The Late Bronze Age (the period between 1600 and 1100 BC) in the eastern Mediterranean was a time of unprecedented contacts . Kings and queens from both sides of the Aegean embarked on diplomatic missions and exchanges of prestigious goods that included objects of gold, silver, copper and tin ingots, as well as exotic plants and animals. Today, we have evidence of these contacts thanks to pottery remains found in various countries and also to epigraphic evidence, such as the lists that appeared at the base of the statues of the temple of Amenophis III in Thebes. These statues show the so-called "Aegean list", in which toponyms such as Knossos, Mycenae and Cythera can be found.
Furthermore, the tomb of the courtier Huya, at Tell el-Amarna (the city built by Akhenaten), features a scene of a foreign tribute , dated in the twelfth year of the reign of Akhenaten, which includes "the islands in the middle of the sea" which, according to some authors, could refer to mainland Greece or the Aegean islands. To this finding must be added that of four Egyptian majolica plaques, found in Mycenae, which appear in a cartouche of Amenophis, which suggests an official visit from Egypt that transported the plaques to the city.
However, in addition to commercial exchanges, it is known that the Bronze Age was also a time of transformation, in which clashes between different powers were frequent, among which, in the European side of the Aegean, highlights the Mycenaean Greece, whose troops were famous for their military experience .
Against the lords of Hattusa
It is believed that Mycenaean soldiers began to serve as mercenaries in Crete, prior to the conquest, where they would have acquired the skills necessary to take the island around 1450 BC. They are also believed to have supported the Assuwa league [1] in their fight against the Hittites around 1400 BC. Proof of this would be the type B Mycenaean sword found in the ruins near Bogăzköy [2] in 1991. On the weapon, on one side of the blade, there is an inscription in Akkadian that reads:
The weapon was dedicated after the victory of Tudhaliya II and, although it may have fallen into Hittite hands in various ways, the scarcity of Achaean weaponry in other powers Bronze Age Mediterranean warfare suggests that the Mycenaeans were not arms dealers. Therefore, it is likely that the sword belonged to a Mycenaean warrior who fought in the Assuwa Rebellion as a soldier of fortune.
In Hattussa there have been other finds that seem to support the theory that Mycenaean soldiers would have fought as mercenaries in the various conflicts that took place on the other side of the Aegean. Thus, in Hattusa a fragment of a Hittite bowl has been found, on whose surface an engraving is incised that shows what, it seems, represents a Mycenaean warrior armed with all his combat panoply , among which a helmet with feathers and horns stands out, reminiscent of the equipment of the men painted in the Vase of the warriors . This bowl is dated in a context contemporary to the Assuwa rebellion.
Another piece of evidence of Mycenaean mercenaries fighting overseas, and also from Hattusa, is the Madduwatta Imputation , a renegade Hittite who ruled Western Anatolia during the 15th century BC. and was attacked by Arrarissiya, who is described as a man from Ahhiya. Ahhiya is the older and shorter form of the name Ahhiyawa (by which Mycenaean Greece was known to the Hittites), thus possibly a further indication of the presence of Mycenaean mercenaries across the Aegean Sea.
Mycenaean mercenaries in the service of the pharaoh
Egypt had a long tradition of incorporating foreign mercenaries into its army:Nubian, Libyan, Canaanite archers, even Sherden [3]. It is possible that the earliest presence of Mycenaean mercenaries in Egypt dates from the time when the country was trying to free itself from Hyksos rule (1730 BC – 1580 BC) and sought help across the sea.
It is known that the pharaohs of the early Eighteenth Dynasty paid their mercenaries in gold (even their officials were honored with gifts of this metal), so the correspondence in time between the fighting against the Hyksos invaders and the appearance of the first Mycenaean pit tombs have been seen as proof that the Achaean fighters remained on the side of the Egyptians until the end of the war.
Their reward would have been the gold with which they later returned to continental Greece and from which, according to authors such as Marinatos and M. Hirmer, both the riches found in the Mycenaean tombs , like the nickname "the rich in gold" by which Mycenae was still known in Homer's time.
