The document provides an overview of the three ancient Aegean cultures - the Cycladics, Minoans, and Mycenaeans. It discusses their geographic locations, time periods of prominence, and artistic achievements. The Cycladics inhabited the Cyclades Islands and produced marble figurines. The Minoan civilization was based on Crete and reached its peak around 1700-1500 BCE, evidenced by their elaborate palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, and Malia. The Minoans excelled in pottery, frescoes, and international trade. The Mycenaeans inhabited mainland Greece and were influenced by Minoan and Cycladic cultures.

1. The Art Of The Ancient Aegean
The Cycladics, Minoans, & Mycenaeans
IntroductionTo Art History I
ProfessorWill Adams

2. The Ancient Aegean

3. The Ancient Aegean
 The ancient Aegean world
was comprised of three
distinct geographic
cultures:
1. The Cycladics: Based on
the Cyclades Islands at
the mouth of the Aegean
Sea.
2. The Minoans: Based on
the large island of Crete.
3. The Mycenaeans: Based
on mainland Greece’s
Peloponnesian
peninsula.
1
2
3

4. The Prehistoric Aegean
 The three civilizations that flourished here 5000 - 3000 years ago were
the direct forerunners of the first true European civilization of Greece.
 Geographically, the Cyclades Islands, the Island of Crete and the
region of Mycenae (on mainlandGreece) comprise the region of the
Aegean.
 Populations first settled in the region during the lower Paleolithic and
established village life during the early Neolithic period.
 The region reached its peak during the 2nd millennium BCE.
 The three cultures were dominated by the sea, that allowed them to
develop with a wealthy trade economy, and acted as a natural defense
against their enemies.
 Additionally, the area is rich in marble, a material put to great use by
Aegean artists.

5. The Cycladic Culture

6. The Cycladic Culture
 The Cyclades are islands in
the south Aegean circling the
island of Delos.
 During the Early Bronze Age
(c. 3200-2100 B.C.E.) pottery,
marble, and metal goods
were produced there that
wound up in grave sites.
 Among these are the marble
female figurines that
inspired 20th century artists.
 Later in the Bronze Age, the
Cyclades showed influence
from Minoan and Mycenaean
cultures.

7. Cycladic Art
STANDING FEMALE FIGURE
C. 2700 BCE
MARBLE
 Figurines of this type have been
found almost exclusively in tombs.
 Although it was first believed that
these so-called "idols" represent
deities, they probably should be
interpreted more broadly as
representations of "femaleness."
 The geometric shapes, the position of
the arms across the abdomen, and
the close-set legs with dangling feet
are distinctive and may appear
strikingly modern to the viewer
today.

8. Cycladic Art
 The meaning and function of
Cycladic figurines is a kind of an
enigma.
 The majority of Cycladic figurines
come from graves.
 This has led many scholars to
associate them with funerary
rituals, although the theories
proposed vary considerably.
 Although each of those
interpretations may carry seeds of
truth, there is a general consensus
that that the nudity of the figurines
and the emphatic rendering of the
breast and the pubic triangle refer
directly to the idea of fertility.

9. Cycladic Art
MALE LYRE PLAYER
C. 2700 BCE
MARBLE
 The islands of Naxos, Paros & Keros
were renowned for their figurines.
 Their sizes range from a few inches to
almost life-size.
 In style, they are strikingly abstract,
utilizing geometric shapes & flat
planes to render the human body in a
schematized manner
 Although austere today, figurines
were originally painted in bright
colors, probably in order to give the
figurines individual identities.

10. Cycladic Art
The Male Lyre Player
was found on the island
of Keros, Greece.
It measures
approximately 9" tall.
Although the meaning
of this statue is
unknown, the musician
is thought to have been
playing for the deceased
in the afterlife.

11. The Minoan Culture

12. The Minoan Culture
 The story of European civilization
really begins on the island of Crete
with a civilization that probably
thought of itself as Asian (in fact,
Crete is closer to Asia than it is to
Europe).
 Around 1700 BCE, a highly
sophisticated culture grew up
around palace centers on Crete:
the Minoans.
 The Minoans produced a
civilization oriented around trade
and bureaucracy with little or no
evidence of a military state.

