DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9804#0085
MIDDLE MINOAN II. PALACE AT PHiESTOS 59
Area at Knossos does not stand in exactly the same
relative position to the West Court as that of Phaestos ;
but its West Court itself, the wall that bounds it on
the side of the Palace, the one-columned portico at its
southern end, and the paved ways that lead to it, are
extraordinarily like these Middle Minoan II. remains at
Phaestos. As it was certain, too, that at Knossos these
buildings were not covered up in the days of the Later
Palace, as they were at Phsestos, but formed an integral
part of its West wing, it seemed probable at one time
that we could date other elements also in this West wing
as we now see it, to these early days. Experiment, how-
ever, has shown that this hypothesis is wrong. Exca-
vations made both under the pavement of the West
Court and under the wall that bounds it on the Palace
side, show fragments of pottery of the next period,
Middle Minoan III.1 The Middle Minoan III. pottery,
too, that was discovered in the Northern Bath 1 does not
prove, as Dr. Mackenzie seems inclined to suggest,3 that
the Bath was built before that period began.
In the main, therefore, the architecture of the Middle
Minoan II. Palace at Knossos has to be inferred from
the contemporary glory of Phaestos. It is from the
singularly rich floor deposits that occur in almost every
quarter of the site that we infer that Knossos was at
the time not inferior to its sister city. Vases now show
the polychrome style predominant, and monochrome
decoration is only used for common ware. Middle
Minoan II. is the period of Kamares ware 1 in its most
highly developed form, and the graceful decorative
designs, egg-shell fabric, and delicate colouring of its
1 B.S.A. x. pp. 14-8, fig. 7, p. 19, xi. pp. 20, 21.
2 Ibid. vii. pp. 60, 61, fig. 18.
3 Ibid. xi. p. 211. He says: "The conclusion is that the
bathroom had ceased to be used at the period to which the
pottery belongs, and that its actual construction went back to
a somewhat earlier era." 4 See p. 24
Area at Knossos does not stand in exactly the same
relative position to the West Court as that of Phaestos ;
but its West Court itself, the wall that bounds it on
the side of the Palace, the one-columned portico at its
southern end, and the paved ways that lead to it, are
extraordinarily like these Middle Minoan II. remains at
Phaestos. As it was certain, too, that at Knossos these
buildings were not covered up in the days of the Later
Palace, as they were at Phsestos, but formed an integral
part of its West wing, it seemed probable at one time
that we could date other elements also in this West wing
as we now see it, to these early days. Experiment, how-
ever, has shown that this hypothesis is wrong. Exca-
vations made both under the pavement of the West
Court and under the wall that bounds it on the Palace
side, show fragments of pottery of the next period,
Middle Minoan III.1 The Middle Minoan III. pottery,
too, that was discovered in the Northern Bath 1 does not
prove, as Dr. Mackenzie seems inclined to suggest,3 that
the Bath was built before that period began.
In the main, therefore, the architecture of the Middle
Minoan II. Palace at Knossos has to be inferred from
the contemporary glory of Phaestos. It is from the
singularly rich floor deposits that occur in almost every
quarter of the site that we infer that Knossos was at
the time not inferior to its sister city. Vases now show
the polychrome style predominant, and monochrome
decoration is only used for common ware. Middle
Minoan II. is the period of Kamares ware 1 in its most
highly developed form, and the graceful decorative
designs, egg-shell fabric, and delicate colouring of its
1 B.S.A. x. pp. 14-8, fig. 7, p. 19, xi. pp. 20, 21.
2 Ibid. vii. pp. 60, 61, fig. 18.
3 Ibid. xi. p. 211. He says: "The conclusion is that the
bathroom had ceased to be used at the period to which the
pottery belongs, and that its actual construction went back to
a somewhat earlier era." 4 See p. 24