ARCH0420Lec9 Trojan War&Interconnections (1)

7/31/2019 ARCH0420Lec9 Trojan War&Interconnections (1)

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ARCH 0420 ARCHAEOLOGIES OF THE GREEK PAST

The TROJAN WAR and

LATE BRONZE AGE INTERCONNECTIONS


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Map showing sites with evidence for Mycenaean presence/influencein Western Anatolia

Mycenaeans in Anatolia: the AhhiyawaDebate


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The Hittite Empire c. 1300 BCE: Mycenaean presence in Western Anatolia

brought them into contact (and probably conflict) with the Hittite Empire, one of thegreat powers of the Late Bronze Age.



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Hittite texts have been found that refer to land of Ahhiyawa.

Ever since the 1920s, some scholars have tried to identify AhhiyawaasHomeric Achaia (the Achaeans is a literary term for the Mycenaeans), it

polarized the academic community as it still does today.



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Possible Locations of Ahhiyawa

by scholars who support Ahhiyawa= Mycenaeans



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left = depiction of warrior on ceramic

bowl from Hattusha/Bogazky (late15th/early 14th c. BCE). Is this aHittite depiction of a Mycenaeanwarrior?


right = Mycenaean boars tuskhelmet, National ArchaeologicalMuseum, Athens


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Mycenaeans in Anatolia: the Historicity of the Trojan War

Is there any evidence that the Trojan War actually occurred??

M i A t li th Hi t i it f th T j W


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Homers Iliadwas probably written some time around 700 BCE based on an oraltradition that may have come down from the Late Bronze Age. Although the epic

describes events from the Late Bronze Age, how much is it a reflection of Homersown Iron Age society.



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Heinrich Schliemann excavates Hisarlik/Troy 1870s 1890s


The SchliemannTrench at Hisarlik


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Hisarlik/Troy is strategically located on the NW coast of Anatolia, on apromontory near what was a shallow bay during the Bronze Age


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Troy: Schliemann and subsequent excavators, including Carl Blegen (1932-38)

and Manfred Korfmann (since 1990), recovered the remains of severalsuperimposed settlements from the Early Bronze Age through Roman periods.

Early Bronze

Middle-Late Bronze

Late BronzeHellenistic-Roman


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Troy VI: plan of heavily-fortified citadel (4 m thick x 9 m high stone and mudbrickwalls w. towers). Houses in citadel were large with no uniform plan; likely 2-storey;lots of evidence for storage on ground floor (living quarters likely upstairs).Remains of the Main Gate (VI-T) are shown in photo.


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Results of magnetic survey indicate what was likely an extensive Late Bronze Age

lower city surrounded by a ditch/palisade ring of defenses (red arrow) extending c.450 m out from the citadel.


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Troy VI h was destroyed by a massive earthquake


Troy VIIa was built on the remains of Troy VI h. Note the more irregular plan andsmaller, more crowded houses, likely indicating higher population density within thecitadel. This level was destroyed by fire c. 1220-1180 BCE. Many scholarssuggest that this may be the Homeric Troy.


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Significant differences of opinion exist between the current excavators, led byManfred Korfmann, and his colleague from Tbingen, Frank Kolb:

Manfred Korfmann, and other groups of reputable scholars who have examinedevidence argue that Late Bronze Age Troy:

had a citadel and lower city appropriate to the capital of a significant regionalpower in W. Anatolia (survey and magnetic prospection; survey on Troadindicates Troy was by far the largest site; at top of settlement hierarchy) is most likely Wilusareferred to Hittite documents played a pivotal role in trading networks (some 20 Bronze Age seals foundfrom Troy VI and VII; evidence for contacts between Mediterranean and BlackSea)

Frank Kolb takes a minimalist view, arguing that Troy VI and VIIa wereshabby little settlements and cannotclaim to be called a city.

Troy played insignificant role in LBA trade definitely not a commercial city not convinced of existence of Lower City

M i A li h Hi i i f h T j W


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Scene of the city of Troy from the motionpicture Troy(2004)

T d d I t ti i th L t B A


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Trade and Interconnections in the Late Bronze Age

Map of the eastern Mediterranean



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World systemis a concept developed by sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein inthe 1970s, based on modern capitalist societies. A world system is anyhistorical social system of interdependent parts that form a bounded structureand operate according to distinct rules, or "a unit with a single division of labor

and multiple cultural systems" (1974a: 390).

A number of scholars have used the term to describe the situation in whichpolities of the eastern Mediterranean became increasingly integrated duringthe LBA, sharing a common economic system based on palace economies,yet retaining their own distinctive cultures.



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Tell el-Amarna: capital city ofAkhenaten (Amenhotep IV). Locationof the Archives or Records Office

where the Amarna Letters were foundis shown.



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The Amarna Letters are royal diplomatic correspondences spanning thereigns of (left to right) Amenhotep III, Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV),Tutankhamen, and Smenkhare (not shown), c. 1350 1325 BC. The letters,written in Akkadian, attest to an important state-level gift-exchange among

the powerful LBA rulers of the eastern Mediterranean.



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Syrian merchant ships are

unloaded at an Egyptian port.

Freelance (orcommercial/mercantile)middlemen may haveconducted the bulk of

economic trade.

These merchants may havebeen from outside the stateelite structure and may havebeen hired or bought to act

as agents between elitesand/or centres. They likelyprovided ships, shipping andmaritime expertise.



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Precious metals were exchanged by weight and served to balanceexchanges in the LBA. They could be transported as finished luxury goods or

in ingot form.