13. The Minoan Culture
 They built perhaps the
single most efficient
bureaucracy in antiquity.
 This unique culture, of
course, lasted only a few
centuries, and European
civilization shifts to
Europe itself with the
foundation of the
military city-states on
the mainland of Greece.

14. Minoan Homeland: Crete
 On the island, the climate is
comfortable and the soil fertile; as an
island, it was isolated from the
mainland of Asia Minor, the Middle
East, and Egypt.
 Being an island, resources were limited.
 As the population began to thrive, it
also began to increase, and it is evident
that the resources of the island became
increasingly insufficient to handle the
increased population, so the Cretans
improvised.
 Some migrated, populating other
islands in the Aegean Sea likeThera
(modern day Santorini, Greece).

15. Minoan Migration & Trade
 In doing so, they took their
growing civilization with them
and spread Minoan culture,
religion, and government all
over the Aegean Sea.
 For this reason, the Minoan
culture is also called the
"Aegean Palace civilization."
 But the Cretans who remained
turned to other economic
pursuits to support the
growing population; in
particular, they turned to
trade.

16. Minoan Migration & Trade
 Crete became the central
exporter of wine, oil,
jewelry, and highly crafted
works.
 In turn, they became
importers of raw materials
and food.
 In the process they built
the first major navy in the
world; its primary
purpose, however, was
mercantile not military.

17. Minoan Timeline: First Palace Period: 2200 - 1700 BCE
 In this period, political power
began to be centered around
kings.
 As a result, the first large
palace centers came into
being.
 So far, excavation has
revealed four large palaces
on Crete at Knossos,
Phaistos, Malia, and Zakros.
 The buildings are arranged
around a central court and
have fine facades of closely
fitted stone blocks with
monumental entrances.

18. Minoan Time Line: First Palace Period: 2200 - 1700 BCE
Inside, they are multi-
storied and have
workshops, storage
magazines and sacred
rooms.
The palaces’
workshops are also
known for producing
fine wares during this
period.

19. The First Palace Period: The Palace At Phaistos: C. 1700 Bce
 Phaistos is Minoan palace site
situated on a hill with a
commanding view of the
Mesara Plain to the south and
west.
 It is in the fertile Mesara valley
that is surrounded by mountain
ranges and the plain extends
south.
 During Minoan times, Phaistos
was a very important city-state,
being the second largest city
after Knossos.

20. The First Palace Period: The Palace At Phaistos: C. 1700 Bce

21. Phaistos In Mythology
 According to mythology,
Phaistos was the seat of King
Radamanthis, brother of King
Minos.
 The city also participated in the
Trojan War and was an important
city-state in the Dorian period.
 Phaistos continued to flourish
during Archaic, Classical and
Hellenistic times, but was
destroyed by the Gortians during
the 3rd century BCE.

22. The First Palace Period: The Palace At Phaistos: C. 1700 BCE
 The Old Palace was built on the site at the beginning of
the second millennium, c. 1900 - 1700 BCE.
 Twice it was severely damaged by earthquakes and
rebuilt so three distinct phases are visible to
archaeologists.
 It is believed that the first two phases of the Old Palace of
Phaistos constitute the oldest Palatial buildings in Crete.
 Other finds at the site include thousands of seal
impressions and some tablets containing the oldest form
of written European language: Linear A script.
 Linear A has so far defied all attempts at decipherment.

23. The Palace At Phaistos: The Second Palace
 When the Old Palace was finally
destroyed, almost certainly by an
earthquake, a new palace was
built on the site.
 Fortunately for us, the builders of
the new palace did not destroy all
traces of the old.
 Some of the old palace can still be
seen, especially in the north-east
corner, but much of the Old
Palace remains are accessible
only to the experts.

24. The Palace At Phaistos: The Magazine Area
 At Phaistos, the magazine
(storage area) consisted of
ten rooms, five on each
side, opening onto an
east-west corridor.
 At its east end, it opened
out into a two-columned
hall with a portico facing
the Central Court.
 One storage room remains
intact with a number of
pithoi (storage vessels)
inside.

25. The Palace At Phaistos: The Central Courtyard

26. The Palace At Phaistos: The King’s Megaron (Throne Room)

27. The Palace At Phaistos: The Queen’s Megaron (Throne Room)

28. The Palace At Phaistos: The Theater Space
 From the Upper West Court, a staircase
leads to the theatre area, with its eight
rows of seats, each one 22 meters long
on the Lower West Court.
 On the north side of the theatre there is
a retaining wall for the Upper Court and
below this, the tiered seats overlooking
the Lower West Court.
 The court is traversed diagonally by a
raised causeway.
 On the east side of the causeway are six
circular pits.
 These are thought to have been for
grain storage.

