The Mycenaean Collection of Ivory Combs at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Aegaeum, 46) 9789042948907, 9042948906

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AEGAEUM 46 Annales liégeoises et PASPiennes d’archéologie égéenne

THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS Yannis SAKELLARAKIS Eleni KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI

PEETERS LEUVEN - LIÈGE 2022

AEGAEUM 46 Annales liégeoises et PASPiennes d’archéologie égéenne

THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS Yannis SAKELLARAKIS Eleni KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI

PEETERS LEUVEN – LIÈGE 2022

Illustrations on cover pages: front: comb from Spata, Chamber tomb 1 (inv. NAM no. 2044, cat. 42); back: comb from Midea (inv. NAM no. 8762, cat. 68) and comb from Mycenae, Chamber tomb 24 (inv. NAM no. 2474, cat. 44). © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Hellenic Cultural Resources Managing and Development Organization - National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Department of Collection of Prehistoric, Egyptian, Cypriot and Near Eastern Antiquities.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. D/202/0602/ Impression et dépositaire : PEETERS nv Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven (Belgique) © A.s.b.l. Aegaeum, Aux Piédroux 120, B-4032 Liège (Belgique) et Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory (PASP), The University of Texas at Austin, 2022 ISBN 978-90-429-4 ! eISBN 978-90-429-4 ! Reproduction et traduction, même partielles, interdites sans l’autorisation de l’éditeur, pour tous pays

CONTENTS Acknowledgments

v

Sources of illustrations

vii

Bibliographical abbreviations

ix

ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLICATION OF THE IVORY COMBS FROM THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION IN THE NAM (March 2010)

1


THE MATERIAL: PROVENANCE, TRADE AND PROPERTIES

5

CATALOGUE

9

TYPOLOGY

39

ICONOGRAPHY

43

TECHNOLOGY

49

RELATIONS ACROSS A WIDER AREA – DISTRIBUTION

53

SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE

55

Table of combs’ typology

59

List of illustrations

61




ACKNOWLEDGMENTS More than eleven years have passed from the day Yannis Sakellarakis wrote his introduction to the combs, an in-depth testimony of his days as a Curator of the Collection of Prehistoric Antiquities at the National Archaeological Museum. A few months after he penned his thoughts, we were deprived of his imposing personality and his brilliant spirit; he never had the opportunity to see even the result of our study published in the Archaeologiki Ephemeris. This volume is the enriched and updated version of this first presentation of the Collection: it focuses more on iconographical and technical issues, but also provides the best possible documentation through detailed photographs and the marvelous drawings of the late Kostis Iliakis (1935-2007), a charismatic artist whom the Museum had the privilege to employ in the difficult but so-creative decade of the 1970s. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to my dear friends and colleagues: Dr. Nikolas Papadimitriou, Director of the Kanellopoulos Museum, for his valuable advice and to Miss Eirini Miari for the wonderful pictures of the combs; to Dr. Anna-Vassiliki Karapanagioti, Director, and to Dr. Konstantinos Nikolentzos, Head of the Department of Prehistoric Antiquities, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, for granting me permission to re-study the material and take new photographs where necessary; tο the Archaeological Society for their eagerness to help with the scanning of Iliakis’s drawings and their permission to re-use parts of the first presentation of the material, and finally to the Psycha Foundation for the generous financial support. I would like to thank especially three people without whom this edition would not be possible: Dr. Doniert Evely, who did much more than a thorough translation; he elaborated on the descriptions of the catalogue and on technical matters, offering generously from his expertise on Aegean craftsmanship; Prof. Robert Laffineur, a perceptive researcher to whom all of us engaged in Late Bronze Age archaeology are greatly indebted; and Miss Maria Kontaki, conservator at the NAM Laboratory of Metal, a very good friend and colleague who has been working diligently on the combs since the very first day of our research in 2006. It is she who has undertaken their cleaning and conservation, helped us with the accurate measurements, technical observations and provided part of the photographic documentation. Last but not least, I am most grateful to Dr. Efi Sapouna-Sakellaraki who has stood by me with enthusiasm and helped in any way she could, knowing that our mutual aim is none other than to make one of Yannis Sakellarakis’s dreams come true: to showcase the Museum’s collection of Mycenaean combs that he assembled and took care of as their guardian angel, and so make it accessible to a broader audience. Eleni KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI




SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS Photographs: National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports Plates I-IIa-b, III-Xa-b, XI, XIII-XVIII, XXV-XXIX, XXXV-XXXIX, XLIII, XLVI-LIII, LV-LVIII, LXIII-LXIV, LXVI-LXXI, LXXVI-LXXVII, LXXX, LXXXIII (Eirini Miari). Plates IIc, Xd, XII, XIX-XXIV, XXX-XXXIV, XL-XLII, XLIV, LIV, LIX-LXII, LXXII, LXXIVLXXV, LXXXI, LXXXIV-LXXXIX (Maria Kontaki). Plate LXXVIII (Eleutherios Galanopoulos). Drawing representations and reconstructions: Kostis Iliakis, Pl. Xc Maria Kontaki.




BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS AAA

Αρχαιολογικά Ανάλεκτα εξ’ Αθηνών

ADelt

Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον

AEphem

Αρχαιολογική Εφημερίς

AM

Athenische Mitteilungen. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung

ARUZ et al., Beyond Babylon J. ARUZ et al. (eds), Beyond Babylon. Αrt, Trade and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium BC (2008) BABesch

Bulletin Antieke Beschaving, Annual papers on Mediterranean Arcchaeology

BSA

Annual of the British School at Athens

BLEGEN, Prosymna C.W. BLEGEN, Prosymna, the Helladic settlement preceding the Argive Heraeum (1937) BLEGEN et al., PN III C.W. BLEGEN et al., The Palace of Nestor at Pylos in Western Messenia, ΙΙΙ. Acropolis and Lower Town, Tholoi, Grave Circle and Chamber Tombs, Discoveries outside the Citadel (1973) BUCHHOLZ – KARAGEORGHIS, Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus H.-G. BUCHHOLZ and V. KARAGEORGHIS, Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus (1973) BOURGEOIS, Approach to Anatolian Techniques B. BOURGEOIS, “Αn approach to Anatolian techniques of ivory carving during the second millennium BC,” in L.J. FITTON (ed.), Ivory in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period (1992) 61-66 CretChron

Κρητικά Χρονικά

CMS I

A. SAKELLARIOU, Die minoischen und mykenischen Siegel des Nationalmuseums in Athen (1964)

DE HOFF, The Ivory Trade Sh.L. DE HOFF, The Ιvory Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age, Background and Preliminary investigations (PhD Dissertation, 1988) DESSENNE, Le sphinx A. DESSENNE, Le sphinx, étude iconographique (1957) DICKINSON et al., Mycenae Revisited IV O.T.P.K. DICKINSON, L. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI, A. NAFPLIOTI and A.J.N.W. PRAG, “Mycenae Revisited IV. Assessing the New Data,” BSA 107 (2012) 161-188

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EVANS, PM IV A.J. EVANS, The Palace of Minos: a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustrated by the discoveries at Knossos, IV.1, Emergence of outer western enceinte, with new illustrations, artistic and religious, of the Middle Minoan Phase (1935) EVELY, Minoan Crafts R.D.G. EVELY, Minoan crafts: Tools and Techniques, An Introduction (1993) FELDMAN, Hoarded Treasures M.H. FELDMAN, “Hoarded Treasures: The Megiddo Ivories and the End of the Bronze Age,” Levant 41/2 (2009) 175-194 FITTON, Ivory in Greece L.G. FITTON (ed.), Ivory in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Period (1992) Furumark motif A. FURUMARK, The Mycenaean Pottery: Analysis and classification (1941)

FM

FRÖDIN – PERSSON, Asine O. FRÖDIN and Α.W. PERSSON, Asine, Results of the Swedish excavations 1922-1930 (1938) HAUSSOULLIER, Spata B. HAUSSOULLIER, “Catalogue descriptif des objets découverts à Spata,” BCH 2 (1878) 185-228 IAKOVIDIS, Perati Sp. IAKOVIDIS, Περατή, Το Νεκροταφείον Α-Γ (1969-70) IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora S.A. IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora, XIII. The Neolithic and Bronze Ages (1971) KANTOR, Ivory Carving H. KANTOR, “lvory carving in the Mycenaean period,” Archaeology 13 (1960) 14-25 KARETSOU – ANDREADAKI-VLAZAKI, Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος A. KARETSOU and M. ANDREADAKI-VLAZAKI (eds), Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος. Πολιτισμικοί δεσμοί τριών χιλιετιών (2000) KARO, Die Schachtgräber G. KARO, Die Schachtgräber νοη Mykenai (1930-33) KONSTANTINIDI, Jewellery E.M. KONSTANTINIDI, Jewellery revealed in the burial contexts of the Geek Bronze Age (2001) KOSMOS M.-L. NOSCH and R. LAFFINEUR (eds), KOSMOS. Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age, Proceedings of the 13th International Aegean Conference/13e Rencontre égéenne internationale, University of Copenhagen, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, 21-26 April 2010 (2012)







BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS

xi


KOUROU, The Sphinx N. KOUROU, “Following the Sphinx, Tradition and innovation in Early Iron Age Crete,” in G. RIZZA (ed.), Identità culturale, etnicità, processi di transformazione a Creta fra Dark Age e Arcaismo, Convegno di Studi, Atene 9-12 novembre 2006, Per I cento anni dello scavo di Prinias 1906-2006 (2006) 165-177 KRZYSKOWSKA, Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age O. KRZYSKOWSKA, “Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age: elephant tusk or hippopotamus ivory?,” BSA 83 (1988) 209-234 LAFFINEUR, Material and Craftsmanship R. LAFFINEUR, “Material and Craftsmanship in the Mycenae Shaft Graves: lmports vs Local Production,” Minos 25-26, 1990-91 (1993) 245-295 MARINATOS, Lions from Tell el-Dab
a N. MARINATOS, “Lions from Tell el-Dab
a,” Ägypten und Levante 20 (2010) 325-356 MOUNTJOY et al., Knossos. The South House P.A. MOUNTJOY, B. BURKE, K.S. CHRISTAKIS, J.M. DRIESSEN, R.D.G. EVELY, C. KNAPPETT and O.H. KRZYSZKOWSKA, Knossos, the South House (2003) MÜLLER, Alt Pylos II. K. MÜLLER, “Alt Py1os, ΙΙ. Die Funde aus den Kuppelgräbern νοη Kakovatos,” ΑΜ 34 (1909) 269-328 MYLONAS, Ταφικός Κύκλος Β G. MYLONAS, Ο Ταφικός Κύκλος Β των Μυκηνών (1972) PANDELIDOU, Προϊστορικαί Αθήναι M. PANDELIDOU, Προϊστορικαί Αθήναι (1975) PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα Μ. PAPAEFTHYMIOU-PAPANTHYMOY, Σκεύη και σύνεργα καλλωπισμού στον κρητομυκηναϊκό χώρο (Ph. D. Dissertation, Thessaloniki 1979) PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI et al., Mycenae Revisited III L. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI, A. NAFPLIOTI, J.H. MUSGRAVE and A.J.N.W. PRAG, “Mycenae Revisited. Part 3. The Human Remains from Grave Circle A at Mycenae. Behind the Masks: A Study of the Bones of Shaft Graves I–V,” BSA 105 (2010) 157-224 PHILLIPS, Crocodiles J. PHILLIPS, “Some non-Egyptian crocodiles,” in C.J. EYRE (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge 1995 (1998) 849-862 PHYSIS




G. TOUCHAIS, R. LAFFINEUR and F. ROUGEMONT (eds), PHYSIS. L’environnement naturel et la relation homme-milieu dans le monde égéen protohistorique. Actes de la 14e Rencontre égéenne internationale, Paris, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA), 11-14 décembre 2012 (2014) 375-376

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POURSAT, Catalogue J.-C. POURSAT, Catalogue des ivoires mycéniens du Musée National d’Athènes (1977) POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens J.-C. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens. Essai sur la formation d’un art mycénien (1977) POURSAT, L’art égéen 2 J.-C. POURSAT, L’art égéen, 2 Mycènes et le monde mycénien (2014) Prakt

Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας

SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο Y. SAKELLARAKIS, Το ελεφαντόδοντο και η κατεργασία του στα μυκηναϊκά χρόνια (1979) SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια Y. SAKELLARAKIS – E. KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI, “Ελεφάντινα κτένια από τη μυκηναϊκή συλλογή του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου,” AEphem 2010, 145-208 SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες Y. SAKELLARAKIS – E. SAPOUNA-SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες. Μια νέα ματιά στη μινωική Κρήτη, Α-Β (Athens 1997) XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι Α. XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Οι Θαλαμωτοί τάφοι των Μυκηνών. Άνασκαφή Χρ. Τσούντα (1887-1898) (1985) SCHLIEMANN, Mycenae H. SCHLIEMANN, Mycenae, Α narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenae and Tiryns (1878) STAMBOLIDIS, Ploes N. STAMBOLIDIS (ed.), ΠΛΟΕΣ. Από τη Σιδώνα στη Χουέλβα. Σχέσεις λαών της Μεσογείου (2003) TOURNAVITOU, Ivories from the House of Sphinxes I. TOURNAVITOU, “The ivories from the House of Sphinxes and the House of Shields: techniques in a Palatial workshop context,” in FITTON, Ivory in Greece, 37-44 TOURNAVITOU, The Ivory Houses I. TOURNAVITOU, The ‘Ivory Houses’ at Mycenae (1995) TSOUNTAS, Μυκήναις Chr. TSOUNTAS, “Aνασκαφαί τάφων εν Μυκήναις,” AEphem 1888, 119-180 VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves J.G. VELSINK, “The lvories from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae,” BABesch 78, 1-33 VENTRIS – CHADWICK, Documents M. VENTRIS and J. CHADWICK, Documents in Mycenaean Greek (1973)




BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS




VOLGRAFF, Fouilles d’Argos W. VOLLGRAFF, “Fouilles d’Argos,” BCH 28 (1904) 364-399 WACE, Chamber Tombs Α.J.B., WACE, Chamber tombs at Mycenae (1932) ZECCHI, Sobek M. ZECCHI, Sobek of Shedet. The Crocodile God in the Fayyum in the Dynastic Period (2010) OTHER ABBREVIATION NAM




National Archaeological Museum, Athens

xiii


ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLICATION OF THE IVORY COMBS FROM THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION IN THE NAM It is needful to return to the last century, to the 1970s or even the 1960s, if I want to trace my first thoughts on the collection of the ivory combs in the NAM. In 1965, I unearthed the first of the Mycenaean ivories at Phourni in Archanes and a few years later, in 1971, I became the guardian of much more than Mycenaean ivories, on being appointed – on completion of my doctorate at the University of Heidelberg – as curator of the Prehistoric Collection in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. I was then 36 years old and I felt it a true honour to officially succeed that great Kytherian archaeologist Valerios Stais, keeper of Prehistoric Collections since the days of Christos Tsountas. Jean-Claude Poursat had already studied the ivories in the museum, before publishing his two important volumes in 1977, with the full permission of the great and powerful husband and wife team, the Karouzos. Everything concerning prehistory they had entrusted to the worthy, and then young, researcher Agni Sakellariou, who had studied beforehand in Paris and enjoyed long-standing relations with France, hence the involvement of Jean-Claude Poursat. Agni Sakellariou had carried out a titanic work, namely putting on exhibition the prehistoric collections – Neolithic, Cycladic and mainly Mycenaean – of the National Archaeological Museum. And this was no small matter, considering the conditions in Athens in the 1950s – immediately after both the World and Civil wars, when even then the glittering gold work from Mycenae was still hidden in the vaults of the Bank of Greece. In 1971, when I was unexpectedly appointed curator of the Prehistoric Collections, Agni Sakellariou was in Thessaloniki, where she had completed her doctorate on Mycenaean seals, and had published in 1966 a study on them, still of great value today. Moreover, she had already published in French not only the genuine but also the forged seals in the Giamalakis Collection (he was an uncle of hers), as well as the very first volume in the long series of the CMS, that to this day is the single most fundamental research tool for Creto-Mycenaean iconography – the most excellent inspiration of F. Matz. The Director at the National Archaeological Museum in the 1970s was Vassilis Kallipolitis, luckless only in that he succeeded the famous Karouzos team. It was the time of the dictatorship and Kallipolitis proved himself prudent and above all fair, as well as a capable administrator. The longserving archaeologists then were Varvara Philippaki, a student of Sir John Beazley along with Manolis Andronikos, but being harassed by her colleague Semni Karouzos lived therefore constantly in fear, a little below her was Nikos Gialouris, a charismatic archaeologist in his youth, and finally Evi Touloupa, as yet without a doctorate and whose husband, a resistance fighter, was unfortunately imprisoned. I was young and of course ambitious, since I wanted to do something with my life, and was maybe disliked by some people, since I did not hide my thoughts. Now with the passage of time I have striven long and hard to understand what lies behind every ‘beginning’, not only in prehistory but also in life. I think that the underlying cause of my attitude was my life-long reading of ancient literature – of Homer, of the tragedies and comedies, the Pre-Socratic philosophers, but also of lyric poetry. To put it another way, I began the attempt to harness my ego, in an effort to uphold the famous Greek golden mean, a balanced perspective. Thus, I did not have to pursue the superficial and immediate, to be on display, to garner flattering praise. As concerned the National Archaeological Museum and Mycenaean ivory working, it was therefore not my task to showcase some spectacular display of my capabilities to one and all, but to labour in the out-of-theway basements. I’m not joking here. In 1970, the vast basements of the National Archaeological Museum had but a single room exclusively dedicated to the prehistoric collections and the majority of the other rooms, apart from some large sculptures, were absolutely filled with wooden boxes in disorder, one


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piled on top of another. It is no exaggeration to say that communication from one room to another was feasible only through a narrow corridor. All the archaeologists of the museum, therefore, were put to work to classify the many thousands of – mostly – small objects. Personally, I was happy, as a workman whose labour is rewarded by the very act of doing it. Over ten years and with much labour, the original storeroom of the prehistoric collections of the National Archaeological Museum had become seven and all were filled with lost treasures. It is impossible to even briefly list the wonders rediscovered. It was a real excavation full of surprise, as one never knew in advance what would turn up. Wooden and cardboard cartons and boxes of all sizes were constantly being opened – many were the packets of old cigarette brands, and other tins with colourful advertisements for their exotic contents, but actually containing a variety of ancient small finds, wrapped in paper of all kinds. (One was even wrapped in a ministerial document, ordering the transport of a clay vessel “to the stores”). Of course, many were the unknown ivory objects amongst all this. It deserves repeating that it was a real excavation, as the dust of time – and this is my own phrase, coined before the film made by Theodoros Angelopoulos – covered everything. It was then maybe that I learned how to read the thoughts and nature of people I knew not from the old objects that they had held in their hands – objects that had lasted (lived I should say) to feel the touch of my own hands. Each piece of wrapping paper that survived, irrespective of whether it was paper from the butcher’s shop or some faded sheet of writing paper, had its own feel, masculine or feminine. And if it was a snippet of an old newspaper, it yet betrayed some date, maybe even something of the origin, the level of education or even the political beliefs of the one who used it first. It was then that I started thinking not only about what time buried, but also what some people sought to bury in time. As witness to the work of those years are the brief announcements in the Archaeological Bulletin (Archaeologikon Deltion), both by the director Vassilis Kallipolitis and by myself. I recall to mind those who not merely assisted, but were present and part of every effort. Those excellent archaeologists – and people – Maria Vlasopoulou (Pl. Ia) and Dimitra (Mitsi) Kokkevi, the best of craftsmen Tassos Magnisalis and Kostas Pantazis, whose cleaning operations revealed a wealth of detail even in famous ancient objects, and their colleague Antigoni Mandilas, and finally that resplendent guard Giannis Tsangarakis (Pl. Ib), without whom not a door of the storerooms of the prehistoric collections could be opened. The constant presence of this last guardian was necessary, long before a theft was revealed in the museum by Antonis Papailiopoulos, he who had made passable drawings of the sealstones for the CMS, but much better ones of the Proto-Attic vases for Semni Karouzos. That the cooperation I enjoyed with my colleagues Varvara Philippaki, Evi Touloupa and Petros Kalligas was of the first order goes without saying. The ordering of the storerooms of the prehistoric collections not only made them accessible to scientific research in general, but also enabled personal research. It was then that I catalogued the bronze Mycenaean swords of the museum, which after thorough re-cleaning showed many new details; I also tackled all the swords known up to then in all the Peloponnesian museums, which I later deposited in the Drawing Office of the National Archaeological Museum, as their planned publication in the well-known PBF series did not come off. On the occasion of the exhibition of frescoes of Thera held then in the museum (Pl. Ic), I published a study in French on the subject of the Fisherman in the prehistoric art of the Aegean. At a symposium in that period my study on ostrich eggs in the Aegean was announced and published, a work focussing on the ornate examples from the royal tombs of Mycenae. A small guide to the Mycenaean exhibition was also published at the time, which soon sold out and was never republished. I have not been concerned with making money ever since those days, even indirectly, from ancient artefacts. As already noted, one of my main research loves was ivory and amongst the scattered ivory objects in the museum warehouses there were treasures indeed. One of my first books was about ivory and its working in the Mycenaean years, a topic that became early on a seminar at the Universities of Athens, Hamburg and Heidelberg, when the study of ancient technology was still in its infancy. As early as 1971, my article “An Ivory Ship from Mycenae” was published in the obligatory

