Midea - the House of Queens?

#Midea #mycenaeancitadels #mycenaeanarchitecture #cultcentre

MIDEA - House of Queens

Warning this post contains a great deal of speculation ?
and will probably getting revised as I get more data on the site

So let us consider Midea one of the three sites said in legend to have been fortified by an early ruler, the others being Tiryns and Mycenae. Why Midea? Its at the end of a road way up in the hills and while there are farmlands nearby what else was it defending?

These walls have been reduced by earthquakes fires and erosion. I note that several of them use the outer wall for one side of the building?

I'm seriously wondering since this site was once called Pereseus' Polis if it was actually a Helladic settlement of which there are traces that had walls FOR A WINDBREAK and terraces for gardens added? There is an odd story of which we have only one mention a sentence saying Hippodameia went to Midea because she was angry at Pelops for allowing Laios to seduce and kidnap their son.

Why journey to Midea?

What else do we know about Midea? There were crafts workshops there for ceramics and jewellery.

And this was found.

Its a wheel thrown goddess figure. Not the only one but why here?

Lets take another look at the location - way inland up in the foothills but within a days travel distance of major mycenaean argolid settlement sand cities.

So there were walls houses workshops shrines but why here?

Speculation indeed but I note after the 13th destruction by quake and fire there was less rebuilding and in a completely different style.

Were the walls there to guard valued crafters and their supplies or stop slaves trained in crafts from escaping? Did they function more as windbreaks?

Was this settlement also a hunting lodge for kings or a supply depot or maybe given the jewellery or ceramics workshops found a place for queens and princesses or priestesses who valued the arts?

I'm trying to get my hands somehow on a full copy of the reports of this site but with the lockdown of libraries it may take a while to read the full text as even as an ebook  its 60 plus $.

What do you think ?

The Citadel at Tiryns

#Tiryns #MycenaeanCitadel  #mycenaean

For our first look at Mycenaean Citadels I want to take another look at Tiryns in the Argolid.

First a look in context. Note the distance bar on the bottom right. Nearly all of these sites could seen from each other or contacted using signal beacons or messengers. Was there a mutual defence pact?
The High Kings city which seems too distant from the coast is actually on what have been a major road up to Achaea Corinth and further north.

Note Tiryns and just how close it is to Nauplia still  famous harbour to this day. While the coast may have been closer to Tiryns in the Mycenaean era Nauplia is the better harbour.

Now Tiryns from the air.

If you have Google Earth you can see the citadel then and now was surrounded by fertile fields.
The steepest and highest part shelter the town which archaeologists believe spread to the east and north.

This second aerial shot makes this even more obvious.

Despite later damage obscuring the entry point excavations confirm it was on the city side allowing the citadel dwellers to both defend and CONTROL those below.

Please follow the next few posts as I try to figure out and reveal if theres a design philosophy or just a really good eye for using sites or other unique features of Mycenaean citadels.

You may see some maps and photos used over several blogs for the benefit of people who may have found a single post by a random search.

Next time Argos. If you get any of the weekend bible study posts please scroll onwards or backwards if you're not also interested in Koine Greek.