispersed in numerous small localities in Crete, chariot manufacture takes place in a few second-order centres, and thus more important localities. Killen 2001, 168 f.

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An intriguing aspect of the allocations of military equipment is the records described by P. Negri Scafa as ›short term allocations‹216. Different types of weapons seem to have been allocated by the palace for a short time, after which they were supposed to be returned by the people who had received them. This is the case on HSS XIII 60 for arrows, or on HSS XIV 263B for swords. Finally, HSS XIV 221 records arrows taken from the iškaru (production) of a sasinnu named Unap-Tae and allocated to a third person (Puhišenni, the mayor of a town)217. HSS XIV 221 (palace, Room M89) 1. 5 li-mi GI.MEŠ 2. šu-ku-de4 iš-tu iš-ka4-ri 3. ša a-na mú-nap-ta-e aš-bu 4. a-šar mú-nap-ta-e 5. LÚ ZADIM 6. ù mpu-hi-še-[en]-ni 7. LÚ ha-za-[nu] lower edge .8 ša [URUx x x] v.9 NA4 mpu-hi-še-en-ni »(l. 1) 5000 reeds (l. 2) arrows this is from the iškaru (l. 3) that are for mú-nap-ta-e (l. 4) from / at ú-nap-ta-e (l. 5) the bowmaker (l. 6) and mpu-hi-še-[en]-ni (l. 7) the mayor (l. 8) of the town [of X has received218] (l. v.9) seal of mpu-hi-še-en-ni« It is interesting to note that the Middle Assyrian documentation sometimes offers information on the use made of ›iškaru coats‹, which were, for example, issued by the palace to traders219. m

4. Conclusion This overview and preliminary study of the Nuzi texts related to chariots and weapons, which offer a wealth of details and information sometimes but not always attested in their Linear B counterparts, suggests, first of all, that we are dealing, beyond natural and sometimes very important differences due to geographical distance and the different socio-cultural context of both sets of documentation, with broadly the same types of records of weapons and chariots described, stored and allocated, and in some cases the same types of realia. Secondly, the study shows that various military items were produced in Nuzi under the iškaru, and that in some cases the presence or absence of the word iškaru itself might have been due to the fact that it did not necessarily appear at all stages of the recording process, or possibly in all types of records. If we now return to the Linear B texts, the possibility is confirmed that ta-ra-si-ja might indeed have applied more widely in this field of production than the unique extant text mentioning the word along with wheels, as had been hypothesised in earlier studies of the subject. Perhaps more importantly, it also suggests that the different fields of application of ta-ra-si-ja, which often appear to us (and are consequently studied) as separated thematically (in series of texts with different prefixes) and scattered, both geographically and chronologically among different sites, might in fact have been intertwined. To say this is not to neglect the methodological dangers of

216 217

218

219

203_242 Rougemont.indd 227

Cf. Negri Scafa 1995, 57 f. 62. See also Mayer 1978, 38, text no. 181: »Der Bürgermeister (hazannu) mPuhišenni hat 5000 Pfeile von der Ablieferungsquote des mUnaptae von dem Bogenmacher (LÚ ZADIM) mUnaptae genommen«. The same craftsman also appears in HSS XIV 228 and EN 9/1, 335. On the use made of the production of arrows of Unap-Tae, see also Negri Scafa 1995, 60 f. Faint traces of a verbal form il-qe might be visible in the lacunae (?). In any case, the fact that mpu-hi-še-en-ni sealed the tablet ensures that he has received the items recorded on it. Postgate 2014, 173.

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building a general picture of a procedure based on documents found at different sites and dated to different stages of the 200 years covered by the extant corpus of Mycenaean texts. One wonders in particular if types of textiles or woollen items comparable to those attested in the Nuzi military records might exist, ›hidden‹ so to say, in the Linear B textile series.

Text/series reference

Scribal hand

Logogram/subject

Date

Findspota

H(aghios) V(asileios) Rb 1

e-pi-zo-ta

Ayios Vasileios, deposit pit on the west slope of the second hillb

Pottery dated to LH IIIA2, IIIB and IIIC Earlyc

KN(ossos) Ra 126, 127

pug 𐃉

I3 (NEP)d

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KN R

(–)

sag 𐃇, has𐃆, ZE 𐀽

KN Sc

Scribal group „124“

tun 𐂪, big 𐃌, equ 𐂃

KN Sd

128

KN Se

e

J3 L (Arsenal)f

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

C (Room of the Chariot Tablets)g

End of LM II/IIIA1 (c. 1425 or c. 1400 BC)h

cur 𐃍

L (Arsenal)

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

127

cur 𐃍

I3 (NEP)

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KN Sf

128, 129, (–)

caps 𐃎

L (Arsenal)

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KN Sg

(–)

caps 𐃎, rota 𐃏, by I3 (NEP) pairs ZE 𐀽 (Sg 1811)

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KN Sk

206

gal 𐃃

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KN So

130, 131, (–), 128?, 129?

rota 𐃏; by pairs ZE 𐀽, L (Arsenal) or just one wheel MO𐀗 I3 (NEP)

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KN Sp

(–)

*253 𐃗

L (Arsenal)

LM IIIA2 (c. 1375–1325 BC)

KH(ania) Sq 1i

(–)

rota 𐃏, by pair ZE 𐀽

Pit H

LM IIIA2–IIIB1 (c. 1375–1325 for LM IIIA2 and c. 1325–1250 for LM IIIB1)

TI(ryns) Si 5 (–)

arm (to-ra-ka)

Western Lower Town

LH IIIA2?j (c. 1375–1300 BC)

TI Sl

(–)

rota 𐃏

Lower Town

End of LH IIIB2 (c. 1200 BC)

TI Sm 11

(–)

C̣ẠP ̣Ṣ??

Lower Town

End of LHIII B2 (c. 1200 BC)

PY(los) Sa

Ciii, S287-H26

rota 𐃏, rota+TE, equ Archive Complex; Room 98 (North End of LH IIIB2 (c. 1200 BC) 𐂃, ZE Eastern Building)

PY Sh

S733-Ciii

arm, O, PA

a b c d e f g h i j

I2 (NEP)

Archive Complex

End of LH IIIB2 (c. 1200 BC)

For the findspots of the Knossos tablets see Fig. 3 which shows a map of the palace of Knossos with findspots of Linear B documents. For the Pylos tablets see Fig. 2 which shows a map of the palace of Pylos. Cf. Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012, 43–49. Del Freo 2012, 17 with references. On the Northern Entrance Passage (I3) documents, see also Firth 1999, esp. 51–59. On the links between the Corridor of the Sword Tablets (J3) and the Arsenal (L), see Firth 2002, esp. 250. 255. For a map of the Arsenal (L) with the findspots of tablets and objects such as arrowheads, see Driessen 1996, fig. 2. On the Linear B documents from the Arsenal, see also Firth – Melena 2001. On the Room of the Chariot Tablets (C), see Driessen 1988; 1990; 2000. According to the choice made to follow the high or the low chronology. On the problem of the high and low chronologies in Crete, see Rehak – Younger 2001, esp. 391 tab. 1. Cf. Hallager et al. 1990, 29–32 for the publication of this text. TI Si 5 is a chance find and thus impossible to date (cf. Naumann et al. 1977, 230). However, the results from later excavations seem to indicate that the area was abandoned after LH IIIA2, so that the finds would probably date to this phase. Cf. http://chronique.efa. gr notice 752 by J. Maran.

Tab. 1: The Linear B texts related to chariots and military equipment

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Primary publication

SMN

Other referencea

Findspot

Type of text

AASOR XVI 83

SMN 2058

Mayer no. 222

Palace, N120

Allocation of a chariot

HSS V 1

SMN 1301

Šilwa-Teššup, A34

Text mentioning wheels

HSS XIII 60

SMN 60

Mayer no. 136

Palace, M79

Allocation of arrows

HSS XIII 99

SMN 99

Mayer no. 140

Palace, M79

Allocation of reeds for arrows

HSS XIII 100

SMN 100

Mayer no. 141

Palace, M79

Allocation of reeds for arrows

HSS XIII 101

SMN 101

Mayer no. 78

Palace, L14

Delivery of wooden objects

HSS XIII 103

SMN 103

Mayer no. 142

Palace, M79

HSS XIII 110

SMN 110

Mayer no. 79

Palace, L14

HSS XIII 116

SMN 116

Mayer no. 115

Palace, L29

Allocation of reeds for arrows Receipt for a delivery of wood and vegetal products Allocation of reeds

HSS XIII 142

SMN 142

AdŠ 72

Šilwa-Teššup, A26

Allocations of oil and fat

HSS XIII 227

SMN 227

AdŠ 475

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Receipt for wool

HSS XIII 274

SMN 274

AdŠ 80

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Allocations of wool and oil

HSS XIII 283

SMN 283

AdŠ 510

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

HSS XIII 288

SMN 288

Mayer no. 21

Palace, L2

HSS XIII 315

SMN 315

Mayer no. 23

Palace, L2

Text related to chariot parts and their assemblage Allocation of wool for the manufacture of textiles Receipt for wooden objects

HSS XIII 439

SMN 439

AdŠ 273

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Record of debts of oil

HSS XIV 6

SMN 1499

Mayer no. 119

Palace, L44

Record of textile delivery

HSS XIV 7

SMN 1453

Mayer no. 120

Palace, L44

Record of textiles

HSS XIV 121

SMN 1175

Mayer no. 309

Palace, R49

Receipt for a delivery of textiles

HSS XIV 221

SMN 586

Mayer no. 181

Palace, M89

Allocation of arrows

HSS XIV 227

SMN 908

Mayer no. 157

Palace, M79

Allocation of copper for arrowheads

HSS XIV 239

SMN 601

Mayer no. 46

Palace, L1

HSS XIV 253

SMN 881

Mayer no. 534

Palace, no indication of room

List of (expected?) deliveries of spices/ garden products Receipt for skins

HSS XIV 263B

SMN 842

Mayer no. 535

Allocation of swords

HSS XIV 607 = HSS XIV 260

Palace, no indication of room

SMN 607

Mayer no. 160

Palace, M79

Record of textile deliveries

HSS XV 2

SMN 2030

Mayer no. 236

Palace, N120

Inventory of weapons

HSS XV 17

SMN 800

Mayer no. 421

Palace, R76

Record of weapons and military equipment

HSS XV 18

SMN 2210

Mayer no. 242

Palace, N120

Inspection record for bows

HSS XV 21

SMN 2204

Mayer no. 245

Palace, N120

Record of bows and quivers

HSS XV 37

SMN 2228

Mayer no. 256

Palace, N120

Inspection record for bows

HSS XV 51

SMN 2235

Mayer no. 264

Palace, N120

Delivery of horses

HSS XV 74

SMN 1050

Mayer no. 424

Palace, R76

Record of wagons

HSS XV 78

SMN 2231

Mayer no. 271

Palace, N120

Inspection record for chariots

HSS XV 87

SMN 2209

Mayer no. 276

Palace, N120

Delivery of chariots

HSS XV 92

SMN 715

AdŠ 652

Contract for the manufacture of a chariot

HSS XV 98

SMN 1812

Mayer no. 546

Šilwa-Teššup, A26 Palace, no indication of room

HSS XIV 260 cf. HSS XIV 607

Statement related to a delivery of wood

Tab. 2: The Nuzi texts quoted in this contribution

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Françoise Rougemont

Primary publication

SMN

Other referencea

Findspot

Type of text

HSS XV 105

SMN 2205

Mayer no. 288

Palace, N120

Allocation of a chariot

HSS XV 159

SMN 1507

Mayer no. 556

Palace, no room number

Delivery of textiles

HSS XV 171

SMN 781

Mayer no. 123

Palace, L44

Delivery of textiles

HSS XV 195

SMN 795

AdŠ 464

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Allocation of skins for military equipment

HSS XV 196

SMN 713

AdŠ 463

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Allocation of skins for military equipment

HSS XV 199

SMN 1277

AdŠ 467

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Allocation of skins

HSS XV 202

SMN 1257

T19

List of chariot parts provided to a carpenter

HSS XV 208

SMN 1800

AdŠ 476

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Allocations of wool for chariots and gurpisu

HSS XV 212

SMN 681

AdŠ 482

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Receipt of wool

HSS XV 213

SMN 692

AdŠ 479

Šilwa-Teššup, A23

Receipt of wool

HSS XV 305

SMN 2232

Mayer no. 297

Palace, N120

Record of horses and chariots

HSS XVI 441

SMN 1504

Findspot unknown

Record of a missing delivery of military equipment

Tehip-tilla, Room 13

Letter of the king

JEN 494 a

References to Mayer and text no. refer to the catalogue of texts from the palace. Cf. Mayer 1978. AdŠ and text no. refer to the list of texts from the Šilwa-Teššup archives, published or to be published by G. Wilhelm. Cf. Wilhem 1980; 1985; 1992.

Tab. 2 continued: The Nuzi texts quoted in this contribution

Fig. 2: Map of the palace of Pylos (after Darcque 2005a, plan 112: courtesy of P. Darcque)

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Fig. 3: Map of the palace of Knossos with findspots of Linear B documents (after Olivier 1967, 21: courtesy of J.-P. Olivier)

Fig. 4: Map of the palace of Nuzi (after Starr 1937, plan no. 13)

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Plath 1994 R. Plath, Der Streitwagen und seine Teile im frühen Griechischen. Sprachliche Untersuchungen zu den mykenischen Texten und zum homerischen Epos (Nürnberg 1994) [non vidi]. Plath 1996 R. Plath, Zur Terminologie des frühgriechischen Streitwagens, in: E. De Miro – L. Godart – A. Sacconi (eds), Atti e memorie del secondo congresso internazionale di micenologia, Roma–Napoli, 14–20 ottobre 1991, Incunabula Graeca 98 (Rome 1996) 421–428. Postgate 1974 J. N. Postgate, Taxation and Conscription in the Assyrian Empire (Rome 1974). Postgate 1979 J. N. Postgate, Assyrian Documents in the Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, Assur 2/4, 1979, 93–107. Postgate 1992 J. N. Postgate, Trees and Timber in the Assyrian Texts, Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 6, 1992, 177–192. Postgate 2010 J. N. Postgate, The Debris of Government: Reconstructing the Middle Assyrian State Apparatus from Tablets and Potsherds, Iraq 72, 2010, 19–38. Postgate 2014 J. N. Postgate, Bronze Age Bureaucracy: Writing and the Practice of Government in Assyria (Cambridge 2014). Rehak – Younger 2001 P. Rehak – J. Younger, Neopalatial, Final Palatial, and Postpalatial Crete, in: T. Cullen (ed.), Aegean Prehistory: A Review, AJA Suppl. 1 (Boston 2001) 383–465. Richter 2004 Th. Richter, Der Streitwagen im Alten Orient im 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. – eine Betrachtung anhand der keilschriftlichen Texte, in: M. Fansa – S. Burmeister (eds), Rad und Wagen. Der Ursprung einer Innovation. Wagen im Vorderen Orient und Europa (Mainz 2004) 507–514. Richter 2013 Th. Richter, Bibliographisches Glossar des Hurritischen (Wiesbaden 2013). Röllig 2008 W. Röllig, Land- und Viehwirtschaft am unteren Habur in mittelassyrischer Zeit, Berichte der Ausgrabung Tell Seh Hamad/Dur-Katlimmu 9 (Wiesbaden 2008). Rougemont 2008 F. Rougemont, Les enregistrements d’huile de la serie Fh de Cnossos. Essai d’interprétation et de comparaison avec les données du bureau de l’huile à Mari, in: A. Sacconi – M. Del Freo – L. Godart – M. Negri (eds), Colloquium Romanum. Atti del XII colloquio internazionale di micenologia, Roma, 20–25 febbraio 2006 (Pisa 2008) Pasiphae 1, 669–689. Rougemont 2011 F. Rougemont, Oil at Nuzi and in the Linear B Tablets: A First Step towards a Comparative Study, UF 43, 2011, 345–410. Rougemont, in press F. Rougemont, Les allocations de laine à Nuzi et dans le monde égéen, in: Palatial Economy in the Ancient Near East and in the Aegean: First Steps towards a Comprehensive Study and Analysis. ESF Exploratory Workshop Convened by Pierre Carlier and Francis Joannes, Sèvres (France), September 17–18, 2010 (in press). Rougemont – Vita 2010 F. Rougemont – J. P. Vita, Les enregistrements de chars à Ougarit et dans le monde mycénien: approche comparative sur l’administration au Bronze récent, in: W. H. van Soldt (ed.), Society and Administration at Ancient Ugarit. Papers Read at a Symposium in Leiden, 13–14 December 2007, PIHANS 114 (Leiden 2010) 123–150. Ruijgh 1967 C. J. Ruijgh, Études sur la grammaire et le vocabulaire du grec mycénien (Amsterdam 1967).