THE PUBLICATION OF THE MYCENAEAN IVORY COMBS IN THE NAM

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Katharevousa-Greek of the time: it concerns a pyxis in the form of a ship with the figure-head of a duck floating smoothly. Forty years later I recall my doubts then about the real existence of such spectacular ships with only the contemporary Egyptian examples to go by, but their existence in the prehistoric Aegean was confirmed by the great finds of Spyros Marinatos on Thera. But I never stopped thinking about the Creto-Mycenaean ivory-working craft, so later, with the approval of the authorities; I embarked with the expert assistance, as I said, of J. C. Poursat on the publication of a Corpus of Creto-Mycenaean Ivories, securing financial support from a sponsor, a project that was cancelled due to the usual Greek egotistical feuding. As the study now being published shows, even today I do not forsake my ivory-working. I may even in the future write on the imitation and impact of Minoan torsion in Mycenaean ivories. At that time I was busy dealing with various publications on the finds that came to light every now and then in the famous storerooms. My unpublished Habilitation at the University of Athens in 1975 is based on material found in the National Archaeological Museum and on two unknown pieces of plaques from Knossos, in co-operation with Jean-Pierre Olivier. One of my many other side jobs was organizing the first temporary exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum with the treasures of the Nicosia Museum, immediately after the 1974 Cypriot coup. I undertook much research too on Mycenaean stone vessels, many of which came to light here and there in the storerooms. My articles published in Greek, English and German concerned part of a stone relief vessel from Tiryns and Mycenaean stone vessels in general. There is also the publication of the catalogue of Mycenaean stone vessels in the National Archaeological Museum. Particularly important was the recovery of various stone architectural sculptures from the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, among which was a gypsum dowel. Several studies of mine in Greek and German about Creto-Mycenaean seals are also devoted to finds in the National Archaeological Museum, such as on the chronology of the rings and seals of chamber tomb 91 of Mycenae, on the subject of a woman bearing an animal in Creto-Mycenaean glyptics, on moulds for Creto-Mycenaean signet rings, on Creto-Mycenaean seals recovered in later Greek sanctuaries and on trial-pieces for seals. Of especial importance was the publication of 169 seals and 37 sealings (206 items from 26 sites) distributed amongst various boxes of the so-called Treasury, the keys of which were personally held by Varvara Philippaki, and which was opened only after a thousand entreaties were made. In this way there was published the volume CMS I, Supplementum, as an addition to the volume CMS I, published by Agni Sakellariou. A German-speaking historian-archaeologist who visited the museum’s storerooms at the time, along with many other Greeks and foreigners, Fritz Schachermeyer, laid much emphasis on the fact that the prehistoric collections of the National Archaeological Museum were now open not only for Greek, but also for international research. As for the promotion of research across the board, I can simply remark that it was then for the first time and in my presence that the current expert, Christos Boulotis, caught sight of Mycenaean wall-paintings. Then too and again for the first time, the multitalented Pericles Kourachanis (Pl. Ia) handled Egyptian objects. And it was then that Angeliki Douzougli, Alexandra Christopoulou and Anna Grammenou – colleagues all – worked long and hard on Neolithic pottery. This volume then is the story of a piece of Greek archaeological research. Greek archaeological research is already two centuries old, and as such every element and aspect of it should be recorded for the instruction of succeeding generations. The lessons are obvious. First and foremost, given the report on the theft of antiquities within the National Archaeological Museum, is the safety of each and every relic from the past, their protection from all kinds of destroyers over time. The main precautionary measure and means of security is, of course, publication. Not merely the imposition of emergency measures in a time of widespread corruption. Patience must be accompanied by a tenacious effort on the part of the individual to avoid being sucked into the morass, by an insistence on ever more work, persistence in discounting the multitude of difficulties. I have written on this elsewhere on another occasion. Obstacles exist to be overcome, just so long as the pursuit of the goal is unceasing. The ancient Greeks called a thinker one who so acted


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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS

with contemplation and meditation but who may intervene that most difficult obstacle to enlightenment, one that is common to humanity but also an intensely Greek failing, egoism. But for this too there is an antidote available to every researcher who can appreciate from the very history of research the limits of an individual’s own knowledge. This is specially so for one whose research involves the passage of time, such as the archaeologist, who, being anonymous himself, he is well aware of the Eternal Anonymity. Besides he knows that there is no middle ground in the spiritual struggle – such a thing cannot be measured, neither in old-fashioned honest sweat, nor by the most modern of fatigue tests. In the above I have spoken of the fleeting moment and of feeling. So, now, in closing, I refer to an event that occurred in the university courses that I had then started up in the closed Mycenaean exhibition of the museum, taking place every Monday and especially concentrated on Mycenaean stone working. A large, four-nozzled stone lamp of palatial quality was brought up from the basements; I had arranged for oil to be poured into its central cavity, where four wicks had been placed in the respective nozzles. It was January, and a little cloudy, when the pupils of my students’ eyes suddenly shone bright with surprise, but also with the joy of comprehending how something worked. Of course, my pleasure now is to work with young people, never mind if they be my students or not: such a one is Eleni Konstantinidi-Syvridi, who has harmoniously linked together in words the various photographs, the excellent drawings of the late painter Kostis Iliakis (Pl. Id), and even some scattered thoughts of my own – handing them over to the timeless safekeeping of the internet, before they – and we – all fade away.

Yannis SAKELLARAKIS March 2010

THE MATERIAL: PROVENANCE, TRADE AND PROPERTIES The ivory trade and its routes The whiteness and the smooth texture of ivory, as well as the difficulty attached to obtaining it that thereby makes the substance expensive, will have been the factors that caused it from an early age to be exploited for the manufacture of luxury items by Aegean craftsmen. Ivory seems to have been imported from Africa or India via Syria (Ugarit),1 either as a raw material or in the form of valuable gifts exchanged among the rulers of the Eastern Mediterranean.2 Ivory eventually arrived at the Mycenaean centres of the Peloponnese via Cyprus, Asia Minor, Rhodes, Thira and Milos.3 The two best known shipwrecks of the Late Bronze Age, Uluburun (14th c. BC) and Cape Gelidonya (12th c. BC), bear indisputable evidence to the trafficking that took place in the Eastern Mediterranean. Alongside other valuable materials, unworked elephant and hippo tusks were also being transported.4 It is also no coincidence that the largest cache of ivory objects to be discovered to date was made in Megiddo, Syria, in a palatial context of the 13th c. BC:5 among the objects was found a comb that has been claimed to be Mycenaean based on its decoration with a scale-like pattern.6 The existence of elephant herds in the valleys of the Euphrates is attested to in the 2nd millennium BC. Egyptian manuscripts of the 18th Dynasty (1567-1320 BC), which describe a campaign in northern Syria, state that 120 elephants were captured,7 while elsewhere it is reported that booty arrived in Egypt from parts of Africa to its south, such as oil and wine, weapons, slaves, carriages, quantities of the stone lapis lazuli, raw elephant tusks and ivory furniture.8 At around the same time, approximately 1558 BC, after the fall of the Hyksos, trade with the Red Sea and the Mediterranean9 – which had been in decline for several years – seems to have been restored: imported ivory stocks in the Aegean were now large enough to equip the palace workshops. After the establishment of commercial colonies by the Phoenicians in the Mediterranean, the exploitation of ivory became more systematic, with the result that in the 13th and 12th c. BC various schools of ivoryworking had come into being, such as the Phoenician, Syrian (Northern Syria), Hittite and Mycenaean.10


1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LAFFINEUR, Material and Craftsmanship 276-277; DE HOFF, The Ivory Trade 125-126 and 133. See for example the case of duck-shaped vessels, popular throughout the Syrian-Palestinian littoral during the 2nd millennium BC, A. CAUBET, “Le travail de l’ivoire au Levant, de la fin de 1’Âge du Bronze au debut de 1’Âge du Fer, continuité et rupture,” in Ε.A. BRAUN-HOLZINGER and H. MATTHÄUS (eds), Die nahöstlichen Kulturen und Griechenland an der Wende vom 2. zum 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr.: Kontinuität und Wandel von Strukturen und Mechanismen kultureller Interaktion, Kolloquium des Sonderforschungsbereiches 295 “Kulturelle und sprachliche Kontakte” 11.-12. Dezember 1998 / Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (2002) 109-122; STAMBOLIDIS, Ploes 533 for commentary and related literature. LAFFINEUR, Material and Craftsmanship 276-277. G.F. BASS, “Oldest known shipwreck reveals splendors of the Bronze Age”, National Geographic 172:6 (1987) 709 ff. A. GOETZE, “The struggle for the domination of Syria,” in Cambridge Ancient History ΙΙ, Part 2Α (1980) 4 ff. KANTOR, Ivory Carving 14-25. J.A. WILSON, The Culture of Ancient Egypt (1951) 195. J. BREASTED, Ancient Records of Egypt II (1906) 502, 504, 652. DE HOFF, The Ivory Trade 155. P. REHAK and J. YOUNGER, “International styles in ivory carving in the Bronze Age,” in E.H. CLINE and D. HARRIS-CLINE (eds), The Aegean and the Orient in the Second Millennium, Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Symposium, Cincinnati, 18-20 April 1997 (1998) 229-256.


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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


In Mycenaean Greece, the use of large amounts of ivory in the manufacture and decoration of wooden furniture (tables, stools and seats) is evidenced by the Linear B tablets from Pylos:11 the set of ten tablets – termed Ta – records a variety of these same objects. Ivory is the only material to which whole tablets are dedicated, and it is associated with finished objects made out of stone, ebony or other woods, but also as a raw material for working in its own right. Its use in the manufacture of furniture is also documented by excavations: from such as the finds made in the Houses of Sphinxes and of Shields in Mycenae, where the total number of ivory objects exceeds 18,800 pieces,12 most of them furniture inlays. Moreover, two of the tablets at Knossos testify that ivory, possibly painted red, was also used in the construction of chariots and of horse harness.13 Ivory in the Aegean Evidence on the working of ivory on Crete, mainly for the manufacture of seals, comes from the EM IIA period, indicating that the material was introduced from the East.14 Most of the ivory has been found along with objects made of precious metals and other exotic materials, such as alabaster and amethyst. A few amulets, figurines, fittings and sword pommels have been found in contexts of EM II and III, a time when true relief-work was still almost unknown. In the Middle Minoan period, some few excavations have brought to light relief-work in bone, although already by around LM IA/LH I, Cretan craftsmen were making larger-scale ivory works, some of which are masterpieces of Aegean miniature craftsmanship.15 Mycenaean ivory-working has two phases: the early one covers the period between LM IA/LH I and LM/LH IIIA2 and is represented by the ivories discovered in Grave Circle A of Mycenae.16 Most Mycenaean products in ivory, however, date to the second and mature phase, from LM/LH IIIA2 to LH IIIC.17 It is interesting to note that distinctive Mycenaean elements travelled as far as Meggido, such as the motifs of the sacral ivy and the three-curved arch but also the winged griffin, mainly on the modelling of the body, for which the closest parallel seems to be the Lion Gate in Mycenae.18 The presence of the material of course argues for the financial well-being and high social status of those who possessed it, since the transportation to the Aegean was done mainly by ships and was both time consuming and difficult, if one takes into account that an elephant tusk can be up to 1-1.25 m long and weigh up to 50 kg, depending on the age and sex of the animal.19 Hence, the contexts where ivory has been excavated, both in Crete and in mainland Greece, correspond to palace workshops, tombs of elites or sanctuaries,20 where both raw material and processed artefacts are found as grave goods or votives. On the Mainland, palatial workshop areas are known from Mycenae (the Ivory Houses),21 Tiryns22 and Thebes; the region of Kadmeia has produced a workshop area of LH


11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

VENTRIS-CHADWICK, Documents 366; DE HOFF, The Ivory Trade 159, n. 31. TOURNAVITOU, Ivories from the House of Sphinxes 37. G. OWENS, “The date of the “Room of the Chariot” tablets at Knossos,” Kadmos 38.2 (1999) 175-177. KRZYZSKOWSKA, Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age 226-228; for the importation and distribution of ivory in the Aegean during the Early and Middle Bronze Age, see M. MASSA and A. PALMISANO, “Change and continuity in the long-distance exchange networks between western/central Anatolia, northern Levant and northern Mesopotamia, c. 3200-1600 BCE,” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 49 (2018) 7075. REHAK-YOUNGER (supra n. 10) 235-238. KRZYZSKOWSKA, Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age 230, n. 71, for the Middle and Late Helladic material. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 179; POURSAT, L’art égéen 2 182-189. FELDMAN, Hoarded Treasures 181-182, figs 9-10. SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 5-6. I.e. the votive deposit of the Sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis of Ialysos on Rhodes, ARUZ et al., Beyond Babylon cat. no. 174 (T. MARKETOU). TOURNAVITOU, Ivories from the House of Sphinxes 37.

THE MATERIAL: PROVENANCE, TRADE AND PROPERTIES

7


IIIA2-IIIB1 with evidence for the working of ivory and boar’s tusk23 and another one of LH IIIB2 date, involved also in the production of ivory combs.24 It has been suggested that the uniformity seen in sets of toiletries (pyxides, mirrors, pins and combs) that links together a series of various places in the Eastern Mediterranean indicates the diplomatic marriages contracted between elite families.25 In particular, the types of objects imported into Ur, such as combs, pyxides and ivory-inlaid furniture, were exactly the same as those mentioned in Amarna letters as dowries brought by princesses to their new homeland.26 In Greece, the frequent recovery of ivory objects in rich female burials of the Mycenaean period (such as the Agora in Athens)27 is typical. In the most recent anthropological study of Grave Circle A, it was observed (through a strontium analysis of teeth) that two of the women buried there were not native to Greece.28 Properties of ivory and factors contributing to its deterioration One of the characteristics of ivory that makes it both prone to deteriorate with time (and for this reason we have proportionately few finds in good condition) and hard to conserve after its removal from the excavation site, is its sensitivity to various factors, such as interaction with moisture in the soil or acidity therein, the effects of fire or contact with metal objects.29 In the burial context, ivory is also adversely affected by other causes such as exposure to various mineral compounds, which damages its outer surface, and also by oxidation, by corrosion from minerals that penetrate the surface or by iron or manganese salts in the soil. The effect of fire is another highly destructive element: as has been found in scientific experiments at a temperature of only about 700-750 degrees Celsius ivory begins to break down.30 Further, treatments – both mechanical and chemical – used to clean the surface during conservation and in the coating of the material with an organic agent such as wax, gelatine or a synthetic resin can all to a great degree modify the appearance of the surface (colour, softness, degree of gloss, etc.).


22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

U. POLCZYK and O. KRZYZSZKOWSKA, Mycenaean Ivories from Tiryns (Tiryns Forschungen und Berichte XIII, 2005) 191. E. ANDRIKOU, “Συμβολή οδών Λ. Μπέλλου και Η. Θρεψιάδου (οικόπεδο Δημοτικού Συνεδριακού Κέντρου (ΔΣΚ) δήμου Θηβών Ο.Τ.377),” ADelt 49 (1995) B1 290-294; L.M. SNYDER - E. ANDRIKOU, “Raw material for a helmet? Evidence for boar’s tusk harvesting in a Late Helladic Context, Thebes,” AJA 105 (2001) 304 (abstract). A. SAMPSON, “La destruction d’un atelier palatial mycémien à Thèbes,” BCH 109 (1985) 21-29. DE HOFF, The Ivory Trade 183-184 and 187. A. OPPENHEIM, “The seafaring merchants of Ur,” JAOS 74 (1954) 11. S.A. IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora, XIII. The Neolithic and Bronze Ages (1971) passim. DICKINSON et al., Mycenae Revisited IV 181-182. SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 3; see also the effect on the surface of comb 12 caused by its vicinity to copper. BOURGEOIS, Approach to Anatolian Techniques 62 and 65-66 for relevant bibliography on the ivory’s distortion.




CATALOGUE The Collection of Mycenaean combs of the National Archaeological Museum comprises 86 specimens1 and four gold covers of combs, one of them (inv. no. NAM P 109) preserving traces of the teeth. They come from 13 sites and at least 38 contexts, covering almost all the Peloponnese and part of Attica, ranging in date from LH I to LH IIIC. Almost half of them, 39 in total, come from Mycenae: 1 from Grave Circle B, Tomb Gamma (69), 3 from Grave Circle A, Tomb IV (49, 77) and Tomb V (76), 16 from the chamber tombs (Tombs 1887/8 [3, 4, 5, 6, 62, 63], Tomb 81 [12], Tomb 518 [15, 16], Tomb 27 [33, 55], Tomb 24 [44], Tomb 26 [52], Tomb 88 [65], Tomb 529 [72], with one from unknown context [79]; 8 come from the citadel (1, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 28, 64), while for the rest, the exact place of discovery is not known (10, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39, 40, 47, 48, 57). The rest of the sites that produced combs in the Peloponnese are Tiryns (2), Midea (22, 68), Deiras, Tomb 7 (59) and Tomb 9 (60), Prosymna, Tomb II (54), Tomb XIV (41, 67) and Tomb XLI (45, 66), Asine (34), Routsi-Myrsinochori, tholos tomb 2 (75), Analipsis, Kynouria, tholos tomb (73, 74), Pylos tholos tomb III (46, 53) and an unidentified context (50), Kambos, tholos tomb (13) and Kakovatos tholos tomb A (70, 71). Attica yielded 19 specimens: from Spata, chamber tomb 1, come six specimens (42, 43, 51, 56, 61 and 78), while Perati produced a total of 13 combs from 7 tombs: 17 (from T. 5),18, 19, 20 (T. Σ1), 21 (T. 92), 23, 24 (T. 128), 25 (T. 142), 26, 27 (T. 154), 35, 36 (T. 1) and 58 (unidentified context). A single comb comes from an unknown context (32). TYPE A 1 Inv. no. 1024 (Pl. IIa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis (Schliemann’s excavations) Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.074, height 0.063, thickness 0.010 m. Square comb, of which is preserved the back with several flakes, one side tooth and part of the other. Initially it had 36 relatively broad teeth, including the side ones. An engraved line divides the back into two zones, with another similar line at the roots of the teeth. In the centre of the upper zone there is a hole, either for suspension or for inserting something else in. Bibliography: SCHLIEMANN, Mycenae 79, fig. 130; BUCHHOLZ-KARAGEORGHIS, Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus 50, fig. 513; POURSAT, Catalogue 10, no. 12, Pl. III; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 177-178 no. 10, Pl. 59c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 148, fig. 1. 2 Inv. no. 1612 (Pl. IIIa-c) Provenance: Tiryns Context: It was found with other bone fragments and boar’s tusks (as recorded in the Museum inventory) Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.038, height 0.039, thickness 0.01 m.




1




Cat no. 79 comprises 8 pieces.

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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Comb restored from at least two pieces; end and part of back preserved. 10 of its teeth (including side tooth) and 2-3 roots survive. The surface is very worn, especially on one side, where it is also covered with sediment. Relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 148. 3 Inv. no. 2326 (Pl. IVa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888) Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.072, height 0.048, thickness 0.008 m. Comb restored from two parts of the back and two parts of the side tooth; preserved for its entire length. It originally had 36 teeth including the side ones, of which the roots of 29 are preserved. The surface of the back is worn on most of both sides. Relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 79, no. 263, Pl. XXIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 177, 6, Pl. 59b; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 147-148; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 148. 4 Inv. no. 2333 (Pl. Va-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888) Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.054, height 0.045, thickness 0.006 m. Comb, almost intact, missing some teeth. 18 teeth, including both side ones, and 12 roots are preserved. Surface quite worn on most of both sides. Fragments of two more teeth were found together, possibly from this item. Relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, whilst a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 79, no. 264, Pl. XXIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 177.7, Pl. 59b; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 150; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 149. 5 Inv. no. 2409 (Pl. VIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888) Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.060, height 0.018, thickness 0.008 m. Comb of which survives only the back, without the side teeth. Only the roots of the teeth (around 22) are preserved; it seems that initially there were probably 36. Surface on one side damaged; on the other side there are flakes lost from the lower zone and damage suffered by the upper relief line.







CATALOGUE

11


Relief line, visible only on one side, divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while the similar line defining the roots of the teeth is now largely missing. Of the other side, only a small part is visible from the line defining the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: TSOUNTAS, Μυκήναις Pl. 8.7; POURSAT, Catalogue 79, no. 265, Pl. XXIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 177, no. 8; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 152; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 149. 6 Inv. no. 2460 (Pl. VIIa-e) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888). It was found with another worn comb, which has not been inventoried. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.085, height 0.054, thickness 0.01 m. Comb restored from three pieces. Most of the teeth are missing – they originally numbered 38, excluding the side ones. Relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. The top of the back is adorned with a central low protrusion, spool-shaped when seen from above. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 79, no. 267, Pl. XXIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 177, no. 9, Pl. 59b; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 154; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 149. 7 Inv. no. 2579.1 (Pl. VIIIa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis 1890 Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.044, height 0.037, thickness 0.005 m. Square comb preserved almost whole in very good condition. All 19 of the teeth are preserved, as well as two side teeth. The centre of the back has a hole for hanging up the comb or inserting something else in. A groove divides the back into two zones and a second defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 16, no. 38a, Pl. III; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 178-179, nos. 14-15a, Pl. 59c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 149. 8 Inv. no. 2579.2 (Pl. IXa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis 1890 Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.040, height 0.031, thickness 0.005 m. Square comb preserved almost whole in very good condition. All 20 of the teeth are preserved, as well as two side teeth. The centre of the back has a hole for hanging up the comb or inserting something else in.







12



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Two grooves, closely spaced divides the back into two zones, while a second groove defines the roots of the teeth. (Reverse appears to have different arrangement of grooves). The teeth are carelessly cut, as the roots are not in a straight line. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 16, no. 38b, Pl. III; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 178-179, nos. 14-15b, Pl. 59c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 149. 9 Inv. no. 2632 (Pl. Xa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis 1888 Dating: LH IIIB Dimensions: Length 0.094, height 0.063, thickness 0.0095 m. Comb, preserving backside tooth and considerable amount of the other long and thin teeth; originally about 49 main teeth, excluding side ones. The top of the back is flat and quite wide. Relief line divides the back into two zones, of rounded profile, another such line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 15, no. 31, Pl. III; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 178, no. 12, Pl. 59c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 149-150. 10 Inv. no. 2671 (Pl. XIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.019, height 0.039, thickness 0.0045 m. Comb, part of the back with one lateral tooth, the roots of 6 teeth and the beginning of another. The surface has a vertical crack. Relief line divides the back into two zones, slightly rounded in profile, while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 150. 11 Inv. no. 2700 (Pl. XIIa-e) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis 1888 Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.074, height 0.058, thickness 0.008 m. Comb, in quite good condition, with 23 teeth, long and thin, and side teeth surviving; originally 36 main teeth. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile and of which the lower is larger; while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 13, no. 22, Pl. III; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 178, no. 11, Pl. 59c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 150.







CATALOGUE

13


12 Inv no. 3117 (Pl. XIIIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 81. No burials are reported. No burials are reported. Neither the comb itself nor the many other ivory and glass objects said to be from here are mentioned in the excavation diary. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.092, height 0.030 m. Comb restored from four pieces. The surface is very damaged by exposure to oxidizing copper and exfoliated, especially so on one side. No roots of teeth can be seen; the comb was probably unfinished. A relief line divides the back into two zones, of rounded profile, while a similar line defines where the roots of the teeth would be. At the top of the back, a central twelve-leaf rosette rises slightly above the back in a boss-like effect. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 97, no. 310; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 175, 3; XENAKISAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 230, Pl. 107; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 150. 13 Inv. no. 3309 (Pl. XIVa-d) Provenance: Kambos, Messenia Context: Tholos tomb, looted, yielding few bones which were not examined; the grave goods consisted of a few pieces of gold and glass jewellery, an agate sealstone, pottery, stone whorls and two lead figurines. Dating: LH IIΑ-IIIΑ1 Dimensions: length 0.06, height 0.04, thickness 0.011 m. Comb with very worn surface; the surviving main teeth have become detached along with the soil, now restored; originally some 36 or so teeth, excluding the side ones. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. The back has an off-centre and semi-circular protrusion in place of the usual rosette. Bibliography: Ch. TSOUNTAS, “Τάφος θολωτός εν Κάμπω,” AEphem 1891, 189-191; POURSAT, Catalogue 125, no. 380, Pl. XXXVIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 181, no. 28; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 148, fig. 1. 14 Inv. no. 4532 (Pl. XVa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis Dating: LH IIIB Dimensions: length 0.054, height 0.048, thickness 0.005 m. Comb with most of the teeth, thin and long, surviving and the side teeth. Exfoliation of lamina at one end of one side, wear on most of the other. 28 of the teeth, excluding side teeth, and 8 roots are preserved; originally there were 36 in total. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while there is a similar line at the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 18, no. 46, Pl. III; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 178, no. 13, Pl. 59c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 150.







