The Lion's Gate was built in a Greek city. Mycenae ruins and lion gate

It is in these parts that travelers rush who want to touch a piece of ancient greece. Here is the famous Olympia, and the glorious Sparta, and the monumental theater in Argos, and the mysterious Lion Gate in Mycenae, about which a lot has been written. interesting legends. We'll talk about them today. We will tell you how the Lion Gate looked like in Ancient Mycenae, for what purpose they were built and what secrets this structure hides in itself.

The culture and history of Greece is inextricably linked with mythology. Ancient world endowed his buildings with a special purpose and associated with deities or famous heroes. The ancient Mycenae, which were located in the northeast of the Peloponnese, between Argos and Corinth, also had their own legendary background.

According to legend, the city was built by Perseus, the son of the ruler of Olympus Zeus and Danae, the daughter of the king of Argos. This hero became famous in his Fatherland for his victory over the Gorgon Medusa and the rescue of Princess Andromeda. Pawning new town, Perseus called for the help of the Cyclopes ( one-eyed giants), who erected a monumental city ​​wall 900 m long, 12 m high and over 8 m thick.

It is worth noting here that the Greek settlements were divided into two parts: the upper and lower city. The upper part (where the nobility lived) was located on a hill, for which it received the name acropolis. It was separated from the lower city by a special wall, beyond which commoners could not enter. It was this wall of huge limestone blocks weighing 5 tons that the Cyclopes erected.

Moreover, all the blocks are not fastened with anything, but are kept due to their own weight. Since then, this type of wall masonry has been called Cyclopean.

According to the greatness of the fortress wall, it was necessary to decorate the city gates. They are made of massive stones, and the top luggage is made on an inclined plane for proper load distribution. So in the center of the building there was a place for the famous pedestal: the lions standing at the column menacingly meet those who enter the city.

Lion Gate at Mycenae - features of the monument

So, the entrance to the walled Mycenae is crowned with a gate with bas-reliefs of lions. A through opening in the form of a regular square is formed by three limestone slabs, covered by the upper block - a lintel weighing 20 tons. On each side of the opening, at an oblique angle, there are 3 more small stone blocks. The void formed in the center is filled by the pediment, on which the Mycenaean Lion bas-reliefs are applied.

All the stones of the wall were adjusted to each other and carefully polished. The method of processing the material still occupies the minds of scientists. The fact is that the stone was drilled and propylene, these holes are clearly visible on the remaining ruins. More often than others, it is suggested that the Mycenaean civilization may have a tool that functions like a circular saw. This hypothesis is confirmed by the traces of a saw on the pedestal and propyl on the entablature.

Also, the remaining parts of the mounts indicate that the gates were closed with door shutters. Their material is not reliably known, so we can only speculate. Compared to Europe, in Greece, iron was rarely used, so, judging by the type of holes left, the gate leaves were wooden.

The lion gate in Mycenae is quite well preserved to our times. Only the heads of the lions did not survive. According to archaeologists, they were made of a different material that collapsed as a result of the natural passage of time. But there is another opinion: it is believed that the heads of lions were cast in gold and stolen during the decline of the Mycenaean civilization.

Unexplained mysteries of the Lion's Gate

The image of lions on the bas-relief is a source of controversy and mystical assumptions, since not only the purpose of the pediment is known for certain, but also the technology with which the lions and the defensive wall were made. After excavations of the remains of Mycenae, archaeologists studied the artifacts found for a long time, as a result of which three main theories of the origin of the Lion's Gate were formed.

Treasury

In 1870, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, during excavations of the city, stumbled upon burials in which, in addition to the remains, death masks, antique jewelry and weapons were kept. The find became a real sensation: the human remains belonged to the famous Agamemnon and his warriors. According to legend, this ruler conquered Troy and took its treasures to Mycenae.

Interestingly, the artifacts of antiquity were discovered right under the Lion's Gate. This suggests that the building carried a cult load. The hypothesis is also confirmed by the road leading to the gate, since shaft tombs are located along the way. Ordinary people could not be allowed to these places, for which the formidable lionesses vigilantly followed.

Altar

Scholars who value mysticism, mysterious research, and forbidden dogmas tend to see Mycenaean lions as a religious symbol. The column embodies the Great Minoan goddess, and the lions are her faithful servants and faithful defenders. The image of the Goddess above the city gates symbolized her patronage and protection of the city by higher powers.

