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132-501: The gate is the sole surviving monumental piece of Mycenaean sculpture, as well as the largest surviving sculpture in the Bronze Age Aegean . It is the only monument of Bronze Age Greece to bear an iconographic motif that survived without being buried underground. It is the only relief image that was described in the literature of classical antiquity , such that it was well known prior to modern archaeology . The Lion Gate

264-537: A certain Tawagalawa , a possible Hittite rendering of the Greek name Eteocles , as brother of the king of Ahhiyawa. In c. 1250 BC, the first wave of destruction apparently occurred in various centres of mainland Greece for reasons that cannot be identified by archaeologists. In Boeotia , Thebes was burned to the ground, around that year or slightly later. Nearby Orchomenos was not destroyed at this time but

396-593: A claim that is sometimes referred to as the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis but which has little support among Egyptologists and contradicts other evidence. What names their builders gave to these statues is unknown. At the Great Sphinx site, a 1400 BC inscription on a stele belonging to the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose IV lists the names of three aspects of the local sun deity of that period, Khepera – Rê – Atum . Many pharaohs had their heads carved atop

528-433: A deity. The architectural design in the gate relief may reflect an entrance of a type characterized by a central support, commonly a single column. More specifically, the gate relief may allude to the propylon (structure forming the entrance) that provides the main direct access to the palace. The lions acted as guardians to the entrance of the palace. If so, the symbol of a sanctified palace entrance would have appeared above

660-734: A fresco at Akrotiri , on Thera island, which possibly displays many warriors in boar's tusk helmets , a feature typical of Mycenaean warfare. In the early 15th century BC, commerce intensified with Mycenaean pottery reaching the western coast of Asia Minor , including Miletus and Troy , Cyprus , Lebanon , Palestine and Egypt . Early Mycenaean civilization from the Shaft Grave period generally showcases heavy influence from Minoan Crete in regards to e.g. art, infrastructure and symbols, while also maintaining some Helladic elements as well as some innovations, and some West Asian influences. A difference between Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations

792-666: A grandiose beast that has the makeup of a dragon and lion. While not inherently stated, the beast is likely that of a decadent form of a sphinx due to its appearance and grand nature. In the Bronze Age , the Hellenes had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt. Before the time that Alexander the Great occupied Egypt, the Greek name, sphinx , was already applied to these statues. The historians and geographers of Greece such as Herodotus wrote extensively about Egyptian culture. There

924-439: A guardian of the northern direction and also was depicted on banners. In Burma ( Myanmar ), the sphinx-like statue, with a human head and two lion hindquarters, is known as Manussiha ( manuthiha ). It is depicted on the corners of Buddhist stupas , and its legends tell how it was created by Buddhist monks to protect a new-born royal baby from being devoured by ogresses . Nora Nair, Norasingha and Thep Norasingha are three of

1056-634: A more sophisticated sociopolitical culture of their own. The most prominent site was Mycenae , after which the culture of this era is named. Other centers of power that emerged included Pylos , Tiryns , and Midea in the Peloponnese , Orchomenos , Thebes , and Athens in Central Greece , and Iolcos in Thessaly . Mycenaean settlements also appeared in Epirus , Macedonia , on islands in

1188-401: A number of scholars have speculated that these might have been composite beasts, probably sphinxes , in the typical Middle Eastern tradition. On the top of the pillar is a row of four discs, apparently representing rafters supporting a further piece of sculpture that has since been lost. Another view proposes: above the head of the column and what is probably a slab supporting an architrave is

1320-445: A person, Enkhelyawon , at Pylos, who appears titleless in the written record but whom modern scholars regard as probably a king. A number of local officials positioned by the wanax appear to be in charge of the districts, such as ko-re-te ( koreter , '"governor"), po-ro-ko-re-te ( prokoreter , "deputy") and the da-mo-ko-ro ( damokoros , "one who takes care of a damos"), the latter probably being appointed to take charge of

1452-566: A political reconstruction of Bronze Age Greece. Excavations at Miletus, southwest Asia Minor , indicate the existence of a Mycenaean settlement there already from c.  1450 BC , replacing the previous Minoan installations. This site became a sizable and prosperous Mycenaean center until the 12th century BC. Apart from the archaeological evidence, this is also attested in Hittite records, which indicate that Miletos (Milawata in Hittite)

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1584-405: A row of discs (ends of transverse beams) and another slab the same size as the slab on top of the column. The beams and the block above them represent a more extended superstructure shortened here because of the diminishing space in the triangle. Thus, this author proposes that no further piece of sculpture has been lost. The design of the gate had precedents in other surviving artworks of the time;

1716-545: A significant role in daily as well as yearly ritual of South Indian Hindu temples. In the Shodhasha-Upakaara (or sixteen honors) ritual, performed between one and six times at significant sacred moments through the day, it decorates one of the lamps of the Deepaaradhana or lamp ceremony. And in several temples the puruṣamr̥ga is also one of the vahana or vehicles of the deity during the processions of

1848-401: A similar design was depicted on fifteenth-century BC Minoan seals and a gem found at Mycenae. On a pithos from Knossos, the same imagery exists depicting a goddess flanked by two lionesses. Many other pieces of Mycenaean artwork share the same basic motif of two opposed animals separated by a vertical divider, such as two lambs facing a column and two sphinxes facing a sacred tree representing

1980-462: A sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus . In Egyptian mythology , in contrast, the sphinx is typically depicted as a man (an androsphinx ( Ancient Greek : ανδρόσφιγξ )), and is seen as a benevolent representation of strength and ferocity, usually of a pharaoh . Unlike Greek or Levantine/Mesopotamian ones, Egyptian sphinxes were not winged. Both the Greek and Egyptian sphinxes were thought of as guardians, and statues of them often flank

2112-483: A sphinx that comes closest to the classic Greaco-Roman idea is the Sharabha and Gandabherunda, two mythical creatures, part lion, part human, part mammal and part bird, and the form of Sharabha that god Shiva took on and fought with the god Vishnu as Narasimha and Shiva as Sharabha was killed by Vishnu as Gandabherunda in the form of Narashima when Narashima killed Hiranyakashipu . In Sri Lanka and India ,