14



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




15 Inv. no. 6444 (Pl. XVIa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 518. The burials were disturbed. Considerable amounts of pottery were found, as were copper/bronze objects, ivory pyxides and processed boar’s tusks. The comb was located at the southwest side of the chamber. Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: length 0.75, height 0.25, thickness 0.011 m. Comb, two sections from the back, restored. The upper part of the back, on both sides, has a cavity that indicates a repair. Only the roots of two teeth are preserved. A relief line divides the back into two almost equal zones, rounded in profile, while a second line marks the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: WACE, Chamber Tombs 85, no. 57, fig. 32; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 102, no. 323, Pl. XXXIV; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 175, no. 1-2; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 150, fig. 2a-b. 16 Inv. no. 6444.2 (Pl. XVIIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 518 (same as above) Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: (after restoration) length. 0.095 m, height 0. 022 m, thickness 0.004 m. Comb, back restored from three pieces and filled with wax. The surface is almost destroyed, though in better condition at ends. The teeth are not preserved, only traces of their cutting and the roots on one side. Another piece was found together, also with a damaged surface, but it is not sure it belongs. Two relief lines divide the back into three almost equal zones, the upper two are of rounded profile. At the centre of the back, and perhaps also present on its faces as a swelling, a vaguely triangular protrusion rises. Bibliography: WACE, Chamber Tombs 85, no. 57; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 102, no. 323, Pl. XXXIV; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 175, nos. 1-2b (wrong description); SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 150-151. 17 Inv no. 8103 (Pl. XVIIIa-d) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 5. Found inside a niche in the NE corner with redeposited bones (skull), along with small vessels, beads made of faience and bird bones. Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.0385, height 0.0375, thickness 0.006 m. Comb, square, restored from two fragments. The back is preserved, as are the side teeth, of the main teeth – initially 21 – only the roots survive. A relief line divides the back into two zones, while a second line exists at the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati A 173, Pl. 52 (Δ 16); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 187, no. 45; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 151.







CATALOGUE

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18 Inv. no. 8112a (Pl. XIXa-f) Provenance: Perati, Context: Tomb ΣΙ. Pieces of other combs and teeth were found together (see below). Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.078, height 0.053, thickness 0.008 m. Comb, back, restored from smaller pieces; one face lost. One side tooth preserved, of the rest only some roots survive. Initially there were probably 45 teeth. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a second line exists at the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati A 22, Pl. 4 (Δ 17); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 187, no. 45; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 151. 19 Inv. no. 8112b (Pl. XXa-c) Provenance: Perati, Context: Tomb ΣΙ. Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.042, height 0.029, thickness 0.008 m. Comb, part of the back, with a fairly worn surface. Stubs of a dozen or so teeth remain. A relief line divides the back into two convex zones, of rounded profile, while a second line exists at the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati A 22, Pl. 4 (Δ 20); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 187, no. 46; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 151. 20 Inv. no. 8112c (Pl. XXIa-d) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb ΣΙ. Ten parts of comb teeth were found together, of different dimensions. On some, many traces of fine saw-work are preserved. Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.006, height 0.024 m. Comb, edge of back. The stubs of three teeth are preserved. Relief line divides back into two zones, rounded in profile; with another at the root of the teeth. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati A 22, Pl. 4 (Δ 22), co-finds (Δ 21); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 187, no. 47, co-finds no. 48; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 151-152. 21 Inv. no. 8434 (Pl. XXIIa-b) Provenance: Perati, Context: Tomb 92. Found with the disturbed bones of four earlier burials, along with small clay vessels and gold jewellery (hair-spiral, bead and two rings). Dating: LH ΙΙΙC Dimensions: length 0.017, height 0.028, thickness 0.003 m. Comb, part of the back, with parts of 17 or so teeth restored. Not well preserved.







16



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Hints of lines at roots of teeth; otherwise lost or never there. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 204, Pl. 61 (Δ 133); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 188, no. 51; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152. 22 Inv. no. 8763 (Pl. XXIIIa-c) Provenance: Midea Context: Excavations by N. Bertos, 1936 (unpublished) Dating: LH IIB-IIIA1 Dimensions: length 0.67, height 0.03, thickness 0.01 m. Comb, back, only stubs of teeth survive. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, a second defines the roots of the teeth. In the upper zone is an off-centre eight-petalled rosette, in very worn condition, which rises up above the back. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 117, no. 363; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152. 23 Inv. no. 8795 (Pl. XXIVa-c) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 128 Dating: LH ΙΙΙC Dimensions: The larger pieces measure: a) length. 0.034, height 0.016 m; b) length 0.038, height 0.017 m. Twelve fragments of combs: they do not join. It is thus not possible to identify the exact number of combs, but there are at least two. A back with a side tooth and the roots of eight teeth more can be securely made out. A thin relief line divides the back into two unequal zones, with the roots of teeth also defined by another. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 443-444 (Δ 166-168), Pl. 132a; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 188-189, nos. 52-54; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152. 24 Inv. no. 8795b (Pl. XXVa-d) Provenance: Perati, Context: Tomb 128 Dating: LH ΙΙΙC Dimensions: preserved length of two fragments 0.013 and 0.035 m. Comb, most of back, restored from smaller fragments and mended with wax. It preserves the roots of a few teeth and part of a side one. Two relief line divides the back into two zones, of rounded profile, with a third defining the roots of the teeth. An off-centre rosette can be seen in the uppermost zone. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 443-444 (Δ 166-168), Pl. 132a; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 188-189, nos. 52-54; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152.







CATALOGUE

17


25 Inv. no. 8848 (Pl. XXVIa-b) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 142. Found in pieces, together with three small vessels (?), a steatite button and pieces of a silver ring. Dating: LH ΙΙΙC Dimensions: length 0.015, height 0.018 m. Comb, section from the back with parts of 7-8 teeth. An engraved line divides the back into two zones, while a second line is visible at the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 226 (Δ 192), Pl. 65a; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 189, no. 55; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152. 26 Inv. no. 9034a (Pl. XXVIIa-b) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 154. Found with disturbed bones and two small stone vessels. Dating: LH ΙΙΙC Dimensions: length 0.032, height 0.018 m. Comb, part of the back, restored from smaller pieces and filled in with wax. The roots of at least 17 teeth are preserved. A relief line divides the back into two zones, and a double line (a cruder version of the first) exists at roots of the teeth. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 49, Pl. 13c (Δ 219-220); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 189, nos. 56, 57; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152. 27 Inv. no. 9034b (Pl. XXVIIIa-b) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 154. Found with disturbed bones and two small stone vessels. Dating: LH ΙΙΙC Dimensions: length 0.021, height 0.019 m. Comb, part of the back, restored from two smaller pieces. Surface, very worn. Hint of a line dividing back. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 49, Pl. 13c (Δ 219-220); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 189, nos. 56, 57; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια, 152. 28 Inv. no. 10067 (Pl. XXIXa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.057, height 0.038, thickness 0.006 m. Comb restored from two pieces and incomplete at one end. Fragments of 32 of the teeth and one side tooth are preserved. Initially it probably had 36 teeth.







18



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




A relief line divides the back into two zones, strongly rounded in profile, while a second one defines the roots of the teeth. At the middle of the top, a small spool-shaped boss protrudes, when viewed from above. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152. 29 Inv. no. 10068 (Pl. XXXa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis Dating: LH IIIB Dimensions: length 0.078, height 0.057, max. thickness 0.007 m. Comb, restored from several pieces and filled with wax in the central part; most teeth missing, except for one side one and that immediately next to it. Initially it probably had 36 teeth. A relief line divides the back into two zones, of strongly rounded profile, whilst another line defines the roots of the teeth. In the centre of the upper part is a semicircular protrusion, which survives only on one side, on the other it is restored. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 152-153. 30 Inv. no. 10070 (Pl. XXXIa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.077, height 0.03, thickness 0.008 m. Comb, restored from two pieces and missing one end, as well as parts of the surface and the teeth (initially it probably had up to 50, including the side teeth). The surface is stained green from being in the vicinity of a bronze object. A relief line divides the back into two zones, strongly rounded in profile; while another line defines the roots of the teeth. In the centre of the top of the back, an eight-petal rosette is preserved, very worn, especially so on one side. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 153. 31 Inv. no. 10072 (Pl. XXXIIa-b). Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.031 m, height 0.033 m, thickness 0.008 m Comb, small part of back, restored from three pieces and lacking parts of the surface and all of the teeth (the roots of 15 remain). A relief line divides the back into two zones, strongly rounded in profile; while another line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 153.







CATALOGUE

19


32 Inv. no. 10073 (Pl. XXXIIIa-e) Provenance: Unknown Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.035, height 0.053, thickness 0.016 m. Comb, large fragment of the central part of the back, missing parts of the surface and some of the teeth. There remain 19 thin and long teeth (in whole or in part) and about 10 root stubs. Two other bone fragments are kept with this, but do not belong to the comb. On both sides, the usual relief line divides the back into two zones with rounded profiles, with a second one, unusually, a little above the roots of the teeth. In the centre of the top of the back is preserved a protrusion in excellent condition – this is spool-shaped when viewed from above and has slightly hollowed ends on the comb faces. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 153, fig. 3. 33 Inv. no. 10266 (Pl. XXXIVa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 27. Xenaki-Sakellariou mentions a variety of ivory objects from different parts of the chamber – the comb should be among them – which are not identifiable now, as there is no description of them given by the excavator. Dating: LH IIB-IIIA Dimensions: length 0.012, height 0.054, thickness 0.007 m. Comb, one end of the back, with the side tooth. The surface is in a very good condition. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, with another such defining the roots of the teeth. The back is adorned with an engraved linear design: preserved are two vertical lines framing the end, and a single horizontal one (probably another relief line) demarcating the top of the back. Bibliography: XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 93; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 153. 34 Inv. no. 10368 (Pl. XXXIVc-d) Provenance: Asine Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.042, height 0.038, thickness 0.011 m. Comb, about half of the back, restored from two parts, surface worn. Missing the teeth, except for a part of one side tooth, though 22 roots are still preserved, probably half the original number, excluding the side ones. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile; a similar line exists at the roots of the teeth. At the end of the surviving section (probably initially about the middle) there are remnants of a spool or rosette. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 153-154.







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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




35 Inv. no. 10371.1 (Pl. XXXVa-c) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 1 Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.051, height 0.031, thickness 0.006 m. Comb, part of back survives, now restored and infilled with wax; roots of 5 teeth visible. Its surface is blackened by fire. Only part of the central decoration (a rosette) survives, and traces of the relief lines on both faces. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154. 36 Inv. no. 10371.2 (Pl. XXXVIa-b) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 1 Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.027, height 0.029, thickness 0.01 m. Comb, part of the back, irregular in shape. The surface is blackened and worn. On the better-preserved side, there are traces of the relief lines dividing the back and defining the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154. 37 Inv. no. 10508 (Pl. XXXVIIa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.0365, height 0.043, thickness 0.0056 m. Comb, end part of an unfinished specimen: the teeth are not cut, but the guidelines have been engraved for their positioning on one side. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a second defines the roots of the teeth. Some 10 teeth are defined by the guidelines, and the side tooth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 111, no. 344; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 179, nos. 18-21; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154, fig. 4. 38 Inv. no.10509 (Pl. XXXVIIIa-b) Provenance: Mycenae. Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.041, height 0.039, thickness 0.0047 m. Comb, middle part of the back with stubs of 20 of the teeth are preserved, very fragmentary condition (could be small sort, cf. 39). At the top it has a hole for its suspension or for the insertion of some other material.







CATALOGUE

21


An engraved line divides the back into two zones, while a quasi-relief line defines the roots of the teeth, at least on one side. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 111, no. 344c; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154. 39 Inv. no. 10510 (Pl. XXXIXa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.045, height 0.024, thickness 0.0049 m. Small comb, missing one side tooth, 12 more or less preserved, and stubs of more (initially there were 22). The back has a hole in the centre for its suspension or for the insertion of some other material. Single engraved line divides the back into two zones, while a double engraved set defines roots of the teeth. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 111, no. 344d; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 179, nos. 18-21d; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154. 40 Inv. no. 10511 (Pl. XLa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length. 0.0375, height 0.0238, thickness 0.0054 m. Comb, part of the back. A circular hole, drilled and smoothed internally, is preserved at a point which seems to be off-center, for its suspension or for the insertion of some other material. This is much larger than usual and less regular. 17 tooth roots are preserved (probably originally twice as many). A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, while a second one defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154. 41 Inv. no. 18014 (Pl. XLIa-b) Provenance: Prosymna Context: Tomb XIV. The comb was stored with a group of objects from the dromos and the chamber, together with two whorls, a loom weight, part of bone rosette, parts of a bronze spear and a steatite bead. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: a) length 0.023, height 0.025 m. b) length 0.011, height 0.021 m. Comb, a part of back preserved in two pieces; the first has the roots of 12 teeth, the second the roots of 6 more and the one side tooth. The surface on one side is very worn. A relief line divides the back into two zones, while a similar line defines the roots of the teeth. A vertical line frames the end of the back. Bibliography: BLEGEN, Prosymna 170, 282, fig. 417.9; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 180, no. 23; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 154-155.







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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




42 Inv. no. 2044 (Pl. XLIIa-c) Provenance: Spata Context: Chamber tomb 1. Probably the comb comes from the dromos of the tomb, as do almost half of the ivory finds. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.145, height 0.086, thickness 0.012 m. (its thickness decreases from the top gradually to the teeth). Comb, in good condition, restored in several places including some of the teeth. It retains numerous teeth (initially it must have had about 70, excluding the side ones), which are very thick (0.008 m) and end in a sharp tip. There are small flakes of the surface lost on both sides and on the upper part of one side tooth. On one face, an older round of conservation has discoloured the surface. A relief line divides the back into two zones adorned with reclining sphinxes, another defines the roots of the teeth. The centre of the back has an octagonal rosette on either side, the top of which protrudes, spool-shaped when viewed from above. The top of the back is decorated in relief with a pattern of threefold curving arches (scale-pattern), while the main representation is framed on both faces by vertical engraved lines. First side. Upper zone: Two sphinxes sit facing each other, with open wings decorated with a linear pattern. On their heads they wear a crown with a wavy plume. Their tails are rendered as spirals. A necklace can be seen on the right-hand sphinx. Bottom zone: Of the three sphinxes shown, two of them look to the left and the third faces them looking to the right. Their wings have the same decoration as before. They wear a crown on their head and a necklace can be seen on their necks. Second side. Upper zone: Two reclining sphinxes, similar to the ones on the other side, both facing left. Bottom zone: three reclining sphinxes, all facing left, all have a necklace. On this face, the sphinxes hold their tails in a more elevated position, and do not form a strong spiral. Bibliography: HAUSSOULLIER, Spata 212, Pl. 17, no. 3; POURSAT, Catalogue 153, no. 448, Pl. XLVIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 184-185, no. 39, Pl. 57a.; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 155-156, fig. 5. 43 Inv. no. 2063 (Pl. XLIIIa-e) Provenance: Spata Context: Chamber tomb 1. The comb may have been found in the dromos of the tomb. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.035, height 0.036, thickness 0.013 m. Comb, part of the back and one end, restored from at least two pieces. The surface has cracks, especially on one side. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile; if there was a second defining the teeth, it is now lost. The two zones are decorated with nautili facing left. In the upper zone of the betterpreserved face one full nautilus is discerned and two of the three arms of the second, while in the lower damaged zone, there remain three arms of one and two from the second. On the other side there is only one full nautilus in the upper zone, the arms of others are to be seen there and in the lower zone. The images are framed by multiple vertical engraved/relief lines; as is as the top of the back, which carries a scaly decoration otherwise. Bibliography: HAUSSOULLIER, Spata 211; POURSAT, Catalogue 154, no. 449, Pl. XLVII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 185, no. 40, Pl. 60a, b; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 157, fig. 6.







CATALOGUE

23


44 Inv. no. 2474 (Pl. XLIVa-d and XLVa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 24 Dating: LH ΙΙΑ Dimensions: length 0.10, height 0.041, thickness 0.017 m. Comb restored from many pieces. Its surface is very worn, especially on one side. There is preserved some two-thirds of the rectangular back, but all the teeth are incomplete (perhaps once close to 70, including the side teeth). The back is divided by a row of dots into two zones, rounded in profile, while a second row is placed a little above the roots of the teeth. The decoration once was made up of two identical groups: the main one that occupied the upper zone and – unusually – the top of the back showed a lion attacking a bull, arranged antithetically each side of the rosette. Below are a pair of confronted bulls. On the best-preserved face, in the upper zone, only the hind leg can be seen of the victim (bull) and one horn. In the lower zones, a bull is preserved, which faces to the left, with his hind legs outstretched in a “flying gallop”, while of the front pair one is bent under the animal’s body and the other in front of his chest. His neck is turned backwards and his head droops. On the other face, in the upper zone, a lion moves to the left. In the lower zone to the centre, a bull’s eye (?) and the outline of the lion’s head are indistinctly preserved, the animals shown probably at the moment when the lion is biting the neck of the bull. Two thin, parallel lines form the vertical framing at the ends of the zones. At the point where the centre of the upper zone would have been, there is a trace of a twelve-leaf rosette, now visible only on one side. The rosette has a spool-form when viewed from above. Bibliography: TSOUNTAS, Μυκήναις 143; POURSAT, Catalogue 83, no. 277, Pl. XXV; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 176, no. 4, Pl. 58a; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 85-86, Pl. 16.6; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 157, fig. 7. 45 Inv. no. 6601 (Pl. XLVIa-c) Provenance: Prosymna Context: Chamber tomb XLI. At the rear of the chamber, traces of three burials, accompanied by two small bronze arrow heads, an ivory handle and a lead disc, as well as five vases – kylikes and cups. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.75, height 0.015, thickness 0.015 m. Comb, part of the back and end. Surface very worn. No teeth preserved. A thin dotted line creates a vertical edging to the sides of the back combined with other lines/grooves, while a second one divides the back into two zones of a gently rounded profile. A small part of the upper zone of one end is the best preserved. The top of a wing of a relief sphinx, recumbent, is visible, with a double row of plumage and its hindquarters and tail; the sphinx faces in to the centre, and below, is the wing tip of another sphinx of the same sort. Bibliography: BLEGEN, Prosymna fig. 361.7; POURSAT, Catalogue 121, no. 373, Pl. ΧΧΧΙΧ; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 179, no. 22; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 157, fig. 8. 46 Inv. no. 7857-8 (Pl. XLVIIa-f) Provenance: Pylos Context: Tholos tomb III. Found inside the chamber. Dating: LH IIA







24



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Dimensions: main piece: length 0.024, height 0.0395 m, thickness 0.013 m. Comb, part of the end and the back, restored from smaller pieces and filled with wax; separate smaller piece of back. Other ivory fragments associated. Row of dots divides back into two zones, a further row defines the roots of the teeth; the end is framed by two such rows set vertically, flanking a fluted groove-and-ridge effect. In the zones is a relief decoration with animal figures (possibly bulls/sphinxes). On the narrow side of the back is an arrangement of alternating vertical rows of dots (4) and the fluted/ridged group (3) seen on the faces Bibliography: BLEGEN et al., PN III 86, fig. 170.8, POURSAT, Catalogue 132, no. 395, Pl. XL; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 181, no. 27; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 157, fig. 9. 47 Inv. no. 10066 (Pl. XLVIIIa-e) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.016, height 0.057, thickness 0.015 m. Comb, from back, preserved to its entire height, to the stubs of the teeth (4-5) remain. The top of the back is decorated with a wavy line or two at one edge, with a scale-like pattern occupying the rest. A row of dots divides the back into two zones, with another row defining the roots of the teeth. The two zones have reclining sphinxes, worked in relief. First side, upper band: part of the slightly raised wing of the sphinx (facing right), rendered with four natural-looking curls and zigzag lines, and part of the hindquarters of the sphinx; lower band: part of the sphinx’s head facing right, the crown can be seen with the ear and part of its disproportionately large face, as well as part of its wing whose upper edge is given six small curls, and zigzags below. Second side, upper band: part of the wing of sphinx (facing left) is preserved, rendered with zigzag lines and three curls, and part of the hindquarters of the sphinx; lower band: part of the tassel of the sphinx’s crown (facing left), the wing given zigzags and six curls at top edge, and part of the hindquarters of the sphinx. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 159-160, fig. 10. 48 Inv. no. 10069 (Pl. XLIXa-f) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.066, height 0.033, thickness 0.011 m. Comb, half preserved – from centre to end, as can be seen from the hole at the top of the back and the raised portion of the boss between the eight-petal rosettes; restored from three pieces. The surface of both sides has flakes missing. Only the roots survive from the teeth, 45 in total visible, initially they must have been close to 90. The comb appears to have been repaired in antiquity, after the back suffered a fracture, as is indicated by the rectangular mortises and circular peg at the broken end of the preserved section. It is also just possible it was made in two pieces. The back is divided into two zones by a row of relief dots, with a second line running a little above the roots of the teeth. Each zone is decorated with a frieze of running spirals in relief (moving in opposite directions in each register). Each spiral has an eight-petalled rosette-like motif at its centre (4 to 6 survive in each zone). In the centre of the top is preserved half an eight-petal rosette that protrudes. The two







CATALOGUE

25


upper zones curve over to meet at the top of the back, where another row of dots separates them. The end has in relief two eight-petalled rosettes, with a central dot. The repair/join is performed by cutting two mortises, the upper is square, with a pegging hole running through from a face (where is cuts through the pattern), the lower is circular to take a peg running between the two pieces. The flattish surface beside the mortise is given a cross-hatched scored pattern – to assist in holding a glue, which was another component of making the comb whole. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 160, fig. 11a-c. 49 Inv.no. 10370 (Pl. La-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle A, tomb V Dating: LH I Dimensions: length 0.024, height 0.033, thickness 0.011 m. Comb, part of the back, one end is preserved. The surface is very worn. A row of relief dots divides the back into two zones, a similar line exists at the roots the teeth. In both zones the decoration consists of a row of eight-petalled rosettes with their middles once inlaid (with gold or lapis lazuli?) in the drilled holes. Bibliography: SCHLIEMANN, Mycenae 306 (the wooden comb scraps mentioned are wrongly so identified). SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 160, fig. 12. 50 Inv. no. 10372 (Pl. LIa-b) Provenance: Pylos Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.031, height 0.0216, thickness 0.0103 m. Comb, a section from the back, now almost rectangular, with one end preserved. The surface is very worn. On one side there are traces of two zones, rounded in profile. The lower is adorned with relief spirals. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 160-161. 51 Inv. no. 18134 (Pl. LIIa-b) Provenance: Spata Context: Chamber tomb 1. Probably the (fourth) comb mentioned that was found in the dromos to the tomb. Dating: LH IIΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.008, height 0.025, thickness 0.007 m. Comb, small section from the lower part of the back. The roots of 3-4 teeth are preserved. The surface is very worn. On one side, part of the relief line defining the roots of the teeth is visible; and perhaps a curving element in the relief decoration of the face. Bibliography: HAUSSOULLIER, Spata 211 (?); SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 161.







