DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0604
53°
The double axe in relation
Similarly small double axes of bronze (fig. 400)1 were found in-
serted in the stalactite pillars of the famous cave in Mount Dikte
(fig. 401 )2. D. G. Hogarth gives a graphic description of their
discovery:
' By June nth,' he says3, 'we had exhausted the Upper Grot and the Terrace,
and seemed to be at the end of discoveries. I had always intended, however, to
have the talus in the Lower Grot searched before leaving the place, and on the
12th put the men and women, now reduced to thirty in all, with petroleum candles
on to the steep slope below the precipice. Various bronze objects were quickly
brought to light, and some bits of gold appeared in the sieves. Meanwhile a few
Fig. 400.
men were sent to search the various patches of earth, carried down by water and
deposited in hollows in the lowest parts of the cavern, and they found these
singularly productive. Where a thin crust of stalactite had formed over the mould
and pebbles, it always was worth while to break through. While engaged on
this work one of the men observed a bronze knife blade in a vertical slit of a
stalactite pillar beside him, and, searching, soon found more blades and pins.
painted plates of terra cotta found at Ashur in the palace of Ashur-nasir-pal iii (884—
860 B.C.). He justly dismisses the notion that they are ' Phallusformen' (!), but does not
even mention the highly prohable view of their discoverer, that they are double axes.
1 From the Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1899—1900 vi. 109 fig. 40 (size circa 1 : 4).
D. G. Hogarth id. p. 108 f. says : 'Remains of 18 undoubted double axes were recovered,
all found in the Lower Grot, and in almost every case in situ in the stalactite niches.
Two retained their shafts, and many bronze pins, found in the same region, had doubtless
been attached to other axes. Two specimens are of almost pure copper (Nos. 3, 5). The
largest of all the axe heads, a perfect example 280 millimetres long (No. 2), found in a
niche of a small lateral hall near the head of the subterranean pool, shows lines, drawn
with a fine tool, crossing the blades obliquely.' Etc.
2 Infra Append. B Crete. Fig. 401 is reduced from D. G. Hogarth's plan in the
Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1899—1900 vi pi. 8.
3 Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1899—1900 vi. ioof.
The double axe in relation
Similarly small double axes of bronze (fig. 400)1 were found in-
serted in the stalactite pillars of the famous cave in Mount Dikte
(fig. 401 )2. D. G. Hogarth gives a graphic description of their
discovery:
' By June nth,' he says3, 'we had exhausted the Upper Grot and the Terrace,
and seemed to be at the end of discoveries. I had always intended, however, to
have the talus in the Lower Grot searched before leaving the place, and on the
12th put the men and women, now reduced to thirty in all, with petroleum candles
on to the steep slope below the precipice. Various bronze objects were quickly
brought to light, and some bits of gold appeared in the sieves. Meanwhile a few
Fig. 400.
men were sent to search the various patches of earth, carried down by water and
deposited in hollows in the lowest parts of the cavern, and they found these
singularly productive. Where a thin crust of stalactite had formed over the mould
and pebbles, it always was worth while to break through. While engaged on
this work one of the men observed a bronze knife blade in a vertical slit of a
stalactite pillar beside him, and, searching, soon found more blades and pins.
painted plates of terra cotta found at Ashur in the palace of Ashur-nasir-pal iii (884—
860 B.C.). He justly dismisses the notion that they are ' Phallusformen' (!), but does not
even mention the highly prohable view of their discoverer, that they are double axes.
1 From the Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1899—1900 vi. 109 fig. 40 (size circa 1 : 4).
D. G. Hogarth id. p. 108 f. says : 'Remains of 18 undoubted double axes were recovered,
all found in the Lower Grot, and in almost every case in situ in the stalactite niches.
Two retained their shafts, and many bronze pins, found in the same region, had doubtless
been attached to other axes. Two specimens are of almost pure copper (Nos. 3, 5). The
largest of all the axe heads, a perfect example 280 millimetres long (No. 2), found in a
niche of a small lateral hall near the head of the subterranean pool, shows lines, drawn
with a fine tool, crossing the blades obliquely.' Etc.
2 Infra Append. B Crete. Fig. 401 is reduced from D. G. Hogarth's plan in the
Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1899—1900 vi pi. 8.
3 Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1899—1900 vi. ioof.