The Mycenaean civilization thrived in the late Bronze Age, but around the year 1200 BCE they started to show signs of decline and even though they disappeared by 1100 BCE, they extended its effect throughout the Peloponnese in Greece. And also in some other places like across the Aegean, and the Cycladic islands. The Mycenaean’s were influenced by and earlier civilization called the Minoans that had spread from its origins at Knossos. The Mycenaean’s were fierce warriors and great engineers, who designed and built beehive shaped tombs, fortification walls, and outstanding bridges, all employing Cyclopean masonry. They also elaborated drainage and irrigation systems that were all new to that era, making them a unique and special civilization. In their architecture, we can see that the Mycenaean society had a war like culture basis represented by wide strong walls, large cut stones, and well-protected gates. One good example of this is the city of Tiryns, which is known for its thick fortification walls and single access gateways that could be closed at will to entrap enemies. The Mycenaean also built large palace complexes around a large rectangular hall or Megaron, displaying self-unique developments and important architectural features. The Mycenaean Megaron was the foundation for pretty much all the Archaic and Classical temples of the Greek world. These temples contained an entrance porch, as well as a vestibule, and the hall itself. All of this features combined make the heart of the palace, which also contained a large circular grate with four wooden columns supporting an open ceiling; this was the throne room of the ruler. Without a doubt the Mycenaean culture was far more advanced than any other culture around them as they came up with new building techniques like the Megaron, and their citadel sites, which were built with ashlar masonry and massive stone blocks. One curious question that still baffles archaeologists and historians today is how they moved the large blocks they used to build these sites. The blocks were considered too big and enormous in size to be moved by man and were believed by ancient Greeks to have been erected by a one eyed giant named Cyclopes.
Mycenaean religion is very uncertain even to this day by archeologists and historians. What we do know is that they were highly influenced by the Minoan culture and their religious practices gave extreme importance to animal sacrifice, communal feasting, and offerings of foodstuffs. Many of their centres also had specific sanctuary sites to worship their gods, and they were usually close to the palace complex. In their religion, burial was also a very important ritual as represented by the manifestation of monumental tholos tombs. These tombs were noticeable gravesites and the quantity of precious objects, which were buried with the dead. The dead were usually adorned with golden masks, diadems, jewelry, and ceremonial swords and daggers. With all this information we can assume that the Mycenaean’s believed in a higher being they needed to show tribute to by making offerings, and that by doing so their society will keep flourishing in agriculture, skills, architecture, and knowledge that will help them conquer more land and be able to defend themselves against enemies along the way. We could also go on a limb here when talking about their religion and we can say that maybe they knew exactly who they were worshiping to, maybe they had contact with that special God, and that God was the one who gave them their knowledge and taught them new things, as well as help them build their structures and more importantly the God who helped them move around those huge blocks of stone that even historians today can not fully explain how they were able to complete that process. There are many theories but even in today’s world with our technological advancements it would still be hard to fulfill what they were able to accomplish with just human hands. Having that said not enough information has been gathered to fully know about their religious views and beliefs, or to whom they fully worshiped. Some of the gods that it is believed they worshipped to were the Lady of the Labyrinth, Diwia, Zeus, Hermes, and Athena to name a couple. The one that stands out the most is Poseidon. Poseidon was known as being connected with earthquakes, he was the earth shaker, as they would call him. Poseidon was also known to represent the river spirit of the underworld.
The fall of the Mycenaean civilization is not entirely clear just like their religion. What we do know is that by the year 1200 BCE their civilization started showing signs of decline, and by 1100 BCE they were completely vanished. From some of their remains, we can tell that their palaces were destroyed, as well as their art and system of writing. There are some theories as to why they collapsed, economy and natural causes. For example there is evidence of a climate change that occurred during the Mycenaean era. This terrible climate change caused drought and affected their crops and livestock. Water was a necessity for them not only because as humans they needed it, but also because their crops and cattle depended on water, without it they could not grow wheat, barley, or keep their livestock alive. This climate change became a problem into their society the Mycenaean were not able to fix, creating a domino effect on their economics, as they were not able to trade weakening the civilization. Another theory according to Greek legends is that half civilized Dorian invaders from the north replaced the Mycenaean. These invaders spoke a different Greek dialect and were a new wave of Greek migration. Having that said all this information and theories may very well be the exact reason of the Mycenaean extinction. Even though nothing has been completely proven, I believe that there is not just one exact reason to why their civilization crumbled and disappeared. Therefore, as mentioned before I believed that the reasons for their downfall were the climate change, drought, trade, economic decline, and the invaders. Upon their disappearance, a dark age descended on Greece.
The dark ages can be defined as a new beginning. After the Mycenaean civilization disappeared, the Greeks had to relearn all the basics like how to write, and change their economic and social structures. The Greeks learned to write again by disregarding everything they knew about the Linear B used by the Mycenaeans and instead they adopted the alphabet used by the Phoenicians. This alphabet was so historically important that it created a base of what is the English alphabet in today’s world. The alphabet was so significant and unique for that time due to the introduction of vowels as letters. The Greeks also changed their political views as they completely vanished class hierarchy and hereditary rule. Their new views during this time of relearning allowed the rise of Democracy. Having that said, this Dark Age made them realize how valuable their land, natural goods, and traded goods all were. They also helped into the discoveries of art, architecture, waterproof plaster, and the important use of iron and olives. All of this could be accomplished with the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, and as Stanislawski mentioned in his article, “Depression may be necessary to progress because they provided a release from bureaucratic paralysis and permit talented individuals to experiment with innovations”. I completely agree with his statement.
In conclusion, the Mycenaean were a powerful and knowledgeable civilization that came to an end because they were so focused into being a war like society that spent much of its time building strong, fortified buildings and sites to protect themselves and entrap enemies, that they started to decline into what really mattered to keep their civilization alive. They were not paying attention to their social, economic, and agricultural problems therefore leading to their extinction.