Minoische Fresken - Minoan Frescoes

This study focuses on a special type of
pottery and frescoes in Crete and Thera, both
dated to a chronological span that starts at the
end of the Middle Bronze Age and ends in the
Late Bronze Age [Late Minoan (LM) II period]. The
former is made of clay and the latter of plaster,
and both of them bear plastic decoration, an element
which makes them different from other
objects in their respective classes. The appliquéd
decoration on pottery from Crete and Thera on
the one hand, and the stucco relief frescoes from
both islands on the other, are not broadly discussed
subjects. Moreover, the shared features
of the two different forms of artistic expression
have yet to be studied in detail.

The relationship between ‘blackness’ and ‘race’ in Greco-Roman antiquity is an important issue that has received far too little attention in recent discussions on race and ethnicity. This issue, though often marginalized, is of great significance to the study of Greco-Roman antiquity as it engages a divergence of issues which are discussed throughout this essay. The strengths and weaknesses of the old, but influential, studies on ‘blackness’ and recent discussions on Greco-Roman racial thought are meticulously examined. Also, major controversies surrounding the debate, such as the 'Egyptian race controversy' and the issue of Black identity and Slavery are addressed. Overall, this discussion  provides an in-depth analysis on Greco-Roman constructions of black identities, the extent of black social mobility and the complexity of anti-black racism. Ultimately, this discussion demands a re-thinking of the role of blackness in the Greco-Roman racial discourse.

I had examined the relationship between pottery and wall-painting for the first time in 1997, at the conference organized on the Thera wall-paintings, in my paper entitled “The Attraction of the Pictorial: Observations on the Relationship of Theran Pottery and Theran Fresco Iconography”, which was published in the conference proceedings. In that paper I had argued that local Theran pattern-painted pottery (both Cycladic and Minoanizing shapes) comprises the richest corpus of pictorial motifs in the Aegean at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. I also suggested that the representations on certain Late Cycladic I ceramic vessels were influenced by those of wall-paintings and, conversely, that the swallow motif crossed over from pottery to Theran frescoes at the beginning of the LC I period.
Over the years since that paper, there has been no essential change in the general picture regarding pictorial pottery and mural painting from the last habitation phase on Thera. Nonetheless, certain new evidence from excavations conducted at both Akrotiri and the recently discovered site at Raos, is the stimulus for a reconsideration of the topic, or at least some of its aspects. In addition, I would like to put the two arts under discussion in a broader context, emphasizing that in prosperous Thera just prior to its volcanic destruction, conditions were ideal for the flourishing of all the Aegean visual arts…

The evidence from the last years of work at Akrotiri, a particularly productive period in terms of excavation and conservation, has not essentially altered the picture of the dispersion of wall-paintings in the settlement, or rather, has differentiated it less than we would perhaps have expected. In the course of excavating the 120 trenches opened for founding the pillars of the new shelter at the site, very few nuclei with concentrations of painted plaster fragments were found that can be compared with the dense concentrations brought to light in the rooms of Xeste 3 or in room 5 of the West House. In one case only was it decided to move the position of a pillar because of the discovery of wall-paintings. on the contrary, spaces where wall-paintings were preserved in excellent condition on the walls (Xeste 5) were located, and indeed in one case it was decided to leave them in situ rather than to detach them (Xeste 4).

This paper examines the representations of the objects brought by the Aegean emissaries depicted in the foreigners’ procession scene in the tomb of Senenmut (TT 71). Through comparison of the depicted objects with the ones found in the Aegean it is argued that not only is it possible to find close analogies for single objects but also for the whole assemblage. The assemblage depicted in the tomb of Senenmut is found in elite burials of the Late Bronze Age I Aegean, and it can be interpreted as a diplomatic gift. The very fact that the same assemblage is found both in the Aegean princely burials and depicted in Senenmut’s tomb, as a gift to the Egyptian king, is of great importance for the discussion on historicity behind this scene. The paper also discusses the transformation of the Aegean gift assemblage after its arrival in Egypt.

