The Tiwanaku (Tiahuanacu) Empire

The Tiwanaku (Tiahuanacu) Empire was a Pre-Columbian polity in western Bolivia based in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin.  Its capital, Tiwanaku, was founded around 110 CE during the Late Formative Period, when there were a number of growing settlements in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin. Between 450 and 550 CE, other large settlements were abandoned, leaving Tiwanaku as the pre-eminent center in the region. 

Beginning around 600 CE its population grew rapidly, probably due to a massive immigration from the surrounding countryside, and large parts of the city were built or remodeled. Tiwanaku was a multi-cultural "hospitality state" that brought people together to build large monuments, perhaps as part of large religious festivals. This may have been the central dynamic that attracted people from hundreds of kilometers away, who may have traveled there as part of llama caravans to trade, make offerings, and honor the gods. Tiwanaku grew into the Andes' most important pilgrimage destination.  By 800 CE, Tiwanaku was one of the continent's largest Pre-Columbian cities, reaching a population of 10,000 to 20,000.

Outside of the state's core area in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin, there were Tiwanaku colonies on the coast of Peru, where highland people imitated Tiwanaku temples and ceramics, and cemeteries in northern Chile with elaborate grave goods in the Tiwanaku style. Despite the clear connections to these enclaves, there is little evidence that the state controlled the territory or people in between, that is, its territory was not contiguous. With a few important exceptions, the state's influence outside the Lake Titicaca Basin was "soft power" that blossomed into a powerful, widespread, and enduring cultural hegemony.

Remains of Tiwanaku culture includes carved monoliths, temples and standardized polychrome pottery produced on a massive scale.  Archaeologists discovered some statues in Tiwanaku were taken from other regions and placed in subordinate positions to the local gods as a display of power over other states and regions.  Examinations of burials revealed the practice of artificial cranial deformation.

Tiwanaku ceramics suddenly stopped being produced and the urban core of the capital abandoned about 1000 CE. One theory was that severe drought rendered the raised-field systems ineffective, food surplus dropped, and with it, elite power, leading to state collapse. Other scholars suggest the society's own social dynamics caused its decline due to evidence of intentional destruction that included the monolithic Gates of the Sun and Moon as well as the burning of temple complexes and smashing of food storage jars.

Tiwanaku head wrappings, 500-1000 CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Pablo Trincado.

Tiwanaku sculpture, 110-1000 CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Alexson Scheppa Peisino.

Tiwanaku anthropomorphic vase displayed in the "Tiwanaku Museum" at La Paz, Bolivia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Christophe Meneboeuf.  

Tiwanaku mummy mask, 600 - 1000 CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Helvetiker.

Shell ear pegs, mother-of-pearl, turquoise and shell mosaic on wood, Peru, northern coastal region of Tiahuanaco/Huari, 800-1200 CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Helvetiker.

Gateway of the Sun, Tiwanaku, Bolivia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Mhwater.

Monumental sculpture in Tiwanaku, 110 - 1000 CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Chuspa, a pouch used to carry coca and cocoa leaves from the Tiwanakota period, 500-1000 CE, at the Marc Museum in Rosario, Argentina courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor davidsonn.

Gold Tiwanaku Pendant, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Tony Hisgett.

Closeup of carved stone tenon head embedded in wall of Semi-subterranean Temple, Tiwanaku, Bolivia by Wikimedia Commons contributor, Alfonso F. del Granado Rivero.

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Phoenician mortuary practices of the Achaemenid period

The Phoenicians as a politically, religiously, and perhaps even ethnically distinct entity on the Levantine coast emerged at the end of the Late Bronze Age about 1200 BCE, as one of the successor cultures to the Canaanites.  From their homeland on the coast of the Levant, the Phoenicians spread throughout the Mediterranean and its islands including Cyprus, Sicily and Malta. Some scholars have observed that Iron Age Phoenicia was not a nation, but rather a collection of cities built around natural harbors along the coast. While they shared a common culture, these small states remained independent, competing with each other in the international marketplace. 

"Depending on how evidence is weighed [based on Ugaritic texts and classical sources], Phoenician religion might be presented on the one hand as inclusive and diverse – a “conservatively” polytheistic society easily able to incorporate or syncretize new deities, customs and traditions or on the other hand as highly place-specific – a model in which Phoenicians were devoted to city-gods only, with little shared pantheon above the local or regional scale," Helen Dixon, University of Michigan, observes.

This variety in religious practices initially resulted in the use of both cremation and inhumation in mortuary practices and funerary art often expressed influences by non-Phoenician ruling administrations like New Kingdom Egyptians, Assyrians, and Achaemenid Persians.  By the Achaemenid period, however, adult cremation abruptly disappears from sites in the Phoenician cultural sphere.  This corresponds with the increasing importance of Zoroastrianism in the 5th century BCE. In Zoroastrianism, water (aban) and fire (atar) are agents of ritual purity, and the associated purification ceremonies are considered the basis of ritual life. A corpse is considered a host for decay. Consequently, scripture enjoins the safe disposal of the dead in a manner such that a corpse does not pollute the good creation.

