Monkey and Ape Iconography in Aegean Art (original) (raw)
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Monkey and Ape Iconography in Minoan Art
2020
This dissertation examines monkey and ape iconography in Minoan art during the Aegean Bronze Age (ca. 3,000–1,100 B.C.). Although a broad range of animals exist for depiction, Minoan artists carefully selected each subject in order to fulfill specific roles. Monkeys and apes appear to function differently than the other creatures that are depicted in art. Rather than subscribing to the general roles played by other animals, these primates may be shown outdoors, behaving like wild animals, or in a ceremonial context, participating in a ritual. Monkeys also imitate human activities. The deviation of primates from the typical roles of other animals found in Minoan art invites a deeper investigation of the role and iconography of apes and monkeys. In this study, three types of media that bear depictions of primates are considered. These media include figurines, glyptic art, and wall paintings. First, a review of the stylistic features of Minoan art and the possibility for the use of pat...
The Role of Animals and Mythological Creatures in Global Cultures, 2022
The settlement of Akrotiri in Thera, the so-called ‘Pompeii of the Aegean Bronze Age’, was buried by a massive volcanic eruption and has therefore been covered for centuries. The long-term archaeological excavations have revealed a highly technologically advanced society, dating back to around 1600 B.C. The inhabitants were mainly housed in multi-storey buildings, which were richly decorated with wall paintings. These polychrome narrative murals are the best-preserved paintings in the Aegean and they constitute a valuable and informative source for everyday life and religious customs in this period. The display of exotic animals such as the famous blue monkeys, shows a strong influence from neighbouring civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. Based on recent and personal observations, this article examines this popular iconographic motif, which has so far been discovered on four wall paintings in Akrotiri. Each of these examples depicts the monkeys in a unique context and therefore carries a variety of meanings. They not only display a varied iconography in comparison to other illustrations from the Aegean or Near Eastern art, but also provide an insight into the role of this particular presentation of simians.
A New Identification of the Monkeys Depicted in a Bronze Age Wall Painting from Akrotiri, Thera
Primates, 2019
Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 3500-1100 B.C.) wall paintings from the islands of Crete and Thera depict monkeys in a variety of roles such as running wild in nature, possibly following (trained) commands, and participating in sacred activities. These images, while stylistically Aegean, are traditionally considered closely related to—and descendant from—Egyptian, Near Eastern, and Mesopotamian monkey imagery. While monkey depictions in the latter regions may provide species-specific characteristics, Aegean wall paintings typically lack this level of detail. In an attempt to better understand the relationships between the monkeys depicted in Aegean wall paintings and the species that were encountered by the Aegean, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian peoples, a collaborative team of primatologists, a taxonomic illustrator, and an art historian/archaeologist identified species-indicative visual characteristics. This collaborative approach led us to identify a new region that serves as source for monkey iconography: the Indus River Valley. With an emphasis on the primatological aspect and the growing corpus of possible Indus goods and possible species found in the Aegean, a broader iconographic and socio-religious sphere of interaction emerges. In this expanded system, Mesopotamia functions as an intermediary that enables the movement of goods, raw materials, people, and iconography between the east and west. Mesopotamia may have even afforded an opportunity for Aegean peoples to encounter the creatures themselves, first-hand. Of primary importance to the methodology employed for this project is the cooperation of scholars from disparate disciplines—the stitching together of various projects and experiences in attempt to answer both new and previously unanswerable questions. This type of interdisciplinary approach can be applied to other species, sites, paintings, and objects to hone our understanding of period, place, animal, movement, and trade.
Peacock or Poppycock? Investigations into Exotic Animal Imagery in Minoan and Cycladic Art
ΝΕΩΤΕΡΟΣ: Studies in Bronze Age Art and Archaeology in Honor of Professor John G. Younger on the Occasion of His Retirement (Aegaeum 44), 2020
Minoan and Cycladic art, famous for its representations of wild nature, has a reputation for imaginative rather than accurate images of plants and animals when in fact, most were depicted with enough key characteristics to permit species identification. This study investigates animal imagery in well-known Aegean art works, including the blue monkeys from Akrotiri, the plumes of the feather crown from the Priest-King Fresco of Knossos, the snakes wielded by the Knossian Snake-goddesses, and additional bird imagery. Pareja and a team of primatologists and a taxonomic illustrator recently identified the monkeys from Room 6 (Building Complex Beta, Akrotiri) as langurs, native to India, Bhutan, and Nepal. According to Evans, the Priest-King’s long plumes are peacock feathers, identifiable from their distinctive eyes. Peacocks, or Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), are also native to India, not the Aegean, and are thought to have first been imported to Greece during the Hellenistic period. The third investigation focuses on the snakes held in the raised arms of the famous “Snake Goddess” figurine from Knossos: although heavily restored, half of one snake is original; its striped body and flat, rounded, paddle-like tail suggests its identification as a sea snake, perhaps the yellow-lipped sea krait (also known as a banded sea krait, Laticauda colubrina) native to the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. This study then continues to explore the intriguing possibility that Late Bronze Age trade networks extended as far east as India, the Indus Valley, and the Indian Ocean, and that exotic animals (or at least their imagery) travelled along those same routes.