#akrotiri

Can we take a moment to talk about the golden ibex from Akrotiri???

For background archaeologists found this golden ibex in the ruins of Akrotiri on modern Santorini:

And like it’s cool and all but the thing about this statue that makes me go mad is ibex aren’t native to Santorini. This has made archaeologists think that it was either used for religious reasons or it was a gift (I like to think the latter and so that’s what I’m gonna be talking about)

This statue was found hidden in a little box stored for safe keeping.

There are basically no human remains in Akrotiri. Wanna know why?

They all ran away. They all tried to escape. Why?

Because the island was about to experience one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the Ancient world so everyone took what they needed and left.

They all left and hoped that they’d come back.

And in my mind someone was given this ibex as a gift and maybe they treasured it. Then they had to leave so they placed it in a box where they thought it would be safe.

Then they left and never came back.

Someone tried so hard to keep this ibex safe maybe because they had to or maybe because they treasured it for whatever reason. Someone out there, someone lost to time, said goodbye and hoped they would see this statute again.

The big events of this century include a possible dynastic shift in China, a major volcanic eruption in the eastern Mediterranean, the fall of Middle Kingdom Egypt, and the rise of new states in Peru; we’ll also catch up on some developments in Africa beyond Egypt.

My sources are in conflict regarding dynasties in China: some put this century squarely in the Xia Dynasty (or Erlitou Period) while others have the Xia declining or falling to the Shang. It’s possible that this is not a straightforward case of one dynasty succeeding another: the Xia and Shang may have been states that existed simultaneously, but with varying levels of power. In that case, the Shang could have been growing in strength during this period, while the Xia state continued. By the end of the 1600s, the Xia capital of Erlitou was declining in size and power.

Since this is the period where Chinese histories written during the Han Dynasty place the fall of the Xia, it’s a good place to talk about those histories. While I’ve said that the histories are reliable enough for me to conclude that the Xia existed, and that they correctly record the names of some of the Shang emperors, that doesn’t mean they are accurate in all respects. The ideological context of these histories was the idea that dynasties fell due to immorality and misrule - greed, lust, selfishness, neglect of the public good - by their kings. And so multiple dynasties, including the Xia, are listed as having their last kings engaging in such behaviours - in some cases, the same outrageous behaviours, like making a swimming pool filled with wine (thanks, The History of China podcast!). This may not reflect actual historical events.

Another historical event whose timing has been strongly debated by historians is the eruption of the volcano on the Greek island of Santorini, which buried the town of Akrotiri and created the caldera that exists today. Much as in Pompeii, the volcanic eruption preserved art from Akrotiri, particularly some elaborate frescoes.

This eruption was once considered a major factor in the fall of the Minoans and dated to around 1500 BC, but carbon-dating has challenged that time frame and historians are increasingly agreeing that it is more likely to have happened a century earlier, in the late 1600s BC. That means the Minoans successfully weathered the eruption, much as they had the earlier earthquakes. The 1600s were the Minoans’ New Palace period following the post-earthquake rebuilding, and the new palaces were larger, more complex, and filled with painted frescoes. Use of the Linear A script was widespread, and trade was flourishing.

Western Asia was in a period of instability. Babylon’s defeat of its rivals in the 1760s followed by the contraction of its power had left it (much reduced in size) and the northern Syrian state of Yamkhad as the only major states in the region. In the latter half of the century a new state rose in Anatolia, the Hittites, who expanded to conquer Yamkhad and then headed for Babylon.

Egypt likewise was in a time of conflict. The Hyksos had settled in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) in large numbers and had been gaining power and influence there through the 1700s BC. They brought new technologies like the horse, body armour, and higher-quality bronze weapons. Midway through the 1600s BC, the Hyksos took control of Lower Egypt, starting Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period – the first time of foreign rule since the origins of the Ancient Egyptian state. The Hyksos appear to have largely adopted Egyptian culture, language, and institutions, and intermarried with Egyptian elites, but Egyptian historical records remembering this period are nometheless strongly negative. Egyptian dynasties remained in control of Upper Egypt (around the capital of Thebes, now Luxor).

Kerma, in contrast to Egypt, reached its high point in the 1700s and 1600s BC, and recaptured Lower Nubia (the part of Egypt south of Aswan). Its large capital city (also called Kerma), located around the Dongola Reach bend in the Nile, included monumental 10m-high walls and two large mud-brick structures termed “deffufa,” whose purpose is unknown (possibly temples?), along with palaces, houses, and workshops for skilled potters and metalworkers. It built large grave mounds for its kings, who had rich grave goods and apparently sacrificed and buried servants alongside them. By this point there’s a good case to be made that Kerma was a state.

