Aegean Bronze Age Warfare

"Ex oriente nigri: "Captain of the Blacks" and the Fabrication of the Minoan Culture

The fabrication of the Minoan culture is the specifically modern phenomenon, closely linked to the imperial and colonial conquest and appropriation of Ancient Greece. The Greek war of independence created an arena in which Europe could take part in the fight for its cradle. In the postcolonial key, the paper situates the fresco "Captain of the Blacks" into the context of the fabrication of the Minoan culture and the colonial narratives inscribed into it. In the beginning of the 20th century, this colonial past of the notion, known today as the Minoan culture, played a major role in the definition of the European past, present and future. The Minoan culture, as a colonial discursive formation in archaeology, has remained in the framework of the culture-histori-cal paradigm, but beyond it as well. The paper argues that the reconstructionof the fresco "Captain of the Blacks" in the works of Arthur Evans is the consequence of the colonial racism, putting the emphasis on the colour of the skin as a racial/ ethnic category. The interpretation that the dark-skinned figures are of the African origin has rarely been questioned, but rather perpetuated as a given.

Key words: Minoan culture, racism, "Captain of the Blacks", Egypt,colonialism, post-colonial perspective"

Archery had a dominant role in Bronze Age, especially in later period. The technological evolution from the self bows to the composites was a significant factor that affected the Warfare in several ways. Composite’s critical advantage was that they can be made smaller because they retain their strength through the correlation of different materials (wood, sinew, horn). They had more strength, far more range and their small
size results in more mobility than the self bows1. The first depiction of a probable composite bow lays in the victory stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad (23rd century BC)2. It was introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in the 18th Century. The earliest example of a composite bow was found in the tomb of Ahmose Penhant (16th century BC)3 while thirty-two more have been found in the tomb of Tutankhamen4. However we do not have any archaeological examples from the Aegean Bronze Age world. This brief study will try to approach the issue of the use of composite bows in the Minoan and Mycenaean Warfare attempting to include all the possible archaeological iconographical and textual evidence that could support this argument.

Despite much intensive archaeological fieldwork, several regions of Greece
still have not yielded any evidence for palatial structures. It may be, therefore,
that they never gave rise to full palatial states. Rather, in regions such as
Achaia, local elites may have functioned within less-articulated organizational
orders (perhaps chiefdoms), which did not require the centralization of
economic activities. These polities existed alongside the more complex palatial
states, but it is not necessary to posit that they were subjected to or dependent
on the palaces economically or politically, although their opportunities may
have been constricted by the presence of the larger power. After the collapse
of the palatial system around 1200 b.c., some of these smaller polities seem
to have flourished in the LH IIIC period.

In this paper we treat changes in weaponry and armament, which occurred in the Aegean and Levantine regions between the late 14th and the early 12th century BC. We aim at reconstructing these changes in a sequence as fine-phased as possible and try to identify the regions in which they originated. As a case study we use a sword of Naue II type found at Ugarit. As it has no clearly stratified context, we try to fix its chronology on one hand by reference to the overall stratigraphy of the site, and on the other by discussing better datable archaeological evidence from the Aegean and Cyprus. Swords of the Naue II group belong to new weapon types introduced to the eastern Mediterranean a few decades before the breakdown of many palace states around 1200 BC. There are different reasons that lead us to believe that these new weapon types arrived together with their users and producers from the central Mediterranean and cannot be seen as a result of goods exchange.

