DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0628
584
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Egyptian
Affinities.
a quadruple combination of lilies such as was known to jewellers of the
Egyptian Middle Kingdom. A similar comparison is suggested in the
present instance by the design on a miniature Egyptian steering oar of
Twelfth Dynasty date (Fig. 427 b). The Egyptian figure clearly represents
a cruciform arrangement of the double bow symbol 1 of Neith, the Goddess
of the Western Delta. That the quadruple motive of the jar had a reference
to the Double Axe of the Minoan Goddess is equally clear, and the symbolic
parallelism is remarkable. The appearance of the sacred weapon on a vessel
of a store-room connected with a domestic shrine is natural enough.
Burial Jar
from near
Knossos.
Its Stellar
Symbol.
Double
Axes on
Burial
Jar.
Store-jars used for Burials.
A contemporary type of M. M. Ill store-jar, of which numerous frag-
ments were found in the M. M. Ill deposits of the East Slope, is best
illustrated by the perfect example of a similar vessel and evidently of
the same Knossian fabric (Fig. 428) found by the Ghazi stream a few
miles West of the site where it had been used as an ossuary.2 With it was
found a plain M. M. Ill handled cup,3 like Fig. 434 below. The jar shows
a white decorative motive in the form of a six-rayed star surrounded by
a cusped border.4 The stellar sign with its central disk recalls the clearly
religious symbol already referred to in connexion with ivory draughtsmen
and the fresco fragment depicting part of the facade of a shrine.5 It is
possible, therefore, that here too, as in the case of the axe-shaped spokes of
Fig. 427, we may trace a symbolic meaning. On the shoulders of a con-
temporary burial jar from Mochlos,6 containing the skeleton of a child, were
impressed a series of double axes, with white, dotted outlines. On a burial jar
described below, we see a lily plant with flowers terminating like axe-blades.7
1 Miss M. A. Murray, Ancient Egypt, 1921,
Pt. II, pp. 35-7, points out that the symbol of
Neith is not a shuttle but two bows of early
Nilotic type in a case.
2 Hatzidakis, Mlvwlkol rd^oi iv Kp-qrr] ('Ap^.
Ae/Wor, 1918, p. 61, and PI. VI). Its height
is 1-04 metre, and the breadth of the mouth
060 metre. The vessel lay with its mouth to
the West. The head of the skeleton was at
the bottom, and the knees were drawn up
level with the mouth. A similar burial jar
in the same position was found at Anopolis,
E. of Knossos. Both heads were set to the
East.
3 Hatzidakis, loc. c:t., p. 58, Fig. 5.
4 The cusped circle itself stands in a natural
relation to the ordinary rosette patterns. The
central design may in fact be regarded large
dark rosette, the petals of which are traversed
by the white rays. The cusped arrangement,
either as a complete circle or a canopy, detaches
itself from the rosette and becomes an indepen-
dent feature of Minoan decorative art. As
a canopy we see it on the votive skirts of
faience (Fig. 364, b, above) and, again, above
the conventional floral design of the polychrome
vessel on Coloured Plate VII.
5 See above, p. 478, and Figs. 342./;, 343.
G Seager, Mochlos, p. 88, Fig. 51.
7 See below, p. 610, Fig. 448.
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Egyptian
Affinities.
a quadruple combination of lilies such as was known to jewellers of the
Egyptian Middle Kingdom. A similar comparison is suggested in the
present instance by the design on a miniature Egyptian steering oar of
Twelfth Dynasty date (Fig. 427 b). The Egyptian figure clearly represents
a cruciform arrangement of the double bow symbol 1 of Neith, the Goddess
of the Western Delta. That the quadruple motive of the jar had a reference
to the Double Axe of the Minoan Goddess is equally clear, and the symbolic
parallelism is remarkable. The appearance of the sacred weapon on a vessel
of a store-room connected with a domestic shrine is natural enough.
Burial Jar
from near
Knossos.
Its Stellar
Symbol.
Double
Axes on
Burial
Jar.
Store-jars used for Burials.
A contemporary type of M. M. Ill store-jar, of which numerous frag-
ments were found in the M. M. Ill deposits of the East Slope, is best
illustrated by the perfect example of a similar vessel and evidently of
the same Knossian fabric (Fig. 428) found by the Ghazi stream a few
miles West of the site where it had been used as an ossuary.2 With it was
found a plain M. M. Ill handled cup,3 like Fig. 434 below. The jar shows
a white decorative motive in the form of a six-rayed star surrounded by
a cusped border.4 The stellar sign with its central disk recalls the clearly
religious symbol already referred to in connexion with ivory draughtsmen
and the fresco fragment depicting part of the facade of a shrine.5 It is
possible, therefore, that here too, as in the case of the axe-shaped spokes of
Fig. 427, we may trace a symbolic meaning. On the shoulders of a con-
temporary burial jar from Mochlos,6 containing the skeleton of a child, were
impressed a series of double axes, with white, dotted outlines. On a burial jar
described below, we see a lily plant with flowers terminating like axe-blades.7
1 Miss M. A. Murray, Ancient Egypt, 1921,
Pt. II, pp. 35-7, points out that the symbol of
Neith is not a shuttle but two bows of early
Nilotic type in a case.
2 Hatzidakis, Mlvwlkol rd^oi iv Kp-qrr] ('Ap^.
Ae/Wor, 1918, p. 61, and PI. VI). Its height
is 1-04 metre, and the breadth of the mouth
060 metre. The vessel lay with its mouth to
the West. The head of the skeleton was at
the bottom, and the knees were drawn up
level with the mouth. A similar burial jar
in the same position was found at Anopolis,
E. of Knossos. Both heads were set to the
East.
3 Hatzidakis, loc. c:t., p. 58, Fig. 5.
4 The cusped circle itself stands in a natural
relation to the ordinary rosette patterns. The
central design may in fact be regarded large
dark rosette, the petals of which are traversed
by the white rays. The cusped arrangement,
either as a complete circle or a canopy, detaches
itself from the rosette and becomes an indepen-
dent feature of Minoan decorative art. As
a canopy we see it on the votive skirts of
faience (Fig. 364, b, above) and, again, above
the conventional floral design of the polychrome
vessel on Coloured Plate VII.
5 See above, p. 478, and Figs. 342./;, 343.
G Seager, Mochlos, p. 88, Fig. 51.
7 See below, p. 610, Fig. 448.