DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0428
<88
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Ivory
Draughts-
men of
Border
Area.
' Corri-
dor of
Draught-
board '
and Step-
way to
Central
Court.
N.E.
Hall
and Con-
nected
Store-
Rooms.
justified in referring the Draught-board itself to so early a date as these, the
discovery of the ivory draughtsmen certainly indicates that some chamber
in this quarter of the Palace was traditionally associated with the kind
of gaming that it represents.
As this remarkable work is best considered in its relation to the more
fragmentary remains, apparently of similar objects, among the treasures of
the West Palace region, its full description and illustration is appended to
the account of the contents of the W. Temple Repository.1
The broad paved gangway, known from this discovery as the ' Corridor
of the Draught-board ran immediately within the old facade line of the
upper terrace of the East slope. Only its Southern section was preserved ;
and in this direction, at the S.E. corner of the North East Hall described
below, are visible four low steps ascending West, and indications of a passage
leading hence round the outer walls of the group of store-rooms attached to
this Hall. Some five metres above the four steps that are preserved are
traces of others turning North between passage walls of good limestone
construction. About the same distance farther on, the same passage takes
another turn West, past a massive Bastion, and thence by another angle
seems to have found its way to a point near the upper opening of the
Northern Entrance Way. Most of this work seems to belong to the Early
Palace (see Plan, Fig. 152 above). In the angle between this winding step-
way and the Corridor were situated the best-preserved remains brought to
light in this region.
These consisted of a porticoed chamber—known as the N.E. Hall—
and its dependencies, together with an annexe—the N.E. Magazines—con-
taining great stores of plain pottery belonging to the latest phase, b, of this
Period (see Plan, Fig. 281). The Hall itself was entered from the Corridor
of the Draught-board, and a double doorway on the opposite side led to
a small interior chamber and magazine. The dimensions of the Hall are
8-45 by 5.35 metres, and it contained within it a square cement-paved light-
area bounded N. and S. by a two-columned stylobate.2 This little light-
court was so disposed as to leave a comparatively deep covered section
at the South end, while the corresponding space between the Northern
1 See below, p. 468 seqq., and Coloured
Plate V. To raise these highly friable remains
from their irregular backing was a matter of
extraordinary difficulty. (See Knossos, Report,
1901, p. 77.)
2 There are only indications of the Southern
stybolate, but its position together with the
extent of the area covered by the cement floor
was clearly ascertained by Dr. Mackenzie in
the supplementary explorations of 1907.
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Ivory
Draughts-
men of
Border
Area.
' Corri-
dor of
Draught-
board '
and Step-
way to
Central
Court.
N.E.
Hall
and Con-
nected
Store-
Rooms.
justified in referring the Draught-board itself to so early a date as these, the
discovery of the ivory draughtsmen certainly indicates that some chamber
in this quarter of the Palace was traditionally associated with the kind
of gaming that it represents.
As this remarkable work is best considered in its relation to the more
fragmentary remains, apparently of similar objects, among the treasures of
the West Palace region, its full description and illustration is appended to
the account of the contents of the W. Temple Repository.1
The broad paved gangway, known from this discovery as the ' Corridor
of the Draught-board ran immediately within the old facade line of the
upper terrace of the East slope. Only its Southern section was preserved ;
and in this direction, at the S.E. corner of the North East Hall described
below, are visible four low steps ascending West, and indications of a passage
leading hence round the outer walls of the group of store-rooms attached to
this Hall. Some five metres above the four steps that are preserved are
traces of others turning North between passage walls of good limestone
construction. About the same distance farther on, the same passage takes
another turn West, past a massive Bastion, and thence by another angle
seems to have found its way to a point near the upper opening of the
Northern Entrance Way. Most of this work seems to belong to the Early
Palace (see Plan, Fig. 152 above). In the angle between this winding step-
way and the Corridor were situated the best-preserved remains brought to
light in this region.
These consisted of a porticoed chamber—known as the N.E. Hall—
and its dependencies, together with an annexe—the N.E. Magazines—con-
taining great stores of plain pottery belonging to the latest phase, b, of this
Period (see Plan, Fig. 281). The Hall itself was entered from the Corridor
of the Draught-board, and a double doorway on the opposite side led to
a small interior chamber and magazine. The dimensions of the Hall are
8-45 by 5.35 metres, and it contained within it a square cement-paved light-
area bounded N. and S. by a two-columned stylobate.2 This little light-
court was so disposed as to leave a comparatively deep covered section
at the South end, while the corresponding space between the Northern
1 See below, p. 468 seqq., and Coloured
Plate V. To raise these highly friable remains
from their irregular backing was a matter of
extraordinary difficulty. (See Knossos, Report,
1901, p. 77.)
2 There are only indications of the Southern
stybolate, but its position together with the
extent of the area covered by the cement floor
was clearly ascertained by Dr. Mackenzie in
the supplementary explorations of 1907.