İnsanlık tarihindeki ilk büyük uygarlıkların geliştiği Anadolu, Doğu Akdeniz, Mısır ve Ege dünyası, M.Ö. XIII. yüzyıla gelindiğinde ihtişamlarının doruğundaydılar. Yüce krallar ile firavunların idaresinde emsali görülmemiş bir barış ve refah dönemi yaşanıyordu. Dur durak bilmeden inşa edilen anıtsal yapılar, saraylar ve tapınaklar ile tarihin ilk küresel ekonomik sistemi içinde el değiştiren kıymetli sanat eserleri ve lüks ürünler de bu döneme tanıklık ediyordu. Sonra bir anda bir şeyler oldu: M.Ö. 1200 civarında Yunanistan'daki Mykenai gibi büyük saray devletleri; Anadolu'daki Hitit başkenti Hattuşa, Troya, Alacahöyük ve diğer birçok yerleşim; Doğu Akdeniz'de ise büyük ticaret merkezi Ugarit gibi şehirler nedeni hâlâ tartışma konusu olan korkunç bir felaket yaşadılar. Birçoğu yerle bir edildi, yakılıp yıkıldı ve ardından ya unutuldular ya da geçmişlerinin bir gölgesi haline düşerek varlıklarını sürdürdüler. Antik Ortadoğu'nun egemen gücü Mısır Krallığı ise yok olmanın eşiğinden döndü. Felaket'ten sonra Yunanistan, Anadolu ve Doğu Akdeniz'in toparlanması için yüzyıllar geçmesi gerekecekti. Nedenleri tarihçiler arasında bitmek bilmeyen tartışmalara konu olan bu Felaket neticesi Tunç Çağı sona ererken kimileri binlerce yıl geçmişe uzanan uygarlıklar tam anlamıyla yok oldular ve yerlerini kendilerinden pek az bir miras alan yeni bir çağa, yani Demir Çağı'na ve uygarlıklarına bıraktılar.
Tanınmış Eskiçağ tarihçisi Prof. Robert Drews, bu kitabında Akdeniz dünyasında Felaket'in izini sürerek hem bu krizin sebeplerine dair mevcut varsayımları titizlikle değerlendiriyor hem de asıl neden olarak yeni bir savaş tarzının ortaya çıkışını temel alan kendi tezini etkili bir biçimde ortaya koyuyor. Türkçe baskısı için özel olarak kaleme aldığı ve kitabının ilk baskısından beri geçen yirmi yılda kendisine yöneltilen eleştirilere yanıt verdiği hem de kimi görüşlerini yeniden gözden geçirerek güncellediği önsözü de orijinal metne eşlik ediyor.

Archaeological fieldwork conducted in 2004-2008 at Mitrou, a site located on the North Euboean Gulf in East Lokris, has uncovered a settlement with uninterrupted occupation from the Early Helladic IIB phase through the Late Protogeometric phase. Even though relatively small parts of the settlement have been excavated, their detailed stratigraphic sequences have made it possible to investigate in considerable detail the emergence of a political elite, which manifested itself from Late Helladic (LH) I Phase 1 onwards. Mitrou's leaders expanded their power throughout the Prepalatial period until they were defeated at the beginning of the LH IIIA2 Early phase. At Mitrou we can study the rise of this elite not only through its graves but also through changes in the settlement. This paper will focus primarily on how Mitrou's rulers constructed their authority within the settlement. They did so in part by displaying their richer lifestyle and by creating a hierarchical, codified built landscape that forced the inhabitants to internalize social inequality on a daily basis. Recent studies have shown that the development of this hierarchical townscape was more gradual than previously thought, and this paper will trace its chronological sequence. Our studies also make it clear that Mitrou's elite display of authority developed through a dialectical interaction of local dynamics and outside stimuli. Its initial vocabulary of power, in LH I phases 1-2, was largely local to central Greece. Subsequently, Mitrou's leaders increasingly adopted elite architectural vocabulary, burial practices, and ritual practices from southern Greece in what became, from LH II onwards, a process of voluntary Mycenaeanization.
Corrected final proofs. Please email me at avdm@utk.edu if you want a pdf of the publication, because the publisher (Peeters) does not allow me to post it.

Bronze Age excavation finds offer a great number of information relating the naval architecture of Greek ships. Unfortunately depictions with war character are quite limited. In addition, the paucity of naval battles on illustrations and texts raise many difficulties to the study of naval warfare. Warriors onboard, who consisted a primitive type of marine corps of Late Bronze Age Greece, offers an obstructive but very exiting area for research.

During the entire Mycenaean period Achaea maintains relations - direct or indirect ones - with the rest of the known world. Not only with the regions of the large mainland centers, but with the Aegean islands too, such as Rhodes and Crete and even further as far as Cyprus.Imported artifacts have come from Syro-Palestine and Egypt to the east, Italy and central Europe to the west. Achaea in turn would export its products to the coast and the inland areas around the Corinthian Gulf, to the Argolid, to the northern neighbors in Aitolia (Thermos) and Acarnania (Loutraki), Elis, the Ionian Islands, even reaching the Italian peninsula and Adriatic Sea. During the 12th and 11th centuries B.C., Achaea seems to have been taking part in the regional commerce, taking advantage of a road network that had been created and maintained, with the axis towards Elis being probably the most important; this network also facilitated indirect contact with other regions and ports outside its immediate control, thus providing access to goods traded away from the Achaean coasts. Achaea was also actively involved in sea-trade, particularly in the safe waters of the Corinthian Gulf, indirectly benefiting from the roads that reached the northern coast of the gulf from Epirus and central Greece. It is not known whether Achaean merchants organized voyages to the Adriatic and Italy, where Achaean LH III C pottery has been found. Contact with these regions, proved to be beneficiary in the shaping of local Achaean culture. At the same time, this culture haw also influenced its neighbors.
    The study of the data regarding Mycenaean Achaea is expected to yield valuable new elements that will help reconstruct all aspects of this unique culture. The Society for the Study of Mycenaean Achaea aims at helping this effort and coordinating the endeavors of all those who are interested in the region's prehistory. At the same time, the society will also work for the promotion of Achaean culture in a way that will help put Achaea in its rightly deserved place in Greek prehistory.
    The book is sent free of charge to the members of the Society.

