I think we have the name of one King from Pylos. There’s a tablet, PY Un 718 and the name e-ka-ra2-wo (so either Ekhelawos or Erkelawos e.g holding or urging the war host)which is thought to be the king because…he matches the profile of the guy listed explicitly as King in…PY Un 2 I think.
A real wanax? Or a mere basileus?
Daivid, if you haven’t already read Chadwick’s Decipherment of Linear B, you owe it to yourself to read it. It’s a classic–much better than any historical novel.
If you’d enjoy reading a historical novel in which a little-known ancient civilization is given life through the sheer imagination of a master of realistic fiction, you should read Flaubert’s Salammbô, which is about a revolt of Greek mercenaries in Carthage and is based on a few sketchy chapters of Polybius.
Yeah he’s the wanax. The guy sacrificing to Poseidon and/or being sacrificed to (or it could be vicarious, or it could be scribal speak, or it could be…etc). The gwa-si-re-e are, as you guys most likely already know, more or less foremen at the head of groups of craftsman. It’s generally supposed that they rose in status after the central bureaucracy crashed.
P.S I second Qimmik’s recommendation of that book and would also add Chadwick’s “The Mycenaeans” as the best introduction even today. Sure it’s outdated in areas but it still is by far and away better than any other general introduction I’ve seen.
I did have a brief look at that after reading Dexter Hoyos’ Truceless war . I had the impression that Flaubert was going for a very sensationalist story potraying Carthage as wallowing in decadence which I didn’t find credible. Was my impression wrong?
That does look interesting. The emergence of a monotheist religion (very) roughly around the time of an almost-monotheist pharaoh (Akhenaten) does seem at the distance of 3000 years to be too much of a coincidence to be unrelated. Didn’t Freud write a book on this? Of course the lack of evidence which is a problem for historians is merely an opportunity for the novelist.
I had the impression that Flaubert was going for a very sensationalist story potraying Carthage as wallowing in decadence which I didn’t find credible. Was my impression wrong?
The sensationalism comes in part from Polybius’ account and in part from Flaubert’s imagination.
Decadence? Wealthy, luxurious, greedy, cruel and indifferent to suffering–but those are normal human qualities.
Having now read it I confirm that it is indeed a page turner. My sincere thanks for the recommendation.
Though societies can degenerate into such, which is what Polybios aims to show, it is not the normal state. As you seem reluctant to deny that Flaubert portrays such a state as normal I think I’m right to avoid him.