DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.810#0018
HOUSE OF CHANCEL SCREEN': M. M. Ill S JAR 395
worshipful position of the head of the family in the Minoan household. As
in Ancient Rome and in other primitive communities he seems indeed to
have been endowed with priestly functions in regard to the household. Our
workmen called the house tov -na-na to anCri—' the house of the priest'.
A distinctly archaic impression is given by the paving of the outer
section of the Megaron. This is not of gypsum slabs as usual at Knossos
in the New Era—at least round the borders of such halls—down to the
close of the last Palace epoch. The paving here consists of an irregular
mosaic of a kind of 'iron-stone' (duvySaXoXiOos),1 characteristic of an earlier
Middle Minoan stage, extending in every direction right up to the walls.2
It is also an interesting" fact that the back wall of the old ' House of Earliest
the Fallen Blocks', a M. M. Ilia construction overwhelmed at the time I^M?
of the earthquake, was used for the Magazine (12) that occupies the South- 1I1^-
West angle of the house. In the space East of this is a square, doorless
cellar to which access must have been obtained by a ladder from the
floor above. In this was found a pithos of a transitional M. M. lllb
type such as recurs at Tylissos and in the 'North-East House', the con-
ventional rope moulding on which is illustrated below,3 and beside it
a L. M. I a ewer with spiral decoration and details in the evanescent white
then in use. The best remains of pottery, however, came to light on the
floor of a magazine behind the inner section of the Meraron. Its character
was remarkable, since, besides many cups of the ' Vapheio' shape with
a roll round their middle and the usual spiral, dark on light, decoration
of L. M. I a, there was a series of one-handled pitchers ranged along the
West wall, with the purplish brown, lack-lustre glaze of M. M. Ill and
metallic ring-collar, practically indistinguishable from those of the Temple
1 A 'mosaiko' central panel of 'almond-
stone ' is, of course, of frequent occurrence at
times, as in the ' House of the Frescoes ', sur-
rounded by plaster. In the earlier period of
the excavation such paved ' panels' were at
times taken for ' altar bases ', e. g. West of the
bastion of the Upper Propylon and West of
the system to which the Shrine of the Double
Axes belongs. We also see these panels in the
' Room of the Throne ' and its ante-room,
belonging to the last Palace period.
2 The early date of this pavement was
proved by supplementary excavations con-
ducted by me here in 1926. In the N.E.
corner, where some disturbance had occurred
the superficial deposit beneath the slabs con-
tained M. M. II, M. M. Ilia, and one or two
M. M. Ill b sherds, arid at about 30 cm. down
the pottery became almost entirely M. M. Ill a.
Under a large slab of the same hard stone
immediately in front of the opening in the
balustrade, where intrusive elements could
hardly have made their way, the pottery was
pure M. M. la. There seems to have been
a lacuna in the story of its occupation, but the
evidence tends to show that the pavement was
not later than the beginning of M. M. Ill b and
may have been earlier.
3 See pp. 418, 419 and Figs 241 a, 241 b
worshipful position of the head of the family in the Minoan household. As
in Ancient Rome and in other primitive communities he seems indeed to
have been endowed with priestly functions in regard to the household. Our
workmen called the house tov -na-na to anCri—' the house of the priest'.
A distinctly archaic impression is given by the paving of the outer
section of the Megaron. This is not of gypsum slabs as usual at Knossos
in the New Era—at least round the borders of such halls—down to the
close of the last Palace epoch. The paving here consists of an irregular
mosaic of a kind of 'iron-stone' (duvySaXoXiOos),1 characteristic of an earlier
Middle Minoan stage, extending in every direction right up to the walls.2
It is also an interesting" fact that the back wall of the old ' House of Earliest
the Fallen Blocks', a M. M. Ilia construction overwhelmed at the time I^M?
of the earthquake, was used for the Magazine (12) that occupies the South- 1I1^-
West angle of the house. In the space East of this is a square, doorless
cellar to which access must have been obtained by a ladder from the
floor above. In this was found a pithos of a transitional M. M. lllb
type such as recurs at Tylissos and in the 'North-East House', the con-
ventional rope moulding on which is illustrated below,3 and beside it
a L. M. I a ewer with spiral decoration and details in the evanescent white
then in use. The best remains of pottery, however, came to light on the
floor of a magazine behind the inner section of the Meraron. Its character
was remarkable, since, besides many cups of the ' Vapheio' shape with
a roll round their middle and the usual spiral, dark on light, decoration
of L. M. I a, there was a series of one-handled pitchers ranged along the
West wall, with the purplish brown, lack-lustre glaze of M. M. Ill and
metallic ring-collar, practically indistinguishable from those of the Temple
1 A 'mosaiko' central panel of 'almond-
stone ' is, of course, of frequent occurrence at
times, as in the ' House of the Frescoes ', sur-
rounded by plaster. In the earlier period of
the excavation such paved ' panels' were at
times taken for ' altar bases ', e. g. West of the
bastion of the Upper Propylon and West of
the system to which the Shrine of the Double
Axes belongs. We also see these panels in the
' Room of the Throne ' and its ante-room,
belonging to the last Palace period.
2 The early date of this pavement was
proved by supplementary excavations con-
ducted by me here in 1926. In the N.E.
corner, where some disturbance had occurred
the superficial deposit beneath the slabs con-
tained M. M. II, M. M. Ilia, and one or two
M. M. Ill b sherds, arid at about 30 cm. down
the pottery became almost entirely M. M. Ill a.
Under a large slab of the same hard stone
immediately in front of the opening in the
balustrade, where intrusive elements could
hardly have made their way, the pottery was
pure M. M. la. There seems to have been
a lacuna in the story of its occupation, but the
evidence tends to show that the pavement was
not later than the beginning of M. M. Ill b and
may have been earlier.
3 See pp. 418, 419 and Figs 241 a, 241 b