PPT 4 - Exam 1 Flashcards
Greeks
Beauty mattered to them
The beauty of the Greek architecture based on mathematical proportions
The growing appreciation of architecture went hand in hand with the development of science, astronomy, and philosophy
Greeks extrapolated the need of balance from architecture to personal level and further to the workings of their society
The Aegean cultures
2 major cultures emerged in the 2nd millennium BC and constituted to the cultural patrimony of classical Greece
Minoan- based on Crete
Mycenaean- mainland Greece
Linear A
Was the official Cretan script used in ancient Crete by Minoans before the Mycenaean Greek dominion
Linear B
An early form of Greek, used by Mycenaeans, found in Knossos, Crete, and the Peloponnesus peninsula (Mycenae)
Knossos palace chronology
Ca 1900 BC as a serious of detached structures around a large rectangular court
1700 BC earthquake; rebuilt in a unified scheme
1450 BC destroyed again by a volcanic eruption
Rebuilt with Mycenaean influence
1380 BC destroyed by fire
Sir Arthur Evans
British archeologist started excavations around 1900 AD
reconstructed part of the ruins : grand stairs, major ceremonial rooms, light wells
These portions of the palace are being restored to the pre-Evans conditions
The Minoans - the palace at Knossos
Multiple levels around the court yard Lower levels made of Ashlar masonry Upper levels were supported on walls that were supported by square timbers and wooden columns and beams Non-axial configuration Long corridors, staircase around light wells, open cores Ceremonial rooms Underground storage rooms Residential buildings Kings and queens megaron Unfortified
Western wing - the throne room
Inside of the palace at Knossos
One of the 3 lower room (antechamber, throne room, luster basin)
The original alabaster throne
Benches on both sides
Walls are decorated with a production of the griffins fresco
Assumed to have been dedicated to ritual ceremonies rather than royal audiences
Probably dedicated to a female deity (cult statues)
Luster basin sanctuary
At a lower level than the throne room
Shallow pool used for ritual purification - one of the few found on site
Concealed by a low wall and a row of Minoan columns
Sacred vessels and cult statues discovered here suggest the basin was used for purification/initiation purposes
Eastern wing - Grand staircase
Main entrance made through a well lit grand staircase
4 flights of stairs
Stairs are wide and shallow (representative example of the Minoan sophisticated architecture
Built into the side of a hill provides added stability
Unique inverted column - tree column
Downward tapering shaft, with a torus ring and an abacus block capitol
Made of wood, generally painted red
Eastern wing - Kings megaron (hall of the double axes)
Grand staircase leads down to this hall
Portico (covered porch with its roof supported by columns) provided protection form the elements
Eastern wing - queens megaron
A corridor connected the kings megaron to a room called by Evan the queens megaron
Megaron- single cell-house in Aegean region, its a rectangular room having a central hearth and 4 columns supporting the roof with an atrium opening
Decorated with a duplicate of the dolphin fresco which is in the iraklion museum
The light well that illuminated the queens megaton is named the court of the distaff, after the masons Mark
Eastern wing- queens bathroom
Small room behind the megaron equipped with a restored clay bath tub and a water closet is considered the bathroom
The queens toilet is equipped with flushing facility and connected to the drain system
Sanitary sewers collected the wastewater from the lavatories and water closet
water supply and drainage system at the palace
Exceptional for the time
Water system:
Tapered terra-cotta water pipes for clean water
Settling tanks and siphons
Sanitary sewer systems:
Tapered piped to fit the next segment
Provided a greater head to flush objects
Queens bathtub was bailed manually
Storm water collection system at the palace
Gutters -vertical parabolic curves besides the open stairways
Turns- banked to prevent water spilling over the walkways
Settling basins - to catch the sediments
Sunlight- disinfected the water on its way to the collection units
Storage cisterns or washing rooms
Labyrinth
A building with an arrangements of winding or confusing paths
Fresco
A painting executed on wall surfaces by working pigments into wet plaster
Ashlar
Smooth stone masonry laid so the joints are visible
Abacus
On a classical column the stone set directly over the capitol
Base
A lower part of a column or pier often broader than the sections above to spread the load to the foundations
Torus
Convex, roughly semicircular molding often seen at the base of a classical column