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Engaging characters, twisty narrative. I’m enjoying this, so far.

Very entertaining on several levels. I like the dual timelines between Ruth and her mother. I will admit that sometimes I don’t believe the author gets women as thoroughly as he thinks he does.

Not the fastest read, but as I’ve learned again and again, that’s not a negative trait. There’s a lot of humor in the characters, the plot itself, and the commentary about other cultures that practice math and physics (especially Russian).’ Apparently, some of the Russians can even laugh at themselves. Mind you, this was written before yeltsin stood on the tank.

If I take one single salient detail from Sigrid Deger-jalkotzy’s chapter, “decline, destruction, Aftermath,” it’s the complexity of Mycenae’s conclusion. While Linear B receded into the past, weapon, textile, and ceramic manufacturing seemed to flourish. Also, decentralized polities and social organization benefited from the erasure of palatial culture. The dark ages clearly didn’t fall all at once.

In his chapter, Mycenaean Greece, the Aegean, and Beyond, Christopher Mee looks at clay analysis and textual analysis of letters between monarchs. There give us glimpses of Mycenaean trade, but can never close the book whether Mycenaeans traveled, relocated, or sold their wares overseas. Places like Sardinia, Egypt, and Asia Minor show local manufacture took place, but that doesn’t prove corporeal presence.

Thomas palaima does a fantastic job of showing why ancient religion is difficult for archaeologists to pin down, given the absence of written epics in Mycenaean records and the complexity of correlating words in Linear B texts with deities or practices. If it’s not depicted graphically and there aren’t transactional records, nailing down a votive offering to a specific deity’s temple is nigh impossible.

In his chapter in Mycenaean burial customs, William Cavanagh gives excellent detail on the various types of graves and rites associated with mainland Helladic death practices.

Laura Preston cautions us not to forget or write off Crete during the Mycenaean ascendancy, and given the number of Linear B tablets and what they tell us about administration and commerce, her point is well made.