26



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




52 Inv. no. 2279 (Pl. LIIIa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 26. In the dromos of the tomb, it is reported that some worn ivory pieces were found, which were not further recorded. Dating: LH ΙΙΙΑ-IIIΒ Dimensions: length 0.105, height 0.02 m (all as restored in previous maintenance). Comb, half or so of the back restored from several pieces, and repaired with wax. Only one end survives; remnants of lamellae left loose. The surface is burnt. To the left on one side there is a rosette faintly inscribed in a disk or circle and parts of two others similar. The second side is almost destroyed; there remain some dots and a small spiral. Arguably the decorative motifs were different on the two sides, something not usually found on combs. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 161-162 (Although it has an inventory number, Xenaki-Sakellariou does not mention it; perhaps it belongs to the unrecorded material from the tomb). 53 Inv. no. 7846 (Pl. LIVa-d) Provenance: Pylos Context: Tholos tomb III Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: length 0.066, height up to 0.011, thickness 0.0165 m. Fragment, possibly of comb,2 top part of back and one end, very worn condition. One of the two sides is completely destroyed. Nothing remains of any divisions of back into zones, though a vertical relief line creates a border at the end. The top of the back originally had at its centre a twelve-leaf rosette that had a spool-like protrusion when viewed from above; either side on the top was a relief decoration of reclining sphinxes – one each side of the spool; remaining are one sphinx and the tip of the tail of the second, which is seated facing right with its head turned backwards. The top zone at least had two more such, with their heads facing forward. On one side all that can be made out are traces of the rosette and near the end, the tail of a sphinx. On the other and better preserved side, the sphinx’s crown, part of the hind limb and its tail can be seen. The crown is decorated with small parallel lines, framed by a row of dots. The nose sticks out somewhat too much, the eye is rendered as round, the ear schematically rendered, and neither hair nor necklace is visible. Bibliography: BLEGEN et al., PN III 86, fig. 170.1a, b; POURSAT, Catalogue 131-132, no. 394, Pl. XL; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 181, no. 26; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 162, fig. 13. 54 Inv. no. 6303 (Pl. LVa-c) Provenance: Prosymna Context: Chamber tomb II Dating: LH IIA- IIIA2 Dimensions: length 0.028, height 0.044, thickness 0.009 m. Comb, small part of the back, with one side very worn.




The edges of the fragment indicate that it could be part of a handle, as observed by Maria Kontaki.

2







CATALOGUE

27


A relief line (actually a pair of cuts giving the effect of the same) divides the back into two unequal portions, with another such defining the roots of the teeth, which are basically all lost. The bottom and larger zone is decorated with a relief theme loosely based on a running spiral (a series of circles-and-dot are linked with a wavy line, with engraved V’s in the interspaces at the edges). The upper zone is left blank. Bibliography: BLEGEN, Prosymna fig. 446.13; POURSAT, Catalogue 119, no. 365, Pl. ΧΧΧΙΧ; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 23-24; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 196, no. 7; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 163, fig. 14. 55 Inv. no. 2416 (Pl. LVIa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 27. Xenaki-Sakellariou mentions a variety of ivory objects under the same inventory number but not the comb and there is no description given by the excavator. Dating: LH IIB- IIIA Dimensions: length 0.015, height 0.031, thickness 0.013 m. Comb, the end of the back; the roots of 3-4 teeth are preserved, as is part of the side tooth. A relief line divides the back into two unequal zones, with a strongly rounded profile, while another line defines the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 95-97 (co-finds); POURSAT, Catalogue 77; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 58, 59, fig. 76; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 163. 56 Inv. no. 2241 (Pl. LVIIa-c) Provenance: Spata Context: Chamber tomb 1 Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.011, height 0.046, thickness 0.0065 m. Comb, the side tooth and the roots of 3 others. The root of the teeth is defined by a relief line. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 166, no. 491; SAKELLARAKIS – KONNSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 163. 57 Inv. no. 10071 (Pl. LVIIIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: – Dating: – Dimensions: Length 0.023, height 0.03, thick 0.008 m. Comb, part of the back, the whole surface worn. Of the teeth only a few signs of their cutting scars remain. The item was either repaired in antiquity, or made in two pieces and joined: in the thickness can be seen a roughly rectangular mortice cut in and blow a drilled socket, to take tenons and dowels/pegs, in a similar way to 48. There can be vaguely made out, on only one side, the expected line in relief by which the back is divided into two zones, with a strongly rounded profile, whilst another one defines the roots of teeth.







28



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 163, fig. 15. 58 Inv. no. 8271 (Pl. LIXa-c) Provenance: Perati Context: Tomb 65 (pit) Dating: LH IIIC Dimensions: length 0.043, height 0.017 m. Comb, part from the back (flake), restored from two pieces; its surface is very worn. An off-center hole in the back. Bibliography: IAKOVIDIS, Perati Α 76, Pl. 23 (Δ 110); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 188, no. 50; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 163. 59 Inv. no. 5602a (Pl. LXa-e) Provenance: Argos, Deiras Context: Tomb 7. A second piece was found, probably from the same comb. Dating: LH IIB-IIIA Dimensions: length 0.055, height 0.022 m. Comb, part of. The spool-shaped protrusion at the top of the back is preserved. The groove for insertion of the teeth does not extend the entire length of the comb back: at one end the roots of 4 teeth are saved and the beginning of the fifth, which are all integral to the comb. Probably only the middle teeth were inserted. In addition, inside the groove it appears that there were recesses for each individual tooth separately, which argues that only the teeth that needed replacement were so treated, fixed with the help of some adhesive. The usual relief line on one side can be just about be made out. Bibliography: VOLGRAFF, Fouilles d’Argos 388; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 163-164. 60 Inv. no. 5602b (Pl. LXIa-f) Provenance: Argos, Deiras Context: Tomb 9 (in the NAM inventory it is mentioned that they come from tomb 7). Dating: LH IIB-IIIA Dimensions: a) length 0.018, height 0.018; b) length 0.011, height 0.030; and both thickness 0.009 m. Comb, two pieces from the ends of the back. In one the side tooth is retained whole and the roots of 5 other teeth. On the best preserved face is a vertical crack and the upper part has flaked off. The other end part has the roots of 12 teeth preserved. Both have the back divided into two zones, of a rounded profile, by a relief line, and another such more or less defining the roots of the teeth. Bibliography: VOLGRAFF, Fouilles d’Argos 388; POURSAT, Catalogue 114; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 164.







CATALOGUE

29


TYPE A1 61 Inv. no. 2061 (Pl. LXIIa-e) Provenance: Spata Context: Chamber tomb 1 Dating: LH ΙΙΙΒ Dimensions: length 0.043, height. 0.035, thickness 0.011 m. Comb, part of back and end, restored from at least two fragments; the roots of 8 teeth and one side are preserved. Near the root of the side tooth there is a hole from an ancient repair, where a section of new teeth was inserted to replace broken ones. A relief line divides the back into two zones, rounded in profile, whilst another defines the roots of the teeth. The decoration is very worn on both sides. At the end, in both zones, the heads and forefronts of reclining reptiles can be seen: they face out from the centre, with their heads turned back. The image is framed at the end by a zone of oblique Ss between two lines, all in relief. This last extends to the top of the back where it and a pair of relief lines at the long edges frame a series of overlapping motifs that look like shells. Bibliography: HAUSSOULLIER, Spata 212, Pl. XVII.3; POURSAT, Catalogue 154-5, no. 450, Pl. XLVII; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 470, no. 6, fig. 8; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 185, no. 41, Pl. 61; PHILLIPS, Crocodiles 855, fig. 2b; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 165, fig. 16a-c. 62 Inv. no. 2412 (Pl. LXIIIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888). Dating: LH IIIA-IIIB Dimensions: length 0.082, height 0.026, thickness 0.014 m. Comb’s back. On its bottom face, a groove of rectangular cross-section served to take the separately made component with the teeth. The curving profile of the narrow ends is marked, while the upper face of the back is flat and quite wide. The back has a relief line which extends to the ends. A second such can be seen at the point of tooth reception, which extends in almost the entire length of the tooth case as a lining. The top of the back at its centre is adorned with a spool-shaped projection. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 79, no. 266, Pl. XXIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 190, no. 2; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 152; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 165, fig. 17. 63 Inv. no. 2644 (Pl. LXIVa-f and LXVa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888). Dating: LH IIIA-IIIB Dimensions: length 0.0134, height 0.032, thickness 0.017 m. Comb, back with very worn surface. The teeth were manufactured separately, and then slid into the groove that can be made out on the bottom edge of the back.







30



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Of the decoration, probably similar on both sides, little is saved. The back is divided into two zones by a row of relief dots; one would expect there to have been another to mark the base, where the teeth begin, but nothing is saved of this zone sufficiently. The relief design of the upper zone runs up over the rounded top to the back: on both sides, identical figure-groups are arranged antithetically, facing to the centre: a collared dog pouncing on a stricken goat; on the lower zone: a dog lopes after something now lost. The middle of the top of the back is adorned with a double eight-petalled rosette that projects, which when viewed from above is shaped like a spool. On the vertical end faces there are petaloid-like loops springing from the medial row of dots: this design is not readily understood. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 73, no. 246, Pl. XXI; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 176, no. 5; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 154-155; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 165, fig. 18a-c. 64 Inv. no. 1011 (Pl. LXVIa-b) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Acropolis Dating: – Dimensions: length 0.055, height 0.045 m. Rectangular plaque, possibly a small rectangular comb in the early stages of manufacture, restored from six pieces. The teeth have not been cut yet. The plaque has plentiful groups of abrasion scratches from its working (most on one side). It has two horizontal engraved lines (- guides?): one two-thirds up on the back and the other that ought to be at the roots of the teeth. As there is not apparently much room for the teeth as it now appears, it is possible that they were made separately. Bibliography: SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 165, fig. 20. 65 Inv.no. 3214 (Pl. LXVIIa-f) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tomb 88. The tomb contained an extended burial and skulls of at least four redeposited burials. The grave-goods included glass jewellery, a stone pyxis and a marble lamp. Dating: LH ΙΙ-IIΙΑ1 Dimensions: length 0.011, height 0.038 m. Comb, part from the end of the back, of the type where the teeth are separately made and slotted in groove on the base of the back. A relief line divides the back into two zones, of strongly rounded profile. On one side, on both zones, is the hoof of an outstretched leg (probably of bull), in different postures. The other side has what looks to be another such on the top zone, the lower is now lost. A double vertical relief line frames the ends of the zones. The flat sides of the ends have the medial line extended; otherwise, plain. Bibliography: POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 97, no. 311, Pl. XXXIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 189, no. 1; XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 248-249 (no. 3214.11), Pl. 119; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 165-167, fig. 19a-c. 66 Inv. no. 6600 (Pl. LXVIIIa-d) Provenance: Prosymna







CATALOGUE

31


Context: Chamber tomb XLI Dating: LH IIIA-B Dimensions: length 0.038, height 0.024, thickness 0.0065m. Teeth of comb (a dozen survive), made to slot into a separately made back. Two other bone fragments are kept with it. The part that is inserted is of reduced thickness from the teeth proper. Engraved regular and irregular crosshatching is seen on the part to be inserted: keying to assist glue make a firm bond. Bibliography: BLEGEN, Prosymna 147, 282, fig. 361.8; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 121, no. 374; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 190, no. 4; SAKELLARAKIS – KOSNTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 167, fig. 21. 67 Inv. no. 8447 (Pl. LXIXa-e) Provenance: Prosymna Context: Chamber tomb XIV Dating: LH II- IIIA/B Dimensions: length 0.068, height 0.045, thickness 0.012 m. Comb, of two parts: the back with a slide, and the teeth plaque that fitted into this. The surface is very worn. The back is complete, the teeth plaque survives at one end (some 14 teeth stubs) A row of relief dots divides the back into two zones, of rounded profile, whilst another marks the base of the face, above the teeth. The back has in the middle of its top a projecting eight-petalled rosette (doubled petals), shaped like a spool when seen from above: two relief lines mark the middle of the top of the back. Both sides are decorated with what looks like an imitation of woven matting in a cross-hatched fashion. Oddly, within the slot for the teeth on the back there appear to be regular vertical grooves: they cannot be for holding teeth, so perhaps it is to assist gluing the teeth plaque firmly? Bibliography: BLEGEN, Prosymna 282, 170, fig. 598.a-d; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 120, no. 370, Pl. XXXXIX; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 190, no. 3, pl. 53b; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 167-168. 68 Inv. no. 8762 (Pl. LXXa-d) Provenance: Midea Context: excavations by N. Bertos, 1936 (unpublished) Dating: LH IIB-IIIA1 Dimensions: length 0.125, height 0.042, thickness 0.013 m. Comb, almost intact, back restored from at least three fragments. Much of the separately manufactured plaque for the teeth is missing (about 30 remain, once a good 70), which was slid into a notch on the bottom face of the back. A relief line divides the back into two zones, of strongly rounded profile, whilst another defines the base of the back, just above the teeth. Both zones on both sides have a repeating pattern based on trilobed arches, giving a scaly effect. In the centre of the upper zone is an eight-petalled rosette that projects, and from above has a spool-shape. Bibliography: POURSAT, Catalogue 117, no. 362; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 168, fig. 22.







32



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




TYPE B 69 Inv. no. 8702 (Pl. LXXIa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Mycenae, Grave Circle B, tomb Gamma. The comb was found behind the skull of a woman (no. 2, MYC 58) in the NE. part of the tomb, which had been moved from its original position. Dating: LH I Dimensions: length 0.097, height 0.025 m. Comb, with one down-turned handle and rising tip to the other end; less than half the teeth remain (originally must have been about 38, excluding side ones). Restored from several pieces, with surface exfoliations, especially where it is blackened by fire. Reconstruction is incorrect, as it gives the impression that the comb consists of a single piece, while in fact the handle was joined to the comb proper by means of a cross peg to hold the two together (as seen in drawing). Bibliography: MYLONAS, Ταφικός Κύκλος Β 78-79, Pl. 62b; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 65, no. 227, Pl. XIX; VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves 3 (C4); SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 168. 70 Inv. no. 5678 (Pl. LXXIIa-d and LXXIIIa-c) Provenance: Kakovatos (Elis) Context: Tholos tomb A Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: length of back 0.032, length of handle 0.045, height of back 0.03, thickness 0.007 m. Comb, part of the back and of its downturned handle (incomplete) made from a separate piece. The back is restored from three pieces. Part of the peg with which the handle was joined to the back is preserved. Dark brown colour to the surface. The roots of 19 teeth are preserved. Decoration in relief covers back and handle alike, on one side barely visible; garlands of dots hang down in loops from the top of the comb, at each point it touches a lily-papyrus flower is pendant. The decoration, both on the handle and on the back, is framed by a thin relief line. Bibliography: MÜLLER, Alt Pylos II 288, Pl. XII.1; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 142, no. 415, Pl. XLIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 195, no. 5, Pl. 64b; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 168, fig. 24. 71 Inv. no. 5678.2 (Pl. LXXIVa-e) Provenance: Kakovatos (Elis) Context: Tholos tomb A Dating: LH IIΑ Dimensions: length 0.024, height 0.021 m, thickness 0.007 m. Comb, part of the back, restored and filled with wax. Only tooth roots survive (10 or so). Although but a fragment of the comb is preserved, its proximity to the comb 69, its elaborate decoration and the dating of the associated finds all indicate that it probably belonged to the type with a separate handle. A relief line divides the back into two zones, of which the upper wider one is decorated with a spiralbased pattern which breaks down into interlocking Σ-motifs, filled with dots.







CATALOGUE

33


Bibliography: MÜLLER, Alt Pylos II 285, Pl. XII.2; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 141, no. 412; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 195, no. 6; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 168-169, fig. 25. 72 Inv. no. 6550-6551 (Pl. LXXVa-e) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Mycenae, chamber tomb 529. The tomb contained many burials, and a multitude of vessels and bronze items. The comb was found near a woman and may have belonged to her. The comb handle is described variously as an ivory accessory, handle or foot. Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: length 0.132, height 0.025, length of handle 0.062, thickness of handle 0.0125 m. Comb, part of the back restored from three pieces. The handle preserves the square peg placed in the cavity of the back. An oblique repulsion is seen at the other end of the back. The roots of 43 teeth are preserved. Bibliography: WACE, Chamber Tombs 100 (associated finds), 105, no. 33, figs. 42, 43; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 104, no. 329, Pl. XXXIV; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 193, no. 2, Pl. 62a; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 169-170, fig. 26. 73 Inv no. 10369.1 (Pl. LXXVIa-) Provenance: Analypsis (Kynouria) Context: Tholos tomb. The tomb, with many female and male burials, was robbed. Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: total length 0.157, length handle 0.078 m (after restoration). Comb, restored back, filled in with wax in parts of the back and teeth; one end lost; and down-turned handle. The surviving teeth are thin and long. The curved handle, made of a separate piece, was fastened with a peg into the recess in the reverse side of the back. A band denoted by two engraved lines divides the back into two zones, with another such at roots of teeth. Zones have traces of engraved decoration of alternating angles engraved on, pairs of lines. The two zones and the decoration are extended onto the handle (though the lower terminates quickly): handle framed with an engraved line, and the pattern consists of a pair of engraved arcs, repeated. Bibliography: K. ROMAIOS, “Ανασκαφική έρευνα κατά την Ανάληψιν,” Prakt 1954, 283, figs. 14, drawing 15; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens no. 22, Pl. 11.1; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 193, no. 3, Pl. 63a; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 170-171, fig. 27. 74 Inv. no. 10369.2 (Pl. LXXVIIa-b) Provenance: Analypsis (Kynouria) Context: Tholos tomb. An ivory fragment was also found with this. Dating: LH IIA Dimensions: length 0.029, height 0.038, thickness 0.006 m. (before restoration). Comb, small part of the back and of the teeth, which are long and thin, survive; restored. The sharp curve of the surviving end indicates that the comb belongs to the type with the separate handle. The back and the handle are divided into two zones by a relief line. The decoration is hard to make out, but is probably similar to that of 73, alternating angles.







34



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




Bibliography: K. ROMAIOS, “Ανασκαφική έρευνα κατά την Ανάληψιν,” Prakt 1954, 285; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 171, fig. 28. 75 Inv. no. 8357 (Pl. LXXVIIIa-d and LXXIXa-c) Provenance: Routsi-Myrsinochori (Messenia) Context: Tholos tomb 2 Dating: LH IIB-IIIA1 Dimensions: length with handle 0.014, height back 0.028, length of handle 0.037, thickness 0.0085 m. Comb, most of the back, restored from several parts, and the start of the downturned handle, also missing a part. Of the teeth, which were originally probably 50 in number, the roots of 47 survive. The back is adorned on both sides with an all-over relief representation of felines that hunt ducks in a “Nilotic landscape” (the water is indicated by a succession of wavy lines). There are no internal divisions. The flat top of the back is adorned with leaf-based motif. Bibliography: Sp. MARINATOS and M. HIRMER, Kreta, Thera und das mykenische Hellas (1973) 222; BUCHHOLZ – KARAGEORGHIS, Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus fig. 1278; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 138, no. 410, Pl. XLI; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 195, no. 4; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 171, fig. 29a-d. TYPE B1 Type B also has a variant (B1), represented by a single example from Mycenae Grave Circle A, Tomb V (76). This is a combination of the two previous types, with the elongated body of Type A and the curving handle of Type B, but here at both ends. Each handle was made of two different pieces, which were adjusted to fit to the back. No parallel is known in the Aegean or abroad; it is possible that it was an experiment by a craftsman that did not catch on, or was intended as a unique tour de force. 76 Inv. no. 654 (Pl. LXXXa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle A, Tomb V Dating: LH I Dimensions: length 0.195, height back 0.02, thickness 0.006, length handles 0.032, length tooth 0.012 m. Comb, back, elongated form, with two downward curving ends; one side tooth and half a dozen stubs are all that remains. The back is covered with a solid piece of gold foil on both sides; it now has a crescent-like protrusion rising up from the centre of the top, which was once a complete circle. The handles are made from separate pieces and are fixed by small pegs fitted into recesses in the back. They have a simple moulded profile. Bibliography: KARO, Die Schachtgräber 125, fig. 45; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 196, no. ΒΙ.1, Pl. 58b; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 69, 113, fig. 94; VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves 3 (C3); SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 171, fig. 30.







CATALOGUE

35


TYPE C Type C is again represented only in Mycenae, Grave Circle A, Tomb IV by a single piece (77). It and the sole specimen of Type B1 can be seen as indicative of the inventiveness of the highly-skilled artisans charged with producing these and other unicum pieces for the first Mycenaean rulers.3 The comb 77 forms a semi-circle, and was sheathed in gold.4 Today it gives the impression that it has more than one row of teeth, but this is due to the deterioration of the material. Becoming dehydrated, its surface has formed cracks and parts have flaked away, creating the false impression.5 77 Inv. no. 310 (Pl. LXXXIa-d and LXXXIIa-c) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle A, tomb IV Dating: LH I Dimensions: diameter 0.145, height 0.018, thickness 0.008 m. Comb, semi-circular, of which a very small part is preserved; and a third at the centre is restored. Covered in gold foil/sheet. The teeth are of short; their total must have been around 164. The ivory is preserved in places, under the gold cover or attached on its. The back has the same decoration on its two sides and the flat top section: a zig-zag line, composed of rows of dot-and-circle motifs. Karo suggested that the black decoration filling the incisions were burned (see chapter on Technique). Bibliography: KARO, Die Schachtgräber 84, Pl. XLIII; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens no. 211, Pl. XVIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 196, no. ΓΙ; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 69, fig. 93; VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves 3 (C2); SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 171-173, fig. 31. SMALL FRAGMENTS 78 Inv. no. 2187 (Pl. LXXXIIIa-c) Provenance: Spata Context: Chamber tomb 1 Dating: LH IIIB Dimensions: length 0.027, height 0.022 m. Four pieces, of which the largest seems to have belonged to a comb, since in its lower part the roots of the teeth can be seen (approximately 14). Surface worn. Of the other pieces, their original form and position in the object are not ascertainable. Bibliography: HAUSSOULLIER, Spata 211; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 173.




LAFFINEUR, Material and Craftsmanship 255-257. KARO, Die Schachtgräber 81 (no. 310), Pl. XLIII; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 169. For the technique of gold sheathing in Mycenaean times, see chapter Technology, p. 52.

