[First posted in AWOL 4 March 2012, updated 29 December 2014]
Aegean Studies
Aegean Studies
Aegean Studies accepts papers which present new theoretical approaches and innovative means of data analysis with the aim of illuminating and explaining the prehistory and early Iron Age of the Aegean and its neighbouring areas. Especially welcome are interdisciplinary contributions, as well as studies for the promotion and management of prehistoric culture. The Aegean Book Reviews are part of Aegean Studies.
Texts are accepted in Greek and in English. All papers are submitted to anonymous reviewing. They are initially published electronically on the Aegeus website, and, together with the Aegean Book Reviews, in an annual printed volume of Aegean Studies.
Sea Peoples, Egypt, and the Aegean: The Transference of Maritime Technology in the Late Bronze–Early Iron Transition (LH IIIB–C)
Jeffrey P. Emanuel
Aegean Studies 1, 2014, 21-56
Abstract
The appearance of the brailed rig and loose–footed sail at the end of the Late Bronze Age revolutionized seafaring in the eastern Mediterranean. The most famous early appearance of this new technology is found in history’s first visual representation of a naval battle, on the walls of Ramesses III’s mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, where both Egyptian and Sea Peoples ships are depicted with this new rig, as well as top–mounted crow’s nests and decking upon which shipborne warriors do battle. The identical employment of these innovative components of maritime technology by opposing forces in this battle suggests either some level of previous contact between the invaders and those responsible for designing and constructing Egypt’s ships of war, or shared interaction with a third party, perhaps on the Syro–Canaanite coast. This article examines the evidence for the development of the brailed rig in the eastern Mediterranean, and explores the possibility that at least one group of Sea Peoples, who may have comprised a key part of the international economy of the Late Bronze Age in their role as “pirates, raiders, and traders” (Georgiou 2012: 527) – Artzy’s “nomads of the sea” (1997) – played a similarly integral role in the transference of maritime technology between the Levant, Egypt, and the Aegean.
Shifting boundaries: The transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean under a new light
Iro Mathioudaki
Aegean Studies 1, 2014, 1-20
Abstract
The aim of the present paper is to propose some synchronizations, mainly taking into consideration the typology of pottery. The period of our focus is the early Late Bronze Age and the data presented come from the Mainland, Crete and the Cyclades. Ceramic data from different places are combined, offering interesting correlations in terms of relative chronology. Emphasis is given to the dating systems proposed by some scholars, like those of Warren, Hankey and Dietz, since they have greatly influenced the literature and are still being used widely. We are particularly interested in the synchronization of the Mainland with Crete on a ceramic basis and especially the period of the late Middle and early Late Bronze Age.
See the full List of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies