The Mycenaeans (Peoples of the Ancient World) Review

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(More customer reviews)Castleden has done a very good job synthesizing the archeological evidence and presenting a look at Mycenean society, the people and their interactions with their neighbors while comparing it with the traditional legends that had come from that time. The book is well written with easy to follow text and discourse, and is filled with illustrations and annotations of artifacts, maps, floorplans of extant buildings, and pen & ink representations of wall paintings and artifacts.
Since Castleden is well versed in Minoan studies he is quick to point up just how much the Myceneans had appropriated from this island culture: Their art, their dress, and eventually their trade routes and craftsmen. However, he also points up the Mycenean accomplishments as well, expanding out of the Polyponese where most other books focus, and into the northern territories dominated by Orchomenos and Thebes. He looks at their engineering feats and discusses how they might've been influenced by Hittite and Egyptian cultures as well.
These people were bureaucratic, they were not afraid to attempt to change the landscape to suit their needs, diverting rivers, and draining shallow lakes, and they were militaristic. The author addresses the various other interpretations put forth and comes forward with his own take on the material. By and large, presenting a well-reasoned and supporting argument for his interpretations. He discusses the daily life of the common people, and puts forth a hypothetical reconstruction of the trade routes of the various Mycenean cities with their overseas trading partners, and presents the various hypotheses of what happened to bring this age crashing down. The biggest issue brought forth by him is the reinterpretation of the citidels which were argued to be the Palaces of the Kings to actually be the temple centers of the kingdom, akin to the acropolis in classical athens, but temples that took a more active role in administering to the material being of the kingdoms.
All in all, I found this volume very enjoyable and informative.

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Following on from Rodney Castleden's best-selling study Minoans, this major contribution to our understanding of the crucial Mycenaean period clearly and effectively brings together research and knowledge we have accumulated since the discovery of the remains of the civilization of Mycenae in the 1870s.In lively prose, informed by the latest research and using afull bibliography and over 100 illustrations, this vivid study delivers the fundamentals of theMycenaean civilization including its culture, hierarchy, economy and religion. Castleden introduces controversial views of the Mycenaean palaces as temples, and studies their impressive sea empire and their crucial interaction with the outside Bronze Age world before discussing the causes of the end of their civilization. Providing clear, easy information and understanding, this is a perfect starting point for the study of the Greek Bronze Age.