3 4 5




36



THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS




SCRAPER-LIKE PIECES 79 Inv. no. 2407 (Pl. LXXXIVa-d). Provenance: Mycenae Context: Chamber tombs (excavations 1887/1888). Dating: LH IIIA-IIIB Dimensions: Height 0.05 m, height teeth 0.017 cm Five pieces and two smaller ones with a jagged edge, all worn. None preserves the original thickness. The item is slightly curved in profile, with one horizontal edge serrated; the teeth are triangular, wide and short. None of the very top survives. It has been suggested that the items may have been part of a cylindrical vessel. Bibliography: XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι, 151, pl. 51; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens, 79, no. 268, pl. XXIII; SAKELLARAKIS-KOSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια, 173, fig. 32. COMBS WITH GOLD SHEATHING PRESERVED 6 Inv. no. 109 (Pl. LXXXVa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle A, Tomb III. Dating: LH I Dimensions: length 0.123, height 0.021, thicknes 0.008 m. Comb, parts of back repaired with wax, and stubs of teeth. The gold-leaf that covered both sides is preserved in places. Side A: a series of conjoined and alternating S’s (ending in spiral-like tendrils) fills the space, with an eight-petalled rosette in each curve (two per S) and a three leaf spray where the S’s join; a projection exists at the middle of the top; and the base is defined by a pair of relief lines. Side 2: four animals move to the right: the end ones more or less resemble prey-animals like deer or bulls, the middle pair having spotted skins are probably felines; the heads are alternately forward and backward facing. Bibliography: KARO, Die Schachtgräber no. 109, 187, 280, 298, 311, Pls XXXII, XXXIIIΙ; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 69, 113, fig. 95; VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves 2 (C1,) figs. 1, 2; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 173-174. Inv. no. 292 (Pl. LXXXVIa-e) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle A, tomb IV Dating: LH I Dimensions: length 0.155, height 0.032 m. Gold sheathing of a comb’s back. Rectangular sheet that covers sides and folds over onto the top. It has a crescent-like protrusion rising up from the centre of the top, which was once a complete circle.




The four objects in this section have not been given cat. nos because they are sheathings of combs that did not survive or that have been preserved only in bits.

6







CATALOGUE

37


The cover most probably belonged to a type B1 comb. Bibliography: KARO, Die Schachgräber 82, Pl. XLV; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 69, note 226. SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 174. Inv. no. 293 (Pl. LXXXVIIa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle A, tomb IV Dating: LH I Dimensions: length 0.122, height 0.029 m. Gold sheathing of a comb’s back. Rectangular sheet that covers sides and folds over onto the top. It has a crescent-like protrusion rising up from the centre of the top, which was once a complete circle. On side of sheet is a traced design; a row of repeated motifs (of what?), with a somewhat fluid feel. The cover most probably belonged to a type B1 comb. Bibliography: KARO, Die Schachgräber 682, Pl. XLV; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 69, note 226; SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 174. Inv. no. 8604 (Pl. LXXXVIIIa-d) Provenance: Mycenae Context: Grave Circle B, tomb Lamda. The gold plates were found in the NW corner with bronze weaponry, including a sword with an ivory pommel, flint arrowheads and gold jewellery. They have been recorded as the cover of a sword’s hilt. Dating: LH I Dimensions: max. length 0.139 m. max. height 0.147 m., ring-like appendage 0.031 x 0.036 m. Gold sheathing of a comb’s back, consisting of two elongated plates. The plates have traced and stamped decoration, within framing lines: the centre has a zig-zag pattern (flanking lines) with smaller zig-zag within; at ends a V, lines flanking a row of dots; between is a horizontal and elongated V, of the same sort, with rows of dot-and –circle above and below and intermittently at middle. The ring-like appendage on top has a row of dot-and circle, within multiple framing lines. The cover most probably belonged to a type B1 comb. Bibliography: MYLONAS, Ταφικός Κύκλος Β 142-143, Pl. 125b and Pl. 130 (for associated finds); SAKELLARAKIS – KONSTANTINIDI, Ελεφάντινα Κτένια 174.













TYPOLOGY The typological classification follows in general the work of M. Papaefthymiou-Papanthymou1 who divided the Aegean combs into three main types, A, B (with one variant each) and C. Type A comprises rectangular combs with teeth on one side; the A1 version includes specimens with the teeth made of a separate piece that was inserted at the back.2 Type B is identified by the curved, elongated handle and version B1 is represented by a single example,3 a combination of the previous two, with an elongated body and rounded handles at both edges. Finally, type C is of a semi-circular shape, again represented only by one example from Mycenae. The most common type, A, is an elongated rectangle in its basic shape, with the teeth on one side. In section, the combs may be rectangular, trapezoidal or triangular, with their apex (the top of the back) usually flat or – less often – convex in profile. The lateral teeth are most often wider than the others (45). Some of the examples have a height almost equal to their length, making them squarer. Type A includes most of the combs in the Collection – including fragments whose original form is not fully distinguished: fifty-eight in total (see Table p. 59-60), from Mycenae, Midea, Prosymna, Tiryns, Asini, Pylos, Kambos, Perati and Spata; the very last (42) is the most impressive comb of all, fortunately preserved almost intact. The more elaborate specimens belong to LH I-IIA, with usually a curved section (15) and with the upper decorative zone broader than the lower. This latter feature is seen again in the LH IIIC plain examples from Perati (17, 18), which have a perfectly flat section. The decoration of the back on both sides is divided into two zones or registers, on which in most cases the same decorative subject is symmetrically repeated. An exception is the comb from Spata (42), where on the upper zone of one side, a sphinx is represented facing right and opposed to two sphinxes to the left, while on both zones of the other side, all the sphinxes face left. On the comb from Mycenae chamber tomb 26 (52), where unfortunately the decoration is impossible to make out, it seems that the craftsman adorned each side with a different scene. The two zones are separated mostly by a relief line or one composed of relief dots; it is interesting to note that on the undecorated specimens, the middle of the back’s top has a socket for the insertion of another material or for suspension (1, 7, 40)4; it is noteworthy that the socket is only seen so far on undecorated combs. The decorated pieces have an engraved or relief rosette – eight-petalled (22, 30, 42) or twelve-petalled (12, 44), a spool-shaped protrusion (28, 32, 43) or just a semi-circular protrusion from the edge (6, 29). Outside the Collection, there are specimens with a simple disk instead of the rosette.5 The upper, narrow top-side of the back in some specimens is adorned with relief floral patterns or wickerwork (42, 43), while in others, the same decoration continues down the narrow sides to include the lateral teeth (47, 48). During the LH IIIC period, the decoration is poor to non-existent, consisting of either (a) two engraved or very thin relief lines, one approximately in the middle of the back and the other at the roots of the teeth, with the surface between them being shaped to be slightly convex (28), b) of two thin incised lines separating the back in three zones (24) or c) a double line either above the roots of the teeth (38, 39) or in the middle of the back (8).


1

2 3 4 5




PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 168-170; for POURSAT’s classification, see Les ivoires mycéniens 2224; also, A.P. ILIAKI, Mycenaean ivories: Α study of three classes of objects - combs, pyides and mirror handles (Ph.D. Dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, 1976). The authors have added version A2, represented by a single specimen in Archanes, Crete, see SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες 730-731. The gold sheathings (inv. nos. NAM P 109, 292, 293 and 8604) must have also covered combs of this type. See IAKOVIDIS, Perati B 288, where he suggested that the hole was used for hanging up the item or for the attachment of additional decoration which is not preserved. PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 181, no. 29; IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora 189, Pl. 40.

THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


40

Type A is especially popular in Crete,6 where it is known from at least twelve contexts: PhourniArchanes,7 Poros (Herakleion),8 Agia Triada (Knossos),9 Gazi,10 Galia,11 Gypsades,12 Karteros,13 Katsambas,14 Knossos,15 Malia,16 Mavro Spelio17 and Praisos.18 Chronologically, the Cretan examples fall between MM IB-II and LM IIIB. Although most are preserved but in fragments, some conclusions are deducible as to the decoration: the figurative subjects appear in LM II-IIIA, the eight-petalled rosette is found in examples of LM IIIA (Karteros)19 and the two incised zones turn up at the same period in Archanes. The Cretan examples produced some of the most impressive subjects, such as the reptiles and the sphinx.20 On the Mainland, type A has produced examples in the Athens Agora,21 Tiryns,22 Asine,23 Patras (Krini),24 Teichos Dymaion,25 Klaus,26 Thebes,27 Megalo Monasteri,28 and possibly the citadel House at Mycenae29 and Ag. Triada, Elis.30 From the islands, Rhodes (Pylona),31 Paros32 and Kos (Langadas,


PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 171-175. SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες, two combs of the type, one from Burial Building 3, 729, fig. 849-50 and another one found inside a larnax, between Burial Buildings 7 and 8, 730, fig. 852; Y. SAKELLARAKIS, “Ανασκαφή Αρχανών,” Prakt. 1966, 181, Pl. 151b; Prakt. 1967, 158; Prakt. 1972, 312. A. LEMBESSI, “Πόρος Ήρακλείου,” Prak. 1976, 400-407, comb 195 k. L. SAVIGNONI, “Scavi e scoperte ne11a necropolis di Phaestos,” MonAnt 14 (1904) 690, no. 7. See PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα for reference to the Herakleion Museum catalogue, with inv. no. 430. St. ALEXIOU, “Κατσαμπάς,” CretChron 17 (1963) 405. S. HOOD, G. HUXLEY and N. SANDARS, “Α Minoan cemetery on Upper Gypsades, Knossos survey 156,” BSA 53-54 (1958-1959) 246, fig. 34, Pl. 60d (Tomb IV). Sp. MARINATOS, “Υστερομινωικός λαξευτός τάφος εν Καρτερώ Κρήτης,” ADelt 11 (1927-1928) fig. 12, p. 3. From Tomb H, St. ALEXIOU, Υστερομινωικοί τάφοι λιμένος Κνωσού (Κατσαμπά) (1967) 57, Pls 34, 35; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 23, Pl. X (5, 6). ALEXIOU (supra n. 14) 75 (Royal Road); EVANS, PM IV 1004, fig. 955 (Temple Tomb). J. DESHAYES – A. DESSENNE, Malia ΙΙ. Εxplorations des maisons et quartiers d’habitation (1948-1954) (1959) 91, Pl. XXXVIII, no. 246. E.J. FORSDYKE, “The Mavro Spelio cemetery at Knossos,” BSA 28 (1926-1927) 279. R.C. BOSANQUET, “Excavations at Praesos Ι,” BSA 8 (1901-1902) 244 (in Tholos tomb A). PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 171-172. See below, chapter Iconography, p. 43-44. IMMERWAHR (supra n. 5) Pl. 40, 220, Pl. 51, 208, Pl. 47, 167, Pl. 33. Tiryns XIII 184, Pl. I4-5, Pl. V4-7.
FRÖDIN – PERSSON, Asine 85, 105, 420, figs 32, 42. L. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI, “Α Mycenaean warrior’s tomb at Krini near Patras,” BSA 89 (1994) 185. Th. J. PAPADOPOULOS, Mycenaean Achaea Ι-ΙΙ (1978-1979), figs 293b-c, 330 a-b (PMX 250). Th. J. PAPADOPOULOS, “Ανασκαφή Καλλιθέας και Κλάους Πατρών;” Prakt 1992, 55 (PMX 29, Tomb M1); C. PASCHALIDIS, The Mycenaean Cemetery at Achaia Clauss near Patras: People, Material Remains and Culture in Context (2018) 432. S. SYMEONOGLOU, Kadmeia, Ι. Mycenaean finds from Thebes, Greece. Excavations at 14 Oedipus St. (1973), 58, p. 82, figs 251-252; A. KERAMOPOULLOS, “Θηβαϊκά,” ADelt 3 (1917) 188, fig. 134 (Kolonaki, Tomb 25); BUCHHOLZ – KARAGEORGHIS, Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus fig. 516. Volos Archaeological Museum, inv. no. 3086 (unpublished). K.A. WARDLE, J. CROUWEL and E. FRENCH, “A Group of Late Helladic IIIB 2 pottery from within the Citadel at Mycenae: ‘The Causeway Deposit’,” BSA 68 (1973) 340-341, Pl. 61d top (possibly a half-finished comb). O. VIKATOU, Το Μυκηναϊκό νεκροταφείο της Αγ. Τριάδας- Ηλείας (2009) 737 (Tomb 1, Δ 384; rectangular piece with traces of a dotted circle around an eight-petalled rosette; its fragmentary condition does not allow its safe identification as a comb, it could be a furniture inlay). E. KARANTZALI, The Mycenaean Cemetery at Pylona in Rhodes (2001) 77. D. SKILARDI, “Ανασκαφαί Πάρου,” Prakt 1976, 293, Pl. 192b (Koukounaries).

6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27

28 29 30

31 32







TYPOLOGY

41


tomb 61) have also produced specimens.33 The earliest examples of the Type date at the transition from LH II to IIIA, while the latest, from Perati, Attica and Achaia, belong to LH IIIC. The relation between the number of teeth and the total length of the comb is also worth noticing, since the width of the teeth is dictated to some extent by the file (tool) used to cut them, as well as by the function for which the comb is intended. For example, the thin, small teeth of 4 are not appropriate for combing (or for the comb being worn in) the hair (the thicker teeth of 1 are more suitable), but the comb could rather be used for grooming a beard or a moustache. In contrast, a comb like 32, with thin and long teeth, could have been worn in the hair as well. It is possible that groups of combs were ordered in relation to the number of their teeth (for example, ten combs of thirty-six teeth). Unfortunately, in most examples we can only estimate the initial number of teeth, counting either the roots preserved or – with those in a still more fragmentary condition – by calculating the original length of their back. The smaller combs appear to have about 12 teeth, while the larger examples, as comb 42, have more than 70. It is noteworthy that out of the sixteen whole or almost whole combs (as far as the length of the back is concerned), at least ten (and possibly three more) fall into the category of 36-38 teeth. This proportionally dominant number probably had a certain meaning rather than just corresponding to the craftsmen’s skills or the size of the ivory blank they had at their disposal, since it is seen in combs of different sizes (see Table p. 59-60).34 Το the variant A1 of Type Α belong the combs with teeth formed from a separate piece of ivory, which are adapted to slide into a special groove in the lower edge of the back.35 There are eight specimens in the Collection, coming from Spata (61), Mycenae (62, 63, 64, 65), Prosymna (66, 67) and Midea (68), dating from LH II to LH IIIA1. Even though the specific type was very practical, since if the teeth broke not all the comb had to be thrown away, yet it did not survive for long, nor had it a widespread use. This circumstance could be explained by arguing that combs used by people of lower social classes were of wood or some other perishable material (like horn), while the ivory specimens were an indication of wealth and prosperity. Thus, the owners of the latter were perhaps not that concerned at the wastage; on the contrary, even, it may have even been tolerated as an indication of their status – conspicuous consumption. The type is also known from Crete (Palaikastro,36 Archanes,37 the Temple Tomb at Knossos,38 Katsambas39 and Ag. Triada40), while from the Mainland comes one specimen from Argos,41 which preserves traces of blue and red colouring. Combs of type B form a much smaller category. They differ from the previous examples in the elongated, curved handle (made of a separate piece), and the curving line given to the top of the back.42 Their back is also slightly rounded in profile and the lateral teeth here too are wider than the others. Seven combs of the Collection belong in this category, coming from Mycenae, Tomb Gamma of Grave Circle B (69) and Chamber tomb 529 (72), from Kakovatos, Elis (70, 71), Analipsis, Kynoyria (73, 74) and Myrsinochori-Routsi, Messenia (75), dating mainly between LH I and IIA. To the same


L. MORRICONE, “Eleona e Langada: Sepolcreti della tarda Eta del Bronzo a Coo,” ASAtene 1965-1966, 265, fig. 296. A further investigation of the combs in other Museums would be of interest in order to confirm the hypothesis. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 23. R.C. BOSANQUET and R.M. DAWKINS, The Unpublished Objects from the Palaikastro Excavations 1902-1906 (1923) 126-127, fig. 108. SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες 730, fig. 851. EVANS, PM IV 1005, fig. 955; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 22, Pl. VIII.5. ALEXIOU (supra n. 14) 75, figs 34, 35. SAVIGNONI (supra n. 9) 690, no. 7; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 23, Pl. XI.5. J. DESHAYES, Αrgos, les fouilles de lα Deiras (1966) 68, Pls XXIV (1), LXIX (10); PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 190-191. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 22, Type A (“Peignes à corne”).

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42




THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


42

chronological horizon are two parallels from outside the Collection, from the tholos tomb of Kazarma (Pit III)43 and the Griffin warrior’s burial in Pylos (unpublished).44 Because of the poor preservation of the Kazarma specimen, its handle and the rectangular peg for fastening it to the back were only recently identified during conservation work; both back and handle are decorated with interlinked three-lobed calyx motives.45 Although no parallels are known from Crete, there is one specimen that could be the distant ancestor of Type B: it comes from Archanes Burial Building 346 and dates to MM IB-II. It is an elongated piece at the edge of which one can discern the obliquely cut roots of 4-5 teeth. The specimens of the type, judging by their shape, were apparently used only for the combing of the hair. There must have been similar combs of wood. The number of teeth is generally larger than in Type A, since the craftsmen had a longer working area; even though teeth are preserved in only a few samples, it seems that they had 50 on average. The use of the seven scraper-shaped objects of rather careless fashioning from Mycenae (79) remains enigmatic. They have been interpreted inter alia as parts of a cylindrical vessel,47 since at least some of them if completed in the mind or on paper look to form a perfect circle. Parallels come from the acropolis of Mycenae48 and Thebes.49 Despite their rather coarse level of manufacture, which indicates a purely practical use, they are still impressive, considering the volume of the precious material needed for their manufacture. Their discovery in Mycenae, the site that produced some of the most exquisite ivories of the period, is significant too. One cannot rule out their possible use as grooming implements, at least under certain circumstances – perhaps on the battlefield or on martial campaign. Combs like these seem the only ones by which one can imagine Homer’s “long-haired” Achaeans untangling their locks after days in the field. Of course, similar items of wood or other materials were even more appropriate to such conditions of use. It is also feasible that they might also have been used as a kind of scraper.


A. PROTONOTARIOU-DEILAKI, “Θολωτός τάφος Καζάρμας,” ΑΑΑ 2.1 (1969) 4; A. VASSILOPOULOU, St. KERAMIDAS and S. SPYROPOULOU, “Επ-ανασκάπτοντας έναν πρώιμο θολωτό τάφο στην Καζάρμα Αργολίδας,” in E. ZYMI, A.B. KARAPANAGIOTOU and M. XANTHOPOULOU (eds), Το Αρχαιολογικό έργο στην Πελοπόννησο (ΑΕΠΕΛ 1), Πρακτικά του Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου, Τρίπολη 7-11 Νοεμβρίου 2012 (Kalamata 2018) 82, fig. 6 and 187 for the chronology of the tomb in LH IIAIIB. According to the excavators, the burial dates to LH IIA, see J.L. DAVIS and S.R. STOCKER, “The lord of the gold rings. The Griffin Warrior at Pylos,” Hesperia 85 (2016) 635. Usually identified with the crocus flower which appears in the decoration of Cretan pottery and in the form of gold beads from LM IB, see J. DAY, “Crocuses in context. A diachronic survey of the crocus motif in the Aegean Bronze Age,” Hesperia 80 (2011) 348, fig. 7. SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες A 198 (West Room), B 729, figs 848, 850. XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 151-152; POURSAT, Catalogue 79, Pl. XXIII. G. DAUX, “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques en Grèce en 1964,” BCH (1964) 709, fig. 5 (Nauplion Museum inv. no. 13967). E. TOULOUPA and S. SYMEONOGLOU, “Καδμείον, οικόπεδον Α. και Σ. Τζώρτζη (Πινδάρου και Αντιγόνης),” ADelt 20 (1965) Β2, 232 (comb or diadem); also POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 39 (peignes de coiffure) for discussion and parallels.

43

44 45

46 47 48 49










ICONOGRAPHY The broad iconography of Mycenaean ivory combs has been extensively studied by J.-C. Poursat,1 while individual issues have been discussed mainly in the context of Mycenaean ivory-working.2 However, although repetition is inevitable, we consider it necessary to give at least a brief presentation of the decorative motives so that we may draw some conclusions on their distribution and significance in the Aegean and the wider geographical area. In this context, the iconography of the combs of the NAM Collection will also be compared to examples from the rest of mainland Greece, Crete and the Aegean islands. A detectable decoration can be seen on 24 of the combs that are preserved, both those almost intact and those in a fragmentary condition; initially there must have been even more specimens bearing ornamentation, but due to their poor preservation, we can no longer discern it. Their relatively small number does not allow us to identify workshops, as too in the case of other contemporary works of art outside of ceramic. Further, the fact that the majority of them come from Attica and are of the LH IIIC period adds to this situation, as by then jewellery and toiletry implements have been already simplified and stripped of much embellishment.3 The decoration that exists varies from the purely geometric to the more figurative and even narrative, influenced by the contemporary frescoes and the earlier luxurious inlaid daggers.4 Of particular interest as to their symbolic connotations seem to be the sphinx (the most popular motive, seen in four specimens from Prosymna, Spata, Pylos and Mycenae) and the crocodiles or lizards (on one specimen from Spata). Animal fights (lions-bulls, lions-goats) occur on two combs from Mycenae, matched by felines hunting ducks on one from Routsi and dogs on another from Mycenae. The rest of the motives consist of flowers (rosette, waz-lily) or marine creatures (argonaut/nautilus) and complementary motives known also from contemporary pottery, like the parallel chevrons and the herringbone. The motive of the sphinx was already known in Crete from the First Palace period, probably transferred from the Levant or Egypt.5 The earliest version of the motif is attested in the MM II period on two seals6 and a clay relief plaque found at Malia.7 The typical floral head dress of the Neopalatial Minoan sphinx, known as the “lily-cap”, which is usually rendered like a volute, testifies more to the early links with the Levant.8 It is not certain however if the Aegean sphinx borrowed its symbolism from its land of origin or whether it acquired new shades of meaning during the Mycenaean times, where it is to be seen in the Palatial period, e.g. on signet rings guarding an altar/column, by itself or in a pair.9


1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9

POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens. Among others, PHILLIPS, Crocodiles; L. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI, “Gold and ivory and Dendra revealed. Private luxury and/or insignia dignitatis?” in KOSMOS 447-456. Among others, POURSAT, L’art égéen 2 256. I.e. the specimens from Mycenae Grave Circle A (NAM P 394, 395, 744, 764, 765) and from the Vapheio tholos tomb (NAM P 1819, 1824, 8339, 8340); for the common characteristics shared by these three forms of art, see N.R. THOMAS, “Cross-craft in Aegean ivory, fresco and inlaid metal,” in KOSMOS 755-764, esp. 760. DESSENNE, Le sphinx 188. From Archanes and Siteia respectively, for relevant bibliography, see KOUROU, The Sphinx 166; for a stylistic analysis of the type, A. SAKELLARIOU, Μυκηναϊκή Σφραγιδογλυφία (1966) 18-19. KARETSOU – ANREADAKI-VLAZAKI, Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος 57, no. 33 (J.-Cl. POURSAT). KOUROU, The Sphinx 166. I.e. CMS I 128 (ΝΑΜ P 3181) and CMS I 87 (NAM P 2854) respectively; DESSENNE, Le sphinx 151-152; KOUROU, The Sphinx 167.

