Much and tasteful things are said about shields in the Iliad. Just a description of the shield of Achilles is worth something. But we must not forget that the Trojan War was somewhere in the interval 1250 - 1100. But the whole era of the Minoan time, the Cretan-Mycenaean culture, the Achaean period and the Aegean civilization (in fact, they are all the same!) Both began earlier and ended somewhat later than this time. Therefore, the story of the most common round shields around the world should begin with the fact that such round shields in the Aegean region began to be used around 1300 BC.
Mycenaean dagger with a hunting scene. Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Moreover, all-metal (bronze) shields of this time are known from finds in Central and Northern Europe, but not in Hellas and Asia Minor. But since well-preserved round bronze shields are found there, their use is considered completely possible by the warriors of the Achaean world.
A figurine of a god or warrior from Enkomi, Cyprus (circa 1200 BC). Museum in Nicosia.
Some of the gold plaques, buttons and terracotta ornaments from the royal mine graves at Mycenae dated 1500 BC. were interpreted by Heinrich Schliemann as miniature shields. His opinion is supported by the find of a large wooden object (which was assembled from many fragments) in grave no. 5 at Mycenae (about 1500 BC), as it is almost certainly part of a shield. In the center of the surviving part, there is a round hole, which was used to attach the handle, which was covered from the outside by a metal umbo.
Aegean world map.
There is a fragment of a fresco with a hunting scene from Pylos (circa 1300 BC), which also shows a round shield. Round shields made of several layers of leather are also described in the Iliad. There is a brass figurine, "the figure from Enkomi", depicting a warrior with a spear and a round shield. The warriors of the "peoples of the sea", depicted on the reliefs of the temple of Ramses II in Medinet Abu, are also armed with round shields.
But it was in this part of the world that a completely unusual in shape so-called "proto-Dipylonian" shield appeared, which looked like a huge convex figure of eight. These shields had a vertical wooden edge and a base, most likely woven from a vine and covered with a bovine hide.
Dipylon leather shield. Reconstruction. At the beginning of the VIII century. BC. In Greece, there were two main types of shields: oval, with recesses on both sides - this type is usually called Dipylonian, after the name of the cemetery in Athens, where many images of such shields were found, and round, with a handle located in the center. The Dipylon shield is almost certainly directly derived from the figure-eight Mycenaean shields.
The rods during weaving could be passed through the holes in this wooden frame, although this is nothing more than a hypothesis. In this case, the strength characteristics of such a shield increased even more, and it could have been covered with more than one skin, but had a cover made of several tanned and interconnected skins. In this case, the strength of such a shield could well correspond to the strength of the shields of the Kaffir-Zulu of the 19th century, which were made from the skin of a rhinoceros and hippos and withstood the blow of a clawed lion's paw!
Shield on a fresco from the palace at Knossos (circa 1500 - 1350 BC)
There are plenty of images of these shields. These are frescoes from the palace in Knossos, and Minoan vases and even figurines of lion hunters on the blade of a magnificent bronze dagger from the archaeological museum in Athens. This blade, by the way, depicts shields of two types: "eight-shaped" and rectangular with a semicircular ledge at the top.
Such a shield could be reinforced with metal fittings along the edges and even covered with a metal sheet on top. It is interesting that in the Iliad, too, the main material for the shields of the Achaeans and Trojans is dressed bovine skins, reinforced with metal elements. There are images of rectangular shields clearly covered with the skin of a bull six outward and in the famous frescoes from Akrotiri of Santorini Island.
A lion hunt involving an archer and a spearman with an eight-shaped shield. Seal from Kudonia, 16th century BC.
A fresco from the so-called "western house", from Akrotiri from the island of Santorini. On the fresco in its upper part, warriors in helmets made of boar's tusks with large, human-sized rectangular shields covered with multi-colored bull skins are clearly visible. Such a shield was supposed to serve as an excellent protection for a warrior, but its presence speaks volumes. It makes no sense for one soldier to have such a shield! Only a multitude of warriors with such shields, lined up in a phalanx, make sense on the battlefield. This means that the phalanx was already known then. By the way, the long spears in the hands of the soldiers confirm this hypothesis. By the way, the drawing itself is very understandable, although it was drawn by an artist who lived from us in time immemorial. Warriors defend the city, women living in it and shepherds, driving herds into the city. At sea we see a fleet and divers engaged in some important business.
Ajax with his shield. Modern renovation.
Simple shields with a hairy hide could be greatly improved. For example, by connecting several skins together. The shield of Ajax Telamonides was just such, that is, the "seven-skinned" and still covered with a bronze leaf. It is believed that such a large shield would be too heavy. It is known that the average density of bronze is 8300 kg / m3. Thus, with a sheet size on such a board from 1.65 m to 1 m, a width of about 70 cm and a thickness of 0.3 mm, this will give us a weight of about 4 kg. The total weight of the seven bovine skins is 6 kg plus 4 kg of the bronze plate, that is, the total weight of the shield will be about 10 kg. It’s hard, but perhaps, moreover, the Iliad emphasizes that this shield was heavy for Ajax himself.
The Iliad also describes the shield of Achilles, made by the god Hephaestus, and for the sake of beauty, he made many images on it. The famous English scientist Peter Connolly and the Italian historian Raffaele D'Amato tried to reconstruct the scenes depicted on this shield. A lot of work was done, since there were 78 scenes in total on Achilles's shield, so its volume can be imagined!
For maximum reliability of the image and copying the characteristic manner of that time, images from frescoes were used, as well as various artifacts. For example, hunting dogs - a fresco from Tiryns of the 13th century. BC NS.; Achaean woman - fresco of Tiryns of the 13th century. BC NS.; women in a chariot - a fresco of Tiryns from the 13th century. BC NS.; priestesses with a temple fresco from Mycenae of the XIII century. BC NS. - and so on.
Reconstruction of the shield of Achilles.
Based on the description in the Iliad, Hector's shield may well be imagined as an "eight-shaped" (proto-Dipylonian type) of several layers of bull skin.
