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The Linear B Tablets of the Northern Entrance Passage at Knossos
The Linear B Tablets of the Northern Entrance Passage at Knossos
An Interdisciplinary Reassessment
An Interdisciplinary Reassessment
Ophélie Mouthuy
This volume presents a systematic and interdisciplinary analysis of the 546 Linear B documents discovered in the Northern Entrance Passage (NEP) in the Palace of Knossos. This major collection, which includes tablets found in the Passageway and the adjacent North-West Insula, stands apart due to the high number of scribes attested and the variety of topics recorded. Drawing inspiration from prior research on the Room of the Chariot Tablets (RCT), this study employs a holistic methodology, encompassing archaeological, pinacological, epigraphic, palaeographic, linguistic, and textual approaches. The primary objectives are to precisely define the relative date of the NEP tablets and to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the deposit and its administrative relationship to other collections within the palace. The archaeological reassessment utilizes original excavation notes by Evans and Mackenzie to reconstruct the architectural history and depositional processes (taphonomy) in the NEP area. The findings indicate that the tablets were preserved by fire during a violent destruction event in the LM IIIA2 period, thereby predating the final abandonment of the palace.
This chronological placement positions the NEP deposit as representing an intermediate administrative phase between the earlier RCT tablets and the later Knossian archives. Through a detailed analysis of scribal hands, style, linguistic features, and content, the volume fully characterizes this crucial corpus. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the NEP represents the remnants of a centralized administrative "pre-archive" before documents were transferred to perishable materials.
This interdisciplinary work significantly contributes to resolving the long-standing debate concerning the destruction(s) of the Palace at Knossos, advancing a convincing framework for dating the Linear B documents and illuminating key facets of Mycenaean economic management during the advanced Late Bronze Age.
Taking home Agamemnon
Taking home Agamemnon
The Casts of the Lion Gate at Mycenae
The Casts of the Lion Gate at Mycenae
Jan Driessen, Tina Kalantzopoulou
The Lion Gate at Mycenae is an icon, a piece of art more than 3300 years old, representing the glory of Mycenaean Greece. Preserved in situ, it has passed through time and circumstance, witnessing its own civilisation fail and many others flourishing since. Often considered as an emblem for the royal house of Mycenae, it is the only surviving piece of large-scale sculpture of the Greek Bronze Age. The quality of its creation, its symbolic force, and its prime position towering above the entrance gate to the site that epitomizes a period that gave rise to enumerable legends may be seen as framing the atmosphere in which this book was written. Already in the 19th c., the relief was moulded and casts were produced to be exhibited in museums and universities. This volume traces 33 casts, some no longer existing, and tells their stories.
Πολυμήχανος
Πολυμήχανος
Man of Many Ways. Papers in Honour of Professor Jan Driessen
Man of Many Ways. Papers in Honour of Professor Jan Driessen
Charlotte Langohr, Quentin Letesson
Taking the High Road
Taking the High Road
Prehistoric Habitation and Exploitation in the Mountains of East Crete: New Evidence from an Extensive Survey
Prehistoric Habitation and Exploitation in the Mountains of East Crete: New Evidence from an Extensive Survey
This volume presents and discusses the results of an extensive survey that took place between 2014 and 2018 in the mountain ranges of East Crete. The survey of respectively the eastern part of the Dikte range and the Sitanos area above Zakros specifically targeted prehistoric cultural remains with the aim to investigate the extent at which this environmental zone was exploited during the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. Based on the results of the fieldwork, the discussion focuses mostly on the Neopalatial period (Middle Minoan III Late Minoan IB) during which a systematic effort to occupy and exploit these two upland zones was especially evident. The study of architectural remains and movable finds that were sampled, documented and studied within the two areas allows a reconsideration of issues of political organization, labour mobilization, economic integration, production and specialization.
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