• Key Dates
  • Cycladic
    3000-1100 BCE
  • Minoan
    c. 3000- c.1100 BCE
  • Theran
    c. 1650-1100 BCE
    Earthquake destroys Thera
    (c. 1628-1500 BCE)
  • Mycenaean
    c. 1600 - 1100 BCE

  • General Terms
  • capital
  • citadel
  • corbelling
  • dromos
  • engobe
  • frieze
  • fresco
  • megaron
  • pedestal
  • repoussé
  • rhyton
  • terracotta
  • tholos (tholoi)

AAT-Chp. 4- Aegean
c. 9000–300 B.C.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073379239/student_view0/part1/chapter4/

Reading

  • Art Through the Ages: Chapter 4: The Aegean

THE AEGEAN, c. 3000–1100 B.C.

  • Cycladic Bronze Age (c. 3000–1100 B.C.): marble idols
  • Minoan (c. 3000–1100 B.C.)
    • Myth of Europa; palace at Knossos; Linear A
  • Theran (c. 1650- 1100 BCE)
    • Thera destroyed (c. 1628 - 1500 B.C.); frescoes
  • Mycenae (c. 1600–1100 B.C.)
    • Citadels; megaron; Cyclopaean masonry; tholos tombs; Linear B
    • Trojan War (c. 1180 B.C.)
 


Snake Goddess, Knossos, Crete, c. 1600 B.C.



Boxing Children, Akrotiri, Thera, c. 1650 – 1500 B.C.

 

After reading Chapter 4, you should be able to:

  • Compare Cycladic culture with Minoan and Mycenaean culture.
  • Identify all the works and define the terms in the chapter.
  • Relate the myths associated with Minoan and Mycenaean cultures.
  • Describe the Minoan painting style, Minoan architecture, and Minoan pottery.
  • Compare Minoan post and lintel to that of Persia.
  • Give the evidence for contacts between Egypt and Crete, and between Crete and Mycenae.
  • Discuss the Theran frescoes.
  • Draw and label the plan of the Mycenaean megaron.
  • Describe Mycenaean architecture, especially the tholos and the Lion Gate.
  • Locate Mycenae, Thera, the Cyclades, Crete, and Knossos on a map.

Clay tablet with the pictograph text that preceded cuneiform, Jemdet Nasr, Iraq, c. 3000 B.C.


Stele inscribed with the Law Code of Hammurabi, Susa, (Iran), c. 1792 – 1750 B.C.
Detail of Stele with the Law Code of Hammurabi.5th century B.C.

Glossary

  • capital
  • citadel
  • corbelling
  • dromos
  • engobe
  • frieze
  • fresco
  • megaron
  • pedestal
  • repoussé
  • rhyton
  • terracotta
  • tholos (tholoi)

Videos

  • The Aegean Age (14 min, 1965, Coronet)
  • Ancient Moderns: Greek Island Art and Culture, 3000 – 2000 B.C. (19 min, 1979, Britannica)
  • Crete and Mycenae (54 min, VM)
  • Odyssey of Troy (50 min, 1995, VM)