Thus, this theory rewards the gate with the properties of a protective amulet or amulet. According to the assumption of supporters of this version, the lions were called upon to ward off troubles, evil and misfortunes from the acropolis.

city ​​guards

Whatever it was, most of researchers are inclined to practical assumptions, not to conspiracy theories. Therefore, the version that the images of lions were used as a "terrifying" effect is more common. The heads of the animals were turned straight at the incoming one, and the menacing look of the animals was supposed to subdue the traveler.

There is another simple assumption - lions, as noble and royal animals, were simply considered the emblem of the ruling dynasty. Therefore, their image was placed at the entrance to the city.

Other versions about the purpose of the Mycenaean Lions are also widespread: each guide tells tourists his legends about this ancient artifact. In addition, scientists are struggling with conjectures about construction technology. How were stone blocks mined? How and how were multi-ton stones moved? What tools and processing methods were used in the Mycenaean civilization? The answers to all these questions are hidden in the remains of ancient structures, and modern humanity is not yet able to unravel them. Or maybe the time just hasn't come yet.

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Hundreds of years ago, a person entering Greek Mycenae was stupefied at the sight of the main city gates: two huge lions looked down on him, symbolizing the power and courage of the inhabitants.

And now tourists stop for a few seconds in amazement in front of this entrance to central part cities, struck by its majesty and monumentality. The Lion Gate in Mycenae is a monument left as a legacy of our civilization from once richest city and continues to cause controversy among scientists.

History of Mycenae

Plan of ancient Mycenae

The city, which is now in ruins, was once famous throughout Hellas. Firstly, according to legend, it was founded by Perseus, the son of Zeus, the hero who defeated the Gorgon Medusa (according to official science It was around the 16th century. BC e). A powerful city wall was erected by the Cyclopes - huge one-eyed creatures. Since then, the laying of walls, made with the help of large untreated stone blocks, has been called cyclopean.

Secondly, the city has twice experienced prosperity and decline. In the pre-antique era, Mycenae (Mekenes) were one of the largest cities Aegean civilization until she died in the eruption of the Santorini volcano. Then, in the Mekenian era, the residence of the king was located in the city, and the lands of almost the entire northern Peloponnese were subordinate to him. But then the influence of the city decreased, and he gradually became empty. It is believed that the last inhabitants left Mycenae in the II century. n. e.

Golden death mask of Agamemnon

But the most known fact about Mycenae is that it was here that the great Greek hero Agamemnon lived, the leader of the entire Hellenic army in the war with Troy.

In the Iliad, Homer called the inhabitants of Mycenae Achaeans, a brave and desperate people who played a major role in the Trojan War.

The fate of Agamemnon is tragic: after returning with a victory in hometown he was killed by his wife Clymenestra and her lover Aegisthus.

But his fame lived on, and for many centuries the noble families of Mycenae considered the hero to be their ancestor.

Heinrich Schliemann

Archaeologist Schliemann at Mycenae

Perhaps we would not have learned any of this if it were not for the German amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann obsessed with Greece and the Iliad. From the son of a village priest, who did not even receive a secondary education, Schliemann turned into a polyglot millionaire, and by the age of 50 he was able to realize his childhood dream.

Schliemann dreamed of finding the legendary Troy, and in 1870 he found it. Science community, however, did not take the discovery of a self-taught archaeologist seriously, many scoffed at Schliemann's confidence that, following Homer's poems, he dug up exactly Troy.

Gold Mycenae

However, his subsequent finds already in Mycenae could not be ignored: here he discovered the burial places of ancient people, which contained a huge number of unique artifacts - from golden death masks on some of the dead to weapons depicting animals.

Schliemann was sure that he had found the remains of Agamemnon and his warriors. However, archaeologists do not share this point of view, agreeing only that representatives of the royal family. In addition, Schliemann in his notes recreated the town-planning scheme of ancient Mycenae, described a unique method of building a city wall and that same cyclopean masonry. Thanks to the works written as a result of the excavations, the whole world learned about the unique Lion Gate of the city of Mycenae.

Lion's Gate Facts and Figures

The city of Mycenae consisted of two parts, like most cities of antiquity.

Palaces, houses of the nobility, temples and other important buildings stood on a hill and were surrounded by an impregnable wall, which in some places reached a thickness of 8 meters and a height of 12.

In front of this wall, in the "lower city", lived commoners, merchants and other townspeople.

It was possible to get beyond the wall only through a huge heavy gate, above which towered the image of lions.

And it's still rising.

These gates are built of huge limestone slabs and represent an absolutely regular square with a side of about 3 meters.