ABSTRACT: This lecture forms an introduction to the foundation of Ancient Egypt's New Kingdom and New Kingdom Empire: It summarizes the emergence and development of significant factors during the Middle Kingdom through Second Intermediate Period that culminated in a re-united Egypt and early imperial Egypt during late Dynasty 17 to early Dynasty 18.  The lecture provides an overview on the appearance of and Egypt's interactions with "Asiatics" (i.e., Levantine/Canaanite peoples) during the Middle Kingdom (Dyn. 12), the late Middle Kingdom (early Dyn. 13), and the Second Intermediate Period (SIP/2IP), especially at Tell ed-Dab'a (Avaris); it looks at the archaeological and textual-pictorial evidence for a southward shift/retreat in Egypt's rulers from the Memphite-Lisht region to southern Egypt (e.g., Abydos and Thebes) during the reign of Merneferre Ay (ruler no. 27), and the emergence of an independent, "Hyksos" kingdom (i.e., Asiatic/Canaanite "Rulers of Foreign Lands") in the delta. It examines the rise of Thebes, and the battles for Egypt's re-unification against the Hyksos (and Nubia/Kerma), plus the reign of Ahmose, early raids into the Levant (Canaan), and other legacies of the Hyksos period (e.g., appearance of horses and chariots; weaponry; and other foreign influences: Minoan frescoes in late 2IP-early Dyn.18 Avaris). REVISED Jan. 29 2021: Some reformatting, editing, new images, and adding selected sources.

On Late Bronze Age pottery the 'reed' is usually a simple but vague floral device and rarely can the actual plant be securely identified. The same is largely true of the Aegean wall paintings ; many aquatic plants look like reeds but very few can be identified positively, mainly because the plant's tuft is never depicted. From this point of view, the only true reeds in Aegean art are depicted on the reed bed wall painting from Xeste 3.

The strong iconographical similarities show that the fine Late Minoan IB 'reed vases' echo or imitate the marshland depicted on similar monumental wall paintings, which were used as prototypes. The precise dating of the wall painting of the reed bed from Akrotiri in the Late Minoan IA period proves the direct influence of monumental painting on pottery and offers a hitherto unknown iconographic model of Aegean art.

Hitit dini inancına göre Boğa, Fırtına Tanrısı Tešup’un simgesi olmuştur. Hititler, dini ritüellerinde Boğa sembolüne sunu yapmışlardır. Boğa motifli rhytonları dini ritüellerinde kullanmışlardır. Özellikle Fırtına Tanrısı ile ilgili ritüellerde, Fırtına Tanrısına boğa kurban etmişlerdir. Bazı ritüellerde Boğa üzerinden atlama hareketini gerçekleştirmişlerdir. Girit dininde de bir boğa kültü bulunmaktadır. Girit halkı dini ritüellerinde kutsama boynuz çiftine sunu yapmışlardır. Knossos Sarayında görüldüğü gibi bazı ritüellerde boğa üzerinden atlama hareketi gerçekleştirmişlerdir. Bu çalışmada Hitit dini ile Girit dini arasındaki benzer noktalar ve bu noktaların kökenleri incelenmiştir.

Abstract
The bull was symbol of Tešup, Storm-God, according to Hittite religion. Hittites made offering to bull symbol on their religious rituals. They used bull shaped rhytons in their rituals. Especially, they sacrified bull for Storm-God in rituals in related to Storm-God. They performed bull-leaping in their some rituals. Crete religion had a cult of bull. Crete public made offering to horns of consecration. They performed bull-leaping in their some ritulas as seen on Knossos Palace. In this paper, it is examined similarities and it’s origins between Hittite and Crete religion.

