DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0042
N.W. ENTRANCE NARROWED IN M. M. Ill <5 15
this purificatory station to other purposes the N.W. entrance of the building Partial
lost its importance as a special route for votaries and pilgrims on their way to 0f°N.wg
the central sanctuary. Accordinely, in the restored arrangement, following' Entrance
; 3 a } & & in M. M.
on the great seismic catastrophe towards the close of M. M. Ill b, one wing m*.
of its double portal was blocked with materials taken from the ruins.1 It
looks, moreover, as if the width of the initial section of the ramp passage was
reduced to the same extent.
The subsequent formation of a lustral area in connexion with the ' Room
of the Throne' would have supplied the means of religious lustration for
those entering the North-West corner of the Central Court during the
concluding period of the Palace, but the evidence of a similar arrangement
for the intermediate period ranging from M. M. 111 a to L. M. II has not
been preserved. It must be remembered, however, that the laying out of
the Throne Room system, which dates from L. M. II, had entirely obliterated
the earlier plan of the area that it occupied.
The existence of the small cistern, dating from M. M. 11, on the borders
of this area may, however, connect itself with lustral functions, and it is
worth noting that inside the adjoining facade on the North side of the Court
two alabaster ' fonts ' were found, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 13, below.
The Basement Chambers above the 'Early Keep'.
Unfortunately, the upper structures situated behind the Northern part Area
of the facade of the Central Court, in its earlier and later shape, that lay n.w.
West of the Northern Entrance Passage, have suffered an exceptional fect!on °J
& ' r border of
amouniknot only of ruin and denudation, but of disturbance through make- Central
shift arrangements due to later squatters. These structures were superposed
on the iquch more mighty walls of the 'Early Keep'2 that occupied this
area, and which must be included among the ' proto-palatial' elements of the
site, the sherds derived from its inner interstices dating no later in fact than
E. M. III. The cells or walled pits of this, which seem to have been largely Basement
coated with "red-faced plaster, went down somewhat over seven metres (about above 6'
25 feet) into ithe Neolithic, their major axis usually running E. to W., and l^31^.
though some of the thick cross-walls of this ' proto-palatial' structure served new
to support later lines, the general tendency of the later builders was to neglect °;on a"
the early lines. Their foundations were sunk deep down, in some cases as
much as their full depth, into the earlier shafts and at right angles to their
1 In the course of supplementary researches tain number of sherds most of them belonging
undertaken in 1928 I raised some of the upper to the advanced stage of M. M. Ill 3. No
blocks belonging to this miscellaneous block- L. M. fragments occurred,
ing and found in the interstices beiow a cer- 2 See Vol. i, p. I36seqq. and Fig. 100, 101.
this purificatory station to other purposes the N.W. entrance of the building Partial
lost its importance as a special route for votaries and pilgrims on their way to 0f°N.wg
the central sanctuary. Accordinely, in the restored arrangement, following' Entrance
; 3 a } & & in M. M.
on the great seismic catastrophe towards the close of M. M. Ill b, one wing m*.
of its double portal was blocked with materials taken from the ruins.1 It
looks, moreover, as if the width of the initial section of the ramp passage was
reduced to the same extent.
The subsequent formation of a lustral area in connexion with the ' Room
of the Throne' would have supplied the means of religious lustration for
those entering the North-West corner of the Central Court during the
concluding period of the Palace, but the evidence of a similar arrangement
for the intermediate period ranging from M. M. 111 a to L. M. II has not
been preserved. It must be remembered, however, that the laying out of
the Throne Room system, which dates from L. M. II, had entirely obliterated
the earlier plan of the area that it occupied.
The existence of the small cistern, dating from M. M. 11, on the borders
of this area may, however, connect itself with lustral functions, and it is
worth noting that inside the adjoining facade on the North side of the Court
two alabaster ' fonts ' were found, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 13, below.
The Basement Chambers above the 'Early Keep'.
Unfortunately, the upper structures situated behind the Northern part Area
of the facade of the Central Court, in its earlier and later shape, that lay n.w.
West of the Northern Entrance Passage, have suffered an exceptional fect!on °J
& ' r border of
amouniknot only of ruin and denudation, but of disturbance through make- Central
shift arrangements due to later squatters. These structures were superposed
on the iquch more mighty walls of the 'Early Keep'2 that occupied this
area, and which must be included among the ' proto-palatial' elements of the
site, the sherds derived from its inner interstices dating no later in fact than
E. M. III. The cells or walled pits of this, which seem to have been largely Basement
coated with "red-faced plaster, went down somewhat over seven metres (about above 6'
25 feet) into ithe Neolithic, their major axis usually running E. to W., and l^31^.
though some of the thick cross-walls of this ' proto-palatial' structure served new
to support later lines, the general tendency of the later builders was to neglect °;on a"
the early lines. Their foundations were sunk deep down, in some cases as
much as their full depth, into the earlier shafts and at right angles to their
1 In the course of supplementary researches tain number of sherds most of them belonging
undertaken in 1928 I raised some of the upper to the advanced stage of M. M. Ill 3. No
blocks belonging to this miscellaneous block- L. M. fragments occurred,
ing and found in the interstices beiow a cer- 2 See Vol. i, p. I36seqq. and Fig. 100, 101.