DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0130
io4
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Early
filling of
one exca-
vated
under
S. Porch
ofPalace.
Bee-hive
Chamber
and stair-
case cut
out of
rock.
Difficulty
of ex-
plora-
tion.
suggests that some earlier forerunner of the Palace may have existed before
the levelling away of the summit of the 'Tell', to make room for the
construction of its Central Court and Western Section.
The hypogaeum actually excavated had been filled in to support the
foundations of the South Porch of the Palace, which descended into it to
a depth of 3*30 metres, and the filling material itself seems to have been sup-
plied from the results of the levelling process on the hill-top above. Its
ceramic contents belonged intensively to the earliest M. M. I. phase1 and the
character of the sherds corresponded with those found about the foundations
of the Palace, though in this case there was little or no trace of incipient
polychromy. Some Early Minoan fragments and even a few Neolithic also
occurred, but these were a vanishing quantity.
yJThe hypogaeum was executed in the soft rock, here of a ferruginous
tint, and presented a circular plan nearly 100 feet in circumference at its
widest point. The floor itself was about 15 metres below the later surface
level, but it has to be borne in mind that the slope of the hill had been
here cut into to form the terrace on which the South Corridor and adjoining
Porch were set, so that the original level of the surface must have been at
least a metre higher, making- the height of the vault about 16 metres.
The chamber curved gradually over above, so that the whole would
have formed a great bee-hive vault as shown in Fig. 74. Towards the base
the diameter slightly contracted again so that the section must have
been somewhat bottle-shaped. The descent into the interior was effected by
means of a winding staircase tunnelled in the rock, with a low parapet, of
which a portion was preserved, to protect it at the intervals where it was open
at the side. It is obvious, moreover, as shown by Mr. Doll in his Section,
Fig. 74, that these openings, like the course of the staircase itself must,
for the stability of the whole vault have been arched over. These arched
openings would have admitted air and also light when the vault was
illumined. The staircase must have been approached and entered above
by a passage-way or short tunnel like the doorway of a tomb.
Owing to the treacherous nature of the rock and the great depth of the
floor of the hypogaeum, its exploration was the most difficult task in the
whole history of the excavation on the site of Knossos. Excavation from
above, almost directly under the foundations of the South Porch, proved
too dangerous, and in order to approach the base of the chamber a cleft
1 These included numerous pedestalled cups There were also fragments of ' hole-mouthed '
with bands either in matt white on a dark slip pots with ridged decoration in the new ' bar-
or in a dark glaze medium on the clay surface. botine' style.
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Early
filling of
one exca-
vated
under
S. Porch
ofPalace.
Bee-hive
Chamber
and stair-
case cut
out of
rock.
Difficulty
of ex-
plora-
tion.
suggests that some earlier forerunner of the Palace may have existed before
the levelling away of the summit of the 'Tell', to make room for the
construction of its Central Court and Western Section.
The hypogaeum actually excavated had been filled in to support the
foundations of the South Porch of the Palace, which descended into it to
a depth of 3*30 metres, and the filling material itself seems to have been sup-
plied from the results of the levelling process on the hill-top above. Its
ceramic contents belonged intensively to the earliest M. M. I. phase1 and the
character of the sherds corresponded with those found about the foundations
of the Palace, though in this case there was little or no trace of incipient
polychromy. Some Early Minoan fragments and even a few Neolithic also
occurred, but these were a vanishing quantity.
yJThe hypogaeum was executed in the soft rock, here of a ferruginous
tint, and presented a circular plan nearly 100 feet in circumference at its
widest point. The floor itself was about 15 metres below the later surface
level, but it has to be borne in mind that the slope of the hill had been
here cut into to form the terrace on which the South Corridor and adjoining
Porch were set, so that the original level of the surface must have been at
least a metre higher, making- the height of the vault about 16 metres.
The chamber curved gradually over above, so that the whole would
have formed a great bee-hive vault as shown in Fig. 74. Towards the base
the diameter slightly contracted again so that the section must have
been somewhat bottle-shaped. The descent into the interior was effected by
means of a winding staircase tunnelled in the rock, with a low parapet, of
which a portion was preserved, to protect it at the intervals where it was open
at the side. It is obvious, moreover, as shown by Mr. Doll in his Section,
Fig. 74, that these openings, like the course of the staircase itself must,
for the stability of the whole vault have been arched over. These arched
openings would have admitted air and also light when the vault was
illumined. The staircase must have been approached and entered above
by a passage-way or short tunnel like the doorway of a tomb.
Owing to the treacherous nature of the rock and the great depth of the
floor of the hypogaeum, its exploration was the most difficult task in the
whole history of the excavation on the site of Knossos. Excavation from
above, almost directly under the foundations of the South Porch, proved
too dangerous, and in order to approach the base of the chamber a cleft
1 These included numerous pedestalled cups There were also fragments of ' hole-mouthed '
with bands either in matt white on a dark slip pots with ridged decoration in the new ' bar-
or in a dark glaze medium on the clay surface. botine' style.