DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0601
553
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
forms found at Phylakopi in Melos in a stratum—the ' Third Middle
Evi- Cycladic '—which also contained fragments recalling the Cretan ' lily jars'.
of inter- The recurved neck of Fig. 405, d must be regarded as a survival from primi-
course t;ve s\^[n vessels, which in Melos and in the Middle Aegean area ojenerallv
between t ° ° J '
Crete and greatly influenced the shapes of pottery. In Crete, on the other hand, this
influence seems to have been at a minimum, but the reaction of early stone
types on pottery is there very much more manifest than in the Cycladic area.
The key to the birds on these vases is supplied by a small representation
seen on both sides of the upper part of the body of a high-beaked ewer,
with its neck only slightly drawn back, Fig. 405, a, S, found in a stratum at
Phylakopi answering to the earliest phase of the Third Middle Cycladic
Period 1 and corresponding with the beginning of M. M. III.
Influence This design, Fig. 405, c, is a misunderstood copy of a winged griffin as
on^elian seen *n characteristic action of the Minoan ' flying gallop'2—an action,
Types. it is to be observed, never associated with Egyptian animal forms, either
natural or fantastic, during the Middle Kingdom. The Melian artist not
understanding the winged quadruped in this position has in fact converted
the hind-legs into the long tail feathers of a pheasant-like bird—the tail itself
being apparently interpreted as a curving plume. This metamorphosis is
itself of great chronological value as throwing back the winged griffin type of
the Minoan model at least to the beginning of the M. M. Ill Period.
Type The exceptionally minute scale of this design at once strikes the eye.
from^Seal ^n ^ater types as illustrated by the Repository Vase, Fig. 405 d, the bird
impres- derivatives have assumed normal dimensions. The ceramic assimilation is
here complete, but the fact that throughout the great days of Minoan art
animal forms were tabooed by the vase-painters 3 forbids us to suppose that
the galloping griffin that supplied the prototype of the earlier hybrid figure
was of ceramic origin. On the other hand its surprising small dimensions
suggest that it may represent an attempt to copy a current type of seal
impression such as the officials of the Minoan Priest-Kings used for the
security of their possessions and doubtless also in the case of exports. Such
clay sealings, as we know from the contents of the Hieroglyphic Deposit,
were attached to the strings and bands that bound up bales and packages,
1 The vase is represented, Phylakopi, PI. with imported fragments of polychrome M. M.
XIV, 2. Fig. 405 c is my own enlargement II pottery. The influence of the griffin type
from this. This type of ewer is the immediate was noted by Mr. C. C. Edgar, op. cit, p. 109.
successor of those with the winged 'goblins1 2 See below, p. 711.
about which Dr. Mackenzie (see below, p. 704) 3 See p. 605.
has noted that they were found in association
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
forms found at Phylakopi in Melos in a stratum—the ' Third Middle
Evi- Cycladic '—which also contained fragments recalling the Cretan ' lily jars'.
of inter- The recurved neck of Fig. 405, d must be regarded as a survival from primi-
course t;ve s\^[n vessels, which in Melos and in the Middle Aegean area ojenerallv
between t ° ° J '
Crete and greatly influenced the shapes of pottery. In Crete, on the other hand, this
influence seems to have been at a minimum, but the reaction of early stone
types on pottery is there very much more manifest than in the Cycladic area.
The key to the birds on these vases is supplied by a small representation
seen on both sides of the upper part of the body of a high-beaked ewer,
with its neck only slightly drawn back, Fig. 405, a, S, found in a stratum at
Phylakopi answering to the earliest phase of the Third Middle Cycladic
Period 1 and corresponding with the beginning of M. M. III.
Influence This design, Fig. 405, c, is a misunderstood copy of a winged griffin as
on^elian seen *n characteristic action of the Minoan ' flying gallop'2—an action,
Types. it is to be observed, never associated with Egyptian animal forms, either
natural or fantastic, during the Middle Kingdom. The Melian artist not
understanding the winged quadruped in this position has in fact converted
the hind-legs into the long tail feathers of a pheasant-like bird—the tail itself
being apparently interpreted as a curving plume. This metamorphosis is
itself of great chronological value as throwing back the winged griffin type of
the Minoan model at least to the beginning of the M. M. Ill Period.
Type The exceptionally minute scale of this design at once strikes the eye.
from^Seal ^n ^ater types as illustrated by the Repository Vase, Fig. 405 d, the bird
impres- derivatives have assumed normal dimensions. The ceramic assimilation is
here complete, but the fact that throughout the great days of Minoan art
animal forms were tabooed by the vase-painters 3 forbids us to suppose that
the galloping griffin that supplied the prototype of the earlier hybrid figure
was of ceramic origin. On the other hand its surprising small dimensions
suggest that it may represent an attempt to copy a current type of seal
impression such as the officials of the Minoan Priest-Kings used for the
security of their possessions and doubtless also in the case of exports. Such
clay sealings, as we know from the contents of the Hieroglyphic Deposit,
were attached to the strings and bands that bound up bales and packages,
1 The vase is represented, Phylakopi, PI. with imported fragments of polychrome M. M.
XIV, 2. Fig. 405 c is my own enlargement II pottery. The influence of the griffin type
from this. This type of ewer is the immediate was noted by Mr. C. C. Edgar, op. cit, p. 109.
successor of those with the winged 'goblins1 2 See below, p. 711.
about which Dr. Mackenzie (see below, p. 704) 3 See p. 605.
has noted that they were found in association