DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0427
574
SOUTHERN LIGHT-AREA OF 'MEGARON
ceramic
' Palace
Style '.
S. Light-
area—
M. M. II
walls.
Inci-
dence of
light.
Access.
a very near relation to those of the fine painted jar found on the first landing
of the staircase in the ' Royal Villa '-1
Southern Light-area of ' Megaron'.
The open elongated area where this decorative relief was found, flank-
ing the pillared stylobate that lighted the inner section of the ' Megaron ' on
its South side, is backed by a wall of considerable architectural interest. It
has been already illustrated in the First Volume of this work,2 as supplying
the best preserved example of ashlar masonry dating from the M. M. II
Period to be seen on the Palace site. Its elongated blocks show the
■«« or ' branch' sign in its early phase. The clay bedding, about a centi-
metre thick, between the courses is here a characteristic feature.
This wall—the surface of which had been considerably damaged by
fire—consisted of only four courses with a projecting coping above, and it
is succeeded, beyond a narrow terrace level, by another wall of the same con-
struction rising two metres back from the face of the first. Only the lower
two courses of this, however, are preserved. (See Fig. 248.)
The result of this stepping back of the area walls was to secure
a satisfactory incidence of light to the hall opposite, both in its earlier and
its later form.
The only access' to this narrow light-court was by a doorway at its
Eastern end, opening into a small chamber from which another contiguous
doorway led into the portico of the East section of the ' Megaron'. This little
room also led, across another intervening enclosed space that may have
served as a guard-room, to the light-court on the Southern flank of the ' Hall
of the Double Axes '. (See Plan, Fig. 249.)
These precautions show the extreme privacy of this narrow inner area.
Beneath its cement floor ran the main channel of a built drain that served
the Domestic Quarter on this side, and the further course of which received
a tributary drain by which the surface waters from the Eastern light-court
of the ' Megfaron ' were carried off.
E. light-
area :
succes-
sive E.
walls.
Eastern Light-area of ' Megaron '.
The original outer wall of the larger light-area that lies East of the
central stylobate formed part of the same system to which it, together
with the gypsum floor as first laid down and the existing bi-columnar Portico,
belongs. This seems to have been ruined by the great Earthquake towards
the close of M. M. Ill, and only its foundations and base-slabs remain. It
1 P. ofM., ii, Pt. II, p. 400 and Fig. 231.
2 Ibid., i, p. 204, and Fig. 153.
SOUTHERN LIGHT-AREA OF 'MEGARON
ceramic
' Palace
Style '.
S. Light-
area—
M. M. II
walls.
Inci-
dence of
light.
Access.
a very near relation to those of the fine painted jar found on the first landing
of the staircase in the ' Royal Villa '-1
Southern Light-area of ' Megaron'.
The open elongated area where this decorative relief was found, flank-
ing the pillared stylobate that lighted the inner section of the ' Megaron ' on
its South side, is backed by a wall of considerable architectural interest. It
has been already illustrated in the First Volume of this work,2 as supplying
the best preserved example of ashlar masonry dating from the M. M. II
Period to be seen on the Palace site. Its elongated blocks show the
■«« or ' branch' sign in its early phase. The clay bedding, about a centi-
metre thick, between the courses is here a characteristic feature.
This wall—the surface of which had been considerably damaged by
fire—consisted of only four courses with a projecting coping above, and it
is succeeded, beyond a narrow terrace level, by another wall of the same con-
struction rising two metres back from the face of the first. Only the lower
two courses of this, however, are preserved. (See Fig. 248.)
The result of this stepping back of the area walls was to secure
a satisfactory incidence of light to the hall opposite, both in its earlier and
its later form.
The only access' to this narrow light-court was by a doorway at its
Eastern end, opening into a small chamber from which another contiguous
doorway led into the portico of the East section of the ' Megaron'. This little
room also led, across another intervening enclosed space that may have
served as a guard-room, to the light-court on the Southern flank of the ' Hall
of the Double Axes '. (See Plan, Fig. 249.)
These precautions show the extreme privacy of this narrow inner area.
Beneath its cement floor ran the main channel of a built drain that served
the Domestic Quarter on this side, and the further course of which received
a tributary drain by which the surface waters from the Eastern light-court
of the ' Megfaron ' were carried off.
E. light-
area :
succes-
sive E.
walls.
Eastern Light-area of ' Megaron '.
The original outer wall of the larger light-area that lies East of the
central stylobate formed part of the same system to which it, together
with the gypsum floor as first laid down and the existing bi-columnar Portico,
belongs. This seems to have been ruined by the great Earthquake towards
the close of M. M. Ill, and only its foundations and base-slabs remain. It
1 P. ofM., ii, Pt. II, p. 400 and Fig. 231.
2 Ibid., i, p. 204, and Fig. 153.