Tracing 'Esoteric Knowledge' in Early Iron Age Euboea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The article aims to explore the significance of hidden or esoteric knowledge on the island of Euboea in the Protogeometric period (c. 1000-900 BC). This knowledge is derived from the metaphysical sphere but is in pre-industrial societies also accessible through long-distance travels. In these societies esoteric knowledge is one of the crucial factors for the constitution and maintenance of the elite's power and prestige. Tangible evidences for far ranging contacts are particularly imported materials and foreign artifacts which are laden with a religious-magic aura. As can be demonstrated on basis of Homer's Iliad and selected archaeological sources, esoteric knowledge seems to have played indeed a crucial role in the Early Iron Age communities. Obviously, the presence of foreign goods that belong into a magical sphere such as seals and amulets but also differing burial customs were important for the self-portrayal and power-legitimation of the elite. Even though other motives such as trade and diplomacy were certainly of high significance as motives for people to engage in the emerging communication network across the Mediterranean, the pursuit for gaining knowledge of any kind should, however, not be underestimated.

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