Mycenaean gold "seal" rings with Minoan-style iconography

 When the so-called "Griffin Warrior" was discovered near the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, the young man who died around 1500 BCE was buried with some 2,000 objects, including silver cups, beads made of precious stones, ivory combs, a sword and four intricately decorated solid gold rings. Archaeologists Shari Stocker and Jack Davis from the University of Cincinnati that excavated the warrior's burial think these grave goods provided evidence that Mycenaean culture recognized and appreciated Minoan culture more than previously believed, especially the gold rings. Made of multiple sheets of gold, the rings depict detailed scenes including bull leaping and iconography such as sun symbols and mythological genii creatures from Minoan mythology.  

Originally the rings were thought to have probably been crafted on Crete where they were used to seal documents or indicate ownership of goods or other objects and pillaged in warfare. But, after extensive study, Stocker and Davis have expressed their opinion that these items were probably not plunder but examples of exchanged ideas and the adoption of certain aspects of Minoan culture including religious concepts and symbols of political power.

Cynthia W. Shelmerdine of the University of Texas, an expert on the Bronze Age in the Aegean, observes, "These things clearly have a power connection…[and] fits with other evidence that the elites on the mainland are increasingly closely connected to the elites on Crete whether or not the rings were used in the Minoan way for sealing objects.”

"The elite of Pylos at this time knew what these symbols and objects meant.  The Griffin Warrior was not simply imitating the Minoan world but he was a part of it, just as he was a part of the Mycenaean world.  His burial serves as a testimony that the transition between the two eras was neither abrupt nor concrete, but that the process was much more complex. There was a time, at least in Pylos, where the two cultures seemingly blended and coexisted." - Uncovering Pylos, The Archaeological Institute of America.

Gold Mycenaen Seal Ring with two female figures with raised arms praying by a shrine or altar. The branches on either side of the central structure may indicate that the ritual is related to seasonal cycles and fertility, end of 15th century BCE, now in the NAM Athens. I photographed this ring at "The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great" exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum.

Mycenaean gold signet ring depicting a man with a branch approaching a building with a goat behind him intended for sacrifice 1500 BCE NAM Athens. I photographed this ring at "The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great" exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum.

Gold ring from grave IV of grave circle A at Mycenae 1500-1200 BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Schuppi

National Archaeological Museum of Athens, NAMA 240: Gold ring from grave IV of grave circle A at Tiryns, 1500-1200 BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Schuppi.

Archea Nemea, Corinthia, Greece: Mycenaean Gold Signet Ring MN 1005 showing a chariot. Part of the Repartriated Mycenaean Treasure of the Mycenaean cemetery of Aidonia in the Archaeological Museum of Nemea courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Schuppi.

Archea Nemea, Corinthia, Greece: Mycenaean Gold Signet Ring MN 1006 showing two woman holding flowers. Part of the Repartriated Mycenaean Treasure of the Mycenaean cemetery of Aidonia in the Archaeological Museum of Nemea courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Schuppi

Mycenaean gold seal ring, two lions tied to a pillar, said to be from Mycenae, 1700-1400 BCE, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde

A ring with a hunting scene from the Minoan and Mycenaean culture, around 1400 BCE. Gold, Historical Museum of Serbia. Inv. No. 50/A, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor M Todorovic

Gold ring with relief: Sitting Goddess and procession of seahorses. Mycenaean Late Bronze Age. Tiryns, 15th cent. BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Athens N 6208, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde.

 

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Changes in historical perceptions of Qin Shi Huangdi, first emperor of unified China

My husband and I have been watching the "Qin Empire Epic", a Chinese produced series, on Amazon Prime.  Although I can't always keep up with the subtitles (I can't read that fast from across the room!) I have found the history of the unification of China under Qin Shi Huangdi, initially called Yíng Zhèng, very interesting. Most references to China's first emperor that I had read, mostly information accompanying the three different Terracotta Warriors exhibits I have attended, seemed to emphasize the emperor's brutality, as portrayed in traditional Chinese historiography.  But, I discovered, like Roman propaganda vilifying the emperor Nero, perceptions of Yíng Zhèng's actions need to be considered in the political context of the fierce competition between warlords that dominated the tumultuous Warring States Period.

Although I haven't seen any reference to burying Confucian scholars alive yet (we're on episode 78), I was researching some of the portrayed events and found that recent research suggests that the "burying of the Confucian scholars alive" tale, one of Qin Shi Huangdi's most heinous reported acts, is now considered a Confucian martyrs' legend.  It is based on an incident where the emperor ordered the execution of a group of alchemists who had attempted to mislead him.  But later, during the Han dynasty, Confucian scholars, who had served the Qin loyally, used that incident, claiming the alchemists were Confucianists, to distance themselves from the failed dynasty and ingratiate themselves to the new administration. So, just like in the west, tales of martyrdom were apparently used for political manipulation.

