Did the Mycenaeans believe in the afterlife?
Two well-preserved bodies found in a shaft grave further reveal that the Mycenaeans embalmed their dead before burial. Archaeologists suggest that this was done to prepare the body for the afterlife.
What technique was used to create the funeral mask from the royal tombs of Mycenae?
The mask was created by hammering gold into a thin leaf over a wooden form. It is three-dimensional and includes cut-out ears, full detailed facial hair, and eyelids that appear open and closed simultaneously.
How did Mycenaeans protect themselves?
The Mycenaeans Other important wealthy people lived just outside of the palace. Slaves and farmers lived on the their land. The kingdom was surrounded by stone walls to protect it from invaders.
What did the Mycenaeans believe in?
When the Mycenaeans first arrived in the Aegean they likely believed in a pantheon of gods headed by a supreme Sky God common to most Indo-European peoples. His name was Dyeus which in Greek became Zeus.
What are some of the reasons behind the Mycenaean collapse according to scholars?
Suggestions from scholars to explain the general collapse of the Mycenaean culture (and other contemporary ones in the Mediterranean) include natural disaster (earthquakes, volcanic explosions, and tsunami), overpopulation, internal social and political unrest, invasion from foreign tribes such as the Sea Peoples.
How did the Mycenaeans fall?
What happened to the Mycenaeans? It is not clear why the Mycenaean civilization collapsed. The reasons may be one or more of the following: natural disaster, overpopulation, internal social and political unrest, invasion from foreign tribes such as the Sea Peoples, and regional climate change.
How did the Mycenaean civilization collapse?
New study finds: Ancient Mycenaean civilization might have collapsed due to uprising or invasion. For many years, the prevailing theory on how the Mycenaean civilisation collapsed was that devastating earthquakes led to the destruction of its palaces in the Peloponnese, southern Greece around 1,200 BC.
How did they make death masks?
Death masks are casts taken from a cadaver while life masks are casts taken from a living person. These masks are mostly made from wax or plaster using essentially the same technique. The face and head are oiled or greased, and then thin layers of plaster are applied and built up in layers.
Was the Mycenaean civilization peaceful?
They were influenced a great deal by the non-Greek Minoans artistically but their aggressive warrior culture was unlike that of the peace-loving Minoans.
How did Mycenaeans fight?
The spear remained the main weapon among Mycenaean warriors until the collapse of the Bronze Age, while the sword played a secondary role in combat. The precise role and contribution of war chariots in battlefield is a matter of dispute due to the lack of sufficient evidence.
What did the Mycenaeans do with the dead?
The Mycenaeans practiced a burial of the dead, and did so consistently. The body of the deceased was prepared to lie in state, followed by a procession to the resting place, a single grave or a family tomb. Processions and ritual laments are depicted on burial chests ( larnakes) from Tanagra.
What were the religious practices of the Mycenae?
Little is known for certain regarding Mycenaean religious practices beyond the importance given to animal sacrifice, communal feasting, the pouring of libations and offerings of foodstuffs.
What are the characteristics of Mycenaean cemeteries?
Mycenaean cemeteries were located near population centers, with single graves for people of modest means and chamber tombs for elite families. The tholos is characteristic of Mycenaean elite tomb construction. The royal burials uncovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1874 remain the most famous of the Mycenaean tombs.
What do Mycenaean tombs reveal about Greek culture?
Mycenaean tombs and their accompanying artifacts reveal a society that was religious, possibly believed in an afterlife, and worshiped many of the same deities as the later Greeks. They also strongly depict a culture that above all, prided itself in heroic military accomplishments.