Kerma seems to have been on good terms with the Hyksos, and to have maintained trade with them despite Upper Egypt being in between the two. That said, trade with Egypt does not appear to have been the main source of Kerma’s power - if it was, Kerma would have hit its highs and lows at the same time as Egypt, and instead Kerma was strongest when Egypt was weaker (like now) and vice versa. Instead, Kerma’s strength can be attributed to rich farmland in the area around its capital and a large agricultural population who farmed barley and herded cattle, sheep, and goats. 

In Africa beyond the Nile Valley, time frames within the second millennium BC are often still vague, but some general developments that were in place from around this time can be described. Cattle-herding had spread throughout the West African Sahara-Sahel area and as far south as Ethiopia and Kenya. Pottery was in use in Kenya, and there are arguments for a variety of crops (including sorghum and millet), initially domesticated in Ethiopia and Sudan, having reached Kenya by this time. In central Africa, the Bantu were expanding through the rainforest along the Congo River and its tributaries that would eventually bring them to eastern and southern Africa.

According to Christopher Ehret, some of Africa’s first large towns outside the Nile Valley developed at this time in the Tichitt area of Mauritania, an area that was also cultivating pearl millet. Over about 200 km, there was strip of towns and larger villages in which different towns specialized in different artisanal products, such as grindstones, arrowheads, and beads. They traded these products with each other, as well as trading them to non-town areas for meat and raw materials. One town was larger than the rest and may have been a capital. 

Finally, we’ll turn to developments in South America. By the 1600s BC there was widespread building of major cities and temples in river valleys near the Peruvian coast. Some of the main cultures building these were the Manchay, to the south of where Caral-Supe had been, and Casma-Sechín, to the north. Here’s a map to illustrate (from Michael A. Malpass, Ancient Peoples of the Andes, Cornell University Press, 2016; colours added by me; the Cupisnique will show up in a few centuries).

Beauty in the Bronze Age - Minoan & Mycenaean Fashion

Dress and appearance in Bronze Age Greece (c. 3100 BCE - c. 1100 BCE) played a part in defining gender roles and emphasising idealized beauty that planted the seed for modern-day standards. The Minoans turned the island of Crete into a Mediterranean powerhouse and dominated Aegean culture until around 1450 BCE when the Mycenaean civilization from the Greek mainland peaked and wrested control. Frescoes and figurines uncovered from this era reveal a fabulously colourful society that expressed itself through fashion, hair, and accessories. Both Minoan and Mycenaean women sought a pinched waist to achieve the epitome of a feminine aesthetic. The fashion of Mycenaean men, however, expressed their warlike temperament, in contrast to their Minoan counterparts, who embodied display and splendour.

Minoan Women

Women are heavily represented amongst the archaeological finds from Knossos, Akrotiri, and other Minoan hubs. One of the most beautiful examples is the Snake Goddess Figurine which depicts the archetype of Minoan dress. This woman wears a flounced, layered skirt that falls to the ground. Her bodice has short sleeves and a scalloped neckline which reveals and accentuates her breasts. This is mirrored in the colourful frescoes which emphasise bright, eye-catching fabrics dyed a myriad of colours. Bold primary colours – reds, yellows, and blues − dominate the pattern scheme. To get these shades, the Minoans took advantage of the available natural resources. Saffron – now the world’s most expensive spice – was used to acquire yellow and murex sea snails created a rich purple.

One of the most interesting aspects of female dress was the use of corsets or tight thick belts to create an hour-glass figure. Artworks suggest that the wasp-waist was highly idealised in Minoan culture and body modification may have been implemented to achieve this. Corsets have, of course, gone in and out of fashion in the thousands of years since their early Cretan use. Minoan women also wore jewellery to frame their features. Hoop earrings, necklaces, and bangles were all popular forms of expression and decoration − gold and glass beads were used to give outfits that glamourous touch.

In the frescoes, women have black hair braided into long tendrils or locks. Their skin, in contrast, is typically a pale white, implying that the ideal women would have spent significant time indoors and that the archetype of feminine beauty could be obtained by focusing on domestic duties.

Today was my last day in Santorini and my last full day in Greece before I fly back home tomorrow, and I did a lot in Santorini, such as going on a sunset boat ride and going to different restaurants, but on my last day me and my family went to the ruins of the ancient city of Akrotiri and the local Atlantis museum. In case you don’t, Santorini is an island in Greece that has a dormant volcano on it that was once home to a city from 3500 years ago called Akrotiri, which was destroyed when it erupted. Many historians believe that this city was what inspired Plato to write the myth of Atlantis. So I was lucky enough to visit the city ruins that had been converted into a national park! Not only that, but I also got to go to a local museum dedicated to Atlantis, where I got my picture taken holding a trident and watched a 4D movie dedicated to Akrotiri and Atlantis. I’m glad that I was able to spend my last full day in Greece the same people like Arthur Curry, Namor McKenzie, and Milo Thatch before me did, and explored the city of Atlantis!

(as many as this app will let me post anyway). Is it really so much to ask to have every single surface of my house covered in beautiful 16th C. BCE bronze age frescoes?