The kingdom of Pylos: warrior-princes of Mycenaean Greece

Preview

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]

The table of contents of this volume is reproduced at the end of this review. Although not listed separately in Part 5, illustrated entries of the 188 catalogued finds are listed separately, as their authors are not always the same as that of the chapter they accompany. The names of authors of catalogue entries, not mentioned in the original table of contents but appearing in abbreviations at the end of each such entry, have been added here in full spelling by the reviewer and sorted by alphabetic order of the authors’ last names.

A modern Greek version of the volume (Το Βασίλειο της Πύλου: Πολεμιστές-Πρίγκιπες της Μυκηναϊκής Ελλάδας) is also available from Melissa Publishing (ISBN of hardback edition: 9789602044704). The Greek volume is not included in the present review.

Messenia is the southwestern part of the Peloponnese bound by river Alpheios to the north and by mount Taygetus to the east. It has been the subject of extensive and intensive exploration for over a century, adding substantially to our understanding of the LBA Aegean. A string of archaeological discoveries since Wilhelm Dörpfeld’s excavations at Kakovatos (his own “Alt Pylos”) peaked with Carl Blegen’s (originally with Konstantinos Kourouniotis) excavations in Epano Englianos (arguably Mycenaean Pylos, the place spelled pu-ro in contemporary Linear B documents), the site of the so-called well-preserved and published ‘Palace of Nestor’. These were accompanied and supplemented by survey and excavations in the region by the Athens Archaeological Society, the Universities of Cincinnati and Minnesota and the Greek Archaeological Service. They have yielded sufficient funerary and settlement data to allow for the reconstruction of remarkably dynamic regional systems, recently discussed in an admirable synthesis,[1] despite the fact that most of these projects (except for Englianos, Nichoria and Iklaina) have not yet reached final publication. The past ten years witnessed further sensational discoveries: the undisturbed elite burial of the “Griffin Warrior” (2015) and two further monumental tholos tombs at Englianos (2018) attracted much public attention.

These recent discoveries provided the impetus for the exhibition ‘The Kingdom of Pylos’,[2] jointly organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the J. Paul Getty Museum, which debuted in the Kalamata Museum in February 2025 and passed through a memorable six-month residence at the Getty and is (through October 2026) at the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum in Athens. This is the first event related to Aegean prehistory hosted in the Getty villa, and the first one to present finds from Pylos and other Mycenaean sites in the USA.

The volume reviewed here is the scholarly companion to this exhibition. The editors and contributors of chapters and catalogue lemmata represent the staff of the Pylos excavations, and the major lenders, namely the Ephorate of Antiquities of Messenia (Museums of Chora, Pylos and Kalamata), the National Archaeological Museum, and the University of Cincinnati. They collectively fulfill the major aim of the entire project, to reach out to the broader community of learned readers, expanding far beyond the specific spatial-temporal frame of the exhibition with expertly written and insightful, concise essays that offer a fascinating reconstruction of the world of the LBA elite groups in the region. It must be stated from the outset, that, while aiming at non-expert readers, the volume achieves remarkable balance for giving specialists a considerable number of treats as well.

Τhe book is admirably structured, moving from general introductions to more specialized chapters addressing specific topics, assemblages or sites. Catalogued entries are interspersed in appropriate places enhancing the information in the chapters or sections they follow. Following the appropriate forewords by the Greek Minister of Culture, as well as the directors of the organizing institutions, the notes of acknowledgement and lender institutions, the introduction and editors’ preface and the excellent maps of the LBA Aegean and Messenia, the volume unfolds in five parts. Excellent proportions between academic quality and broader readability are achieved: chapters are invariably succinct, but never too dense and jargon-free, always with well-chosen illustrations superbly reproduced and most of them also accompanied by thematically appropriate and very well written catalogued entries.

The following overview is purposefully brief with few select comments (full titles and authors’ names with page references are given at the end of this review).

