THE PYLIAN BASILEIS ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF THE JN SERIES

Abstract

The activities of the basileis, who appear in Homer’s poems as tribal leaders, are associated with the organizing of handicraft production in the texts of linear B. Since the position of basileus, which appears before us for the first time in the Pylian and Knossos texts, continues to exist in the polis period, the study of the functions of the Achaean basileis will not only expand and deepen our knowledge of this position in the Mycenaean kingdoms of the second millennium, but will also allow us to reveal the transformational processes that this office underwent after the collapse of the palatial states of Greece and during the emergence of classical polis civilization. This article examines the Pylian texts of the Jn series, which record the basileis’ fulfillment of the function of managing (overseeing) the work of the smiths. The work is based on the so called combinatorial method, which provides in-depth study of the internal structure of texts as a fundamental stage of penetration into their content. Applying this method, the author recognizes four distinct sections in the document Jn 431: apekean smiths who have tarasija; apekean smiths, who do not have tarasija; apekean smiths of Potnia, who have tarasija; apekean smiths of Potnia, who do not have tarasija. This division allows us to conclude that the basileus Apiqota only supervises the work of the apekean smiths who have tarasija, and is not associated with the apekean smiths who do not have tarasija. Analasing the role played by the basileis in the Jn series in general and the functions that the basileus Apiqota performs in the text of Jn 431 in particular, and also based on the fact that the basis of basileis’ activity was concentrated in the qasirewija headed by them, the author concludes that the basileis were not in any way substantially or organically connected with the smiths, and the function of controlling their work was imposed on the basileis by the palace in certain individual cases (Jn 431, 691, 845) and played a secondary role in their activities.