29. First Palace Period: Pottery & Workshops
 The gorgeous Kamaresware
pottery dates to this period
and the style is named after
the cave of Kamares where it
was first discovered.
 Kamaresware is pottery with
polychrome motifs of
rosettes, spirals and
hatching vibrantly painted
on a shiny black background,
and was produced in a
variety of vase shapes.

30. First Palace Period: Pottery & Workshops
 The workshops also
produced fine vases and
vessels of stone and
faience; seal stones of
precious or semi-precious
stones, with hieroglyphics
& dynamic natural scenes;
elegant weapons and
tools; vessels of bronze or
silver; jewelry of
marvelous technique, as
well as miniature
sculptures.

31. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE
 Magnificent new palaces
were built upon the ruins of
the old ones.
 The cities around them
expanded.
 Many lords in rural villas
controlled areas in the same
way as the feudal lords of
the Middle Ages.
 Their ships carried both the
products of Minoan and
other societies throughout
the Aegean and Eastern
Mediterranean to trade.

32. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE
 The new palaces were multistoried
and more complex.
 They had great courtyards with
grand porticoes, broad staircases,
processional paths and
monumental entrances.
 Many rooms could be opened for
air circulation and sunlight to
enter via pier and door partitions,
making the rooms quite bright and
pleasant in the summer.
 Benches and thrones were found
in royal rooms.

33. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE
 There were many interior light wells to allow light in through all levels of
the palace via the roof.
 Bathrooms and water supply and drainage systems allowed for a easier
style of life.
 Sections of the palaces were royal quarters, sacred areas (pillar crypts,
tripartite shrines), audience and banquet halls.
 Large areas of these palaces were set aside as storage areas
(magazines), and workshops also existed within the palaces.
 Wonderful fresco paintings decorated the walls with fresh, lively scenes
in an array of colors.
 Gypsum was a common building material used for wall siding and floors.
 The Marine Style of pottery developed with flowing elements
including stylized octopuses and seaweed.

34. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE
 The Floral Style also developed,
which featured inventive plants and
open flowers.
 Frescos depicted landscapes with
animals along with scenes from
religious and social life.
 Bull jumping and other festivities
were shown on the frescos.
 Faience work, decorative plaques,
figurines such as the snake
goddesses, royal gaming boards, and
detailed gold and silver jewelry and
vessels were produced in the
workshops of the day.
 Some very fine bronze work was
achieved during this period.

35. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE

36. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE
 When Sir Arthur Evans began his excavation of Knossos, he
uncovered one of the richest finds in all of modern archaeology.
 Although he was not the first to excavate at the site, it was to
be Evans who uncovered the Knossos Palace and brought to
light a hitherto unknown civilization.
 The basic excavation of the site took four years and for the rest
of his life Evans continued working on the site, reconstructing
and building, often in an attempt to preserve the remains from
the weather to which they had been exposed for the first time in
3,500 years.
 The palace’s first occupation lasted 1900 - 1700 BCE
 Following an earthquake in 1700 BCE, then repaired and
reoccupied until around 1500 BCE.

37. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE

38. The Palace at Knossos: The Grand Staircase
Horns of consecration
atop the palace walls.

39. The Palace at Knossos: The Bull Chamber
Immediately south of
the North Pillar Hall is
the Bull Chamber, which
was on the same level as
the Central Court.
It was here that the Bull
Relief Fresco was found.
Opposite this chamber
there would originally
have been another, also
decorated with a fresco.

40. The Palace at Knossos: The Central Court

41. The Palace at Knossos: The Dolphin Sanctuary
 Near the Hall of the Double
Axes is the Dolphin Sanctuary,
which Evans assigned as the
Queen's Apartment (Megaron).
 The area takes its name from a
Dolphin Fresco which was
found here in pieces, although
it probably fell from the floor
above during the destruction of
the palace.
 A replica of the fresco now
adorns the north wall.