2244-523: A straight entry passage lined with stone. Starting in the 15th century BC, the Mycenaeans began to spread their influence throughout the Aegean and Western Anatolia. By c.  1450 BC , the palace of Knossos was ruled by a Mycenaean elite who formed a hybrid Minoan-Mycenaean culture. Mycenaeans also colonized several other Aegean islands, reaching as far as Rhodes . Thus the Mycenaeans became

2376-541: A trade embargo imposed on Assyria. In general, in the second half of 13th century BC, trade was in decline in the Eastern Mediterranean, most probably due to the unstable political environment there. None of the defence measures appear to have prevented the final destruction and collapse of the Mycenaean states. A second destruction struck Mycenae in c. 1190 BC or shortly thereafter. This event marked

2508-650: A variation of the Sanskrit "nara-simha") or thep norasingha ("man-lion deity"), or nora nair in Thailand. Although, just like the "nara-simha", she/he has a head of a lion and the body of a human. In contrast to the sphinxes in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece, of which the traditions largely have been lost due to the discontinuity of the civilization, the traditions related to the "Asian sphinxes" are very much alive today. The earliest artistic depictions of "sphinxes" from

2640-489: A walking stick in old age". In some lesser accounts, there was a second riddle: "There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are the two sisters?" The answer is "day and night" (both words— ἡμέρα and νύξ , respectively—are feminine in Ancient Greek). This second riddle is also found in a Gascon version of the myth and could be very ancient. Bested at last,

2772-418: Is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Greek tradition , the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird . According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer a riddle , and kills and eats them when they fail to solve the riddle. This deadly version of

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2904-405: Is a great limestone slab on which two confronted lionesses, carved in high relief, stand on either sides of a central pillar. The heads of the animals were fashioned separately and are missing, but their necks are present. The pillar, specifically, is a Minoan-type column that is located on top of an altar-like platform upon which the lionesses rest their front feet. Early imagery of a deity that

3036-574: Is also a testimony of the presence of lions in Europe and Greece , before their disappearance in the late stages of Ancient history . The greater part of the cyclopean wall in Mycenae, including the gate, was built during the second extension of the citadel that occurred in the Late Helladic period IIIB (thirteenth century BC). At that time, the extended fortifications also enclosed inside

3168-453: Is complexity and monumentality; Mycenaean craftmanship and architecture are more simplified versions of Minoan ones, but are more monumental in size. Later phases of the Mycenaean civilization showcase more sophistication, eventually coming to surpass Minoan Crete after a few centuries. At the end of the Shaft Grave era, a new and more imposing type of elite burial emerged, the tholos : large circular burial chambers with high vaulted roofs and

3300-416: Is connected to many mythological events, typically that of Egypt and Greece, as well as how the mysterious creature is surrounded by lust and death. The writer James Thomson, similarly to Wilde, also utilizes the motif of the sphinx in his poem “The City of Dreadful Night”. The poem revolves around an isolated and anxious man who runs throughout the city, his anxiety and fears taking on the personified image of

3432-448: Is found depicted in sculptural art in temples and palaces where it serves an apotropaic purpose, just as the "sphinxes" in other parts of the ancient world. It is said by the tradition, to take away the sins of the devotees when they enter a temple and to ward off evil in general. It is therefore often found in a strategic position on the gopuram or temple gateway, or near the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum . The puruṣamr̥ga plays

3564-479: Is fronted by a full-length statue of the pharaoh. The task of these sphinxes was to hold back the forces of evil. The Great Sphinx has become an emblem of Egypt, frequently appearing on its stamps, coins, and official documents. In March 2023, a limestone sphinx was discovered at the Dendera Temple Complex . This sphinx, which is depicted with a slight grin and dimples, is thought to be made in

3696-622: Is generally accepted as a Hittite term for Mycenaean Greece ( Achaeans in Homeric Greek), but a precise geographical definition of the term cannot be drawn from the texts. During this time, the kings of Ahhiyawa were evidently capable of dealing with their Hittite counterparts both on a diplomatic and military level. Moreover, Ahhiyawa achieved considerable political influence in parts of Western Anatolia, typically by encouraging anti-Hittite uprisings and collaborating with local vassal rulers. In c.  1400 BC , Hittite records mention

3828-794: Is located at an altitude of 2,216 metres (7,270 feet) within the Babele complex of rock formations. A composite mythological being with the body of a lion and the head of a human is present in the traditions, mythology and art of South and Southeast Asia . Variously known as puruṣamr̥ga (Sanskrit, "human-animal"), purushamirugam (Tamil, "human-animal"), naravirala (Sanskrit, "human-cat") in India, or as nara-simha (Sanskrit, "human-lion") in Sri Lanka, manussiha or manutthiha (Pali, "human-lion") in Myanmar, and norasingha (from Pali, "human-lion",

3960-524: Is no satisfactory explanation for the collapse of the Mycenaean palace systems. The two most common theories are population movement and internal conflict. The first attributes the destruction of Mycenaean sites to invaders. The hypothesis of a Dorian invasion , known as such in Ancient Greek tradition , that led to the end of Mycenaean Greece, is supported by sporadic archaeological evidence such as new types of burials, in particular cist graves, and

4092-489: Is not able to solve the issue and that the majority of Hellenists believed Mycenaeans spoke a non-Indo-European Minoan language before Linear B was deciphered in 1952. Notwithstanding the above academic disputes, the mainstream consensus among modern Mycenologists is that Mycenaean civilization began around 1750 BC, earlier than the Shaft Graves, originating and evolving from the local socio-cultural landscape of

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4224-453: Is not known for certain, the general consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx bears the likeness of the pharaoh Khafre , dating it to between 2600 and 2500 BC. However, a fringe minority of late 20th century geologists have claimed evidence of water erosion in and around the Sphinx enclosure which would prove that the Sphinx predates Khafre, at around 10,000 to 5000 BC,

4356-594: The Aegean Sea , on the south-west coast of Asia Minor , and on Cyprus , while Mycenaean-influenced settlements appeared in the Levant and Italy . The Mycenaean Greeks introduced several innovations in the fields of engineering, architecture and military infrastructure , while trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean was essential for the Mycenaean economy. Their syllabic script , Linear B , offers