The focus of this paper is a short solo dance, Gnossienne, choreographed and first performed by the American dancer Ted Shawn in 1919.  Shawn was a significant figure in the early development of modern dance. In 1915, he and Ruth St Denis formed the Denishawn School of Dance.  The Denishawn used an eclectic mix of dance techniques from all over the world in their training, and in their heyday the Denishawn Dancers were America’s leading dance company. Martha Graham, sometimes called the ‘mother of modern dance’, first trained and performed with the Denishawn, as did actress and dancer Louise Brooks.
Shawn kept Gnossienne, which requires a high level of physical bodily control, in his repertoire for over thirty years, and it was then passed down through Shawn’s main protégée, Barton Mumaw to his student Jack Clark. Martha Graham also created her own version of the dance in 1926.
In Shawn’s own words, ‘to music by Eric Satie, I represented a priest of ancient Crete going through a ritual at the altar of the snake goddess’.  Gnossienne was one of a number of Shawn’s solo pieces that placed a male dancer centre stage, itself a comment on the dominance of females in modern dance at this time.
The paper explores the Minoan inspiration behind the dance, both in its imagery and its narrative, situating it within the context of popular knowledge and perceptions of Minoan culture at this time. It also looks at how and where Gnossienne was incorporated into Denishawn performances, placed against the wider backdrop of their range of ‘exotic’ dance themes.

The linking of the wall-painting compositions with specific walls and rooms in the monumental building Xeste 3 demonstrates the close relationship between Theran mural art and architecture, and confirms that the restoration and study of the wall-paintings is articulated equally with knowledge of the architectural idiom of a building and with the iconographic-interpretative interrelation of the wall-paintings themselves as thematic units. These paintings were designed and executed as parts of a composite iconographic code, axis of which are the stages and rituals in the initiation process of Theran adolescents in the Late Bronze Age, and were incorporated in a many-roomed, three-storey building that dominates a conspicuous public-open space, where the “secular” coexists with the “sacred” and the “religious”.
For modern research, some of the scenes in the wall-paintings of Xeste 3 are of limited narrative value or of problematical affinity with others. We suppose that the events “narrated” reproduce images of rituals through the visual personification of defined social roles. The “images” of males and females with discreet characteristics of age, capacity and status, and their iconographic ranking within a dense mesh of reciprocally overlapping symbols, in stereotyped repetition (crocuses, flowers, rocks, swallows, monkeys, colours and  properties of garments, jewellery) appear to visualize customary / ritual cycles which legitimize and endorse the biological and institutional development of members of the community, through rites of passage, ritual or mimetic “feats” and sanctioning eligibility to create a family.
These cycles (of humans, animals, plants, as well as geometric motifs) are examined in association with the peculiar architecture of the building, and a series of issues is discussed, such as the manner of usage of the building and the limitations on access, the constructions and the moveable finds, and the role of light and of water.
The architectural, iconographical and functional study of Xeste 3 places on a new basis the issue of “ritual” and “public / urban” space in the Creto-Mycenaean Aegean, favouring the conclusion of the complementary combination of these two concepts

This paper analyses the interaction between wall paintings, places and spaces (of activity) in the Minoan Neopalatial
and Final Palatial Period on the theoretical basis of a »Pictorial-Space« concept. In the case of the palace
at Knossos there are at least three types of spaces, each distinguished by a specific type of painting: entryways
were frequently decorated with a bull motif, passageways with processions, and in the ›throne room‹ both the
throne and a door in the rearward wall were f lanked by griffins which provided a backdrop for the throne and
created the impression of a kind of ›door of epiphany.‹ The paintings therefore functioned either as an emblem
that made symbolic reference to the ruler for those entering the palace, or, as in the case of the passageway, they
presented idealized depictions of activities that were actually performed in the space in question, or, as in the
case of the throne-room griffins, they lent a complementary layer of meaning to events that took place onsite,
presenting the person who entered the ›throne room‹ and sat on the throne as the epiphany of a divinity.

