Middle and Late Bronze Age Metal Tools from the Aegean, Eastern ...

Mediterranean, or conversely that this artistic technology originated in the east and
moved west. 812 “Minoan style” frescoes have turned up at Tell el-Dab`a (Avaris, Egypt),
Tell Kabri (Israel) and Alalakh VII (Tell Atchana, Turkey). 813 The painting technique,
style, color, and themes of these fresco fragments are the same as or similar to those of
Cretan works. 814 For instance, the well-known bull-leaping scene from Tell el-Dab`a
imitates the theme and style of the Knossosian bull leaper. 815 The conventional portrayal
of gender (red skin for men and white for women) in Minoan painting is evident in the
Tell el-Dab`a figures. Other Near Eastern paintings with potential Aegean connections
are found at Qatna (Syria), Malkata and Amarna (Egypt); the cultural associations of
works from Mari and Nuzi (Mesopotamia) to the Aegean are less clear. 816
The precise nature of the Aegean-style paintings in Egypt and Syria-Palestine is
far from understood, and some scholars have been reluctant to attribute the works to
817
Minoan artists despite similarities in motifs and the fresco technique. Yet most
scholars assume that there was some sort of artistic exchange among regions, possibly
enhanced by movement of the artisans themselves. The direction of artistic influence
between the east and west is debated. 818
Brysbaert advocates that the technological
812 This debate is summarized by: Brysbaert 2008, 24, 147-185.
813 Regarding the Tell el-Dab`a frescoes, Hankey 1993 (27) states that they “came from a palace built
towards the end of Dynasty XV (Hyksos), and were destroyed between years 11 and 15 of Ahmose (first
king of Dynasty XVIII). Fragments were scattered over a garden used after the destruction.” For other wall
paintings, see: Niemeier 1995; Cline 1995, 266-270; Niemeier and Niemeier 2000, 792-793; Cline and
Yasur-Landau 2007; Aruz, J. et al. 2008.
814 Hankey 1993 (27-28) notes the similarities with Minoan works: “Subjects [of the eastern Mediterranean
frescoes] include papyrus, feline beasts, trees, flowers, a labyrinth with a border, rocky landscapes, all with
affinities with Cycladic and Minoan paintings.”
815 Bietak, Marinatos, and Palivou 2007.
816 Gates 1984, 75-78; Cline 1995, 270; Feldman 2006, 83-85; Aruz et al. 2008.
817 See Hankey 1993, 28. While discussing the Tell el-Dab`a paintings, Shaw (1997, 502-503) questions
whether the craftsmanship was the work of Minoans: “their [the frescoes] thematic repertoire is thoroughly
Aegean, but in my view their execution, at least in the case of the bull-leaping scenes shows departures
from Minoan representational conventions and style.”
818 Brysbaert 2008, 24ff.
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