DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8944#0024
122
ARTHUR J. EVANS
large roughly oblong blocks,1 and within this enclosure, especially towards
the summit, the ground is strewn with pottery dating from Mycenaean to
Roman times, and including a large number of small cups of pale clay
exactly resembling those which occur in votive deposits of Mycenaean date
in the caves of Dikta and of Ida, also intimately connected with the cult of
the Cretan Zeus. No remains of buildings are visible in this inner area,
which tends to show that the primitive enclosure was the temenos of a
sanctuary, rather than a walled city. On the uppermost platform of rock,
however, are remains of a building constructed with large mortarless blocks
of which the ground-plan of part of two small chambers can be roughly
traced. A little further on the ridge is the small church of Aphendi Kristos,
or the Lord Christ a name which in Crete clings in an especial way to
the ancient sanctuaries of Zeus 2 and marks here in a conspicuous manner
the diverted but abiding sanctity of the spot. Popular tradition, the existing
unit, and the archaeological traces point alike to the fact that there was here
a ' holy sepulchre' of remote antiquity.
Attention will be called below to the scenes on two of the signet
rings from Mycenae which certainly seem to point to a funereal cult of some
heroic or divine personage, whose shield in one case is suspended to
a shr ne beside his pillar image.3 It is possible that the Mycenaean shield
itself, which so often appears as a symbol in the field of gems and signets, at
times represents, like the double axe, the aniconic embodiment of the
divinity or departed hero. The shield borne by the warrior God on
Mycenaean paintings and engraved rings passes naturally to his orgiastic
worshippers, the Curetes or Corybantes of later cult. In the case of their
Italian counterparts the Salii—the orgiastic priesthood of ancient Rome—
the actual form of the Mycenaean shield is preserved in the Ancilia,4 which
were themselves possessors of divine powers of movement and of warning
clangour.5 The first Ancile was 'sky-fallen' like a baetylic stone.
§ 10.—Small Dimensions of the Mycenaean Shrines.
The shrines of such a baetylic form of worship as the Mycenaean are
naturally, small. In some cases we have seen a mere offertory slab, with its
1 The spot was visited l>y Pashley (Travels
in Crete, i. p. 252 seqq.) who gives a sketch of a
part of the outer temenos wall. He also found
the spot locally known as the ' Tomb of Zeus.'
The best account of the circuit wall is that
given by Dr. Antonio Taramelli, ' Ricerche
Archeologiche Cretesi.'p. 70 seqq. {Man. Ant.
vol. ix. 1809), accompanied by plans and illus-
trations. I cannot find, however, in either
writer any mention of the remains of the
small building on the summit.
* See Academy, June 20, 1896, p. 513. The
eastern and western ranges of Dikta, the sites
respectively of the Temple and Cave of Zeus,
are known as the Aphendi Vouno, from
AvSfVTtis XpiiTTcij, or ' Christ the Lord.' A
votive deposit, apparently connected with some
Zeus cult, on a peak of Lasethi is also known
as Aphendi Christos. It is, perhaps, worth
noting in this connexion that at ' Minoan '
Gaza Zeus Krfitagenes was known as Manias,
a form of the Syrian word for ' Lord.'
3 See below, p. 177, 180.
4 This comparison has been independently
made by Mr. Warde Fowler, The Ho/nan
Festivals, p. 350. A similar shield, as Mr.
G. F. Hill points out, is carried by the Juno
of Lanuvium on Roman denarii.
5 Liv. Epit. lxviii.
ARTHUR J. EVANS
large roughly oblong blocks,1 and within this enclosure, especially towards
the summit, the ground is strewn with pottery dating from Mycenaean to
Roman times, and including a large number of small cups of pale clay
exactly resembling those which occur in votive deposits of Mycenaean date
in the caves of Dikta and of Ida, also intimately connected with the cult of
the Cretan Zeus. No remains of buildings are visible in this inner area,
which tends to show that the primitive enclosure was the temenos of a
sanctuary, rather than a walled city. On the uppermost platform of rock,
however, are remains of a building constructed with large mortarless blocks
of which the ground-plan of part of two small chambers can be roughly
traced. A little further on the ridge is the small church of Aphendi Kristos,
or the Lord Christ a name which in Crete clings in an especial way to
the ancient sanctuaries of Zeus 2 and marks here in a conspicuous manner
the diverted but abiding sanctity of the spot. Popular tradition, the existing
unit, and the archaeological traces point alike to the fact that there was here
a ' holy sepulchre' of remote antiquity.
Attention will be called below to the scenes on two of the signet
rings from Mycenae which certainly seem to point to a funereal cult of some
heroic or divine personage, whose shield in one case is suspended to
a shr ne beside his pillar image.3 It is possible that the Mycenaean shield
itself, which so often appears as a symbol in the field of gems and signets, at
times represents, like the double axe, the aniconic embodiment of the
divinity or departed hero. The shield borne by the warrior God on
Mycenaean paintings and engraved rings passes naturally to his orgiastic
worshippers, the Curetes or Corybantes of later cult. In the case of their
Italian counterparts the Salii—the orgiastic priesthood of ancient Rome—
the actual form of the Mycenaean shield is preserved in the Ancilia,4 which
were themselves possessors of divine powers of movement and of warning
clangour.5 The first Ancile was 'sky-fallen' like a baetylic stone.
§ 10.—Small Dimensions of the Mycenaean Shrines.
The shrines of such a baetylic form of worship as the Mycenaean are
naturally, small. In some cases we have seen a mere offertory slab, with its
1 The spot was visited l>y Pashley (Travels
in Crete, i. p. 252 seqq.) who gives a sketch of a
part of the outer temenos wall. He also found
the spot locally known as the ' Tomb of Zeus.'
The best account of the circuit wall is that
given by Dr. Antonio Taramelli, ' Ricerche
Archeologiche Cretesi.'p. 70 seqq. {Man. Ant.
vol. ix. 1809), accompanied by plans and illus-
trations. I cannot find, however, in either
writer any mention of the remains of the
small building on the summit.
* See Academy, June 20, 1896, p. 513. The
eastern and western ranges of Dikta, the sites
respectively of the Temple and Cave of Zeus,
are known as the Aphendi Vouno, from
AvSfVTtis XpiiTTcij, or ' Christ the Lord.' A
votive deposit, apparently connected with some
Zeus cult, on a peak of Lasethi is also known
as Aphendi Christos. It is, perhaps, worth
noting in this connexion that at ' Minoan '
Gaza Zeus Krfitagenes was known as Manias,
a form of the Syrian word for ' Lord.'
3 See below, p. 177, 180.
4 This comparison has been independently
made by Mr. Warde Fowler, The Ho/nan
Festivals, p. 350. A similar shield, as Mr.
G. F. Hill points out, is carried by the Juno
of Lanuvium on Roman denarii.
5 Liv. Epit. lxviii.