DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.805#0126
117
THE HAGIOS ONITPHRIOS DEPOSIT.
of the ' Amorgart Period,' such as are usually found in the prae-Mycenaean
deposits of the Aegean islands, in two particulars. The stone-ware such as
is discovered for instance in the early tombs of Naxos and Amorgos is
generally of white, apparently Parian, marble. The Cretan vessels are of
far more varied materials. The other respect in which they differ from the
kindred Aegean class is that they show a much greater conformity with
certain types of Egyptian u and, possibly too, of Libyan stone vessels.12
Fie. 110.—Piiaestos ; Vakiegated Limestone (I diam.).
Massive pots of serpentine and diorite supported by pedestals of
limestone or baked clay, forming incense altars, appear in Egyptian tombs
from the time of the Fourth Dynasty (Fig. Ill), and several of these dating
from the Fourth to the Sixth Dynasties are preserved in the Gizeh Museum.
They are often provided with perforated horizontal handles, and the rim at
top is generally broad and flat.
A dark stone vessel (Fig. 112) found at Pinies above Elunta, the ancient
Olous, bears, as will be seen by a comparison with Fig. Ill, a very close
resemblance to this archaic Egyptian class. A plainer type (Fig. 113)
without handles was- procured by me at Goulas, where larger vessels formed
of a kind of conglomerate may still be seen beside some of the ancient cisterns
Some of these were noticed by Spratt.13
Another prolific find-spot of this early Cretan stone-ware is Arvi, the
site of the ancient Arbi, on the South-Eastern coast, where there existed an
early cemetery of the same period as the sepulchral deposit of Piiaestos.
Figs. 114,115,116,117, and the clay suspension vase (Fig. 101), were described
as having been found here on either side of the head of a skeleton enclosed
in a rude stone cist. Figs. 118 and 119 are from the same necropolis. Fig.
118 closely resembles an Egyptian alabaster kohl-pot without its 'collar.' In
the case of Figs. 117, 119 both the form of the vessel itself and the knobbed
11 There are however some flat stone vessels
from Amorgos, round in outline with, four
oblong protuberances at the four points of their
circumference, which closely resemble a form
of Egyptian stone 'patera,' often provided with
a spout.
12 Mr. Petrie writes to me from Nagada on
the Upper Nile that he believes to have located
near there the .manufacture of many of the
finer forms of stone vessels found in Egypt in
a settlement of an unknown race, possibly
Libyan, the date of which ho places between
the Sixth and Eleventh Dynasties. Like the
Cretan, these vessels have flat bases.
13 Travels in Crete, vol. i. p. 135.
THE HAGIOS ONITPHRIOS DEPOSIT.
of the ' Amorgart Period,' such as are usually found in the prae-Mycenaean
deposits of the Aegean islands, in two particulars. The stone-ware such as
is discovered for instance in the early tombs of Naxos and Amorgos is
generally of white, apparently Parian, marble. The Cretan vessels are of
far more varied materials. The other respect in which they differ from the
kindred Aegean class is that they show a much greater conformity with
certain types of Egyptian u and, possibly too, of Libyan stone vessels.12
Fie. 110.—Piiaestos ; Vakiegated Limestone (I diam.).
Massive pots of serpentine and diorite supported by pedestals of
limestone or baked clay, forming incense altars, appear in Egyptian tombs
from the time of the Fourth Dynasty (Fig. Ill), and several of these dating
from the Fourth to the Sixth Dynasties are preserved in the Gizeh Museum.
They are often provided with perforated horizontal handles, and the rim at
top is generally broad and flat.
A dark stone vessel (Fig. 112) found at Pinies above Elunta, the ancient
Olous, bears, as will be seen by a comparison with Fig. Ill, a very close
resemblance to this archaic Egyptian class. A plainer type (Fig. 113)
without handles was- procured by me at Goulas, where larger vessels formed
of a kind of conglomerate may still be seen beside some of the ancient cisterns
Some of these were noticed by Spratt.13
Another prolific find-spot of this early Cretan stone-ware is Arvi, the
site of the ancient Arbi, on the South-Eastern coast, where there existed an
early cemetery of the same period as the sepulchral deposit of Piiaestos.
Figs. 114,115,116,117, and the clay suspension vase (Fig. 101), were described
as having been found here on either side of the head of a skeleton enclosed
in a rude stone cist. Figs. 118 and 119 are from the same necropolis. Fig.
118 closely resembles an Egyptian alabaster kohl-pot without its 'collar.' In
the case of Figs. 117, 119 both the form of the vessel itself and the knobbed
11 There are however some flat stone vessels
from Amorgos, round in outline with, four
oblong protuberances at the four points of their
circumference, which closely resemble a form
of Egyptian stone 'patera,' often provided with
a spout.
12 Mr. Petrie writes to me from Nagada on
the Upper Nile that he believes to have located
near there the .manufacture of many of the
finer forms of stone vessels found in Egypt in
a settlement of an unknown race, possibly
Libyan, the date of which ho places between
the Sixth and Eleventh Dynasties. Like the
Cretan, these vessels have flat bases.
13 Travels in Crete, vol. i. p. 135.