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Ruijgh 1979 C. J. Ruijgh, Faits linguistiques et données externes relatifs aux chars et aux roues, in: E. Risch – H. Mühlestein (eds), Colloquium Mycenaeum. Actes du sixième colloque international sur les textes mycéniens et égéens tenu à Chaumont sur Neuchâtel du 7 au 13 septembre 1975 (Neuchâtel 1979) 207–220. Sakellariou 1968 A. Sakellariou, Un cratère en argent avec scène de bataille provenant de la IVème tombe de Mycènes, in: Atti e memorie del 1° congresso internazionale di micenologia, Roma, 27 settembre – 3 ottobre 1967, Incunabula Graeca 25 (Rome 1968) 262–265. Schneider-Ludorff 2002 H. Schneider-Ludorff, Das Mobiliar nach den Texten von Nuzi, in: D. I. Owen – G. Wilhelm (eds), Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians 12. General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 10/3 (Bethesda 2002) 115–150. Schon 2011 R. Schon, By Appointment to his Majesty the Wanax: Value-Added Goods and Redistribution in Mycenaean Palatial Economies, AJA 115, 2011, 219–227. Shelmerdine – Bennet 1995 C. W. Shelmerdine – J. Bennet, Two New Linear B Documents from Bronze Age Pylos, Kadmos 34, 1995, 123–136. Shelmerdine – Bennet 2008 C. W. Shelmerdine – J. Bennet, Economy and Administration, in: C. W. Shelmerdine (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge 2008) 289–309. Shortland et al. 2008 A. Shortland – K. Eremin – S. Kirk – J. A. Armstrong, Reassessing Bronze Age Manufacturing Technologies at Nuzi, Materials Research Symposium Proceedings 1047, 2008, 217–232. Smith 1995 J. S. Smith, The Pylos Jn Series, Minos 27/28, 1992/93 (1995), 167–259. Starr 1937 R. F. S. Starr, Nuzi 2. Plates and Plans (Cambridge, MA 1937). Starr 1939 R. F. S. Starr, Nuzi 1 (Cambridge, MA 1939). van de Mieroop 1992 M. van de Mieroop, Wood in Old Babylonian Texts, Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 6, 1992, 147–153. van Soldt 1990 W. H. van Soldt, Fabrics and Dyes at Ugarit, UF 22, 1990, 321–357. Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979 F. Vandenabeele – J.-P. Olivier, Les idéogrammes archéologiques du linéaire B, Études crétoises 24 (Paris 1979). Ventris – Chadwick 1956 M. Ventris – J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek (Cambridge 1956). Ventris – Chadwick 1973 M. Ventris – J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek ²(Cambridge 1973). Villard 1986 P. Villard, Un roi de Mari à Ugarit, UF 18, 1986, 387–412. Vita 1995 J. P. Vita, El ejército de Ugarit, Banco de Datos Filológicos Semíticos Noroccidentales, Monografías 1 (Madrid 1995). Vita 2008 J. P. Vita, Le char de guerre en Syrie et Palestine au Bronze récent, in: Ph. Abrahami – L. Battini (eds), Les armées du Proche-Orient ancien (IIIe–Ier mill. av. J.-C.). Actes du colloque international organisé à Lyon les 1er et 2 décembre 2006, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, BARIntSer 1855 (Oxford 2008) 57–70.

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Watson 2004 W. G. E. Watson, A Botanic Snapshot of Ugarit. Trees, Fruit, Plants and Herbs in the Cuneiform Texts, AulaOr 22, 2004, 107–155. Wilhelm 1970 G. Wilhelm, Untersuchungen zum Hurro-Akkadischen von Nuzi, AOAT 9 (Neukirchen-Vluyn 1970). Wilhelm 1980 G. Wilhelm, Das Archiv des Šilwa-Teššup. Heft 2: Rationen Listen 1 (Wiesbaden 1980). Wilhelm 1985 G. Wilhelm, Das Archiv des Šilwa-Teššup. Heft 3: Rationen Listen 2 (Wiesbaden 1985). Wilhelm 1992 G. Wilhelm, Das Archiv des Šilwa-Teššup. Heft 4: Darlehenurkunden und verwandte Texte (Wiesbaden 1992). Zaccagnini 1977 C. Zaccagnini, Pferde und Streitwagen in Nuzi: Bemerkungen zur Technologie, JberVgFrankf, 1977, 21–38. Zaccagnini 1979 C. Zaccagnini, The Rural Landscape of the Land of Arraphe (Rome 1979).

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Administrative Developments at Iklaina C y n t h i a W. S h e l m e r d i n e Abstract: The site of Iklaina in western Messenia is likely to be identified with the second-order centre a-pu2-we, named in the Linear B tablets of Pylos as a district capital in the Hither Province. The discovery of a Linear B tablet at Iklaina in 2010, by the Iklaina Archaeological Project, brings this site to the forefront of discussions about Mycenaean literacy and the interactions between palace and districts. Additionally, the context of the tablet is provisionally put at LH IIB–IIIA2 Early, making it the earliest tablet from the Greek mainland. This paper discusses the evolution of relations between Iklaina and the palatial centre at Pylos during the late Bronze Age, based on recent work at the site. It includes for comparison the evidence from Nichoria, likely the Further Province district capital ti-mi-to-a-ke-e.

The hilltop site of Iklaina lies about 6 km southeast of the Palace of Nestor, as the crow flies (Fig. 1). Google Maps makes the distance about 9 km by road, a little under 2 hours walk. The Iklaina Archaeological Project (IKAP), directed by Prof. Michael Cosmopoulos, has been conducting excavations here since 2008 (a few preliminary trenches were opened in 2006) under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Athens1. Iklaina is the largest site in its immediate area, and rich in Mycenaean finds. For these reasons it is very likely to have been one of the district capitals of the Hither Province of the state of Pylos. For geographical reasons we believe it was a-pu2-we, which lies between pa-ki-ja-na and a-ke-re-wa on the standard list of nine Hither Province towns2. The Pylos tablets give us only a little information about a-pu2-we. It was grouped for tax purposes with the two adjacent districts, and their assessments were in the middle bracket; their neighbours to the north contributed more, and those to the south less. Bronze working went on at a-pu2-we, as we know both from PY Jn 693 and from the tax exemption for smiths on PY Ma 123. Five cult personnel (da-ko-ro, dakoroi perhaps temple servants) were also located there (PY An 427). These indications all refer to the end of LH IIIB, the date of the Pylos destruction and thus of the tablets. The working of bronze at the site has not yet been confirmed by excavation, but there is good evidence for religious activity. The clearest signs are several offering tables, and a pit in which conical cups, kylikes, and burnt animal bones were found. Most of this material dates to LH II–early IIIA; excavation so far has focused on the southern part of the site, where these periods are better represented than LH IIIA2–B. However, a number of figurines and rhyta point to religious activity in these later phases also. The project results already give some idea of the history of settlement at Iklaina, and some clues about how relations between Iklaina and Pylos developed during the Late Mycenaean period. The first phase of occupation on this part of the hill dates to Middle Helladic I. Phase 2 followed after a burning destruction; it began during Middle Helladic II and continued into the early part of LH IIIA2. The site grew during this time, producing substantial amounts of LH II– IIIA1 material from successive buildings in the north and especially the south excavation sectors (Fig. 2). All these buildings are oriented on a northwest-southeast axis; we refer to this as the ›skewed phase‹. A second burning destruction brought this phase to a close. Subsequent construction in Phase 3 is seen mainly in the northern sector, and on a different orientation, closely aligned with

1

2

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Excavation reports in Cosmopoulos 2013; 2014; in press and online at www.iklaina.org. I thank Michael Cosmopoulos for information and for permission to discuss the site in this paper. Hope Simpson 1981, 147; Bennet 1999, 147; Cosmopoulos 2006.

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Fig. 1: Map of the Mycenaean state of Pylos (Courtesy of Dan Davis)

the points of the compass; we call this the ›cardinal phase‹. Building Gamma was built and then remodelled within LH IIIA2, and more structures were added to this northern area in LH IIIA2– IIIB. The Mycenaean occupation at Iklaina came to an end by the end of LH IIIB. There is evidence of fire in several areas, though not, at least so far, a clear site-wide fire destruction. Most of the associated rubble from fallen walls is unburnt. Iklaina was clearly an important Mycenaean settlement in the earlier, skewed Mycenaean phase. In the northern sector, Buildings Alpha and Beta belong to this phase, but they are only partially excavated, and their use is not clear. In the southern sector, several multi-phase buildings have been uncovered, with material from LH I but mainly LH II to LH IIIA1 in date. Finds include both fine and domestic pottery, figurines, and fresco fragments. Among these are a ship scene and parts of two women, themes paralleled at the Palace of Nestor. Just north of these buildings and on the same orientation lies a massive Cyclopean terrace, measuring 23 m × 8 m. It was constructed of large limestone blocks and must have supported a substantial building. Because of its size and orientation, our original assumption was that this was the location of the administra-

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Fig. 2: Plan of Iklaina, 2011 (Courtesy of Michael Cosmopoulos and Michael Nelson)

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Fig. 3: Plan of Iklaina, north excavation sector, 2011 (Courtesy of Michael Cosmopoulos and Michael Nelson)

tive centre during the skewed phase. As will be discussed below, however, it belongs instead to the cardinal phase. One of the first constructions of the cardinal phase at Iklaina was Building Gamma (Fig. 3). In its initial phase, in LH IIIA2, it had an axial arrangement and took the form of a small megaron. In Room 3 was an oval hearth, framed by four flat slabs of stone serving as column supports. Still within LH IIIA2, however, the function of the building evidently changed. Room 3 was subdivided by two poorly built cross-walls, and a row of small storage rooms (Rooms 4–7) was constructed along the south side of the building. Two drains originating in Room Gamma 8 suggest that the larger rooms to the southeast had an industrial use of some kind. Similarly Building Epsilon, also a construction of the cardinal phase, has a drain emanating from one room. These smaller drains discharged into the larger Drain α; all three cut into Room Beta 2, but Drain α skirted the northeast corner of Room Beta 1. These drains moved water off site and down the hill to the west. The new construction and the addition of drains indicate that during the course of the cardinal phase, this northern sector became increasingly utilitarian. While the megaron was never monumental, its remodelling likewise suggests a demotion, and a shift from elite to non-elite use of the sector. The early LH IIIA2 destruction that marks the end of Phase 2, and subsequent shift in building orientation in Phase 3, are probably to be connected with the takeover of Iklaina by the ruler of Pylos. This development highlights the question of the date of the Cyclopean terrace and the building it supported. As noted above, because of its skewed orientation we thought at first that it belonged to Phase 2, and that the building it supported was the residence and power centre of

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the Early Mycenaean leader of Iklaina. On that scenario, it would have been destroyed when the Pylians incorporated Iklaina into their state, and reduced its chief to subordinate status. Building Gamma could have replaced it as part of the rebuilding program on a new orientation; the megaron plan typical of power centres would have been suitable for the headquarters of a district governor (ko-re-te, korētēr) in the state hierarchy. On that theory, however, it was difficult to explain why the megaron was so soon remodelled and the building turned into a more utilitarian kind of structure. Pottery from soundings performed on the terrace foundations in 2011 and 2012, however, gives proof that the terrace was not built until the end of LH IIIA2/beginning of LH IIIB, well into the cardinal phase. A few ashlar blocks found near the terrace presumably came from the building it supported. In his study of architectural development at the Palace of Nestor, Nelson found that ashlar construction was used for exterior walls of important buildings there during LH IIIA3. At Iklaina, though, the use of ashlar cannot indicate which phase the Cyclopean terrace building belonged to, since the transition from skewed to cardinal phase took place during this ceramic period. Nevertheless, a construction date in LH IIIA2 would be in keeping with both the ashlar blocks and the ceramic evidence. The skewed orientation of the terrace in any case follows the direction of the hill slope. In light of the revised dating, the short-lived megaron Gamma was perhaps the first administrative headquarters under palatial rule, as part of the new settlement plan. The construction of the terrace and the substantial building it supported was a later, more monumental effort, contemporary with industrial developments that changed the character of the northern sector. The shift of the headquarters southward could have been either the cause or the result of those developments. The evidence of settlement history at Nichoria provides an instructive comparison to Iklaina. This site is generally identified as the district centre ti-mi-to-a-ke-e, in the Further Province (Figs. 1. 4)4. Here there was a simple megaron structure, Unit IV-4A in Area IV SE. It was in use only during LH IIIA15, and was oriented NE-SW, skewed to the compass like contemporary buildings at Iklaina. Very few other house plans survive from LH I–IIIA1, but most have the same skewed orientation, including Units IVB and IVC, which underlie Unit IVA6. This megaron subsequently went out of use, and no further building took place where it had stood. LH IIIA2 saw the construction of a new tholos tomb, in Area I, and an expansion of the settlement, which reached its maximum size in LH IIIA2. The common interpretation of these changes has been that Pylian rulers took over control at the end of LH IIIA1, and that they left the settlement without a substantial residential and administrative headquarters7. The excavators did raise another possibility, though: Unit IV-11 in Area IV NW could have served this function during LH IIIA2–B8. Finds that washed down from the area suggest it was a wealthy part of town. Only traces of this building remain, since Mycenaean levels were obscured by erosion and overbuilding. The surviving wall segments, however, indicate a large and well built structure, more than 13 m long, and oriented N–S. As at Iklaina, a considerable amount of construction took place during LH IIIA2–B, and with very few exceptions these new buildings also conform to the Iklaina pattern: they are oriented much nearer to the cardinal points than the

3 4 5 6

7 8

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Nelson 2001, 183–185. Shelmerdine 1981. McDonald – Wilkie 1992, 433–439 (S. E. Aschenbrenner). An exception is Unit IV-13, a single surviving room with pottery mainly of LH IIIA1 date. One set of walls has an orientation angle of 18°, more NNE-SSW than Units IV-4A, B and C. Unit II-7, oriented E-W, may or may not be an exception. It underlies Unit II-6, whose earlier phase is latest LH IIIA2/B, but there are no associated finds to indicate which phase of LH IIIA it belongs to. McDonald – Wilkie 1992, 766 f. (C. W. Shelmerdine); Bennet 1995, 598 f.; 1999, 142 f. McDonald – Wilkie 1992, 432 f. (W. P. Donovan – W. A. McDonald); 460 (V. A. Walsh – W. A. McDonald).

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Fig. 4: Plan of Nichoria Area IV (Courtesy of N. C. Wilkie, after Rapp – Aschenbrenner 1978, 125 fig. 8. 5)

earlier buildings. This distinction was not made in the site publication, but the evidence from Iklaina suggests the shift is not accidental9.

9

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McDonald – Wilkie 1992, 465 states that the general orientation of all buildings is NE-SW. Table 8-1 (p. 463) gives, for one set of parallel walls, the angle of declination from an average orientation of 33° (see p. 435 for explanation). The orientation itself can be derived from this figure. Both phases of the earlier Unit IV-4 are at 55°. In contrast,

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Fig. 5 a. b: Iklaina tablet IK X 1 (Courtesy of Michael Cosmopoulos and George Vdokakis)

These findings from Nichoria and Iklaina challenge the previous view that the Hither Province came under Pylian control earlier than the Further Province10. The skewed phase destruction at Iklaina took place at the end of LH IIIA1/early LH IIIA2, contemporary with or even just later than that at Nichoria. At Nichoria, however, the extant megaron belonged to the earlier period, whereas at Iklaina it was part of the new post-destruction development, under palatial control. A megaron could accommodate elites of various status, including both independent chiefs and district governors. The discovery of a Linear B tablet (Fig. 5 a. b) at Iklaina is another crucial piece of evidence for the administrative development of the settlement11. It is a challenge to the longstanding truism that tablets had been, and would be, found only at palatial sites. The picture of literate administration had already grown more complicated in recent years. Ayios Vasileios in Laconia has produced over 100 fragments of tablets, labels and inscribed nodules12. No canonical megaron has come to light, but the tablets and other finds suggest that the site was an important centre of authority during LH IIIA13. At Mycenae, tablets from the Ivory Houses (West House Group), dating to LH IIIB1, are closely tied to each other and to palatial level administration, though they were found outside the citadel, not within it14. Also external to the citadel are the LH IIIA2 tablets from Petsas House, yet they, and also the ceramic products made there, indicate »palatial interest, if not control« in that period15. The Iklaina tablet is much further removed from a palatial centre. It is inscribed on both sides, a known though not common practice. A list of names appears on the recto (Fig. 5 a): ra-tu-ko in line 1 is followed by the number 1, and a second name is partly preserved on line 2. The verso (Fig. 5 b) begins with a perfect participle, ]ko-wo-a. The beginning of the verb is missing, but

10 11 12

13 14 15

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nearly all the buildings firmly dated to LH IIIA2–B are oriented either very close to N–S/E–W (II-6; IV-11) or NNE–SSW/NNW–SSE, ranging from 14° to 36° with an average of 26.5° (II-3, 5, 8; III-2, 4, 5, 6; IV-3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12). Exceptions: the small room IV-13 with LH IIIA1 pottery is oriented NNE–SSW; the LH IIIB Unit III-3 is oriented NE–SW, but it is very late in the period and is exceptional in having an apsidal plan; the LH IIIB Unit II-4 is oriented NW–SE, one in a series of buildings whose axes seem to converge. See above n. 7. Shelmerdine 2012. According to a presentation held by A. Vasilogamvrou at the 14th Mycenological Colloquium in September 2015 at Copenhagen. My thanks to Adamantia Vasilogamvrou for discussing this topic with me. Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012. Tournavitou 1995; Shelmerdine 1997, 389–394. Shelton 2010, quotation from p. 193.

