Storiascopio · Era 4 of 12 · primary year 4
The gold mask of Mycenae
about 1550 BC · Mycenae, Peloponnese (Greece)
In short
In 1876 the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann dug up some royal tombs inside the walls of Mycenae and found a gold mask lying on a dead man's face. Schliemann was convinced it was a portrait of Agamemnon, the king in the Iliad. Today we know the mask is about three centuries older than the Trojan War told by Homer. But the name has stuck, and the mask can be admired in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Why it matters It shows how much gold and power the first Greek kings of the Bronze Age had.
Source: National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Mycenaean gallery
Where we are in the era “Sea civilisations”
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about 2000 BCEvent 6 of 25about 500 BC
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/the-gold-mask-of-mycenae/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class