Tag Archives: Bronze Age

Aphrodite

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Like several other of the Greek Gods we are familiar with, Aphrodite’s origins are much earlier than Classical Greece.

There are two myths about her birth. One is a fairly standard one in which Zeus was her father and Dione, a sea nymph, her father. The other is much darker. Gaia, the earth goddess, married her own son Uranus. This was a loveless marriage. He hated their children (the Titans and the Cyclops among others) and trapped them under Gaia’s belly in the earth. Gaia persuaded another of her sons, Cronus, to help her. He did so by castrating his brother. (I told you it was dark.) His male parts fell into the sea and drifted east from the island Cyprus. From the foaming mess arose Aphrodite.

The historical past of this Goddess is more prosaic. Fertility Goddesses were common in the Bronze Age Middle East. These Goddesses went by various names: Inanna, Ishtar and Astarte. (One theory of Aphrodite’s name is that it is a corruption of Asteroth.) All of these Goddesses inhabited the sky in the form of a star – actually the planet we still call Venus.

The Pomegranate is her fruit and birds are sacred to her. I want to point out that Birds were also sacred to the Supreme Goddess in Crete. In the beginning of the third Crete mystery, (coming soon), Martis participates in a ritualistic bird dance honoring the Goddess.

Another interesting point. Aphrodite was not only the Goddess of romantic and carnal love, but also of the lust for battle and conquest.

The cult of Aphrodite spread throughout the Mediterranean, with its center in Cyprus. (Supposedly her birth place.) Aphrodite is also associated with copper – which is mined on Cyprus.

The island of Delos

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According to Greek myth, this small, rocky island was the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. (OK, how many knew Artemis is Apollo’s twin?)

Leto, the mother of the twins, was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan. Hera was so jealous that she decreed Leda could not find any solid ground on which to rest or to deliver her babies.

But Delos was a floating island so Leto was able to deliver her children there, under a palm tree. Since Artemis was born first, she helped her mother with Apollo’s birth and thus became a protector of women especally during childbirth. (Artemis must have been very precocious since she was, what?, ten minutes old at the most.)

Delos is home to the iconic Terrace of the Lions, a wide pathway lined on both sides by statues of lions. Originally, there were nine to twelve but now only five remain. This terrace was erected by the people of Naxos and dedicated to Apollo. It faces east, toward the Sacred Lake of Delos.

I imagine it was quite scary walking past these lions, with their mouths open as though roaring.


Creator: Mark Cartwright | Credit: Mark Cartwright / World History Encyclopedia
Copyright: Mark Cartwright – CC BY-NC-SA – 

Delos is covered with excavations, including the Terrace of Lions. But now, with rising seas, Delos is in danger of being swamped.

Amazons – Warrior Women

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In Greek legends, the Amazons were formidable women warriors who lived on the edge of the known world. Hercules had to obtain the magic girdle of the Amazonian queen Hippolyte in one of his 12 labours, and Achilles killed another queen, Penthesilea, only to fall in love with her when he saw her face. (Kind of ironic that.)

These horseback-riding, bow-wielding nomads, who fought and hunted just like men, have long been shrouded in myth. (Remember, one of the stories claims these fierce female warriors also cut off one breast so as to be able to shoot a bow more effectively.

Now archaeologists are discovering increasing evidence that they really did exist.

Excavations of graves within a bronze age necropolis in Nakhchivan in Akzbaijan revealed that women had been buried with weapons such as razor-sharp arrowheads, a bronze dagger and a mace, as well as jewellery.

These fearsome women from 4000 years ago were famed for their male-free society and their prowess on the battlefield, particularly with a bow and arrow. (The men were, according to one theory, out fighting themselves. To another, that the men were tending the herds.)

Recent issues of Archaeology Magazine and World Archaeology have discussed the excavations leading up to the conclusion that the women from the Caucasus could have been the legendary Amazons.

In 2019, the remains of four female warriors buried with arrowheads and spears were found in Russia and, in 2017, Armenian archaeologists unearthed the remains of a woman who appeared to have died from battle injuries, as an arrowhead was buried in her leg. In the early 1990s, the remains of a woman buried with a dagger were found near the Kazakhstan border.

