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KNOSSIAN GIFTS? TWO LATE MINOAN IIIA1 CUPS FROM TEL BETH-SHEMESH, ISRAEL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2014

Shlomo Bunimovitz ,
Zvi Lederman  and
Eleni Hatzaki
Shlomo Bunimovitz*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
Zvi Lederman
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
Eleni Hatzaki
Affiliation:
Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Two Late Minoan IIIA1 cups were recently found in the excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh, Israel. They were part of a larger assemblage of local Late Bronze IIA (first half of the fourteenth century bc) drinking and eating vessels sealed under a destruction layer in one room of a large edifice, presumably a ‘palace’. A commemorative scarab bearing the name of Amenhotep III and related to the first Jubilee (Sed festival) in his thirtieth regnal year was found alongside the cups, providing further chronological evidence. This article examines the Late Minoan IIIA1 cups from Beth-Shemesh within their Aegean context and emphasises their close affinity with comparable cups from the palace of Knossos, catalogued and republished here. The Tel Beth-Shemesh cups are the second occurrence – after Sellopoulo Tomb 4 – of Knossian Late Minoan IIIA1 pottery found together with Amenhotep III's scarab. This new evidence strengthens the likelihood of some chronological overlap between Late Minoan IIIA1 and the reign of this Pharaoh. The article also considers the biography of the two Minoan cups, as social agents within the intricate network of the Late Bronze Age palatial gift exchange in the eastern Mediterranean. While it is possible that the cups came to Beth-Shemesh directly from Knossos, another viable option is that they arrived as a gift from the Egyptian court. The two rare Late Minoan IIIA1 Knossian cups could have reached Egypt on the occasion of Amenhotep III's much-discussed official embassy to the Aegean – including Knossos – and then been sent as royal gifts to the ruler of Beth-Shemesh.

Κνωσσιακά δώρα; Δυο ϒστερομινωικά ΙΙΙΑ1 κύπελλα απο την θέση Tel Beth-Shemesh, Ισραήλ

Δυο ϒστερομινωικά ΙΙΙΑ1 κύπελλα ανακαλύφθηκαν πρόσφατα κατα την διάρκεια των ανασκαφών στην θέση Tel Beth-Shemesh στο Ισραήλ. Αποτελούσαν μέρος ενός μεγαλύτερου κεραμικού συνόλου της τοπικής Ύστερης Εποχής του Χαλκού ΙΙΑ (πρώτο μισό του 14ου αιώνα π.Χ) που απαρτιζόταν από σκεύη πόσεως και κατανάλωσης τροφής. Το σύνολο βρέθηκε «σφραγισμένο» κάτω από ένα στρώμα καταστροφής σε ένα από τα δωμάτια μεγάλου κτιριακού συγκροτήματος, πιθανότατα «Ανακτόρου». Μαζί με τα κύπελλα ανασκάφηκε και ένας αναμνηστικός σκαραβαίος που φέρει το όνομα του Amenhotep του III, ο οποίος, καθώς συνδέεται με το πρώτο ιωβηλαίο (εορτασμός του Sed) επ’ ευκαιρία του τριακοστού έτους της ηγεμονίας του, μας προσφέρει περαιτέρω στοιχεία χρονολόγησης του συνόλου. Το συγκεκριμένο άρθρο εξετάζει τα δυο ϒστερομινωικά ΙΙΙΑ1 κύπελλα από την θέση Beth-Shemesh εντός των Αιγαιακών τους συμφραζομένων και παράλληλα δίνει έμφαση στο γεγονός οτι παρουσιάζουν σημαντικές ομοιότητες με αντίστοιχα κύπελλα, που παρατίθενται και επαναδημοσιεύονται εδώ, από το ανάκτορο της Κνωσσού.

Τα κύπελλα από την θέση Tel Beth-Shemesh αποτελούν, μετά από τον Τάφο 4 στο Σελλόπουλο, την δεύτερη περίπτωση όπου ϒστερομινωική ΙΙΙΑ1 κεραμική ανασκάπτεται μαζί με σκαραβαίο του Amenhotep του III. Η δεύτερη αυτή περίπτωση ενισχύει την πιθανότητα η ϒστερομινωική ΙΙΙΑ1 περίοδος να συμπίπτει χρονολογικά με την βασιλεία του συγκεκριμένου Φαραώ. Το άρθρο συζητά επίσης την «βιογραφία» των δυο Μινωικών κυπέλλων ως κοινωνικά ενεργών φορέων μέσα στο δαιδαλώδες δίκτυο ανταλλαγής «ανακτορικών» δώρων στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο κατα την Ύστερη Εποχή του Χαλκού. Ενώ είναι πιθανόν τα δυο κύπελλα να έφτασαν στην θέση Tel Beth-Shemesh απευθείας από την Κνωσσό, δεν αποκλείεται η εκδοχή να κατέληξαν εκεί ως δώρο προερχόμενο από την Αιγυπτιακή αυλή. Τα δυο σπάνια ϒστερομινωικά ΙΙΙΑ1 κνωσσιακά κύπελλα θα μπορούσαν να έχουν φτάσει στην Αίγυπτο κατα την περίσταση της πολυσυζητημένης «διπλωματικής αποστολής» του Amenhotep του III στο Αιγαίο – συμπεριλαμβανομένης της Κνωσσού – και έπειτα να στάλθηκαν ως βασιλικά δώρα στον ηγεμόνα της Tel Beth-Shemesh.

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Articles
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 108 , November 2013 , pp. 51 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 2013 

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