Speaking of the ruling class, the master's thesis I read this morning about the #BronzeAgeCollapse was interesting, but far from complete. The author (Paul Golightly) is limited by older published studies (the paper is from 2014), and does include a reference to Eric Cline's "The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean" (from 2010), but does not have the depth and breadth of Cline's 1177 BC works cited.

I did find this quote, which I thought was relevant to my posts from yesterday:

"The Mycenaean Age was ruled by wa-na-ka from palaces that were spread across
Greece. Wa-na-ka is the Mycenaean word for #king or leader. With the fall of the Mycenaeans many things disappeared. Among these are luxury items such as gold, silver, ivory, and monumental stone architecture. The wa-na-ka and palaces controlled many aspects of Greek life
and, in many ways, without them one would know very little about the Mycenaeans. It was for the wa-na-ka that art and writing were used and after there were no more wa-na-ka the need an use of these disappeared. One of the most important things that defines a civilization and gives clues to how a people lived is their writing. In the case of the Mycenaeans it was the writing of
Linear B.6 As far as we know Linear B was written only by palace scribes for official business. When the wa-na-ka and the ruling class disappeared, killed in wars and fleeing to other parts of the world, one sees that writing completely disappeared. This proves that the illiteracy in Mycenaean Greece was prevalent. Only the palace and the scribes were able to read or write and the peasants were not able to do so.

"The wa-na-ka and ruling class also controlled luxury items in Mycenaean Greece and the peasants had no need for these items. So, when the wa-na-ka went by the wayside the luxury goods and art disappeared as well. Before the fall there were many examples of gold, silver, and fine art. After this time there is no evidence of these items, almost no graves with gold, gems, or objects of fine craftsmanship. It is assumed that when the wa-na-ka and all types of luxury
goods disappeared, the people who made these luxury goods disappeared. The population was severely depleted after the fall of the palaces.

"It was not only luxury items that were controlled by the wa-na-ka and palaces; they also controlled the economy and most of the excess food that was produced in the area. In fact, the palaces controlled a large portion of the Mycenaean Greek economy; both food and other items went through the palaces, as attested by the tablets found in storage places."

- Golightly, The Light of Dark-Age Athens: factors in the Surival of Athens After the Fall of Mycenaean Civilization, pages 8-9.

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799552/

#BronzeAgeCollapse #GreekDarkAges #SystemsCollapse #NoKings #NoRules