Ancient Crete

Classics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelos Chaniotis ◽  
Antonis Kotsonas
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Art History ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Hellenistic World ◽  
Written Sources ◽  
Linear B

The island of Crete holds a special position in classical studies, primarily as the birthplace of the earliest “high culture” in Europe: the Minoan civilization of the Bronze Age. But in addition to the artistic and cultural achievements of the “Minoans,” Crete is the only Greek region whose history can be studied on the basis of written sources (Egyptian hieroglyphic documents, Linear B texts, Greek literary sources and inscriptions), almost continually from c. 1400 bce to Late Antiquity. It is the first Greek area where script was used (Cretan hieroglyphics, Linear A, and Linear B); and being an island with a diverse landscape, in relative proximity to mainland Greece but strategically located in the center of the eastern Mediterranean, it offers interesting paradigms for the study of ancient political organization, society, and culture in changing historical contexts. Understandably, Minoan Crete has been studied more intensely than later periods of Cretan history. This is not a bibliography of Minoan archaeology and art history. Although it attempts to cover Cretan history from the processes that led to the appearance of the palaces (c. 2000 bce) to Late Antiquity (c. 5th century ce), it places more emphasis on the periods of Cretan history for which written sources exist. This bibliography does not always follow the traditional periodization of Greek history and art history because it corresponds to the periods of Cretan history. The “Cretan Renaissance” (c. 900–630), roughly the Geometric, Orientalizing, and Early Archaic periods of art history, is taken here as a single period, in which Crete was a pioneer in art and culture. A major change occurred around 630 bce: trade and the arts did not disappear but lost their innovative power, and Cretan institutions seem to petrify; the Late Archaic and Classical periods are therefore taken as a single unit (c. 630–c. 336 bce). In the remaining centuries Crete kept pace with the rest of the Greek world, first integrated in the Hellenistic world (c. 336–67 bce) and then in the Roman Empire (67 bce–284 ce); finally, Late Antiquity (c. 284–mid-7th century ce) is clearly defined through Diocletian’s reforms and the advance of Christianity, and the beginning of the Arab raids.

Revisiting the Beyşehir Occupation Phase: Land-Cover Change and the Rural Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean During the First Millennium AD

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Marked Decline ◽  
Olive Trees

Abstract The latter part of the Beyşehir Occupation Phase (BOP) corresponds in space and time to the Late Roman empire in the eastern Mediterranean. The emphasis on tree crops in pollen records, particularly olive trees, implies long-term investment, stable trade networks and regional economic integration. The onset of the BOP was time-transgressive, starting between the Bronze Age and Hellenistic times in different localities. During the mid 1st millennium AD, the BOP came to an end, often abruptly, with a marked decline in agricultural indicators and an increase in forests, implying partial landscape re-wilding. This termination is most commonly dated to the 7th c. AD, coinciding with Arab attacks on Byzantine territory, and this, rather than climate change, seems the most likely explanation for the regional collapse of the rural agrarian system. The end of the BOP marks the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval era, a transition which appears to have been notably later in date and more dramatic than elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

scholarly journals The migrations of the Sea Peoples circa 1200 BC according to written sources, narrative tradition and archaeology

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 1233-1248
Author(s):  
A. V. Safronov
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Narrative Tradition ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Sea Peoples ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Written Sources

The article deals with the Sea Peoples’ migrations at the beginning of 12th century BC. It is based on ancient Egyptian written sources, archaeological data and Greek narrative tradition. The author tries to reconstruct the general stages of Late Bronze Age ethnical movements in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the 13th – beginning the 12th centuries BC. The author shows that the Sea peoples’ movement was not homogeneous. Moreover, not all the Sea Peoples can be considered as migrants. The tribes of Shekelesh and Weshesh were the typical sea raiders who plundered the rich centres of the Eastern Mediterranean. The possible reason for the Peleset, Theker and Turša migration seems to be the war which devastated their homeland in north-eastern Anatolia between 1208/1203 и 1195 BC. The appearance of the Denyen in Sea Peoples’ movement must be connected with the destructions of Mycenaean centres in Southern Greece circa 1200 BC. Their inhabitants left their homeland and migrated to the different regions of the Aegean, Anatolia, Eastern and Western Mediterranean. The Sea Peoples’ migrations were only the first stage of global ethnic movements in Eurasia at the end of the Bronze Age which totally changed the ethnopolitical map of Southern Europe, Anatolia and Eastern Mediterranean.

The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
The West ◽  
Persian Empire ◽  
Significant Period ◽  
Oxford Dictionary

Over 5,000 entriesThe first comprehensive, multi-disciplinary reference work covering every aspect of history, culture, religion, and life in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East (including the Persian Empire and Central Asia) between c. AD 250 to 750, the era now generally known as Late Antiquity. This period saw the re-establishment of the Roman Empire, its conversion to Christianity and its replacement in the West by Germanic kingdoms, the continuing Roman Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Persian Sassanian Empire, and the rise of Islam.Consisting of more than 1.5 million words, drawing on the latest scholarship, and written by more than 400 contributors, it bridges a significant period of history between those covered by the acclaimed Oxford Classical Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, and aims to establish itself as the essential reference companion to this period.