Reassessments of Qin Shi Huangdi's rule in more modern times seem to oscillate between the traditional view and a perception of the first emperor as a hero of Chinese history.  In Hong Shidi's biography "Qin Shi Huang," published by the state during the Maoist period, the first emperor is portrayed as a far-sighted ruler who destroyed the forces of division and established the first unified, centralized state by rejecting the feudal past. He was criticized, though, for not being as thorough as he should have been, in crushing counter-revolutionaries which resulted in hidden subversives under the leadership of the chief eunuch Zhao Gao seizing  power after the emperor's death and using it to restore the old feudal order.  His famous quest for immortality, so widely acclaimed in exhibit literature, was scarcely mentioned (and hasn't been in this Prime series either so far). The series does portray the emperor as occasionally short-tempered and impulsive, even stubborn, however, although ultimately he is seen willing to reconsider some of his more drastic edicts if provided with convincing argument.  

As a Roman history enthusiast, what I find totally astounding about the Warring States Period is the sheer number of combatants reported in the battles.  These events coincide roughly with the Second Punic War in the west.  Military engagements during the Warring States Period in the east are described as involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers on each side.  In fact, during the series, one state boasts of being able to supply over one million soldiers. In contrast, at Cannae, according to Polybius, the Romans fielded 86,400 infantry and cavalry and Hannibal's Carthaginians only 50,000 and it is considered to be one of the largest engagements during that conflict.  By the time the decisive battle of Zama was fought, the Romans fielded less than half that number.

I told my husband that the Romans were really fortunate the Chinese "world" did not encompass them at the time!

Reproduction of Terracotta Warrior "painted" with colored light to illustrate how the figure once appeared before being interred in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang in 3rd century BCE China that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

A Qin Dynasty terracotta warrior from the tomb of Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang 210 BCE that I photographed at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois

Terracotta Commanding General from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China 210-209 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Closeup of a Terracotta Qin archer's braided hair from tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China 210-209 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Model of workers assembling the terracotta army for Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb in the 3rd century BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Model of workers assembling the terracotta army for Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb in the 3rd century BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Bronze Goose found in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang Qin Dynasty China 221-206 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Model depicting workers assembling a terracotta horse from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China 210-209 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Stone armor from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China 210-209 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Replica of a 2-ton bronze chariot from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China 210-209 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

A terracotta cavalryman and his horse from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China 210-209 BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Bronze tiger-shaped weight from the Warring States period China 475-221 BCE BCE that I photographed at the "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

 

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Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru to open October 16 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru featuring 192 Artifacts, Including the "most-impressive collection of Andean gold ever to travel the world", is coming to the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida, October 16, 2021.  Artifacts in the exhibition are on loan from Museo Larco in Lima, Peru, and Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón, in Aguas Calientes, Peru. Objects that belonged to noble Andean lords, include a fully intact gold attire of a Chimú Emperor that dates to 1300 CE.  Said to be rivaled only by Ancient Egypt in longevity and by the Roman Empire in engineering, Andean societies dominated a substantial segment of South America for over 3,000 years until the fall of the Incan Empire in the 16th century CE. 

Guests will be taken to the mysterious city in the sky, Machu Picchu, built and abandoned within a century. They will continue on a journey through the vast expanse of Andean history, traveling alongside the mythical hero Ai Apaec, and discovering the mysteries of Andean cosmology.

Gold headdress depicting feline head with feathers, bird-beak nose, and stepped designs with volutes, 1300-1532 CE, courtesy of Museo Larco, Peru

Image: 1 - 800 CE 14-karat gold allow headdress depicting human head with half-moon headdress and zoomorphic figures (dragons) with feline heads, courtesy of Museo Larco, Peru.

Gold and turquoise nose ornament depicting figure with half-moon and club-head headdress, circular ear ornaments and loincloth, holding a rattle, 1 - 800 CE, courtesy of Museo Larco, Peru

Ear ornament of gold, shell, and stone (turquoise or malachite), depicting eight iguanas. Four of the iguanas are gold and four are turquoise, 1-800 CE, courtesy of Museo Larco, Peru

Copper funerary mask with applications of shell and stone, depicting an anthropomorphic visage with feline fangs, 1 - 800 CE, courtesy of Museo Larco, Peru

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