Chapter 46 - Other Relief Arts

Summary

With the exception of the simplest jewellery, the decline in precious metal objects in both tombs and palaces stands out in relation both to the preceding tradition and to the gold riches found at contemporary Near Eastern sites: for example, the royal tomb of Qatna on the Orontes, or the treasures of Tell el-Ayyul in the Levant. On Cyprus, a piece such as the famous falcon sceptre with inlaid decoration from Kourion could hardly be Mycenaean: neither the object itself, nor the falcon symbolism, nor the use of glass in various colours have Aegean parallels (E. Goring, in Morris 1995, 103–10). The strikingly beautiful gold pomegranate pendant from Enkomi, often considered to be Mycenaean, is probably also of Cypriot origin. However, the figure-of-eight shields on a necklace from Enkomi do show Mycenaean influence (Higgins 1981, figs. 217–18).