Two plates stand vertically, the third lies on top of them horizontally. Scientists have calculated that the lintel alone weighs about 20 tons. Above the opening are six smaller boulders - three on each side, and they are laid slightly beveled so that their weight falls on the side walls. The resulting space is laid with a triangular stone slab depicting two lionesses standing with their front paws on the altar.

Sculptures without a head

Firstly, the fact that these are lionesses became clear only after excavations and the discovery of similar images. After all, the figures of animals on the gates lost their heads in antiquity. It is assumed that the heads of the lionesses were made of gold and stolen during the decline of Mycenae. There is another opinion: that this part of the body of animals was made of some other material, which gradually collapsed under the influence of natural processes.

Secondly, there is still no consensus about what these proud animals symbolize above the entrance to the sacred part of the city.

What are the lionesses talking about?

Version #1

The simplest explanation for the depiction of these animals on the gate is to intimidate travelers, who must have felt awe at the entrance to " upper city". It is believed that the heads of the lionesses were directed towards the road, which means that they looked directly at the person with a menacing look. The one entering the gate had to remember that he was nothing compared to the people living outside the city wall.

Version #2

Some scholars believe that the lionesses guarding the altar were the prototype of the modern coat of arms and had a heraldic function. The personification of the power and holiness of the city at the same time - this is what the inhabitants and guests of Mycenae should have seen daily.

Version #3

Several Russian scientists write that the image on the Lion's Gate is deeply symbolic and needs a detailed interpretation. The column marking the altar is in fact the personification, most likely, of the Great Minoan goddess.

The lionesses standing on both sides of the deity are both his protectors and servants. The goddess is the patroness of Mycenae, so her image above the entrance to the holy of holies of the city was intended to show that it is under divine protection. Perhaps the Lion's Gate also acted as a talisman that could ward off evil and misfortune from temples, palaces and tombs.

In the 5th century before the birth of Christ, Judea was under the rule of Persia. At the court of Artaxerxes Dolgoruky, the noble Jew Nehemiah served as cupbearer. Seeing how his fellow tribesmen were returning to their homeland from Babylon, Nehemiah also wished to see Judea and himself turned to the king with a request for this. Apparently, Artaxerxes highly valued the Jewish courtier and knew behind him the ability not only to deftly pour wine at a feast. The king appointed Nehemiah governor of the province of Judea. And he himself asked for permission to rebuild Jerusalem, which had been badly damaged by the wars.

Nehemiah called to work all the inhabitants of the city, except for babies, the decrepit and the sick, and they erected a wall in 52 days! People (many returned from the Babylonian captivity) perfectly understood the need to protect their city and faith. The book of Nehemiah (the 10th book of Scriptures, Tanakh) says that not only common people turned stones, but also the servants of God, led by the high priest Elyashiv. It was they who created the Sheep Gate, hung the doors and performed the rite of consecration.

The name "Sheep" is either because animals intended for sacrifice were chased away here, or because of the proximity of the bazaar where those animals were traded. In ancient times, this passage was also called - for obvious reasons - the gates of the Tribes of Israel (Shaar-a-Shvatim). Now this is the name of the gate in the northern wall that encloses the Temple Mount. Beautiful name not wasted!

Names of the Christian era

curious Arabic name- Bab Sitti Mariam, "Mistress Mariam's gate" This mysterious "lady" is none other than the Virgin Mary, who was born in the house next to the gate. In addition, a road leads from them to her tomb.

They are called the gates of St. Stephen because through them an angry mob dragged the deacon Stephen out of the city to stone him (in the Middle Ages, other Shechem gates were called Stephen's gates).

On the maps of Jerusalem, which the crusaders drew as best they could in the 12th century, the gates are called Jehoshaphat, as they “look” at the valley of Jehoshaphat. On one of the maps, they are the gates of the Mount of Olives (located opposite it).

Except the road to the valley of Jehoshaphat, from them the road goes to Jericho, so the Arabs also called them Jericho.

Suleiman's dreams

The Lion Gate of Jerusalem did not always look like it does now - we see the building, created by order of the Ottoman conqueror of the Holy Land, Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538-39. According to the first legend, he had a dream that he had to build a wall around Jerusalem, otherwise the lions would devour him and the inhabitants of the city. In the second version of the legend, the sultan crushed the townspeople with exorbitant taxes and pondered how to punish those who did not pay him off - and the lions promised to devour him already for bad thoughts and disrespect for the holy city. The invader was clearly imbued with threatening dreams - he built both the walls and the Lion Gate, and ordered two pairs of relief lions to be knocked out on the wings.

