Throughout the Mycenaean period in Greece the grave structures changed massively. Before the Mycenaean period and during the early Mycenaean period, burial was very un-ritualistic with little honour; burial was purely a sanitary way to get rid of the deceased. These graves were called cist graves. These were an individual tomb, which was a simple shallow pit covered and lined by slabs of rock. The graves were usually to small or short to allow a fully extended burial so the bodies were usually crouched or in the foetus position often on a prepared floor or river pebbles. These graves were not usually found too close together like a cemetery but more isolated.
In the early Mycenaean period a more honourable grave was created for the wealthy and famous. These were called tumulus tombs. These originally consisted of a man being laid on the ground being covered in a layer of stones and then being covered in a mound of earth. The mound of earth was supposed to be seen by all around in order to respect the dead person. These mounds were often marked by a stone or stele. The way people are buried reflects their society as a whole, so by moving from the cist grave to the tumulus, this shows us that the Mycenaean people had become more superstitious, materialistic and more cultured.
In the 16 century BC the Mycenaean moved to a new style of grave. The grave was called a shaft grave, it was a deep shaft downwards into the ground and a dome was built at the end. The bodies were lowered down into the dome and covered in lime; this was done to slow down the corrosion of the bodies because this was a shared tomb. By sharing tombs the Mycenaeans could reduce the space needed for graves, which would have been especially useful in cities, such as Mycenae. Two new things were now done as well. Firstly, positions were also put into the graves, such as armour, clothes, jewellery, pots and money. These were all put in as supplies for the deceased's journey to the underworld. Secondly these graves were often found together in grave circles, such as Grave Circle A and B at Mycenae. The items put into the graves, have been the most useful tools for looking into the culture of the Mycenaeans.
Ancient Egyptian culture was largely focused on the afterlife. One of their most important deities, Osiris, became the ruler of the Underworld through death. The pharaoh and elite class prepared for their impending deaths throughout their lives. Much of what survives from ancient Egypt today was found in tombs and temples of the dead. When one of the elite died, the process of laying him or her to rest was extensive. Harold Hays explains that “the ritualized process of embalming and mummification is usually stated as lasting seventy days” (Hays 5). "Funeral Procession, Tomb of Pairy" shows two of the processes that Hays details. The first depicted is the procession to the tomb. Pairy’s body would have already been through several processions, mummification, and embalming. This particular procession’s goal is to lead not just the body, but also the spirit into the afterlife. People of both high and low classes attended this procession, carrying with them the tomb goods (Hays 6-7). The second depicted
The Egyptian pyramids and the Etruscan burial practices are very much alike. They both consist of burying the dead in a special grave where they are both honored and still remembered depending on how the grave was made. The Egyptian pyramids were a much larger burial ground compared to the Etruscans such as example 8.4 The Great Pyramids. Gizeh, Egypt. These great pyramids usually consisted of huge chambers with many rooms to live in and were usually the tombs for pharaohs unlike the Etruscan which were for an average person. Both of these cultures did include tombs that had been furnished to perceive an actual human being such as example 8.5 Innermost Coffin of Tutankhamen. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Another huge difference between these two
Perhaps the most notorious of burial practices originating in Egypt is that of mummification. Why such an extraordinary attempt was made to preserve cadavers may seem
When looking over Etruscan v tombs, we can see a similarity between what Etruscans leave behind to entomb their dead relatives, to what the ancient Egyptians to entomb their dead relatives. Starting with how the buried their dead, for the ancient Egyptians, while for the most part buried their upper society into mastaba’s, located at in a necropolis on the west bank of the Neil river. While not as in a grand scale as the Egyptian’s, the Etruscans tombs where built in clusters together, though on difference between the two was the fact that the tombs were built together like a small town much like the Etruscan cemetery at Cerveteri. Another similarity is the way they both use sarcophagi in their individual burials, with those entombed also being
Through the means of commemorating and remembering those of prestige and importance, tombs and sarcophagi are produced of these individuals. This funerary manner and distinctive burial practice was initiated Etruscan culture and it developed through the means of cremation and inhumation in earns. The concept of placing the remains of individuals in elaborate, thought out spaces was a valuable attribute of these people. The Etruscan objective of creating the best possible outcome in the afterlife dictated the way in which individuals ornamented and became portrayed in their tombs. Presen...
