Archaeologists have discovered the remains of an Ancient Greek palace that is thought to have been built around the 17th or 16th centuries BC, according to Agence France-Presse.
ANCIENT GREEK PALACE: AYIOS VASSILEIOS
The structure, called Ayios Vassileios, was discovered in southern Greece near where the ancient Greek city-state Sparta existed. It is thought that it belonged to Mycenaean civilization.
WHAT THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS FOUND INSIDE THE ANCIENT GREEK PALACE
Researchers unearthed swords, clay figures, mural fragments, religious objects and a drinking goblet from the Ancient Greek palace. There were once ten rooms in the complex, which was burned to the ground around the early 15th century BC. In a statement to the press, the Greek Ministry of Culture said that archaeologists at the site have discovered records with information on the Mycenaean religious offerings and others on financial transactions that indicated a sophisticated bureaucracy. It’s likely that the discovery will give scholars more insight into the ancient Greek civilization.
In a statement, the culture ministry said “new information on the beliefs and language systems of the Mycenaean people” is given by the discovery, which will enable research into the “political, administrative, economic and societal organization of the region.”
MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION
The ancient Greek Mycenaean civilization probably inspired parts of Homer’s “The Odyssey” and “The Illiad”, according to Tech Times. Around the late Bronze Age, the civilization was at its peak.
According to ancientgreece.com, the civilization had a “warrior culture” similar to Sparta, a society that would rise after Mycenaean civilization’s demise. An interesting indication of the role that war played in Mycenaean life is that the citizens would be buried with their armaments and weapons. The king was both the highest political and religious authority, and the figures below him in political hierarchy had different roles in administering the territory.
Though the Mycenaeans were respected traders, warriors and engineers, the civilization began to collapse around 1250 BC and was finished by 1100. Though some hypotheses have been proposed, the cause of its death still perplexes many scholars of the ancient Greeks.
OTHER DISCOVERIES IN THE REGION
Excavations in the same area of southern Greece have been quite successful in recent years, with 150 having been done this year alone according to the Greek government. Since 2009, archaeologists have discovered more about the places, religious practices and names that are mentioned in Linear B, an ancient syllabic script for the Mycenaean language, one of Europe’s oldest written languages.
