DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.808#0009
'THE RING OF NESTOR,' ETC.
These sacral knots appear on the shoulders of the Goddess and her
votaries. They were not only suspended from her lion-guarded pillar, but are
seen decoratively combined with her double-axe symbol. In what seems to
have been a sacerdotal house,
devoted to propaganda of the
cult, discovered at Niru Khani,
east of Candia, and contain-
ing huge ritual double-axes of
bronze,13 a fresco of the main
corridor depicts a large sacral
knot of the same kind, here
for the first time restored in
Fig. 7.14
But, as already noted,
when the Thisbe relics first saw
Sacrifice of Bull.
the light in 1915 none of the evidence connecting
the double knots with the bull-grappling scenes
was as yet available.15 Neither indeed had the
true character of the symbol itself received
recognition.
No. 2, PI. I. 2, Fig. 6. Weight 7-32 gm.
Ritual Sacrifice of Bull by Priest.
A bull is here seen at a slow gallop while a
youth behind steps forward and plunges a dagger
between his shoulders. The man's left arm16 is
thrown out behind him, the dagger sheath is slung
over his shoulders, and he wears the Minoan foot-
gear. He is, moreover, characterised by two
remarkable features. He appears to be wearing
some kind of wreath, and the two long locks that
are seen hanging down behind his armpits ter-
minate in star-shaped ornaments. These insignia
seem to be marks of some official position.
The appearance of a matador is a novel
feature among the scenes of the Minoan bull-ring,
and when we recall the religious intention of these
Fig. 7.—Sacral Knot from
Wall-painting, Niru
Khani (restored).
13 Dr. Xanthudides, 'Ef. 'Apx- 1922, p. 11,
Kg. 9.
14 From a restored drawing executed for
me by Monsieur E. Gillieron, flls. The
excavator had not at the time understood
the significance of the fragments.
15 The ring (Fig. 4), though obtained
from Smyrna some years previously, was
only published by me in 1921. The
material is bronze, originally plated. The
Arkhanes ring is a quite recent discovery,
said to have been made by a peasant woman
in a chamber-tomb ('av^Kios'),
15 As seen on the gold signet itself. In
the impression he appears using the dagger
with his left hand.
These sacral knots appear on the shoulders of the Goddess and her
votaries. They were not only suspended from her lion-guarded pillar, but are
seen decoratively combined with her double-axe symbol. In what seems to
have been a sacerdotal house,
devoted to propaganda of the
cult, discovered at Niru Khani,
east of Candia, and contain-
ing huge ritual double-axes of
bronze,13 a fresco of the main
corridor depicts a large sacral
knot of the same kind, here
for the first time restored in
Fig. 7.14
But, as already noted,
when the Thisbe relics first saw
Sacrifice of Bull.
the light in 1915 none of the evidence connecting
the double knots with the bull-grappling scenes
was as yet available.15 Neither indeed had the
true character of the symbol itself received
recognition.
No. 2, PI. I. 2, Fig. 6. Weight 7-32 gm.
Ritual Sacrifice of Bull by Priest.
A bull is here seen at a slow gallop while a
youth behind steps forward and plunges a dagger
between his shoulders. The man's left arm16 is
thrown out behind him, the dagger sheath is slung
over his shoulders, and he wears the Minoan foot-
gear. He is, moreover, characterised by two
remarkable features. He appears to be wearing
some kind of wreath, and the two long locks that
are seen hanging down behind his armpits ter-
minate in star-shaped ornaments. These insignia
seem to be marks of some official position.
The appearance of a matador is a novel
feature among the scenes of the Minoan bull-ring,
and when we recall the religious intention of these
Fig. 7.—Sacral Knot from
Wall-painting, Niru
Khani (restored).
13 Dr. Xanthudides, 'Ef. 'Apx- 1922, p. 11,
Kg. 9.
14 From a restored drawing executed for
me by Monsieur E. Gillieron, flls. The
excavator had not at the time understood
the significance of the fragments.
15 The ring (Fig. 4), though obtained
from Smyrna some years previously, was
only published by me in 1921. The
material is bronze, originally plated. The
Arkhanes ring is a quite recent discovery,
said to have been made by a peasant woman
in a chamber-tomb ('av^Kios'),
15 As seen on the gold signet itself. In
the impression he appears using the dagger
with his left hand.