The finding of the best-known evidence that seems to demonstrate the presence of Mycenaean mercenaries in Egypt took place in December 1936, when John Pedlebury, excavating at Tell el- Amarna for the Egyptian Exploration Society, discovered the remains of a papyrus . The painted images, of an artistic quality comparable to the battle scenes on the sarcophagus in Tutankhamun's tomb, suggest that the papyrus dates from the end of the Amarna period. The best-preserved scenes show several Libyan archers (identified by their paler skin, long cloaks, exposed genitalia, and tattooed lower backs) attacking Egyptians. One of the Egyptian soldiers is prostrate, surrounded by enemies who are about to cut his throat.
The second scene shows a group of warriors running in two overlapping logs, possibly trying to reach the fallen Egyptian. All these soldiers wear white short skirts of two kinds:one pleated and one shorter with a leather overskirt. While some combatants have a bare head and chest, as well as the usual staff of the Egyptian foot soldier, others wear short tunics and helmets. These helmets are labeled in red and colored in pale yellow, as if to indicate that they are made of a material other than metal, and vertical demarcations can be distinguished on them.
The papyrus helmets of el- Amarna are compatible with descriptions of Mycenaean boar tusk helmets; thus, the vertical demarcations painted on them resemble the lines of boar's tusk hooves, representing the division between its various sections. Although some papyrus warriors fight bare-chested, others wear mottled oxhide tunics, and two types of tunic can be distinguished:the first, knee-length, and the second, shorter, does not appear in other representations. of Egyptian troops and leaves the abdomen bare.
In the Mycenaean world, this association of boar tusk helmets and ox skin recalls a detail from one of the frescoes on the island of Thera, where this pattern appears on the tower shields of the soldiers. It can also be seen in the krater of the British Museum, where a figure, standing between two horses, wears a mottled waist-length garment. The garments shown in the papyrus also have a green paint, based on copper, which has been used to mark lines around the trim of the tunic, the neck and the arms, which could indicate that they had metal reinforcements.
Although the archaeological evidence for such a cuirass is problematic, as the oxhide parts are perishable, warrior burials at Mycenae may have included leather corselets . At Kallithea, in Tomb A, the remains of a combatant equipped with a long sword, spear and parts of a breastplate were discovered. which included bronze greaves and fragments of metal sheets that have been identified by Yalouris as reinforcements belonging to a leather cuirass.
In Lakithra, fragments of trim were discovered in a tomb that may also have been part of a leather chestguard. Both findings, added to the evidence from Linear B, in which ideograms representing tunics with metal reinforcements were identified, suggest that the Mycenaeans used this class of breastplates.
In addition, archeology has found other evidence of the presence of Mycenaean fighters in Egypt, such as the boar tusk helmet that was found north of the Nile delta and the model of an aegean type ship (a Mycenaean war galley), discovered at Gurob. Waxman has pointed out that the red and black paint on this model shows parallels with that of the Achaean ships featured in the Iliad , especially with that of the ships of Ithaca. Although Homer explains that all ships have a black belly to make them waterproof, Odysseus' ships also have a red band on the sides.
It is believed that the Mycenaean mercenaries most likely volunteered for the Pharaoh and were able to leave Egypt after their tour of duty was over. Proof of this would be the scale belonging to a cuirass, similar to those worn by the charioteers of the Near East, sealed with the cartouche bearing the name of Ramses II. This scale was found in Salamis, in the ruins of a Mycenaean palace, and may have belonged to one of these returned soldiers of fortune.
Mycenaean mercenaries and Homer
Although the Late Bronze Age was a period of previously unknown mobility and connectedness, just like the Homeric heroes, the returned mercenaries were held in high esteem and enjoyed a special status within their communities. In addition to weapons, they brought with them the memories of their experiences abroad; some of these anecdotes would be reflected in frescoes, such as the mural painting Captain of the blacks which can be seen in the palace of Knossos and, according to Webster, could be based on the stories of a mercenary who served in Egypt commanding a troop of Nubian warriors.
