Wars Between the Aegeans did not Take Place … Development of Iconography and Ideology of Battle, Lion Hunting, and Figures of Power in the Late Bronze Age Aegean

Abstract

This paper examines representations of battle in Late Bronze Age (LBA) Aegean iconography and their connection to depictions of lion hunters and figures of power and authority. Representations of battle scenes, lion hunters, and figures of power are examined because of their mutual symbolic correlation and importance in the expression of elite identities from the beginning to the end of the LBA in the Aegean. The paper defines the spatial and chronological distribution patterns of the three types of representations. The main focus of the paper is to determine the connection between the changes in these three groups of depictions and changes in the sociopolitical organization of Crete and the Greek Mainland during the LBA. In the context of Crete, the paper explores the changes in the transition between the Neopalatial and Final Palatial periods. As regards the Greek Mainland, the paper examines three main developments. First, it examines the active selection of originally Cretan iconography on the early LBA Greek Mainland. Second, it examines the disappearance of battle scenes and changes in the remaining two groups of representations during the transition between the early Mycenaean and Palatial periods. Third, it examines the re-emergence of battle scenes at the very end of the Palatial period. However, the paper does not treat Crete or the Greek Mainland as integral territorial entities, but acknowledges regionality in the way iconography correlates to socio-political changes.