Some of the skeletons reveal that the women had used bows and arrows extensively. Historian Bettany Hughes observed that “Their fingers are warped because they’re using arrows so much. Changes on the finger joints wouldn’t just happen from hunting. That is some sustained, big practice. What’s very exciting is that a lot of the bone evidence is also showing clear evidence of sustained time in the saddle. Women’s pelvises are basically opened up because they’re riding horses. [Their] bones are just shaped by their lifestyle.”

This is particularly interesting to me since current theory suggests patriarchy came from the steppes with the adoption of the horse. Maybe the story isn’t as cut and dried as it appears.

A documentary detailing some of these finds will be broadcast on the BBC in April. In it, Hughes visits the mountain village of Khinalig. This is the highest inhabited place in Europe. There has been a settlement there since the Bronze Age, and stories handed down through their generations tell of women who fought like men but covered their faces with scarves.

Women, it appears, enjoyed more varied lives in the ancient past than those brought about by patriarchy in our more recent cultural history.

Knossos, major city of Bronze Age Crete

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Arthur Evans, who excavated Knossos, estimated the original Neolithic settlements on Crete stretch back to 8000 B.C.E. By 2000, the civilization had transitioned from wattle and daub huts to an affluent society marked by mis-named palaces. Misnamed because it is thought they were not simply the abode of the rulers but also governmental, religious and craftsmen centers. The remains of storage rooms were also discovered on this site.

Below are the large storage vessels known as pithy.

Knossos was destroyed several times. Crete is prone to earthquakes and there is a nearby volcano. Until about 1400 B.C.E. Knossos was always rebuilt.

Since the ruins were excavated Knossos has become a major tourist attraction. Some of it has been repainted in what is thought to be the original colors.

Here is one example: the so-called throne room. The lustral basin in the foreground and the griffins (a symbol of the Goddess) indicated that this chamber was probably used for religious purposes.

The above is one of the many frescoes in Knossos (with me goofing around in front of it.). It is called the cup Bearer and is, I think, an example of male Minoan fashions. Both men and women wore their hair with the three tresses over the shoulders and the remainder loose down the back. Headdresses and jewelry was also common to both sexes. and the wasp waist was high fashion.

I based my character Tinos on this piece of art.

Knossos was not the only city found. The ruins of others such as Gournia, to the east, were also excavated. Akrotiri, a Minoan colony, on another island, is currently being dug out from many feet of hardened volcanic ash.

Willies

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What are willies?

In Ancient Greece, Willies, sometimes described as nymphs or magical maidens, were the spirits of girls who died before their time (before marriage and motherhood) and returned as spirit beings, or ghosts, to our world.

As described in some of the folklore, if they died disappointed or abused and were not put to rest with the proper rituals, they would return and haunt their families, usually for nine generations. (The number nine appears to be sacred to the Minoans.)

Arge, Martis’s sister, would be considered a willie. Martis relies on her to help solve the mystery of Arge’s death. Would we consider Arte a ghost? Not exactly. She is a spirit but there is a mystical component to her in accordance with Minoan beliefs.

Is this where the phrase Gave me the willies came from. I don’t know.willies

The Bull

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The date for the release of In the Shadow of the Bull is now July 4 for the UK. No word on the release date in the US yet.

In an attempt to reveal what we know of this ancient culture, I thought I would begin with the bull. Bulls were sacred. I’ve read varying explanations. Is it because the Bull represented the male principle, even in a society with a Supreme Goddess? Is it because of the connection with Poseidon. also a God in this culture. (I have mentioned previously how much the Classical Greeks borrowed from the Minoans).

Whatever the reason, the mosaics, the statuary, the rites practiced were all centered around the Bull.