Another "Muslim" version of the appearance of lions on the gate - they were a symbol of Baybars, the Mamluk sultan who captured the Holy Land in 1260, and Suleiman borrowed them from one of his buildings.

There are also absolutely Jewish explanations: firstly, the lion was a symbol of the kingdom of Judah long before the conquerors, and secondly, it was a symbol of the Benjamin tribe.

In fact, the animals that adorn the Lion's Gate may not be lions - rather, they look like leopards.

Lion's Gate of Jerusalem today

In 1967, during the Six Day War, paratroopers of the 55th Brigade of the Israeli Army entered the Lion's Gate, and a white flag with a blue Star of David was hoisted over the Temple Mount. There is Yitzhak Navon's little account of this event, written from the point of view of the gate itself! The soldiers of the Israeli army pondered which way to enter the city, and all the gates, even the golden gates, began to invite them, praising themselves. And only the Lions said: “Enough! I see dead and wounded. It doesn't matter where they enter - but let them enter quickly so that the bloodshed ends!

Today, the Lion's Gate is located in the Muslim quarter of the old city of Jerusalem. This is one of the seven open gates of the Old City. Others have the following names:

• Zion (gate of the Jewish quarter, David the prophet).
• Shechem (Damascus)
• Gate of Herod.
• Garbage.
• New.

Closed gates of the old city:

• The golden gates are closed. They are laid with stones and in general are intended not for people, but for God - the Messiah must enter into them. Upon learning of this, Suleiman the Magnificent ordered them to be walled up preventively. A strange act for a brave conqueror - firstly, cowardly, and secondly, simply stupid: is the Messiah supposed to be stopped by some pebbles?
• The gates of Hulda are also walled up - but earlier, during the time of Roman rule. Through them, the Jews went to the Temple, and the Romans took care that they did not go there.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

lion gate- entrance gate of the acropolis of Mycenae (Greece). Built in the middle of the 13th century BC. e. along with the expansion of the fortress wall of the city. They got their name from the bas-relief depicting lions placed above them, which is the oldest example monumental sculpture in Europe .

The gates are built from four monolithic blocks of limestone (“cyclopean masonry”), the weight of the lintel is about 20 tons. The span of the gate is a regular square with a side of 3.1 m. In the inner part of the side walls there are recesses, indicating that in ancient times they were closed with two wooden doors. The lintel in the middle was made wider in order to support the weight of the triangular stone pediment slab lying on it, placed between two protrusions of the fortress wall, which form a “lightening” triangle.

Reconstruction of the fortress wall of Mycenae and the Lion Gate

Lions gate detail.JPG

Bas-relief with lions

The pediment crowning the gate is made of hard limestone and is decorated with a relief image of two lions. They are depicted standing on their hind legs, turned towards each other and with their front paws resting on two altars that support the column. The roof of some structure rests on the top of the column. The heads of the lions have not been preserved. The surviving places for their fastenings allow us to conclude that they were made of a different material (ivory or steatite) and were probably turned towards people entering the gate. The relief, according to one version, is the coat of arms of the Atrid dynasty, which ruled the city during the construction of the gate.

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Literature

• Spafari E., Petropulu K. Corinth. Mycenae. Archaeological sites and museums. - Athens, 2006. - S. 37-38.

An excerpt characterizing the Lion's Gate

"Je serais maudit par la posterite si l" on me regardait comme le premier moteur d "un accommodement quelconque. Tel est l "esprit actuel de ma nation", [I would be damned if they looked at me as the first instigator of any deal; this is the will of our people.] - answered Kutuzov and continued to use all his strength for that to keep troops from advancing.
In the month of the robbery of the French army in Moscow and the calm stationing of the Russian army near Tarutino, a change took place in relation to the strength of both troops (spirit and number), as a result of which the advantage of strength turned out to be on the side of the Russians. Despite the fact that the position of the French army and its numbers were unknown to the Russians, as soon as attitudes changed, the need for an offensive was immediately expressed in countless signs. These signs were: the sending of Lauriston, and the abundance of provisions in Tarutino, and the information that came from all sides about the inaction and disorder of the French, and the recruitment of our regiments, and good weather, and the long rest of the Russian soldiers, and the impatience that usually arises in the troops as a result of rest to do the job for which everyone is gathered, and the curiosity about what was being done in the French army, so long lost sight of, and the courage with which the Russian outposts now darted near the French stationed in Tarutino, and the news of easy victories over the French peasants and partisans, and the envy aroused by this, and the feeling of revenge that lay in the soul of every person as long as the French were in Moscow, and (most importantly) unclear, but arising in the soul of every soldier is the consciousness that the relation of strength has now changed and the advantage is on our side. The essential balance of forces changed and an offensive became necessary. And immediately, just as surely as the chimes begin to strike and play in a clock, when the hand has made a full circle, in the higher spheres, in accordance with a significant change in forces, an increased movement, hissing and playing of the chimes was reflected.