42. The Palace at Knossos: The Throne Room
 On the West Side of the Palace is
one of the most famous of rooms
unearthed by Evans:TheThrone
Room.
 With its low ceiling and lack of
windows it was separated from the
Central Court by an anteroom.
 The throne is placed along a side
wall facing across the room. On
either side of the throne there are
stone benches and, in front of the
throne, a stone basin.
 Its walls are decorated with
pastoral frescoes of the Cretan
countryside.

43. The Palace at Knossos: The Minoan Column’s Design
 Wooden Minoan columns were
created from felled tree trunks, and
thus tapered from top to bottom, the
opposite of later Greek columns.
 This allowed them to bear the
immense load of multiple stories
without buckling.
 It is thought the Minoan need for
timber actually deforested the
majority of ancient Crete.
 Minoan columns also had bulbous
capitals rather than square or scroll-
shaped capitals to aide in displacing
the structural load.

44. The Palace at Knossos: The Frescoes of Crete
 The type of painting that decorates the
walls of Knossos is referred to as fresco
(meaning “fresh” in Italian).
 When the walls were constructed, they
were covered with a smooth layer of
plaster.
 To create the frescoes, pigments were
mixed with water (the vehicle), and lime (a
drying or curing agent).
 Next, the pigment mixture would be
applied to the still-damp plaster wall.
 As a result, the pigment was absorbed into
the wall as it dried, creating an incredibly
durable image.
 This is now referred to as buon fresco
(“true fresco”) technique, as opposed to
applying pigment to an already-dry wall
(fresco secco).

45. Minoan Religion
 The Minoans gave thanks for their beautiful land by worshipping a small
number of gods and goddesses; their main deities represented the male and
female aspects of life.
 They worshipped them on mountains, in temples on the ground and in caves.
It was believed that gods and goddesses could live in tress and columns
because these linked the earth and the heavens.
 The Goddesses:
 The main deity is still the Mother Goddess, who is portrayed in different
forms such as the Snake Goddess.
 The Bull was also worshipped as a powerful symbol of male fertility beside
her.
 Deities were worshipped in sanctuaries of the palaces, various dwellings, the
peak sanctuaries, and in sacred caves.

46. Minoan Religion: The Snake Goddess: c. 1600 BCE
 The Snake Goddess’s representation as
a ceremonial leader in Minoan religion
may indicate that Minoan culture was
matriarchal.
 The Goddess was created using the
faience technique, in which beach sand
is low-fired to create am opaque glass-
like silicate.
 Additionally, she may be a fertility
figure, as the emphasis on her bare
chest indicates.
 It isn’t clear whether she represents a
priestess or a goddess, as figures easily
identifiable as gods or goddesses are
not found in Minoan cities
 The snakes she grasps are associated
with both female and earthly fertility,
not evil.

47. Minoan Religion: The Symbolism of the Bull
 The male aspect of life was represented by the bull.
 The bull figure is found in many pictures of Minoan life.
 The angry beast which lived in the labyrinth beneath the palace of Knossos,
the Minotaur, had the body of a man and the head of a bull.
 Bull's horns – called horns of consecration - are found as decorations in many
parts of palace ruins and on vases, seals and ornaments.
 Little model bulls were placed between the stalactites in caves as offerings to
the gods; many stayed there for over 3000 years before they were discovered.
 Bulls may have been sacrificed in some religious ceremonies.
 Blood would have been collected in vessels called rhytons.
 In a libation ceremony the blood would have been poured over columns or
into caves.
 This represented a releasing of the bull's energy.

48. Minoan Religion: The Bull-Leaping Fresco: c. 1450 BCE

49. Minoan Religion: The Bull-Leaping Fresco: c. 1450 BCE
 This controversial fresco of bull-leapers
comes from Knossos.
 It is generally thought that, imported
from the Egyptian tradition, the pale
figures are women and the dark figure is
male.
 Usually referred to as "bull jumping,"
the event appears to have involved
grasping the bull by the horns and then
flipping backwards over the animal,
landing behind it.
 This would have been a very dangerous
undertaking and, if the full were indeed
a sacred animal in Crete, would have
had religious significance.
 The placement of the people may show
either three stages of the bull-leaping, or
the women as attendants while the male
alone leaps over the bull.
 It is thought that both men and women
participated in the contests, perhaps to
show their worthiness as aristocrats.
 It has also been argued that the white
figures are boys before initiation and that
there is no gender implied in the basic form:
hourglass body, slim waist, round hips, and
broad shoulders; details like color, hair,
jewelry and costume providing the
gendering details.
 Additionally, the bull was probably offered
as a sacrifice after the bull-leaping contest.