4488-754: The Brahmotsava or festival. In Kanyakumari district, in the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, during the night of Maha Shivaratri , devotees run 75 kilometres while visiting and worshiping at twelve Shiva temples. This Shiva Ottam or Running for Shiva is performed in commemoration of the story of the race between the Purushamirugam and Bhima , one of the Pandavas of the Hindu Epic Mahabharata . The Indian conception of

4620-550: The Dorian invasion or activities connected to the " Sea Peoples ". Additional theories such as natural disasters and climatic changes have also been suggested. The Mycenaean period became the historical setting of much ancient Greek literature and mythology , including the Trojan Epic Cycle . The Bronze Age in mainland Greece is generally termed as the " Helladic period " by modern archaeologists, after Hellas ,

4752-615: The Early and Middle Bronze Age in mainland Greece with influences from Minoan Crete . Towards the end of the Middle Bronze Age ( c.  1700 /1675 BC), a significant increase in the population and the number of settlements occurred. A number of centers of power emerged in southern mainland Greece dominated by a warrior elite society; while the typical dwellings of that era were an early type of megaron buildings, some more complex structures are classified as forerunners of

4884-525: The Levantine coast. Nevertheless, other regions on the edge of the Mycenaean world prospered, such as the Ionian islands , the northwestern Peloponnese, parts of Attica and a number of Aegean islands. The acropolis of Athens , oddly, appears to have avoided destruction. Athens and the eastern coast of Attica were still occupied in the 12th century BC, and were not destroyed or abandoned; this points to

5016-453: The Pylos archive, which is the best preserved one in the Mycenaean world, is generally taken as a representative one. The state was ruled by a king, the wanax (ϝάναξ), whose role was religious and perhaps also military and judicial. The wanax oversaw virtually all aspects of palatial life, from religious feasting and offerings to the distribution of goods, craftsmen and troops. Under him

5148-467: The collapse of Bronze Age culture in the eastern Mediterranean, to be followed by the Greek Dark Ages , a recordless transitional period leading to Archaic Greece where significant shifts occurred from palace-centralized to decentralized forms of socio-economic organization (including the extensive use of iron ). Various theories have been proposed for the end of this civilization, among them

5280-544: The ethnonym Danaoi ( Greek : Δαναοί ), the name of the mythical dynasty that ruled in the region of Argos, also used as an ethnonym for the Greek people by Homer. In the official records of another Bronze Age empire, that of the Hittites in Anatolia , various references from c.  1400 BC to 1220 BC mention a country named Ahhiyawa . Recent scholarship, based on textual evidence, new interpretations of

5412-519: The ethnonyms Achaeans , Danaans , and Argives to refer to the besiegers, and these names appear to have passed down from the time they were in use to the time when Homer applied them as collective terms in his Iliad . There is an isolated reference to a-ka-wi-ja-de in the Linear B records in Knossos , Crete dated to c.  1400 BC , which presumably refers to a Mycenaean (Achaean) state on

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5544-803: The 13th century BC have been found in Ireland and in Wessex and Cornwall in England . Anthropologists have found traces of opium in Mycenaean ceramic vases. The drug trade in Mycenaean Greece is traced as early as 1650–1350 BC, with opium poppies being traded in the eastern Mediterranean . Sphinx A sphinx ( / s f ɪ ŋ k s / SFINKS ; Ancient Greek : σφίγξ , pronounced [spʰíŋks] ; Boeotian : φίξ , romanized :  phíx , pronounced [pʰíːks] ; pl.   sphinxes or sphinges )

5676-475: The 19th century. Most of these sphinxes alluded to the Greek sphinx and the myth of Oedipus , rather than the Egyptian, although they may not have wings. The Decadent Movement , a European movement that was attributed to the notion of “decadence” around the 1890s, implores the main notion of finding beauty in the decline of civilization in the form of macabre or taboo subjects such as the sphinx. The motif of

5808-521: The 6th century BC until the 3rd century AD. The Sphinx is said to have guarded the entrance to the Greek city of Thebes, asking a riddle to travellers to allow them passage. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the myth, and was not standardized as the one given below until late in Greek history. It was said in late lore that Hera or Ares sent the Sphinx from her Aethiopian homeland (the Greeks always remembered

5940-652: The Ahhiyawans. These Ekwesh were mentioned as a group of the Sea People . Scholars have proposed different theories on the origins of the Mycenaeans. According to one theory, Mycenaean civilization reflected the exogenous imposition of archaic Indo-Europeans from the Eurasian steppe onto the pre-Mycenaean local population. An issue with this theory, however, is the very tenuous material and cultural relationship between Aegean and northern steppe populations during

6072-621: The Bronze Age. Another theory proposes that Mycenaean culture in Greece dates back to circa 3000 BC with Indo-European migrants entering a mainly-depopulated area; other hypotheses argue for a date as early as the seventh millennium BC (with the spread of agriculture ) and as late as 1600 BC (with the spread of chariot technology ). In a 2017 genetic study conducted by Lazaridis et al., "the Minoans and Mycenaeans were genetically similar, [but]

6204-481: The Egyptians, sphinxes were placed at the entrance of the temples to guard their mysteries, by warning those who penetrated within that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated. Champollion said that the sphinx became successively the symbol of each of the gods. The placement of the sphinxes expressed the idea that all the gods were hidden from the people, and that the knowledge of them, guarded in

6336-547: The Greek mainland. Egyptian records mention a T(D)-n-j or Danaya ( Tanaju ) land for the first time c.  1437 BC , during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmoses III (r. 1479–1425 BC). This land is geographically defined in an inscription from the reign of Amenhotep III (r. c.  1390 –1352 BC), where a number of Danaya cities are mentioned, which cover the largest part of southern mainland Greece. Among them, cities such as Mycenae, Nauplion, and Thebes have been identified with certainty. Danaya has been equated with

6468-464: The Greek name for Greece . This period is divided into three subperiods: The Early Helladic (EH) period ( c.  3200 –2000 BC) was a time of prosperity with the use of metals and a growth in technology, economy and social organization. The Middle Helladic (MH) period ( c.  2000 –1700/1675 BC ) faced a slower pace of development, as well as the evolution of megaron -type dwellings and cist grave burials. The last phase of Middle Helladic,

