Mycenæ

To walk through the Lion Gateway of the citadel of Mycenæ overlooking the plain of Argos and realize that, through this arch, King Agamemnon led the Greeks setting out for the siege of Troy around 1250 BC, is to live a moment of history. And then to visit the National Museum in Athens and gaze upon the gold death masks of some of Mycenæ’s rulers (one may be of Agamemnon himself) that were excavated at Mycenæ along with gold cups and signet rings embossed with scenes of hunting, brings home the remarkable way in which the life of early civilizations was often captured in gold. What ancient goldsmiths depicted can provide a durable and untarnished record, unlike writing on papyrus, tablets of clay or even frescos, which were all vulnerable to time.
Mycenæ and the neighboring citadels of Tiryns, Thebes and Pylos ruled over the fertile Argos region, to the west of modern Athens, from around 1600 – 1100 BC. The Mycenæans were a vigorous people, probably originating from the north and also having links with the Caucasus region of Southern Russia, Anatolia (modern Turkey) and with Minoans on Crete. The relationship between Mycenæans and Minoans has long been argued by archaeologists. Mycenæan craftsmanship in pottery and gold shows strong influence from Crete; indeed, some artifacts found at Mycenæ may even have been made there. So was Mycenæ originally a Minoan colony? And did the Mycenæans sack Knossos on Crete around 1400 BC? And why did the Minoans send a contingent of troops to help Agamemnon in the siege of Troy? Certainly, the relationship was close. Moreover, Mycenæ reached its prime as Minoan influence waned, and it may be that her craftsmen migrated to Mycenæ. Craftsmen were sought after and respected in Mycenæ. The unique Linear B tablets found there, written in an early form of Greek, which are an inventory kept by palace clerks, reveal a complex, highly organized society. Leather workers, saddle makers, carpenters, masons, potters, bronze makers and goldsmiths are all listed and had their place.

However, any craftsmen moving from Crete to Mycenæ found one crucial difference in outlook. The Minoans were a pastoral, peaceful people. The Mycenæans were a warrior race, around whose heroes legends were built. The gold artifacts of Mycenæ reflect that. While Minoan jewellery was delicate representations of flowers or olive groves, at Mycenæ the gold became death masks for heroes, hilts for swords, embossed breast-plates, or was inlaid as hunting or fighting scenes in daggers. A Minoan sense of movement in the whirl of the dance was retained along with an appreciation of nature, but hunting or fighting were prominent.

Mycenæ’s gold supply was probably erratic and never on the scale of Egypt. The gold ornaments found in the main grave circle at Mycenæ in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann weighed together 15 kilos (482 troy oz) while Tutankhamun’s gold coffin alone was 110 kilos (3,536 oz). Serious gold deposits were not located until the time of Alexander the Great around 350 BC when mines were opened at Mount Pangaios in Macedonia. Such gold as arrived probably came from Asia Minor, beyond Troy or down from the Black Sea coasts, whither Jason and his Argonauts from the Greek city of Thessaly, went in search of the golden fleece – the sheepskin used to trap gold particles in streams. Jason’s legendary voyage confirms the Greek search for gold.

The Mycenæans were not only warriors but traders around the eastern Mediterranean. One gold signet ring shows a touching scene of parting and embarkation on a ship. The Mycenæans loved big, bold signet rings. “These rings are one of the miracles of the goldsmiths’ craft” wrote jewellery expert Graham Hughes. “Fine, strong and desirable … evidently important symbols for very grand people.” They served as seals, as much as rings to be worn. The gold crown was cut in deep relief with scenes crowded with action – hunting, fighting lions, duels, battle scenes. Drama exploded, too, on a pair of magnificent gold cups showing the capture of two wild bulls, one with his leg already hobbled by a rope, struggling to escape, while the other is tempted with a cow. The goldsmiths of Mycenæ left an enduring record of their aggressive society at the time of the Trojan wars.

The Etruscans

Mystery still surrounds the origins of the Etruscans, whose artistic, energetic, pleasure-loving society dominated the western side of Italy from Bologna to Rome for 400 years after 700 BC. Modern Tuscany was the heartland of Etruria. Archaeologists variously suggest they came from the north beyond the Alps or migrated from Lydia (western Turkey) driven out by a long famine; the culture also showed Greek influence, but that probably came through trade contacts. The Etruscans left no written literature and the jottings of their language found in tombs has not been deciphered. What they did leave behind was an astonishing legacy of colourful tomb paintings, decorated pottery, bronze work and, above all, gold ornaments. “The masterpieces of Tuscan goldsmiths’ work remains unmatched and unmatchable even today,” observed Professor Raymond Bloch of the Sorbonne, author of three books on Etruscan life. That inheritance, however, is reflected today in Arezzo, once a city-state of ancient Etruria, which is a centre of the modern Italian gold jewellery industry.

The Etruscans had several advantages. Besides the fertile Tuscan countryside, Etruria had iron, tin, copper and zinc mines in the mountains. The people who had migrated there from the north around 1000 BC knew all about iron and refining, so Etruria enjoyed not just prosperous agriculture, but minerals to export in return for more luxurious things such as ivory, silver and gold. Greek merchants, who were trying to extend their own sphere of influence into the western Mediterranean, thus found an intelligent, civilised people with whom they could do business and exchange ideas. It has even been suggested that goldsmiths from Greece, where gold was scarce after the collapse of Mycenæ, moved to Etruria. By 500 BC, Etruria boasted good roads, well-laid-out cities, a well-trained army (on which Roman legions were later modelled) and its influence extended to Rome itself.

In this environment, art and craftsmanship could flourish, including virtuoso goldsmiths. The Etruscans prided themselves particularly on their techniques of filigree, delicate tracery in gold wire, and granulation, tiny particles of gold creating an intricate pattern. Over 5000 individual grains of gold may carpet an ornament. It is immensely time-consuming, painstaking work, and indeed, jewellery historians have long wondered how they did it?

“Jewellers … have become increasingly frustrated by the fact that they cannot do granulation as well as the Etruscans” noted Graham Hughes in The Art of Jewellery, “although the Etruscans had no temperature control, no high precision tools, no refined metals, no accurate drills … and no magnifying glasses with which to survey their superlative work.” One such masterpiece is a pendant head of the horned river god Achelous in which granules of gold create a magnificent beard (the pendant is now in the Etruscan section of the Louvre in Paris).

Etruscan jewellery is a showcase for the goldsmiths’ art, partly because the men had a much more relaxed attitude to women than, for example, the Greeks or Romans. Women held a privileged position, sitting beside their husbands on the banquet couch in their finest jewels. One gold clasp, adorned by an oval plate and five lions, was over 300 centimetres (one foot) long. Another clasp of double gold sheet had a line of nine golden birds along its top. The goldsmiths had free rein. “The Etruscans seem to have made everything we wear today” Graham Hughes observes, “bracelets, clasps, earrings of great splendour … necklaces and pendants, equipped with chains of modern intricacy and complete flexibility.”

After 300 BC, Etruria, which had always remained a rather loose alliance of city-states, gradually succumbed to the growing power of Rome itself. Its unique identity as a buoyant, artistic society vanished, but its gold work can still be admired today.

Etruscan gold ornaments can be seen in several Italian museums including Museo Nazionale de Villa Guila and the Vatican Museum in Rome, Museo Archeologico in Florence, the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, and at the Louvre in Paris.