50. Minoan Timeline: Second Palace Period: 1700 - 1500 BCE
 The still-undeciphered Linear A
written language was now in use.
 There are about 200 surviving texts
on clay tablets, that apparently deal
with accounting and inventory
information.
 The tablets come from the archives
of palaces such as Knossos or villas
and were preserved by firing in the
fires that destroyed the palaces.
 The Phaistos Disk, with its unique
hieroglyphic text, belongs to the
Second Palace Period.

51. Discovery Channel’s Look At The Palace At Knossos

52. Minoan Writing
 Three types of picture writing have
been discovered in ancient Crete.
 Unfortunately, the writings have
told us very little about the Minoan
way of life.
 Linear A: This type of writing has
been found in many places in Crete.
Most examples are scratched on
clay tablets but there are some
samples engraved on metal.
 In order to be able to translate
Linear A we will probably have to
find a bilingual text.

53. Minoan Writing
 Linear B: Linear B has been
found at one site only in Crete;
this was at the palace at
Knossos.
 It has been found in many sites
in Greece, however, including
Mycenae.
 It is now known to be an early
form of Greek.
 The Phaistos Disc: It is the only
example of the third type of
writing has ever been found.
 It is on a decorative disc found
at the palace at Phaistos.
 It may not be Cretan.
 It may have come from
Anatolia (modern-dayTurkey).

54. Minoan Writing: The Phaistos Disc: c. 1700 BCE
 This 15 cm disc is an early example
of moveable type for printing.
 Europeans did not use this
technique again until the 1400’s CE.
 Previously it had been thought that
the Chinese had invented moveable
type.
 The Phaistos Disc is remarkable
because its 45 different figures are
not scratched on, but pressed in.
 An individual block was made for
each pictograph.
 The same block was pressed into
clay whenever that particular sign
was needed.

55. Minoan Timeline: Volcanic Eruption: 1450 BCE
 All of the centers of the Second
Palace Period were destroyed around
1450 BCE.
 The terrible volcanic eruption of
Thera (Santorini) had large impacts
on Crete depending on how the ash
fell, but did not have enough effects
to destroy the palaces or the Minoan
way of life.
 The eruption ofThera may have
destroyed some coastal towns and
shipping, and would have depressed
the economies of the eastern
Mediterranean though.
 Terrible palace destructions did
happen though (probably through
earthquake).

56. Minoan Timeline: Volcanic Eruption: 1450 BCE
 Life resumed only at the palace at
Knossos, which was reconstructed
and served as the residence of a
new Mycenaean rulers from the
mainland.
 Their presence is inferred by the
appearance of the very archaic
written Greek language of Linear B
and by the appearance of Palace
Style pottery.
 Changes were made in the
arrangement of the palaces, and
the Knossos Throne Room and
many surviving frescoes date from
this period.

57. Minoan Timeline Continued
 TheThird Palace Period: 1450 - 1200 BCE:
 After a final eruption of about 1380, none of the Minoan palaces were rebuilt.
 Even the palace at Knossos was not rebuilt, although the city around it stayed
alive.
 The Post-Palace Period: 1200 – 1050 BCE:
 The last phase of this period was a time of decline and disorder caused by the
movement of many peoples in the East Mediterranean.
 The forerunners of the Dorians may have begun to arrive in Crete.
 The Sub-Minoan Period: 1100 – 1000 BCE:
 Crete entered upon the purely Greek period of its history with the arrival of massive
waves of Dorians at about 1100 BC.
 The Proto-Geometric period that followed (1000-900 BCE) saw many earlier Minoan
cultural traditions continued on, especially in the mountain areas of central and
eastern Crete.

58. The End Of The Minoan Civilization
At around 1400 BCE, the Mycenaean
civilization from mainland Greece began to
gain control of the weakened Minoan Crete.
As a result, the Minoans were engaged in
increased warfare.
They subsequently abandoned their
indefensible palaces in favor of settlements
higher in the mountains.
These provided the Minoans with greater
natural protection from invasion.

59. Na Synechistoún…