ABSTRACT: This lecture provides an overview focusing on the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt, but also includes its roots in the Middle Kingdom and aftermath in early Dynasty 18.  The lecture begins with a brief summary of the main trends from the late Middle Kingdom, through various phases in the Second Intermediate Period (2IP), and into early Dynasty 18 (New Kingdom).  The lecture proceeds with an overview of some key rulers, their known activity and monuments, plus international relations, during early Dynasty 13 (spanning 27 rulers' reigns), highlighting both known and newly discovered Dynasty 13 pyramids and related aspects when Egypt remained united and ruled from Itj-towy.  The lecture continues into the Second Intermediate Period, which is examined in three main sections:  In the first section, the "Hyksos" (Asiatics/Canaanites) are examined, looking at their emergence in Middle Kingdom Egypt, their presence and increasing dominance at Avaris (Tell ed-Dab'a), their spreading influence in northeast Egypt (e.g., Tell el-Yahudiyeh), and other details about known Hyksos rulers and their reigns.  The second section shifts to the Dynasty 13 rulers' shift southward to Middle-Upper Egypt, their tombs, monuments, activities, and fluctuating peaceful through hostile relations with the Hyksos, including the fight for independence under Seqenenre Tao II, Kamose, and Ahmose in particular.  The third section moves south to the Kingdom of Kerma (Nubia), which is discussed only briefly (anticipating the next three longer lectures on Kerma and Nubia).  The last part of the lecture deals with the rise of Dynasty 18 (early New Kingdom), a summary of the SIP, and other aspects of this time period in general, such as royal tombs, fittings, and private tombs, mortuary practices and customs.  The lecture provides a series of summary text slides at the end.  UPDATED: Some new slides, especially the recent discovery of King Seneb-Kay at Abydos, his tomb, body, and postulated early SIP dynasty at Abydos. Some new formatting, edits, and a selected bibliography at the end.

Investigating the outskirts of the prehistoric town at Akrotiri, Thera Α rich LC I/LM IA building complex at the site of Raos Ερευνώντας τα περίχωρα της προϊστορικής πόλης του Ακρωτηρίου Θήρας Ένα πλούσιο ΥΚ Ι/ΥΜΙ Α κτιριακό συγκρότημα στη θέση Ραός Το σεμινάριο θα δοθεί στα αγγλικά / The seminar will be in English

Το θέμα της εργασίας είναι η μελέτης της σχέσης της προανακτορικής κεραμικής και των τοιχογραφιών στην Κρήτη. Το τέλος της ΜΜ ΙΙΙ και η αρχή της ΥΜ Ι είναι η περίοδος που η Μινωική τέχνη βρέθηκε στο απόγειο της.
    Η Μινωική τέχνη από τα αφαιρετικά στοιχεία των παλαιοανακτορικών
τοιχογραφιών έφτασε στην μνημειώδη παραστατική ζωγραφική της νεοανακτορικής περιόδου και το ερώτημα είναι αν η προανακτορική αγγειογραφία έπαιξε κάποιο ρόλο σε αυτή την αλλαγή. Μετά από μια σύντομη αναφορά στις προανακτορικές τοιχογραφίες θα γίνει μια παρουσίαση των βασικών μοτίβων του καμαραϊκού ρυθμού και της αποτύπωσης τους στα αγγεία και στις τοιχογραφίες.
    Με αφορμή τρία φυτικά μοτίβα τον κρίνο,τον κρόκο και τον
κισσό θα γίνουν συγκρίσεις με αντίστοιχα μοτίβα τοιχογραφιών.
  Με σύντομο τρόπο θα αναφερθεί και η σχέση της τραχωτής και πλαστικής κεραμικής με τις τοιχογραφίες και ο ρόλος της συστροφικής κίνησης στην μινωική τέχνη.
    Τέλος θα εξεταστούν οι απόψεις σχετικά με την επιρροή της τοιχογραφίας στην κεραμική ή το αντίθετο ή ακόμη την συμμετοχή και άλλων τεχνών.

SUMMARY: Lecture 12 discusses the end of Early Minoan period, the rise of Middle Minoan period, and the emergence of palace centres on Crete. This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt.  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources. REVISED: Feb., 2024: Some new formatting, revised text, images, etc.