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the root consonant is a palatal. The closest attested parallel is the neuter plural te-tu-ko-wo-a, tetukhwoa ›fully worked, finished‹ referring to textiles (KN L 871.b) and probably wheels (restored on KN X 7846) at Knossos. A variant te-tu-ko-wo-a2, tetukhwoha describes wheels at Pylos (PY Sa 682). The tablet was found with pottery from the west end of a burned refuse pit south of Drain α, in squares N13a10Θ1-ι1 (Fig. 3). Study of the associated pottery is still under way, but it does not appear to provide a certain date. In our preliminary judgment, much of it is datable only generally to the range LH IIIA–B, but the diagnostic pieces are mostly LH IIB–early LH IIIA2, with some earlier admixture. An early date is supported by the sign forms, several of which have unusual features: 1) ra: The internal element of the ra is s-shaped and either floats or rises from the horizontal; this is seen at Knossos (e.g. Hand 104) but not at Pylos. 2) tu: The incurving looping sides and the short fairly straight stem are unusual. 3) o: The single line for the ›sceptre‹, instead of a loop, is common at Pylos, but the narrow sharply angled top of the ›throne‹ is not; it does appear on PY Xa 1419, one of the four tablets that predates the destruction there (the sceptre element is not preserved on PY Xa 1419)16. 4) wo: the long horizontal extending right from the diagonals is unusual, as is the inverted v above it. 5) a: The horizontal stroke is single and touches the side verticals; a similar form is found at Knossos in the Room of the Chariot Tablets, but it is unusual at Pylos. These features differentiate the Iklaina tablet from the bulk of the (much later) Pylos tablets, as well as those from Mycenae and Thebes. Parallels are either with the earlier Pylos tablet PY Xa 1419, or with Knossos. In my view all the Knossos tablets predate those from Pylos, and may fall within LH IIIA. Those from the Room of the Chariot Tablets are the earliest from that site, no later than early LH IIIA117. Skelton’s phylogenetic analysis of the signs reaches the same conclusion, placing the Iklaina tablet with Pylos Hand 91, the scribe of PY Xa 1419, among the earliest extant tablets, possibly even earlier than the Room of the Chariot Tablets18. An orthographical feature of the Iklaina tablet is also closer to Knossian than to Pylian norms. The participle ]ko-wo-a uses the simple a, sign *08, for the ending -woha, rather than the available variant ha/a2, sign *25. Sign *25 is commonly attested at Pylos, but appears on only six Knossos tablets19. The following examples make the pattern of choice clear: Knossos Pylos ko-a-ta, koatās ko-a2-ta, kohatās ko-ri-ja-do-no, koriandnon ko-ri-a2-da-na, korihandna me-nu-wa, menuwās me-nu-a2, menuhās three times, me-nu-wa, menuwās once pa-we-a, pharwea usual, pa-we-a2, pharweha pa-we-a2, pharweha Scribe 114 qe-te-a, kweitea qe-te-a2, kweiteha te-tu-ko-wo-a, tetukhwoa te-tu-ko-wo-a2, tetukhwoha The palaeography and orthography of the Iklaina tablet thus agree with preliminary study of the archaeological context; all point to a date in LH IIIA1 or early in LH IIIA2, making this the earliest tablet yet known from the Greek mainland. The shift from skewed to cardinal phase took

16

17 18 19

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PY Ae 995, La 994, Xa 1419, Xa 1420; Palaima 1988, 113. PY Xn 1449 has been joined to PY Vn 1339 and no longer forms part of this group. See Melena 1999, 166; Shelmerdine 2012, 76 with nn. 2 and 3. Driessen 2008, 70–72. Skelton 2008; personal communication. Driessen 2000, 117. The distinction is not hard and fast, however, and Driessen notes that a2 at Knossos occurs early, in the Room of the Chariot Tablets.

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place just at this point, in early LH IIIA2. The tablet could thus belong either to the end of the former, or to an early stage of the latter. If the transition does mark the point at which Iklaina became part of the Pylian state, as we believe, the question is crucial. A skewed phase tablet would mean that Iklaina during LH II–IIIA2 Early was an independent centre, whether or not definable as ›palatial‹, of sufficient administrative complexity to use writing. An early cardinal phase tablet would indicate that literate administration in Messenia was not confined to the palatial centre, but extended to second-order centres. The association of known tablets with palatial administration makes the latter possibility more likely, though recent finds, including this tablet, are reminders that it is necessary to keep an open mind. The use of tablets may have been more widespread in LH IIIA, during (or less likely before) the early stages of the Pylos state, but restricted to the palace later on. Alternatively second-order centres might have housed, or at least produced, tablets throughout LH IIIB. Present evidence does not offer an answer; the only other excavated second-order centre in Messenia is Nichoria, and there no burning destruction took place that could have preserved a tablet. Both scenarios are plausible, however. Scribes surely left the palace sometimes; one such occasion may be commemorated on PY Eq 213 from Pylos, if the a-ko-so-ta referred to as being on an inspection tour is himself Hand 1, the writer of the tablet20. Sealings, moreover, were inscribed at their point of origin, and in many cases this was a location other than the palace. In any case, the presence of a tablet at Iklaina attests to a need for writing to keep track of administrative affairs. If the participle is restored as te-tu-]ko-wo-a, ›fully worked, finished‹, as is plausible, the text would be related to manufacturing. However, if the tablet belongs to early LH IIIA2 it would predate the transformation of this part of the site into an industrial area. This change took place later in LH IIIA2, when Drain α and its subsidiaries were added. The Iklaina tablet is an important addition to the discussion on the nature of administration at a second-order centre. On the view that it belongs to the cardinal phase, it indicates that Pylian bureaucracy was already sufficiently complex at an early stage to require written records at the second-order centres it acquired during its consolidation and expansion. As interpreted above, the impact of a palatial takeover is visible also in the layout of these settlements. Both Iklaina and Nichoria undertook new building activity, on a new orientation, when they came under Pylian control. Such findings show how much the exploration of non-palatial settlements has to offer our understanding of Mycenaean states and their development. Bibliography Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012 V. Aravantinos – A. Vasilogamvrou, The First Linear B Documents from Ayios Vasileios (Laconia), in: P. Carlier – C. de Lamberterie – M. Egetmeyer – N. Guilleux – F. Rougemont – J. Zurbach (eds), Études Mycéniennes 2010. Actes du XIIIe colloque international sur les textes égéens, Sèvres, Paris, Nanterre, 20–23 Septembre 2010, Biblioteca di ›Pasiphae‹ 10 (Pisa 2010) 41–54. Bennet 1995 J. Bennet, Space through Time: Diachronic Perspectives on the Spatial Organization of the Pylian State, in: W.-D. Niemeier – R. Laffineur (eds), POLITEIA. Society and State in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 5th International Aegean Conference, University of Heidelberg, Archäologisches Institut, 10–13 April 1994, Aegaeum 12 (Liège 1995) 587–602. Bennet 1999 J. Bennet, The Mycenaean Conceptualization of Space or Pylian Geography (…yet again!), in: S. Deger-Jalkotzy – S. Hiller – O. Panagl (eds), Floreant Studia Mycenaea. Akten des X. Internationalen Mykenologischen Colloquiums in Salzburg vom 1.–5. Mai 1995, Veröffentlichung der Mykenischen Kommission 18 (Vienna 1999) 131–157.

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Bennet 2001, 31; Kyriakidis 1999, 220–224.

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Bennet 2001 J. Bennet, Agency and Bureaucracy in Bronze Age Pylos, in: S. Voutsaki – J. T. Killen (eds), Economy and Politics in the Mycenaean Palace States. Proceedings of a Conference Held on 1–3 July 1999 in the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge (Cambridge 2001) 25–37. Cosmopoulos 2006 M. Cosmopoulos, The Political Landscape of Mycenaean States, AJA 110, 2006, 205–228. Cosmopoulos 2013 M. Cosmopoulos, Ανασκαφή Ίκλαινας Μεσσηνίας, Prakt 2010 (2013), 33–51. Cosmopoulos 2014 M. Cosmopoulos, Ανασκαφή Ίκλαινας Μεσσηνίας, Prakt 2011 (2014), 41–52. Cosmopoulos, in press M. Cosmopoulos, Ανασκαφή Ίκλαινας Μεσσηνίας, Prakt 2012 (in press). Driessen 2000 J. Driessen, The Scribes of the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos. Interdisciplinary Approach of the Study of a Linear B Deposit, Minos Suppl. 15 (Salamanca 2000). Driessen 2008 J. Driessen, Chronology of the Linear B Texts, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B. Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 1, BCILL 120 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2008) 69–79. Hope Simpson 1981 R. Hope Simpson, Mycenaean Greece (Park Ridge, New Jersey 1981). Iklaina website www.iklaina.org (last access 15.10.2015). Kyriakidis 1999 E. Kyriakidis, Some Aspects of the Rôle of Scribes in Pylian Administration, Minos 31/32, 1996/1997 (1999), 201–229. McDonald – Wilkie 1992 W. A. McDonald – N. C. Wilkie (eds), Excavations at Nichoria in Southwest Greece 2: The Bronze Age Occupation (Minneapolis 1992). Melena 1999 J. L. Melena, 40 Joins and Quasi-Joins of Fragments in the Linear B Tablets from Pylos, Minos 31/32, 1996/1997 (1999), 159–170. Nelson 2001 M. C. Nelson, The Architecture of Epano Englianos, Greece (Diss. University of Toronto 2001). Palaima 1988 T. G. Palaima, The Scribes of Pylos, Incunabula Graeca 87 (Rome 1988). Rapp – Aschenbrenner 1978 G. R. Rapp, Jr. – S. E. Aschenbrenner (eds), Excavations at Nichoria in Southwest Greece 1: Site, Environs, and Techniques (Minneapolis 1978). Shelmerdine 1981 C. W. Shelmerdine, Nichoria in Context: A Major Town in the Pylos Kingdom, AJA 85, 1981, 319–325. Shelmerdine 1997 C. W. Shelmerdine, Workshops and Record-Keeping in the Mycenaean World, in: P. Betancourt – R. Laffineur (eds), TEXNH. Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 6th International Aegean Conference, Philadelphia, Temple University, 18–21 April 1996, Aegaeum 16 (Liège 1997) 387–396. Shelmerdine 2012 C. W. Shelmerdine, Iklaina Tablet IK X 1, in: P. Carlier – C. de Lamberterie – M. Egetmeyer – N. Guilleux – F. Rougemont – J. Zurbach (eds), Études Mycéniennes 2010. Actes du XIIIe colloque international sur les textes égéens, Sèvres, Paris, Nanterre, 20–23 Septembre 2010, Biblioteca di ›Pasiphae‹ 10 (Pisa 2012) 75–77.

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Shelton 2010 K. Shelton, Citadel and Settlement: A Developing Economy at Mycenae, the Case of Petsas House, in: D. Pullen (ed.), Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age. Papers from the Langford Conference, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 22–24 February 2007 (Oxford 2010) 184–204. Skelton 2008 C. Skelton, Methods of Using Phylogenetic Systematics to Reconstruct the Linear B Script, Archaeometry 50, 2008, 158–176. Tournavitou 1995 I. Tournavitou, The Ivory Houses at Mycenae, BSA Suppl. 24 (London 1995).

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The Design of Linear B Logograms: Palaeographic Traditions and Visual Inspiration Jörg Weilhartner Abstract: Despite much discussion on the origin and creation of the Linear B script, there is some agreement that Mycenaean Greek Linear B is an adaption/transformation of Minoan Linear A. Along with the large common element among the phonetic characters (i.e. syllabograms) of both scripts, Linear B shares with Linear A a considerable number of logograms. For example, the design of some Linear B logograms denoting basic agricultural commodities and products (figs, olives, wine, wheat and oil) clearly relies on long-standing palaeographic traditions. Their prominence in Linear A (and in Cretan Hieroglyphic as well) seems to have given rise to their incorporation into the logographic repertory of Linear B. Notwithstanding these examples of Linear B logograms that are derived from Linear A antecedents, it is important to note that the number of logograms appearing in both scripts is limited. One reason for the differences in the logographic repertories is the apparent invention of a substantial number of logograms for the Linear B script in order to satisfy the need to record commodities that were attracting the interest of the Mycenaean palatial centres. The majority of these signs are pictorial in nature and allow easy recognition of clearly identifiable objects. Obviously, in the course of creating these new signs the scribes were inspired by pictographic features known from Aegean iconography. However, despite their vivid appearance, these logograms should not be viewed as accurate representations of a given object. Rather, they seem to reflect the concept of the particular item without relying on detailed observation or referring to the actual condition.

There is much discussion on the circumstances for the origin and creation of the Mycenaean Linear B script1. Views differ greatly as to when and where the script was invented. As regards the date of origin of Linear B proposals range chronologically from MM/MH III Early to LM/ LH II–IIIA1. Similar uncertainty prevails over where the script was created. Both Crete and the Greek mainland have been proposed. Among the various sites mentioned Knossos and Mycenae still seem to be the most plausible candidates. In any event, no consensus has been reached by the leading scholars on this subject, and other regions have been suggested too. Furthermore, there has been some speculation on the exact nature of the invention, more specifically, whether it was a single act or a gradual development through individual stages (for which, however, we have no direct evidence). In spite of this considerable disagreement on the origin of the script, there is some acceptance that »Mycenaean Greek Linear B is a transformation of an earlier script, most likely […] Minoan ›x-language‹ Linear A«2. One reason for that view – along with the large common element among the phonetic characters of the two scripts3 – is the considerable number of logograms of

*

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The observations in this paper on logograms rely on the line drawings of the following text editions: for Cretan Hieroglyphic CHIC (= Olivier – Godart 1996), for Linear A GORILA 1–5 (= Godart – Olivier 1976–1985), and for the Linear B tablets from Knossos COMIK 1–4 (= Chadwick et al. 1986–1998). As regards the logograms on the tablets found in the palace of Pylos I used the drawings in Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979. A general overview including much bibliographical data on these questions is given by Palaima 1988, esp. 271– 277. See Olivier 1986, 377 f.; Godart 2005, 98 f.; Melena 2014, 6–10. Palaima 1988, 272. According to Palaima (1988, 321–323) only 16 (out of 87) syllabic signs of the Linear B script have no parallels in Linear A. The reason why Palaima counts 88 Linear B syllabic signs is not entirely clear. Either he takes the syllabograms *34 and *35 as different signs (now recognised as a single sign and transliterated as *34) or he includes syllabogram *89 in his signary (now regarded as one of the numeri deleti). On an up-to-date Linear B signary, see Melena 2014, 12 fig. 17.2.

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Fig. 1: Logograms for figs. a: Linear B (*30/NI on MY Ue 611v.2); b: Linear A (AB 30 on KH 5.4); c: Cretan Hieroglyphic (H *155 on #206)

Jörg Weilhartner

Fig. 2: Logograms for olives. a: Linear B (*122/ oliv on KN E(2) 669.2); b: Linear A (AB 122 on HT 44a.3); c: Cretan Hieroglyphic (H *154 on #122)

the Linear B script that are clearly descendants of corresponding Linear A signs. The logograms for figs (Fig. 1 a. b), olives (Fig. 2 a. b), wine (Fig. 3 a. b), wheat (Fig. 4 a. b) and, with some reservations, olive oil (Fig. 5 a. b) are ranked as among the best examples of this palaeographic tradition4. In addition, these logograms appear in the repertory of the Cretan Hieroglyphic script as well, albeit partly in some altered form (Figs. 1 c; 2 c; 3 c; 4 c; 5 c). These signs, all of which represent basic agricultural commodities and products, are counted among the most frequently attested in Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic. Their prominence in these scripts seems to have given rise to their incorporation into the repertory of the logograms of Linear B5. At any rate, the close resemblance of these signs clearly indicates a genetic relationship between these three different writing systems. The Linear B signs in question (Figs. 1 a; 2 a; 3 a; 4 a; 5 a) have a somewhat schematic outward appearance and their precise pictographic origin cannot be ascertained in all cases6. One example, however, is revealing. The Linear B logogram for figs (*30/NI), which is composed of a central vertical line and two crossing strokes above, is of a rather abstract design (Fig. 1 a). The corresponding sign of the predecessor scripts (Fig. 1 b. c), however, can be easily traced back to the depiction of a branch of a fig-tree: most instances of this sign in Cretan Hieroglyphic (H *155) and in Linear A (AB 30) represent the distinctive shape of a fig-leave with its five lobes, albeit in schematic form (Fig. 1 b. c). Obviously, given the difficulties in drawing the fruits of a fig-tree in recognizable form on a document of clay the creator of this sign has relied on the characteristic form of the leaves of the fig-tree in order to record the fruits of this kind of tree. By analogy, one may suspect that the logogram of olives may represent in its origin three characteristic leaves of an olive-tree in order to record the fruits of an olive-tree (Fig. 2 a–c)7: by all means, it would be hardly possible to create an easily identifiable image of the olives themselves. Be that as it may, as regards the other three logograms under discussion (Figs. 3–5) the Cretan Hieroglyphic precursors seem to point to the depiction of a »vine with two branches propped

4

5 6

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Ventris – Chadwick 1973, 30–36. See Palaima 1988, 325; Olivier – Godart 1996, 19. For more details, see Weilhartner 2014, 297 f. As regards the identification of Linear A A302 with Linear B *130/ole, see Palaima 1994, 327 f. n. 62; Schoep 2002, 92 f. A full discussion on these logograms within the Linear A documents is provided by Schoep 2002, 91–110. 116–119. 179–185. Palmer 1994, 38 f. On the pictographic origin of the logogram for wine, its development and the significance of its variations, see Palmer 1994, 27–43. On the contrary, Melena 1983, 97 regards the logogram for olives to represent »pictorially the peculiar flower of the olive tree: its whitish flowers are carried in small upright clusters, and each flower shows a cyathiform four-lobed calyx, which appears as three-lobed in the front perspective drawing of ideogram *122«. However, the flowers of the olive-tree seem to be too small to serve as a basis for the design of the logogram. In addition, pictorial representations of the flowering olive-tree in Aegean art do not endorse Melena’s view: see Möbius 1933, 12–14 fig. 7; Evans 1930, 166–170 figs. 109 b–111. According to Möbius, op. cit., the shape of the leaves is the essential feature for recognising olive-trees in iconography.

