Obrázková kniha bez slov: ako čítať náboženstvo egejskej doby bronzovej?

Who does not know the famous throne room in Knossos, the so-called "Lily Prince" or the mysterious snake goddess from Crete? The Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations of the Aegean Bronze Age belonged to the most advanced cultures of their time. However, compared to the cultures of the ancient Near East, we know surprisingly little about the inhabitants of the ancient Aegea. There are no texts that would explain the meaning of the images. In fact, we do not know exactly whether it was really a throne room, whether they had princes in Crete or what the character of the goddesses with snakes in their hands was. We have to reconstruct the knowledge about their society and religion like a detective story - from a number of smaller or larger images masterfully captured on frescoes, vessels or seals. The key to their understanding is often a comparison with Egypt and the cultures of the ancient Middle East.

In the lecture, we will look at how researchers dealt with this mystery in the past and what we have learned about these fascinating people and their ideas after more than a hundred years of research. The lecture will show whether it is really possible to read this "picture book without words". You will learn which motifs came to the Aegean from Egypt, Syria or Anatolia, how they changed in the new environment and what they reveal about the gods, ideology and power in the Aegean world. Discover the fascinating story of the paintings that reveal the connected world of the eastern Mediterranean more than 3,000 years ago.

Dr. Phil. Veronika Verešová, who is a graduate of classical archeology at the University of Trnava and Egyptology at the University of Vienna, received her doctorate at the Institute of Classical Archeology of the University of Vienna. She is a member of the board of directors of the Aigyptos Foundation and a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the SAS. It deals primarily with the Aegean Bronze Age, the 2nd Transitional Period and the New Kingdom in Egypt, history and material culture, and intercultural relations in the Eastern Mediterranean of the Bronze Age. Since 2008, she has been a member of the Polish-Slovak mission at Tell el-Retábí.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, March 18 at 5:00 p.m. in the Slovak National Museum - Archaeological Museum in Bratislava, also with tasty Bratislava rolls and fragrant coffee or tea :)

Admission €3, payment by card is possible (new).