6600-520: The Greek peninsula after the end of this cultural period. Lastly, the decipherment marked the advent of an Indo-European language in the Aegean region in contrast to unrelated prior languages spoken in adjoining areas. Various collective terms for the inhabitants of Mycenaean Greece were used by Homer in his 8th-century BC epic the Iliad in reference to the Trojan War . Homer interchangeably used

6732-618: The Hittite inscriptions, and recent surveys of archaeological evidence about Mycenaean–Anatolian contacts during this period, concludes that the term Ahhiyawa must have been used in reference to the Mycenaean world (land of the Achaeans), or at least to a part of it. This term may have also had broader connotations in some texts, possibly referring to all regions settled by Mycenaeans or regions under direct Mycenaean political control. Another similar ethnonym, Ekwesh , in twelfth century BC Egyptian inscriptions has been commonly identified with

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6864-625: The Middle East, based on the considerable greater quantities of Mycenaean goods found there. On the other hand, trade with the Hittite lands in central Anatolia appears to have been limited. Trade with Troy is also well attested, while Mycenaean trade routes expanded further to the Bosphorus and the shores of the Black Sea . Mycenaean swords have been found as far away as Georgia in

6996-552: The Middle Helladic III ( c.  1750 –1675 BC), along with the Late Helladic (LH) period ( c.  1700 /1675–1050 BC) roughly coincide with Mycenaean Greece. The Late Helladic period is further divided into LHI and LHII, both of which coincide with the middle phase of Mycenaean Greece ( c.  1700 /1675–1420 BC), and LHIII ( c.  1420 –1050 BC), the period of expansion, and decline of

7128-558: The Mycenaean Linear B script, a writing system adapted for the use of the ( Indo-European ) Greek language of the Late Bronze Age , demonstrated the continuity of Greek speech from the second millennium BC into the eighth century BC when a new Phoenician-derived alphabetic script emerged. Moreover, it revealed that the bearers of Mycenaean culture were ethnically connected with the populations that resided in

7260-495: The Mycenaean acropolis. It appears that after this first wave of destruction a short-lived revival of Mycenaean culture followed. Mycenaean Greece continues to be mentioned in international affairs, particularly in Hittite records. In c.  1220 BC , the king of Ahhiyawa is again reported to have been involved in an anti-Hittite uprising in western Anatolia. Another contemporary Hittite account reports that Ahhiyawan ships should avoid Assyrian -controlled harbors, as part of

7392-683: The Mycenaean civilization. The transition period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Greece is known as Sub-Mycenaean ( c.  1050 –1000 BC). Based on recent research, Alex Knodell (2021) considers the beginning of Mycenaean occupation in Peloponnese in Middle Helladic III ( c.  1750 –1675 BC), and divides the whole Mycenaean time into three cultural periods: Early Mycenaean ( c.  1750 –1400 BC), Palatial Bronze Age ( c.  1400 –1200 BC), and Postpalatial Bronze Age ( c.  1200 –1050 BC). The decipherment of

7524-404: The Mycenaean palatial states were newcomers or populations that already resided in Mycenaean Greece. Recent archaeological findings tend to favor the latter scenario. Additional theories, concerning natural factors , such as climate change, droughts, or earthquakes have also been proposed. Another theory considers the decline of the Mycenaean civilization as a manifestation of a common pattern for

7656-478: The Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter–gatherers of eastern Europe and Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia." However, Lazaridis et al. admit that their research "does not settle th[e] debate" on Mycenaean origins. Historian Bernard Sergent notes that archaeology alone

7788-592: The Near East, Apulia in Italy and Spain . From that time period ( c.  1400 BC ), the palace of Knossos has yielded the earliest records of the Greek Linear B script, based on the previous Linear A of the Minoans. The use of the new script spread in mainland Greece and offers valuable insight into the administrative network of the palatial centers. However, the unearthed records are too fragmentary for

7920-481: The Oedipus legend, The Infernal Machine , the Sphinx tells Oedipus the answer to the riddle in order to kill herself so that she did not have to kill any more, and also to make him love her. He leaves without ever thanking her for giving him the answer to the riddle. The scene ends when the Sphinx and Anubis ascend back to the heavens. There are mythic, anthropological, psychoanalytic and parodic interpretations of

8052-604: The Riddle of the Sphinx, and of Oedipus's answer to it. Sigmund Freud describes "the question of where babies come from" as a riddle of the Sphinx. Numerous riddle books use the Sphinx in their title or illustrations. Sfinxul is a natural rock formation in the Bucegi Natural Park which is in the Bucegi Mountains of Romania. This rock formation is named for its resemblance to the Sphinx of Giza, and

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8184-1065: The Roman grottesche . The first appearances of sphinxes in French art are in the School of Fontainebleau in the 1520s and 1530s and she continues into the Late Baroque style of the French Régence (1715–1723). From France, she spread throughout Europe, becoming a regular feature of the outdoors decorative sculpture of 18th-century palace gardens, as in the Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna , Sanssouci Park in Potsdam , La Granja in Spain, Branicki Palace in Białystok , or

8316-463: The Shore share thematic elements of decadence with Oedipus' myth and parallels the protagonist's journey to self-discovery. The Sphinx motif present within the novel is established through the enigmatic creature of Murakami's design, Oshima: a mysterious, omnipotent being who has the protagonist grapple with the concept of a meaningless existence in turn of searching for authenticity by disconnecting from societal conventions of wealth and status. He tests

8448-407: The South Asian subcontinent are to some extent influenced by Hellenistic art and writings. These hail from the period when Buddhist art underwent a phase of Hellenistic influence . Numerous sphinxes can be seen on the gateways of Bharhut stupa, dating to the 1st century B.C. In South India, the "sphinx" is known as puruṣamr̥ga (Sanskrit) or purushamirugam (Tamil), meaning "human-animal". It

8580-432: The Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died; or, in some versions Oedipus killed her. An alternative version tells that she devoured herself. In both cases, Oedipus can therefore be recognized as a " liminal " or threshold figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the death of the Sphinx, and the rise of the new, Olympian gods. In Jean Cocteau 's retelling of

