Pylos
- Created by: Ruthfeath
- Created on: 22-05-18 18:34
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- Pylos
- Palace built c1300BC
- Site destroyed shortly afterwards
- Destroyed by violent fire in 13thC - possibly before other sites
- Rich burials in the area from the start of the period suggest it was one of the most prosperous sites in the Peloponnese despite a lack of any natural resources apart from farming
- Palace is set in sight of the sea in a fertile landscape on a ridge between 2 natural ravines which provided protection
- Early version of palace on low hilltop was surrounded by a fortification wall
- Later building on same site seems to have been unprotected
- Palace was surrounded by other buildings for storage & contained largest group of Linear B tablets (c1000) from mainland Greece
- Large town located around palace hill
- Not defended by rocky acropolis
- Minimal defences
- Set back from sea to avoid surprise attack - extensive view over coast & plain to mountains in distance
- Approach to palace was through propylon similar to those of the Classical period - gateway with outer & inner porch each supported by single column
- Columns made of wood, shaft was fluted
- On the right as you enter the gateway was a guardroom
- Low platform immediately to left of door indicates position of sentry's stand
- Rooms to left of gateway were for archives
- Contained record of daily transactions
- Where majority of Linear B was found
- Entrance to palace was convenient control point for execution of daily business
- Honoured guests would be taken across court to waiting room immediately to the left of the porticoed entrance to the royal apartments
- White stuccoed bench filling one corner of the room - painted with a pattern
- 2 large pithoi, perhaps containing wine - next door was a pantry with drinking cups
- Washing & libations would have been completed as part of a ritual preparation by visiting guests
- Favoured guests could have stayed overnight in the porch & vestibule of the palace - decorated with frescoes
- Megaron
- Room with 4 tall fluted columns, circular hearth with painted border
- Floor decorated with geometric designs & octopus in one area of the room
- Walls decorated with myths - one remaining part is thought to be Orpheus charming animals & birds with his music
- Behind the throne 2 griffins face each other across the throne with wings outstretched - they wear jewels & have upraised & curled tails
- Lions also in the scene
- Near the megaron were rooms that were used as pantries & stores, and a staircase up to the second storey
- In one of them were 2,853 drinking cups - suggests high consumption on site, or they could have been to send to other sites
- Double room at the back of the megaron contained vast supplies of olive oil with pithoi arranged around the side of the room
- Palace has remains of staircase to lower floor
- Queen's Apartments
- Smaller megaron with painted hearth without columns, 2 small rooms
- To NW of megaron was a bathroom - bath is terracotta, room also contained 2 large vessels
- Central court smaller than Mycenae & Tiryns, plainer, more unusually designed
- Maze of drains underneath palace - smaller drains emptied into larger drains
- Primarily used to remove rainfall
- Cluster of houses around palace complex
- Terraced buildings common due to terrain - ramps or stepped streets often connected different levels
- Small chamber has been interpreted as a shrine
- In front of it in a small courtyard was an altar built of rubble & mud brick, covered with stucco & painted on all surfaces with a geometric design
- Untitled
- Palace built c1300BC
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