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Greece: Mycenaeans (Room 12b)
This gallery will be partially closed between 7 January and 28 February 2013
The Arthur I Fleischman Gallery
3200 – 1100 BC
The Mycenaean period of the later Greek Bronze Age was viewed by the Greeks as the 'age of heroes' and perhaps provides the historical background to many of the stories told in later Greek mythology, including Homer's epics. Objects and artworks from this time are found throughout mainland Greece and the Greek islands. Distinctive Mycenaean pottery was distributed widely across the eastern Mediterranean.
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Gold goblet, Mycenaean Greek 1500 BC
More informationGold goblet, Mycenaean Greek 1500 BC
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Rhyton in the shape of a bull's head 1300-1200 BC
More informationRhyton in the shape of a bull's head 1300-1200 BC
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Necklace of blue cast glass beads and their gold covers 1400-1300 BC
More informationNecklace of blue cast glass beads and their gold covers 1400-1300 BC
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Vase decorated with bulls and birds 1300-1200 BC
More informationVase decorated with bulls and birds 1300-1200 BC
Following the collapse of this civilisation in the twelfth century BC, Greece entered a 'Dark Age' of relative poverty and isolation.
The displays in Room 12b include a fine example of a krater (mixing bowl) and a number of bronzes from the later Geometric period. These show the beginnings of Greek mythology being used to decorate works of art. They come from about the same time that the epics of Homer were reaching the form in which we inherit them, as the earliest Greek literature.