8712-422: The acropolis of Mycenae, in particular the Grave Circles A and B , signified the elevation of a native Greek-speaking royal dynasty whose economic power depended on long-distance sea trade. During this period, the Mycenaean centers witnessed increased contact with the outside world, especially with the Cyclades and the Minoan centers on the island of Crete . Mycenaean presence appears to be also depicted in

8844-413: The activity of the Sea Peoples in the Eastern Mediterranean. They caused widespread destruction in Anatolia and the Levant and were finally defeated by Pharaoh Ramesses III in c. 1175 BC. One of the ethnic groups that comprised these people were the Eqwesh , a name that appears to be linked with the Ahhiyawa of the Hittite inscriptions. Alternative scenarios propose that the fall of Mycenaean Greece

8976-409: The beast itself. The largest and most famous sphinx is the Great Sphinx of Giza , situated on the Giza Plateau adjacent to the Great Pyramids of Giza on the west bank of the Nile River and facing east ( 29°58′31″N 31°08′15″E  /  29.97528°N 31.13750°E  / 29.97528; 31.13750 ). The sphinx is located southeast of the pyramids. While the date of its construction

9108-410: The city wall Grave Circle A , a burial place for royal families during the sixteenth century BC. This grave circle was found east of this gate, where a peribolos wall also was built. After the expansion, Mycenae could be entered by two gates, a main entrance and a postern, while undoubtedly, the most extensive feature was the remodeling of the main entrance to the citadel, now known as the Lion Gate, in

9240-416: The coast of southern Anatolia, displays the established trade routes that supplied the Mycenaeans with all the raw materials and items that the economy of Mycenaean Greece needed, such as copper and tin for the production of bronze products. A chief export of the Mycenaeans was olive oil , which was a multi-purpose product. Cyprus appears to be the principal intermediary station between Mycenaean Greece and

9372-489: The commune. A council of elders was chaired, the ke-ro-si-ja (cf. γερουσία, gerousía ). The basileus , who in later Greek society was the name of the king, refers to communal officials. In general, Mycenaean society appears to have been divided into two groups of free men: the king's entourage, who conducted administrative duties at the palace, and the people, da-mo . These last were watched over by royal agents and were obliged to perform duties for and pay taxes to

9504-505: The concept as it was integrated into other cultural traditions. However, depictions of the sphinx are generally associated with grand architectural structures, such as royal tombs or religious temples. The word sphinx comes from the Greek Σφίγξ, associated by folk etymology with the verb σφίγγω ( sphíngō ), meaning "to squeeze", "to tighten up". This name may be derived from the fact that lions kill their prey by strangulation, biting

9636-744: The decline of many ancient civilizations: the Minoan, the Harappan and the Western Roman Empire; the reason for the decline is migration due to overpopulation. The period following the end of Mycenaean Greece, c. 1100–800 BC, is generally termed the " Greek Dark Ages ". Mycenaean palatial states, or centrally organized palace-operating polities, are recorded in ancient Greek literature and mythology (e.g., Iliad , Catalogue of Ships ) and confirmed by discoveries made by modern archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann . Each Mycenaean kingdom

9768-609: The dominant center was probably located in Thebes or in Mycenae, with the latter state being the most probable center of power. The Neolithic agrarian village (6000 BC) constituted the foundation of Bronze Age political culture in Greece. The vast majority of the preserved Linear B records deal with administrative issues and give the impression that Mycenaean palatial administration was highly systematized, featuring thoroughly consistent language, terminology, tax calculations, and distribution logistics. Considering this sense of uniformity,

9900-482: The dominant power of the region, marking the beginning of the Mycenaean 'Koine' era (from Greek : Κοινή , common), a highly uniform culture that spread in mainland Greece and the Aegean. From the early 14th century BC, Mycenaean trade began to take advantage of the new commercial opportunities in the Mediterranean after the Minoan collapse. The trade routes were expanded further, reaching Cyprus , Amman in

10032-563: The drainage system of the Kopais basin in Boeotia, the building of a large dam outside Tiryns, and the drainage of the swamp in the Nemea valley. Also noticeable is the construction of harbors, such as the harbor of Pylos, that were capable of accommodating large Bronze Age era vessels like the one found at Uluburun . The Mycenaean economy also featured large-scale manufacturing as testified by

10164-573: The durability of character of the novel's protagonists through a series of tests that may challenge their perception of truth regarding their existence. Lowell Edmunds' Oedipus in Burma is an explorative look on the Oedipus' myth in Burmese literature and culture. The folktale Pauk and the Dragon uses similar motifs from the Greek myth to explore Pauk's, the protagonist, road to destiny and fulfilling

10296-846: The eastern Black Sea coast. Commercial interaction was also intense with the Italian peninsula and the western Mediterranean. Mycenaean products, especially pottery, were exported to southern Italy , Sicily and the Aeolian Islands . Mycenaean products also penetrated further into Sardinia , as well as southern Spain . Sporadic objects of Mycenaean manufacture were found in various distant locations, like in Central Europe, such as in Bavaria , Germany , where an amber object inscribed with Linear B symbols has been unearthed. Mycenaean bronze double axes and other objects dating from

10428-470: The empire he created, while Avis’ father Hegel Dobell thought that the Sphinx represented just an idea. Oscar Wilde, a known Decadent writer, utilized this motif in his poem “The Sphinx”. The poem itself establishes a connection between the Sphinx and the French due to underlying social decline such as the French Empire collapsing. Wilde describes the sphinx as a sort of half-cat and half-woman that

10560-409: The end of Mycenae as a major power. The site was then reoccupied, but on a smaller scale. A recent study suggests that neither of the palaces at Tiryns or Midea were destroyed by an earthquake, and further studies have shown that upwards of fifty arrowheads were found scattered in the destruction debris at Midea perhaps indicating that the destruction was caused by an assault. The palace of Pylos , in

10692-527: The entrances to temples. During the Renaissance , the sphinx enjoyed a major revival in European decorative art. During this period, images of the sphinx were initially similar to the ancient Egyptian version, but when later exported to other cultures, the sphinx was often conceived of quite differently, partly due to varied translations of descriptions of the originals, and partly through the evolution of