MYKENES

The Mycenaean culture was formed under the strong influence of the Cretan, but unlike the Cretan ones, the Mycenaean palace buildings are surrounded by fortress walls. The Peloponnese is vulnerable both from the sea and from land. Cyclopean masonry, so named for the huge size of the stones, which can only be lifted fairy giants, gives the buildings a somewhat primitive, but impressive look. It is characteristic of both Mycenae and Tiryns.

Powerful stone walls turn the building into military fortress where dominates central room- megaron - with four internal columns supporting the roof and framing the hearth. Megarons of the kings in Mycenae and Tiryns, rectilinear in plan palace isolated buildings, consisting of an open vestibule with two pillars, a front room and a hall with a hearth in the middle, are considered the prototypes of the first Greek temples.

LION GATE IN MYKENAE

The gate leading to the Achaean citadels had an impressive appearance. The entrance to the acropolis of Mycenae - the famous Lion Gate - was decorated with a slab of golden yellow stone depicting two lionesses leaning with their front paws on a pedestal with a column resembling a Cretan one. The lionesses breathe with a confident power that Cretan art did not know.

Lion Gate at Mycenae. 14th century BC e.; Mycenae. grave circle

TOMBS IN MYKENAE

These are “shaft graves” carved into the rock, lined with stone slabs and covered with slabs from above, and domed tombs (tholos), which are round structures covered with a dome, which is formed by concentric rows of overlapping masonry. A narrow corridor (dromos) leads to the round chamber. The best-preserved domed tomb of the 14th century. BC. was discovered by Schliemann in Mycenae and named by him "the treasury of Atreus", after the father of King Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaeans, the hero of the Trojan War. Its height is 13 m, diameter is 14.5 m, its dome consists of 34 concentric circles masonry, the length of the dromos is 36 m. The entrance to the tomb is made of regular stone squares; the doorway, slightly tapering at the top, is covered with a huge monolithic slab (about 120 tons in weight), over which the masonry continues, forming a triangular opening to lighten the wall above the transverse slab. We see the same construction in the so-called "Lion's Gate" leading to the acropolis of Mycenae. The triangle above the gate span is occupied here by a large triangular slab with a sculptural relief in the form of two lionesses, leaning with their front paws on the altar along the sides of the column standing on it, expanding upwards. The relief of the majestic "Lion's Gate" is the only example of monumental sculpture in Aegean art. The heraldic character of the relief fully corresponded to the conventional art of Mycenae. Mycenaean composition architectural complexes was original, but the decoration and ornamentation developed under the strong influence of Crete, differing only in great schematism.

Fortifications and burials at Mycenae. Middle of II millennium BC Partial reconstruction.

Domed tomb (the so-called Treasury of Atreus) in Mycenae. 14th c. BC e.

"The Mask of Agamemnon" is a golden funerary mask from the middle of the second millennium BC, found in 1876 in Mycenae by Heinrich Schliemann. It got its name from the legendary king Agamemnon, since Schliemann was sure that he had found his grave. However, by the time of creation, the mask is more ancient. The mask has holes for the thread with which it was attached to the face of the deceased.

Homer calls Mycenae rich in gold; excavations yielded items of exceptional wealth and artistic skill: the “mask of Agamemnon”, goblets, bowls, vessels - of coarse local work, but massive, of pure gold; a wonderful goblet made of rock crystal with a handle in the shape of a duck's head; heavy bronze swords with ivory handles inlaid with gold; many plaques, probably decorating the burial canopy and clothing; daggers of Cretan work with marvelously fine inlay on the blades depicting running lions in the midst of lilies, hunting for lions. In applied arts, in architecture, a combination of a highly developed Cretan culture with a more primitive local one can be seen.

Golden funerary masks from shaft tombs. On the right - the so-called. "Mask of Agamemnon"

Gold plaques for decorating clothes with an ornament of Minoan (Cretan) origin, etc. "Nestor's cup" from the shaft tombs in Mycenae. 16th century BC e.