Facts You Didn’t Know About the Mycenaean Civilization

Image Credit - World History

Who are they?

The Mycenaean (or the whole Mycenaean civilization) traversing between the period from approximately 1600–1100 BC was known to be the last stage of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece as well as the first Greeks that is, they were the first people to speak in the language Greek. The skeletal remains uphold that they seemed to be tall and have a large built. It has also speculated that they first searched for the sea to obtain food. Later, they found that growing grapes and olives are better suited for the rocky and dry soil. They established cultural contact with the Minoans, who in turn influenced and improved their civilization through trade innovations, city evolution, and agricultural expansion. This influence gave birth to their new writing system, Linear B.

Linear B:

The first Linear B tablets were discovered on the island of Crete, with writing that resembled Minoan Linear A. The Minoans are credited with inventing the writing system, according to Arthur Evans. When visiting the British Museum, a young schoolboy called Michael Ventris came across the Linear B tablets. The script enthralled young Ventris, and when Arthur Evans informed the class that the script had not been deciphered, Ventris asked Evans to repeat what he had just said. Ventris decided later that he would be the one to decode this ancient language upon receiving the message a second time.


The characters of Linear B:

                                 

                                                           Image Credit - www.penfield.edu

Ventris went on to become an architect, but his love for Linear B never faded. Ventris may speak a variety of languages fluently and easily pick up a new one. Carl Blegen, an American archaeologist, discovered some Linear B tablets in the Mycenaean ruins of Pylos on the Greek mainland in 1939. 

Ventris broke through in the early 1950s, assuming the language of Linear B was Greek, with the aid of those working on the script, including American archaeologist Alice Kober. 

This enraged Arthur Evans, who was convinced it was a Minoan language (Evans died in 1941, however, he was unhappy with any theory, up until then, that Linear B was anything but Minoan writing). Linear B was used by the Mycenaeans to keep track of their trade and economy, but it was not used to tell stories or express emotions.

Their belief in Religion:

Their religious practices seem to be somewhat similar to those of other ancient cultures of the period, and they share two main characteristics with them: polytheism and syncretism.

 Polytheism is the belief in multiple gods, while syncretism is the ability to incorporate foreign gods into one's belief system, even though they don't quite suit. When the Mycenaeans arrived in the Aegean, they most likely worshipped a pantheon of gods led by a supreme Sky God, as do most Indo-Europeans.

 His name was Dyeus, which became Zeus in Greek. Following contact with the Minoans and their earth goddesses, the goddesses were assimilated into the Greek pantheon. Hera, Artemis, and Aphrodite are likely to have taken this direction in the pantheon. Finally, they believed or considered a myth because they desired something to worship as "God."

The Epic Poems of The Mycenaeans:

Homer immortalized the Mycenaeans in his two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. “How much, if any, of those tales are true?” is a question that is often asked. And the answer is that we are unlikely to get a full answer to that question in our lifetimes, if ever. 

Myth, myth, and archaeology are both distinct, but there are instances where they remarkably coincide, and others where they cannot be brought together.

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to persuade her to do so. The Mycenaean legends were nursed by Homer and his forefathers through the Dark Ages and into the light of the later Greek world.

 It's a matter of conjecture and discussion as to how much was left off and put on throughout the trip. What is clear is that some of the material is obviously real, while others are the product of the author's imagination. Sorting one from the other has become an age-old challenge.

How did the Mycenaeans end up?

The response is that the Mycenaean civilization seems to have crashed around 1200 BC when it was at its pinnacle. Some academics believe we will never know for sure what happened or why. 

There are several theories: their legacy of military violence eventually caught up with them; natural catastrophe in a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; drought and famine accompanied by civil unrest. There is evidence of a large number of people migrating.

Written By - Kirthiga Morais

Edited By - Daniel Deepak Charles