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on two forked sticks«8 (Fig. 3 c), »a corn-grain in flower«9 (Fig. 4 c) and a branch of an olive tree (Fig. 5 c) respectively. If we only knew the logograms of the Linear B script no serious judgment Fig. 3: Logograms for wine. a: Linear B (*131/vin on their pictographic origin would be possible on KN Fs 22.B); b: Linear A (AB 131 on HT 17.1); since these signs lost their pictographic qualities c: Cretan Hieroglyphic (H *156 on #274) to a large extent. As these examples denoting basic agricultural commodities show, the design of some logograms of the Linear B script clearly relies on long-standing palaeographic traditions. As it seems, these Linear B logograms are modelled on the ideal characters of the Linear A script10. In general, the appearance of the Mycenaean sign forms is of a Fig. 4: Logograms for wheat. a: Linear B (*120/ gra on KN F(2) 852.1); b: Linear A (AB 120 on more abstract and rectilinear design, which may KH 10.4); c: Cretan Hieroglyphic (H *153 on #26) have resulted from the continuous process of regular and widespread use. This kind of process is usually taken to lead to stylisation and simplification11. However, as will be shown below, not all logograms of the Mycenaean script that are inherited are of a more schematised design than their predecessors. Notwithstanding these distinct examples of Fig. 5: Logograms for olive oil. a: Linear B (*130/ Linear B logograms that can be traced back to ole on KN Fp(1) 1.9); b: Linear A (A 302 on SY Za Linear A antecedents, it is important to note that 2b); c: Cretan Hieroglyphic (H *158 on #122) the number of logograms appearing in both scripts is limited12. One reason for the differences in the logographic repertories is to be seen in the fact that almost all of the numerous (well above 100) ligatured Linear A logograms (which seem to imply in most cases phonetic abbreviations of a descriptive or identifying term)13 were eliminated naturally in the course of devising a new writing system for a different language14. Another reason is the first occurrence of a substantial number of logograms in Linear B in response to large-scale and supra-regional administrative concerns of the Mycenaean palatial centres, which are characterised by an increased centralisation and by a more strongly-regulated economic activity. That is to say, new logograms had to be devised in order to satisfy the need of recording objects, which

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9 10

11 12

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Palmer 1994, 27. The quotation refers to an early version of the Egyptian hieroglyphic sign for wine that looks very similar to some versions of Cretan Hieroglyphic H *156 and Linear A AB 131/wine. However, for chronological reasons, it is far from clear whether the Minoan sign is actually derived from an Egyptian source: the Minoans may have created the sign by their own. See Palmer 1994, 27 f. 31 f. 40. Evans 1909, 217 (no. 94). See Palaima 1988, 309 who explains the ideal characters as »the standard forms of signs used to teach the art of writing, purer forms unadulterated by the modifications brought about by habitual use«. Palaima 1988, 320; 1992, 71 f. For an overall discussion of how the logographic repertory of Linear A and Linear B relate to each other, see Palaima 1988, 321–331. See also Schoep 2002, 28–30. However, as regards the interpretation of these ligatures in Linear A due caution is in order. See Schoep 2002, 29 f.: »In addition, whereas the Linear B ligatured signs clearly functioned as qualifiers or adjuncts of the logogram, it is not certain that the Linear A ligatures functioned in the same way. It cannot be excluded, for example, that they did more than comment on an intrinsic quality of the commodity, and perhaps conveyed information pertaining to the provenance and/or destination of a commodity and/or the type of transaction in which the commodity was involved«. Among the rare exceptions are ligatures based on the logogram for textiles (tun), see Nosch this volume.

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Fig. 6: Chariots. a: Linear B logogram for chariot (big on KN Sc 5138); b: cylinder seal from ›Astraki‹ (after Crouwel 1981, pl. 14 a (G 6) = CMS II 3, no. 199. Mirrored)

were attracting the interest of the Mycenaean palatial bureaucracies. In this context, however, it is important to note that the absence of at least some of the Linear B logograms in the Linear A repertory may result from the fact that the administrative rank of the centres where most of the economic Linear A inscriptions have been found differ from that of the Mycenaean palatial centres15. This means that the extant Linear A accounting records are of a different archival status being restricted to a large extent to subject matters and concerns of a more local relevance. Leaving aside single phonetic signs which represent the initial syllable of Greek words used as acrophonic abbreviation, as well as compositions of two or three phonetic signs arranged in a vertical axis (called monograms) for commodities like liquids which are not easily illustrated, these new creations are in general pictorial renderings of immediately recognisable objects. The creator of these new logograms »had the eye of a good cartoonist in giving the features essential for recognition«16. By designing these new signs the scribes, who were well aware of the imagery of the wall-paintings of the palaces and of the seals and sealings they used in the course of their administrative tasks17, were obviously inspired by Aegean iconography. In other words, these ›pictorial‹ logograms may be taken as abbreviated versions of more elaborated depictions in Aegean art. As these signs are part of daily administrative documentation a focus has been laid on their essential features. Nevertheless, these logograms clearly include components known from Aegean artwork, albeit in a simplified manner18. As I tried to demonstrate at the 14th International Aegean Conference in Paris this influence of artistic representations in the course of creating new signs can be illustrated by logograms for animals (horse [equ] and deer [cerv]) and plants (olive-tree [arb])19. Other clear examples are provided by logograms for military equipment to which I will turn in a moment. These include offensive weaponry and defensive armour as well as chariots and parts thereof20. As the textual evidence shows, the manufacture, maintenance and distribution of chariots and the parts of which they are composed, as well as the recording of offensive weapons and protective clothing, was of a major concern within the central administration of the Mycenaean kingdoms21. The care taken within these administrative records to monitor military equipment correlates with the in-

15 16 17

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Palaima 1988, 325–327. Gray 1959, 49. Palaima 1992, 72–74. These sealings are clay nodules that for the most part are impressed by hard stone lentoid seals or gold signet rings. They were in the possession of individuals who were engaged in the supervision of certain transactions. Occasionally, the sealings are inscribed with a single logogram or syllabogram as a counter-mark over the seal impression. At times, a short inscription is added. Therefore, the scribes were without doubt familiar with the iconography of these sealings with which they dealt with in the course of recording commodities entering the palatial storerooms on a regular basis. Weilhartner 2014, 298–303. Weilhartner 2014, 299–301. On the textual evidence of military records and chariots, see Rougemont this volume. Palaima 1999, 367–369.

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Fig. 7: Three-dimensional model of the Aegean chariot (after Crouwel 1981, 116 fig. 7)

tention to keep the production and distribution of such equipment under direct palatial control22. Interestingly, in the Linear A records there is a near total absence of ›military‹ logograms. The only exception is provided by the logogram for helmet (gal), which is attested once in the whole Linear A corpus23. An illustrative example of imagery being a reliable source of visual inspiration for the scribe who created a sign is provided by the logogram for the two-wheeled, horse-drawn Aegean chariot with spoked wheels (big: Fig. 6 a)24, which is commonly called ›Dual chariot‹25. It was designed to carry a crew of two or even more persons in a standing position. In the Linear B records from Knossos this kind of chariot is generally denoted as i-qi-ja, ikkwiā. This word represents an adjective of feminine gender (derived from the word i-qo, ikkwos ›horse‹) qualifying a corresponding noun. Interestingly, since the word wo-ka, wokhā, that appears within the Sa series from Pylos (referring to wheels) has also been interpreted as term for the chariot, there are good reasons to believe that *i-qi-ja wo-ka was the original word for this ›horse-drawn vehicle‹26. By all means, this interpretation, which has been put forward by Cornelius Ruijgh and Oswald Panagl, allows for the adjectival form of i-qi-ja. The three-dimensional model of this kind of chariot (Fig. 7), whose specific role in Mycenaean warfare is a matter of discussion27, suggests that it would be a rather difficult task to create

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Driessen – Schoep 1999, esp. 396. However, this lack of ›military‹ logograms may at least partly be explained by the archival status of most of the extant Linear A records that differ from the palatial subjects and concerns of the Linear B documents; see above and Palaima 1988, 325–327. All but one example of this logogram appear on tablets from the Room of the Chariot Tablets (KN Sc series). The sole exception is found on the lat. sup. of KN Sd 4404 from the Arsenal written by hand 128 which is almost identical to those occurring within the KN Sc series. A detailed description of the various parts of this logogram is given by Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 76–127. In addition, the authors refer to a large number of iconographical representations. Crouwel 1981, 63–70. This designation goes back to Evans (1935, 821–825) allowing for the combination of the rectangular framework of the chariot box and the bowed appendage behind. See also Palmer 1965, 192–194. Ruijgh 1967, 111 and n. 62; 1979, 213. See Panagl 1982, 254 f.; Plath 1994, 18. 97 f.; Melena 2014, 151. However, the term wo-ka, worgā has also been interpreted as an action noun containing the same root as ἔργον meaning ›work‹ or ›workshop‹ (rather than ›vehicle‹). See Killen 1999a, 328–330; Palaima 1999, 369; Bernabé – Luján 2008, 210. Killen, op. cit., considers it unlikely that the term for chariot at Pylos would have been different from that at Knossos. Crouwel 1981, 119–145. On p. 129 he views the chariots as »[s]erving as a relatively fast means of communication for patrolling the country and, when necessary, for transportation to a battlefield, […]«. Another interpretation

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a logogram on the spot due to the complex structure of the real object. However, scenes of chariots in action were illustrated in Aegean art a long time before the chariot’s first appearance as a logogram28. Typically enough, both the iconographic evidence (Fig. 6 b) and the detailed drawing of the logogram (Fig. 6 a) show those features which have been recognised as local developments of the Near-Eastern prototype (called ›Box chariot‹)29 in order to suit the mountainous and rough terrain in the Greek world30. These include some kind of a curved annexe (regularly called ›wings‹) at the rear end projecting backwards from each side and being entirely behind the floor of the box, and possibly serving as ›mudguards‹ to keep off dust and gravel raised by the wheels and maybe providing some extra lateral defence31, as well as the Aegean triangular traction system32 (which helped to lighten the pressure on the pole, to reinforce the front of the box, to increase stability and to extend the durability of the yoke). This peculiar system – stronger and more complex than that of contemporary chariots in Egypt or the Near East – consisted of (a) a draught pole rigidly fixed under the bottom of the floor and running forward to the yoke at a more or less gradual incline, (b) a pole brace rising vertically in front of the box to below its top at which point it turns and runs out horizontally forward from the middle of the rail to the junction of pole and yoke (and which is supplemented at intervals by vertical elements that produced an arcaded effect, but whose nature is not altogether clear)33 and (c) a thin wooden rod – called the pole stay – resting directly on top of the horizontal part of the brace. Another typical feature of the Aegean chariot is a small detail termed ›spur‹ by Evans34 that appears likewise both on logograms and on depictions of chariots on Mycenaean wall-paintings or vases (Fig. 8 a. b). It is of triangular outline and is added at or below the rear end of the floor.

Fig. 8: Chariots. a: Linear B logogram for chariot (big on KN Sc 238); b: restored fresco from Tiryns (after Rodenwaldt 1912, pl. 12)

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has been put forward by Driessen 1996, 481–483. 492–494. In this paper (p. 483) Driessen argues that the chariot forces of Knossos (and presumably of Pylos as well) may have been used as a »more defensive type of war system, perhaps better called ›the wall of bronze‹«. A more active role in fighting is assumed by Tausend 2007, 384–392, providing convincing arguments for this assumption. See Höckmann 1980, 316–318. On the civil use of the ›Dual chariot‹ (to a large extent in connection with ceremonies, both religious and funerary, and with hunting), see Crouwel 1981, 135–139. The earliest representations of chariots appear no later than LM IA/LH I. See Crouwel 1981, 59–117. However, the exact date of its introduction into the Aegean world is disputed. Crouwel 1981, 59–62. Driessen 1996, 481 following Crouwel 1981, passim. Crouwel 1981, 65–67; Tausend 2007, 390. Crouwel 1981, 90–96. On this element, see Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 112–123. Evans 1935, 789.

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The representations of this detail resemble each other remarkably. Its interpretation, however, is not clear35. The logogram big (Figs. 6 a; 8 a) shows a fully assembled Dual chariot (including the wheels) in Fig. 9: Linear B logogram cur (on KN Se 880.2) profile view, except for the yoke hung at the end of the pole and the yoke saddles (shown as behind the yoke). For the sake of clarification, this part of the chariot is drawn as seen from another perspective. The peculiar shape of the yoke saddles, which are a means of adjusting the yoke – originally conceived for bovids – to the anatomy of Fig. 10: Linear B logogram caps (on KN Sg 889) horses, presents the legs curving sharply upwards at their ends. This is another feature of local Aegean origin36. Modified versions of this logogram show a Dual chariot complete in all details but without wheels (cur: Fig. 9)37 and the basic framework of the rectangular chariot box plus the draught pole (caps: Fig. 10)38. Fig. 11: Linear B logogram for wheel. a: rota on In addition, the four-spoked wheel (which reKN So 894.4; b: rota on KN Sg 1811.3 flects another actual Aegean feature as shown in representations of the chariot in Minoan and Mycenaean art and which stands in sharp contrast to the prominence of the six-spoked wheel in the Near East and Egypt from the later 15th century onwards)39 may be recorded separately by another logogram (rota: Fig. 11 a. b) that is immediately recognisable40. At times, this logogram appears together with its full phonetic spelling a-mo-ta, armota and a-mo-te, armote respectively (plural and dual of a-mo, armo ›wheel‹)41. It has been tentatively suggested by Joost Crouwel that variations in the design of the logogram reflect two different ways of construction in regard to how the spokes were attached to the felloe42: a standard construction in which the spoke ends are inserted in the felloe (represented by plain spoke ends: Fig. 11 a), and a construction where the method of joining is aided by the attachment of separate triangular wedges fixed on each side of the spokes at their junction with the felloe in order to reinforce the vulnerable part of the wheel (represented by forked spokes that are regularly supplemented by a central prong: Fig. 11 b). Subsequently, these two different ways of construction have been linked by Cornelius Ruijgh to two terms, o-da-twe-ta, odatwenta (and

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Crouwel 1981, 65. See Ventris – Chadwick 1973, 363, who argue for »a step formed by extending the rear framing member of the floor«. However, Crouwel 1981, 65 regards it as »unlikely that the spur represents a step to make it easier to mount«. He, in turn, argues for a representation of »the two ends of the D-shaped floor frame projecting slightly behind the siding« or a representation of »the end of the draught pole projecting beyond the rear of the floor« or »a conflation of all these elements«. Crouwel 1981, 98 f. 113 f. This logogram is used by two different scribes. In general, the logograms by scribe 127 are drawn more elaborately than those by scribe 128. See Driessen 1996, 487. This logogram is used by scribes 128 and 129. In addition, various versions of this logogram cannot be assigned to any scribe. Evans 1935, 796 f.; Crouwel 1981, 81. On the logogram rota, see Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 139–149. Mycenaean a-mo, armo unanimously designates the four-spoked wheel. However, the corresponding ἅρμα in Classical Greek is used to describe the chariot. Therefore, what we have here, is a clear example of the pars pro toto-principle. See, e.g., Ruijgh 1979, 207–211. Crouwel 1981, 82 f.

