Mycenaean Culture and Masks

Yesterday we participated in the library's "Art Around the World" program. We learned about the ancient civilization of Mycenae, discovered the symbols of the Mycenaean alphabet, and created beautiful funeral masks.

The foundation of Greek culture developed from various tribes, including the Egyptians and Minoans, who arrived on the Greek mainland about 2000 BC. The Minoans came from the Island of Crete. We began our study of ancient Greece with an introduction to the art of Mycenae, an acropolis (Greek city) built on a hill on the shore of the Greek mainland, about 2300 - 1100 BC.

At Mycenae, The Palace of Agamemnon contained circular shaft graves built into the sides of hills around the city. In these graves, beautiful gold masks (which were made to cover the face of deceased royalty) were found, along with golden cups and daggers. These, plus items for daily use suggest that the ancient Mycenaeans were highly skilled as metal workers.

Linear B is a script that was used for writing Mycenaean, an early form of Greek. It preceded the Greek alphabet by several centuries: it seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization; in which there is no evidence of written language, is known as the Greek Dark Ages.

Linear B was used to write on 600 clay tablets. These tablets were discovered in relation to the story of Troy. These tablets told of trade and a conquest in asia minor. This conquest may have been the battle of troy discribed in the illead.

Linear B syllabary


Basically, the Mycenaean's did not permit two consonants to stand side-by-side, nor did they have use for the letters "Y" or "L" in their alphabet. When Jackson and Jeremiah wrote their names in Mycenaean, they had to get quite creative and come up with a few original changes to their names. Jackson's name turned into "Jakasone" and Jeremiah's name became "Jeremia".

Here's Jax getting the funeral mask molded to his face.

Jem getting his funeral mask 'fitted'.
Jem decorating with glass beads.
Jax printing in Mycenaean
Jackson's completed mask. Awesome!

Jeremiah's finished mask. Amazing!
During all this Mycenaean funeral mask masking, Jenna entertained the younger siblings with her bubbles. She had about 2-5 young bubble loverstrying to catch her bubbles. I called them "The Bubble Brigaid"!