THE TOMB OF AGAMEMNON

[LONDONER]

Mycenae is so important in Greek history. In the 9th century BC Homer mentioned in both the Iliad and the Odyssey “Mycenae, rich in gold”. Apparently most people though this was just legend until in the 19th century the German amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated first Troy and then Mycenae and quite literally struck gold even though he was totally wrong in his conclusions about its origin. Mycenae was a settlement in 6,000 years BC but of course it’s most important epoch was at the time of the building of the Citadel some 1,000 years BC.

Ther Tomb of Agamemnon is also know as the Treasury of Atreus. To get to it you walk along a long 40 metre (130 foot) passage and then enter an enormous conical chamber. Whoever had designed and built it must have had a very good knowledge of mathematics to have worked out exactly the size and shape of each layer of stone since they gradually get smaller as they reach the top. Across the doorway is an immense lintel made of just one solid piece of stone. One curious thing I noticed was when I was standing on one side of the tomb, some French people standing on the other side seemed to be speaking in my ear. The acoustics were very much like the Whispering Gallery in St. Paul's in London.

   

Here's a couple of more shots from Mycenae. The first one shows the 40 metre (130 foot) passage leading ujp to the tomb.

The second photo shows some of the excavations carried out by Heinrich Schliemann. There are only a few walls existing now to show but they cover a large area and must have been impressive in their time. Some walls were 13 metres high (42 feet) and 7 metres (22 feet) thick. The Citadel and the palace were destroyed about 1,200 BC. To get in to the Citadel you pass through a massive gateway topped by two carved lions, their front paws resting on the base of a pillar, their heads now unfortunately obliterated. Unfortunately I couldn’t take a photograph since these were surrounded by scaffolding. Just inside the main gate there is a deep, circular wall, and it was here that Schliemann discovered what he incorrectly described as the death mask of Agamemnon. Apparently he sent a telegram to the King of Greece saying: “I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon”. He hadn’t. It turned out that this was the mask of a totally different king who had died 300 years before Agamemnon. The mask is one of the main exhibits in the archaeological museum of Athens.

   

   

[CellarDweller]

Wow, talk about ancient!  I bet the acoustics can be confusing/off-putting.

[LONDONER]

Wow, talk about ancient!  I bet the acoustics can be confusing/off-putting.

No, they were actually fascinating.  I just wish my French were better and then I would have understood what was being said.  The tomb was magnificent and I wondered how on earth they had managed to lift that massive lintel in to place all those years ago.