Chapter 3 - Bronze Age Aegean (and Mesopotamia)

Question 1

What is social differentiation?

Answer 1

Class stratification (ex. priestly class, kingly class, scribes, artisans etc.)

Question 2

In early urban Mesopotamia, what building served as the monumental focus and place of redistribution?

Answer 2

The temple

Question 3

What as the shift in the deity-king relationship that took place in the urban Mesopotamia?

Answer 3

From the deity above the king to the king as a medium for the deity to the king being the deity

Question 4

In late urban Mesopotamia, what building emerges as the central political space?

Answer 4

The palace

Question 5

What is the important city (case study) in urban Mesopotamia?

Answer 5

Mari (royal place of Zimri-Lim)

Question 6

What are the 6 example of uses for the central urban space in Mari?

Answer 6

Kings residence, housing for high officials, administrative areas, dinging, reception areas, temples

Question 7

What is the size of the king’s residence to the temple in Mari and what does this mean about the value of each in the Mesopotamian society?

Answer 7

The king’s residences are much larger than the temple showing that the king was more important than religion

Question 8

What was the courtyard in Mari used for?

Answer 8

For elite activities

Question 9

What was the most important role of the palace in Mari?

Answer 9

Administrative

Question 10

What does the word “mesopotamia” mean?

Answer 10

The place between 2 rivers

Question 11

What were the years of the Minoans, and what were the years of the Mycenaeans?

Answer 11

Minoans - 2000-1400BC, Mycenaeans - 1600-1200BC

Question 12

What were the years of the Minoans, and what were the years of the Mycenaeans?

Answer 12

Minoans - 2000-1400BC, Mycenaeans - 1600-1200BC

Question 13

What are the 5 main functions of a Minoan palace?

Answer 13

1. Private residence, 2. Community meeting place, 3. Ceremonial space, 4. Religious/ cult center, 5. Economic center

Question 14

What is the central building in Minoan Crete?

Answer 14

Now, the palace (vs. the temple as we saw in Mesopotamia)

Question 15

How can we tell which areas of the Knossos palace are private?

Answer 15

Fewer entrances and exits into these areas

Question 16

What is a good indication that ceremonial games took place in the central court of Knossos?

Answer 16

All entrance in the palace lead to the court

Question 17

What was the ritual way in Knossos?

Answer 17

Raised stone lined pathways that controlled access into and out of the palace

Question 18

What was the theatrical area in the palace of Knossos used for?

Answer 18

For ritual functions (a public viewing area)

Question 19

What does the painting found in Knossos depict?

Answer 19

Coming of age ritual; young men grab the horns of a bull and launch themselves over

Question 20

Why is the Coming of Age painting found in Knossos strange?

Answer 20

White figures in Minoan art are typically women (but the subjects are definitely men)

Question 21

What is the difference between religious and ceremonial in the Minoan culture?

Answer 21

Religious = cult, closed to all but an elite group

Question 22

What was the function of the cult rooms in the palace at Knossos?

Answer 22

Storage of religious artifacts

Question 23

How are the functions of rooms in the palace of Knossos differentiated?

Answer 23

By the artifacts found within, decorations on the walls, and the size/shape of the room

Question 24

What were the artifacts that indicated the throne room in the palace of Knossos?

Answer 24

The basin and chair

Question 25

Why was the “throne room” in the palace of Knossos changed to a religious space by archaeologists?

Answer 25

The basin is the focus of the room (not the special chair) which indicates cleanliness, which in important in their religious culture

Question 26

Where was the snake goddess statue found at the palace of Knossos?

Answer 26

In the temple storage

Question 27

What does the snake goddess represent in the Minoan culture?

Answer 27

Fertility (in reproduction and architecture), renewal

Question 28

Why does the statue of the snake goddess seem to control nature?

Answer 28

Because of the way she is holding up the snakes

Question 29

What did the temple’s repository pits hold?

Answer 29

Surplus of products

Question 30

What are 2 architectural elements of the temple in the place of Knossos?

Answer 30

A tri-partite shrine, and a pier and door partition (to control access)

Question 31

What is the function of a pithos jar?

Answer 31

Large scale storage (not meant for transport)

Question 32

What are two pieces of evidence for the working of raw material in the palace at Knossos?

Answer 32

Seals found (maybe used to tally commodities brought to and stored in the palace), workshops

Question 33

What is an example of a Minoa countryside?

Answer 33

Gournia, Crete (currently being exacted)

Question 34

How did the streets around a Minoan palace grow?

Answer 34

Very haphazardly

Question 35

What were the religious locations of cults called?

Answer 35

Peak sanctuaries

Question 36

Why do we think the cults of Minoan culture had agricultural concerns?

Answer 36

Carvings of produce and livestock, bones etc. as offerings at peak sanctuaries

Question 37

What do the peak sanctuaries do for the Minoan people in terms of urban identity?

Answer 37

Allows the countryside to connect with the city