DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0183
144 VALUE OF RELIGIOUS SCENES ON SIGNETS
than onwards, has kept its hold on a large part of the Mediterranean World 1
Oassical wn'le gaining still vaster regions beyond the South Atlantic. The pathos
sP|rlt- that breathes in the mourning figure over the little grave compares rather
Syrian with an Italian pieta or entombment. Here at least we are far from the
toiian"1 snows of Olympus, and, indeed, even to find subjects of the sentimental class
affiliation. t0 which the above belongs, Greco-Roman Art was itself forced to stray
into the Anatolian and Syrian religious domains of which Crete in the most
primitive stage was itself a province, and to illustrate the tragic tales of
Attis or Adonis.
Signet- It is not for a moment contended that this picturesque religious class of
made for g°'d signet-rings was specially made for sepulchral purposes. They often con-
us.e ln sist of solid gold, of quite different fabric from the flimsy jewellery with which
and next, the ghosts of the departed were often cheated. Their actual use, moreover,
as seals for business purposes by the living, is proved by the numerous clay
sealings found presenting their impressions.
From the recurring discovery, however, of signet-rings of these religious
types with the remains of the dead, it must still be inferred that they
were considered a peculiuni of their owner that was to continue in his
Ensured possession in the World beyond. Certain simple subjects engraved on their
protec- bezels, like Griffins or Sphinxes, doubtless brought with them a protective
divinity, virtue. The more elaborate compositions, such as those depicting the
advent or descent of deities, may have conveyed a sense of divine com-
panionship which did not cease with death. The sepulchral scenes them-
selves—the mourning figures notwithstanding—were full of hope, since the
affinities of the old Cretan religion lead to the conclusion that they con-
cerned a youthful God, mortal indeed, but still resurgent. It is possible even
that, like the memorial rings of our great-grandfathers,—on which, for
instance, a weeping Genius may be seen looking down on a funeral urn,—
subjects like the mourning scenes above illustrated may have conveyed,
under a religious aspect, a reference to a personal bereavement.
In this connexion we may recall the fact—so signally illustrated by the
remarkable evidence derived from the Tomb of the Double Axes—that the
grave itself could be regarded by the Minoans as a place of worship,
furnished with its baetylic pillar and sacred Double Axes, and fully equipped
with the utensils of cult.2
1 See my remarks on the Christian analo- 2 A. E., The Tomb of the Double Axes, &*c.
gies of Minoan religion in Vol. ii, Pt. I, p. 277 (Quaritch, 1914, and Archaeologia, vol. Ixv).
seqq. Cf. P. of M., ii, Pt. I, p. 279.
than onwards, has kept its hold on a large part of the Mediterranean World 1
Oassical wn'le gaining still vaster regions beyond the South Atlantic. The pathos
sP|rlt- that breathes in the mourning figure over the little grave compares rather
Syrian with an Italian pieta or entombment. Here at least we are far from the
toiian"1 snows of Olympus, and, indeed, even to find subjects of the sentimental class
affiliation. t0 which the above belongs, Greco-Roman Art was itself forced to stray
into the Anatolian and Syrian religious domains of which Crete in the most
primitive stage was itself a province, and to illustrate the tragic tales of
Attis or Adonis.
Signet- It is not for a moment contended that this picturesque religious class of
made for g°'d signet-rings was specially made for sepulchral purposes. They often con-
us.e ln sist of solid gold, of quite different fabric from the flimsy jewellery with which
and next, the ghosts of the departed were often cheated. Their actual use, moreover,
as seals for business purposes by the living, is proved by the numerous clay
sealings found presenting their impressions.
From the recurring discovery, however, of signet-rings of these religious
types with the remains of the dead, it must still be inferred that they
were considered a peculiuni of their owner that was to continue in his
Ensured possession in the World beyond. Certain simple subjects engraved on their
protec- bezels, like Griffins or Sphinxes, doubtless brought with them a protective
divinity, virtue. The more elaborate compositions, such as those depicting the
advent or descent of deities, may have conveyed a sense of divine com-
panionship which did not cease with death. The sepulchral scenes them-
selves—the mourning figures notwithstanding—were full of hope, since the
affinities of the old Cretan religion lead to the conclusion that they con-
cerned a youthful God, mortal indeed, but still resurgent. It is possible even
that, like the memorial rings of our great-grandfathers,—on which, for
instance, a weeping Genius may be seen looking down on a funeral urn,—
subjects like the mourning scenes above illustrated may have conveyed,
under a religious aspect, a reference to a personal bereavement.
In this connexion we may recall the fact—so signally illustrated by the
remarkable evidence derived from the Tomb of the Double Axes—that the
grave itself could be regarded by the Minoans as a place of worship,
furnished with its baetylic pillar and sacred Double Axes, and fully equipped
with the utensils of cult.2
1 See my remarks on the Christian analo- 2 A. E., The Tomb of the Double Axes, &*c.
gies of Minoan religion in Vol. ii, Pt. I, p. 277 (Quaritch, 1914, and Archaeologia, vol. Ixv).
seqq. Cf. P. of M., ii, Pt. I, p. 279.