44


THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS

The role of the sphinx, as that of the griffin, from which it differs only in the head (although both mythical creatures have the body of a lion, the griffin has a bird’s head and the sphinx a human one), is that of a guardian, with clear symbolic-religious affinities. A double volute shown on the breast or body is one of the most characteristic elements of the Mycenaean sphinx;10 the frequency of the pattern suggests that originally it might have had some particular symbolism related to the function of the mythical creature.11 In a purely Aegean version, the sphinx is sometimes depicted in a “flying gallop”.12 Other features that differentiate the Mycenaean sphinx from its eastern cousins lie mainly in its posture: she habitually rests on her stomach, with her head turned to the right, wearing a diadem and a necklace, with the wings portrayed on either side of the head, in frontal view.13 Moreover, the form of the wings is emphasized with an incised outline, while the feathering of the interior is rendered by parallel chevrons. In the Collection, the sphinx is portrayed on four combs, from Spata (42), Prosymna (45), Mycenae (47) and Pylos (53). Outside the Collection there is also an example from Katsambas, Crete.14 Chronologically, the examples fall within LM/LH IIIA and IIIB. Apart from the very well preserved Spata comb, where the presence of a third sphinx in the lower zone breaks the symmetrical composition, for the rest of the examples, preserved in fragments, we do not have a complete appreciation of the composition. In the Pylos comb, the sphinxes on the upper zone are rendered at a “flying gallop”, with the head turning back and the nose disproportionally large. In general, the minor differences in the rendering of the facial features, the wings and the diadem do not form indications of any chronological evolution, at least in the specimens preserved. The subject of the sphinx is also seen on an ivory mirror handle from Zafer Papoura,15 on an ivory pyxis from Thebes,16 on glass and ivory plaques from Spata17 and Menidi,18 and on gold cut-outs.19 Reptiles (crocodiles or lizards) are depicted on quite a few combs from Crete and the Mainland, which fall chronologically into LM/LH IIIA.20 In the Collection there is only one specimen, that from Spata (61). Parallels are to be found in combs from the Kartero tomb,21 Palaikastro22 (the earliest example of Type A1), pit 6 of the Mycenaean Grave Enclosure of Archanes23 – all on Crete and one at Thebes (Kordatzis field).24 In the example from Palaikastro, the reptiles’ tails are intertwined, replacing the central rosette; probably that was once the case for the Spata comb as well. Although crocodiles do not belong to the native Cretan-Mycenaean repertoire, being obviously a loan from Egypt, they are yet a relatively popular topic for the decoration of combs. It is possible that all combs with this decoration are products of the same Cretan workshop, as most come from Crete.


DESSENNE, Le sphinx 311, 314, Pl. XXVI. H. DEMISCH, Die Sphinx. Geschichte ihrer Darstellung von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (1977) 67, figs 179-182. As in combs 42 from Spata and 53 from Pylos. POURSAT, Catalogue 61; for the significance of crocodile in art, see PHILLIPS, Crocodiles. St. ALEXIOU, Υστερομινωικοί τάφοι λιμένος Κνωσού (Κατσαμπά) (1967) 75, Pls 34-35 (Herakleion Museum, inv. no. 341). A.J. EVANS, The Prehistoric Tombs at Knossos (1906) 63, fig. 69; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens Pl. VII.7. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 59, Pl. V.6. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens ibid. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 59, inv. nos. NAM P 1972, 1977. KARO, Die Schachtgräber 51, Pl. XXVI, 48. J.-C. POURSAT, “Notes d’iconographie préhellenique : dragons et crocodiles,” BCH l00 (1976) 468 ff. Sp. MARINATOS, “Υστερομινωικός λαξευτός τάφος εν Καρτερώ Κρήτης,” ADelt 11 (1927-1928) fig. 12, Pl. 3; PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 171-172. EVANS, PM IV 1006, fig. 956. SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες 730. S. SYMEONOGLOU, Kadmeia I. Mycenaean Finds from Thebes, Greece. Excavations at 14 Oedipus St. (1973) 58, Pl. 82, figs 251, 252; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 89.

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24







ICONOGRAPHY

45


In addition to combs, crocodiles perhaps embellish the circular lid of an ivory pyxis from Asine (according to another view, it is birds that are depicted)25 and an ivory plaque from Mycenae chamber tomb 29,26 depicting a female deity wearing the typical flounced skirt and seated on a crocodile. The subject of the female deity seated on an animal is known in Crete from LM I and on the Mainland from other representations.27 On none other is the animal safely identified as crocodile, with one exception: a seal from Mycenae,28 where the deity is dressed in a similar way and the animal could be a crocodile judging by the lines shown on the skin and the long snout; the subject is otherwise unknown in Mycenaean iconography. The presence of the crocodile is owed to Egypt where it is depicted on seals from the Naqada III period (3200-3000 BC).29 The significance of the crocodile in the Aegean iconography could perhaps be explained by its symbolism in ancient Egypt, where the animal was worshiped both for its strength and for its sexual performance; In the Egyptian religion, the animal takes the form of the god Sobek, protector of the rivers and the aquatic life, and consequently of fertility.30 During the New Kingdom, Sobek gained even greater power, became protector of the Underworld and people prayed to him for protection and favours in the afterlife.31 On the other hand, when associated with female burials, it is very likely that the subject of crocodiles is related to the goddess of childbirth, Taweret (Thoeris); In Egyptian art, the goddess is depicted with a hippopotamus head and crocodile tail, and with her dwarf mate, the god Bes, are considered to be protectors of mothers and newborns.32 The discovery of faience amulets of Bes and of Taweret together with pendants in the shape of crocodile in Perati Tomb 30 is unlikely to be a coincidence;33 perhaps those objects accompanied a woman who had died in childbirth.34 Animal combats are also quite common, such as lions with bulls or goats35 (44, 63, 65 from the chamber tombs of Mycenae, and possibly 46 from Pylos), while in one case we have felines stalking ducks (75) on a comb from Routsi. The same subjects are repeated in the daggers with inlaid decoration,36 on a sword pommel from Tomb IV and on the hexagonal wooden pyxis with gold plates from Tomb V, both from Mycenae Grave Circle A37 and finally shown on ivory plaques from Spata.38 The subject of animal conflict and the Aegean “flying gallop” were spread abroad in Eastern Mediterranean, not only as a realistic depiction but also for the symbolism they bore: thus, it has been suggested that in the scenes depicting a battle between a lion and a bull or a goat, the victory of the king of the animals symbolizes the victory of the ‘ruler’ over his enemies.39 Lions are depicted on two combs, in combination with a bull (44) and a goat (63) respectively. Although the lion is the most popular animal depicted in Mycenaean art,40 until recently it was believed


FRÖDIN – PERSSON, Asine 388, fig. 253. XENAKI-SAKELLARIOU, Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι 105, Pl. 27 (inv. no. NAM P 2641); POURSAT, Catalogue 91, no. 295. G. MYLONAS, Ancient Mycenae (1957) 95, fig. 35; for a list of Mycenaean images of riding goddesses, see B.C. DIETRICH, The Origins of Greek Religion (2004) 310-313. CMS I 189, no. 167 (inv. no. NAM P 8718). ZECCHI, Sobek 5. ZECCHI, Sobek 5, 80. Lexikon der Ägyptologie V (1984) 995-1031 (entry Sobek). For the symbolism of the two divinities, see G. ROBINS, Women in Ancient Egypt (1993) 89-90. IAKOVIDIS, Perati B 315, Pl. 91b; STAMBOLIDIS, Ploes 504, cat. no. 954 (Konstantinidi-Syvridi). STAMBOLIDIS, Ploes 504. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 68-77, 79-82. KARO, Die Schachtgräber 95, figs 25-27, Pl. XCIV (inv. nos. NAM P 394, lion with deer, NAM P 765, felines and ducks in a Nilotic landscape); THOMAS (supra n. 4). POURSAT, L’art égéen 2 57 (inv. no. NAM P 295b); KARO, Die Schachtgräber 143-144, Pls CXLIII-CXLIV (inv. no. NAM P 808-811). POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 69 (inv. nos. NAM P 2045, 2046). ARUZ et al., Beyond Babylon 415. E.F. BLOEDOW, “On lions in Mycenaean and Minoan culture,” in R. LAFFINEUR and J.L. CROWLEY (eds), EIKON. Aegean Bronze Age Iconography: Shaping a Methodology, Proceedings of the 4th International Aegean Conference/4e

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40







46


THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS

that the animal did not exist in the Late Bronze Age Greece. However, remains of Panthera leo persica, the maned lion native to the Near East and India, have been found at thirteen sites in Greece from the Neolithic period onwards.41 Artistic depictions of lions are first seen on Crete from the Old Palace period and on the Mainland from LH I onwards, the advent of strong Minoan influence42: probably to be recognized as a symbol of royal power, it is portrayed on daggers, signet rings and sealstones, on the well-known sword pommel from Mycenae, on miniature models and cut-outs of gold, on mirror handles and on two pyxides (battle between lions and griffins), from a range of sites.43 The features that distinguish the lion from other carnivorous animals have already been noted in the seal engraving44: mainly the thin waist, the mane – when it is not a lioness – and the long tail that ends in a volute. The lion has been depicted in many variations in Mycenaean art, however none of them is limited to a particular narrow chronological framework.45 With the discovery of the Minoan frescoes in Tel el Dab
a, Egypt, it has been argued – effectively – that the lion – as too the griffin, bull, leopard and rosette – belonged to a common code of royal and divine symbols shared between Egypt, Syria, Knossos, Thera, and Mycenae.46 The bull in the Aegean iconography is represented as the prey of human hunters, lions47 and griffins48 and almost never as an animal protecting divinities, despite the fact that it is one of the stronger animals known to them in real life.49 As opposed to the lion, which represents wild life, the bull may have been seen as a force that could nonetheless be tamed to the service of man.50 It is distinguished by its heavy body, strong legs and horns; it is known mainly from seal engraving, but also from ivory plaques and the famous gold cups from the tholos tomb of Vapheio, Laconia.51 Whether depicted on signet rings and seals, frescoes, gold work and ivories, ritual vessels or as free-standing bronzes, it is often associated with luxurious items and indicates that the animal formed an integral part of certain ceremonies.52 Moreover, it is also seen outside the Aegean area, as in the case of the Middle Kingdom tomb paintings at Beni Hasan in Egypt,53 where a bull captured by human hunters and a lioness attacking a bull are depicted in different registers on the same side of the tomb. The goat, usually the Cretan agrimi, is identified by its muscular trunk supported on slender legs.54 It is depicted in a variety of media: on seal stones and signet rings, in wall paintings, on ceramic vessels,


Rencontre Égénne Internationale, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia, 6-9 April 1992 (1992) 295-304; L. MORGAN, “Feline hunters in the Tell el Dab
a paintings: iconography and dating,” Ägypten und Levante 14 (2004) 285-298, esp. 288, note 21 for selected bibliography. N. THOMAS, “A lion’s eye view of the Greek Bronze Age,” in PHYSIS 375-376. N. THOMAS, “The early Mycenaean lion up to date,” in A. CHAPIN (ed.), CHARIS: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr (2004) 161-206, esp. 171 ff. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 68-174; BLOEDOW (supra n. 40); MORGAN (supra n. 40) 287-288. SAKELLARIOU (supra n. 6) 5. SAKELLARIOU (supra n. 6) 7. MARINATOS, Lions from Tell el- Dab
a. I.e. CMS I 124, CMS XIII 40; I. PINI, “Das Motiv des Löwenüberfalls in der spätminoischen und mykenischen Glyptik,” in P. DARCQUE and J.-C. POURSAT (eds), L’iconographie minoenne. Actes de la table ronde d’Athènes (21-22 avril 1983) (1985) 153-166. I.e. CMS I Suppl., no. 176. With the exceptions of CMS I no. 379 and CMS VIII no. 147. N. MARINATOS, Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol (1993) 212-216. Ch. TSOUNTAS, “ Έρευναι εν τη Λακωνική και ο τάφος του Βαφειού,” ΑΕphem 28 (1889) 130-151, Pls 91-2 (inv. nos. NAM P 1758, 1759). B.P. HALLAGER and E. HALLAGER, “The Knossian Bull – Political propaganda in Neo-Palatial Crete?” in R. LAFFINEUR and W.-D. NIEMEIER (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 (1995) 547-556. L. MORGAN, “Power of the beast: human-animal symbolism in Egyptian and Aegean art,” Ägypten Und Levante 7 (1998) 20, fig. 3. SAKELLARIOU (supra n. 6) 8; R. PALMER, “Managing the wild: deer and agrimia in the Late Bronze Age Aegean,” in PHYSIS 391-399, Pls CXVI-CXVII.

41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48 49 50 51 52

53 54







ICONOGRAPHY

47


as figurines and ivory plaques. It appears as part of wild nature,55 in peaceful scenes,56 as a victim of hunting, i.e. on the ivory pyxis from Spata with goats attacked by hunting dogs,57 or in scenes insinuating its sacrifice, as on the signet ring from Mycenae chamber tomb 84, where a man leads the animal to an altar.58 Based on artistic, textual and archaeological evidence, it has been suggested that in Minoan Crete, the horns from the male goats were used for the manufacture of the composite bow, part of their offensive weaponry.59 Moreover, it seems that by the Protopalatial/Middle Minoan IB-II, the goat had already acquired a religious symbolism, which was later adopted by the Mycenaeans.60 The dog is rendered in two ways, either given an elongated body and snout, as in the comb 63 of Mycenae, or with a solid body and squarer head, most often with long tail and a single or double collar.61 It is depicted as a hunting companion chasing goats, wild boars or deer, or as a guardian. On the Mainland, it appears on artefacts of various materials from LH I, in the Mycenae Shaft Graves and then on sealstones, inlaid daggers, ivory plaques from Spata and Menidi, in wall-paintings from Ayia Irini on Kea, from Tell el- Dab
a, Egypt, Tiryns, Orchomenos and on Mycenaean pictorial pottery,62 some in Cyprus and on a comb from Megiddo.63 In the typical Mycenaean posture of the “flying gallop”, it is seen in action in hunting scenes.64 Noteworthy for the significance of the dog in the Late Bronze Age Aegean is the discovery of dog burials in rich tholoi and chamber tombs of the Mainland and Crete,65 among them, the tholos tomb of Dendra,66 the dromos of the Tholos tomb B, Archanes (dog skeletons, some of them with detached skulls),67 and the remains of two dogs (hounds) in a chamber tomb at Galatas in the Peloponnese, dated to the LH ΙΙΒ-early LH ΙΙΙC.68 It has been suggested that the practice of placing dogs in Mycenaean tombs may aim to connect the deceased with the activity of hunting and its symbolic and status references.69 Waterfowl – possibly geese, as indicated by their long necks – with felines (wild cats) are depicted on comb 75 from Routsi. A similar subject has been crafted on the well-known inlaid daggers from Mycenae Grave Circle A and the Vapheio tholos tomb.70 The Nilotic landscape and the felines with


A. MUROCK HUSSEIN, “Minoan goat hunting: social status and the economics of war,” in K. DUISTERMAAT and I. REGULSKI (eds), Intercultural Contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean (2011), for a list of representations and relevant bibliography. For the various depictions of goat or agrimi in Minoan and Mycenaean iconography, see R.B. POLINSKY, Minoan Zoomorphic Iconography and the Relevance of Identification: A Case Study on the Gold Figurine from Akrotiri, Thera, Master’s Thesis, Brandeis University 2018 33 ff. POURSAT, Catalogue Pl. XLIX (ivory pyxis from Spata); on the talismanic seals (over fifty examples) depicting speared goats, A. ONASOGLOU, Die ‘Talismanischen’ Siegel (1985) 265-267. CMS I 119 (inv. no. NAM P 3148). On the Mc Tablets from Knossos, recording horns and sinews of goats, see S. WACHSMANN, Aegeans in the Theban Tombs (1987) 85-86; VENTRIS – CHADWICK, Documents 301-303. S. HILLER, “Potnia/Potnios Aigon. On the religious aspects of goats in the Aegean Late Bronze Age,” in R. LAFFINEUR and R. HÄGG (eds), POTNIA. Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 8th International Aegean Conference, Göteborg University, 12-15 April 2000 (2001) 293-304. SAKELLARIOU (supra n. 6) 11. For a list of parallels and relevant bibliography, see I. PAPAGEORGIOU, “The Mycenean golden kylix of the Benaki Museum: a dubitandum?” Mouseio Benaki 8 (2008) 22. POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 87-88, Pl. XVIII.2; FELDMAN, Hoarded Treasures 185, fig. 16. PAPAGEORGIOU (supra n. 62) 21. L.P. DAY, “Dog burials in the Greek world,” AJA 88 (1984) 21-32. A.W. PERSSON, The royal tombs at Dendra near Midea (1931) 18, 69. SAKELLARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες A 171, 263 (LM IIIA). Y. HAMILAKIS, “A footnote on the archaeology of power: animal bones from a Mycenaean chamber tomb at Galatas, NE Peloponnese,” BSA 91 (1996) 153-166. DAY (supra n. 65). KARO, Die Schachtgräber 138 (inv. no. NAM P 765) and Th. PAPADOPOULOS, The Late Bronze Age Daggers of the Aegean I: the Greek Mainland (1968) 8, Pl. A, 4,32 (inv. no. NAM P 8340).

55

56

57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70







48


THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS

waterfowl among papyri recalls Egyptian paintings of the New Kingdom,71 which sometimes bear religious affinities. However, the naturalistic rendering of the birds is in accordance with the Cretan standards, as is known from sealstones from MM III onwards.72 Other motives of a clear Mycenaean tradition are the argonauts/nautili (43) or the vegetal elements such as the waz-lily (70), but also the rosette that constitutes the main subject in two combs (49 and 52), and the core of the spiral in a third one (48). The running spiral, a quite popular motive in frescoes, precious vessels and ivory plaques, is seen on three combs (54, 48 and 71). Another comb which bears the usual addition of the rosette in the middle of the back is decorated with a wicker-work pattern. Finally, various linear and complementary themes quite often decorate the narrow side of the comb-back’s top in type A combs and extend to cover the lateral edges that frame the teeth: these include the parallel chevrons (73 and 74)73 – also known from a comb at the Knossos Temple Tomb,74 the tricurved arch (68),75 the rosette (63), the leaf-patterned (75),76 the foliate band (68),77 the herringbone (61)78 and a garland framing a waz-lily in one case (70). Finally, the decoration in some examples is framed by dotted bands (45 and 46),79 in place of the usual relief lines. It is clear that ivory combs belonged to the class of objects that were status markers and as such their iconography was meant to convey symbols comprehensible to the members not only of the Mycenaean but also of the Eastern Mediterranean elites.80 Their decorative repertory does not differ from that of the other ivories circulating in the Aegean (toilet accessories such as pyxides and mirror handles, or furniture inlays): it mainly consists of motives inspired by the experiences of the Mycenaeans – and the Minoans before them – gained in the East and then adapted to the local tradition (i.e. the sphinx with the “lily-cap” headdress). This fashion for eastern iconography that characterizes the Aegean ivories of the period was certainly dictated to an extent by the exotic origin there of the raw material. Apart from that, however, the iconography of combs seems to follow an international “visual koine” that was shared between the Levant, Egypt and the Aegean during the Late Bronze Age, as is so eloquently expressed in the Tel el Dab
a frescoes,81 with symbols like the lion and its prey, the griffin, and the halfrosette.


V.E.G. KENNA, “Studies of birds on seals of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze Age,” OpAth 8 (1968) 33 for relevant bibliography. KENNA (supra n. 71) 27-31. FM 58. EVANS, PM IV 1004, fig. 955. FM 61A (fill ornaments) and FM 62. FM 12. FM 64. FM 58:36. FM 41:1-7. MARINATOS, Lions from Tell el- Dab
a 353. MARINATOS, Lions from Tell el- Dab
a 353.

71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81




TECHNOLOGY For combs and small objects in general, the favourite material that survives of both the Minoan and Mycenaean craftsmen seems to be elephant ivory, since it offers proportionately large quantities of solid material and minimal difficulties in its processing. Its selection for producing both combs and hairpins also has to do with its light weight and smooth texture that would not cause discomfort to the user.1 The hippopotamus tusk, used instead on occasions, has a central vein that can hinder its easy cutting (Pl. LXXXIX) and which – when the material is used as in the warrior head inlays2 – is visible on their reverse. Some combs were also made of bone and it is possible that boar’s tusks were so employed too. To date, only one ivory workshop has come to light to provide us with information, however imperfect, on the processes from the raw material stage to the final processed product, complete with wasters from the manufacturing process. This is a house on the north side of the “Royal Road” outside the palace of Knossos, the “House of Ivories”, where many unfinished and finished ivory objects were discovered, dated by the pottery in the LM I period.3 The possible presence of a small craft workshop, or storage area, is also to be found in the western part of the palace of Zakros, where three elephant tusks came to light4 – the one that survives intact has a length of 70 cm: the finds (including six bronze ingots, rock crystal and faience) belong to LM ΙΒ. On the acropolis of Mycenae, in the so-called “Artisans Quarter”, ivory scraps came to light along with pieces of various stones, lumps of gold and pieces of organic-based glue, dating to the LH IIIB period.5 Significant remnants of ivory processing, including wood inlays, have also been unearthed in the “Wace’s House”6 and in the Houses of Shields and of Sphinxes,7 which also date to LH IIIB. Our knowledge of ivory working is also as much based on the traces left by the tools on the objects as from the unfinished pieces: they provide us with information about the various stages of manufacture.8 Further, for the existence of specific types of tools (e.g. drill, saw)9 and for their use, some clues are offered by Egyptian tomb paintings of the New Kingdom period, which represent craftsmen at work.10 Finally, the similarity in the working of ivory to that of wood helps us to deduce the tools and procedures of the


1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

For an extensive discussion on ivory technology, on which this chapter is greatly based, see D. EVELY, Minoan Crafts; ID., “Towards an elucidation of the ivory-worker’s tool-kit in Neo-Palatial Crete,” in FITTON, Ivory in Greece; see also M. MOAK, “The Palaikastro kouros”, in J.A. MACGILLIVRAY, J.M. DRIESSEN, and L.H. SACKETT (eds), The Palaikastro Kouros. A Minoan Chryselephantine Statuette and its Aegean Bronze Age Context (2000) 65-83. For the differentiation between hippopotamus, elephant ivory and bone, see D. REESE, “Hippopotamus and elephant teeth from Kition,” in V. KARAGEORGHIS, Excavations at Kition V.2 (1985) 391-409 and KRZYZYSKOWSKA, Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age. O. KRZYZSKOWSKA, “The Enkomi warior head reconsidered,” BSA 86 (1991) 107-120. S. HOOD, “Archaeology in Greece,” AR 1960-1961, 26-27, fig. 30; EVELY, Minoan Crafts 224. N. PLATON, “Ζάκρος,” Prakt 1962, 161, Pls 160a, c; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 13-14, figs 9-11; BOURGEOIS, Approach to Anatolian Techniques 35. G.E. MYLONAS, “Μυκήνες,” Prakt 1965, 93-94, Pl. 106. Lord W. TAYLOUR, “Mycenae 1968,” Antiquity 43 (1969) 64, 170; G.E. MYLONAS, “Ανασκαφή Μυκηνών,” Prakt 1973, 100-101; SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 19. SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 21-39; TOURNAVITOU, The Ivory Houses, passim. Among others, K.D.S. LAPATIN, Chryselephantine Statuary in the Ancient Mediterranean World (2001) esp. 16-20. Sir W.M. FLINDERS PETRIE, Tools and Weapons (1917) 39, no. 10; EVELY, Minoan Crafts 39, 245, fig. 89.1-2, Pls 65-69. A. ANDREWS, Ancient Egyptian Jewelry (1990) 74, fig. 54.

