Imagine an ancient city over 3500 years in age. Would a place like this still be capable of holding a story of the past? Does it tell of some kind of legend, perhaps? When researching such a place, death and the past people of that civilization seem to be the researchers first and greatest wonder.
What have people in today's day in age found out about these astonishing people of the past? Are we able to tell what the people of this kind were like, just because we found a few bones and a couple of carvings? The death of the Mycanae civilization and how this death was dealt with, tells a great deal to our society of modern day.
"The material evidence of death, in the form of graves, tombs, and funeral goods, .
has long been the focal point of the various teams of archaeologists who have .
excavated at the site from the third quarter of the nineteenth century up until the .
present." (Harper 52).
Had it not been for these material evidences of death, the Mycenaen civilization would not be as well of a known past as it is today. In research, archaelogists have found shaft and tholos tombs of the Mycenae. Tholos tombs (see figures 1, 2) were used only for those of high authority, whereas shaft tombs were for the modern man of their day. These requirements toward the deceased were very common during this time. There were no exceptions. A common man was givin a shaft that had been dug into the ground. This area would soon contain his body and several gifts (placed there due to rituals). Once full, it was to be filled back over with dirt. A man of higher powers was honored with the tholos tomb, a tomb much greater in size and more so like that of a monument. These contained a vault (usually 50 feet in diameter), consisting of huge rooms (possibly for rituals of some sort), large doors, and a smaller side room (where burials could take place).
Mycenaean Many similarities and differences exist between the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. ... The Mycenaean government was very similar to that of the Minoans. ... The Mycenaean's used their skills in warfare to protect the land they occupied. ... Religion was not as important to the Minoans as it was the Mycenaean's. ... Wealthy Mycenaean people had special tombs built for them. ...
Also, there is the simple fact that each pharaoh's tomb was laden with things he was to take with him to the next life. Literally all of his possessions, even carvings meant to act as servants, were placed in the tomb. ... The lyre was used in ceremonies and was eventually buried in the king's tomb, proving its importance. ... But possibly none found were greater than King Tut's tomb. ... AEGEAN AND MYCENAEAN Two of the myths that everyone knows are the myth of the Minotaur and the myth of the Trojan War. ...
Each Egyptian ruler was obsessed with constructing a tomb for himself more impressive and longer lasting than that of his predecessors. ... However beneath the Cheops pyramid, a false tomb chamber was built to confuse thieves that would try to steal the tombs treasures. ... As tombs, they represent the life after death available to the king as living god. ... The great monuments of Mycenaean architecture were all built between 1400 and 1200 B.C. ... The great achievements of the Mycenaean Civilization, the palaces with their elaborate fresco decoration, the monumental fortified citadels...
1. Cuneiform - Cuneiform is defined as a system of writing developed by the Sumerians that consisted of wedge-shaped impressions made by a reed stylus on clay tablets. The earliest use of cuneiform writing dates back to early Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C.E. Sumerian writing ranged from concrete objec...
Body modification and adornment is a universal culture. All civilizations have attempted to change their body in order to fulfill their cultural construct of beauty, religious and/or social obligations. Body adornment and modification is a very broad subject, ranging from ceremonial body paint to th...
Tombs were decorated with depictions of the deceased at his funerary meal, activities of the estate and countryside, and the anything necessary to sustain the spirit. ... During this period, the Greeks built a temple (to house the gods) with plans derived from the megaron found in Mycenaean palaces, embellishing it with an exterior colonnade. ...
Rock-Cut Tombs (Beni Hasan, Egypt) 90 66 Cliff walls hollowed out to reveal small burial chambers. ... VOCABULARY Amarna style: Art created during the reign of Akhenaton, which features a more relaxed figure style than in Old and Middle Kingdom art Engaged column: a column that is not freestanding but attached to a wall Hieroglyphics: Egyptian writing using symbols or pictures as characters Hypostyle: a hall in an Egyptian temple that has a roof supported by a dense thicket of columns In situ: a Latin expression that means that something is in its original location Ka: the soul, or spiritual e...
