#6thcenturyBCE

[whencyclopedia]

Paros

Paros is an island in the Cyclades group in the central Aegean. It is the third largest island of the Cyclades and its position on important sea routes between mainland Greece and the coast of Asia Minor made it an important centre from the early Bronze Age through to Roman times. The island was also famous for the high quality of its marble which became a popular material for sculptors and architects throughout antiquity.

Bronze Age Paros

First inhabited from c. 3200 BCE (or perhaps even earlier), important settlements from the Early Cycladic Period include those at Drios, Avyssos, Galana, Gremna, Kampos, and Plastiras. The relatively high level of culture in the early Bronze Age is attested by the wealth of decorated pottery finds and in Cycladic sculpture which produced elegant marble figures rendered in a minimalistic style.

At the island's capital Parikia (Paroikia) on the west coast the first indications of settlement date to the early 2nd millennium BCE and the area was continuously occupied through Minoan and Mycenaean times and settled by colonists from Attica c. 1000 BCE being occupied until around 700 BCE. On the north coast at Naoussa there was a major Mycenaean settlement which prospered in the 13th century BCE but was destroyed in c. 1200 BCE. Nevertheless, the site was reoccupied from the 10th century BCE and once again enjoyed a period of prosperity from the 9th to the mid-7th century BCE. Koukounaries on the east coast was also an important Mycenaean centre in the 13th and 12th centuries BCE and continued into the mid-7th century BCE. It was here at Koukounaries that the oldest temple on the island was built, the temple to Athena dating to c. 700 BCE and which survived into Classical times.

Continue reading...

[whencyclopedia]

Sphinx

A Sphinx is a mythical creature with the body of a lion, most often with a human head and sometimes with wings. The creature was an Egyptian invention and had a male head - human or animal; however, in Greek mythology, the creature had the head of a woman. The sphinx is also present in the art and sculpture of the Mycenaean, Assyrian, Persian and Phoenician civilizations.

Egyptian Sphinxes

Sphinxes were first created by the Egyptians and usually wore a nemes (head-dress) as worn by Pharaohs. Examples exist of sphinxes with human faces but surrounded by a lion's mane, particularly from Nubia, and in the New Kingdom the head was sometimes that of a ram and representative of Amun. The exact date when the first sphinx appeared is not known and the most famous sphinx of all, the Great Sphinx of Giza, has not been precisely dated; some scholars date it as far back as the reign of Cheops, ca 2500 BCE. There is a story that in the Eighteenth Dynasty, Pharaoh Thutmose IV, when he was a mere prince, went on a hunting expedition and fell asleep in the shadow of the Sphinx. Whilst asleep he dreamt that the Sphinx spoke to him and promised that he would become king if he cleared the sands that had accumulated around the feet of the statue. In the reign of Chephren, sphinxes became more widespread and they were usually placed as guards outside or beside a mortuary temple, tomb or funerary monument.

Continue reading...