Posted on 06/13/2012 7:32:01 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
The Birth of Bureaucracy
At the site of Iklaina, excavations are revealing new evidence of how the Mycenaean state functioned -
Pylos, in Greece’s southwestern Peloponnese, is known for its miles of soft sandy beaches, rocky islets soaring out of the water marking the edges of the Bay of Navarino, and the mountains that cut it off from the rest of Greece.
The surrounding region, known as Messenia, is also home to dozens of archaeological sites. Since the nineteenth century, Messenia has attracted archaeologists hoping to uncover remains of Greece’s Mycenaean age, the period from approximately 1650 to 1100 B.C., famous for such mythical sagas as the Trojan War. Among them have been Heinrich Schliemann, who came from Germany to search the area in vain to locate a royal settlement, and American Carl Blegen, who excavated the Palace of Nestor in Pylos in 1939.
Fifteen years later, in 1954, Blegen’s colleague, Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, went hiking in the hills above Pylos. There, near the small modern town of Iklaina, he came upon the remains of a structure with massive walls, surrounded by large deposits of pottery. The Iklaina site was overgrown with olive groves and the terrain was difficult to traverse, but a brief trial excavation suggested the existence of an important site. However, other work beckoned Marinatos and it would remain buried for decades.
An aerial view of the site of Iklaina near Pylos, Greece.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
GGG ping.
A Mycenaean funeral mask identified as the "Mask of Agamemnon" by Heinrich Schliemann 
Fresco: the "Lady of Mycenae" accepts a gift of a necklace.
Reminds me of a very disturbing movie that I should watch again - Brazil- anyone ever heard of it?
http://www.esemag.com/archive/0305/drainage.html
http://glas-excavations.org/about.html
http://athang1504.blogspot.com/2011/01/gla.html
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks Squawk 8888 for the ping. The rise of recordkeeping seems to have filled a need for property and production management systems, judicial systems for settling disputes, and diplomacy and political continuity. The site of Gla, well, it's worth looking up -- apparently a settlement ruled by Orchomenos, it was a fortess constructed on a promontory that had been an island. The reason it had stopped being an island? A river was diverted, and the large lake drained, in order to create more farmland. Naturally some invading force breached the dam during a war. |
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That movie was brilliant. It was written and directed by Terry Gilliam (the demented American animator of Monty Python).
I loved DeNiro’s scenes where he said “the paperwork’ll kill you” and it finally did him in literally.
I didn’t realize that Gilliam was American. Yes, he is demented, but we love him so.
My favourite line was when he told the girl that he faked her death- “Care for a little necrophilia?”
Of course! One of the best Terry Gilliam films, and that’s saying a lot because most of them are excellent.
If you like his style, I’d recommend Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Twelve Monkeys, and the Fisher King. Those are my favorites of his, besides Brazil.
He held dual citizenship for decades [married a Brit] and renounced his U.S. citizenship.
Has it ever been determined that the Mask of Agamemnon is a hoax by Schliemann?
I remember viewing it at National Archaeological Museum in Athens, along with the remarkable Cup of Nestor. Good stuff!
That’s exactly how Agamemnon looks in contemporary photos. Schliemann wasn’t looking for fame or anything, just a normal and natural truth-seeker like the rest of us.
So, then, palm-face has a long and proud history, I see.
I always wanted to find one of those “Executive Desk Accessories” like they have in the film, but I’m sure it’s a custom prop that nobody is selling.
There's a new article about Iklaina that purports to reveal new discoveries. It's apparent that there's no one new thing in the whole article, but it makes a nice pretext for an updated ping message and such.
and from the FRchives:
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