For inhumation burials, the use of sarcophagi during the Achaemenid period along with epigraphic evidence points to a consistent and insistent emphasis on the integrity of the burial. Deities, including Astarate, are invoked to assist with the procurement of blessings and to enforce curses and righteousness is defined by political accomplishments or the building of religious shrines.  Although Egyptian iconography persisted, it was supplemented by Persian iconography. A paucity of grave goods was referenced in inscriptions as a deterrent to grave robbing and what few ceramic vessels have been found in Phoenician burials have been ceremonially broken. Wealthier burials, though, apparently included the use of expensive resins such as myrrh to anoint, perfume or preserve the body and the deceased were dressed in special garments with head ornaments, particularly royal women whose head ornament was described as a gold bridle. However, there apparently were no extensive preparations for a “next life,” no large quantities of food or drink on which to survive or any biographical depictions or texts to accompany the dead. With the exception of the occasional appearance of amulets or other possibly apotropaic items, there was no preparation for an encounter with an underworld deity or space or expectation of  a future meeting one's deceased ancestors.

Read more about it in Dixon's dissertation, "Phoenician Mortuary Practice in the Iron Age I – III (ca. 1200 – ca. 300 BCE) Levantine “Homeland”:

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/99972

Sarcophagus made from Greek marble. burial grounds of Antarados, northern Lebanon. 480-450 BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor McLeod

Anthropoid sarcophagi, from Sidon, 5th century BCE, National Museum of Beirut, Lebanon courtesy of Carole Raddato.

Phoenician sarcophagus of the fifth century BCE, from the Carthaginian colonization of Sicily. Discovered in Palermo. Regional Archaeological Museum of Palermo, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, king of Sidon, Phoenicia, ca first quarter of the 5th century BC.E. at The Louvre courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Fred Romero.

Marble anthropoid sarcophagus, last quarter of the 5th century B.C.E., Graeco-Phoenician found on Cyprus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Phoenician sarcophagus of the fifth century BCE, from the Carthaginian colonization of Sicily. Discovered in Palermo. Regional Archaeological Museum of Palermo, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Marble anthropoid sarcophagus, last quarter of the 5th century B.C.E., Graeco-Phoenician found on Cyprus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Phoenician marble sarcophagus found in Cádiz. Spain, 5th century BCE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Professor Ángel M. Felicísimo, University of Mérida.

Phoenician marble sarcophagus found in Cádiz. Spain, 5th century BCE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Professor Ángel M. Felicísimo, University of Mérida.

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The Mycenaean Dendra Panoply

In May 1960 Swedish archaeologists discovered the earliest example of a beaten bronze cuirass at Dendra, dated to the end of the fifteenth century BCE (Late Helladic IIIA - about 1400 BCE). It forms part of the Late Helladic Dendra Panoply, which consists of fifteen separate pieces of bronze sheet, held together with leather thongs, that encased the wearer from neck to knees. 

The panoply was found in tomb 12 of the Dendra necropolis and had been partially plundered at some point.  But in addition to the squashed armor, archaeologists were able to recover pottery fragments, a silver toggle pin (probably used to fasten an item of clothing), a bronze oinochoe (jug), as well as various other objects of bronze, including at least one knife and a dagger, a bronze mirror, a gold-plated ring, fragments of a silver cup, fragments of boar's tusk and a pair of swords inlaid with gold and ivory.

The panoply, when restored, was found to include a back and breast plate and six bronze plates, three in front and three behind along the bottom edge of the cuirass. A throat guard protected the wearer's neck and two triangular pieces were attached to the front of the breast plate to further protect the chest. The panoply also included two shoulder guards, two pieces of bronze to protect the the upper arms, a single greave and forearm guard.  Other bronze fragments were also found that may have been the remains of a second greave and forearm guard although classicist Diane Fortenberry argued that single greaves were used to indicate rank in Mycenaean Greece.

My first impression on seeing the panoply was that it resembled remnants of a robot from "Lost in Space." I couldn't visualize a Mycenaean warrior staggering around the battlefield in that armor! Although it is dated to about 100 years before the Trojan War, can you imagine Achilles fighting in it?

Apparently, my reaction has been shared by other scholars as well.  Some scholars tried to rationalize its use as armor worn by a chariot-mounted warrior.  Joost Crouwel observes,

"While it is certainly difficult to visualize a warrior thus equipped marching to and from a battlefield in the Greek summer, it is equally difficult to see him as fighting in a chariot. If we look at contemporary oriental armour, we see that the corselets worn by Asiatic and Egyptian chariot crews are long, flexible, short-sleeved tunics, covered with many scales of bronze or leather. This type of armour […] is much less cumbersome than the Dendra panoply."

