WEEK 9
1.LATE BRONZE AGE:
-A period of strong commercial relations and great prosperity
- Navigation technology developed
-international maritime trade in the Mediterranean
-Powerful empires emerged
*THE AEGEAN IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE:
The Mycenaean culture:
-named after the site of Mycenae
-mycenae, tiryns,pylos
-excavator of troy: Heinrich Schliemann
- the mythical king agamemnon, leader of the greeks in the trojan war: Mycenae
-have two period:
-shaft grave period
-full mycenaean period
Mycenaean Greeks:
-people living on Mainland greece during the Mycenaean period speaking greek
Mycenaean civilization: earliest greek culture known through certain evidence
Non-greek cycladic and minoan cultures
-Knossos using Greek as an administrative language
-Use of linear B:
-derived from linear A but representing greek
Syllabic script: each symbol representing a syllable
-michael Ventris
- Mycenaean culture absorbing and eventually surplanting the Minoan Civilization on
crete: taking place in a gradual way, rather than very suddenly, some violent action
-Myceanaean adopting the idea of a centralized authority, located in a palace
-strongly stratified society: king, viceroy(basileus), slaves
Mycenaean culture: looking in 2 directions:
-heavily influenced by the Minoan civilization, though with adaptation(fresco tech,
-containing already elements that will continue later in Classical greece
The end of the Mycenaean civilization:
-period of decline(dark age):
-destructiion and burning traces at many mycenaean centers
-strenghtening of fortifications and improving water supply systems in citadels
- guard posts installed along the SW coast
-destruction by unknown invaders
*EGYPT IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE:
THE NEW KINGDOM- 18 to 20 DYNASTIES:
New kingdom
-new period of prosperity for Egypt
-end of the 17th dynasty: expulsion of the Hyksos by Amosis/ahmose(froom Thebes)
-Re-unification of egypt with thebes as capital
-egypt more prosperous time:
-largest territorial extension
-S:up to the fourth nile cataract
-N: near east
-18th dynasty: climax of the new kingdom
-prosperity and power reflected in art and architecture
18th dynasty-1: The pre-Amarna Period:
-capital:Thebes
18th dynasty-2: The Amarna Period:
-capital:Amarna
-breaking with earlier traditions
-religious revolution: break with traditional religion => main god becoming Aten(sun
disc) (Amun abolished)
-taking the name Akhenaten/Echnaton(living spirit of aten)(amenhotep 4)
-changes on political and religious level reflected in art
18th dynasty-3: The post Amarna period:
-amarna pharaohs(firavun): Tutankhaten
–Abolishing the Aten cult: amun cult come back, tutankhaten=>tutankhamun
-abandoning the capital amarna: back to thebes
Others: Ay, Horemheb
19TH and 20TH dynasties: The Ramesside Period:
-11 kings with the name Ramesses
-large well-preserved building projects
*religious architecture: continuation of the contra-revolution against the Amarna
ideology
*ANATOLIA IN THE LBA:
The Hittites:
-Uniting disparate principalities of central Anatolia
- An Empire from Anatolian plateau into Syria (Contacts with Egypt, Mitanni, Babylonia,
and Assyria)
- The land of thousand gods
- Known for their artistic, literary and historical tradition
- Cultural continuity (Assyrian Trade Colony Period, Kingdom and Empire) (Pottery
tradition and motifs on the seals)
Perception of the Hittites in Antiquity:
- ancient Greece did not mention of the Hittite Empire.
- The Bible introduced the “Hittites” but they were one of the Iron Age kingdoms in the
Levant(nothern syria)
Decipherment of the Hittite Language:
- The majority of the Boğazköy tablets were written in Hittite. Therefore, only signs
that stand for words (logograms) translated, or akkadian
-Bedrich Hrozny
!!! The first Hittite sentence to be translated into modern languages: You eat bread and
you drink water.
The Spearpoint of Anitta, Bronze, Kültepe, Middle Bronze Age:
- Anitta demolished Hattusha and cursed the people who would rule there.
Proclamation of Anitta, Clay Tablet, Mid Bronze Age
- The earliest text of an Indo-European language
-The earliest known indo-European ruler to compose a text
- May the storm-god of Heaven smite whoever should become king after me and should
resettle Hattusha.
-Kanesh,Kültepe
*THE HITTITES(CHRONOLOGY)
-Old Kingdom
- The Middle Kingdom/Intermediate
-The Empire
*FACILITIES:
-A dynasty from Kussara(anitte)(around the Halys)
- Labarna (The Great King, tabarna was used to name the Hittite Kings afterwards).
-A leading nobleman Hattusili I (son of Labarna (the man of Hattusa) consolidated
power around Hattusha and invaded Northern Syria.
-Instability of succession and court intrigues
-The Proclamation of Telipinu (Rule of succession)
-During the end of the Old Kingdom, the Hittites lost control over the mountainous areas
north of the capital to Kaska people.