One of the practices was bull dancing or bull leaping. This is a feature of the Theseus myth. Since it was written by the occupying Greeks, it has a negative spin. In the myth, Minos, the ruler of Knossos, requires tribute from the mainland: 7 young women and 7 young men, to face the fearsome Minotaur in the labyrinth. (The creation of the Minotaur is another myth, a rather creepy one.) Theseus volunteers to be one of the tributes. Minos’ daughter Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of string and he is able to kill the Minotaur and lead the other tributes to safety.

Frescoes from Knossos show young men and women (probably teenagers) leaping over a charging bull. The bull dancer grasped the horns and flipped over the bull’s back. Another member of the team caught and steadied him as he landed. There seems to be no doubt that these performances occurred.

Remnants of mazes pictured in mosaics have also been found. But labyrinth, a synonym for a maze, is actually from the word labyrs, a sacred two headed axe used in religious rituals.

A stylized version of the bull’s horns, called the Horns of Consecration, were used everywhere. Examples have survived in Knossos.

In the Shadow of the Bull Cover

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So excited to show the cover for the first book of the new series of mysteries .

It really conveys the ancient era I think. And the bull, which was sacred to this culture, is as important as the people.

Ancient Crete

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Now that In the Shadow of the Bull will be released this summer, I thought I should talk a little bit about the culture of ancient Crete.

Although it is called the Minoan Era, that is a misnomer. Minos was a mythical king mentioned in Greek stories from Classical Greece, many years later.

What we do know is that this sophisticated society flourished in the Bronze Age, only to be destroyed about 1459 B.C.E, The volcano on the island now called Santorini blew, sending ash as far away as Turkey., and causing massive damage to Crete. Some archaeologists discuss signs of rebuilding but the Achaeans, the Greeks from the Mainland, were able to take advantage and occupy the island.

The iconic statuettes from Bronze Age Crete  are of women (priestesses probably although some scholars claim they are the Goddess) with snakes twining up their arms and around their waists. Snakes were sacred in this Bronze Age religion.

Snake Goddess describes a number of figurines of a woman holding a serpent in each hand found during excavation of Minoan archaeological sites in Crete dating from approximately 1600 BCE. By implication, the term 'goddess' also describes the deity depicted; although little more is known about her identity apart from that gained from the figurines. The 'Snake Goddess' figure first discovered was found by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1903. The figurine found by Arthur Evans uses the faience technique, for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a quartz paste. After firing this produces bright colors and a lustrous sheen. The figurine is today exibited at the Herakleion Archeological Museum in Crete. The snake's close connection with the Minoan house is believed to indicate that the goddesses shown in these figures are Household Goddesses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Goddess
Snake Goddess describes a number of figurines of a woman holding a serpent in each hand found during excavation of Minoan archaeological sites in Crete dating from approximately 1600 BCE. By implication, the term ‘goddess’ also describes the deity depicted; although little more is known about her identity apart from that gained from the figurines. The ‘Snake Goddess’ figure first discovered was found by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1903. The figurine found by Arthur Evans uses the faience technique, for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a quartz paste. After firing this produces bright colors and a lustrous sheen. The figurine is today exibited at the Herakleion Archeological Museum in Crete. The snake’s close connection with the Minoan house is believed to indicate that the goddesses shown in these figures are Household Goddesses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Goddess

The shedding of their skins was a symbol of rebirth and regeneration. One of the resources I read said that the snakes were allowed to live in the houses. (I am not sure how she knows that.) If so, I’m sure that the presence of the snakes kept down the mice.

Currently Crete does not have native venomous snakes and it is thought that there no venomous snakes in Crete during the Bronze Age either. So, of course I had to wonder if the asp was ever imported from Egypt.

(I think everyone knows that Cleopatra is supposed to have committed suicide with an asp. According to my research, however, it was a mixture of poisons including opium and wolfsbane. But I digress.)

The prevalence of women in the artwork, not just statuary but also the mosaics, have lent support to the theory that women enjoyed a high status in this society. It is theorized that the religion featured a Goddess as well as less important Gods. Several were transported virtually unchanged to the pantheon of Hellenic Greece.