R. Jung - I. Moschos - M. Mehofer, Killing in the Same Way: Peaceful Relations on War between Western Greece and Italy during the Late Mycenaean Times (in greek)

Western Achaea and the Ionian Islands are of strategic importance for maritime traffic and communication of all kinds between Greece and Italy. Controlling this region means to control the goods exchange between central and eastern Mediterranean. At the same time it also means to be the first area affected by military aggressors which originate in and operate from the Adriatic Sea.
Thus, it is not surprising to detect strong influence from Italy in the local Achaean and Cephalonian weapons technology during the 12th and 11th centuries BC and particularly in Naue II swords of types Cetona and Allerona, spearheads with cast socket, a dagger of Pertosa type and greaves with wire fittings.
A fundamental issue related to the weapons of relative Italian typology is their provenance, on which all further perspectives of interpretation depend. One of our research aims is to answer precisely the question if these Italian-type bronzes are imports from the Adriatic regions or local products made according to central Mediterranean prototypes. We do not study these weapons based only on their typology, but we also try to answer these questions taking in consideration the technological knowledge as well as the respective methods of the era.
On the one hand EDXRF as well as lead isotope analyses are made to get an overview over the chemical composition of the objects. These can give us information about the provenance of the metal and at least about the location of the ore deposit used for the production of the metal. On the other hand, we analyse the construction schemata of these weapons which are directly connected to the combat style. By these analyses of typology, archeometry and technology we aim at explaining the changes in fighting techniques from the 13th to the 11th century BC.

"For the reconstruction of the military Mycenaean world scarcely
we possess the information extracted from diverse slats written in Linear B, as well as the remains of some pictorial representations and scanty archaeological remains extracted from warriors' diverse tombs. It is for it that the reconstruction of this important aspect inside the Mycenaean culture is not simple, and in this respect it turns out very interesting to manage to raise approximations as the one that occupies us. Across the analysis of few remains which we possess,It occupies. Across the analysis of few remains which we possess, authors of John Chadwick's taya have proposed interesting theories on the Mycenaean systems of defense and, in this case, we will try to approach each other the system that could be used in Pilo's accession."

Schutzwaffen aus Metall, wie etwa Helme, werden aufgrund ihrer relativen Seltenheit im Vergleich zu anderen Bronzeobjekten als etwas Besonderes betrachtet. Im Rahmen der archäologischen Interpretation können ihnen ganz unterschiedliche Bedeutungen zugewiesen werden, manchmal steht ihre „Prestigefunktion“ im Vordergrund, manchmal dominieren die funktionalen Aspekte. Die grundlegende Aufgabe eines Helms ist es, die schneidende Wirkung einer Angriffswaffe zu neutralisieren sowie die dabei auftretende Energie eines Schlages oder Hiebes abzufedern. Zum einen absorbiert das Metall durch Deformation einen Teil der Schlagenergie, zum anderen muss die restliche Energie und eine dadurch hervorgerufene Verformung durch ein darunter liegendes elastisches Material (Leder, Textil, etc.) aufgenommen werden. Die metallische Oberfläche eines Helms wie auch seine Form bieten reichlich Möglichkeit, ihn mit Verzierungselementen zu versehen, die weit über die eigentliche Schutzfunktion hinausgehen. Dies ermöglicht es dem Besitzer eines solchen Helms, durch eine besondere Gestaltung verschiedenste Bedeutungsinhalte zu transportieren und für sein Umfeld sichtbar zu machen. Dieser Symbolgehalt der Objekte, sei es die Verzierung, die Form oder auch der Kontext, in dem sie benutzt und genutzt werden, hat einen nicht unwesentlichen Einfluss auf ihr Erscheinungsbild und damit auf ihre Konstruktion, wie die folgenden Untersuchungen zeigen. Der Neufund eines bronzenen Helmfragments des Kammhelmtyps Pass Lueg im Anlauftal/Bundesland Salzburg ermöglichte es nun, im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes diese Helme archäologisch und archäometallurgisch zu untersuchen.

