BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

What Does the Aegean World Have to Do with the Biblical World?

Louise Hitchcock explores the importance of the Aegean world in Biblical archaeology

What does the ancient Aegean world in the west have to do with the Biblical world in the east? Quite a lot, according to Aegean archaeology specialist Louise Hitchcock.

The term “Aegean” refers to Greece in the Bronze Age and includes the Minoan civilization, which inhabited Crete (c. 1900–1450 B.C.E.), as well as the Mycenaean civilization, which inhabited Mainland Greece (c. 1500–1200 B.C.E.) and Crete (c. 1450–1200 B.C.E.).

In her Archaeological Views column “View from the West: Why Aegean Archaeology Matters” in the May/June 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, University of Melbourne professor Louise Hitchcock explains that one needs to explore the connections between these Aegean cultures and their Eastern Mediterranean neighbors in order to fully comprehend the pervasive influence each had on the other.
 

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“[The Aegean world] culturally represents the western-most sphere of ancient Near Eastern influence, which in turn influenced developing European nations,” Hitchcock explains. “Aegean seafarers, traders and crafters were engaged in cultural exchange with the east, and ultimately the Aegeans were a major artistic and cultural influence on the Philistines, who were perhaps ethnically related to them. The Philistines, in turn, had a large impact on the Israelites, especially during the period of the Judges and the United Monarchy. Thus Aegean culture is important for understanding Biblical archaeology.”

In the Aegean world, the Minoans and Mycenaeans enjoyed extensive trade with their eastern neighbors. Through archaeology, we have been able to observe that the Minoans, for instance, imported copper, tin, gold and ivory from the Near East, while Near Eastern civilizations seem to have imported artistic styles from the Aegean world. The east and west even exchanged cultural icons and religious traditions. The Egyptian goddess Tawaret, the goddess of childbirth, became a frequent image in Aegean art, while the Aegean flying gallop motif made its way into Near Eastern imagery.

Louise Hitchcock demonstrates that the extensive exchange between the Aegean world and the Near East makes Aegean archaeology critical to understanding the Biblical world.

For more on the importance of Aegean archaeology, read the full Archaeological Views column “View from the West: Why Aegean Archaeology Matters” by Louise Hitchcock in the May/June 2015 issue of BAR.

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BAS Library Members: Read the full Archaeological Views column “View from the West: Why Aegean Archaeology Matters” by Louise Hitchcock in the May/June 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Not a BAS Library member yet? Join the BAS Library today.
 

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Related reading in the BAS Library:

Tristan Barako, “One if by Sea…Two if by Land: How Did the Philistines Get to Canaan? One: by Sea,” Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2003.

Assaf Yasur-Landau, “One if by Sea…Two if by Land: How Did the Philistines Get to Canaan? Two: by Land,” Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2003.

James D. Muhly, “Mycenaeans Were There Before the Israelites,” Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2005.

Eric H. Cline and Assaf Yasur-Landau, “Aegeans in Israel: Minoan Frescoes at Tel Kabri,” Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2013.

Not a BAS Library member yet? Join the BAS Library today.
 

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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on May 18, 2015.
 

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