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Fig. 12: Tablet KN So 894 with rota on lines .1 .2 .3 .4

Fig. 13: Tablet KN Sg 1811 with rota on lines .3 .4 .5 .6

variant spellings) and te-mi-dwe-ta, termidwenta (and variant spellings)43. Both terms appear frequently and are mutually exclusive44. Obviously, they refer to two modes of fabrication reflecting some kind of contrast. Although it is widely agreed from the linguistic point of view that o-da-twe-ta literally means ›provided with teeth‹ (i.e. some kind of interlocking) and te-mi-dwe-ta ›provided with termides‹

43

44

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Ruijgh 1979, 211–213 with reference to a suggestion made by J. H. Crouwel. See Plath 1994, 82–86 and Bernabé – Luján 2008, 208 who speak in favour of Ruijgh’s conclusion. Crouwel (1981, 88), however, is aware of the ambiguity of the Linear B evidence. See, e.g., the list of entries occurring in the KN So(1) and KN So(2) records in Killen 2001, 177 f. tabs. 1. 2.

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(i.e. some kind of support) the precise interpretations of these terms are under discussion45. Irrespective of their specific meanings, these descriptive terms and the variant forms of the logograms do not match each other: logograms that are drawn without wedges (e.g. rota on KN So 894: Fig. 12) and, therefore, should represent the o-da-twe-ta type appear with both terms, Fig. 14: Linear B logogram for wheel. a: rota on o-da-twe-ta (KN So 894.4) and te-mi-dwe-ta PY Sa 768; b: rota on PY Sa 774 (KN So 894.1.3). Logograms that may conceivably show wedges (e.g. rota on KN Sg 1811: Fig. 13) and, therefore, should represent – according to Ruijgh – the te-mi-dwe-ta type, are equally associated with both words, o-da-twe-ta (KN Sg 1811.5.6) and te-mi-dwe-ta (KN Sg 1811.3). Similarly, the ligature rota+te, which inFig. 15: Linear B logogram for wheel. a: rota on cludes most likely the initial syllable of the term KN So(1) 4430.b; b: rota on KN So(1) 4429.b te-mi-dwe-ta, is drawn on tablets from Pylos without wedges (e.g. PY Sa 768: Fig. 14 a) as well as with them (e.g. PY Sa 774: Fig. 14 b). Interestingly, all examples of the ligature rota+te are written by the same scribe46. This matter of fact matches with another observation. The logograms of particular scribes from Fig. 16: Linear B logogram for wheel. a: rota on Knossos resemble each other in a remarkably KN So(2) 4446.1; b: rota on KN So(2) 4433.b way regardless the textual information given in the tablets. For example, the logograms of scribe 130 at Knossos show plain ends of the spokes. However, he records both, o-da-twe-ta wheels (KN So(1) 4430: Fig. 15 a) and te-mi-dweta wheels (KN So(1) 4429: Fig. 15 b). The same phenomenon is to be observed within the logograms of scribe 131: the wheels are very similar to each other no matter if they are described as o-da-twe-ta (KN So(2) 4446: Fig. 16 a) or te-mi-dwe-ta (KN So(2) 4433: Fig. 16 b). As a consequence, I view these variations of the logogram for the four-spoked wheel (rota) as not to be read literally but rather to reflect scribal idiosyncrasies. In my opinion, these differences are not to be seen as realistic renderings of the real object but are caused by diverging skills of more or less experienced scribes, by different degrees of care taken by individual scribes on given circumstances or by placing varying emphasis on features essential for identifying the sign47. Subsequently, I consider the logogram for rota (and this assumption is valid for logograms in general) as a vivid rendering of the concept of a wheel whatever its condition. Although the general impression of logograms for which no predecessor exists is pictorial in style, this should not lead us astray to view a logogram as an accurate representation of a given object. This view agrees well

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On these terms, see Ruijgh 1979, 211–213; Crouwel 1981, 87 f.; Plath 1994, 82–86. Scribe H26 of Pylos. It has to be noted that in a discussion of the logogram denoting cuirasses/suits of armour (tun) Jan Driessen (1996, 490 f.) argues for the opposite view. In this paper he takes the differences shown amongst the drawings of the tun logograms of the KN Sc series as referring to different types of protective clothing. However, as the differences in the precise outline of the logogram correlate with different scribes involved in this series I view these variations as mere scribal idiosyncrasies. See Palmer 1963a, 488; Snodgrass 1965, 99–103. I will come back to a detailed discussion of the design of this logogram and its variations on another occasion, see Weilhartner, in press.

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with the fact that the single references of exceptional wheels described as ka-ko-de-ta, khalkodeta/ka-ko de-de-me-no, khalkōi dedemenō, ›bound with bronze‹, a-ku-ro de-de-meno, argurōi dedemenō, ›bound with silver‹, or even ka-ki-jo, khalkiō ›made of bronze‹48, are Fig. 17: Arrows. a: Linear B logogram for arrow (sag accompanied by logograms identical to those on KN R 4482.2); b: lentoid seal of unknown provenience (after CMS III no. 396) that refer to wheels made of (different types of) wood. Contrary to the abundant evidence in the documents from Knossos, logographic references to chariots and parts thereof in the archives from the mainland are limited. Except for one debatable example from Tiryns49, no tablets have yet been found on the mainland that show one of the chariot logograms (i.e. big, cur or caps). As tablets dealing with fourspoked wheels (regularly listed in pairs) from Pylos (Sa series) as well as from Tiryns (Sl Fig. 18: Spears. a: Linear B logogram for spear (has series) demonstrate, their absence is best inon KN R 1815); b: fresco fragment from Tiryns (after terpreted as a matter of chance. This is proven Rodenwaldt 1912, pl. 1, 6) further by lexical evidence of terms referring to chariots and their manufacture on tablets from Pylos and Thebes50. Other logograms of military equipment represent offensive weapons. These too are easily identified due to their ›iconographic counterparts‹. Among these signs is the logogram for Fig. 19: Javelins. a: Linear B logogram for javelin (jac arrow (sag: Fig. 17 a), which shows a feathon KN Ws 1704); b: amygdaloid seal of unknown proered flight at the rear end. It appears twice on a venience (after CMS XIII no. 22) single tablet from the Arsenal of the palace of Knossos (KN R 4482) recording 8,640 specimens. In the same building two deposits of numerous real bronze arrowheads originally stored in wooden boxes were found51. Like the logogram, various seals and seal impressions show an arrow with its characteristic feathered end without detailed rendering of the arrowhead (Fig. 17 b). Next to the logogram for arrow, other offensive weapons are recorded by means of the logogram for spear (has: Fig. 18 a), attested once (KN R 1815) and accompanied by the term e-]ke-a, enkhea, and the logogram for javelin (jac: Fig. 19 a), attested twice (KN Ws 1704, 8495) next to its lexical form pa-ta-ja, paltaia (cf. KN Ws 1705).

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On the terms ka-ki-jo (KN So 894.2), ka-ko-de-ta (KN So 894.2) and a-ku-ro/ka-ko de-de-me-no (PY Sa 287, 794), see Crouwel 1981, 88 f.; Plath 1994, 90 f. 103 f. On the possible reading of caps on tablet TI Sm 11, see Godart et al. 1983, 420 f. The Sa series from Pylos document the term wo-ka, wokhā which is likely used synonymously to i-qi-ja, ikkwiā. On the relationship between these two terms, see supra p. 259. i-qi-ja is now also attested on a fragmentary tablet from Thebes (TH V 159). In addition, tablet An 1282 from Pylos most likely refers to workmen being engaged in the manufacture of chariots and chariot-wheels. See, e.g., Driessen 1996, 495 n. 17; Killen 2001, 173 f.; Bendall 2003, 206 f. Furthermore, other texts found in the Northeastern Building have likewise been related to chariotry. See Driessen 1996, 483; Shelmerdine 1999, 403–405; Bendall 2003, 217–222. Evans 1903/1904, 59 f.

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Fig. 20: Bronze dagger from Mycenae, Grave Circle A (after Marinatos 1973, pl. 50)

In addition, both terms appear on the well-known tablet Jn 829 from Pylos, albeit without logograms52. As the term pa-ta-ja/*παλταία indicates this kind of weapon was for throwing (cf. πάλλω, ›sway a missile before it was thrown‹)53. In turn, the spear (cf. ἔγχος, ἐγχείη) consisting of a long wooden shaft and a large, mid-ribbed bronze spearhead was a weapon for close combat evidently used for thrusting: there is no question of throwing these long and heavy weapons. Wielding their thrusting spears is the standard manner in which warriors and hunters are represented in Aegean art (Fig. 20)54. Accordingly, this kind of effective and lethal weapon is viewed to »represent the main offensive weapon of the Palace period and may, indeed, ultimately explain the prestige that the spear holds in the Homeric poems as the heroic weapon par excellence«55. By all means, spears as well as javelins are often shown not in action but simply as being carried at a slant across the shoulders by men on foot56. The bronze spearhead of both weapons is regularly shown leaf-shaped and, at times, even the characteristic midrib is delineated (Fig. 18 b)57. Actually, the point of a spear is more impressive and of larger size than the point of a javelin. Therefore, it is this characteristic feature which is used by the scribes in the design of the logogram for spear. On the contrary, representations of javelins in action are at times drawn with their blade resembling angle brackets (Fig. 19 b). Obviously, this way of representation is merely symbolic and does not reflect the form of real blades as found in excavations. However, this convention is also used by the scribes allowing for a clear differentiation between the two Linear B signs in question (has and jac respectively)58. Tablets referring to short swords or daggers59 are written by two different Knossian scribes, one working in the Corridor of the Sword Tablets, the other in the Northern Entrance Passage60.

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53 54

55 56

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Further textual evidence for these two terms may be found on KN Wb 5131 (]ẹ-ke-pị̣ [, enkhesphi), PY Va 1324 (e-ke-i-ja, enkhesiai), PY Vn 1339 (e-ke-ja, enkheiai), PY Vn 1341 (pa-ṭạ-jo, paltaiōn) and PY Wr 1480 (pa-tajo do-ka-ma, paltaiōn dorkhmai). On these documents, see Bennet – Shelmerdine 1995, 123–132; Killen 1999b, 347–350. On KN R 1815 the 12 e-]ke-a, enkhea listed are qualified as ka-ka re-ạ, khalkārea which reminds one of Homeric χαλκήρης, ›fitted with bronze‹. Liddell – Scott – Jones 1996, s.v. See the compilation of scenes of warfare and combat in Hiller 1999 with many bibliographical references to further studies. On the use of the spear in hunting, see Buchholz et al. 1973 and Long 1978. Snodgrass 1967, 23. See Höckmann 1980, 312–319; Bloedow 1999, 289 f. Crouwel 1981, 123 f. See, e.g., Rodenwaldt 1912, pls. 1, 6; 11, 5 and Lamb 1921–1923, pl. 27. On the difficulties of differentiating between these two weapons (which have different functions) on the basis of what is found in the archaeological record, see Vonhoff 2008, 175 f. 197–200. See supra n. 54. However, a substantial number of representations of spears do not show any sign of the spearhead. See Morgan 1988, 106. In the first edition of the Documents (Ventris – Chadwick 1956, 360 f.) the logogram on KN Ws 1704 was wrongly taken to denote an arrow. However, this mistake has been corrected in the second edition (Ventris – Chadwick 1973, 513–515. 569). At times, scholars adhere to the previous view, see, e.g., Höckmann 1980, 294. On the difference between daggers and swords (which may be largely one of modern terminology), see Morgan 1988, 105 with further literature. Driessen 1996, 485. 487. 496 n. 33.

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Some logograms are schematically drawn (pug: Fig. 21 a), others show more elaborate drawings (pug: Fig. 21 b). All examples point to a distinct midrib (which is viewed as a characteristic feature of early Aegean swords)61 by means of a single stroke in the middle of the blade. Fig. 21: Swords. a: Linear B logogram for sword As for the chronological classification of the (pug on KN Ra(1) 1542); b: Linear B logogram swords/daggers represented in the tablets various for sword (pug on KN Ra(1) 1546); c: detail from suggestions have been made. Initially, Arthur Evfresco fragment from Pylos (after Lang 1969, pl. M) ans called the shape of the blade of the more carefully drawn examples ›leaf-shaped‹ and thought of an anticipation of the Naue II swords62. Later on, he withdrew this proposal63. It is of little surprise, then, that Leonhard Palmer referred to Evans’ first discussion of this logogram64. In his view the outline of the logograms bears close resemblance to swords from the third Late Minoan period65. John Boardman, in turn, stated that »[a]ll the ideograms at Knossos are fair representations of LM/LH I–II daggers«66. By looking at these different views it becomes obvious that matching the logogram with actual swords is a difficult exercise67. This is made even more so as it is by no means certain whether the variants of this logogram do indeed represent different types of swords or daggers68. As a matter of fact, no two logograms are quite alike. This seems to speak in favour of viewing the variations as reflecting mere graphic idiosyncrasies (i.e. different degrees of stylisation) and not reflecting distinct types of swords/daggers. On the whole, I do not think that logograms allow for any detailed chronological classification: we should not expect archaeological documentation within these tablets. In view of the longevity of most Aegean sword types, which appear within a rather wide chronological range69, the question becomes even more vexed. In any event, like the other offensive weapons just referred to, the design of the logogram for sword resembles representations in Aegean art, albeit only in general terms and not in details (Fig. 21 c)70.

61 62 63

64 65 66 67

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Molloy 2010, esp. 405 tab. 1; 420. Evans 1901/1902, 94 f.; 1909, 55. See Palmer 1965, 202 f. Evans 1935, 853–857. See 857 n. 3: »In Scripta Minoa I, p. 55, I had been inclined, chiefly on the ground of the leaf-shaped form of some of the swords on these tablets, ›anticipating that of the Early Iron Age‹, to assign them to a ›somewhat late phase of the Minoan Civilization‹«. See Remouchamps 1926, 31 f. Palmer 1963b, 136 f. Palmer 1965, 200–203. Boardman 1963, 80. See Snodgrass 1965, 108. See the compilation of opinions by Niemeier 1982, 76–78. On p. 79 he states with reference to logograms in general: »Der skizzenhafte Charakter der Ideogramme erschwert häufig den Vergleich mit originalen Gegenständen. Die möglichen Vergleichsstücke umspannen daher meistens einen großen Zeitraum«. See Foltiny 1980, 270: »Schwerter oder Dolche erscheinen auch auf den Linear B-Täfelchen von Knossos. Ob man sie, wie einige Zeichen es nahelegen, unserem Typ D zuordnen darf, muß bei der starken Stilisierung der Zeichen offen bleiben«. See Ventris – Chadwick 1956, 360: »It is not certain whether the second variant of the sword ideogram represents a different type from the ›cruciform‹ […], as Evans thought, or merely a more schematic form of the symbol. The characteristic vocabulary term for both variants is pa-ka-na, phasgana = Hom. φάσγανα«. Snodgrass (1965, 107), however, argues that the variations in the design of the logogram reflect accurate representations of variant types of swords. As stated throughout this paper, I think this view is based on a misconception of how logograms are used within Linear B. On the whole question, see Vandenabeele – Olivier 1979, 50–55. On p. 55 they give the following résumé: »Dès lors toute approche archéologique devient aléatoire«. In any event, the different orientations shown in the drawings of the logogram pug may indeed indicate that two kinds of stabbing weapons are involved. This is strengthened by the fact that both variants (pug and gup) appear on a single tablet, see Driessen 1996, 496 n. 33. Molloy 2010, 405 tab. 1; 406 fig. 2. Most of the representations of swords are rather cursory and cannot be associated with certain types of swords known from the archaeological record, see Foltiny 1980, 243–247; Vonhoff 2008, 172–175. Among the rare exceptions is the depiction of two swords on a fresco fragment from Hall 64 of the Southwestern Building of the palace of Pylos (fig. 21 c) which can be matched with swords of Type Fii, see Vonhoff 2008, 61. 66. 173 f. On behalf of