-South: Egyptian frontier expanded to Syria; the Kingdom of Mitanni (From Zagros to the
Mediterranean); the Kingdom of Kizzuwatna (Cilicia)
Hittite Expansion And the Battle of Qadesh
-In Muwatalli’s reign, an epic clash took place between the Hittites and the Egyptians at
Qadesh, today neat Homs in Syria
-Both sides claimed victory
-Peace treaty with Egypt and the marriage between Hattusili’s daughter and Rameses II
! treaty of Qadesh is important
Decline of the empire:
-Tudhaliya IV: lost battle agains Assyria(lost the important copper mine Ishuwa but
achieved to conquer Cyprus.)
-Suppiluliuma II: he last of the Great kings to rule in Hattusha: Campaigns in Cyprus,
raids in Lukka land (Lycia).
-Bad harvest, famine, drought, grain important from Egypt
-Kaska invaded from the north
-The decline of the trade routes land the “Sea People” invasions in the Mediterranean led
to the gradual decline of the Empire.
- The royal family continued to live as they retreated to the south (Neo-Hittites).
Hittite Written Culture
-The earliest Hittite texts are written in Akkadian
-Hittite tablets, as a rule, were not dated by their authors, synchronizes with
Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources.
-Hittite texts were not like the Middle Bronze Age of the trade colonies tablets
-copying older material to insure its survival and availability.
-communication dealing with lands outside Anatolia, where Hittite was unknown and
Akkadian was used.
!!!Chariot at arabasıChariots were the tanks of antiquity and provided advantages in
warfare)
Administration
-King: Commander, judicial authority, and high priest (never considered as gods but
powerful figures, only became divine after death)
-Monarchy: Hittite King +Heir Apparent+Government officials + Royal Family +
-Aristocracy (wealth from land ownership)
-King solving crisis with diplomatic envoys
*HITTITE RELIGION:
Yazılıkaya and the Hittite Religion
-Hurrian character of the pantheon: open minded about whom they were worshipping.
-Land of a thousand gods
-Bringing the deities of the conquered lands; even worshipping in the language of the
deities’ native tongues
Hittites and Hurrians:
-The Hurrians contributed to the cultural life of the Hittite Empire
-Their myths and rituals were transmitted to the Hittite capital.
The Storm God: The most important deity is the Storm god(tarhun?)overcome
*THE HITTITE CAPITAL:HATTUSHA
Hattusha(Boğazköy, Çorum)
-During the Assyrian Trade Colony period, it was karum “Hattush”, hattushili1
-Lower city, Büyükkale (Royal residence), Upper city
-Ceremonial and holy capital dedicated to the gods
-Temples served a vast variety of purposes
-Multi ethnic population: Hittite, Luwian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Hurrian etc.
Upper City
-Focal points of cultic interest
-Large pools
-stone masonry(taş duvarcılık)
-defensive wall
-Potern (a tunnel for ambushing the enemies)
Great temple
-Temple architecture mainly derived from Anatolian courtyard house
-Entered through a monumental entrance
-To serve two important deities: the Storm God of Hatti and the Sun Goddess Arinna.
-supplies (jars continuing 2000 litres) to the temple, offerings, archives, administration
of the temple
Funerary Monument of Suppiluliuma II
-Stone blocks were covered with a hieroglyphic inscription
-Deeds of the king
King’s Gate
-Found in “King’s Gate”
-A deity (Horned crown) (?) Tudhaliya IV’s patron god Sharruma (lord of mountains)
-To salute to those leaving the Hittite capital
*YAZILIKAYA (HATTUSHA)
- Open Air cultic site
- Site of religious significance/the largest collections of Hittite reliefs anywhere
Chamber A: Depiction of the Hittite pantheon; Procession to be in a ranked order,
Teshub,Hepatu
The End of the Empire
- The Trojan War is believed to have taken place around this time, and soon afterwards
the brilliant Mycenaean civilization of Greece collapsed.
- Whether it was these people who put the Hittite capital to the torch, or older enemies
taking advantage of the situation, Hattusha’s age of greatness was over.
*WESTERN ANATOLIA:
*TROY VI(TROY HIGH CULTURE):
- Upper (administrative and religious centre) and lower city (trade)
- Probably the site known as Wilusa in the Hittite archives
- Continuation of megaron architecture
- Destroyed with an earthquake
- Bastion
Stele in front of the Southern Gate, Troy VI
- Continuation of the protective stele in from of the walls
- Steles might be erected for praying to Appaliuna
!!!!Appaliuna (Apollo (Apollo, sun god, god of art and prophecy)
Trade in Troy:
- The harbour of Troy started to be filled with alluvial soil, but the city continued to be
an important location for maritime and inland trade.
- The new harbour: Beşiktepe
- Luxurious materials as evidence for the long distance trade
*END OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE TROY:
Troy VII Homeric Troy/Wilusa
-Repairs after the earthquake and people continued to live
- The period of power struggle in the Aegean (Achaeans and the Hittites)
- Destruction of the site after a war
The Late Bronze Age Collapse
- Combination of factors: socio-economic, political, military, climatological aspects
causing a crisis
- All the major powers of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East suffered serious
reverses in the 12th century BCE (crisis years)
Aftermath of the Collapse
- A dramatic decline in literacy, material wealth, and size of the political units
- System collapse: Damage to one polity released forces that damaged others.
- Reasons for the collapse: Not only invasions of the Sea People but climate change,
decline of international trade, and even earthquakes