Crouwell points out that the warrior wearing the Dendra panoply would not have fought with a bow as stretching a bow would have been extremely difficult, but used  a sword, dagger or thrusting spear, close range weapons which are rendered practically useless from a moving chariot.  Instead, Crouwel suggests the Dendra warrior may have been driven to the battlefield by a charioteer where he dismounted and fought as a swordsman, as evidenced by the two swords included in the grave goods. Piotr Taracha agrees and even points out that the warrior may have fought with two swords, even though there were skeletal remains of another male buried in the tomb as well.

Although we have only this one complete panoply to date, armor of similar type appears as an ideogram on Linear B tablets from Knossos, Pylos, and Tiryns and fragmentary armor of a similar type  was recovered in Thebes in 1964. No examples of such metal armor predate the Late Helladic II period and it disappears from the archaeological record at the end of Late Helladic IIA or beginning of Late Helladic IIB (about 1300 BCE) before reappearing briefly during the Dark Ages following the fall of Mycenaean palaces about 1200 BCE.

Read more about it:

https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/encased-bronze-panoply-mycenaean-tomb-dendra/

The Mycenaean Dendra Panoply found in tomb 12 of the Dendra necropolis dating to the end of 15th century BCE now in the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion (sometimes called Nafplio or Nauplion) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Schuppi.

Mycenaean warrior wearing Dendra-type armor, 1400-1200 BCE, by artist Christian Jégou.

Mycenaean warrior wearing Dendra-type armor, 1400-1200 BCE, by artist Christos Giannopoulos.

Ajax, wearing Dendra-type armor, heaves a large boulder at Hector's shield. by artist Peter Connolly

Mycenaean warrior wearing Dendra-type armor, 1400-1200 BCE, by artist Giuseppe Rava

Mycenaean warrior wearing Dendra-type armor, 1400-1200 BCE, by artist Giuseppe Rava

Mycenaean warrior wearing Dendra-type armor, 1400-1200 BCE, courtesy of Lāwāgetās, @ArcGreek on Twitter.

Mycenaean warrior wearing Dendra-type armor as envisioned by artist Bizfuzz on DeviantArt.

Historical reenactor wearing Dendra-type armor courtesy of Pinterest.

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Primitive Cypriot figurines of the Archaic Period

Despite rule by artistically sophisticated cultures including the Assyrians and the Egyptians, some Cypriots of the Archaic Period produced simple handmade figurines with crude faces, cylindrical bodies and plain clay trail or pellets to form hats, eyes, ears, etc., known as the snowman technique. Predominantly found in a sanctuary context, these models included not only priestesses and worshipers, but scribes, actors, musicians, mythological creatures, animals, and scenes of rural life.

"Male figurines (soldiers, horsemen, charioteers, worshipers) are usually associated with sanctuaries of male divinities. A characteristic example is the sanctuary of Ayia Irini on the northwest coast of Cyprus. Here, a huge number of terracotta figurines of various sizes (even life-size) were found placed around the altar. Dated in the Cypro-Archaic period (7th-6th c. BCE), they are considered dedications associated with a male divinity that seems to have been worshiped in more than one capacity."

"Female figurines were usually related to the cult of the Great Mother Goddess. The worship of a female fertility deity, possibly identified with Astarte (Ishtar), is attested in Cyprus dating from the Bronze Age. During the Geometric and Archaic periods, the Near Eastern Astarte merged with the local Aphrodite, who was venerated in Cyprus in large temples, such as those at Kition and Palaepaphos, as well as in numerous rural sanctuaries. There are several iconographic types, all related to ritual activities associated with the cult of a fertility deity: priestesses with hieratic garments, frequently holding powerful symbols of fertility, such as birds, flowers or fruits, worshippers with uplifted arms, musicians (tambourine and flute players), and  ceremonial dancers. There is also a number of nude female figurines. This type had been extensively used in North Syria to depict Astarte but was rather strange to Cyprus, where female figures were almost always shown dressed. Female figurines are frequently found in graves, too, suggesting that the fertility goddess was also a symbol of regeneration." - Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens

Terracotta statuette of a man riding a donkey, ca. 600–480 B.C.E., Cypriot at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The man steadies two large jars that are fastened in front of him on either side of the animal's back. The jars are types that would hold wine or olive oil. The statuette captures what would have been a frequent sight, not only in ancient Cyprus but also for centuries thereafter. 

Terracotta group: making flour, ca. 600–480 B.C.E., Cypriot, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The figure at the right is grinding grain in a quern with an elliptical stone. Her companion stands over a sieve that is probably set on a low wicker tray or basket. At the left end is a large shallow scoop. Vignettes of daily life, particularly the preparation of bread, are common among Cypriot terracottas of the Archaic period. They have come to light mainly in tombs. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Terracotta woman baking bread, ca. 600–480 B.C.E. Cypriot, , at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a representation known from only two examples, a woman is shown leaning over an oven and throwing the disks of dough onto the hot walls. The oven has a hole at the bottom for air to enter and a wide mouth at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Terracotta figurine tomb gift of a woman coverying her mouth 600-500 BCE, Cypriot, that I photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. 

Terracotta horse and rider tomb gift, Cypriot, 600-600 BCE, that I photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

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