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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


first from those of the other,11 as well as to argue for the existence of tools such as the plane, a device that was certainly in operation during the Homeric era (Odyssey, Book 5, 249).12 Some of these tools have left their marks on objects, such as the drill used for opening uniformsized holes; it seems that the Minoan craftsmen also had at their disposal a large variety of chisels, the range of which are recognizable by the shape of their cutting edge, as revealed in the traces they left on the piece being processed.13 The saw is the third widely-used tool: it came in two variants, with teeth (most obviously for detaching large pieces from the original tusk) and without teeth (here an abrasive agent with a lubricant was needed to effect the actual cutting).14 Knives or burin-points (perhaps resembling pins in size) will have been used more sparingly, perhaps in straightening up profiles and getting rid of small unwanted pieces; burins can be used in incision work too. Unfortunately, ivory does not visibly preserve traces of the material from which the tool itself was composed, as other raw materials at times do, but it is most probable that the tools were of copper/bronze, obsidian and flint (blades). Among the hundreds of pieces that came to light during the excavation of the above-mentioned “House of Ivories” on the Royal Road at Knossos, there were discovered chisels, engraving tools, small saws, knives and blades, all of copper or bronze, but only partially preserved, as well as general-purpose stone tools, pieces of abrasive stones and powders, and obsidian blades and at times flakes.15 All tools listed above comprise but a part of the original workshop equipment, since those from perishable materials have not been preserved. Thus, in addition to a workbench, the craftsman would have at his disposal compasses, rulers to help trace out the guide-lines (see comb 37), engraving tools, a vice to immobilize the object to work it more effectively, oils or lubricating substances, various mixtures of paints and metal leaf for added decoration, as well as adhesives for joining components together. Other utensils and materials would be required for various ancillary works, such as copper bowls, resins, beeswax and cloth. It is very possible that in addition to ones of ivory, wooden combs were also commonly available, just as in contemporary Egypt. Wood though has not been often preserved due to its greater sensitivity to environmental conditions, especially when buried. As already mentioned, when calculating the techniques used in ivory-working, the similarity that exists with wood working is of great help: the two materials can have a comparable hardness and were often combined in the same objects (see above, for the evidence of the Linear B tablets). A set of tools was discovered at a carpenter's tomb in Thebes, Egypt, which included cubit rods for measurements (one royal cubit equalled 252 mm), engraving knives, saws, chisels, awls, sharpening instruments, drills and lathes.16 Stages in the processing of ivory Initially, before any other treatment, the outer layer (especially at the base of the tusk) is usually removed to facilitate further processing, as this external material has the approximate hardness of agate.17 This layer could be removed by abrasion, but as this process would be time consuming, it has been suggested that it was probably encouraged to flake off on its own from the effects of dehydration


On cutting, perforation and percussion tools for wood working in the Mycenaean times, see E. MARAGOUDAKI – P.K. KAVVOURAS, “Mycenaean shipwright tool kit: its reconstruction and evaluation,” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 4.3 (2012) 199-208. SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 47. D. EVELY, “Minoan crafts: tools and techniques, an introduction,” in FITTON, Ivory in Greece 7. EVELY, Minoan Crafts 39, 245; traces of sawing are seen on comb 20 (see description in Catalogue). For a composite ivory (a three-dimensional griffin) made out of smaller pieces pegged together, which also preserves sockets for inlay of another material, see also MOUNTJOY et al., Knossos, the South House 188; POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 255. M. HARCOMBE, Ancient Egyptian Furniture in Context: from Ancient Production, Preservation to Modern-day Reconstruction and Conservation (Master of Arts, Pretoria 2011) 83-97 (tools), 115-118 (on workshop areas and tomb paintings depicting carpenters at work). KRZYZSKOWSKA, Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age 213; VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves 9.

11

12 13 14 15

16

17







TECHNOLOGY

51

after being exposing to fire.18 A similar technique was traditionally applied until recently by Chinese and Japanese ivory workers.19 In several examples from the time period we are examining, however, the outer layer has not been removed. The main treatment of the ivory consisted of five stages.20 The first involved selecting the appropriate part of the tooth, which depended largely on the object the craftsman wanted to make: for example, if he wanted to make a cylindrical pyxis, he needed the thickest part of the tooth towards the pulp cavity at the base of the tusk. The second stage was sawing the tusk to provide blanks.21 Blanks were cut to accommodate the thickest part of the object. The thickness of combs, for example, is dictated by what size was desired for the tooth, which is why many of the examples are 8 mm thick (see table). From the few traces of tools preserved on the combs of the Museum’s Collection, we can observe details on two half-finished specimens: for 64, only the rectangular plaque has been cut and bears two horizontal engraved lines (guides?), apparently indicating the borders of the decoration on the back and the part where the teeth would be inserted, and with 37, the guidelines are in place for the cutting of the teeth. In the next, the third stage, the final shape was given by the craftsman with the help of chisels and files, using both the incised/engraved and relief techniques of working where applicable. The first process is much used in metallurgy and was not so popular in Egypt: the motif to be represented is cut into the surface of the object. In the second, the background of the representation is removed so that the design stands out in relief. For the penultimate stage – the polishing of the object – various materials were used, such as the hard skins of some fish.22 Even today the skin from the shark’s fin is used to make a sort of sandpaper. Pumice may also have been used, which is a quite common find in small workshops, such as those pieces unearthed in the “House of Sphinxes” workshop along with half-finished ivory items.23 Finally, the components were joined together: protruding parts were fitted into their recesses (tenons into mortices, pegs and dowels into holes). At this point some of the objects were further ornamented: either with material attached and inlaid into them (see comb 49, where the rosette-motifs that adorn the back, have holes in their centres for an inlay, maybe of gold), or by being painted, as a comb from Deiras tomb XXIV, which preserves traces of blue and red paint24 or the ivory fragment from Praisos, tholos tomb A, with a finely incised rosette and traces of red and yellow colouring. It must have been common practice to join smaller pieces in order to create a larger one, with the help of concealed pegs.25 In the examples we have in the Collection it is obvious that such pegs and tenons were not always used to repair the object, but clearly also to make use of material left over from other projects, for reasons of economy (48). It is also known that more than one material was used in the same object – to provide contrasting colours, such as combining ivory with wood or ivory with gold; such a use was suggested by Wace for various ivory pieces he found in the “House of Shields”.26 The technique of assembling together small pieces was known in Egypt from the Middle Kingdom and was frequently employed with wooden objects.27 In several cases, ancient repairs can be detected, such as the one made for comb 61, where a peg replaces part of the teeth, so that the whole object need not be thrown away. In comb 67 from Prosymna,


KRZYZSKOWSKA, Ivory in the Aegean Bronze Age 214. C.I.A. RITCHIE, Ivory Carving (1969) 44. SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 1. O. KRZYZSKOWSKA, “Ivory from hippopotamus tusk in the Aegean Bronze Age,” Antiquity 58 (1984) 123-125. H. BLÜMMER, Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerbe und Künste der Griechen und Römern II (1879) 361-375. SAKELLARAKIS, Το Ελεφαντόδοντο 56, fig. 32. PAPAEFTHYMIOU, Σκεύη και Σύνεργα 190-191. MOUNTJOY et al., Knossos, the South House 188. A.J.B. WACE, “Mycenae 1939-1953. Part I: Preliminary report on the excavation of 1953,” BSA 49 (1954) 236. HARCOMBE (supra, n. 16) 101-102, n. 67.

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27







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THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


it appears that the teeth were repaired at least once: the repair is evident from an ivory peg used to attach in place the new piece to the original. In the decorative techniques, the know-how that the Mycenaean craftsmen reached, benefitting from the experience of centuries of practice in the Eastern Mediterranean, which they further enriched by their own ingenuity, was astounding. Many of the relief ivories were covered (partially or completely) with gold leaf. From an experimental reconstruction made of a gold-plated bone accessory from Tomb V, Grave Circle A of Mycenae, it appears that the gold sheet was pressed with a special tool into the already engraved bone surface to take up the design.28 The edges of the sheet were then folded over, gripping the edge of the object. For a better bonding of the sheet to the bone, some organic glue was used. The technique, known as gold sheathing, is also seen on Hittite objects from a very early stage.29 The unique Palaikastro kouros offers us an invaluable testimony for the combination of ivory with other materials in Minoan Crete: the inlaid rock-crystal eyes, the gold leaf on the costume and the crown of the head in serpentine.30 For the technique of colouring, we know from Hittite records that there were two types of object classes made of bone, the white and the red ones.31 Red paint was also employed in Egypt where it is depicted in tomb paintings of the New Kingdom period. The artisans of the Middle and New Kingdoms here were already very skilled in the techniques of colouring, which had probably been passed down to them from the East: the Acemhüyük ivories (Syria) show that colouring was already performed in the East at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.32 The long tradition existing in the East in this skill is also indicated in Homer, where colouring with purple is mentioned as a practice performed by a Maconian or a Carian woman (Iliad, Book 4, 142). Wace had argued that the majority of the burned ivories in the “House of Shields” were originally stained or painted, which is why they were “as black as ebony”; he also noticed that a piece that had hardly been burned at all, preserved traces of red-purple colour.33 A special decorative technique seems to be observable on the semi-circular comb 77 from Tomb IV of Grave Circle A of Mycenae, which has a pattern of zigzag lines. Karo argued that the lines were burnt into the ivory, because they are black.34 It is possible, however, that we are observing the application of another technique, this time influenced by metalworking: it is a technique common in Egypt from the end of the 3rd millennium BC, on items of hippopotamus ivory such as ‘magic’ wands, which consists of the filling in of incised zig-zag patterns (like the decoration on the Mycenae comb) or dotted lines with a black paste.35 Although analyses of the filling substance are not known yet, it seems that the paste was applied when wet and any excess wiped off after application.


N. PAPADIMITRIOU, E. KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI and A. GOUMAS, “Technological study and interpretation of rhomboid accessories from Grave Circle A, Mycenae,” in J. DRIESSEN (ed.), RA-PINE-U. Studies on the Mycenaean World Offered to Robert Laffineur for his 70th Birthday (2016) esp. 255-256. Among others, H.J. KANTOR, “A “Syro-Hittite” treasure in the Oriental Institute Museum,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 16 (1957) 145, 158. KARETSOU – ANREADAKI-VLAZAKI, Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος 300, cat. no. 294; the discovery of gold particles at the same layer with parts of ivory figurines in the Theatre Space, Ayios Nikolaos (Crete), could indicate that they were also originally covered in gold, see SAKELARAKIS – SAKELLARAKI, Αρχάνες B 718. H.G. GUTERBOCK, “Ivory in Hittite Texts,” Anatolia 15 (1971) 1-7; also, POURSAT, Les ivoires mycéniens 256. BOURGEOIS, Approach to Anatolian Techniques, 64; N. ÖZGÜÇ, “Excavations at Acemhüyük,” Anatolia 10 (1966) 29-52. A.J.B. WACE, “Ivory carvings from Mycenae,” Archaeology 7 (1954) 150. KARO, Die Schachtgräber 187, 350, Pl. XLIII (inv. no. NAM P 310); VELSINK, Ivories from the Shaft Graves 3, cat. C2. For the technique, S. HENDRICKX – M. EYCKERMAN, “Tusks and tags: between the hippopotamus and the Naqada plant,” in R.F. FRIEDMAN – P.N. FISKE (eds), Egypt at its Origins 3, Proceedings of the Third International Conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt”, London, 27th July – 1st August 2008 (2011) 508, n. 4; for Egyptian specimens, British Museum inv. no. EA 18175 (Thebes, Egypt, 1750 BC; ARUZ et al., Beyond Babylon 147 (no. 86, Middle Kingdom, ca 1981-1640 BC).

28

29 30

31 32 33 34 35




RELATIONS ACROSS A WIDER AREA – DISTRIBUTION In comparison to the examples from the wider geographical area of the Near East, the Aegean combs are typologically closer to the Egyptian examples of the New Kingdom (Dynasties XVIII-XX), which are also rectangular, and decorated, but with engraved horizontal lines.1 Since the climatic circumstances in Egypt have allowed the preservation of wood, contrary to Greece, it is obvious that their material was primarily of wood and not ivory, although the latter was widely used as a material for the construction of other luxury items. In addition, the Egyptian examples have projections at the top of the back, usually four, and may bear three-dimensional figures, both features unknown in the CretoMycenaean examples. In Cyprus there are two basic types2: the first, with examples from Enkomi, has teeth on both sides and is mainly decorated with engraved horizontal lines, while the second type has teeth on one side only. A third type, known in Cyprus from a single tomb of LC IIIB (1125-1050 BC), again in Enkomi – but also occurring in Italy – has a curved handle with a small perforation and is decorated with dotted concentric circles.3 In the Levant, the simple comb with teeth on one side was in use at least from the late 2nd millennium BC, probably much earlier; it continued into historical Persian times. Most of the combs found in Ugarit and Meggido that date to the Late Bronze Age are rectangular with fine teeth on both sides (only one bears teeth on one side) and their back is decorated with an incised line of careless execution.4 It seems therefore that the comb, as a toilet implement, was passed to the Mycenaeans by the Minoans, since the earliest specimens come from Crete (MM IB-II), probably under the ultimate influence of neighbouring Egypt, with whom trade was already booming in the MM I-II period. Although the type belongs to the East Mediterranean tradition, two new elements are introduced early on that distinguish the purely Aegean specimens: the depiction of eastern motives (sphinxes, griffins) rendered in an Aegean/Mycenaean fashion, and the central decorative theme on the back, usually a rosette.



1 2

3

4

M. L. BERMANN – K.J. BOHAC, Catalogue of Egyptian Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art (1999) 304. Ch.K. PANDELIS, “Κυπριακή ελεφαντουργία της ΥΕΧ: παρατηρήσεις που αφορούν τρεις κατηγορίες ελεφαντουργημάτων (δίσκοι, πυξίδες, κτένια),” Report of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus 2000, 158, figs 6.3 and 6.4 respectively. L. VAGNETTI, “Cypriot elements beyond the Aegean in the Bronze Age,” in V. KARAGEORGHIS (ed.), Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium “Cyprus between the Orient and the Occident”, Nicosia, 8-14 September 1985 (1986) 210. J. GACHET, “Ugarit ivories: typology and distribution,” in FITTON, Ivory in Greece 67-90; STAMBOLIDIS, Ploes 542, cat. no. 1066.







SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE It is common ground among ethnographers and anthropologists that the way hair is worn (cutting, shaving, dying, covering etc.) – and consequently the accessories and implements used – is endowed with symbolic significance, that expresses the positions individuals hold in the society to which they belong.1 For the Mycenaeans, ivory combs were never an indispensable accessory (perishable ones of wood may have been though). It is obvious however, that, as was the case with toilet implements and other artefacts fashioned of the same material, those of ivory indicate prosperity and high status.2 Unfortunately, the anthropological evidence we have in our disposal, from which we might extract information about their use in burial contexts, is insufficient. As it seems, numerous combs come from male interments, especially warrior burials,3 recalling Homer’s description of the “long-haired” Achaeans (Iliad, Book 7, 442). A representative example is the burial of the so-called “Griffin Warrior” at Pylos who counted six combs among his luxurious grave goods.4 These have been argued to potentially indicate the ritual combing of the hair before battle.5 It is also possible that the small rectangular combs, which seem impractical for combing the hair on the head, were used to groom the beard or moustache. In various cultures, beards are symbols of strength, wisdom or holiness6 and it is quite possible, judging by the depictions of bearded men,7 that in the Mycenaean period they were worn by men of the social or religious elite. The official/ritual Mycenaean hair-style represented mainly on frescoes from the Mainland (Mycenae, Thebes, Tiryns, Pylos) was a composition of buns, curls and thick locks.8 Men and women share several common features such as the lock falling in front of the ear, which detail has been interpreted as a religious symbol used by the ruling class.9 It is fairly certain that each element of a hairstyle had its own symbolism, given their repetition in figurines and in representations on artefacts of various materials. As far as the function of combs is concerned, and since there is so far no depiction of them, it is not known whether they were used only for combing the hair or – at least for some of them – were also worn in the hair as happens today. Perhaps some narrow combs with fairly long teeth could be pinned at the base of a braided bun, as seen in Spain even today, in order to keep in place the typical “mantilla”. This is at least hinted at by the occasional discovery of combs with pairs of bone or ivory pins, as with the female burial in the Agora of Athens.10


1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8

9 10

E. BARTMAN, “Hair and the artifice of Roman female adornment,” AJA 105 (2001) 4-5. A. GRAMMENOU, “The ivories from Spata, Attica,” in FITTON, Ivory in Greece 49. S. DEGER-JALKOTZY, “Late Mycenaean warrior tombs,” in S. DEGER-JALKOTZY – I.S. LEMOS (eds), Ancient Greece. From the Mycenaean Palaces to the Age of Homer (2006) 172-173 for the frequency of the combs’ deposition in LH IIIC warrior burials. For the Griffin Warrior’s combs, see J.L. DAVIS – S.R. STOCKER, “The Combat Agate from the Grave of the Griffin Warrior at Pylos,” Hesperia 86 (2017) 602. J.L. DAVIS – S.R. STOCKER, “The lord of the gold rings: the Griffin Warrior of Pylos,” Hesperia 85 (2016) 651. M. DOWD, “Beards: an archaeological and historical overview,” in G. COONEY, K.M. DAVIES and U. MACCONVILLE (eds), A Grand Gallimaufry: A Collection of Interesting Things in Honour of Nick Maxwell (2010) 38-42. I.e. the well-known amethyst seal from Grave Circle B, Mycenae, with the portrait of a bearded man, MYLONAS, Ταφικός Κύκλος Β 77, Pl. 60b. E. KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI, “Hair styles and hair ornaments in the prehistoric Aegean,” in M. LAGOGIANNI-GEORGAKARAKOS (ed.), The Countless Aspects of Beauty in Ancient Art, Exhibition Catalogue (2018) 293. F. SHENG-CHIEH HSU, “Ritual significance in Mycenaean hairstyles,” Chronika 2 (2012) 98-99. PANDELIDOU, Προϊστορικαί Αθήναι 202; IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora 96-100.

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Distribution of the type Although evidence from the burial context does not help us much in forming conclusions as to the use of combs, it does present however something of interest as far as the social position of the owners is concerned and with what co-finds they accompanied.11 In mainland Greece, ivory combs appear for the first time in the Grave Circles of Mycenae. From the nine tombs of Circle B that contained ivories, only three – tombs Gamma, Lamda and Omikron12 – produced combs. The small, delicate comb 69 of tomb Gamma with the curved handle was found behind the skull of a woman (no. 2, MYC 58), but had moved from its original position.13 For the contexts of Grave Circle A, we can now rely on the archaeological diary of Panayotis Stamatakis, supervisor of Schliemann’s excavations on behalf of the Archaeological Society. As a result, and thanks to the anthropological study on Circle A made by an international multidisciplinary team,14 there is sufficient evidence for the attribution of several grave goods to specific burials. Most of the ivories, including the combs and gold sheathings, were found in tombs IV and V. Shaft Grave IV was the largest and wealthiest tomb with the three gold masks and a breastplate, an impressive number of precious vessels of gold, silver and bronze (including some of the most renown like the silver bull’s-head rhyton, the large silver “battle” crater and the so-called cup of Nestor), many swords, two inlaid daggers, gold jewellery and objects of faience and semi-precious stones.15 The tomb held five burials, three male and, possibly, two female.16 Comb 77 belonged to burial Ξ, a man of thirty years old, also furnished with swords and daggers, a gold sceptre, two gold diadems and a band, the silver bull’s-head rhyton and the gold lion’s-head rhyton, and a quantity of gold-sheathed ivory accessories of round and rhomboid shapes.17 Shaft Grave V was the second richest of Grave Circle A.18 It held three male burials, named by Stamatakis as T, Y and Φ, furnished with two gold masks, two gold breastplates, a number of weapons, among which were inlaid daggers, precious vessels, an ostrich egg rhyton, gold jewellery and plenty of amber beads.19 Comb 76 furnished burial T, a man of 25-35 years old, to whom are also attributed the so-called “mask of Agamemnon”, the larger breastplate, the gold necklace with the eagle pendants and elaborate bronze weapons. At Kazarma,20 in an unrobbed tholos tomb, a comb accompanied a male burial in Pit III, dating to LH I-II, accompanied by bronze weapons and tools, scales and minor finds of gold, ivory, amethyst and amber. The back of the comb is decorated with sets of triple flower calyx, interlinked with a fine line of dots. Only recently, during conservation work, was part of its curved handle discovered, still preserving the rectangular mortise for its attachment to the body of the comb;21 the fragment of the handle bears similar decoration to the back.


The contexts are presented in a chronological order. Only parts of the teeth were preserved: some on the floor of the chamber and others stuck on a slab stone that covered it, MYLONAS, Ταφικός Κύκλος Β 189, Pl. 166a. MYLONAS, Ταφικός Κύκλος Β 78-79, pl. 62b. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI et al., Mycenae Revisited III. K. DEMAKOPOULOU, Troy, Mycenae, Tiryns, Orchomenos, Exhibition Catalogue (1990) 98. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI et al., Mycenae Revisited III. E. KONSTANTINIDI-SYVRIDI – C. PASCHALIDIS, “The unacknowledged Panayotis Stamatakis and his invaluable contribution to the understanding of Grave Circle A at Mycenae,” Archaeological Reports 65 (2019) 119. PAPAZOGLOU-MANIOUDAKI et al., Mycenae Revisited III 163-166. DEMAKOPOULOU (supra n. 15) 98. E. PROTONOTARIOU-DΕΙLΑΚΙ, ADelt 24 (1969) 105; EAD., AAA 1 (1968) 236-238; EAD., AAA 2 (1969) 4. A. VASSILOPOULOU, S. KERAMIDAS and S. SPYROPOULOU, “Επ-ανασκάπτοντας έναν πρώιμο θολωτό τάφο στην Καζάρμα Αργολίδας,” in E. ZYMI, A.-V. KARAPANAGIOTOU and M. XANTHOPOULOU (eds), Το επιστημονικό έργο στην Πελοπόννησο, Πρακτικά του Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου, Τρίπολη, 711 Νοεμβρίου 2012 (2018) 83, fig. 6.

