DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0244
M. M. II: CONSOLIDATION OF KNOSSIAN PALACE 217
RAMP
?
1
'////////„
FORE-HALL OF
INITIATORY AREA rj|
In its West wall there was probably a single doorway, immediately to the
right on entering, corresponding with another of which one jamb exists at
its further end. These two doorways gave access to the Ante-Room of
what is described below as the ' Initiatory Area', and would have been con-
venient respectively for the entrance and exit of votaries making their round.
The Portico itself (see Plan, Fig. 1(52) forms a perfect square, and the
fact that the S., W., and N. lines of this correspond with walls of early Palace
date, as well as the
character of its pave-
ment and column-bases,
point to an original
arrangement of M. M. II
date. At the beginning
of M. M. Ill the back of
Bastion A of the N.
Entrance Passage was
superposed on its earlier
E. boundary wall, and it
is possible that other
features such as the
Southern line of door-
ways may in their existing form belong to that date.
In the latter part of the Third Middle Minoan Period and at the time
when the neighbouring- Lustral Basin was submerged and built over, the main
doorways of the N.W. Entrance were blocked by a massive wall immediately
behind them (see Fig. 1(31).
This N.W. Entrance system cannot be considered without reference to
a remarkable feature of this part of the site, the sunken area, namely, with
its descending flights of steps and columnar balustrades. This is the most
conspicuous example of a class of construction which is of continual recur-
rence in the Minoan Palaces and of which the ' tank ' by the Room of the
Throne at Knossos affords a late example. The striking parallelism
between the latter and the reserved area, in that case provided with water-
pipes and basin, at the back of the Hall of Initiation in the Sanctuary of
Men Askaenos, has already been pointed out.1 There can, as will be shown,
be little doubt that these bath-like sunken areas of the Minoan Palaces
fulfilled a ritual function, and they may perhaps be best described as
' lustral basins '. The large basin of this class, the walled enclosure of
1 See above, pp. 4, 5.
Access to
' Initia-
tory Area'.
Original
Elements,
M. M. II.
Fig. 162. Plan of North-West Portico.
Later
Blocking
of N.W.
Entrance.
Relation
of N.W.
Entrance
to neigh-
bouring
' Lustral
Basin '.
RAMP
?
1
'////////„
FORE-HALL OF
INITIATORY AREA rj|
In its West wall there was probably a single doorway, immediately to the
right on entering, corresponding with another of which one jamb exists at
its further end. These two doorways gave access to the Ante-Room of
what is described below as the ' Initiatory Area', and would have been con-
venient respectively for the entrance and exit of votaries making their round.
The Portico itself (see Plan, Fig. 1(52) forms a perfect square, and the
fact that the S., W., and N. lines of this correspond with walls of early Palace
date, as well as the
character of its pave-
ment and column-bases,
point to an original
arrangement of M. M. II
date. At the beginning
of M. M. Ill the back of
Bastion A of the N.
Entrance Passage was
superposed on its earlier
E. boundary wall, and it
is possible that other
features such as the
Southern line of door-
ways may in their existing form belong to that date.
In the latter part of the Third Middle Minoan Period and at the time
when the neighbouring- Lustral Basin was submerged and built over, the main
doorways of the N.W. Entrance were blocked by a massive wall immediately
behind them (see Fig. 1(31).
This N.W. Entrance system cannot be considered without reference to
a remarkable feature of this part of the site, the sunken area, namely, with
its descending flights of steps and columnar balustrades. This is the most
conspicuous example of a class of construction which is of continual recur-
rence in the Minoan Palaces and of which the ' tank ' by the Room of the
Throne at Knossos affords a late example. The striking parallelism
between the latter and the reserved area, in that case provided with water-
pipes and basin, at the back of the Hall of Initiation in the Sanctuary of
Men Askaenos, has already been pointed out.1 There can, as will be shown,
be little doubt that these bath-like sunken areas of the Minoan Palaces
fulfilled a ritual function, and they may perhaps be best described as
' lustral basins '. The large basin of this class, the walled enclosure of
1 See above, pp. 4, 5.
Access to
' Initia-
tory Area'.
Original
Elements,
M. M. II.
Fig. 162. Plan of North-West Portico.
Later
Blocking
of N.W.
Entrance.
Relation
of N.W.
Entrance
to neigh-
bouring
' Lustral
Basin '.