During the Middle and Upper Paleolithic era, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis started to create works of art such as cave paintings, rock art and jewelry as well as religious behavior through burial rights and rituals. These burials are important since it signifies a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life,” (Lieberman). These burial rights and rituals can be dated back to the Middle Paleolithic era, overlapping with the first appearance of Homo neanderthalensis. While it may be disputed, evidence suggests that the Homo neanderthalensis were the first to intentionally bury the dead in shallow graves along with what is assumed to be their possessions (Wikipedia).
This structure is very large and important in his propaganda strategy with the Julian family. No other structure was built like this across the Roman Empire. Only Hadrian’s Mausoleum competes with the size and quality of Augustus’ Mausoleum (Johnson, 1996, p.217). The mausoleum has characteristics of Etruscan tombs or tumuli. Etruscan tombs were large monuments and had tumuli, which are a circular retaining wall and a mound. Additionally, by creating an Etruscan monument, he showed the population of the empire that he was of Italian heritage and that he was reviving the religious and moral values of the past. Also, Augustus finished the establishment of his mausoleum and placed ashes of his ancestors in the tomb. He used his own mausoleum to link himself with the Julian family and Julius Caesar. By adding the ashes of his deceased ancestors he was again successful in including himself in the history of the
When an Etruscan person died, they would be cremated and would be seen as entering a new life. They would put the remains in a special urn called Etruscan hut urn (c. 800 B.C.E.), this urn was another ‘home’ for the afterlife.
In this regard, several tombs were put up, especially for the royalty where the mummies were kept. In addition, the pharaohs were buried together with their possessions to use once they reached the afterlife. Similarly, the Indus people were buried with their possessions, and archaeological evidence has been found supporting such claims(Phillipsburg School District, n.d).
Late Helladic fortification walls on the Greek mainland are found surrounding citadels, not the entire city or site. The citadels seem to have housed central administration and housing for an elite class of citizens. They were built on hills, presumably as another layer of fortification. I will examine the sites of Gla, Midea, Tiryns, and Mycenae to look for similarities and differences in the design and architecture of their fortifications, as well as, arguments about the purpose of the fortifications at these sites. I will also explore how some sites were hindered or helped defensively and economically by their location and their use of fortifications.
As the name suggests the Bronze Age is a period of human culture, in which civilizations heavily used copper and bronze for various aspects of life and trading. The beginning of the Bronze Age is estimated to date before 3000 BCE in parts of Med. Europe, Middle East and China. Knossos and Mycenae are both archeological sites, and date back to the Bronze Age. Knossos was the capital of the ancient Minoan civilization; located on the island of Crete. Mycenae was a massive fortified palace, located between two hills on the plain of the Peloponnese, Greece.
The process of mummification began as an accident. Before they buried their dead in proper graves, the Egyptians laid their loved ones to rest in shallow pits in the desert. The sand and heat from the sun dried out the bodies which preserved them perfectly. However, when they started burying their dead in coffins, they realized that the bodies were no longer being preserved. This is when they decided to come up with their own way of preserving or “mummifying” the deceased. (“Mummification”)
Cahokia had fences to differentiate and defend the different levels of rankings. Archaeologist could find that higher ranked people were buried in the mounds while the poor were just buried in cemeteries. The higher ranked were buried with garments and other items that may have been important to the occupant.
Ancient Egyptian burial rituals and customs have evolved over time as source C depicts. Source C is relief illustrating the evol...
The mausoleum at Halicarnassus was the very great mausoleum tombstone of one Maussollos, the ruler of Caria, one of the provinces of the vast Persian Empire, who also served as a Governor or Satrap of the King of the Persian Empire between 377 and 353 BC (Peter and Mark, 1988). This great tomb monument was so gigantic in size going by the ancient building standards and extremely lavish were the various sculptured adornments or decorations that in next to no time the building was being recognised in the Ancient World as one of the Seven Wonders of these Ancient times (Peter and Mark, 1988). Ever since the Roman times the word mausoleum, has always been a generic term used in reference to any vast or gigantic tomb monument (Juan, 2005). In today’s world this is what most people would consider as a large-scale house built of marble meant to house a deceased person’s remains (Juan, 2005).