Part 1 presents the frame within which Mycenaean Messenia can be studied. Jack Davis contributes two essays on the history of research and a broad, pithy sketch of Middle and LBA Messenia, warming up the readers for the focus on the Minoan element in the formation of the Mycenaean cultural idioms (cf. Davis’ introduction to Part 2). Malcolm Wiener outlines the relative and absolute chronology (the Hittite 1312 bce eclipse being an interesting highlight, pp. 33-34). Eric Cline discusses Aegean-East Mediterranean contacts with some focus on Messenia; he rightly highlights how new excavations have increased the number of non-Aegean imports, as he had anticipated (p.36), even if the overall number is still not impressive. Andreas Vlachopoulos’ well-argued discussion of Minoan links addresses familiar material (e.g. the so-called ‘Ring of Nestor’, reportedly from illicit excavations at Kakovatos, or the ‘mason’s marks’ in the ashlar facade of Peristeria tholos tomb 1), anticipating further discussion a propos the “Griffin Warrior” assemblage (Shari Stocker and Davis in Part 3).

Part 2 discusses mortuary architecture and practices in Mycenaean Messenia and expressions of status and prestige manifested therein. This specific field of action formed a major component of elite identity during the Early Mycenaean period (17^th-15^th centuries bce), including that of elite males: the “warrior-princes” of the volume’s subtitle. This is also reflected in the choice of catalogued finds, as 165 out of 188 come from richly furnished Early Mycenaean burials in the region while the others come from the ‘Palace of Nestor’. After Davis’ introduction, which focuses on recent advances in the restudy of Messenian evidence, Stocker presents an account of old and new discoveries, especially those of Tholoi V I and VII. The part is concluded by invited contributions by well-known experts on specific topics: Nikolas Papadimitriou, Eleni Konstantinidi-Syvridi and Akis Goumas offer a fascinating, illustrated overview of their excellent experimental work reconstructing Mycenaean goldwork techniques, and Anastasiadou’s chapter enables non-experts to situate seals and signet-rings (important components of many Early Mycenaean mortuary assemblages and substantial part of the exhibited/catalogued finds) on the basis of what we know about seal production and use in the LBA Aegean. Catalogued entries of Englianos grave-goods are excellent companions.

Part 3 is devoted to the exhibition’s protagonist, the Griffin Warrior. Unlike the more common shaft graves with multiple successive burials, his is a spectacularly furnished single elite burial. He is buried in a coffin in a built cist tomb (identified as a “shaft grave”, but lacking the ledges to support a roof to isolate the “grave” from the earth-filled “shaft”, as in the Mycenae Grave Circles. Excavators Stocker and Davis take turns presenting all the necessary information, copiously illustrated also by catalogued entries of grave-goods (both published and unpublished) and offer a panoptic view of the riches so far, to which Joan Aruz’s focus on griffin iconography is properly appended. The study of this outstanding assemblage within its proper Aegean setting refreshes scholarship on elite gendered identity and its all-important Minoan component. Following Stocker’s relevant comment, the ivory pyxis lid with a griffin defeated by a lion (no.48, p.109) might suggest that the dead may have been emically viewed rather as a “Lion Warrior”—although this reviewer remains skeptical about the interpretation of the beasts as specific emblems (“leonine Mycenaean conqueror”; “Minoan griffin”).

Part 4 brings the reader back to the realm of the living elite, offering a rich introduction to the history and function of the Epano Englianos ceremonial complex (‘The Palace of Nestor’) that administered perhaps all of Messenia, at least in the period preceding its final fire destruction in the early 12^th century bce. Davis introduces the concept of ‘Nestor’s kingdom’ in literary sources and archaeology, followed by Stocker’s accounts of the site’s discovery and excavations, as well as its architectural history, first outlined through Michael Nelson’s detailed study. Accompanied by catalogued entries of published finds, multiple facets of the site unfold through excellent invited essays by many long-term collaborators of the Pylos excavations: Linear B documents (Dimitri Nakassis), administrative structure (John Bennet), religion (Susan Lupack), wall-paintings (Hariclia Brecoulaki), chronology and feasting practices as inferred from the study of pottery (Salvatore Vitale), perfume production and use (Cynthia Shelmerdine), as well as later Greek Messenian mythological personae (Stamatis Fritzilas).