Jorrit Kelder suggests that these stories, narrated by the returned mercenaries, may also have played a very important role in the birth of the Greek epic . In the case of Odysseus, parallels can be observed between Pharaoh Amenhotep II, who is capable of shooting arrows at a copper target with the reins of his horse tied around his waist, and the skill that Odysseus himself demonstrates in being able to shoot a arrow through twelve rings.
Another similarity can be seen between Odysseus' tricks and Egyptian historical episodes in the similarities between the taking of the city of Yapu by the Egyptian general Dyehuty, who hid two hundred soldiers in large baskets that he later offered as a tribute to the governor of the city, and what happened in Troy with the wooden horse.
According to Kelder, the origin of these parallels would be found in the Egyptian army camps during the Bronze Age, where Mycenaean soldiers would have heard these stories sung by their foreign comrades and the they would have incorporated into their own epic songs of fame and glory.
Odysseus' tricks aside, although not a direct source, Homer's work does present several passages relating to visits by Greek heroes of the Middle Ages. Bronze to Egypt and other areas of the Eastern Mediterranean where, on many occasions, they managed to accumulate wealth. Thus, in the Odyssey Menelaus mentions on three different occasions that, during his return to Sparta, he spent seven years in Egypt, Sidon, Cyprus, Libya and Phoenicia. The case of Egypt is particularly curious, since it was there that Menelaus obtained his fortune from him, although he does not explain whether he acquired it thanks to the process of exchanging gifts, usual among the Bronze Age courts, or fighting as a mercenary warrior. .
The Cipria , a work that is part of the Trojan cycle , records that Paris and Helen stopped at Sidon after departing from Sparta and leaving mainland Greece. This is also corroborated by Herodotus, who states that both characters would have stopped and lived in Egypt during their journey back to Troy.
Furthermore, Homer's work shows that mercenaries from various nations fought in the Trojan army during the Trojan War, suggesting that the movement of troops and the hiring of fighters foreigners was common during the Late Bronze Age.
Both Homer and various archaeological finds show that the various kingdoms of the Eastern Mediterranean were closely united and there were frequent exchanges not only of precious metals or exotic plants and animals, but also also of men who would have decided to seek their fortune as doctors, artisans or mercenaries . In the case of the latter, their presence would have been reflected on the other side of the Aegean in the representations of men protected by oxhide cuirasses and headdresses with imposing boar tusk helmets. As for mainland Greece and the islands, the experiences and gold that the Mycenaean mercenaries brought with them would not only play an important role as the origin of the legendary riches of Mycenae, but would also be immortalized by Homer.
Bibliography
- Brouwers, J. (2016). Ares minions. Warfare in Archaic Greece , Madrid, Wake Up Ferro.
- Cline, E.H. (1995). “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor:Minoans and Mycenaeans Abroad” in Aegaeum , vol. 12, p. 265-287.
- Cline, E.H. (2015). 1177 BC:The year civilization collapsed , Barcelona, Editorial Critica.
- D'amatto and Salimbeti A. (2011). Bronze Age Greek Warrior 1600-1100 BC , Oxford, Osprey Publishing Limited.
- Schofield, L. and Parkinson, R.B. (1994). “Of Helmets and Heretics:A Possible Egyptian Representation of Mycenaean Warriors on a Papyrus from El-Amarna” in The Annual of the British School at Athens , vol. 89, p. 157-170.
- Schofield, Louise (2007) The Mycenaeans , Los Angeles, Getty Trust Publications.
- Sears, M. (2019). Understanding Greek Warfare (Understanding The Ancient World) , Oxon, Routledge.
- Kelder, J. (2020). “Mercenaries, Traveling Tales and the Shaping of the Greek Age of Heroes”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_1l6SnTlFA&list=LL&index=8&t=1451s
- Kelder, J. (2020). “Ships, Olives, and Mercenaries:Contacts Between Egypt and the Greek World”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orcPgiwI8yc
Notes
[1] Confederation of Western Anatolian states created to oppose the Hittite Empire. It was defeated by the Hittite king Tudhaliya II ca. 1400 BC
[2] Village located in the Turkish province of Çorum, next to which are the ruins of Hattussa, the capital of the Hittite empire.
[3] An ancient town that was dedicated to piracy and was part of the so-called "towns of the sea".