Kamares ware is a distinctive style of

Minoan pottery The Minoan civilization produced a wide variety of richly decorated Minoan pottery. Its restless sequence of quirky maturing artistic styles reveals something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists in assigning r ...

produced by the Minoans in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. It is recognizable by its light-on-dark decoration, with white, red, and orange abstract motifs painted over a black background. A prestige style that required high level craftsmanship, it is suspected to have been used as elite tableware. The finest pieces are so thin they are known as "eggshell ware". The style first appeared during the Middle Minoan IA period (c. 2100 BCE) and remained an active part of Minoan culture until the Late Minoan IA period (c. 1450 BCE). Though manufactured in Crete, Kamares pottery was traded across the Aegean and eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, and has been found as far away as the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Description

Kamares ware is characterized by its use of light-on-dark decoration. Such pots are typically decorated with combinations of abstract curvilinear designs and stylized plant and marine motifs which are painted in white and of red, orange, and yellow over the black background. Surviving examples include ridged cups, small, round spouted jars, and pithoi. Decorated_cups_Phaistos_archmus_Heraklion

Decorated_cups_Phaistos_archmus_Heraklion

Historical development

Middle Minoan IA

The earliest known Kamares ware pottery was made during the Middle Minoan IA period (c. 2100-1925 BCE). In this era, the style already made use of polychromy. Examples from this period have been found at Mochlos and Vasiliki in eastern Crete, at Patrikies in the Messara Plain, as well as in the West Court of the

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

Middle Minoan IB

During the Middle Minoan IB period (c. 1925-1875 BCE), the Minoans adopted the

potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, ...

. Kamares pots from this period are characterized by increasingly thinner walls, and are using more complex polychrome decorations. Some features suggest that it was designed to appear similar to metalwork. Kamares sherds from roughly this period have been found at El-Lisht in Egypt, near the pyramid of

Amenemhat I :''See Amenemhat (disambiguation), Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.'' Amenemhat I (Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ''Ỉmn-m-ḥꜣt'' meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet I, was a pharaoh of ancient ...

. Amenemhat I belonged to the

Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty period ...

Middle Minoan II

Most of the Middle Minoan II (c. 1875–1750 BCE) examples of Kamares ware are found at the Minoan palaces of

Phaistos Phaistos (, ; Ancient Greek: , , Linear B: ''Pa-i-to''; Linear A: ''Pa-i-to''), also Transliteration, transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south centr ...

, and Malia, showing it was likely a high-prestige ware. These pots are also known as ''eggshell ware'', because of their thinness and delicacy. This period marked the first representations of stylized plants and animals in Kamares pottery, which had previously been limited to abstract motifs.

Middle Minoan III

Middle Minoan (c. 1750–1700 BCE) marks the beginning of Neopalatial Crete, time of change following the destruction and rebuilding of the palaces. While high quality pottery is still being produced in abundance, decoration was no longer a priority. Thus, examples from this era are sometimes known as Post-Kamares. During the Neopalatial period, Minoan influence expanded throughout the southern Aegean and Egypt. As a result of this cultural exchange, Neopalatial Kamares ware has been excavated in Egypt, including both imported examples and locally made imitations.

Gallery

Gallery of pieces from

Heraklion Archaeological Museum The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is a museum located in Heraklion on Crete. It is one of the largest museums in Greece, and the best in the world for Minoan art, as it contains by far the most important and complete collection of artefacts of t ...

. File:Kamares_vases,_Heraklion.jpg, Kamares vases in

, Crete File:Cup_with_Kamares_ware_motif,_Phaistos,_1800-1700_BC,_AMH,_144927.jpg, White and polychrome cup from

, 1800-1700 BC. Heraklion Archaeological Museum File:Krater_Kamares-Stil_02.jpg,

Krater A krater or crater (, ; , ) was a large two-handled type of vase in Pottery of ancient Greece, Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, kraters were placed in ...

from

, 1900-1700 BCE, Heraklion Archaeological Museum File:Fruchtschale_Kamares-Stil_05.jpg, Polychrome dish from Phaistos, Old Palace period (1800-1700 BCE). Heraklion Archaeological Museum File:Small_pithos,_fish_in_a_net,_Phaistos,_1800-1700_BC,_AMH,_144972.jpg, Pithos with fish in a net, Phaistos (1800-1700 BCE). Heraklion Archaeological Museum File:Kamaes_ware,_Phaistos,_1800-1700_BC,_AMH,_144938.jpg, Vessel from Phaistos (1800-1700 BCE). Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete File:Pithos_Kamares-Stil_02.jpg, Pithos with white palm trees on a black background (1700-1650 BCE). Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete File:Kamares_ware,_AMH,_144915.jpg, Kamares pottery, Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete (photo by Zde). File:Minoan_pottery_cups_1800-1700_BC.jpg, Cups (1800-1700 BCE) from the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete

References

External links

{{Minoan civilization Ancient Greek pottery Minoan vase painting Archaeological discoveries in Crete