Egyptian Kraters

During the Late Bronze Age of the Near East, major civilizations like Egypt, Hatti, and Assyria engaged with each other politically and economically. These interactions have been captured through a group of correspondence called the Amarna Letters. Found in the ancient city Akhetaten, the Amarna Letters feature direct contact between Pharaoh Akhenaten and other leaders. According to archeologists, Alashiya, a copper rich civilization found in the letters, likely refers to an elite urban center in Cyprus (Priscila). At the time, Cyprus, divided into multiple elite sites, heavily imported exotic artifacts by exporting the resources procured by other secondary and tertiary sites. The material evidence of the island in addition to the correspondence
The average Cypriot individual did not have the education or knowledge to understand the messages behind foreign mycenaean art; consequently, this new form appealed to the elite due to its innate restrictive access. Containing references to the greek palaces, the imagery of the kraters linked the elites to the Mediterranean aristocratic lifestyle (Steel 290-291). Specifically, the kraters contained the image of the chariot, a fundamental symbol of the elite during the Late Bronze Age. The chariot represented hunting and warfare, but only the wealthiest could afford the horses required to pull it and the leisure time to pursue hunting; as a result, it inspired the chariot pictorial kraters found throughout elite burials (Steel 291). The elites of Cyprus not only sought to acquire these goods but they also desired to increase their rarity by lowering circulation. By placing the greek pictorial kraters in funerary contexts, they revered the dead and also removed the pottery from general circulation (Steel 293). Consequently, Greek ceramics remained in high value, and the elite maintained their status and
As witnessed in the Amarna Letters, the King of Alashiya traded resources like copper and lumber to Egypt in exchange for luxurious foreign materials like silver. Mimicking royalty, the elites of Cyprus participated in a similar exchange of copper for foreign goods. One such good, unlike anything else found on Cyprus, was the the greek pictorial krater. The artistic pictures and symbolic messages served as barriers to understanding the work. As a result, only the elite and educated could understand the different motifs, so the ceramics, displaying their prestige, served as markers for aristocracy. Elites from across the mediterranean participated in this global exchange to further increase their wealth and superiority, but the restricted access to this network left the lower class with limited ability to acquire luxurious goods. Nevertheless, the commerce of the elite significantly impacted the material culture of