DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0392
WINDOWS ABOVE DOORWAYS
34i
on the threshold slabs, produced by the swing of the doors. In the ' Hall of
the Double Axes ' all the jambs are provided with double reveals.1 In these
cases the two leaves of the double doors fitted neatly into the recess between
the reveals of the jambs, so
that when they were shut a
free passage was opened, as
between oblong pillars.
A characteristic fea-
ture of these Minoan door-
ways was the square tim-
bered space above their
massive wooden lintels en-
closed on the two sides
by the upward continua-
tion of the door-posts, and
above by the beam that
formed the main support
of the floor above. This
feature, which resembled
a window both in form
and function, was itself the
logical outcome of the
form of timbered construc-
tion prevalent in the Third Middle Minoan Period, and in the walls we see
upright and transverse beams enclosing panels of masonry. That in some
cases, as in the outer doors of the 'Hall of the Double Axes', leading to the
Corridor on either side, the square space above the lintel was filled up in
a similar way seems to be sufficiently ascertained. But there is equally
good reason for believing that, above the lines of doorways between sections
of a room or hall, these squares of timbering could be left open for the
passage of light and air. They were, indeed, often the sole means of giving
light to the interior of a chamber when the doors were shut. The inner
section, for instance, of the Hall with which we are dealing would have been
perfectly dark.
For outside doors such a system of obtaining light in a hall or passage,
when the door is shut, is of course of universal occurrence, and is exemplified
by our fan-lights. Very poor dwellings, in Sicily for instance, are to be
found with no means of lighting except the square opening above the lintel,
1 Compare Fig. 213, p. 320.
Fig. 226. View of Door-jambs with Double Re-
veals, ' Hall of the Double Axes ', between Central
and Eastern Section.
Window-
like open-
ings
above
door-
ways.
34i
on the threshold slabs, produced by the swing of the doors. In the ' Hall of
the Double Axes ' all the jambs are provided with double reveals.1 In these
cases the two leaves of the double doors fitted neatly into the recess between
the reveals of the jambs, so
that when they were shut a
free passage was opened, as
between oblong pillars.
A characteristic fea-
ture of these Minoan door-
ways was the square tim-
bered space above their
massive wooden lintels en-
closed on the two sides
by the upward continua-
tion of the door-posts, and
above by the beam that
formed the main support
of the floor above. This
feature, which resembled
a window both in form
and function, was itself the
logical outcome of the
form of timbered construc-
tion prevalent in the Third Middle Minoan Period, and in the walls we see
upright and transverse beams enclosing panels of masonry. That in some
cases, as in the outer doors of the 'Hall of the Double Axes', leading to the
Corridor on either side, the square space above the lintel was filled up in
a similar way seems to be sufficiently ascertained. But there is equally
good reason for believing that, above the lines of doorways between sections
of a room or hall, these squares of timbering could be left open for the
passage of light and air. They were, indeed, often the sole means of giving
light to the interior of a chamber when the doors were shut. The inner
section, for instance, of the Hall with which we are dealing would have been
perfectly dark.
For outside doors such a system of obtaining light in a hall or passage,
when the door is shut, is of course of universal occurrence, and is exemplified
by our fan-lights. Very poor dwellings, in Sicily for instance, are to be
found with no means of lighting except the square opening above the lintel,
1 Compare Fig. 213, p. 320.
Fig. 226. View of Door-jambs with Double Re-
veals, ' Hall of the Double Axes ', between Central
and Eastern Section.
Window-
like open-
ings
above
door-
ways.