Early Christian Art

Art History ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Marsengill
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Art History ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Near East ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Byzantine Art ◽  
Christian Art ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
Art And Architecture

Early Christian art history encompasses a range of material loosely dated from the first known appearances of Christian art in the late 2nd or early 3rd century and continuing through the 6th, 7th, and sometimes even into the early 8th centuries. Early Christian art history, however, has proven to be an inchoate term, often overlapping with, or including, Early Byzantine art history. In previous divisions of the field, Early Byzantine art tended to be too politically confining when one considers cities such as Ravenna before and after its inclusion in the Eastern Byzantine Empire. On the other hand, Early Christian art implied only the earliest centuries, usually through the 4th or mid-5th centuries, and usually centered on Roman art. Thus, many scholars today favor the term Late Antique in order to integrate the study of art and architecture of the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire as well as to understand Christian art in dialogue with Jewish and pagan art. In terms of dating, scholars generally acknowledge the genesis of Christian art and architecture around 200 ce, although some pursue theories that Christians participated in visual culture in the early 2nd century, if they had not yet developed a distinctly Christian visual language. In terms of geography, the eastern and western Mediterranean, Palestine and the Near East, and sometimes even northern Europe and Britain are all included. One result of this large geographical span has been the separation of Early Christian art in Rome, the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, the Near East, and so on. In the last decade or so, however, scholars have generally recognized a more cohesive Mediterranean world and a more fluid transition from Late Antiquity to medieval art and culture. Questions of continuity between these periods have ultimately made dating the end of “Early Christian” or “Late Antique” difficult, if not impossible. Most scholars see the end of Late Antiquity as coinciding with the death of Justinian I or, for the convenience of a rounded date, the year 600. Others argue the end of the period occurred at the beginning of the 7th century with the spread of Islam in the Near East and across North Africa. Byzantinists sometimes recognize the beginning of the iconoclastic controversy in 730 as the end of Late Antiquity. Accordingly, “true” Byzantine-era art begins after iconoclasm in the 9th century, what some refer to as the Middle Byzantine period, which marks the beginning of a distinguishable Byzantine state and extends until the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204, then followed by the Late Byzantine period (until 1453). Those who assert the continuity of Late Antique traditions in early Islamic art have recently broached the year 800 as the cut-off point.

scholarly journals New trajectories or accelerating change? Zooarchaeological evidence for Roman transformation of animal husbandry in Northern Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Trentacoste ◽  
Ariadna Nieto-Espinet ◽  
Silvia Guimarães ◽  
Barbara Wilkens ◽  
Gabriella Petrucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Scale Production

AbstractThroughout the Western provinces of the Roman Empire, greater economic and political connectivity had a major impact on agricultural production, which grew in scale and specialisation after integration with the Roman state. However, uniquely in Western Europe, farming strategies in Italy began to evolve centuries before the Roman conquest, and many ‘Roman’ patterns associated with livestock size and the relative proportions of different taxa first emerged during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium BC. These changes imply a significant reorganisation of production strategies well before Roman hegemony, even in relatively marginal areas of Italy. Zooarchaeological studies have documented further significant changes to livestock production in Roman times, but the relationship between these developments and earlier trends remains unclear. Through analysis of zooarchaeological data for species representation and livestock biometry from lowland northern Italy (Po–Friulian Plain), this study investigates animal exploitation between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity in order to characterise the influence of Roman political and economic organisation on animal husbandry. Results demonstrated subregional variation in species representation, and different trajectories in the biometric evolution of cattle, sheep and goats, compared to pigs. Initial steps established in the Iron Age towards a more complex and dynamic livestock economy were accelerated and further reconfigured in Roman times, facilitated by Roman economic organisation and the specialised and large-scale production systems within it. Zooarchaeological trends continued to progress over the Roman period, until further changes at the very end of the chronology considered here—around the sixth century AD—suggest another wave of change.

scholarly journals Παρατηρήσεις στη χρήση των υστερορωμαϊκών πήλινων ενσφράγιστων "ιγδίων": η περίπτωση των ιγδίων από τη Βόρειο Συρία

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Αναστασία Γ. ΓΙΑΓΚΑΚΗ
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
The North ◽  
Specific Category ◽  
Fabric Production ◽  
Written Sources ◽  
Late Roman

OBSERVATIONS ON THE USE OF LATE ROMAN IMPRESSED CLAY MORTARS: THE CASE OF “NORTH-SYRIAN MORTARIA” Mortars made of clay were largely diffused and used during the Roman Empire. This article focuses on a specific category of clay mortars, identified by their region of manufacture as “North-Syrian Mortaria”. This category, dated to the end of the 3rd and to the first half of the 4th century A.D., was largely diffused in the eastern Mediterranean. This study, after presenting the main characteristics of these mortars (shape, decoration, fabric, production centers, dating, distribution), addresses questions regarding their use. Traditionally, roman mortars were used in order to process (pound, pulverize, grind, mix) either solid or liquid/fluid products related to sustenance. Written sources as well as archaeological evidence support these uses. However, this study attempts to point out that they could also have a more specialised use, connected to the requirements of specific, well-organized workshops. This could be the case of the “North-Syrian Mortaria”. Regardless of the limited data concerning the exact archaeological context in which this type of mortar is found, the case-studies of mortars of this category found in Jalame, in ancient Messene and Olympia support this opinion.