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On the basis of these logograms, it may be taken for granted that the vivid appearance of signs that lack a prototype in Cretan Hieroglyphic or Linear A is a characteristic feature of logograms that are inventions for Linear B71. However, as I have shown elsewhere, clear influence of artistic representations is also to be observed on logograms that are plainly descendants from signs of the preceding scripts. For example, the Linear B logograms for woman and man (mul, vir)72, the logograms for horned domesticated livestock (bos, cap, ovis)73 as well as the logogram for crocus (croc)74 seem to be in a nearer relation to the Aegean iconographical tradition than their Linear A equivalents: the Linear B logograms in question clearly show pictographic features known from representations in wall-paintings, on pictorial vases and on seals or sealings. Both this impact of iconography and the careful execution of logograms are remarkable features that are not evidenced in Linear A. In this latter script the logograms are rendered in a much more schematised manner. Interestingly, this phenomenon is not limited to logograms but also affects some phonetic signs75. Whatever the explanation of this phenomenon may be, the iconographic influence on the design of logograms does not imply ›portrait-like renderings‹ of the objects recorded, as I have tried to show above. On the contrary, these signs are mere graphic symbols whose design relies neither on detailed actual observation of a real object or a living animal, nor reflects the actual condition of a particular item. Adding or omitting elements that are not vital for the recognition of a sign do not allude to a difference in meaning. It is for that reason I prefer to characterise these logograms as ›pictographic‹ or ›pictorial‹ rather than ›naturalistic‹. Further evidence for this view is provided by some logograms of vessels to which I turn for the remainder of this paper. Although a substantial number of logograms for vessels within Linear A exist76, the Linear B logograms referring to vessels are best viewed as new creations and not as descendants of the earlier script. At first sight, these logograms appear to be fairly ›lifelike‹ albeit schematic drawings of distinctive vessels. However, various pieces of evidence speak against the assumption that a particular sign is modelled on the actual form of the vessel to be recorded. Rather, these signs seem to reflect mainly those crucial features that were essential for Mycenaean scribes to recognise certain types of vessels77. In other words, the logograms for vessels »have the

71 72 73 74 75

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this fresco fragment Barry Molloy (2010, 411) notes »that two different types of shortswords are being used«. In his view (p. 411 n. 73) »[t]he blade outlines are distinctly different and are similar to those of Type Gi and Type Fii«. While the restored drawings in the first publication of the wall-paintings of Pylos (Lang 1969, pls. M. N) may allow for such a distinction, the actual condition of the fragments (Lang 1969, pls. 16–21. M) certainly does not. In addition, it has to be stated that contrary to the restored drawings which generally show swords and daggers with a distinct midrib, the actual fragments obviously do not show this detail. Unfortunately, the logogram for sword is not found on tablets from the mainland, even though a large number of swords is likely be recorded on a tablet that was recently found in Ayios Vasileios, HV Rb 1, see Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012, 45–49. Palaima 1992, 72. See Palmer 2012, 363 n. 29. This view seems to go back to Ventris – Chadwick 1956, 42. Weilhartner 2012a, 287–296. Weilhartner 2012b, 65–69. Weilhartner 2014, 301 f. This observation goes back to Arthur Evans (1902/1903, 53) who notes that »some of the forms of linear characters belonging to Class A are further advanced from their pictorial original than the corresponding linear signs of Class B«. In general, however, Evans (1935, 683) views Linear B to represent »in many of its features a more fully developed stage in the Art of Writing« although »[i]n one or two cases [...] the characters of [Class] B stand in a nearer relation to the pictorial prototypes«. See also Ventris – Chadwick 1956, 40: »The forms of many of the Mycenaean signs are undoubtedly more ornate and curvilinear than their Agia Triada counterparts, the sign [AB 81] ku, showing, for example, some re-elaboration as the naturalistic ›flying bird‹ which the Linear A [AB 81] may once have represented«. However, as is made clear by the following sentence, the shapes of other signs have been subjected to simplification/stylisation: »But there are a greater number of examples where, far from harking back to a ›hieroglyphic‹ prototype, the Mycenaean form has made the naturalistic pattern quite unrecognizable«. See Palaima 1988, 317–319 who, on the basis of a much fuller documentation of Linear A, provides some cautious notes. On logograms of vessels within Linear A, see Vandenabeele 1974. On Mycenaean emic vessel typologies, see Hruby 2010. Within this seminal study Hruby examines how the Mycenaeans might have viewed their own pottery.

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Fig. 22: Linear B logogram for stirrup jar/*ka-ra-re-u: *210VAS+KA on KN K 700.1

Jörg Weilhartner

Fig. 23: Linear B logogram for hydria/ka-ti: *206VAS on PY Tn 996.3

Fig. 24: Linear B logogram for amphora/*a-pi-po-re-u: *209VAS on KN Gg(4) 707

same emic value of lexicalisation as phonetic words, since they function as sememes (indivisible units of meaning), each conveying meaning by representing a category«78. One of the most characteristic vessels of Mycenaean civilisation is the stirrup jar named after the shape of the handles. The particular shape of this vessel, also known as ›Bügelkanne‹79 or false-necked amphora, points to its use for storing and transporting valuable liquids, presumably aromatic olive oil as well as wine80. At any rate, its »narrow spout indicates a liquid which should be poured in small quantities and with care«81. The wide distribution of large stirrup jars in regions of Greece and far beyond is generally taken as a pointer to the importance of trade in these liquids during LH IIIA–B. The logogram of this kind of vessel (*210VAS and *210VAS+KA respectively: Fig. 22), which was called *ka-ra-re-u, khlareus by the palace functionaries, represents both distinctive features of this vessel, the two handles and the mouth, in the same plane82. As line drawings of the stirrup jar document this view is not possible regardless from which angle the viewer observes the jar83. However, it is the only unambiguous way to show what vessel is meant and for that reason the outline of stirrup jars on wall-paintings in the tomb of Ramses III resembles the Linear B logogram in general terms (albeit the representations differ in details and rendering of proportions)84. Similarly, the neck handle and the two side handles of a vessel that resembles a hydria and is labelled as ka-ti, kāthis (*206VAS: Fig. 23) are shown as if they were on the same plane. As these examples show, photographic accuracy in the perspective is certainly not required in the design of logograms. Returning to the logogram of the stirrup jar (Fig. 22), the size of the characteristic features (mouth and handles) is exaggerated and the neck is lengthened in order to provide the space required for them. As it seems, recognisability is more important than rendering realistic proportions and in correct perspective. By no means are logograms artistic drawings85. Another well-known shape represented by means of a logogram is the amphora (*209VAS and *209VAS+A respectively: Fig. 24). According to its name *a-pi-po-re-u, amphiphoreus, which means ›carried on both sides‹ and refers to its pair of handles, the distinctive characteristic of this

78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85

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Hruby 2010, 200 (my emphasis). On this term, see Ruppenstein 2005, 32 with n. 55. 56. Haskell 1985. Hamilakis 1996, 23. See Mountjoy 1993, 123. 127 f. The following passage on the logograms for vessels owes a lot to Gray 1959, 49–51. See, e.g., Mountjoy 1986, 212 fig. 277. For a comparison of these representations of stirrup jars, see Vandenabeele 1988, pl. 40 a–g. Gray 1959, 50. See Matthäus 1980, 78: »Allerdings muß man hier berücksichtigen, daß die Schreiber keine exakten Abbildungen von Gegenständen zu liefern beabsichtigten. Sie waren ja mit den Objekten vertraut und benötigten daher nur eine allgemeine, wiedererkennbare Darstellung zur besseren Übersicht über den Text«.

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Fig. 25: Linear B logogram for di-pa vessel. a: *202VASon PY Ta 641.3; b: *202VAS on PY Ta 641.2

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Fig. 26: Linear B logogram for tripod/ ti-ri-po: *201VAS on PY Ta 641.1

sign is the graphic representation of the two handles from rim to shoulder. Like the diagnostic features of the logogram of the stirrup jar the size of the handles is at times exaggerated86. Furthermore, the pointed base of some versions of this logogram has no actual correspondent in the contemporary archaeological record of Crete or the Greek mainland87. Rather, this feature reflects a scribal idiosyncrasy caused by a cursory way of writing88. Another scribal convention is the indication of a row of handles above the rim on vessels which are named di-pa, dipas (*202VAS: Fig. 25 a. b). This is owed to the fact that the rim is the only place where the varying number of handles can be shown without leading to confusion. These details are added to allow identification of certain types of di-pa vessels89. Again, there is a lack of photographic accuracy in perspective, and the size, shape and position of the handles of the actual vessels are seemingly not reproduced perfectly by the handles on the logograms in question90. On the whole, these logograms seem to refer to certain ceramic categories that had a particular meaning to those who made and used the vessels in question. Consequently, these signs represent the concept of a certain type of vessel. However, they do not represent a realistic reproduction of a given item91. Further support for that view is added by means of the Ta series from Pylos which is best understood to be an inventory of vessels, pieces of elaborate furniture, fire implements and sacrificial paraphernalia related to a feasting ceremony92. This series is introduced by the term o-wi-de, hō wide ›this is what he saw‹, on Ta 711 indicating visual inspection by the official in question. Nevertheless, the logogram of a tripod on Ta 641.1 (*201VAS: Fig. 26), which is recorded

86

87

88 89

90

91

92

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The handles as shown on KN Gg 709 are of exceptional shape. They seem to reflect ring handles which are most appropriate to metal. Another interpretation has been put forward by Judith Weingarten (1998, 525 n. 28). She views the circular rings around the jar’s handles as representing »possibly a cord looped over the lid and through these rings, with a sealing on the cord’s knot«. In any way, if this shape of the handles reflects individual variation is far from certain. The same holds true for the somewhat exceptional shape of the handles of the logograms on KN Gg 710 and Gg 711. None of these three tablets has been ascribed to a certain scribe. The pointed base reminds one of the Syro-Palestinian amphora, commonly referred to with the somewhat misleading label of ›Canaanite jar‹. However, logogram *209VAS does certainly not refer to this kind of transport clay vessel which was manufactured in production centres along the Levantine coast (and rarely in Egypt). On this vessel and its significant role in Mycenaean trade and exchange with the Near East, see Cline 1994, 48–55. 96 f. 168–179; Rutter 2014. Matthäus 1980, 162. In addition, the varying numbers of handles are indicated lexically by means of the preceding adjectives fourhandled (qe-to-ro-we, kwetrōwes), three-handled (ti-ri-jo-we, triōwes) and without handles (a-no-we, anōwes). However, in other cases the position of handles is certainly in line with their actual position. The handles of these logograms are of some importance as a means of visual differentiation of different types of vessels, see Hruby 2010, 204. See also Matthäus 1980, 133 on behalf of logogram *200VAS on Ta 709.1: »Eine andere pylische Tontafel [...] bietet als Ideogramm ein niedriges Becken mit leicht s-förmig geschwungener Wandung und eingetiefter Standfläche, die so klein gezeichnet ist, dass sie der Realität kaum entsprechen kann«. Killen 1998, 421 f.; Palaima 2004, 233–236; Weilhartner 2005, 139 f.

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by its designation ti-ri-po, tripōs and is described as e-me po-de, hemei podei ›with one foot‹, and o-wo-we, oiwōwēs ›with one handle‹, shows three feet and two handles93. Although the official obviously had seen (o-wi-de) the vessel he did not gave a lifelike picture of it when drawing the logogram. Thus the intrinsic quality of the class ›tripod‹ (whose designation refers to its three feet) takes priority over the actual condition of the vessel, which is not reflected in the sign. In other words, the scribe used the common logogram for tripod without rendering individual variation. As in other cases, information on the exact nature and condition of objects is given by textual descriptions94. These details allow for visual identification. The outline of the logogram, however, does not95. In conclusion, there is clear evidence for the assumption that iconography is a reliable source of visual inspiration for a scribe when creating new logograms. However, comparable as with Minoan and Mycenaean art, there seems to be no question of accurate copying from nature96. These logograms are mere schematic symbols concentrating on those elements that are vital for recognition. In fulfilling their administrative tasks the scribes made use of the logograms without allowing for a detailed rendering of the object to be recorded. In general, the differences to be observed are caused by the scribe’s graphic skills or by the degree of interest in accuracy in given circumstances. This is true for pictographic logograms as it is for logograms that are of a more abstract design97, no matter if the signs were inherited through palaeographic traditions or created for the new writing system. Bibliography Aravantinos – Vasilogamvrou 2012 V. Aravantinos – A. Vasilogamvrou, The First Linear B Documents from Ayios Vasileios (Laconia), in: P. Carlier – Ch. de Lamberterie – M. Egetmeyer – N. Guilleux – F. Rougemont – J. Zurbach (eds), Études mycéniennes 2010. Actes du XIIIe colloque international sur les textes égéens, Sèvres, Paris, Nanterre, 20–23 septembre 2010, Biblioteca di ›Pasiphae‹ 10 (Pisa 2012) 41–54. Bennet – Shelmerdine 1995 J. Bennet – C. W. Shelmerdine, Two New Linear B Documents from Bronze Age Pylos, Kadmos 34, 1995, 123–136. Bendall 2003 L. M. Bendall, A Reconsideration of the Northeastern Building at Pylos: Evidence for a Mycenaean Redistributive Center, AJA 107, 181–231. Bernabé – Luján 2008 A. Bernabé – E. R. Luján, Mycenaean Technology, in: Y. Duhoux – A. Morpurgo Davies (eds), A Companion to Linear B. Mycenaean Greek Texts and their World 1, BCILL 120 (Louvain-la-Neuve 2008) 201–233. Bloedow 1999 E. F. Bloedow, ›Hector is a Lion‹: New Light on Warfare in the Aegean Bronze Age from the Homeric Simile, in: R. Laffineur (ed.), POLEMOS. Le contexte guerrier en Égée à l’âge du bronze. Actes de la 7e rencontre égéenne internationale, Université de Liège, 14–17 avril 1998, Aegaeum 19 (Liège 1999) 285–294.

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On the contrary, as has been noted above, logogram *202VAS (which appears on the same tablet and represents a vessel called di-pa, dipas) shows an exact match between the number of handles and the accompanying lexical information. See supra n. 89. See, e.g., the detailed descriptions of chariots within the KN Sd series and of some textiles in the KN L series. See Wright 2004, 151 f. See, e.g., Walberg 1992, 242. This is clearly shown by the tables in Nosch 2007, 15–21 which document a remarkable diversity of the shapes of logogram lana/wool as drawn by different scribes (or even by the same scribes). See Petrakis 2012, 529 f. Evidently, the diversity of the sign does not imply any difference in meaning. For more details, see Weilhartner, in press.

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Indices 1. General Index Achaea   119 administration   9‒14, 19, 22, 33, 36, 114, 116‒118, 123, 125, 129 f., 132, 141, 144, 146 f., 150 f., 167‒169, 188‒191, 203 f., 207, 215, 217, 220, 225, 249, 251, 258 agate   33, 120 Ahhiyawa/Ahhiya   13, 117, 126‒132 Aigeira   62, 68, 79 Akkadian   14, 180, 188, 204 f., 210, 215 Akrotiri   90, 96 f., 172, 182, 187, see also Thera alabastron   60, 61 n. 22, 120 Alalakh   180 n. 86, 204 altar   95 alum   181 f., 190, 207 n. 31 amphora   54, 60, 120, 268, 269 n. 87 Anatolia   25 n. 33, 26 n. 35, 172, 174, 177, 189, see also Asia Minor Ano Englianos   9, 22, see also Pylos

Athens   25, 91 f., 97 f., 170 n. 20 Attica   116 Ayia Triada   95, 144, 147 f., 183 Ayios Antonios   78 Ayios Stephanos   64 Ayios Vasileios   9, 11 f., 22, 207, 211 n. 84, 228, 249, 267 n. 70 *** Babylonia/Babylonian   127, 180, 208 n. 42 basin   55, 59, 62‒65, 69, 121 basketry   146, 169, 174 Boeotia   21 n. 3, 22, 26, 33, 116, 126, 129, 190, 209 bones   12, 58 f., 65, 73–75, 78, 167–169, 189, 243 bow   205 n. 20, 207 n. 31, 210 f., 213 f., 220 f., 227, 229 bowl   54 f., 61–64, 67 f., 79 f., 121, 208 n. 42

archive   21 f., 32, 35, 39 f., 131, 141, 144, 147, 149 f., 155, 186‒188, 190 n. 148, 204 f., 207 f., 216, 218, 222‒224, 228, 230, 264

brazier   57, 59, 69

Argolid/Argive   12, 20, 22, 24, 39, 79, 97, 99, 116, 118 n. 23, 119, 128 f., 175 n. 55, 203 n. 1

bronze   12, 119–121, 183, 209, 214 n. 105, 215–217, 221 f., 243, 260 n. 27, 264 f.

armour   207, 212 n. 90, 214, 222, 258, 263 n. 47

bureaucracy   15, 116, 123, 126, 251, 258

Armoury (Thebes)   33, 35 f., 39 arrow/arrowhead   119 f., 211‒214, 216 n. 124, 220 f., 222 n. 175, 227‒229, 250, 264, 265 n. 58, 268

breeding   13, 168, 170 f., 173, 190–192

bull-leaping   14, 38, 97, 100 f. *** Canaanite jar   269 n. 87 cattle   73, 174 n. 40, 180

Arslantepe   172

cemetery   19, 25 f., 31, 39 n. 93, 78, 92, 119, 122 f., 127 n. 71, 128

Asia Minor   13, 113, 117, 127‒129, 132, see also Anatolia

Chalcolithic   172, 177

Asine   62, 66, 187

277_2 Indices.indd 277

Assyria/Assyrian   127, 180, 188, 207, 208 n. 42, 210, 215 n. 116, 216 f., 221, 223 f., 227

chamber tomb   12, 19 f., 25‒27, 30 f., 77, 91 f., 94, 113, 119‒123, 128

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chariot   14 f., 38, 88, 118, 128 f., 131, 146, 155, 186, 203, 205‒217, 219 f., 222‒230, 250, 258‒261, 264, 270 n. 94 cloth/clothing   13 f., 100, 149, 167 f., 176, 179 n. 77, 180‒183, 185 f., 188, 191, 258, 263 n. 47 cooking pot   53‒55, 59, 67‒69, 71, 73, 79 Cretan Hieroglyphic   15, 141 f., 144, 150 f., 203, 255–257, 267 Crete/Cretan   10, 12‒14, 19 f., 22, 31, 33, 87, 89‒94, 96‒101, 116‒119, 122 f., 125 f., 130 f., 141, 144 n. 16, 149, 155, 157, 170, 172, 175 n. 55, 176, 182, 183 n. 108, n. 111, 190, 203 n. 1, 204, 207, 211 n. 81, 226, 228, 255, 269 cuirass   119‒122, 263 n. 47

179,

181‒183,

figs   257 f. figurine   39, 51, 53 f., 68 f., 73, 75, 78, 100, 123, 169 n. 14, 184, 243 f. flax   13, 167 f., 173‒176, 177 n. 62, 189, 191 f. fortification   12, 19, 24 f., 32, 39, 125 fresco   9, 22, 27 f., 90, 95, 98, 131, 181 f., 183 n. 111, 187, 211 n. 78, 244, 260, 264, 266, 267 n. 70, see also wall-painting Further Province   12, 243, 247, 249 *** Gla   25, 64 glass   113, 117, 123, 124 n. 46

cup   54, 59, 61 f., 65‒69, 79, 89 f., 121, 243

goat   73 f., 90, 95 f., 149, 168, 170–172, 174, 182, 189, 210, 221 n. 173, 223

Cyclopean   12, 24 f., 32, 124, 244, 246 f.

goblet   69‒71, 73, 78 f.

