DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0537
§ 25. M. M. Ill : (K) The Snake Goddess and Relics of Her Shrine.
Contents of West Temple Repository—inscribed tablets, seal-impressions ;
Bone and ivory relics ; Sacrificial element—Libation tables ; Faience relics
from Eastern Repository ; Votive bowls and ewer ; Rose-leaf Chalice ; Fruits
and flowers ; The Snake Goddess ; Her Votary or Double—fashionable dress ;
Lioness crest of Votary ; Lions, concomitants of Goddess; Votive robes and
girdles of faience; Priestesses as Snake Charmers; Survival of Cult of
Snake Goddess—Chryselephantine figure from Knossos ; Berlin bronze figure
with triple coil of snakes—Cretan, L. M. I; Later shrines at Gournia and
Prinias; Snakes emblem of Chthonic divinity ; Snake as domestic genius ;
Wazet, Snake Goddess of Western Delta ; Her papyrus symbol—adopted in
Crete; Her Uraeus suggests serpent crest of Minoan Goddess; Faience reliefs
of Cow and Calf—reflect Cult of I sis and Hathor—Parallel group of Goat
and Kids ; Cruciform star symbols of Hathoric Cow, adopted by Minoan
Cult; Cross, primitive pictograph of Star ; Cruciform symbols on Sealings
from W. Repository—Cross as sole type; Cruciform inlay and faience;
Marble Cross of Orthodox shape from Repository; Painted sea shells —
pebbles on floors of Minoan Shrines ; Flying fish panel and moulded marine
subjects in clay ; Compared with Fish Frescoes of Knossos and Phylakopi.
While the more Easterly of the two Temple Repositories contained Contents
the most detailed evidence as to the character and attributes of the Minoan Reposi-
Goddess to whose Treasury they belonged, the Western Cist produced tory"
a variety of objects connected with her worship, including a symbolic marble
cross of primary interest, to be described below. The contents of the two
Repositories, indeed, to a certain extent overlapped one another, and though
the beautiful faience figurines and reliefs that form the most attractive
element of these discoveries were almost exclusively found in the Eastern
Cist, by a curious chance, the upper part of the figure of the Snake Goddess
itself occurred in the other recipient.
In addition to the remains of the Draught-board, the bronze handles
and clamp of small chests and quantities of gold-foil that had served as
Contents of West Temple Repository—inscribed tablets, seal-impressions ;
Bone and ivory relics ; Sacrificial element—Libation tables ; Faience relics
from Eastern Repository ; Votive bowls and ewer ; Rose-leaf Chalice ; Fruits
and flowers ; The Snake Goddess ; Her Votary or Double—fashionable dress ;
Lioness crest of Votary ; Lions, concomitants of Goddess; Votive robes and
girdles of faience; Priestesses as Snake Charmers; Survival of Cult of
Snake Goddess—Chryselephantine figure from Knossos ; Berlin bronze figure
with triple coil of snakes—Cretan, L. M. I; Later shrines at Gournia and
Prinias; Snakes emblem of Chthonic divinity ; Snake as domestic genius ;
Wazet, Snake Goddess of Western Delta ; Her papyrus symbol—adopted in
Crete; Her Uraeus suggests serpent crest of Minoan Goddess; Faience reliefs
of Cow and Calf—reflect Cult of I sis and Hathor—Parallel group of Goat
and Kids ; Cruciform star symbols of Hathoric Cow, adopted by Minoan
Cult; Cross, primitive pictograph of Star ; Cruciform symbols on Sealings
from W. Repository—Cross as sole type; Cruciform inlay and faience;
Marble Cross of Orthodox shape from Repository; Painted sea shells —
pebbles on floors of Minoan Shrines ; Flying fish panel and moulded marine
subjects in clay ; Compared with Fish Frescoes of Knossos and Phylakopi.
While the more Easterly of the two Temple Repositories contained Contents
the most detailed evidence as to the character and attributes of the Minoan Reposi-
Goddess to whose Treasury they belonged, the Western Cist produced tory"
a variety of objects connected with her worship, including a symbolic marble
cross of primary interest, to be described below. The contents of the two
Repositories, indeed, to a certain extent overlapped one another, and though
the beautiful faience figurines and reliefs that form the most attractive
element of these discoveries were almost exclusively found in the Eastern
Cist, by a curious chance, the upper part of the figure of the Snake Goddess
itself occurred in the other recipient.
In addition to the remains of the Draught-board, the bronze handles
and clamp of small chests and quantities of gold-foil that had served as