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

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57


The tholos tomb of Myrsinochori-Routsi22 was found looted and without any burials in situ; it produced however the well-known comb with the Nilotic scene and other ivory scraps, a set of small vessels dating to LH II, gold plates and a silver vessel containing some animal bones, possibly of a later date. In Staphylos on the island of Skopelos, one of the two skulls found in a built tomb of LH IIA, belonged to a forty-year-old man, furnished with a simple comb, 23 vessels, a gold plate from a sword handle, a gold band or diadem, bronze tools and weapons. In Athens, north of the “Areopagus” hill, in the chamber tomb known as the “Tomb of the Ivory Pyxis” (Tomb I), a female burial was furnished with rich grave goods of LH IIA date, including the two large ivory pins and comb fragments already mentioned.23 The extensive cemetery on the west side of the Agora, dating mainly to LH IIIA period, yielded three more combs from three tombs (VII, XXIII, XXVI) together with minor finds of gold and bone pins.24 Of the Mycenae chamber tombs, only two combs from tomb 99 belong to a certified burial: found in a niche to the right of the chamber with fragments of cups, a pyxis and steatite buttons,25 they unfortunately could not be identified among the combs of the Collection. Tholos tomb A at Kakovatos, where two combs (70, 71) were unearthed, was the wealthiest of the three tombs excavated in the area, with impressive finds, including fragments of a decorated sword blade and a spearhead, 43 flint arrowheads of fine workmanship, twenty boars’ tusks from a helmet, an ivory cheek-piece from a horse harness, a ring with an iron bezel, fragments of gold, silver and bronze vessels, beads of gold, amethyst and lapis lazuli, glass pendants in the shapes of a bull, a female figure and a star disc, quantity of ivories, a large number of Palatial jars and other early LH pottery and some 600 amber pieces.26 At Megalo Monastery, Phthiotis, in an in situ burial inside a chamber tomb of LH IIIB, a comb was found among rich grave goods, including 20 Phi figurines, bronze tools and toilet implements, ivory discs, sealstones, steatite buttons and beads of gold, amber and glass.27 From Spata, all three combs come from the dromos of the looted chamber tomb 1, as do almost half of all the ivories, dated in their majority to LH IIIB;28 a fourth comb is reported to have been found among ivory fragments and could perhaps be identified with 51. The same workshop (if not the same “hand”) is identified in some of the plaques showing sphinxes. In Asini, fragments of two plain combs were found in chamber tomb 1:7 together with glass and amethyst jewellery, a quantity of pottery dating mainly to LH IIIB-C, a small bronze ring and four bone pins.29 In the LH IIIC cemetery of Perati, Tomb 24 probably contained a child burial in situ, with sherds of a small piriform jar on the chest, containing a comb;30 at the region of the neck there was a necklace of rock crystal, faience and glass beads, a haematite amulet and a steatite seal, while the burial was also furnished with a two-handled alabastron and a bone cylinder. Tombs 65-66, in a pit with two secondary burials, held fragments of a comb (58) and beads made of gold, carnelian, glass and quartz. Tombs 5 and 5a in a secondary burial, yielded a comb, along with two piriform jars and sherds of an alabastron.


Sp. MARINATOS, “Ανασκαφαί εν Πύλω,” Prakt 1956, 202-206. PANDELIDOU, Προϊστορικαί Αθήναι; IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora 96-100. IMMERWAHR, The Athenian Agora 96-100. A.J.B., WACE, “Mycenae 1939-1955: Preliminary report of the excavations of 1955,” BSA 51 (1956) 258259. MÜLLER, Alt Pylos II 278-279; for a re-evaluation of the tomb’s date to LH I-IIA and the finds, see Ch. de VREE, “The tholos tombs of Kakovatos: their place in Early Mycenaean Greece,” in B. EDER – M. ZAVADIL (eds), (Social) Place and Space in Early Mycenaean Greece (2021) 86-88 and 96-99 (finds). D.R. THEOCHARIS, “Μυκηναϊκά παρά το Μεγάλο Μοναστήριον,” ADelt 19 (1964) B 2, 255-258 (chamber tomb Δ). GRAMMENOU (supra n. 2) 46. FRÖDIN – PERSSON, Asine 411. Not located; inv. no. NAM P 8187; IAKOVIDIS, Perati A 341-343, Pl. 105 (Δ 63).

22 23 24 25 26

27

28 29 30







58


THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


Finally, Tomb 93 produced, also from a secondary burial, a comb31 together with a bronze needle, small vessels, carnelian beads, two conical buttons and a bronze ring; it probably was that of a child, and perhaps the ring and the comb were gifts from the mother. The number and context of the ivory combs found affirm the view that many more combs of wood must surely have once existed. With the exception of Perati, a site that follows its own course during the last period of LH IIIC, the NAM specimens from Attica, the Argolid, Messenia and Elis show that the object group conforms to a Mycenaean standard of “fashion”, confirmed by the archaeological evidence from other regions as well. Outside the Collection, in Thebes, Boeotia, as was to be expected of a major palatial centre, combs are also present;32 their northernmost discovery is located in Thessaly (Megalo Monastery),33 where the borders of the Mycenaean administrative system have been defined on the basis of the presence of sealstones.34 To the west, Achaea, although it retains many local elements, is influenced by Mycenaean centres adjacent, and follows, if at a distance, the Mycenaean “koine”, as is indicated by the number of places that yielded combs, especially during the later periods.35 Even in the Cyclades, the Sporades and the Dodecanese, combs are found in those few places where there is an obvious Mycenaean influence, such as Koukounaries in Paros36 or Ialysos on Rhodes.37 The rare occurrence of combs in the islands also attests to a different fashion for their use and in hair fashions, as a presence of diadems in connection with pins would argue too.38 All burials where combs have been found also produced other valuable materials (such as amber and amethyst), and multiple types of luxurious grave goods (other ivories, signet rings, mirrors and elaborate weapons): a fact that indicates the high economic and social position of the holders. Used by both men and women, in some cases combs even were placed in children’s graves (i.e. in Perati), together with small vessels or beads made of carnelian.39 These last combs may not be personal belongings of the children themselves but rather gifts from relatives, although the size of the small comb from Tomb Gamma of Grave Circle B (69) seems serviceable only with an infant. It is also possible that some of the elaborately decorated combs were heirlooms, as was the case with the boars’ tusk helmets,40 but unfortunately the evidence we have at our disposal is not sufficient to confirm such thoughts.


Not located; inv. no. NAM P 8440. A. KERAMOPOULLOS, “Θηβαϊκά,” ADelt 3 (1917) 188, fig. 134 (Ismeniou Hill); for workshop remains in Kadmeia, see also supra, p. 6-7. THEOCHARIS (supra n. 27). B. EDER, “The northern frontier of the Mycenaean World,” in A. MAZARAKIS AINIAN (ed.), 2° Αρχαιολογικό Έργο Θεσσαλίας και Στερεάς Ελλάδας, Πρακτικά επιστημονικής συνάντησης, Βόλος 16. – 19.3. 2006 (2009) 113-131. For discussion and relevant bibliography, C. PASCHALIDIS, The Mycenaean Cemetery at Achaia Clauss near Patras: People, Material Remains and Culture in Context (2018) 432. E.A. VAROUCHA, “Κυκλαδικοί τάφοι της Πάρου,” AEphem 1925-1926, 98-110; K. SHALLIN, “The Cyclades in the Later Bronze Age, a synopsis,” BSA 51 (1956) 102. M. BENZI, Rodi e la civita Micenea, I-II (1992); KONSTANTINIDI, Jewellery 163 (T. NT 17), 164 (T. NT 15). KONSTANTINIDI, Jewellery 208-209. For the association of single carnelian beads with child burials, KONSTANTINIDI, Jewellery 244. S. DEGER-JALKOTZY, “Late Mycenaean warrior tombs,” in S. DEGER-JALKOTZY – I.S. LEMOS (eds), Ancient Greece. From the Mycenaean Palaces to the Age of Homer (2006) 151-152.

31 32 33 34

35 36 37 38 39 40










TABLE OF COMBS’ TYPOLOGY Cat. No.

Inv. no.

Type

Provenance

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

1024 1612 2326 2333 2409 2460 2579.1 2579.2 2632 2671 2700 3117 3309 4532 6444 6444.2 8103 8112a 8112b 8112c 8434 8763 8795a 8795b 8848 9034a 9034b 10067 10068 10070 10072 10073 10266 10368 10371.1 10371.2 10508 10509 10510 10511 18014c 2044 2063 2474 6601 7858 10066 10069 10370 10372 18134 2279 7846 6303 2416 2241 10071 8271 5602b 5602a

Α A A A A A Α A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A? A? A? A A Α A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Mycenae acropolis Tiryns Mycenae chamber tombs 1887/8 Mycenae chamber tombs 1887/8 Mycenae chamber tombs 1887/8 Mycenae chamber tombs 1887/8 Mycenae acropolis Mycenae acropolis Mycenae 1888 Mycenae Mycenae 1888 Mycenae chamber tomb 81 Kambos (Messenia) Mycenae acropolis Mycenae chamber tomb 518 Mycenae chamber tomb 518 Perati tomb 5 Perati tomb Σ1 Perati tomb Σ1 Perati tomb Σ1 Perati tomb 92 Midea Perati tomb 128 Perati tomb 128 Perati tomb 142 Perati tomb 154 Perati tomb 154 Mycenae acropolis Mycenae Mycenae Mycenae Unknown Mycenae chamber tomb 27 Asine Perati tomb 1 Perati tomb 1 Mycenae Mycenae Mycenae Mycenae Prosymna tomb XIV Spata Spata Mycenae chamber tomb 24 Prosymna chamber tomb XLI Pylos tholos tomb III Mycenae Mycenae Mycenae Gr. Circle A, Tomb V Pylos Spata Mycenae chamber tomb 26 Pylos tholos tomb III Prosymna tomb II Mycenae chamber tomb 9 (?) Spata Mycenae Perati Deiras tomb IX Deiras tomb IX

State of preservation Back almost intact Fragment Back intact in length Back intact Back almost intact Back almost intact Almost intact Intact Back intact Edge fragment Back intact Almost intact back Back fragment Back intact Fragments Fragments Intact Fragment Fragment Back intact in length Fragment Back fragment Fragments Mended and restored Fragment Fragment Fragment Back almost intact Mended and restored Missing the ¼ of the back Fragment Fragment Fragment ½ of the back Fragment Fragment Half finished Fragment Back almost intact ½ of the back Fragments Intact Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment ½ of the back Fragment Fragment Fragment Mended and restored Fragment Fragment Edge fragment Edge fragment Fragment Fragment Fragments Fragment

No. of teeth 36 36 28 36 38 19 20 49 36 36 ±21 ±45 40 38

±36 ±50 29+ 44?

22 ±36 70+

80+

60


THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79




2061 2412 2644 1011 3214 6600 8447 8762 8702 5678 5678b 6550-6551 10369.1 10369.2 8357 654 310 2187 2407

A1 A1 A1 A1? A1 A1 A1 A1 B B B B B B B B1 C

Spata Mycenae chamber tombs 1887/8 Mycenae chamber tombs 1887/8 Mycenae acropolis Mycenae chamber tomb 88 Prosymna tomb XLI Prosymna tomb XIV Midea Mycenae Gr. Circle B Kakovatos Kakovatos Mycenae chamber tomb 529 Analipsis (Kynouria) Analipsis (Kynouria) Routsi tholos tomb 2 Mycenae Gr. Circle A, Tomb V Mycenae Gr. Circle A, Tomb IV Spata Mycenae chamber tombs

Fragment Back intact Back intact in length Half finished Edge fragment Fragment Back intact in length Intact Back almost intact Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Parts from the teeth Almost intact Fragments Scraper-like pieces

36





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Pl. Ia Pl. Ib Pl. Ic Pl. Id Pl. II Pl. III Pl. IV Pl. V Pl. VI Pl. VII Pl. VIII Pl. IX Pl. X Pl. XI Pl. XII Pl. XIII Pl. XIV Pl. XV Pl. XVI Pl. XVII. Pl. XVIII Pl. XIX Pl. XX Pl. XXI Pl. XXII Pl. XXIII Pl. XXIV Pl. XXV Pl. XXVI Pl. XXVII Pl. XXVIII Pl. XXIX

Yannis Sakellarakis with two of the Museum’s curators, Maria Vlassopoulou-Karydi and Periklis Kourachanis (1970’s). Guard Giannis Tsangarakis with the Museum’s curator, Dimitra (Mitsi) Kokkevi in the storerooms of the Prehistoric Antiquities (early 1980’s). At the inauguration of the Thera exhibition, with Mando Oikonomidou, Head of the Numismatic Collection, and Tassos Margaritov, the first Greek conservator of Antiquities with degree qualification (1971). Kostis Iliakis, the National Archaeological Museum’s artist in the 1970’s. Comb cat. no. 1 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 2 from Tiryns, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 3 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation, d) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 4 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation, d) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 5 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 6 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) the top of the back with a spoolshaped protrusion, d) drawing representation, e) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 7 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 8 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 9 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation, d) exploded view to show the diameter of the original ivory piece that was used for the comb. Comb cat. no. 10 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 11 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top of the back with decoration, d) side, section, e) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 12 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 13 from Kambos, Messenia, a) front, b) back, c) top of the back with a spool-shaped protrusion, d) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 14 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 15 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 16 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat no. 17 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation, d) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 18 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) underside, e) side, f) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 19 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb fragment cat. no. 20 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) side, d) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 21 from Perati, a) front with detached fragments of teeth, b) back. Comb cat. no. 22 from Midea, a) front, b) back, c) top of the back. Comb cat. no. 23 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) side. Comb cat. no. 24 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) side, section. Comb cat. no. 25 from Perati, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 26 from Perati, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 27 from Perati, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 28 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top of the back with a spool-shaped protrusion.

62


THE MYCENAEAN COLLECTION OF IVORY COMBS AT THE NAM, ATHENS


Pl. XXX Pl. XXXI Pl. XXXII Pl. XXXIII Pl. XXXIV Pl. XXXV Pl. XXXVI Pl. XXXVII Pl. XXXVIII Pl. XXXIX Pl. XL Pl. XLI Pl. XLII Pl. XLIII Pl. XLIV Pl. XLV Pl. XLVI Pl. XLVII Pl. XLVIII Pl. XLIX Pl. L Pl. LI Pl. LII Pl. LIII Pl. LIV Pl. LV Pl. LVI Pl. LVII Pl. LVIII Pl. LIX Pl. LX Pl. LXI Pl. LXII Pl. LXIII Pl. LXIV







Comb cat. no. 29 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top of the back with a spool-shaped protrusion. Comb cat. no. 30 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) side, section. Comb cat. no. 31 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 32 of unknown provenance, a) front, b) back, c) top with a spool-shaped protrusion, d) side, section, e) other side, section. Comb, edge of back with side tooth, cat. no. 33 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back; Comb cat. no. 34 from Asine, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 35 from Perati, a) front, b) bask, c) top. Comb cat. no. 36 from Perati, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 37 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 38 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 39 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 40 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top. Comb cat. no. 41 from Prosymna, a) front, b) back of the larger piece. Comb cat. no. 42 from Spata, a) front, b) back, c) top. Comb cat. no. 43 from Spata, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) side, section, e) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 44 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) side. Comb cat. no. 44 from Mycenae, a) explored view, drawing representation, b) drawing representation, c) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 45 from Prosymna, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 46 from Pylos, a) both fragments, front, b-c) back, d) top, e) side, section, f) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 47 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) side, section, d) side, interior, section, e) top. Comb cat. no. 48 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c-d) internal side, detail of ancient repair, e) external side, section, f) top. Comb cat. no. 49 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) side section. Comb cat. no. 50 from Pylos, a) front, b) back. Comb cat. no. 51 from Spata, a) front, b) back, c) top. Comb cat. no. 52 from Mycenae, a) front mended with wax, b) back, after the removal of some wax parts. Comb cat. no. 53 from Pylos, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 54 from Prosymna, a) front, b) back, c) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 55 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) side section, d) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 56 from Spata, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 57 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) detail of the rectangular mortise cut in. Comb cat. no. 58 from Perati, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 59 from Deiras, a) front, b) back, c) top with a spool-shaped protrusion, d) underside with the socket for the teeth, e) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 60 from Deiras, a) front, b) back, c) top of one fragment, d-e) sides, section, f) drawing representation. Comb cat. no. 61 from Spata, a) front, b) back, c) side, section, d) top, e) drawing reconstruction. Comb cat. no. 62 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) bottom face with groove. Comb cat. no. 63 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) bottom side of back, with cavity for the insertion of teeth, e-f) sides, section.




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Pl. LXV

63

Comb cat. no. 63 from Mycenae, a) explored view, reconstruction of decoration, b) drawing reconstruction. Pl. LXVI Comb cat. no. 64 from Mycenae, a) front, a) back. Pl. LXVII Comb cat. no. 65 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c-d) sides, section, e) top, f) bottom. Pl. LXVIII Comb cat. no. 66 from Prosymna, a) front, b) back, c) with combs’ teeth found together, d) drawing representation. Pl. LXIX Comb cat. no. 67 from Prosymna, a) front, b) back, c) top, d-e) sides, section. Pl. LXX Comb cat. no. 68 from Midea, a) front, b) back, c-d) sides, section. Pl. LXXI Comb cat. no. 69 from Myceneae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation, d) drawing reconstruction. Pl. LXXII Comb cat. no. 70 from Kakovatos, a) front, b) back, c-d) drawing representation of front. Pl. LXXIII Comb cat. no. 70 from Kakovatos, a-b) drawing representation of back, c) drawing reconstruction. Pl. LXXIV Comb cat. no. 71 from Kakovatos, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) side, e) underside. Pl. LXXV Comb cat. no. 72 from Mycenae, a1-a2) front, handle and comb, b1-b2) back, handle and comb, c) top. Pl. LXXVI Comb cat. no. 73 from Analipsis, a) front, b) front, detail of the handle, c) back, d) back, detail of the handle. Pl. LXXVII Comb cat. no. 74 from Analipsis, a) front, b) back. Pl. LXXVIII Comb cat. no. 75 from Routsi, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) drawing reconstruction of decoration, front and top. Pl. LXXIX Comb cat. no. 75 from Routsi, a) reconstruction of decoration, back, b) reconstruction of type, c) reconstruction of the handle with a square peg in the cavity of the back and an oblique repulsion at the other end, as preserved on comb 72. Pl. LXXX Comb cat. no. 76 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) drawing representation, d) drawing reconstruction. Pl. LXXXI Gold sheathing with fragments of ivory comb cat. no. 77, inv. no. 310, from Mycenae, a) front of ivory comb, b) front, view from above, c) back, d) comb with its gold sheathing. Pl. LXXXII Gold sheathing with fragments of ivory comb cat. no. 77, inv. no. 310, from Mycenae, a) drawing representation of the preserved parts, b) drawing reconstruction of the decoration, c) drawing reconstruction of the comb. Pl. LXXXIII Fragments of combs cat. no. 78 from Spata, a) front, b) back, c) smaller ivory fragments of irregular shape. Pl. LXXXIV Scraper-like pieces cat. no. 79 from Mycenae, a) front, b) back, c) top, d) smaller fragments of scraper-like pieces. Pl. LXXXV Gold sheathing of a comb, inv. no. 109 from Mycenae, consisting of two separate plates a-b) front and back of first plate, c-d) front and back of second plate. Pl. LXXXVI Gold sheathing of a comb, inv. no. 292 from Mycenae, consisting of two separate plates a-b) front and back of first plate, c-d) front and back of second plate, e) drawing reconstruction. Pl. LXXXVII Gold sheathing of a comb, inv. no. 293 from Mycenae, consisting of two separate plates a-b) front and back of first plate, c-d) front and back of second plate. Pl. LXXXVIII Gold sheathing of a comb, inv. no. 8604, from Mycenae, consisting of two separate plates a-b) front and back of first plate, c-d) front and back of second plate. Pl. LXXXIX Hippopotamus tusk from Mycenae with the typical veins on the surface (inv. no. 10601).




PLATES






I

a

c

b

d

II

a

b

c

d

III

a

b

c

IV

a

b

c

d

V

a

b

c

d

VI

a

b

c

VII

a

b c

d

e

VIII

a

b

IX

a

b

c

X

a

b

c

d

XI

a

b

c

XII

a

b

c d

e

XIII

a

b

c

XIV

a

b

c

d

XV

a

b

c

XVI

a

b

XVII

a

b

c

XVIII

a

b

c

d

XIX

a

c

b d

e

f

XX

a

b

c

XXI

b

a

d

c

XXII

a

b

XXIII

a

b

c

XXIV

b

a

c

XXV

a

b d

c

XXVI

a

b

XXVII

a

b

XXVIII

a

b

XXIX

a

b

e

XXX

a

b

c

XXXI

a

b

c

d

XXXII

a

b

XXXIII

a

b d

e

c

XXXIV

a

c

d

b

XXXV

a

b

c

XXXVI

a

b

XXXVII

a

b

XXXVIII

a

b

XXXIX

a

b

XL

a

b

c

XLI

a

b

XLII

a

b

c

XLIII

b

a

c

d

e

XLIV

a

b

c

d

XLV

a

b

c

XLVI

a

b

c

XLVII

a

e

c

b

f

d

XLVIII

a

b

e c

d

XLIX

a

b

c

d

f

e

L

a

b

c

LI

a

b

LII

a

b

LIII

a

b

LIV

a

b

c

d

LV

a b

c

LVI

a

c

b

d

LVII

a

b

c

LVIII

a

c

b

LIX

a

b

c

LX

a

b

c

d

e

LXI

a

b

c

d

e

f

LXII

a

b

d

c

e

LXIII

a

b

c

LXIV

a

b

c

d

e

f

LXV

a

b

LXVI

a

b

LXVII

a

b

e

c

d

f

LXVIII

a

b

c

d

LXIX

a

b

c

d

e

LXX

a

b

c

d

LXXI

a

b

c

d

LXXII

a

b

c

d

LXXIII

a

b

c

LXXIV

a

b

c

d

e

LXXV

a

b

c

d

e

LXXVI

a

b

c

d

LXXVII

a

b

LXXVIII

a

b

c

d

LXXIX

a

b

c

LXXX

a

b

c

d

LXXXI

a

b

c

d

LXXXII

a

b

c

LXXXIII

a

b

c

LXXXIV

a

b

c

d

LXXXV

a

b

c

d

LXXXVI

a

b

c

d

e

LXXXVII

a

b

c

d

LXXXVIII

a

b

c

d

LXXXIX