Relief with a car scene (NAMA 1428)

The relief with a car scene in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens with the inventory number NAMA 1428 is a grave stele and is dated to the middle of the 16th century BC. Dated.

The stele was found inside the cave A in Mycenae . It stood together in a row with the grave steles NAMA 1429 and NAMA 1430 with the face turned west over grave V. It is made of freshwater limestone, has a thickness of 14 cm, a height of about 1.65 m, a width of at the bottom 1.17 m and tapers towards the top to 1.09 m. The screen is divided into two parts. The upper half is with for the 16th century BC. Filled in typical spirals. A car scene is shown in the lower part. The strong-build wagon driver holds the reins taut with his right hand, while the stallion gallops to the right with strong hooves and a raised tail. With his left hand he reaches for the sword that is in the sheath . Another person stands or lies in front of the horse. In his hand he holds a sword, a spear or a shield. It may also be another object of symbolic character, such as a fish. Serpentine lines are shown behind the carriage, above and below the horse.

The car scene is mostly interpreted as a fight scene. The deceased is shown as a charioteer fighting an enemy. Here, the serpentine line is only used as a gap filler. The chariot was usually drawn by two horses. With this representation one has to imagine the second horse completely covered by the front one. Only one front and one rear leg are visible.

The relief is also interpreted as a chariot race in honor of the deceased, as described in the 23rd Canto of the Iliad in honor of Patroclus . There is also a mythical interpretation. The lower serpentine line is interpreted as the sea. The deceased or a god drives the chariot into the sea and will sink into it.

literature

Georg Karo : Shaft graves of Mycenae . 1st part: Text (1930/33). F. Bruckmann, Munich ( digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de [accessed on May 18, 2014]).
Wolfgang Reichel : The Mycenaean grave stelae . In: Eranos vindobonensis . 1893, p. 24–33 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Heinrich Schliemann : Mykenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878 ( digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de [accessed on May 18, 2014]).
Carl Schuchhardt : The excavations of Schliemann in Troja, Tiryns, Mykenä, Orchomenos and Ithaka . Leipzig 1891 ( digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de [accessed on May 18, 2014]).
Kurt Müller : Early Mycenaean reliefs from Crete and the Greek mainland . In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute . tape 30 . Berlin 1915, p. 242–336 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Web links

Commons : NAMA 1428 - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Basil Petrakos : National Museum. Sculptures, vases, bronzes . Klio Verlag, Athens 1981, p. 28-32 .
↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 92-96 .
↑ Carl Schuchhardt: Schliemann's excavations in Troja, Tiryns, Mykenä, Orchomenos and Ithaka . Leipzig 1891, p. 199-209 .
^ Georg Karo: Shaft graves of Mycenae . 1st part: Text (1930/33). F. Bruckmann, Munich, p. 29-35 .

[1] Basil Petrakos : National Museum. Sculptures, vases, bronzes . Klio Verlag, Athens 1981, p. 28-32 .

[2] Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 92-96 .

[3] Carl Schuchhardt: Schliemann's excavations in Troja, Tiryns, Mykenä, Orchomenos and Ithaka . Leipzig 1891, p. 199-209 .

[4] Georg Karo: Shaft graves of Mycenae . 1st part: Text (1930/33). F. Bruckmann, Munich, p. 29-35 .