Kalymnos from air. Photo was taken during a flight from Athens to Rhodes

1. Aegean ArtAegean civilization consisted of four cultures that flourished on the islands and shores of the Aegean Sea between 3000 and 1100 B.C. These cultures are called the Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean, and Trojan cultures. The Aegean civilization arose after the people of the area discovered how to make bronze. During this period, called the Aegean Bronze Age, the people became highly skilled in architecture, painting, and various crafts. They built richly decorated palaces and used systems of writing. The Aegean civilization collapsed in the 1100's B.C. All their skills and knowledge were lost, and most trade ended. The region made little progress during the next 300 years.

2. Aegean civilization consisted of four cultures that flourished on the islands and shores of the Aegean Sea between 3000 and 1200 B.C. These cultures are called the Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean, and Trojan cultures. The Cycladic culture developed on a group of islands called the Cyclades. The Minoan culture arose on the island of Crete, and the Mycenaean culture flourished on the mainland of Greece. The Trojan culture centered upon the ancient city of Troy in what is now northwestern Turkey. (Heinrich Schliemann, 1870s; James T Bent, British – Knossos)

3. Kalymnos from air. Photo was taken during a flight from Athens to Rhodes

4. Female figurines, from Syros, 2500-2300 BC. Marble, 46 cm h. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. (The Neolithic period saw the production of large numbers of human figurines, mostly nude female, made of clay, limestone, and occasionally white marble. They vary in height from a few inches to almost life size. Traces of painted have been found on some. They must have been primarily funerary offerings.)

5. Female Cycladic idol, from Amorgos, 2700-2300 BC. Marble, 149 cm h. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

6. Male lyre player, from Keros (Cyclades), Greece, ca. 2700-2500 BC. Marble, approx. 21.6 cm h. National Archeological Museum, Athens. (A few male figurines have been found, but they are greatly outnumbered by representations of women.)

7. Minoan Civilization (ca. 3000-1500 BCE) The first major civilization in the region of Greece arose on Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea, about 3000 B.C. It is known as the Minoan culture after King Minos, the legendary ruler of Crete. The Minoans were expert sailors, and they grew wealthy from trade. The remains of luxurious palaces provide evidence of the Minoans' prosperity and building skills. The Minoans had a system of writing. Scholars do not know what language they spoke, except that it was not Greek.

8. This is the largest of palaces, built against the upper slopes and across the top of a low hill that rises from a fertile plain. Other palace sites include Phaistos, Mallia, kato Zakro, and Khania, uncovered with rich treasures of art and artifacts that document the power and prosperity of Minoan/palace civilization.

9. Bird’s-eye reconstruction drawing of the palace complex, Knossos, Crete. C. 1700-1300 BC.

10. Bird’s-eye reconstruction drawing of the palace complex, Knossos, Crete. C. 1700-1300 BC.

11. Ruins of the Palace at Knossos. 1600-1400 BC. Crete.

13. View of palace showing wooden columns and limestone bull’s horns near the south entrance, Palace of Minos, Knossos.

14. Knossos

15. Knossos, stairwell

16. "Palace of Minos", Knossos, West wing, underground magazine with storage pithoi, ca. 1700-1450 B.C.

17. Storage Magazines

18. Terracotta drain running under pavement

19. Knossos excavations showing channels for running water

20. Knossos Theatrical area on southeast side

21. Theatral area on southeast side

23. Mural paintings liberally adorn the palace at Knossos, one of its most striking aspects. Unlike the Egyptians, who painted in fresco secco, the Minoans used a true, or wet, fresco method, which required rapid execution and skill in achieving quick, almost impressionistic effects.

24. Original bull’s head, relief resco. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, Crete. Note the paler quality of the color of the original before reconstruction.

