Editing Pylos (section)

=== Mycenaean Pylos ===
{{main|Palace of Nestor|Pylos Combat Agate}}[[File:Nestor's Palace panorama.jpg|thumb|550x550px|Nestor's Palace|alt=|center]]
During the [[Bronze Age]] (3000–1000 BC), the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean civilization]] developed, particularly in Peloponnese. Pylos then became the capital of one of the most important human centers of this civilization and of a powerful kingdom, often referred to as [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]]'s kingdom of "sandy Pylos" (''ἠμαθόεις'') and described later by [[Homer]] in both his ''[[Iliad]]'' and his ''[[Odyssey]]'' (Book 17) when [[Telemachus]] says:

{{blockquote|we went to Pylos and to Nestor, the shepherd of the people, and he received me in his lofty house and gave me kindly welcome, as a father might his own son who after a long time had newly come from afar: even so kindly he tended me with his glorious sons.<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' XVII 108–112</ref>}}
[[File:Two Mycenaean chariot warriors on a fresco from Pylos about 1350 BC.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|Warriors on a chariot. Fresco in Nestor's palace (LHIIIA/B period, around 1350 BC)]]
The Mycenaean state of Pylos (1600–1200&nbsp;BC) covered an area of {{cvt|2000|km2}} and had a minimum population of 50,000 according to the [[Linear B]] tablets discovered there, or even perhaps as large as 80,000–120,000.<ref name=":10">[[Jack L. Davis]], ''Sandy Pylos: An Archaeological History from Nestor to Navarino'', University of Texas Press 1998; Greek Translation 2004; second edition 2007). With S.E. Alcock, J. Bennet, Y. Lolos, C. Shelmerdine, and E. Zangger.</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book |title=After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies |author1=Schwartz, G.M. |author2=Nichols, J.J. |date=2010 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=9780816529360 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_gsFrnn9RzQC |page=80 |access-date=2014-12-07}}</ref><ref name="google2">{{cite book |title=Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant |author1=Wachsmann, S. |author2=Bass, G.F. |date=2008 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9781603440806 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apna4pv7Ks8C |page=359 |access-date=2014-12-07}}</ref> It should not however be confused with the current city of Pylos. The urban center of ancient Pylos indeed remains only partially identified to date. The various archaeological remains of palaces and administrative or residential infrastructures that have been found in the region so far suggest to modern scholars that the ancient city would have developed over a much larger area, that of the [[Pylia Province]].<ref name=":10" /> The typical point of reference for the Mycenaean city remains the [[Palace of Nestor]], but many other palaces (such as those of [[Nichoria]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shelmerdine |first=Cynthia W. |date=1981 |title=Nichoria in Context: A Major Town in the Pylos Kingdom |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=319–325 |doi=10.2307/504173 |jstor=504173 |s2cid=191376892}}</ref> and [[Iklaina]]<ref>The Iklaina Project. http://www.iklaina.org/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119213449/http://www.iklaina.org/ |date=2018-01-19 }}</ref>) or villages (such as Malthi<ref>Worsham, R., M. Lindblom & C. Zikidi (2018). ''Preliminary report of the Malthi Archaeological Project, 2015–2016'', Opuscula 11, 7–27.</ref>) of the Mycenaean era have been recently discovered, which were quickly subordinated to Pylos.<ref name=":10" /> Its [[port]] and its [[acropolis]] were probably established on the ''Koryphasion'' promontory (or ''Cape Coryphasium'') commanding the northern entrance to the bay, 4&nbsp;km north of the modern city and south of Nestor's palace, but no remains were found.[[File:Pulos.png|thumb|200px|Location of Ancient Pylos ("pu-ro")]]The Pylos site is located on the hill of Ano Englianos, about 9&nbsp;km northeast of the bay {{coord|37.028|21.695|display=inline|type:landmark}}, near the village of [[Chora, Messenia|Chora]] and about 17 kilometres from the modern city of Pylos. It hosts one of the most important Mycenaean palaces in Greece, known as the great "[[Palace of Nestor]]" described in the Homeric poems. This palace remains today the best preserved palace in Greece and one of the most important of all Mycenaean civilization. It was discovered and first excavated in 1939 by American archaeologist [[Carl Blegen]] (1887–1971) of the [[University of Cincinnati]] and the [[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]], and by [[Konstantinos Kourouniotis]] (1872–1945) of the Greek archaeological service. Their excavations were interrupted by the Second World War, and then resumed in 1952 under the direction of Blegen until 1966. He found many architectural elements such as the throne room with its foyer, an anteroom, rooms and passageways all covered with [[fresco]]es of Minoan inspiration, and also large warehouses, the external walls of the palace, unique baths, galleries, and 90 meters outside the palace, a [[Beehive tomb|beehive "tholos" tomb]], perfectly restored in 1957 (''Tholos tomb IV'').
