DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.808#0017
•THE RING OF NESTOR,' ETC. 15
crystalline stones, showing a triple moulding of the back in a somewhat more
accentuated form. Amygdaloids of this character seem to make their first
appearance in the course of the First Late Minoan Period, the abundant
specimens of the transitional M.M. III.—L.M. I. phase, so far as my own
observations go, uniformly showing a plain rounded back. The bevelled type
only becomes common towards the close of L.M. I.
No. 6, PL II. 3, Fig. 16. Weight 5-11 gm. Spring Goddess Rising from the
Ground.
The design on this intaglio is extremely important in its relation to the
mythology and artistic types of the Greek world, and in some respects forms
a supplement to the preceding signet-ring, No. 5.
A female figure, with the same triply arranged head-dress or tiara that the
seated Goddess wears on the signet-ring, is here seen rising from the ground—
indicated by a row of horizontal lines—between two sprouting plants. Like
the Goddess, too, in the preceding scene, she wears what appears to be a kind
of short-sleeved bodice, fully displaying the breasts, while below her waist-
band is a flounced skirt, the lower part of which is cut off by the ground line.
In her raised right hand she holds three poppy capsules like the seated Goddess
on the Mycenae signet. Above her right shoulder are some remarkable appear-
ances that might easily escape notice in a summary survey. These are visible
in the enlarged drawing by Monsieur E. Gillieron, reproduced in Fig. 16,
and there can be no doubt that they represent the raised heads of the
three snakes such as are the well-known concomitants of the Goddess as Lady
of the Underworld. Besides the well-known Snake Goddess of the Temple
Repository at Knossos,34 a series of other figures have now come to light
showing this attribute, the position of the snakes, however, not being always
the same.35
On the side towards which the serpents thrust their heads is seen a half-
34 Palace of Minos, i. p. 300 seqq. of serpents appears at the back of the
35 Thus in the well-known Minoan bronze head (op. cit., p. 507, Fig. 365).
figure of the Berlin Museum a triple knot
crystalline stones, showing a triple moulding of the back in a somewhat more
accentuated form. Amygdaloids of this character seem to make their first
appearance in the course of the First Late Minoan Period, the abundant
specimens of the transitional M.M. III.—L.M. I. phase, so far as my own
observations go, uniformly showing a plain rounded back. The bevelled type
only becomes common towards the close of L.M. I.
No. 6, PL II. 3, Fig. 16. Weight 5-11 gm. Spring Goddess Rising from the
Ground.
The design on this intaglio is extremely important in its relation to the
mythology and artistic types of the Greek world, and in some respects forms
a supplement to the preceding signet-ring, No. 5.
A female figure, with the same triply arranged head-dress or tiara that the
seated Goddess wears on the signet-ring, is here seen rising from the ground—
indicated by a row of horizontal lines—between two sprouting plants. Like
the Goddess, too, in the preceding scene, she wears what appears to be a kind
of short-sleeved bodice, fully displaying the breasts, while below her waist-
band is a flounced skirt, the lower part of which is cut off by the ground line.
In her raised right hand she holds three poppy capsules like the seated Goddess
on the Mycenae signet. Above her right shoulder are some remarkable appear-
ances that might easily escape notice in a summary survey. These are visible
in the enlarged drawing by Monsieur E. Gillieron, reproduced in Fig. 16,
and there can be no doubt that they represent the raised heads of the
three snakes such as are the well-known concomitants of the Goddess as Lady
of the Underworld. Besides the well-known Snake Goddess of the Temple
Repository at Knossos,34 a series of other figures have now come to light
showing this attribute, the position of the snakes, however, not being always
the same.35
On the side towards which the serpents thrust their heads is seen a half-
34 Palace of Minos, i. p. 300 seqq. of serpents appears at the back of the
35 Thus in the well-known Minoan bronze head (op. cit., p. 507, Fig. 365).
figure of the Berlin Museum a triple knot