Vaphio, Vafio or Vapheio is an ancient site in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, on the right bank of the

Eurotas In Greek mythology, Eurotas (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρώτας) was a king of Laconia. Family Eurotas was the son of King Myles of Laconia and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. The ''Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus), Bibliothe ...

, some south of

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

. It is famous for its ''tholos'' or beehive tomb, excavated in 1889 by Christos Tsountas. This consists of a walled approach, about long, leading to a vaulted chamber some in diameter, in the floor of which the actual grave was cut. The tomb suffered considerable damage in the decades following its excavation. During conservation work in 1962 the walls were restored to a height of about . The main objects found there were transferred to the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens The National Archaeological Museum () in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and ...

, where many remain on display. Many are regarded as

Minoan art Minoan art is the art produced by the Bronze Age Aegean civilization, Aegean Minoan civilization from about 3000 to 1100 BC, though the most extensive and finest survivals come from approximately 2300 to 1400 BC. It forms part of the wider grou ...

, while others are thought to have been made on mainland Greece. The pottery in the tomb dates to around 1500 to 1450 BC, but the gold and

carved gem An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lux ...

seals might have been old when buried. The Cretan one of the famous pair of gold Vaphio Cups perhaps dates to the previous century. Goldbecher von Vafio

Objects found

The objects include a large number of

seals and

amethyst Amethyst is a Violet (color), violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek from - , "not" and (Ancient Greek) / (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from Alcohol into ...

beads, together with articles in gold, silver,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

and

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

. Many of the seals and rings found in the ''tholos'' have such strong affinities in style and subject matter with contemporary

Minoan seals Minoan seals are impression seals in the form of carved gemstones and similar pieces in metal, ivory and other materials produced in the Minoan civilization. They are an important part of Minoan art, and have been found in quantity at specific s ...

that archaeologists find it impossible to determine whether they were locally made or imported from

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 ...

Sinclair Hood Martin Sinclair Frankland Hood, (31 January 1917 – 18 January 2021), generally known as Sinclair Hood, was a British archaeologist and academic. He was Director of the British School at Athens from 1954 to 1962, and led the excavations at Kn ...

believed that at this date "it was broadly speaking possible to classify the finer seals as being of Cretan, the more crudely engraved of mainland manufacture", but that "this criterion no longer applies after the mainland conquest of Crete c. 1450". Vaphio is the largest find in the Aegean of Mycenaen and

(as opposed to "sealings" - impressions on clay). Like

Grave Circle A Grave Circle A is a 16th-century BC royal cemetery situated to the south of the Lion Gate, the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae in southern Greece. This burial complex was initially constructed outside the walls of Mycenae and ...

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...

, the group has generated much discussion as to the origin of many pieces. The 43 seals in the tomb include a variety of fine stones, and gold, and several have parallels in Cretan finds. The princely figure buried there seems to have worn them on his wrists, like a modern

charm bracelet A charm bracelet is a type of bracelet which carries personal jewelled ornaments or "charms", such as decorative pendants or wikt:trinket, trinkets. The decorative charms usually carry personal or sentimental attachment by the owner. History Th ...

The gold cups

By far the finest of the

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

are a pair of golden cups decorated with scenes in relief, showing two different methods of capturing bulls, perhaps for the

bull-leaping Bull-leaping (, ) is a term for various types of non-violent bull fighting. Some are based on an ancient ritual from the Minoan civilization involving an acrobat leaping over the back of a charging bull (or cow). As a sport it survives in Spai ...

activities practised by the

Minoan civilization The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan palaces at K ...

, or for sacrifice. On one, with three scenes, a cow is used to lure a bull; they mate, and a rear leg is then roped; this is sometimes called the "Peaceful Cup" or the "Quiet Cup". In the other, the "Violent Cup", bulls are stampeded into nets, although one seems to escape, shoving catchers aside. The so-called "Violent Cup", showing netting of bulls, bears a remarkable resemblance to the description of the beginning of the ritual of consecration for the laws of

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

described in Plato's dialogue ''

Critias Critias (; , ''Kritias''; – 403 BC) was an ancient Athenian poet, philosopher and political leader. He is known today for being a student of Socrates, a writer of some regard, and for becoming the leader of the Thirty Tyrants, who ruled Athens ...

'', where bulls are captured for sacrifice, using no iron tools or weapons. These "form perhaps the most perfect works of Mycenaean or Minoan art which have survived", according to Marcus Niebuhr Tod.

Sir Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...

observed that even on such evolved works "the men are insignificant compared to the stupendous bulls". It seems likely that these Vaphio Cups do not represent a local art but that at least one was imported from Crete, which at that early period was far ahead of mainland Greece in artistic development. As further support for the connection to Crete, C. Michael Hogan notes that a charging bull painting is evocative of an image extant at the Palace of Knossos on Crete. It had long been recognised that the cups were probably not by the same artist, and had stylistic differences. Ellen Davis suggested that at least one of the cups was produced in mainland Greece. Davis illustrates both the compositional and stylistic differences between the cups, demonstrating that one appears to be Minoan and the other Mycenaean. Hood agreed, and this is now the usual view. There is a difference in quality, the Cretan "seduction" cup being finer, and in the treatment of the tops and bottoms of the scenes.Hood, 166-167 Rather confusingly, "Vapheio cup" is now used as a term for the shape of the gold cups in Aegean archaeology, which is found in pottery as well as metalwork.

Notes

References

* * * * * Hood, Sinclair, ''The Arts in Prehistoric Greece'', 1978, Penguin (Penguin/Yale History of Art), * * {{coord, 37, 01, 20, N, 22, 27, 39, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 15th century BC 1889 archaeological discoveries Laconia Minoan art Mycenaean tholos tombs Mycenaean sites in the Peloponnese (region) Individual drinking vessels