10824-492: The existence of new decentralized coastal and maritime networks there. It is attested by the cemetery of Perati that lasted a century and showed imports from Cyclades , Dodecanese , Crete, Cyprus, Egypt and Syria, as well as by the Late Helladic IIIC ( c.  1210 –1040 BC) cemetery of Drivlia at Porto Rafti ; located 2 km west of Perati. This indicates that Attica participated in long-distance trade, and

10956-491: The extent of workshop complexes that have been discovered, the largest known to date being the recent ceramic and hydraulic installations found in Euonymeia , next to Athens, that produced tableware, textiles, sails, and ropes for export and shipbuilding . The most famous project of the Mycenaean era was the network of roads in the Peloponnese . This appears to have facilitated the speedy deployment of troops—for example,

11088-496: The first written records of the Greek language , and their religion already included several deities that can also be found in the Olympic pantheon . Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace -centered states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social, and economic systems . At the head of this society was the king, known as a wanax . Mycenaean Greece perished with

11220-453: The foreign origin of the Sphinx) to Thebes in Greece where she asked all passersby the most famous riddle in history: "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?" She strangled and devoured anyone who could not answer. Oedipus solved the riddle by answering: "Man—who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then uses

11352-407: The fortifications in various sites. In some cases, arrangements were also made for the creation of subterranean passages which led to underground cisterns. Tiryns, Midea and Athens expanded their defences with new cyclopean-style walls. The extension program in Mycenae almost doubled the fortified area of the citadel. To this phase of extension belongs the impressive Lion Gate , the main entrance into

11484-401: The gate of the fortifications: a double blessing. Beyond the gate and inside the citadel was a covered court with a small chamber, which probably functioned as a guard post. On the right, adjacent to the wall, was a building that has been identified as a granary because of the pithoi found there containing carbonized wheat. The gate stood in full view of visitors to Mycenae for centuries. It

11616-472: The gate. The bastion on the right side of the gate facilitated defensive actions against the right hand side of attackers, which would be vulnerable, as normally the attackers would carry their shields on their left arms. At the end of the approach stands the gate. The gate is a massive and imposing construction, standing 3.10 m (10 ft) wide and 2.95 m (10 ft) high at the threshold. It narrows as it rises, measuring 2.78 m (9 ft) below

11748-529: The guardian statues for their tombs to show their close relationship with the powerful solar deity Sekhmet , a lioness. Besides the Great Sphinx, other famous Egyptian sphinxes include one bearing the head of the pharaoh Hatshepsut , with her likeness carved in granite , which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the alabaster Sphinx of Memphis , currently located within

11880-502: The head of this society was the king, known as wanax (Linear B: wa-na-ka) in Mycenaean Greek . All powers were vested in him, as the main landlord and spiritual and military leader. At the same time he was an entrepreneur and trader and was aided by a network of high officials. The presence of Ahhiyawa in western Anatolia is mentioned in various Hittite accounts from c.  1400 to c.  1220 BC . Ahhiyawa

12012-466: The image of the Roman emperor Claudius . The revived Mannerist sphinx of the late 15th century is sometimes thought of as the "French sphinx". Her coiffed head is erect and she has the breasts of a young woman. Often she wears ear drops and pearls as ornaments. Her body is naturalistically rendered as a recumbent lioness. Such sphinxes were revived when the grottesche or "grotesque" decorations of

12144-459: The initial clearing of the site from debris and soil that had accumulated to bury it, and in 1876 Heinrich Schliemann , guided by Pausanias's accounts, excavated the area south of the gate. Notes 37°43′51″N 22°45′22.2″E  /  37.73083°N 22.756167°E  / 37.73083; 22.756167 Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization )

12276-591: The late Rococo examples in the grounds of the Portuguese Queluz National Palace (of perhaps the 1760s), with ruffs and clothed chests ending with a little cape. Sphinxes are a feature of the neoclassical interior decorations of Robert Adam and his followers, returning closer to the undressed style of the grottesche . They had an equal appeal to artists and designers of the Romanticism and subsequent Symbolism movements in

12408-573: The later palaces. In a number of sites, defensive walls were also erected. Meanwhile, new types of burials and more imposing ones have been unearthed, which display a great variety of luxurious objects. Among the various burial types, the shaft grave became the most common form of elite burial, a feature that gave the name to the early period of Mycenaean Greece. Among the Mycenaean elite, deceased men were usually laid to rest in gold masks and funerary armor, and women in gold crowns and clothes gleaming with gold ornaments. The royal shaft graves next to

12540-457: The latter being the northernmost Mycenaean center. Knossos in Crete also became a Mycenaean center, where the former Minoan complex underwent a number of adjustments, including the addition of a throne room . These centers were based on a rigid network of bureaucracy where administrative competencies were classified into various sections and offices according to specialization of work and trades. At

12672-407: The lintel. The opening was closed by a double door mortised to a vertical beam that acted as a pivot around which the door revolved. The gate consists of two great monoliths capped with a huge lintel that measures 4.5×2.0×0.8 m (15×7×3 ft). Above the lintel, the masonry courses form a corbelled arch , leaving an opening that lightens the weight carried by the lintel. This relieving triangle

12804-569: The lionesses was an emblem of the Mycenaean kings and a symbol of their power to both subjects and foreigners. It also has been argued that the lions are a symbol of the goddess Hera . This gate may be compared to the gates of the Hittite Bronze Age citadel of Hattusa , in Asia Minor . Since the heads of the animals were of a different material from their bodies and originally were fashioned to look toward those approaching below,

12936-468: The military activities of an Ahhiyawan warlord, Attarsiya , possibly related to the mythic character of Atreus . Attarsiya attacked Hittite vassals in western Anatolia including Madduwatta . Later, in c. 1315 BC, an anti-Hittite rebellion headed by Arzawa , a Hittite vassal state, received support from Ahhiyawa. Meanwhile, Ahhiyawa appears to be in control of a number of islands in the Aegean, an impression also supported by archaeological evidence. During

13068-798: The names under which the "sphinx" is known in Thailand . They are depicted as upright walking beings with the lower body of a lion or deer, and the upper body of a human. Often they are found as female-male pairs. Here, too, the sphinx serves a protective function. It also is enumerated among the mythological creatures that inhabit the ranges of the sacred mountain Himapan . Giorgio Amitrano 's Echoes of Ancient Greek Myths in Murakami Haruki's novels and in Other Works of Contemporary Japanese Literature explores how Haruki Murakami 's Kafka on

