Lion’s Gate


Paul Edoka, Cameron Davis, Johnson Dunham

[1]

     The Lion Gate is found in the citadel of Mycenae  where it was the only entrance and exit out of the citadel. It was built in 1250 B.C.  After the Lion's Gate there is a Gauntlet wall where intruders would have been pumeled with arrow and

boiling oil.

 

    The Lion's Gate had 4 main materials, Rock, Gold, and Clay. This Cycleopean wall has a foundation of small stones and clay. The Thickness of the wall is about 4.6 meters( about 15 ft.). The front and back of the wall are rock slabs but the inside is only ruble and earth. A few of the rocks have been altered with hammers or saws but most of the rocks are untouched by human hands. The wall has limestone relief over the gate which was mand to mask triangular space ofver the lintel of the gateway. On the limestone relief are two lions looking at each other on either side of a column. When the city of Mycenae was flourishing the lion's head were made of gold but the golden heads are long gone.

     This gate is an example of cycleopean architecture where the blocks are so big that only a huge man could build it. The doorway is also an example of a post and lintel. This is a simple yet efficient way to build a doorway.

 

 [2]

     The Citadel of Mycenae is the main fort of the Mycenaean period. It is located on the penisula of mainland Greece called the Peloponnesus. The city is sorrunded by a wall and has only one entrance, the Lion's Gate. The citadel flourished until its fall in 1200 B.C. when the Dorians Invaded and took over the Mycenaeans. After this the area went into a Dark Age and little is known where or what happened to the Mycenaeans.

 

     The Lion's Gate is still standing and can be found on the penisula of Peloponnesus. The city is destroyed but the Lion's Gate is still standing. The cycleopean wall lasted longer then any other part of Mycenae.

 

Works Cited

Higgins, Reynold. “The Major Arts in the Late Bronze Age.” Minoan and Mycenean Art. 1967. New Revised Edition ed. World of Art. New York, New York: Thames and Hudson, Ltd.,  1997. 92-93.

“Mycenaean Civilization.” 2007.  netTrekker. 4 Dec. 2008 <http://www.infoplease.info///‌A0834633.html>.

Stokstad, Marilyn. “Art of Greece and the Aegean World.” Art: A Brief History. By Marilyn Stokstad. Ed. Sarah Touborg, et al. Third ed. Upper Saddle RRiver, New Jersey: Pearson Education, inc., 2007. P.95.

Taylour, Lord William. “Citadels, Palaces and houses.” The Mycenaeans. 1990. Revised and Enlarged Edition ed. New York, New York: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1995. P.111-112

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

  1. 1. This is a Picture of the Lion Gate in Mycenae from, 1902 Encycolopedia. http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/M/MYC/mycenae.html
  2. This is a 3d rendering of what the citadel of Mycenae looked like. http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/Greece/Mycenae/Mycenae-citadel-reconstructed.jpg