Although the focus understandably gravitates towards Englianos (Parts 3-4 and 100 out of 188 catalogued entries present evidence from this site), Part 5 shifts attention to eleven other Mycenaean sites in Messenia, some relatively known (Myrsinochori-Routsi, Nichoria-Karpophora, Iklaina, Peristeria, Tragana), but others less so (Volimidia, Koukounara, Vlachopoulo, Psari, Antheia-Ellinika, Daras). A general survey (Fritzilas, Dimosthenis Kosmopoulos, Evangelia Malapani, Maria Kylafi and Maria Tsoulakou), accompanied by a map including these and further sites (fig.67, p.187), is followed by brief essays by Michael Cosmopoulos (Iklaina), Fritzilas (Routsi, Psari), Kosmopoulos (Peristeria), Elena Kountouri (Volimidia, Koukounara, Vlachopoulo), Malapani (Antheia-Ellinika), Tsoulakou (Nichoria, Daras) and Katerina Tzamourani (Tragana). Except for Iklaina (settlement with no finds catalogued here), all other sites are represented through elite (mostly Early Mycenaean) grave-goods paralleling those from Englianos, supporting the commonly accepted reconstruction of Early Mycenaean competing principalities in the region.[3]

However, and although full coverage was not a goal, it is not explained why certain important sites are not featured: Kakovatos is located in ‘Triphylia’, but has obvious links with Messenian sites, manifested in its early tholoi and the occurrence of an owl-shaped gold appliqué from Tholos A, also known from Englianos tholos IV and Peristeria tholos 3 (the latter no.138, p.231) that would justify its inclusion[4]; geographic marginality might explain the absence of the important tholos of Kampos Avias; in west Messenian heartland, Voidokoilia features a remarkable sequence of an early tholos constructed amidst an early Midde Helladic burial tumulus. Both are not on the map of fig.67, p.187 (Kakovatos off the map, Voidokoilia not indicated), but shown on the one in p.19 (the reverse is true for Kampos).

The volume concludes with endnotes, bibliographic references and authors’ biographies, index and credits.

Editing is excellent throughout, with few typos (the only mistakes that may be worth-mentioning here is “Ishtar” instead of the correct “Hathor” referring to the gold pendants nos.17-18 from Englianos tholos VI, p. 52; and “kinship”, apparently intended “kingship” in reference to the institution borrowed from Minoan Crete, p. 90, right column, row 13). All illustrations (not limited to catalogued finds, but comprising also 89 numbered figures and some ten more non-numbered including site photographs, maps, plans, drawings and finds from other Mycenaean sites) are properly distributed and of top quality.

This volume, whose truly beautiful layout and affordable pricing deserve special note, does not merely include well-illustrated good summaries of material covered elsewhere. With brilliant balance (for which editors and invited contributors alike must receive praise), it manages to maintain the attention of specialists throughout. Many of the catalogued finds (from the new Pylos excavations, but from some of the other sites as well) were illustrated and scholarly presented for the first time (e.g. grave-goods from the new Englianos tholoi, Psari tholos 2; the glass-paste pendants from Daras). The texts are essential too: although specialists may find little here that is entirely new or not drawing on detailed publications (mostly by the contributors themselves), the overall synthesis is insightful and inspiring. Such success is owed to the efforts of all contributors, but special gratitude is owed to the four co-editors for building and ‘steering’ a publication capable of engaging those who know, those who wish to know and, just as importantly, those who think they know.

References

Davis, J.L. (with contributions by S.R. Stocker) 2022. A Greek State in Formation: The Origins of Civilization in Mycenaean Pylos, Sather Classical Lectures 75, Oakland, California: University of California Press.

Dickinson, O.T.P.K. 1977. The Origins of Mycenaean Civilisation. Studies In Mediterranean Archaeology 49. Göteborg: Paul Åströms Förlag.

Eder, B. 2011. “Zur historischen Geographie Triphyliens in mykenischer Zeit”, in F. Blakolmer, C. Reinholdt, J. Weilhartner and G. Nightingale (eds.) Österreichische Forschungen zur Ägäischen Bronzezeit 2009: Akten der Tagung vom 6. bis 7. März 2009 am Fachbereich Altertumswissenschaften der Universität Salzburg, Wien: Phoibos, 105-117.

Authors and titles

Introduction (Claire L. Lyons)

Part 1: Mycenaean Messenia in a Mediterranean Context

1. Messenia in Prehistory: Leading the Way (Jack L. Davis)
2. The Mycenaean Era: A Historical Backdrop (Jack L. Davis)
3. Dating Events and Objects in the Aegean Bronze Age (Malcolm H. Wiener)
4. “One Pair of Leather Shoes in the Caphtorite Style”: Aegean Trade with Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Second Millennium BCE (Eric H. Cline)
5. Messenia and Crete (Andreas G. Vlachopoulos).