Wall paintings are an integral part of Minoan architecture. They have been positioned in relation to the function of the architectural space and must be conceived in relation to the action that took place in this space. Building Xesté 3 in Akrotiri, Thera, is used as an example of Minoan decoration schemata. The architectural spaces are distinguished into passage ways and rooms for other, unspecified activities. According to this spatial distinction a differentiation of mural decoration can be stated: Passageway decoration is characterised by unpainted or abstract backgrounds and approximately life-sized figures which, on the sidewalls, walk into one direction or, on the wall approached by the visitor, hint at some performance before the latter reaches the room of destination. Room decoration is characterised by complex scenes situated in an outdoor setting; instead of reflecting the action within the room they form an appropriate surrounding, in some cases providing the relevant items for the ritual performance. A reconsideration of the Procession Fresco at Knossos questions its previous interpretations and stresses its reading as a passageway decoration.

Εvα από τα πιo εvτυπωσιακά αγγεία πoυ πρoέρχovται από τηv Αγία Ειρήvη είvαι o πιθαμφoρέας αρ. 592 τoυ Μoυσείoυ της Κέας. Ο πιθαμφoρέας διακoσμείται με τρείς γρύπες πoυ απoδίδovται με συvδυασμό μελαvoύ και ερυθρoύ χρώματoς και βρέθηκε σε ΥΚI δάπεδo της Οικίας Α.
H Schofield θεωρεί κυκλαδικό τo αγγείo (Keos III, σελ.45, 111-2). Ο αvoικτόχρωμoς ημι-χovδρoειδής πηλός τoυ δεv αφήvει αμφιβoλία για τηv καταγωγή τoυ από τη Μήλo ή τη Θήρα, τα δύo ηφαιστειoγεvή κυκλαδικά vησιά πoυ διαθέτoυv αυτό τo είδoς τoυ πηλoύ. Επιπλέov στα δύo αυτά vησιά βρίσκεται σε αvάπτυξη κατά τo τέλoς της ΜΚ και κατά τηv ΥΚI περίoδo εικovιστική αγγειoγραφία στηv oπoία χρησιμoπoιείται και η διχρωμη (μελαvό και ερυθρό χρώμα) τεχvική διακόσμησης. Η διάκριση μηλιακoύ και θηραϊκoύ πηλoύ είvαι δύσκoλή και συχvά αδύvατη όχι μόvo με γυμvό oφθαλμό αλλά και με εργαστηριακές αvαλύσεις. Επoμέvως, στηv περαιτέρω διευκρίvιση τoυ τόπoυ καταγωγής τoυ πιθαμφoρέα oδηγεί κυρίως η εξέταση τωv μoρφoλoγικώv χαρακτηριστικώv τoυ.
Οι ιδιαίτερoι δεσμoί πoυ παρoυσιάζει τo αγγείo της Κέας με θηραϊκά αγγεία ως πρoς τo σχήμα και τη διακόσμηση και με θηραϊκές τoιχoγραφίες ως πρoς τη διακόσμηση υπoδεικvύoυv ότι τo καλλιτεχvικό περιβάλλov τoυ Ακρωτηρίoυ ήταv oικείo στoυς δημιoυργoύς τoυ - κεραμέα και αγγειoγράφo - και συvηγoρoύv ισχυρά για τηv κατασκευή τoυ σε θηραϊκό κεραμεικό εργαστήριo. Τηv άπoψη αυτή εvισχύει η πρόσφατη εύρεση (μετά τo Συvέδριo της Κέας) μεγάλoυ τμήματoς αγγείoυ στo Ακρωτήρι της Θήρας (σε πρώϊμo ΥΚI στρώμα), τo oπoίo παρoυσιάζει μεγάλη oμoιότητα ως πρoς τo σχήμα, τo μέγεθoς και κυρίως τη διακόσμηση με τov πιθαμφoρέα της Κέας. Εικovίζει γρύπες παρόμoιoυς σχεδιαστικά και χρωματικά με εκείvoυς τoυ κείoυ αγγείoυ.
Οι σχέσεις Θήρας και Κέας κατά τηv ΥΚI περίoδo έχoυv και παλαιότερα σχoλιαστεί κυρίως μέσα στα πλαίσια τoυ δικτύoυ επικoιvωvίας πoυ συvδέει τηv Κρήτη, τις δυτικές Κυκλάδες και τηv Ηπειρωτική Ελλάδα, γvωστoύ ως "Western String". Η καταγωγή τoυ Πιθαμφoρέα τωv Γρυπώv από τη Θήρα εvισχύει τις απόψεις για τις σχέσεις αvάμεσα στα δύo vησιά. Η διαπίστωση μάλιστα εισαγωγής εγχώριας θηραϊκής κεραμεικής στηv Κέα μπoρεί vα απoτελέσει τo έvαυσμα για τη λεπτoμερέστερη εξέταση και βαθύτερη καταvόηση τωv σχέσεωv αυτώv.

