Tomb of Genii (Mycenae)

Dromos and Gate of the Tomb of Genii

The so-called grave of genii ( Greek Τάφος των Δαιμόνων ) is a Tholos grave in Mycenae . It is also called the tomb of the demons and the tomb of Orestes and is located about 600 m west of the upper castle of Mycenae. Like Atreus' treasury, it is still completely preserved. It is the earliest of the three graves of the third Tholos group after Alan Wace in Mycenae. The grave was named after slabs of glass paste that were discovered in the grave and decorated with genii . The tomb was discovered in 1896 by the Greek archaeologist Christos Tsountas and examined more closely by Alan Wace.

Slabs of glass paste from the grave decorated with genii

The tomb of the genii was built around 1300 BC. Erected during the Late Helladic (SH III B). In contrast to the treasury of Atreus, the dromos is only built from small, unprocessed field stones. The doorway (stomion) is covered by two large cap stones. Above this there is a relief triangle that deflects the main load onto the side walls in order to relieve the cap stones. The cladding of this relief triangle has been preserved both inside and outside to this day. The dome grave itself has a diameter of 8.40 m and a height of about 8 m. It was built in the shape of a beehive from 30 layers of stones built horizontally on top of each other without the use of mortar . The layering of the blocks, which are shifted further and further inwards, results in a so-called false vault . Like the treasure house of Atreus, it was built from conglomerate rock found on site. Inside you can see several graves dug into the ground and covered with thick capstones. The graves were robbed in ancient times.

The name Tomb of Orestes is chosen completely unfounded. In Greek mythology, Orestes died in Arcadia and was buried in Tegea . In addition, the grave was built over 100 years before the death of this ruler, who, if Orestes is not a purely fictional person, probably dates back to the 12th century BC. Is to be dated, erected.

There are some shaft graves about 70 m east of the Tomb of the Genii.

literature

Richard Speicher: Peloponnese . 2nd Edition. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Berlin / Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-17-010031-9 , pp. 129 .
George E. Mylonas : Mycenae. A guide to its ruins and history . Ekdotike Athenon, Athens 1993, ISBN 960-213-213-2 , pp. 83 .

Web links

Commons : Tomb of Genii - collection of images, videos and audio files

Μυκήνες (Mycenae). Retrieved April 22, 2014 (Greek).

Individual evidence

^ Alan Wace, Leicester Bodine Holland: Excavations at Mycenae. The Tholos tombs . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens . tape 25 , 1923, pp. 283-402 , doi : 10.1017 / S0068245400010352 .

37.729138888889 22.749861111111Coordinates: 37 ° 43 ′ 44.9 ″ N , 22 ° 44 ′ 59.5 ″ E

[1] Alan Wace, Leicester Bodine Holland: Excavations at Mycenae. The Tholos tombs . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens . tape 25 , 1923, pp. 283-402 , doi : 10.1017 / S0068245400010352 .