Con su libro Karuo el secreto ibero, Enrique Cabrejas o Enric Cabrejas nos relata de modo llano su experiencia personal con lo extraordinario de un descubrimiento. El 21 de Abril de 2012 consiguió lo que parecía imposible: Descifrar la escritura ibérica. El hallazgo más relevante de la cultura universal en nuestro país de los últimos tiempos, sin lugar a dudas. Un hito en la historia de la escritura sin precedentes. Desde este mismo instante la obra Karuo de Enrique Cabrejas lo convierte en un referente destacado a nivel mundial en historia y lingüística. Los innumerables datos, explicaciones, pruebas y significados que nos reporta nunca conocidos antes, son una referencia obligada para todos aquellos que quieran comprender la historia, la lengua antigua e incluso también la moderna de nuestro país o para quienes en el futuro deseen estudiarla e investigarla en profundidad, más si cabe desde el mundo académico.

TO READ THE PREVIEW SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE PREVIEW SCROLL DOWN

According to the centuries-long analysis of Homer by the idealist philosophers of Greece, the venerable bard’s recondite conclusion in the ‘Iliad’ is that Mankind is the subject of an infinite educative process. Mankind is being taught the true meaning of the words “Beauty,” “Truth,” and “Goodness” which, after a long, bloody, stupid, and futile course of evasion, denial, and senseless disputation, they necessarily find to be equivalent and then begin to live accordingly.

N.B.: Readers are advised of the subsequent substantial conceptual concretion of the foregoing thesis in a series of studies by the same author, to be found here:

'Totalization of Universal History by Meta-Analytic Ascent (URLs)'
(https://www.academia.edu/43292436/Totalization_of_Universal_History_by_Meta-Analytic_Ascent_URLs_)

In 2010, a portion of a well-preserved domestic building dating to the later part of Early Minoan (EM) I was excavated at Priniatikos Pyrgos, east Crete. Though only a small portion of this house was available to investigate, there was clear evidence for several architectural and habitation phases. The final domestic activities were particularly well preserved because the building was deliberately destroyed in an event that included burning. There was a distinct and clearly defined ritual component to this event, including the decommissioning of household objects. Because of the rapid abandonment and destruction of this building, the excavated area contained well-preserved evidence for the character of use of the building in its final days. This preliminary discussion focuses primarily on this portion of the house and contextualizes it within the overall excavation at Priniatikos Pyrgos, its environs recorded in the Vrokastro Survey Project, and EM I Crete more generally. It provides detailed analyses of industrial, domestic, trade, and ritual activities through the study of stratigraphy, architecture, ceramics, faunal remains, plant remains, obsidian, metal, and plaster. It concludes with a discussion of the character of activity that took place when the building was abandoned. A free, downloadable appendix containing the online tables referenced in the text can be found under this article's abstract on AJA Online.

A PDF can be requested via mathias.mehofer@univie.ac.at. In this paper we discuss the observable interactions between Italy and the eastern Mediterranean regions from the late 14th to the 11th century BCE. During that time, specific bronze types such as Naue II swords, spearheads, various implements and dress accessories belonging to the metallurgical koine found their way into the Mediterranean world. These phenomena are often discussed in connection with the activities of the so called ‘Sea Peoples’. In order to provide analytical results for the discussion of this topic we carried out XRF and lead isotope analyses on artefacts found in different Aegean and Italian regions. Based on their analytical results a number of bronzes can be related to the Northern Italian ore deposits in the Trentino, which enables us to identify them as imports to the Aegean.

I propose here a new etymology of the LInear B word e-qe-ta, as *ἡβέτας, Gr. ἡβητής 'ephebe'. I also argue that the e-qe-ta of the tablets of Pylos and Knossos were young soldiers in charge of soldiers of similar age whose organization in many respects resembled the military organization of the ephebic system of the historical era.

Despite much intensive archaeological fieldwork, several regions of Greece still have not yielded any evidence for palatial structures. It may be, therefore, that they never gave rise to full palatial states. Rather, in regions such as Achaia, local elites may have functioned within less-articulated organizational orders (perhaps chiefdoms), which did not require the centralization of economic activities. These polities existed alongside the more complex palatial states, but it is not necessary to posit that they were subjected to or dependent on the palaces economically or politically, although their opportunities may have been constricted by the presence of the larger power. After the collapse of the palatial system around 1200 b.c., some of these smaller polities seem to have flourished in the LH IIIC period.