Persecution and response in late paganism: the evidence of Damascius

1993 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polymnia Athanassiadi
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
The One ◽  
Psychological Dimensions ◽  
Immediate Reactions ◽  
Complex Subject

The theme of this paper is intolerance: its manifestation in late antiquity towards the pagans of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the immediate reactions and long-term attitudes that it provoked in them. The reasons why, in spite of copious evidence, the persecution of the traditional cults and of their adepts in the Roman empire has never been viewed as such are obvious: on the one hand no pagan church emerged out of the turmoil to canonise its dead and expound a theology of martyrdom, and on the other, whatever their conscious religious beliefs, late antique scholars in their overwhelming majority were formed in societies whose ethical foundations and logic are irreversibly Christian. Admittedly a few facets of this complex subject, such as the closing of the Athenian Academy and the demolition of temples or their conversion into churches, have occasionally been touched upon; but pagan persecution in itself, in all its physical, artistic, social, political, intellectual and psychological dimensions, has not as yet formed the object of scholarly research.

scholarly journals AFTER THE HITTITES: THE KINGDOMS OF KARKAMISH AND PALISTIN IN NORTHERN SYRIA

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK WEEDEN
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Special Regard ◽  
Written Sources

Abstract The disappearance and weakening of the Late Bronze Age territorial empires in the Eastern Mediterranean shortly after 1200 BC is traditionally held to be followed by a so-called Dark Age of around 300 years, characterized by a lack of written sources. However, new sources are appearing, mainly in the medium of Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions, which help us to understand events and, more importantly, political and geographical power constellations during the period. The new sources are briefly situated within the framework of the current debates, with special regard given to the territories of Karkamish and Palistin. Emphasis is laid on the apparent continuation of local idioms for the articulation of power, largely persisting from the Hittite Empire, in spite of any changes in population, social structure, or political institutions that may have occurred.

The Early Iron Age at Tell Abu al-Kharaz, Jordan Valley

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Bürge
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Jordan Valley ◽  
Starting Point

The present monograph by Teresa Bürge deals with the material culture of the city of Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the northern part of the Jordan Valley. The basis and starting point is an extremely well-preserved domestic compound dating from the early Iron Age – one of the most controversial periods of the Eastern Mediterranean: it follows the political and economic collapse of the Late Bronze Age and results in a re-structuration of the political and social organization, which – due to the present state of research – is well documented only for the later Iron Age. In addition to a detailed examination of the architecture, the find material, its contexts, the relative and absolute chronology, and the possible function of the building, the study aims at an integration of the evidence from Tell Abu al-Kharaz into a broader picture. Special attention is devoted to the economy and social organization of the early Iron Age town, to aspects of tradition versus innovation, and patterns of economic contacts and migration. Therefore, the study contributes to a better understanding of processes of continuity and change in social and political organization and cross-cultural relations of pre- and protohistoric societies.

Report on the excavations in the years 2007 and 2008 southeast of the Temple of Poseidon at Kalaureia

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 89-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arto Penttinen ◽  
Berit Wells ◽  
Dimitra Mylona ◽  
Petra Pakkanen ◽  
Jari Pakkanen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Temple

Archaeological material ranging in date from the Early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity was found in 2007 and 2008 in the excavations in Area H to the south and southeast of the Temple of Poseidon. Finds datable to the periods of major change in the Sanctuary—the Late Archaic and the Early Hellenistic—illuminate the character of the change. In the Late Archaic period an attempt to erect a votive column at the site was for some reason given up, and drums of large dimensions were left visible, possibly as a reminder of the failure. The construction of a monumental drain next to the Archaic peribolos of the Temple of Poseidon in the early third century BC necessitated large-scale leveling work in the area coinciding in time with the dedication of a Ptolemaic, royal statue. These types of events have a tendency to dominate in the archaeological record at the cost of periods of normalcy. Those periods are represented in the form of pottery, other artifacts and animal remains, which constitute evidence for activities that obviously did not change much over time, such as dedicating objects to the deities present in the Sanctuary and animal sacrifice with ensuing preparation and consumption of food. In this report we attempt to present the archaeological remains in accordance with the type of deposits they originate from. Also included is an appendix on the marine mollusks by Tatiana Theodoropoulou.

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