A Bonus Ancient Artefact of the Day: to tie in with #MuseumsUnlocked on 'Gold, Silver, and Jewels'
The so-called 'Burial Mask of Agamemnon', one of the most famous artefacts of the Aegean Bronze Age. #AAOTD
Image: Mask NM 624, from the southern burial in shaft grave V, Mycenae
The so-called 'Burial Mask of Agamemnon', one of the most famous artefacts of the Aegean Bronze Age. #AAOTD
Image: Mask NM 624, from the southern burial in shaft grave V, Mycenae
I remember when I first saw this piece and it simply blew me away. Excavated by Schliemann in 1876, the piece captured the popular imagination and has become one of the typical images used to illustrate the period.
However, work by my own PhD Supervisor Oliver Dickinson, questioned the validity of the attribution, claiming instead that it was actually Mask NM 623 from the northern burial of Shaft Grave V that Schliemann considered to be the 'face of Agamemnon'.
Image: NM 623
Image: NM 623
This piece is markedly less 'romantic' in appearance, which may account for why it received less widespread attention, not aided by Schliemann's own inconsistency or inaccuracy.
For those who would like to read more, see:
Dickinson, Oliver. “The ‘Face of Agamemnon.’” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 74, no. 3, 2005, pp. 299–308.
jstor.org/stable/25067959
#AAOTD
Dickinson, Oliver. “The ‘Face of Agamemnon.’” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 74, no. 3, 2005, pp. 299–308.
jstor.org/stable/25067959
#AAOTD
