DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0250
M. M. II: CONSOLIDATION OF KNOSSIAN PALACE 221
is in each case separately rendered by a kind of architectural shorthand.
This trinity of baetylic pillars (which has many parallels in Semitic cult)
itself recalls the triple arrangement seen in the case of the Temple Fresco
at Knossos and of several Late Minoan and Mycenaean shrines. The triple
gold shrines of Mycenae are also coupled with seated doves.
The seated birds, as already observed, symbolize in this and other cases Birds as
the descent of the divinity into the possessed object. At times, as in of
. . Divine
the above instances, it is the baetylic pillar or the cell that enshrines it. The Posses-
celebrated scene on the sarcophagus of Hagia Triada 1 shows raven-like birds lon"
brought down by ritual strains and libations on to the sacred Double Axes,
which are thus ' charged ' as it were with the divinity. The doves on the
gold chalice from Mycenae and of ' Nestor's Cup ' repeat the same idea.
But it was not only the cult object itself that could be thus sanctified by the Asso-
descending emblem of spiritual indwelling. In the case of the gold plates with
from the Third Shaft Grave at Mycenae the doves are seen not only perched G°ddess
on the Shrine but on the head and fluttering from the shoulders of a nude Priestess,
female personage (Fig. 169).2 So too the central clay image from the late
'Shrine of the Double Axes' (L. M. 111$) at Knossos3 shows the dove
settled on her head. In these cases we have either images of the Dove
Goddess herself, reinforced by what may have been her older zoomorphic form,
or of a priestess, deified by the descent of the dove spirit.4
The extent to which primitive Minoan religious conceptions were Alighting
familiar to the Semitic mind is here again illustrated by the striking parallel Baptism
of the baptism in Jordan and the picture drawn by the Evangelists of the mJordan-
Holy Spirit ' descending in bodily shape like a dove' and ' lighting on ' Jesus.5
What has to be borne in mind in all these connexions is that it is not only the
inanimate or aniconic object, such as the pillar or the sacred weapon, that may
become, through due ritual, the temporary dwelling-place of the divinity, but
that the spiritual Being may enter into the actual worshipper or votary in
1 See below, p. 440 and Fig. 317. shape. Another faience figure from the
2 Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations, Temple Repository shows the animal form
pp. 198, 199, Figs. 181, 183. Schuchhardt of her divinity on her head, in the shape of
assigns the gold shrine to Grave III together a seated lioness. It may be an actual votary
with the female figure. Schliemann, Mycenae, or priestess, whose ' possession' is thus indi-
p. 267, had included the ' temple ' in Grave IV, cated. In other cases the lions or lionesses
while attributing the figure to Grave III. rest their forepaws against the divine or deified
3 Knossos, Report, 1902, p. 98 and Fig. 56. figure. (Cf. lentoid intaglio from Franks
4 In the case of the 'Snake Goddess' (see Collection, Myc. Tree and Pillar Cult, p. 67,
below, p. 500), the zoomorphic form of the Fig. 45.)
■ divinity is triply attached to her in serpent 5 Luke iii. 22; cf. Matt. iii. 16.
is in each case separately rendered by a kind of architectural shorthand.
This trinity of baetylic pillars (which has many parallels in Semitic cult)
itself recalls the triple arrangement seen in the case of the Temple Fresco
at Knossos and of several Late Minoan and Mycenaean shrines. The triple
gold shrines of Mycenae are also coupled with seated doves.
The seated birds, as already observed, symbolize in this and other cases Birds as
the descent of the divinity into the possessed object. At times, as in of
. . Divine
the above instances, it is the baetylic pillar or the cell that enshrines it. The Posses-
celebrated scene on the sarcophagus of Hagia Triada 1 shows raven-like birds lon"
brought down by ritual strains and libations on to the sacred Double Axes,
which are thus ' charged ' as it were with the divinity. The doves on the
gold chalice from Mycenae and of ' Nestor's Cup ' repeat the same idea.
But it was not only the cult object itself that could be thus sanctified by the Asso-
descending emblem of spiritual indwelling. In the case of the gold plates with
from the Third Shaft Grave at Mycenae the doves are seen not only perched G°ddess
on the Shrine but on the head and fluttering from the shoulders of a nude Priestess,
female personage (Fig. 169).2 So too the central clay image from the late
'Shrine of the Double Axes' (L. M. 111$) at Knossos3 shows the dove
settled on her head. In these cases we have either images of the Dove
Goddess herself, reinforced by what may have been her older zoomorphic form,
or of a priestess, deified by the descent of the dove spirit.4
The extent to which primitive Minoan religious conceptions were Alighting
familiar to the Semitic mind is here again illustrated by the striking parallel Baptism
of the baptism in Jordan and the picture drawn by the Evangelists of the mJordan-
Holy Spirit ' descending in bodily shape like a dove' and ' lighting on ' Jesus.5
What has to be borne in mind in all these connexions is that it is not only the
inanimate or aniconic object, such as the pillar or the sacred weapon, that may
become, through due ritual, the temporary dwelling-place of the divinity, but
that the spiritual Being may enter into the actual worshipper or votary in
1 See below, p. 440 and Fig. 317. shape. Another faience figure from the
2 Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations, Temple Repository shows the animal form
pp. 198, 199, Figs. 181, 183. Schuchhardt of her divinity on her head, in the shape of
assigns the gold shrine to Grave III together a seated lioness. It may be an actual votary
with the female figure. Schliemann, Mycenae, or priestess, whose ' possession' is thus indi-
p. 267, had included the ' temple ' in Grave IV, cated. In other cases the lions or lionesses
while attributing the figure to Grave III. rest their forepaws against the divine or deified
3 Knossos, Report, 1902, p. 98 and Fig. 56. figure. (Cf. lentoid intaglio from Franks
4 In the case of the 'Snake Goddess' (see Collection, Myc. Tree and Pillar Cult, p. 67,
below, p. 500), the zoomorphic form of the Fig. 45.)
■ divinity is triply attached to her in serpent 5 Luke iii. 22; cf. Matt. iii. 16.