Cypro-Minoan   54, 79

gold   9, 12 f., 22, 26 n. 40, 33, 37, 87 f., 90 f., 113, 117, 119 f., 123, 187 n. 131, 209, 258 n. 17

Cyprus/Cypriot   94, 117, 128, 179 n. 78, 180, 191 *** dagger   89, 120, 265–267 Dendra   98, 119‒122

harbour   10, 12, 37, 51, 81, 117, 191

Denmark   183, 185 Dimini   9 f., 12, 59 n. 18, 61 n. 22, 62, 68, 78‒81 dipper   64, 66 f.

*** Early Bronze Age   168, 170, 172 n. 33, 176 f., 183, 189 f. 141,

economy   13, 19, 40 f., 167 f., 190–192 Egypt/Egyptian   13, 113, 115, 118, 126, 130 f., 172‒175, 179 f., 183, 192 n. 159, 205 n. 20, 257 n. 8, 260 f., 269 n. 87 Egyptian Hieroglyphic   126 n. 56, 179 n. 80, 257 n. 8 feeding bottle   54

Hatti   114, 127, 129 heddle   177 f., 189

donkey   73, 214 n. 101

***

harness/harnessing   187 n. 126, 209 f., 213, 220 n. 166, 222 f. hearth   54‒59, 64, 68 f., 71‒73, 78 f., 246

Dodecanese   119, 127

economic transactions/activities   11, 150, 204 f., 257

grave   26, 27 n. 43, 30, 74, 77 f., 119, 183, 265, see also Shaft Grave *** Hagia/Hagios see Ayia/Ayios

deep bowl   54, 62‒64, 79 f.

277_2 Indices.indd 278

fibre   167 f., 170‒176, 189‒192, 210

helmet   205 n. 17, 209 n. 53, 214 n. 103, 223, 228, 259 hemp   176 Hither Province   9, 243, 249 Hittite   13, 25 n. 33, 113, 117, 126‒131, 144, 174 household   13, 79, 81, 168, 180, 190 f., 207, 217 hunt/hunter/hunting   89, 91, 209, 260 n. 27, 265 Hurrian   205, 208 n. 36 hydria   268 ***

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1. General Index

iconography   11, 14 f., 87‒89, 91‒101, 167, 177, 181 f., 205, 209, 211 n. 78, 213, 255, 256 n. 7, 258–260, 264, 267, 270 ideology   14, 100, 123, 125, 183 n. 108

211‒214, 216, 220, 221 n. 173, 223 n. 192, 228, 231, 250, 255, 259, 260 n. 27, 263 f., 265 f. kylix   53 f., 59, 61, 65‒70, 79, 243 ***

Iklaina   9, 12, 123 f., 243‒251 Indo-European   174, 177, 183, 192

Laconia   9, 12, 22, 211 n. 84, 249

inscription   10, 13‒15, 22, 32 f., 36, 38 f., 113, 116 f., 123, 125 f., 130, 141, 155, 157, 160‒165, 181, 258

lamp   69, 71

Iria   64 Iron Age   170, 176 f., 185 n. 121, 189, 266 n. 63 Italy   113, 170 n. 20 ivory   9, 12, 22, 30 f., 33, 36, 87‒89, 91 f., 94 f., 100, 123, 182, 187 n. 131, 209 *** jar   55, 57, 60, 64 f., 68 f. javelin   213, 264 f. jewellery   12, 26 n. 40, 33, 37, 39, 113, 117, 123, 128 n. 85, 183 jug   55, 59–61, 65 f., 69, 119 n. 29 *** Kadmeia   12, 19, 21‒24, 26, 32, 34‒40, 147 n. 36

landholding   123 n. 42, 189 lapis lazuli   37, 187 n. 131 larnax   27 n. 46, 39, 55 f., 59, 69, 100 leather   144, 186, 191, 207 n. 31, 208–211, 217, 220, 222–224 Levant/Levantine   19, 96, 116 f., 172, 174, 179 n. 78, 180, 189, 269 n. 87 libation   61 Linear A   13‒15, 141, 143 f., 146 f., 150 f., 156 f., 158 n. 6, 159, 161, 182, 188 f., 203 f., 255‒259, 267 Linear B   9–15, 22, 23 n. 24, 32 f., 35 f., 38–40, 69, 96, 113–118, 123–125, 129–132, 141, 145–147, 149–151, 155–165, 168–171, 173–175, 177, 181 f., 186–192, 203–228, 243, 249, 255–270, see also Linear B Index linen   172, 174‒176, 179, 180 n. 87, 182, 188, 192

Kaftu   13, 125, 131

Lion Gate   93 f., 99

Kakovatos   124

loom   167, 172–174, 177–179, 185, 187, 189

Kalapodi   119, 120 n. 37

loom weight   173, 174 n. 40, 177, 190 f. ***

Karphi   170 Kastro (Volos)   10, 61 f., 78, 132

Macedonia   113

Kato Zakros   90 f., 94

Malia   142, 144, 146

Khania   94 f., 116, 119, 144, 146 f., 172, 207, 226

mansion   9, 124, 128 n. 82

king   22, 37, 114 f., 118 f., 127‒132, 204 n. 6, 207, 217

megaron   9 f., 22, 124 f., 246 f., 249

kingdom   10‒13, 114 f., 117 f., 123‒125, 127, 129‒131, 144, 172, 180, 191, 219, 230, 258 kingship   101 knife   73, 119 f., 122 Knossos/Knossian   10 f., 15, 20, 39, 90, 94, 99, 101, 113, 118 f., 125, 129 n. 90, 131, 141 f., 146‒150, 155, 157, 162, 168 f., 171, 181– 183, 186, 188, 190, 203 n. 1, 205, 207, 209,

277_2 Indices.indd 279

Mari   204 Menelaion   9, 64, 124 Messenia   9, 12, 22, 24, 31 n. 56, 119, 124 n. 44, 125, 243, 251 metal   73, 90 f., 156, 187, 191, 203, 207 n. 31, 208 f., 214 n. 105, 221, 269 n. 86 metal vessel   119, 121 metallurgy   173, 189, 191, 216 Middle Bronze Age   14, 73, 78 f., 87 f., 100, 131 n. 104, 172, 177, 183, 189, 255

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Indices

Midea   25, 61 n. 22, 62, 66, 79, 146

Petras   141 f., 144, 150

Miletus   127, 129 f.

Petsas House   65, 249

mirror   119, 122 f.

Pharsalos   78

Mitrou   61 n. 22, 66, 79, 124

Pherae   78

mud brick   24, 53 f.

Phokis   119

mug   59, 61 f., 65 f., 69

Phylakopi   124 f.

murex   51, 54, 69, 167, 181 f., 190

pig   73 f.

Mycenae   10, 20, 22, 25 f., 31, 39, 55, 64, 88‒90, 92‒96, 98, 99 n. 54, 100, 113, 118 f., 124‒126, 146 f., 149, 181 f., 190, 203 n. 1, 213 n. 95, 218, 249 f., 255, 265

piriform jar   60, 69 f., 119 n. 29, 121, 128 n. 89

Myrtos   170, 190 f. *** Nauplia   125 Near East/Near Eastern   19, 95, 114, 123, 173‒175, 179, 182 f., 203‒206, 208 n. 41, 215, 260 f., 269 n. 87 Neolithic   51, 78 f., 167–170, 173, 175–177, 182, 186, 189 f. Neopalatial   14, 89‒91, 93 f., 96, 98‒101, 114, 118, 131 n. 104, 144 Nichoria   12, 62, 64, 119, 243, 247‒249, 251 nodules   13 f., 38, 114, 117 f., 125, 141–151, 249, 250 n. 17 Nuzi   14, 180 n. 86, 203‒211, 213–221, 223– 231

plant dyes   167, 181 pottery   10, 22, 26, 31, 33, 51 f., 54, 56, 58 f., 64, 65 n. 51, 68‒71, 73, 75, 77‒80, 88, 94, 100, 113, 116 n. 7, 119, 123, 124 n. 49, 128 f., 180 n. 89, 228, 244, 247, 249 n. 9, 250, 267 n. 77 purple   181 f., 223 n. 199 Pylos/Pylian   9, 11 f., 22, 24, 39‒41, 62, 64, 66 n. 56, 69, 74, 100, 113, 118, 123 f., 129 n. 90, 130, 131 n. 106, 146 f., 149, 181, 186, 190, 207‒209, 210 n. 74, 211 f., 213 n. 95, 214, 216 f., 223 f., 225 n. 207, 228, 230, 243 f., 246 f., 249–251, 255, 259, 260 n. 27, 263‒266, 267 n. 70, 269 pyxis   30 f., 90‒95 *** Ras Shamra   94, 204 n. 10, see also Ugarit redistribution   40

*** oil   22, 33, 37, 55, 69, 116, 175, 192, 205, 217, 223 f., 229, 255‒257, 268

relief   14, 87‒100, 113, 117

olives   255 f.

Rhodes   128

Orchomenos   19, 26, 31, 99, 124

rhyton   92 f., 96 f., 243

*** palace   9‒14, 19, 21‒23, 32 f., 35‒37, 39‒41, 62, 69, 99 f., 113 f., 117 f., 124, 128, 129 n. 90, 131, 142, 146 f., 155, 157, 167, 169, 172, 176, 188, 190, 192, 204 f., 207, 208 n. 38, 209 n. 55, n. 56, 212 n. 91, 214 n. 107, n. 108, 216‒222, 223 n. 196, 224‒231, 243 f., 247, 251, 255, 258, 264 f., 266 n. 70, 268

rings   13, 26 n. 40, 100, 117, 148, 258 n. 17

Palaikastro   88 f. Pefkakia   10‒12, 51‒53, 63, 66, 68, 69 n. 73, 74, 77‒81 Peloponnese   13, 19, 30, 33, 79, 117 f., 123 f., 126, 130 peplos   185, 191

277_2 Indices.indd 280

pithos 37 f., 69

reed   211, 218 n. 155, 220 f., 227, 229

Romania   184, 186 Room of the Chariot Tablets (Knossos)   15, 118, 131, 146, 155, 205 n. 16, 207, 214, 228, 250, 259 n. 24 *** scribe   15, 116, 130, 155, 158, 160‒164, 169 f., 188 f., 204, 207 n. 26, 213 n. 98, 219 f., 222 n. 179, 224 n. 205, 250 f., 255, 258 f., 261 n. 37, n. 38, 263, 265, 267, 269 n. 86, 270 seal   12 f., 15, 33, 37‒39, 90 f., 93‒95, 100, 113, 117 f., 120, 123, 124 n. 46, 125, 130, 141, 144, 147‒150, 151 n. 57, 180 f., 221, 222 n. 186, 226 f., 258, 264, 267

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1. General Index

sealing   12‒15, 33, 38, 40, 89, 94 f., 117 f., 130, 141, 144, 146 f., 149‒151, 181, 222 n. 183, 251, 258, 267 semi-precious stones   12, 33, 117, 123 Shaft Grave (Mycenae)   88‒90, 213 n. 95 Shaft Grave period   14, 87 f., 91, 93, 97‒100, 151 sheep   11, 73 f., 149, 167‒174, 182, 189‒192, 204 f. shell   54, 59 f., 65, 69, 71, 73, 182 shield   205 n. 20, 211 silver   9, 87–91, 121, 209, 213 n. 95, 264 skin   38, 167 f., 172, 182 f., 186 f., 189, 191 f., 210, 217, 222 n. 186, 223 f., 229 f. society   11, 15, 36, 41 Sparta   9 spear/spearhead   120, 211, 213, 264 f. spindle whorl   167, 174 n. 40, 176, 188, 190 spindles   69 spinning   167, 174 n. 40, 175 n. 56, 176 f., 190 stirrup jar   12‒15, 22, 33, 39, 54, 56, 59, 69, 79, 115‒117, 147, 155, 157 f., 164 n. 20, 187, 268 f. stone tool   53 f., 69 stone vase/vessel   93, 96‒98 storeroom   22, 33, 37, 39 f., 64, 146 f., 150, 212, 258 n. 17 sword   12, 119 f., 122, 211, 214, 227‒229, 265 f., 267 n. 70 Syria/Syrian   94, 172, 179 n. 78, 180, 183 n. 109, 269 n. 87 *** Tanaya   13, 125 f., 130 f. tapestry   178–181, 191 Tell Billa   216 n. 123, 224 Tell el Amarna   172 Tell el-Dabca   97 f., 131 Tell es-Sawwan   175 n. 47 Tell Sheikh Hamad   223 textiles   12–14, 69, 167–192, 203–205, 207 n. 31, 210, 215 f., 217, 219 f., 222 f., 225 f., 228–230, 250, 257 n. 14, 270 n. 94 Thebes/Theban   10, 12, 19‒41, 62, 64, 69, 94, 113, 116, 124 f., 146 f., 149, 159, 162, 209, 250, 264

277_2 Indices.indd 281

Thera   97, 172, 181, see also Akrotiri Thessaly/Thessalian   9 f., 13, 78 f., 117‒119, 122 f., 131 f., 168 tholos tomb   12, 26, 78, 91 n. 19, 99, 113, 119, 124 f., 247 Tiryns   10, 22, 25, 39, 54 n. 12, 62, 64, 69, 99 n. 54, 116, 118, 147, 162, 177 n. 62, 181, 207, 260, 264 tomb see chamber tomb, tholos tomb trade/trader   79, 116 f., 173, 181 f., 188, 190, 192, 227, 268, 269 n. 87 Triphylia   124 n. 44 tripod   12, 131 n. 106, 269 f. tripod cooking pot   68 f., 79 Tsoungiza   65 *** Ugarit/Ugaritic   180 f., 182 n. 102, 188, 204, 206 n. 22, 223, see also Ras Shamra *** Volos   9‒12, 51, 78 f., 118, 122, 132 *** wall-painting/mural painting   9, 12, 14 f., 27 n. 46, 33, 37, 39, 87, 90, 95 f., 100, 125, 213 n. 95, 258, 260, 267 f., see also fresco weapon/weaponry   15, 33, 39, 92 n. 25, 119, 122 f., 125, 203, 205‒207, 211, 214, 216 n. 127, 220 n. 168, 227, 229, 258, 264‒266 weaving   167, 169, 173, 174 n. 40, 175, 177– 181, 186 f., 189, 191, 218 n. 155 wheat   96, 255–257 wheel   14, 203, 205, 207–210, 212–216, 219 f., 223–229, 250, 259–261, 263 f. wine   37, 66, 68, 255–257, 268 wood   54, 187, 191, 205 n. 16, 206 n. 21, 208– 211, 216 n. 123, 217 n. 133, 218–220, 222 n. 179, 223–225, 229, 260, 264 f. wool   13, 69, 149, 156, 167–192, 205, 208– 210, 216 f., 220, 222–224, 228 f., 270 n. 97 workshop   19, 22, 32 f., 39 f., 51, 54, 56 f., 61, 79 f., 91, 116 n. 7, 123, 128, 147, 150, 168, 180, 191, 208 n. 35, 215, 224 f., 259 n. 26 *** Yugoslavia   184

