Stunning Archeological Finds: Part I

Today was the first time (this trip) that Ken and I visited a museum--and it was stunning!  We spent most of our time in two exhibits: The first contained many funerary objects from the Mycenean period--1600-1100 B.C. (the primary subject of this post--Part II will be about the Antikythera Shipwreck). 

Much of this exhibit focused on gold and included masks, crowns, buttons, cups, hair and dress ornaments, decorations on scabbards, knives--it was breathtakingly beautiful work, some of it incredibly detailed inlay. There's really no way to describe the effect of seeing it up close. 

I'll try to describe what you are seeing in these photos--but the small, flat images do NOT do these objects justice!!

The item at the top is a wreath or crown that is presented flat in the case, but would have gone around the head.  Clearly this would have been in the tomb of a rich and important person.  The smaller items are decorative.  Some might have been attached to clothing or hair or in some other way provided adornment. (The purple is the effect of lighting I couldn't avoid while taking the picture.)

 Here is that same case, but now you can see additional items and also get a sense of the size and scale.  To the right and left of the main panel, above, are delicately wrought flowers and leaves.  The bottom items would have been attached to clothing. (We don't know who the woman is...I included her for scale.)

Here's Ken looking at another crown that has been flattened out for display purposes.  You can also see buttons of various sizes, earrings, cups, pins, and jugs.  None of these were actually used--these items were 
all buried with the dead.







 

This isn't a funerary object--it's a spigot!  In some religious ceremony, liquid would flow through a hole in the bull's nose. What appears to be black is actually tarnished silver. The bull's head is about the size of a small cantaloupe--with the horns, the whole figure is about 8-10" high.

 These are four different cups--a little larger than a typical tea-cup but smaller than a mug. They are incredibly thin--probably just as well they weren't actually used!  I got a shot of the inside so you could see how beautifully worked the gold is.







 Below is a lovely, delicately drawn mural of a woman holding a snake in her right hand (possibly some devotional activity) while her left is held lightly in front of her. She's about 3/4 life size.

I took closeups of her hands because 
they were so exquisitely drawn.

And above is a ceremonial bonze knife with gold inlay on both sides of the blade.  The bronze has deteriorated over time, but the hunting scene is still crisp and clear--despite the fact that the length of the entire blade is about 7"!  Four hunters with spears drawn face a lion.  One hunter has fallen and can be seen just under the lion's front paws. Another lion is running away.  The display was mounted on a mirror so that we could see both sides, but it wasn't possible to see the underside without flash (which one is not permitted to use).