Part 2: Funerary Architecture and Gifts for the Dead

6. The Dawn of Mycenaean Civilization at Pylos (Jack L. Davis)
7. Venerating the Dead at Pylos: Burial Monuments and Funerary Practices (Sharon R. Stocker)
8. Mycenaean Goldwork: Approaching the People behind the Craft (Nikolas Papadimitriou, Eleni Konstantinidi-Syvridi, Akis Goumas)
9. Seals and Seatings in Mycenaean Greece (Maria Anastasiadou)
10. Catalogue Numbers 1-32 (catalogue entries by Nicolle Budrovich, Jack L. Davis, Katerina Kostanti and Sharon R. Stocker)

Part 3: The Grave of the Griffin Warrior

11. Unearthing the Grave of the Griffin Warrior (Sharon R. Stocker)
12. The Griffin Warrior in Combat (Jack L. Davis)
13. Emblems of Authority (Sharon R. Stocker)
14. Who Was the Griffin Warrior? (Jack L. Davis)
15. The Flight of the Griffin (Joan Aruz)
16. Catalogue Numbers 33-78 (catalogue entries by Jack L. Davis and Sharon R. Stocker)

Part 4: The Palace of Nestor at Pylos

17. Inventing Nestor’s Kingdom (Jack L. Davis)
18. The Search for the Palace of Nestor (Sharon R. Stocker)
19. Pylian Landscapes: The Natural and Built Environment (Sharon R. Stocker)
20. The Linear B Tablets (Dimitri Nakassis)
21. Up, Down, Near, and Far: Social and Political Structures in the Pylos Polity (John Bennet)
22. Religion and Cult Practice (Susan Lupack)
23. Painting the Palace of Nestor: Aegean Legacies, Mycenaean Colors and Iconographies (Hariclia Brecoulaki)
24. Pottery, Feasting, and the Making of Mycenaean Pylos (Salvatore Vitale)
25. The Perfume Industry (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine)
26. The House of Neleus: King Nestor in Myth and History (Stamatis Fritzilas)
27. Catalogue Numbers 79-100 (catalogue entries by Nicolle Budrovich, Jack L. Davis, Katerina Kostanti, Sharon R. Stocker, Katerina Voutsa)

Part 5: The Kingdom of Pylos in the Late Bronze Age

28. Messenia in the Mycenaean Period (Stamatis Fritzilas, Dimosthenis Kosmopoulos, Evangelia Malapani, Maria Kylafi, and Maria Tsoulakou)
29. Myrsinochori-Routsi (Stamatis Fritzilas)
30. Catalogue Numbers 101-107 (catalogue entries by Stamatis Fritzilas, Maria Kylafi, Evangelia Malapani, Kostas Nikolentzos, Maria Tsoulakou)
31. Tragana (Katerina Tzamourani)
32. Catalogue Numbers 108-113 (catalogue entries by Katerina Tzamourani)
33. Volimidia (Elena Kountouri)
34. Catalogue Numbers 114-116 (catalogue entries by Katerina Tzamourani)
35. Koukounara (Elena Kountouri)
36. Catalogue Numbers 117-124 (catalogue entries by Maria Kylafi)
37. Iklaina (Michael B. Cosmopoulos)
38. Vlachopoulo (Elena Kountouri)
39. Catalogue Numbers 125-126 (catalogue entries by Maria Kylafi)
40. Peristeria (Dimosthenis Kosmopoulos)
41. Catalogue Numbers 127-157 (catalogue entries by Dimosthenis Kosmopoulos)
42. Psari (Stamatis Fritzilas)
43. Catalogue Numbers 158-166 (catalogue entries by Stamatis Fritzilas)
44. Antheia-Ellinika (Evangelia Malapani)
45. Catalogue Numbers 167-178 (catalogue entries by Evangelia Malapani)
46. Nichoria-Karpophora (Maria Tsoulakou)
47. Catalogue Numbers 179-186 (catalogue entries by Maria Tsoulakou)
48. Daras (Maria Tsoulakou)
49. Catalogue Numbers 187-188 (catalogue entries by Maria Tsoulakou)

Notes

[1] Davis and Stocker 2022 with references to previous publications based on major survey and excavation projects.

[2] The Greek exhibition is Πρίγκιπες της Πύλου: Θησαυροί της Εποχής του Χαλκού από τη Μεσσηνία (“Princes of Pylos: Bronze Age Treasures of Messenia”).

[3] Dickinson 1977, 91-94.

[4] See also Eder 2011.