DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8755#0102
Knossos Excavations, 1903.
91
marble cross stood in the same position as the central aniconic object of cult
as, elsewhere, the Double Axe or the pillar idol. The character of the images
found with it indeed suggests a curious parallelism with those of the Shrine
of the Double Axes. On the raised base of that shrine, which was found
with the original arrangement intact, the Dove Goddess stood on one side of
the central objects of cult,—there the Sacral Horns, whose sockets held the
handles of the fetish axes,—while on the other side of the same objects a
votary held out a dove towards her. In the present case we have on the
Fig. 62.—Marble Cross from Temple Repository.
one hand a Snake Goddess, on the other a votary holding out a snake.
Where, then, in this case, is the central cult object of aniconic
character that, according to the exact analogy supplied, must have stood
between them ? May we see it in the Marble Cross ?
The parallelism seems so natural that, for illustrative purposes, I have
ventured to group the objects as shown in Fig. 63.1 The fetish Cross is
1 The exposition of the objects is necessarily very incomplete. It was, for instance, impossible
to set up the faience reliefs and inlays that probably decorated the walls.
91
marble cross stood in the same position as the central aniconic object of cult
as, elsewhere, the Double Axe or the pillar idol. The character of the images
found with it indeed suggests a curious parallelism with those of the Shrine
of the Double Axes. On the raised base of that shrine, which was found
with the original arrangement intact, the Dove Goddess stood on one side of
the central objects of cult,—there the Sacral Horns, whose sockets held the
handles of the fetish axes,—while on the other side of the same objects a
votary held out a dove towards her. In the present case we have on the
Fig. 62.—Marble Cross from Temple Repository.
one hand a Snake Goddess, on the other a votary holding out a snake.
Where, then, in this case, is the central cult object of aniconic
character that, according to the exact analogy supplied, must have stood
between them ? May we see it in the Marble Cross ?
The parallelism seems so natural that, for illustrative purposes, I have
ventured to group the objects as shown in Fig. 63.1 The fetish Cross is
1 The exposition of the objects is necessarily very incomplete. It was, for instance, impossible
to set up the faience reliefs and inlays that probably decorated the walls.