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Grave Circle A is a 16th-century BC royal cemetery situated to the south of the Lion Gate, the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae in southern Greece. [1] This burial complex was initially constructed outside the walls of Mycenae and ultimately enclosed in the acropolis when the fortification was extended during the 13th century BC. [1]
Bronze, inlaid with silver and gold. Hunting lions. Mycenaean Late Bronze Age, ca. 16 century BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Athens N 394. The original image was taken by Zde and filed on Wikimedia commons with CCASA 3.0 license. This version of the image has been cropped and digitally edited to change the background to solid white.
Blade of the "Lion Hunt Dagger", National Archaeological Museum, Athens. The most famous of these are a few inlaid with elaborate scenes in gold and silver set against a black (or now black) "niello" background, whose actual material and technique have been much discussed. These have long thin scenes running along the centre of the blade, which ...
Niello / n iː ˈ ɛ l oʊ / [1] [2] is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, [3] used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed into the engraved lines in the metal.
One of the daggers found in Grave IV in Grave Circle A depicted a lion hunt, which may represent another status marker as the lion hunt was a motif that connected power and leadership. The dagger also contained certain aspects like the hunters wearing tall oxhide shields that were common in Greek frescoes . [ 7 ]
The "Lion Hunt Dagger", with a gazelle hunt on the other face, is the largest and most spectacular, probably Cretan from LM IA. [ 113 ] Shields, helmets and by the end of the period a certain amount of bronze plate armor are all well-represented in images in various media, but have few survivals with much decoration.
Schliemann found the gold funeral mask in 1876, in a shaft tomb designated Grave V, at the site Grave Circle A, Mycenae. [2] [3] A total of eight men were discovered in Grave Circle A, [3] [4] all of whom had weapons in their graves, [5] but only five had masks; those were in Grave IV and Grave V. [2] [4]
[1] Late Bronze Age Greece was divided into a series of warrior kingdoms, the most important being centered in Mycenae, to which the culture of this era owes its name, Tiryns, Pylos and Thebes. From the 15th century BC, Mycenaean power started expanding towards the Aegean, the Anatolian coast and Cyprus.