[[File:Linear B tablet from Nestor's Palace.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.7|Clay tablet with its inscriptions in Linear B, discovered in Pylos (Archaeological Museum of Chora)]]
In addition to the archaeological remains of the palace, Blegen also found there thousands of clay tablets with inscriptions written in [[Linear B]], a [[Syllabary|syllabic script]] used between 1425 and 1200 BC for writing [[Mycenaean Greek]]. Pylos is the largest source in Greece of these tablets with 1,087 fragments found on the site of the Nestor's Palace. In 1952, when self-taught linguist [[Michael Ventris]] and [[John Chadwick]] deciphered the script, Mycenaean Greek turned out to be the earliest [[Attested language|attested]] form of [[Greek language|Greek]], some elements of which have survived in the language of Homer thanks to a long oral tradition of epic poetry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cracking-the-code-the-decipherment-of-linear-b-60-years-on |title=Cracking the code: the decipherment of Linear B 60 years on |date=13 October 2012 |work=Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809162033/http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cracking-the-code-the-decipherment-of-linear-b-60-years-on |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[[John Chadwick]] (1990) [1958]. ''The Decipherment of Linear B'' (2nd ed.). Cambridge UP. {{ISBN|978-0-521-39830-5|}}</ref> Thus, these clay tablets, generally used for administrative purposes or for recording economic transactions, clearly demonstrate that the site itself was already called "Pylos" by its Mycenaean inhabitants (''Pulos'' in Mycenaean Greek; attested in Linear B as [[File:Linear_B_Syllable_B050_PU.svg|30x30px]][[File:Linear_B_Syllable_B002_RO.svg|30x30px]] ''pu-ro,'' {{lang|gmy|𐀢𐀫}}).
[[File:Palace of Nestor throne base (1).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Foyer in the Throne room of the Palace of Nestor]]
In 2015, the team of American archaeologists [[Sharon Stocker]] and [[Jack L. Davis]] of the [[University of Cincinnati]] and under the aegis of the [[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]], discovered near the ''Tholos tomb IV'', a [[shaft tomb]] (non-tholos) dated to the [[Helladic chronology|Late Helladic IIA]] (LHIIA, 1600–1470 BC), of an individual of 30–35 years old and 1.70 m tall, the "Griffin warrior", named for the mythological creature, part eagle, part lion, engraved on an ivory plaque in his tomb.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Jack L. |last2=Stocker |first2=Sharon R. |date=October–December 2016 |title=The Lord of the Gold Rings: The Griffin Warrior of Pylos |jstor=10.2972/hesperia.85.4.0627 |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=627–655 |doi=10.2972/hesperia.85.4.0627 |s2cid=164287861}}</ref> The tomb also contained armor, weapons, mirror and many pearl and gold jewels, including several gold signet rings of exceptional craftsmanship and thoroughness. Researchers believe it could be the grave of a [[Anax|Wanax]], a tribal king, lord or military leader during the Mycenaean era.<ref>[https://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/warrior_tomb.html UC team discovers rare warrior tomb filled with bronze age wealth and weapons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616172130/https://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/warrior_tomb.html |date=2020-06-16 }}, magazine.uc.edu</ref><ref>Nicholas Wade, [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/a-warriors-grave-at-pylos-greece-could-be-a-gateway-to-civilizations.html Grave of 'Griffin Warrior' at Pylos Could Be a Gateway to Civilizations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506162537/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/a-warriors-grave-at-pylos-greece-could-be-a-gateway-to-civilizations.html |date=2020-05-06 }}, nytimes.com, 26 octobre 2015</ref> It was also in this tomb that was found the [[Pylos Combat Agate]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stocker |first1=Sharon R. |last2=Davis |first2=Jack L. |date=October–December 2017 |title=The Combat Agate from the Grave of the Griffin Warrior at Pylos |jstor=10.2972/hesperia.86.4.0583 |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=583–605 |doi=10.2972/hesperia.86.4.0583 |s2cid=165510271 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/819910}}</ref> a seal made of [[agate]] dated from around 1450 BCE, which represents a warrior engaged in a hand-to-hand combat.