13200-527: The northwestern side built circa 1250 BC. The gate was approached by a partly natural, partly engineered ramp on a northwest-southeast axis. The eastern side of the approach is flanked by the steep smooth slope of the earlier enceinte . This was embellished with a new facade of conglomerate. On the western side a rectangular bastion was erected, 14.80 m (49 ft) long and 7.23 m (24 ft) wide, built in pseudo- ashlar style of enormous blocks of conglomerate. The term "Cyclopean" has been applied to

13332-451: The open-air museum at that site. The theme was expanded to form great avenues of guardian sphinxes lining the approaches to tombs and temples as well as serving as details atop the posts of flights of stairs to very grand complexes. Nine hundred sphinxes with ram heads (Criosphinxes), believed to represent Amon , were built in Thebes , where his cult was strongest. At Karnak, each Criosphinx

13464-399: The painter Avis used the Sphinx as a representation of what women truly were in the nineteenth century. Avis thought that she could solve the prejudice that resulted from her gender and race through the Sphinx to show how she is an artist by tapping into the logic of Western Culture and visual recognition and classification. Napoleon on the other hand felt that the Sphinx was a representation of

13596-450: The palace, but the production of ceramics was only indirectly monitored. Regional transactions between the palaces are also recorded on a few occasions. The palatial centers organized their workforce and resources for the construction of large scale projects in the fields of agriculture and industry. The magnitude of some projects indicates that this was the result of combined efforts from multiple palatial centers. Most notable of them are

13728-464: The palace. Among those who could be found in the palace were well-to-do high officials, who probably lived in the vast residences found in proximity to Mycenaean palaces, but also others, tied by their work to the palace and not necessarily better off than the members of the da-mo , such as craftsmen, farmers, and perhaps merchants. Occupying a lower rung of the social ladder were the slaves, do-e-ro , ( cf. δοῦλος , doúlos ). These are recorded in

13860-510: The quests needed to defeat the dragon: the Sphinx motif. Using intelligence, courage, and determination, Pauk defeats the dragon but not before facing the consequences of the knowledge he acquired on his journey. Decadent themes of fate, destiny, tragedy, mystery, and identity present themselves in the Burmese adaptations of Greek myths, in this case, it is Oedipus and the Sphinx. The sphinx imagery has historically been adopted into Masonic architecture, symbolism and some of its rituals . Among

13992-507: The rations given to the dependent personnel. The Mycenaean palaces maintained extensive control of the nondomestic areas of production through careful control and acquisition and distribution in the palace industries, and the tallying of produced goods. For instance, the Knossos tablets record c. 80,000–100,000 sheep grazing in central Crete , and the quantity of the expected wool from these sheep and their offspring, as well as how this wool

14124-446: The reconstruction of the political landscape in Mycenaean Greece and they do not support nor deny the existence of a larger Mycenaean state. On the other hand, contemporary Hittite and Egyptian records suggest the presence of a single state under a "Great King". Alternatively, based on archaeological data, some sort of confederation among a number of palatial states appears to be possible. If some kind of united political entity existed,

14256-436: The region of Wilusa , and later invaded the island of Lesbos , which then passed into Ahhiyawan control. Scholars have speculated that the mythic tradition of the Trojan War could have a historical basis in the political turmoil of this era. As a result of this instability, the Hittite king initiated correspondence in order to convince his Ahhiyawan counterpart to restore peace in the region. The Hittite record mentions

14388-420: The reign of the Hittite king Hattusili III (c. 1267–1237 BC), the king of Ahhiyawa is recognized as a "Great King" and of equal status with the other contemporary great Bronze Age rulers: the kings of Egypt , Babylonia and Assyria . At that time, another anti-Hittite movement, led by Piyama-Radu , broke out and was supported by the king of Ahhiyawa. Piyama-Radu caused major unrest which may have extended to

14520-723: The remnants of a Mycenaean road, along with what appears to have been a Mycenaean defensive wall on the Isthmus of Corinth . The Mycenaean era saw the zenith of infrastructure engineering in Greece, and this appears not to have been limited to the Argive plain. Trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean was essential for the economy of Mycenaean Greece. The Mycenaean palaces imported raw materials, such as metals, ivory and glass, and exported processed commodities and objects made from these materials, in addition to local products: oil, perfume, wine, wool and pottery. International trade of that time

14652-469: The southwestern Peloponnese, was destroyed in c. 1180 BC. The Linear B archives found there, preserved by the heat of the fire that destroyed the palace, mention hasty defence preparations due to an imminent attack without giving any detail about the attacking force. As a result of this turmoil, specific regions in mainland Greece witnessed a dramatic population decrease, especially Boeotia, Argolis and Messenia . Mycenaean refugees migrated to Cyprus and

14784-506: The sphinx can also be connected to the motif of the “femme fatale” figure in decadent texts in which a typically female-like figure or beast seduces and murders men. The “femme fatale” is used to establish a decline or decay ranging from perversion, death, prostitution, and other taboos of Victorian society. Deborah Barker discusses, in “The Riddle of the Sphinx: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s The Story of Avis", how

14916-466: The sphinx is known as narasimha or human-lion. As a sphinx, it has the body of a lion and the head of a human being, and is not to be confused with Narasimha , the fourth incarnation of the deity Vishnu ; this avatara or incarnation of Vishnu has a human body and the head of a lion and Vishnu as Narashima killed Hiranyakashipu. The "sphinx" narasimha is part of the Buddhist tradition and functions as

15048-471: The state of nearby Orchomenos. Moreover, the palace of Mycenae appeared to have ruled over a territory two to three times the size of the other palatial states in Bronze Age Greece. Its territory would have also included adjacent centers, including Tiryns and Nauplion , which could plausibly be ruled by a member of Mycenae's ruling dynasty. The unearthed Linear B texts are too fragmentary for

15180-479: The style to imply that the ancient structures had been built by the legendary race of giants whose culture was presumed to have preceded that of the Classical Greeks, as described in their myths. Between the wall and the bastion, the approach narrows to a small open courtyard measuring 15 m × 7.23 m (49 ft × 24 ft), possibly serving to limit the numbers of potential attackers on

