DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.810#0383
'THE CAPTAIN OF THE BLACKS' 755
Egypt, where the extent to which the body was exposed, even in the latest
prehistoric period,1 had been sensibly reduced in dynastic days. The
flounced kilt of the archer in Fig. 488, who holds a bow of the Asiatic,
horned type, may itself, like the flounced skirts of the latter-day Minoan
women,- be due to Oriental influences, but the sash of netted beadwork in
front of some of the figures of the ' Procession Fresco ' suggests an analogy
with the double uraeus pendant worn by Egyptian kings.
The introduction of this costume may, as in the case of the gaberdines Cere-
worn by the offertory figures on the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, and Nos. 1-6 g^'and
of the ' Procession Fresco ', have also been due to religious influences, and, official
indeed, a variety of the kilt seen on another Repository sealing3 is worn
by a warrior or male divinity of somewhat Hittite aspect. For ceremonial
display this broad form of loin-cloth was much better fitted than the scantier
type, owing to the larger field that it offered for embroidered decoration. As
worn by the Minoan envoys and by the processional figures of the Fresco we
may certainly regard it as a kind of Court dress at this period, while in the
remarkable fragments of wall-painting, described below as the ' Captain of the
Blacks', we see it adopted as the uniform of Soudanese mercenaries, who
may have formed part of the Palace Guard.
1 The Captain of the Blacks.'
The discovery of these fragments was made in the area of the ' House Painted
of the Frescoes ', but at a somewhat higher level than the fresco stack,4 near figments,
the border of the Roman oven there brought to light. The two pieces found, wlth .
* C»ir)t"iin
which are shown, slightly completed, in the Coloured Plate XIII, differ in of the
character from any that occurred in the large deposit and, from their position, ac s'
seem to have belonged to a somewhat later date. They represent two sections
of a painted band, the background of which, like that of the processional frieze
from the Kadmeion, changes its hue vertically, in this case from white to blue.
On the larger piece, a Minoan Captain is seen leading the first of a negro
troop at a run. He wears a black goat's-skin cap with the horns attached,
and, below his belt, a short yellow tunic with a border striped black and
white and coming to a point in front, so that the loin-clothing greatly resem-
bles that of the Cup-bearer and other processional figures that decorated the
entrance system of the Palace. A necklace and bracelet, probably of silver,
and gleaming white against the ruddy skin colour, adorn his neck and wrist,
and he is armed with two spears. The fragment preserved of the negro
who immediately follows him shows that he wore a similar uniform, the tunic
1 See Suppl. PI. XII. 3 Op. cit., p. 680, Fig. 500, e.
2 See P. of M., i, p. 197, and Fig. 145. ' See above, p. 444 seqq.
Egypt, where the extent to which the body was exposed, even in the latest
prehistoric period,1 had been sensibly reduced in dynastic days. The
flounced kilt of the archer in Fig. 488, who holds a bow of the Asiatic,
horned type, may itself, like the flounced skirts of the latter-day Minoan
women,- be due to Oriental influences, but the sash of netted beadwork in
front of some of the figures of the ' Procession Fresco ' suggests an analogy
with the double uraeus pendant worn by Egyptian kings.
The introduction of this costume may, as in the case of the gaberdines Cere-
worn by the offertory figures on the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, and Nos. 1-6 g^'and
of the ' Procession Fresco ', have also been due to religious influences, and, official
indeed, a variety of the kilt seen on another Repository sealing3 is worn
by a warrior or male divinity of somewhat Hittite aspect. For ceremonial
display this broad form of loin-cloth was much better fitted than the scantier
type, owing to the larger field that it offered for embroidered decoration. As
worn by the Minoan envoys and by the processional figures of the Fresco we
may certainly regard it as a kind of Court dress at this period, while in the
remarkable fragments of wall-painting, described below as the ' Captain of the
Blacks', we see it adopted as the uniform of Soudanese mercenaries, who
may have formed part of the Palace Guard.
1 The Captain of the Blacks.'
The discovery of these fragments was made in the area of the ' House Painted
of the Frescoes ', but at a somewhat higher level than the fresco stack,4 near figments,
the border of the Roman oven there brought to light. The two pieces found, wlth .
* C»ir)t"iin
which are shown, slightly completed, in the Coloured Plate XIII, differ in of the
character from any that occurred in the large deposit and, from their position, ac s'
seem to have belonged to a somewhat later date. They represent two sections
of a painted band, the background of which, like that of the processional frieze
from the Kadmeion, changes its hue vertically, in this case from white to blue.
On the larger piece, a Minoan Captain is seen leading the first of a negro
troop at a run. He wears a black goat's-skin cap with the horns attached,
and, below his belt, a short yellow tunic with a border striped black and
white and coming to a point in front, so that the loin-clothing greatly resem-
bles that of the Cup-bearer and other processional figures that decorated the
entrance system of the Palace. A necklace and bracelet, probably of silver,
and gleaming white against the ruddy skin colour, adorn his neck and wrist,
and he is armed with two spears. The fragment preserved of the negro
who immediately follows him shows that he wore a similar uniform, the tunic
1 See Suppl. PI. XII. 3 Op. cit., p. 680, Fig. 500, e.
2 See P. of M., i, p. 197, and Fig. 145. ' See above, p. 444 seqq.