Silver ingots from Pyla-Kokkinokremos, Cyprus Gold pectorals fromEnkomi, Cyprus



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Copper Oxhide Ingot from Enkomi made to a standardized weight of c. 30 kg



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Lead Isotope analysis of copper ingots from Ulu Burun shipwreck. The ingotshave the fingerprint of Cypriot copper.



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LH IIIB Minoan stirrup jars from Cape Iria shipwreck. The narrow openingsuggests that they were used to ship precious liquids, probably oil. There was agreat deal of movement of organic exotic goods (and products derived from them),including fruits (wine, beverages), vegetables (olive, vegetable oils), grains (beer),plants and trees (drugs, timber, resins, spices), and animal or fish products (leather,

fat, oil, honey, wax). Additional labour inputs added value (often called value-added goods), e.g. using oils and resins to make perfume.



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Pottery was more than simply a shipping container,and was often traded for its own sake. (left)Mycenaean kraters; (above) Cypriot White Slipvessels.



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Map showing the location of the Ulu Burun (Kas) shipwreck, c. 1320 BC.



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Reconstruction of the Ulu Burun (Kas) ship, c. 1320 BC. The ships cargocontained objects from Egypt, the Levant, Africa, Greece and the Aegean, Cyprusand Sardinia and demonstrates the truly international nature of LBA exchange. It

likely represents a mix of state level and commercial trade.



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Ulu Burun (Kas) shipwreck: divers excavate the ships cargo. Copper oxhideingots can be seen on the left (354 recovered); on the right a Cypriot-stylestone anchor.



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Ulu Burun (Kas) shipwreck: the pithosin the upper right contained a number

of Cypriot ceramic vessels.



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Ulu Burun (Kas) shipwreck: (left) Cypriot ceramic wall bracket; (right)wooden diptych that may have been the ships logbook.



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Material goods are an essential part of cultural structures of meaningand symbolism, which can be used in social strategies of recruitmentand exclusion and so form an important component of social change.

Items such as fine metalwork or perfumes are not just luxuries, butembody concepts of value and purity which have power which is morethan just a consequence of their relative scarcity.

(Andrew Sherratt & Susan Sherratt 1991. Bronze Age Trade in theMediterranean, p. 354)



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Egyptian papyrus fragments from Tell el-Amarna depicting possiblyMycenaean soldiers (mercenaries?) in the service of the Egyptian army.



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Fresco fragment (left) and reconstruction (right) from a large palace-likestructure at Tell el-Daba (ancient Avaris), Egypt. The fragments depict Aegean-style motifs (c. 17th c. BC). Some scholars suggest that this was created byMinoan artisans; other argue that it was merely influenced by Minoan frescostyles. This might indicate the presence of a powerful Minoan merchant(s) livingin Egypt.



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Minoan-style fresco fragments from Tell ed-Daba (ancient Avaris), Egypt.(left) bull-leaper (right) acrobat



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(left) New Kingdom Egyptian wall paintings from some private tombs in Thebesshow men from Keftiubringing gifts to the pharaoh. Keftiuis generally regardedas being Crete.



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ade a d te co ect o s t e ate o e ge

After c. 1400 BCE, the so-called international style emerged with a sharediconography that was universally recognized among eastern Mediterranean elites

and used on items across many media. It shows a hybridizationof Egyptian, NearEastern, Cypriot, and Aegean design elements.

Ingot Bearer figure from bronzestand (Cypriot)

Ivory mirror handle from Kouklia, CyprusFaience rhyton from Kition, Cyprus



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Cypriot bronze carts decorated with sphinxes, the tree of life and ingotbearers in the international style.



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The intensified interconnections of elites after c. 1400 BCE meant thatthe biography of particular exotic items became an important part of

their value.

Egyptian New Kingdom scarab

Gold ring w. cartouche of Tuthmosis IIIFrom Ayios Iakovos, Cyprus

Egyptian Blue sceptre head with

cartouche of pharaoh Horemheb.From Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus



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A Babylonian cylinder seal (made of haematite) re-used in a Cypriot goldnecklace. Some items were valuable for their biographies



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(left) Likely LBA trade routes (Cline 1994).(right) Visibility of shore: sea-going vessels in the LBA generally tried to stay

within sight of the mainland

The End of the Late Bronze Age


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The LBA World System: In and around 1200 BCE the highly-centralized palaceeconomies that make up this system collapse. The causes of this are not well

understood, although the raids and migrations of the Sea Peoples are thought bymany to have played an important role.

The End of the Late Bronze Age


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The Collapse of Mycenaean Civilization: Period of instability in 13th century BCE.

Around 1200 BCE there is widespread destruction at many sites Mycenaean sites.Several are abandoned (e.g., Pylos), while others continue to be occupied forvarious lengths of time (e.g., Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Athens), but palaces are nolonger used and palatial administration has completely collapsed.

Causes: foreign attack/invasion? Internal strife? Natural/ecological disasters?

Citadel at Mycenae

End of the Bronze Age The Sea Peoples


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Depictions of the Sea Peoples from

Medinet Habu, the funerary temple ofRamesses III. They have what is generallyassumed to be Aegean clothing andweapons. It is possible that some of the SeaPeoples were refugees from the collapse ofthe Mycenaean palaces.


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Map of LBA sites destroyed in the

Catastrophe of the late 13th

/early12th centuries BCE

(R. Drews 1993)

ARCH0420Lec9 Trojan War&Interconnections (1)

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