Boundaries, doors and walls in the citadel of Mycenae

Abstract

This article explores the concept of boundaries in the ancient world using the material and symbolic boundaries produced by the walls and doors of the citadel of Mycenae during the 14th and 14th centuries BC as a case study. This study aims to identify how mycenaean elites materialized their discourse of power in space, be it in the construction of monumental cyclopean walls, in the creation of symbolic landmarks such as the “lion's gate”, or in the purposeful and strategic arrangement of buildings that lie between the main gate and the palace of the mycenaean king. In order to understand the discourse of power employed by the Mycenaean elites, we will analyze the path through which an individual would need to walk from the access gate to the palace at the top of the citadel and which buildings would be protected and privileged on that path. In addition, we will carry out a brief comparative study between the semiology contained in the “lions' gate” and iconographic materials found in funerary context. From the spatial and iconographic analysis we can conclude that the cyclopean walls and the “lion's gate” in Mycenae acts as monumentalized power frontiers, capable of producing behaviors among residents and visitors, regulating flows and legitimizing the power of the elite, through symbols and buildings connected to religion and ancestors,.