Aegean Art Flashcards
How the culture on the island of Crete that developed in the third and second millennia BCE was called and why?
Minoan culture, because the later Greeks associated Crete with the legendary King Minos, son of the Greek god Zeus, and a mortal princess, Europe.
Which cultures does the Aegean civilization unite?
The Minoan (on the island of Crete) and the Helladic (on the mainland).
When and why the Aegean Bronze Age had come to an end?
In ~1100 BCE. In about 1200 BCE the Aegean sites were destructed. The cause of that is still unknown to us (though a slight resurgence followed in).
How do you call the island group above Crete in the Aegean Sea?
The Cyclades
Early Cycladic Art includes nude female bodies made of the local white marble. They have arms folded across the waist, eight toes extended, ridgelike nose, a triangular pubic area, flat body, straight back, and long, thick necks. How were they used?
Archaeologists suggest they were “idols” playing a central role in a religion focusing on a mother goddess. Sculptors may also crafted them for funerary purposes, thus representing servants or surrogates for human sacrifices. Or they may had served other function within household shrines.
Name three main sites of Crete where great palaces were built.
Knossos, Phaistos and Mallia.
When did Crete suffer from two earthquakes that had a devastating effect on great palaces built by Crete’s urban civilizations?
About 1700 BCE and 1450 BCE.
Name a few peculiarities of the “Palace” at Knossos.
- Using light wells.
- Materials used: mud brick, rubble masonry, but also ashlar masonry.
- No fortifications yet maze-like plan (that probably inspired the Greek legend about the Minotaur and Theseus).
- Maybe upper levels with the richest decoration could have existed (but they didn’t survive).
- Though its founder Arthur Evans calls it a “palace”, it obviously had various and changing purposes (a center of manufacturing, administration, commerce and a court) and most probably was not only a royal residence.
What’s buon fresco?
A painting technique first met in complexes at Knossos. Vibrant mineral colors get applied to wet or dry plaster in broad washes without shading. Wide bands of geometric patterns serve as elaborate frames.
What’s rhyta (pl of rython) and how they were made?
Rhyta is the Greek name for carved Minoan stone vessels. They were done from black steatite or stones imported from other islands. Thus, tools of a harder stone were needed to make them.
First, the interior was hollowed out with a bow-driven drill. Then the surfaces were finished with emery (or some other abrasive). The stone was often gilded with gold.
Why had Minoan civilization disappeared?
The reason is unknown. It certainly survived the eruption of the volcano on the island of Thera. After the Mycenaean invasion, artists at Knossos kept working in Minoan styles. Around 1375 BCE Knossos was destroyed and the Mycenaeans abandoned most isles.
What’s the origin of the Greek language?
The early form of Greek is the language of Linear B, decoded by a classical scholar Michael Ventris in 1952. It’s called so because of its linear character and because it is derived from earlier Minoan Linear A.
Why do scholars believe the Mycenaeans were focused on warfare (unlike Minoans)?
Because they exposed topography for defense purposes, had 20-feet thick walls and tunnels leading to wells to provide water during a siege. But these fortifications date later than Minoan centers were destructed, so probably something changed then.
Name a few peculiarities of the citadel architecture of the Mycenaeans.
- They were the centers of growing settlements. Timeframe: the beginning of the Second Palace period on Crete (1700-1450 BCE).
- They may have incorporated royal residences (because found clay tablets refer to a wanax - a “lord” or “king”).
- Massive blocks of limestone (up to 5 tons).
- Propylons - gateways that presented further obstacles to a foe reaching the entrance.
- Casemats - rooms and passages that provided storage for weapons.
- A corbel technique: an arch made of masonry to cover the span. When a corbel roofs an entire space, it’s called a corbel vault. When the corbel relieves the weight resting on the vast stone lintel, it’s known as relieving triangle.
- Megaron - a large rectangular audience hall which was a dominant building inside citadels.
When did Mycenaean civilization collapse and why?
Around 1200 or 1100 BCE, probably in the chaos caused by the arrival of new peoples on the Greek mainland.
