Although relatively little known, the city of Iklaina was a great center of Mycenaean culture. But perhaps the most interesting thing is that recent discoveries indicate that it was the first city-state in Greece, and also in all of Europe.
Iklaina would be the missing link between a world without states and one where the state is the dominant political institution. Perhaps for this reason it is not surprising that the oldest written text in Europe has been found in this city, located in the current prefecture of Messenia.
Although we must point out that although the Tartary Tablets found in Romania have an earlier date, in reality their consideration as writing is not unanimous among researchers. The Iklaina tablet was found in 2010 and features a Mycenaean text written in Linear B in which instructions for some type of manufacturing process are described on the front, and a list of names and numbers on the back. It is dated between 1450 and 1350 BC
It measures 7.62 by 5.08 centimeters and is currently considered the first known written record in Europe.
Iklaina was situated in a strategic location above the Ionian Sea and is mentioned extensively in the Iliad.
Excavations at the site uncovered a sanctuary, an early Mycenaean palace, large Cyclopean terrace walls, murals, and even an advanced drainage system, all of which reinforce the hypothesis that it was the first Greek city-state. .
The massive buildings found would have served as an administrative center, which also makes the Linear B tablet in the first governmental and bureaucratic document of the continent.
If until now it was thought that the first city-states had arisen around 3,100 years ago, the evidence found in Iklaina suggests that they were actually taking shape around 3,400 years ago.
Historians believe that Iklaina was finally defeated by Mycenae, interestingly at the same time that the Palace of Nestor was expanding, which would mean that it was the ruler of the Palace of Nestor who took over the city. The final destruction of the city appears to have occurred around 1200 BC