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |title=Unearthing a masterpiece |url=http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/unearthingamasterpiece.html |website=University of Cincinnati |language=en-US |access-date=2017-11-07 |archive-date=2017-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109134614/http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/unearthingamasterpiece.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{cite web |title=Ancient Greek 'Masterpiece' Revealed on Thumb-Size Gem |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/greek-sealstone-gemstone-combat-griffin-warrior-tomb-spd/ |last=Gibbens |first=Sarah |website=National Geographic |date=7 November 2017 |access-date=7 November 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107235705/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/greek-sealstone-gemstone-combat-griffin-warrior-tomb-spd/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2017, the same team discovered two other exceptional tholos tombs, ''Tholos tombs VI and VII''. Although their domes had collapsed, they discovered that they were littered with flakes of gold leaf that once papered the walls and found a multitude of cultural artifacts and delicate jewelry, including a gold pendant representing the head of the Egyptian goddess [[Hathor]], which showed for the first time that Pylos clearly had trade relations with Egypt and the Middle East around 1500 BCE.<ref name=":3">Rory Sullivan and Elinda Labropoulou, [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/18/world/archaeologists-royal-tombs-greece-scli-intl-scn/index.html Archaeologists uncover treasure-filled 'princely' tombs in Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428002832/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/18/world/archaeologists-royal-tombs-greece-scli-intl-scn/index.html |date=2020-04-28 }}, cnn.com, 18 December 2019.</ref><ref name=":6">[https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/12/archaeologists-find-bronze-age-tombs-lined-with-gold/124977 Archaeologists find Bronze Age tombs lined with gold] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001011207/https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/12/archaeologists-find-bronze-age-tombs-lined-with-gold/124977 |date=2020-10-01 }}, heritagedaily.com, 18 December 2019.</ref>

Pylos was the only palace of that time to have no walls or fortifications. It was destroyed by fire around 1180 BC and many clay tablets in linear B clearly bear the stigmata of the fire.<ref>Eric H. Cline (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4o8pAgAAQBAJ 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed]''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-1-40-084998-7|}}</ref><ref>Thomas F. Tartaron (2013). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sZbqAAAAQBAJ Maritime Networks in the Mycenaean World]''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781107067134|}}</ref> The Linear B archives found there, preserved by the heat of the fire that destroyed the palace, mention hasty defence preparations due to an imminent attack without giving any detail about the attacking force.<ref>Charles Freeman (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UtMVAwAAQBAJ Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean]'' (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780199651924|}}</ref> The site of the Mycenaean Pylos then seems to have been abandoned during the [[Greek Dark Ages|Dark Ages]] (1100–800 BC). The region of Pylos, together with that of the [[Messene|ancient Messene]], was later enslaved by [[Sparta]].

The ruins of a crude stone fortress on nearby [[Sphacteria]], apparently of Mycenaean origin, were used by the [[Sparta]]ns during the [[Peloponnesian War]]. (Thucydides iv. 31)