Cosmetics

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Lydia, of the Will and Lydia Rees mystery series, does not wear cosmetics of any kind. Although the Colonial periods both men and women boasting fine white wigs and patches, the Federalist culture viewed women who wore ‘paint’ as loose. Lydia, as a former Shaker, would be even more reluctant to wear any kind of cosmetic.

Throughout human history, however, people have worn various forms of paint for adornment. Even war paint is adornment of a sort, although used to strike terror in onlookers instead of awe at their beauty.

I thought of this as I researched my next series, a historical murder mystery set in Bronze Age Crete.

Cosmetics were commonly used in the Ancient World: Egypt, the Middle Ages, and Asia. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, we know from hieroglyphics, murals, frescos and more, they were used by both men and women and all classes. Kohl was the most commonly used cosmetic. Although kohl was the major cosmetic in Crete, in Egypt eye paint was also important. Especially green eye paint. That was made of malachite a copper carbonate pigment. Kohl was made from galena, a dark gray ore and crushed charcoal. Both the malachite and the galena were crushed and missed with gum or water to make a paste. Cosmetics were so important cosmetic palettes were found buried in gold with the deceased’s grave goods.

Kohl was used for lining the eyes, like modern eyeliner. It offered health benefits in the form of protection from disease, bugs and sun rays. Red ochre clay was ground up and mixed with water to create a paste to paint on the lips and cheeks.

This was a lot less dangerous than the white lead women used to paint their faces in Elizabethan times. Lead is toxic so these women were gradually poisoning themselves. (Medieval women also plucked the front hair on their heads also to give themselves a high forehead.

The ban on cosmetics for “virtuous” women continued through the eighteen hundreds but returned as a fashion imperative during the nineteen twenties when so many other changes happened. Women have worn cosmetics, especially lipstick, since. (Lipstick, BTW, used to be made with the blood of small cochineal beetles to give that scarlet shade.)

I wear eyebrow pencil to darken my pale eyebrows, mascara for my blond lashes and eyeshadow, continuing the history of eye paint since the Bronze Age.

Snakes and serpents, oh my

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The iconic statuettes from Bronze Age Crete  are of women (priestesses probably although some scholars claim they are the Goddess) with snakes twining up their arms and around their waists. Snakes were sacred in this Bronze Age religion.

Snake Goddess describes a number of figurines of a woman holding a serpent in each hand found during excavation of Minoan archaeological sites in Crete dating from approximately 1600 BCE. By implication, the term 'goddess' also describes the deity depicted; although little more is known about her identity apart from that gained from the figurines. The 'Snake Goddess' figure first discovered was found by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1903. The figurine found by Arthur Evans uses the faience technique, for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a quartz paste. After firing this produces bright colors and a lustrous sheen. The figurine is today exibited at the Herakleion Archeological Museum in Crete. The snake's close connection with the Minoan house is believed to indicate that the goddesses shown in these figures are Household Goddesses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Goddess

Snake Goddess describes a number of figurines of a woman holding a serpent in each hand found during excavation of Minoan archaeological sites in Crete dating from approximately 1600 BCE. By implication, the term ‘goddess’ also describes the deity depicted; although little more is known about her identity apart from that gained from the figurines. The ‘Snake Goddess’ figure first discovered was found by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1903. The figurine found by Arthur Evans uses the faience technique, for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a quartz paste. After firing this produces bright colors and a lustrous sheen. The figurine is today exibited at the Herakleion Archeological Museum in Crete. The snake’s close connection with the Minoan house is believed to indicate that the goddesses shown in these figures are Household Goddesses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Goddess

 

The shedding of their skins was a symbol of rebirth and regeneration. One of the resources I read said that the snakes were allowed to live in the houses. (I am not sure how she knows that.) If so, I’m sure that the presence of the snakes kept down the mice.

Currently Crete does not have native venomous snakes and it is thought that there no venomous snakes in Crete during the Bronze either. So, of course I had to wonder if the asp was ever imported from Egypt.

(I think everyone knows that Cleopatra is supposed to have committed suicide with an asp. According to my research, however, it was a mixture of poisons including opium and wolfsbane. But I digress.)

The asp’s bite is very venomous. The victim dies in about four minutes.