Kalogria - Mycenaean citadel

KALOGRIA is Myrsinus ?

#kalogria #myrsinus #mycenaeancitadels

Tucked away on the farmost NW corner of the Peloponesse is a lesser known site also called the Dymean Wall. Its near a village called Kalogria and has wetlands and lagoons on either side but these may be the result of silting over 3000 years.

Modern Myrsinos further south is a much later settlement with the same name.

Modern placenames - note the lagoons.

A visit to Google Earth will also show rivers ... well creeks running into those lagoons. The seawards exits have probably silted up.

Some parts of the wall facing inside were probably added or repaired and refaced later during the Byzantine empire or by the Franks and others. Note the lagoon on one side and that highly dersired Mycenaean feature a slope down one side for an access road .

and on the side facing out to sea that other highly desirable feature a high steep cliff with views over the surrounding area!

and yes cyclopean blocks !

I wonder if some of that silting might have been accelerated by buried seawalls or moles?

Moving to Methone

LETS  MOVE ON TO METHONE IN MESSENIA

#methone #methoni #pedasus #messenia #Mycenaeancitadels #pedasos

Methone also known as Modon appears to have been ancient Pedasos.

Today its a port for yachts and fishing.

However when ships were smaller it was a much more important port.

Note the location ! The far SW of Messenis where ships sailing down from Italy or Elis or Northern Greece or westwards from other parts of Greece would be rounding a cape.

A great place for a watch post?

Note this topographic map. It is not a major Mycenaean or Helladic settlement but there's also a COASTAL PLAIN with a river (not shown on this map) on one side.

Now a modern view

There's a lot of later construction which has probably obliterated or reused older walls but you can see its a great site for a watch post with deep water in one side but a shallow beach allowing ships to be drawn up onto the sand on the other side plus if you check Google Earth you'll see moles added later. Plus the classic beloved long pointy oval or triangular shape Mycenaean builders loved!

If there wasn't at least a watch post here ...

The "lower" polis may have been under the modern town. Not shown here!

ASINE

#Asine #Mycenaeancitadels

If you decide to drive along the coast road from Nauplio when you pass Tolon you might spot an old stone wall and a flight of steps behind a gate and fence.

Asine is alas definitely one of those archaeologist only sites in that you'll need to know some archaeology to visualize how this site was once a small citadel and village.

Hopefully my selection of images might help.

Be careful if you use Google Maps or Earth, There is a modern town called Asini.
I suggest you google Tolon and scroll eastwards.

This is an OLD photo but it shows why this site was occupied for centuries before and after the Mycenaeans. Beaches on either side! A gentle slope up to cliffs and check out Google Earth and you'll see possibly the sea level has changed on one side.

This ones a bit blurry enlarged but I have used it cos you can see the topography plus a rough outline of where the walls were originally. Its the sort of rough triangular shape Mycenaean rulers loved to fortify plus landing beaches on both sides steep cliffs yet a gentle slope upwards on the land side and a view of the sea and the flat coastal strip the road runs along. Perfect for watching for signals from beacons or who's coming along the road or sailing along the southern coast. 

Asine today. The old path / track has been improved and widened.

This also demonstrates how the Greeks would call settlements we regard as villages a POLIS.

Note that shape and the preference which appears again and again on coastal or inland sites for one side to have a gentler slope allowing ramps. Remember the only draught animals were oxen or donkeys. Horses were for pulling chariots or riding not pulling carts.

More after Easter.

HOSANNA 2020

#Hosanna #easter

A break from the Mycenaean Sequence for something seasonally Relevant

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOSANNA

Apart from its religious relevance for Palm Sunday Hosanna is also a fascinating example of how Greek dealt with loan words from Hebrew and Aramaic. 

Originally Hoosanna was 2 words in OT Hebrew 

HOSHI'A + NA

This became Hosha'na in Aramaic. Greek however has no "sh" sound and however Hoosan(n) acquired an extra N! Possibly becausa - sana is arare sound combination in Greek whereas double - nn appears in names and perhaps someone thought this was a noun and not a verb plus a particle.

Its a good example also of semantic change. Surely it really should have become something like sooze in Greek SAVE?! Somehow it became instead of a plea a prayer of praise and confidence !

Which brings me to the third delight of Hosanna as a word. 

Its just plain fun to sing and shout 

HOSANNA HOSANNA HOSANNA TO THE HIGHEST !

I hope you're having a great palm Sunday.

Next post a quick trip to ASINE ! 

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 ?

ARGOS' Shield - Mycenaean Citadels

#mycenaeancitadels #Argos #aspis  #argolid

ARGOS' SHIELD

On the edge of both the ancient and modern city of ARGOS there were two hills.

One the higher has a Frankish castle and the other lower is now crowned by a Byzantine church and trees surrounding that but was once the Mycenaean citadel of the city.

(PLEASE CHECK GOOGLE EARTH)

Note the position of ARGOS in relation to other Mycenean Argolid settelements 

A clear line of sight across the plain to Tiryns Nauplia and Mycenae and roads to the west and south plus a view of the gulf and surrounding farmlands.

Aspis Hill 

The area within the dotted line is an estimate of the Classical Era walls 

Whatever the extent of the Mycenaean city was it seems that the Aspis had a clear view over it and the main roads into the city and onwards to other places.

A different speculation as to the layout of the ancient city. 

Bear in mind there could have been more than one agora or large open areas used for cattle or sheep yards or other purposes perhaps where the modern plaza in front of the town hall is? .

In the citadels shown so far the Mycenaeans show a preference for placing citadels on one side of a settlement the most vulnerable side or the side with the best view of the surrounding area and both ideally but not too high up and not right on the sea shore or a cliff's edge.

They also seemed to have wanted to watch over cities for signs of unrest or to control populations?

Next time more Argolid sites 

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.