The stereotype about the Homeric Heroes is about well armoured Warriors with swords and spears fighting in duels or primitive phalanxes/loose formations. Some of them were exceptional archers using composite bows (eg. Pandaros, Odysseus). Αrchaeological findings among Egyptians, Mitannians, Caananites, Hittites, Summerians present us a large variety of "exotic" weapons like periform maces, disc maces, sickle swords, throwing sticks, heavy naval spears, etc.
The following is a short summary of the study found in the following
page. It will brief on details and insight about four experimental reconstructions of Mediterranean Bronze age
exotic weapons and three
panoplies (armour) that KORYVANTES Association has worked on since 2011, as well as provide a brief on experiences from testing them as part of the bronze age Warrior armour system(s).
Axes - axini
Mycenaeans were using types of
crescent axes,
piercing axes but also the so called
epsilon axe, which is a probably an evolution of the Egyptian
duck-bill axe. Minoan axes were typically
double blade axes, while there are strong arguments that those axes were ceremonial/votive or associated with female ritual figures. Mycenaeans and Minoans also have used decorated
single bladed axes, as documented by archaeological findings from Crete to North Europe. Another interesting axe design comes from Hittites, as depicted on the inner side of the
King's gate at Hattusa. The shape of the axe reminds double warthog teeth, thus we refer to it as
warthog axe. Usage of
battle axes (both one-handed and two-handed) is a necessity for the period Warriors as effective plate and scale armour had been developed and used (i.e. Dendra Plate Armour, Thebes-Arsenal armour, Hittite scale armour, etc) - similar weapons are used to defeat 15
th century West European medieval knights armour, as well as used by /against Byzantine
Catafracts and sailors.
It is a fact though that Homer describes briefly some unusual (and less-noble) weapons, like axes clubs (Iliad 7.138) and aksini (Iliad 15.711). War clubs maces were typical weapons of the Bronze era. Homer describes it as great bar clubbed of iron (Iliad 7.138). Findings of spherical or periphorm maces document their usage in all armies of the era (Egypt, Hittite Kingdom, North Europe, Mycenaeans, etc). Various materials were used to build war maces (iron, bronze, stone), depending of the social status and financials of the Warrior. Some archaeological findings though (Agia Triada near Phaistos/Crete) present us some exceptional examples of mallet war maces.
Bronze Age Mycenaean technology was capable of producing highly effective plate and scale armours for the Warriors in massive numbers, as Mycenaean and Minoan logistics documents reveal. It is a safe guess to assume that Kanellopoulos Museum artifact was a weapon with the necessary shape and mass to deliver effective crushing blows and perforate the composite panoplies of the era.
Navmaho xisto (?) - heavy naval spear / boarding pick
Homer refers to
navmaha xista (ναύμαχα ξυστά) - boarding picks (Iliad. Ο. 388 - 389, 676 - 678), as special weapons of Achaeans for naval warfare. Our inspiration for this type of weapons was an image from the exceptional site of
Andrea Salimbeti. The peculiar
bronze double-headed blade is dated around 16th Century BC found at
Agios Onoufrios near
Phaistos, Crete. The shape of the artifact loosely reminds an agricultural tool called
δικράνι -
dikrani, some refer to the artifact with this term.
Officially this artifact has been interpreted as a fish-spear. This may have been used in conjunction with a net, or on its own from an open boat. We assume that was used like a harpoon to kill captured large fishes (swordfish) or sea mammals (seals, whales, dophins) - the heavyweight spearhead fit perfectly in this scenario (vertical hit from boat decks downwards to sea level), multiplying the forces and delivering devastating power to penetrate the thick skin of the pray. Also the shape of the spearhead seem to be ideal for the role, though we conducted no tests for this.
Another interesting interpretation for this artifact is that is a social or religious symbol, as the shape is similar to the most characteristic
Minoan religious symbol, the horns of the "sacred bull"
For the full study, please refer to the the following page.
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