25. View of the “Throne Room,” Knossos, with a heavily restored fresco depicting griffins.

26. Artwork at the palace of Knossos

29. Naval Fresco from Akrotiri,Thera (Santorini), c.1650-1500 BC. Fresco, 274 x 94 cm high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. The exciting culture was covered by an enormous volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The volcanic island was excavated in the 1960s.The paved winding streets and houses of stone and mud-brick indicate a high standard of living. Homes had basements for storage, workroom space, and upper-story living quarters. Walls, as in Crete, were reinforced with timber and straw for flexibility in the event of earthquakes. Interior baths and toilets were connected by clay pipes to an extensive drainage and sewage system under the streets. Equally remarkable was the attention paid to art. The walls of public buildings as well as private houses were decorated with frescoes, which constitute an important new group of paintings. They represent a wide range of subjects: landscapes, animals, sports, rituals, boats, and battles.

30. Naval Fresco from Akrotiri,Thera, c.1650-1500 BC. Fresco, 274 x 94 cm high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

31. Boxer and Antelope frescoes, from Thera, c.1650-1500 BC. Fresco, 274 x 94 cm high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

32. Landscape with swallows (Spring fresco), from Akrotiri, Thera, c.1650-1500 BC. Fresco, approx. 7’6” cm h. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. The artist celebrate the rhythms of spring. Never before have we encountered a landscape in which humans are not present at all---nor will we find one again for many centuries.

33. Snake Goddess from the palace at Knossos, Crete, Greece, ca. 1600 BC. Approx. 32 cm high. Archeological Museum, Herakleion. (faience 彩釉陶器)

34. Faience snake goddess, from the palace at Knossos, Crete, Greece, ca. 1600 BC.

36. Kamares Ware jug, from Phaistos, Crete. c. 2000-1900 BC. Ceramic, 27 cm h. Archeological Museum, Iraklion, Crete.

37. Octopus Amphora from 15th century BC. National Archeological Museum in Athens, from Mycenaean cemetery at Prosymna, Argos.

38. Mycenaean Civilization(c. 1600-1200 BC) The development of Greek civilization began about 2000 B.C., when small farming villages were set up by people who came to Greece from somewhere to the north. By about 1600 B.C., they had built fortified towns, each centered on a palace, in the major valleys. The culture that developed on the mainland is called Mycenaean after the large and powerful town of Mycenae in the Peloponnesus, the southern part of the mainland. The Minoans dominated the Aegean world until about 1450 B.C., when the Mycenaeans took control of the region. The Mycenaeans adopted features of the Minoan culture. For example, they adapted the Minoan writing system to Greek. Mycenae was the legendary home of King Agamemnon Historians believe Mycenae won a war against Troy, in Asia Minor (now Turkey), in the mid-1200's B.C.

39. View of the citadel, Mycenae (the legendary city of Agamemnon).

40. Aerial view of Mycenae and its surroundings, late 13th century BC. Mycenae.

41. Royal Grave Circle A, c. 1600- 1500 B.C.

42. Reconstruction of Mycenae, c. 1400-1200

43. Reconstruction drawing of the Mycenaean megaron, showing the front porch with two columns and the interior hearth enclosed by four columns.

44. “Goddess,” from the citadel of Mycenae. Fresco, approx. 1200 BC. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

45. The Lion's (Lioness) Gate, Mycenae, c. 1300-1250.

46. Two Lions (perhaps sphinxes or griffins) carved in high relief, Limetone, panel approx. 9’6” h.

47. Corbeled gallery in thewalls of the Citadel in East ramparts Tiryns, ca. 13th century B.C. Argolis, Greece

48. Façade of the “Treasury of Atreus,” Mycenae, c. 1300 BC. Originally the door was framed by half-columns made of gypsum

49. Interior of Treasury of Atreus. About 43 feet high, this was the largest vaulted space without interior supports in all antiquity until the Roman Pantheon was built almost 1500 years later---utilizing a concrete construction.

50. Aerial view of Grave Circle and its surroundings, late 13th century BC. Mycenae.