Present archaeological research acknowledges the possibility to view globalisation as a phenomenon that occurred in the Bronze Age as well, stretching from the eastern Atlantic to the western Pacific, an unravelling that is coined bronzization. In essence, it expresses the idea of weirdness of peoples of the age and the directional and non-directional flow of ideas and goods, all facilitated by a transculture, what is bronze. The tangible and intangible transported through these flows are adapted and entangled into the local, a phenomenon which is termed glocalisation, that gave birth to slightly varied, but nevertheless genetically related products.
The present paper explores glocalisations of human-nature relations in Bronze Age ritual social milieus of the Aegean and Eastern Carpathian Basin (ECB). Ritual is outlined as performative utterance and enacted social memory which if interpreted through a phenomenological prism elucidates the locally entangled agencies of nature. Moreover, landscape archaeology is employed to explore phenomenological extents of glocalised rituals. The impact of a cascading nature over human senses and perceptions is underscored through definitions of meadow- and sylvanscapes, both viewed as essential background against which rituals are performed and that trigger enactments of social memory.
Ritual meadowscapes of the Aegean are recognised in sacred ‘gardens’ of the elites, information about which is conveyed to us mostly through visual (frescoes, glyptic, pottery) and written (Linear B) media that is exemplified through well-known finds. Evidence in the archaeological record for these is sought in archaeobotany, especially for flowers and trees, while palaeobotany is employed to understand how and when the human-nature relation represented by ‘gardens’ is born, that is to say is glocalised in the Aegean. Furthermore, a glocalisation of the same relation in the ECB is recognised through funerary sylvanscapes. The materialisation of ritual in this latter region is seen in the funerary aspects of daily life, since these do not end with the interment of the deceased, but continue on with the periodical visit of the burial ground by a distinct group of individuals to enact social memory tied to the location and past individuals. The recognition of Bronze Age woodlands is owed to the landscape approach to funerary aspects of the ECB. Through the successful combination of palaeobotany, paleozoology, geomorphology, hydrology and lithology in a GIS system archeco-zones are defined, which in the case of a specific sub archeco-zone allowed for the clear association of woodlands with a distinct set of burials. Intimacy of woodlands opposed to the wild woods must have been an imperative for the Bronze Age people, since revisiting hostile environments for enactment of rituals or even disposal of the loved ones is unimaginable.
The paper argues for two Bronze Age glocalisations of human-nature relations, which are recognisable through landscape archaeology approaches and a phenomenological mind set. It proposes two distinct methodologies, one rooted in classical archaeology and only partially in natural sciences, while the other relies heavily on data and tools from the latter scientific fields. Ultimately, both illustrate how Bronze Age people relate through all of their senses and perceptions to their environment and nature, but also how these are major factors in the choice of place, time and people for performative utterances and enactments of social memory. Lastly, the study demonstrates that similar ideas are in circulation in the same time over larger areas and their local adaptations give birth to the nuanced facets of what we call the Bronze Age world.