JOIN TODAY
JOIN TODAY

Secrets of a Bronze Age Throne Room

News January 3, 2014

(Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati)
SHARE:

Nestor-Palace-Floor
(Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati)
CINCINNATI, OHIO—At the famed Palace of Nestor at the Bronze Age site of Pylos in southern Greece, University of Cincinnati archaeologist Emily Catherine Egan has found that ancient artists discovered a new way to impress visitors seeking an audience with the king. The painted plaster floor of the palace's throne room, dating to between 1300 and 1200 B.C., differs from other palatial floors of the era in that it combines depictions of both textiles and stone masonry. According to Egan, the combination of these two materials on the floor not only contradicted reality, but reinforced the king's aura of power. "It depicted something that could not exist in the real world, a floor made of both carpet and stone," said Egan. "As such, the painting would have communicated the immense, and potentially supernatural power of the reigning monarch, who seemingly had the ability to manipulate and transform his physical environment." 

Recommended Articles

Off the Grid January/February 2025

Tzintzuntzan, Mexico

Read Article
Enrique/AdobeStock

Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025

Bad Moon Rising

Read Article
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025

100-Foot Enigma

Read Article
George E. Koronaios/Wikimedia Commons

Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025

Colonial Companions

Read Article
NadiaPera/AdobeStock

More to Discover

Features November/December 2013

Ancient Tattoos

Read Article

  • Features November/December 2013

    Life on the Inside

    Open for only six weeks toward the end of the Civil War, Camp Lawton preserves a record of wartime prison life

    Read Article
    (Virginia Historical Society, Mss5.1.Sn237.1v.6p.139)

  • Features November/December 2013

    Vengeance on the Vikings

    Mass burials in England attest to a turbulent time, and perhaps a notorious medieval massacre

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Thames Valley Archaeological Services)

  • Letter from Bangladesh November/December 2013

    A Family's Passion

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Reema Islam)

  • Artifacts November/December 2013

    Moche Ceremonial Shield

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Lisa Trever, University of California, Berkeley)