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Indices

2. Linear B Index 2.1 Linear B Texts Armenoi AR Z 1   160, 161 n. 8 Ayios Vasileios HV Rb 1   211 n. 84, 228, 267 n. 70 Eleusis EL Z 1   116, 164 Iklaina IK X 1   249 Khania KH Sq 1   226 n. 213, 228 KH Z 2   158 KH Z 3   159, 163 f. KH Z 13   164 n. 20 KH Z 43   116 Knossos KN As(1) 603   163 KN Ca 895   214 KN Da-Dg   169 KN Db 1168   163 KN Dk series   149 n. 50, 169 KN Dl series   169 KN Dl 1060   149 n. 48 KN Dn series   169 KN Dp 1061   149 n. 48 KN E(2) 669   256 KN Fh series    223 n. 192 KN Fh 346   224 KN Fh 353   223 n. 192, 224 KN Fh 1056   186 n. 123 KN Fh 5428   224 KN Fh 5432   223 n. 192, 224 KN Fh 5435   224 KN Fp(1) 1   257 KN Fs 22   257 KN F(2) 841   162 KN F(2) 852   257 KN Gg(4) 707   268 KN Gg 709   269 n. 86 KN Gg 710   269 n. 86 KN Gg 711   269 n. 86 KN K 700   268 KN Lc series   216 n. 130 KN Lc(1) 536   188 KN Ld(2) 785   188 KN Ld(2) 787   188

277_2 Indices.indd 282

KN Le 642   225 KN L series   270 n. 94 KN L 178   174 KN L(2) 647   186 KN L 693   188 KN L 771   188 KN L 870   174 KN L 871   250 KN L 7514   188 n. 135 KN Mc series   210 n. 74, 221 n. 173 KN Nc 5100   224 n. 202 KN Nc 8175   224 n. 202 KN Od(3) 1062   149 n. 48 KN Ra series 211, 214, 228 KN Ra(1) 1542   266 KN Ra(1) 1546   266 KN R series   228 KN R 1815   264, 265 n. 52 KN R 4482   213, 264 KN Sc series   207, 212 n. 90, 214, 228, 259 n. 24, 263 n. 47 KN Sc 103   213 f. KN Sc 130   214 KN Sc 219   210 n. 60 KN Sc 223   209 KN Sc 226   212 n. 90, 214 KN Sc 238   210 n. 60, 260 KN Sc 5138   258 KN Sd series   209, 212 n. 89, 220 n. 163, 228, 270 n. 94 KN Sd 4404   226, 259 n. 24 KN Sd 4407   209, 226 KN Sd 4409   209 n. 51 KN Sd 4412   209 n. 51 KN Sd 4413   226 KN Sd 5091   209 n. 51 KN Se series   209, 212 n. 89, 214, 228 KN Se 879   210 KN Se 880   261 KN Sf series   207 n. 33, 209, 212 n. 89, 220 n. 163, 228 KN Sf(1) 4421   212 KN Sg series   212 n. 89, 214, 228 KN Sg 889   261 KN Sg 1811   228, 261–263 KN Sk series   228 KN So series   212 n. 89, 214, 219, 220 n. 163, 228 KN So(1)   220 n. 163, 262 n. 44

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2. Linear B Index

KN So(2)   220 n. 163, 262 n. 44 KN So 894   208 n. 43, 220 n. 163, 261–263, 264 n. 48 KN So 1053   220 n. 163 KN So(1) 4429   220, 263 KN So(1) 4430   212, 263 KN So(1) 4432   208 n. 43 KN So(2) 4433   216 n. 128, 220 n. 163, 263 KN So(2) 4434   208 n. 43 KN So 4435   220 n. 163 KN So(2) 4438   216 n. 128, 220 n. 163 KN So(1) 4440   220 KN So(1) 4441   220 KN So(2) 4442   205, 216 n. 121, 219 f. KN So(2) 4446   220, 263 KN So 4447   220 n. 163 KN So(1) 4448   226 KN So 5789   220 n. 163 KN So 8251   220 n. 163 KN So 8561   220 n. 163 KN Sp series   212 n. 89, 228 KN S- series   220, 226 KN V(1) 150   211 n. 78 KN V(2) 159   186 n. 123 KN Wb 5131   265 n. 52 KN Ws 1704   264, 265 n. 58 KN Ws 1705   264 KN Ws 8495   264 KN X 976   182 KN X 7846   250 KN Z 1716   158, 160 f. Malia MA Z 1   159 Midea MI Wv series   146 n. 26 MI Z 4   160, 161 n. 8 Mycenae MY Ge series   181, 218 MY Oe 119   217 n. 132 MY Ue 611   256 Pylos PY Ab 555   186 PY Ae 995   250 n. 16 PY An series   211 PY An 35   181 PY An 172   186 n. 123 PY An 207   186 n. 123 PY An 298   186 n. 123 PY An 424   186 n. 123

277_2 Indices.indd 283

283

PY An 427   243 PY An 1282   213, 264 n. 50 PY Ea 28   186 n. 123 PY Ea 29   186 n. 123 PY Ea 56   186 n. 123 PY Ea 325   186 n. 123 PY Ea 421   211 n. 86 PY Ea 460   186 n. 123 PY Ea 754   186 n. 123 PY Ep 704   123 n. 42 PY Eq 213   251 PY Fr 1184   116 n. 8 PY Jn series   216 PY Jn 310   217 PY Jn 431   217 PY Jn 693   243 PY Jn 829   216 n. 120, 265 PY La 994   250 n. 16 PY Ma series   224 PY Ma 123   243 PY Sa series   209, 214, 228, 259, 264 PY Sa 22   214 PY Sa 287   209, 264 n. 48 PY Sa 487   212 PY Sa 682   212, 250 PY Sa 751   212 PY Sa 755   212 PY Sa 758   212 PY Sa 761   214 PY Sa 768   263 PY Sa 774   263 PY Sa 787   212 PY Sa 794   209, 212, 264 n. 48 PY Sa 834   214 PY Sa 843   212 PY Sh series   228 PY Sh 736   214 PY Ta series   269 PY Ta 641   131 n. 106, 269 PY Ta 709   131 n. 106, 269 n. 91 PY Ta 711   269 PY Tn 996   268 PY Ub 1315   186, 213 n. 99, 223 PY Ub 1318   223 n. 194 PY Un 443   181 PY V series   225 PY Va 1323   212, 214 PY Va 1324   265 n. 52 PY Vn 10   211 n. 85, 224 f. PY Vn 19   225 n. 207 PY Vn 1339   250 n. 16, 265 n. 52 PY Vn 1341   265 n. 52

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Indices

PY Wr 1480   213, 265 n. 52 PY Xa 1419   250 PY Xa 1420   250 n. 16 PY Xn 1449   250 n. 16

TH Z 866   162, 163 n. 14 TH Z 867   162, 163 n. 14 TH Z 868   162, 163 n. 14, 165 Tiryns TI Si 5   214, 228 TI Sl series   228, 264 TI Sm 11   228, 264 n. 49 TI X 6   181 TI Z series   158–160 TI Z 9   159 TI Z 11   161 TI Z 27   165 n. 23 TI Z 29   116 TI Z 30   163–165

Thebes TH Uq 434   38 TH V 159   264 n. 50 TH Wu 429   38 TH Wu 430   38 TH Z series   158–160 TH Z 839   116 TH Z 842   158 TH Z 850   159 TH Z 857   161 f. TH Z 858   161 f., 165

2.2 Linear B Words and Syllabograms a   250 a-do-we   158 a-ja-me-na   209 n. 46 a-ke-re-wa   243 a-ko-so-ne   210 a-ko-so-ta   251 a-ku-ro   209, 264 a-me-ja   214 a-mo   208, 210, 213, 261 a-mo-si   213 a-mo-ta   261 a-mo-te   261 a-mo-te-jo-na-de   215 n. 112 *a-mo-te-u   211 a-mo-te-wo   211 a-na-i-to   209 n. 46 a-na-mo-to   207 n. 33, 208 n. 37 a-na-to   209 n. 46 a-ni-ja   209 n. 45, 223 a-no-we   269 n. 89 *a-pi-po-re-u   268 a-pu-do-si   220 n. 167 a-pu2-we   9, 243 a-qi-ja-i   213 a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na   207 n. 33 a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-no    208 n. 37 a-ro2-a   212 a2   250 a3-ka-sa-ma   211 a3-ki-no-o   210 a3-ki-pa-ta   171, 224 da-ko-ro   243 de-de-me-no   209, 264 de-do-me-na   220

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de-ma-si   223 n. 192, 224 di   38, 162 f. di-no-zo   161 f., 165 di-pa   269, 270 n. 93 di-pte-ra   38 di-pte-ra3   223 do   156–158 do-ka-ma   213, 265 n. 52 do-ka-ma-i   213 do-we-jo   208 du   164 du-ru-to-mo   211, 224 e-ke-a   211, 264, 265 n. 52 e-ke-i-ja   265 n. 52 e-ke-ja   265 n. 52 ẹ-ke-p ̣ị   265 n. 52 e-ko   212 n. 90, 214 e-me   270 e-pi-ki-to-ni-ja   188 e-pi-zo-ta   211, 228 e-pi-*19-ta   38 e-pi-[•]-ta   225 e-ra-pe-me-na   186 e-re-pa   187 n. 131 e-re-pa-te   209 e-ri-ka   208 e-ru-ta-ra   181, 223 i   162, 165 i-qi-ja   207, 259, 264 n. 50 *i-qi-ja-i   213 *i-qi-ja-wo-ka   259 i-qo   259 i-qo-e   209 ị-ṛụ   161 f.

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2. Linear B Index

i-te-ja-o   177, 187 n. 127 ị-ṭẹ-ẉẹ   177, 187 n. 127 *i-ti-ja   187 jo   156–158, 161, 163 ka-ka   265 n. 52 ka-ke-ja-pi   209 ka-ki-jo   264 ka-ko   209, 264 ka-ko-de-ta   264 ka-ma-ti-jo-jo   159 ka-na-ko   191 ka-na-pe-u   190 *ka-ra-re-u   268 ka-ra-re-we   116 n. 8 ka-si-ko-no   211 ka-ti   268 ka-zo-e   212 ke-ra-ja-pi   209 ke-re-si-jo we-ke   98 ki-ra2-i-jo   214 ki-to   188, 191 ki-to-na   188 ki-to-ne   188 ki-to-pi   188 ki-u-ro-i   213 ko-a-ta   250 ko-a2-ta   250 ko-re-te   247 ko-ri-ja-do-no   250 ko-ri-a2-da-na   250 ]ko-wo-a   249 f. ku   158–160, 267 n. 75 ku-do-ni-ja   226 ku-mi-na   187 n. 130 ku-mi-no   187 n. 130 ku-pa-ri-se-ja   208 n. 41 ku-pa-ro   187 n. 130 ku-ru-so   187 n. 131 ku-wa-no   187 n. 131 ma   156–159, 163, 189 ma-di   163 ma-di-jọ̣    163 me-nu-a2   250 me-nu-wa   250 me-ta-ke-ku-me-na   212 n. 93 mi-to-we-sa   209 na   157–161 ne   156–159, 164 ne-wa   212 no   162, 165 ṇọ-di-mi-zo-jo   162 no-di-zo   161 f., 165 no-pe-re-a2   212

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285

no-pe-re-e   212 o   250 o-da-ke-we-ta   210 n. 66 o-da-ku-we-ta   210 n. 66 o-da-tu-we-ta   210 n. 66 o-da-twe-ta   210 n. 66, 261–263 o-di-do-si   211 n. 85 o-pa   215 o-pe-ro   219, 224 n. 202 *o-pi-i-ja   209 o-pi-i-ja-pi   209 o-po-qo   209 o-wi-de   269 f. o-wo-we   270 pa-i-to   226 pa-ka-na   211, 266 n. 68 pa-ki-ja-na   243 pa-ra-ja   212 pa-ta-ja   211, 264 f. pa-ta-jo   213, 265 n. 52 pa-we-a   180 n. 87, 191, 250 pa-we-a2   250 pe-qa-to   210 pe-ru-si-nwa   215 pi-ri-je-te   211 po-de   270 po-me   171 po-ni-ki-ja   209 po-ni-ki-jo   181, 191 po-pu-re-j̣ọ   182 po-qe-wi-ja-i   213 po-ti-ni-ja-we-jo   217 pte-no   210 pte-re-wa   208 n. 41, 208 n. 44 pu2   162 qe-te-a   250 qe-te-a2   250 qe-to-ro-we   269 n. 89 qi   164 f. qo-u-ko-ro   171 ra   250 ra-ma-na-de   224 ra-pi-ti-ra2   186 ra-pte   186 ra-pte-re   186, 191 ra-pte-ri-ja   186 ra-tu-ko   249 ra-wa-ke-ta   15 re-ạ   265 n. 52 re-ka-sa   217 n. 132 ri   175 ri-no   175 ro-u-si-jo a-ko-ro   225

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Indices

ru   162, 189 ṛụ-ị   161 f. sa   189 sa-pi-de   225 n. 207 sa-sa-ma   187 n. 130 se-to-i-ja   205 n. 18, 209, 219, 226 si-to-po-ti-ni-ja   96 su-qo-ta   171 ta-ra-si-ja   14, 203–227 te-mi-dwe-ta   210 n. 66, 262 f. te-pa   191 te-tu-ko-wo-a   250 f. te-tu-ko-wo-a2   250 ti-mi-to-a-ke-e   12, 243, 247 ti-ri-jo-we   269 n. 89 ti-ri-po   269 f. to-ko-so-ta   211 to-ko-so-wo-ko   211 to-ra-ka   228 to-ra-ke   214 tu   250 tu-na-no   188, 191 tu-ru-pte-ri-ja   181, 190

u   164 wa   13 wa-na-ka   15, 130 wa-na-ka-te-ro   13, 116, 182 we   165 n. 23 we-a2-no   191 we-je-ke-a2   212 we-we-e-a   174 wi   158, 160 f. wi-na-jo   161 wi-ri-ne-jo   209 wi-ri-ne-we   223 f. wo   250 wo-ka   207 n. 32, 208, 259, 264 n. 50 wo-zo-me-na   208 n. 35, 216 n. 128 wo-zo-me-no   208 n. 35, 216 n. 128 za   162 zo   162 *18   162 *34   164, 255 n. 3 *35    255 n. 3 *56-ko-we   165 n. 23 *89   255 n. 3

2.3 Linear B Logograms and Adjuncts aes   209 arb   258 arm   214, 228 big   207, 209, 214, 228, 258–261, 264 bos   267 cap   267 caps   208, 210, 228, 261, 264 cerv   258 corn   221 n. 173 croc   181, 267 cur   207, 226, 228, 261, 264 equ   214, 228, 258 gal   228, 259 gra   257 gup   266 n. 68 has   211, 228, 264 f. jac   264 f. ki   169 lana   189, 270 n. 97 MO   228 mul   267 NI   256 O   228 ole   224, 256 n. 4, 257 oliv   256 ovis   169, 267 PA   228

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pug   211, 228, 266 rota   205 n. 18, 208, 210, 219, 228, 261–263 rota+TE   228, 263 SA   175, 189 sag   211, 228, 264 tun   207, 214, 228, 257 n. 14, 263 n. 47 tun+KI   189 tun+RI   189 vin   257 vir   267 WE   169 ZE   205 n. 18, 214, 219 n. 161, 228 *142   210 n. 74 *146+WE   189 *164   189 *166+WE   189 *180   38 *200VAS   269 n. 91 *201VAS   269 *202VAS   269, 270 n. 93 *206VAS   268 *209VAS   268, 269 n. 87 *209VAS+A   268 *210VAS   268 *210VAS+KA   268 *253   228

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287

Contributors

277_2 Indices.indd 287

Vassilis Aravantinos Eurynomis Street 46 15771 Zografou - Athens Greece [email protected]

John T. Killen Jesus College University of Cambridge Cambridge CB5 8BL UK

Anthi Batziou-Efstathiou Trikoupi Street 161 38221 Volos Greece [email protected]

Marie-Louise Nosch CTR Saxo Karen blixens vej 4 2300 Copenhagen Denmark [email protected]

Fritz Blakolmer Institute of Classical Archaeology University of Vienna Franz Klein-Gasse 1 1190 Vienna Austria [email protected]

Françoise Rougemont MAE, boite 16 21 allée de l’université 92027 Nanterre Cedex France [email protected]

Birgitta Eder Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology Aegean & Anatolia Department Austrian Academy of Sciences Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2 1010 Vienna Austria [email protected]

Florian Ruppenstein Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften Abteilung für Klassische Archäologie Fahnenbergplatz 79085 Freiburg i. Br. Germany [email protected]

Erik Hallager Østerøgade 4 8200 Aarhus N Denmark [email protected]

Cynthia W. Shelmerdine 24 McKeen Street Brunswick, ME 04011 USA [email protected]

Reinhard Jung Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology Europe Department Austrian Academy of Sciences Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2 1010 Vienna Austria [email protected]

Jörg Weilhartner Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology Aegean & Anatolia Department Austrian Academy of Sciences Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2 1010 Vienna Austria [email protected]

03.12.2015 14:36:52

288

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