15312-475: The texts as working either for the palace or for specific deities. The Mycenaean economy, given its pre-monetary nature, was a palace economy , focusing on the redistribution of goods, commodities and labor by a central administration. The preserved Linear B records in Pylos and Knossos indicate that the palaces were closely monitoring a variety of industries and commodities, the organization of land management and

15444-490: The throat of prey and holding them down until they die. However, the historian Susan Wise Bauer suggests that the word "sphinx" was instead a Greek corruption of the Egyptian name "shesepankh", which meant "living image", and referred rather to the statue of the sphinx, which was carved out of "living rock" (rock that was a contiguous part of the stony body of the Earth, shaped, but not cut away from its original source), than to

15576-464: The unearthed Domus Aurea of Nero were brought to light in late 15th-century Rome, and she was incorporated into the classical vocabulary of arabesque designs that spread throughout Europe in engravings during the 16th and 17th centuries. Sphinxes were included in the decoration of the loggia of the Vatican Palace by the workshop of Raphael (1515–20), which updated the vocabulary of

15708-517: The use of a new dialect of Greek, the Doric one. It appears that the Dorians moved southward gradually over a number of years and devastated the territory, until they managed to establish themselves in the Mycenaean centers. A new type of ceramic also appeared, called "Barbarian Ware" because it was attributed to invaders from the north. On the other hand, the collapse of Mycenaean Greece coincides with

15840-476: The wings are specified to be those of an eagle , and the tail to be serpent -headed. According to Hesiod , the Sphinx was a daughter of Orthrus and an unknown she—either the Chimera , Echidna , or Ceto . According to Apollodorus and Lasus , she was a daughter of Echidna and Typhon . The sphinx was the emblem of the ancient city-state of Chios , and appeared on seals and the obverse side of coins from

15972-411: Was a result of internal disturbances which led to internecine warfare among the Mycenaean states or civil unrest in a number of states, as a result of the strict hierarchical social system and the ideology of the wanax. In general, due to the obscure archaeological picture in 12th–11th century BC Greece, there is a continuing controversy among scholars over whether the impoverished societies that succeeded

16104-556: Was a single sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck. Apollodorus describes the sphinx as having a woman's face, the body and tail of a lion and the wings of a bird. Pliny the Elder mentions that Ethiopia produces plenty of sphinxes, with brown hair and breasts, corroborated by 20th-century archeologists. Statius describes her as a winged monster, with pallid cheeks, eyes tainted with corruption, plumes clotted with gore and talons on livid hands. Sometimes,

16236-522: Was abandoned, while the Boeotian fortifications of Gla displays evidence for a targeted destruction as only the four gates and the monumental building, called the Melathron, were burned before the site was abandoned. In the Peloponnese, a number of buildings surrounding the citadel of Mycenae were attacked and burned. These incidents appear to have prompted the massive strengthening and expansion of

16368-465: Was allocated. The archives of Pylos display a specialized workforce, where each worker belonged to a precise category and was assigned to a specific task in the stages of production, notably in textiles. Nevertheless, palatial control over resources appears to have been highly selective in spatial terms and in terms of how different industries were managed. Thus, sectors like the production of perfumed oil and bronze materials were directly monitored from

16500-479: Was also incorporated in a mainland-looking network. The site of Mycenae experienced a gradual loss of political and economic status, while Tiryns , also in the Argolid region, expanded its settlement and became the largest local center during the post-palatial period, in Late Helladic IIIC, c. 1200–1050 BC. The reasons for the end of the Mycenaean culture have been hotly debated among scholars. At present, there

16632-399: Was found at Knossos presents a goddess flanked clearly by two lions or lionesses, establishing a continuity in religious imagery when later, the deity is represented abstractly by a column. It clearly identifies the species of feline, because of the characteristic tuft at the end of the tail, not present in any other feline species. The imposing gate of the citadel with the representation of

16764-418: Was governed from the palace, which exercised control over most, if not all, industries within its realm. The palatial territory was divided into several sub-regions, each headed by its provincial center. Each province was further divided in smaller districts, the damoi . A number of palaces and fortifications appear to be part of a wider kingdom. For instance, Gla , located in the region of Boeotia, belonged to

16896-675: Was mentioned by the ancient geographer Pausanias in the second century AD. The first correct identification of the gate in modern literature was during a survey conducted by Francesco Grimani, commissioned by the Provveditore Generale of the Kingdom of the Morea in 1700, who used Pausanias 's description of the gate to identify the ruins of Mycenae. In 1840, the Greek Archaeological Society undertook

17028-482: Was not only conducted by palatial emissaries but also by independent merchants. Based on archaeological findings in the Middle East, in particular physical artifacts, textual references, inscriptions and wall paintings, it appears that Mycenaean Greeks achieved strong commercial and cultural interaction with most of the Bronze Age people living in this region: Canaanites , Kassites , Mitanni , Assyrians , and Egyptians . The 14th century BC Uluburun shipwreck , off

17160-421: Was the lāwāgetas ("the leader of the people"), whose role appears mainly religious. His activities possibly overlap with the wanax and is usually seen as the second-in-command. Both wanax and lāwāgetas were at the head of a military aristocracy known as the eqeta ("companions" or "followers"). The land possessed by the wanax is usually the témenos (te-me-no). There is also at least one instance of

17292-454: Was the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece , spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainland Greece with its palatial states, urban organization, works of art, and writing system. The Mycenaeans were mainland Greek peoples who were likely stimulated by their contact with insular Minoan Crete and other Mediterranean cultures to develop

17424-859: Was the most important base for Mycenaean activity in Asia Minor. Mycenaean presence also reached the adjacent sites of Iasus and Ephesus . Meanwhile, imposing palaces were built in the main Mycenaean centers of the mainland. The earliest palace structures were megaron-type buildings, such as the Menelaion in Sparta , Lakonia . Palaces proper are datable from c.  1400 BC , when Cyclopean fortifications were erected at Mycenae and nearby Tiryns . Additional palaces were built in Midea and Pylos in Peloponnese , Athens , Eleusis , Thebes and Orchomenos in Central Greece and Iolcos , in Thessaly ,

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