DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7477#0032
IN THE LIGHT OF CRETAN DISCOVERIES 25
objects, contained many interesting relics, and there was
also evidence of a renewed funereal cult, illustrated by a
series of offertory bowls and goblets, amongst which were
miniature jugs otherwise associated with domestic snake
worship of Knossos.
This cult of the household snakes, of which extraordinary
evidence has been recently brought to light in a house
bordering the West Court of the Palace, and which is still
deeply rooted in primitive customs both of Greece and of
its Slavonic and Albanian borderlands, is of fundamental
importance in its bearing on the more developed worship
of the Minoan Goddess. The reptile is here the simple
ringed or grass snake, very different from the adder that
became a distinguishing mark of the Goddess in her more
awesome chthonic aspect. Its essential aspect is that of
a beneficent Genius, and, as linked with the divinity, brings
with it the idea of house-mother. From the newly dis-
covered evidence, it is evident that the sections of the
Minoan terra-cotta drain-pipes,—a favourite refuge of these
water-loving reptiles,—were taken over into the ritual furni-
ture of the Goddess as a cult-object, and persisted thus over
a space of some twelve centuries till the time when, in the
sanctuary of the Lady of Paphos, the water-pipe section was
transformed into a dove-cot.
The miniature libation jugs associated with the Temple-
Tomb, identical with those of the domestic snake-room
above referred to, in fact emphasized the maternal character
of the Goddess who there guarded the last resting-place of
scions of the royal and priestly caste of the House of Minos.
She is still essentially the ' house-mother '.
We feel that we are in presence of a Religion of an
intimate character, far removed from the chilly atmosphere
of Olympus. Although the larger outstanding objects of its
cult were still mainly of the aniconic or baetylic class, the
imagery of the divine agents has happily been largely pre-
served to us. It may be said, indeed, that this form of
Religion which does not bind the worshipper to any artistic
D
objects, contained many interesting relics, and there was
also evidence of a renewed funereal cult, illustrated by a
series of offertory bowls and goblets, amongst which were
miniature jugs otherwise associated with domestic snake
worship of Knossos.
This cult of the household snakes, of which extraordinary
evidence has been recently brought to light in a house
bordering the West Court of the Palace, and which is still
deeply rooted in primitive customs both of Greece and of
its Slavonic and Albanian borderlands, is of fundamental
importance in its bearing on the more developed worship
of the Minoan Goddess. The reptile is here the simple
ringed or grass snake, very different from the adder that
became a distinguishing mark of the Goddess in her more
awesome chthonic aspect. Its essential aspect is that of
a beneficent Genius, and, as linked with the divinity, brings
with it the idea of house-mother. From the newly dis-
covered evidence, it is evident that the sections of the
Minoan terra-cotta drain-pipes,—a favourite refuge of these
water-loving reptiles,—were taken over into the ritual furni-
ture of the Goddess as a cult-object, and persisted thus over
a space of some twelve centuries till the time when, in the
sanctuary of the Lady of Paphos, the water-pipe section was
transformed into a dove-cot.
The miniature libation jugs associated with the Temple-
Tomb, identical with those of the domestic snake-room
above referred to, in fact emphasized the maternal character
of the Goddess who there guarded the last resting-place of
scions of the royal and priestly caste of the House of Minos.
She is still essentially the ' house-mother '.
We feel that we are in presence of a Religion of an
intimate character, far removed from the chilly atmosphere
of Olympus. Although the larger outstanding objects of its
cult were still mainly of the aniconic or baetylic class, the
imagery of the divine agents has happily been largely pre-
served to us. It may be said, indeed, that this form of
Religion which does not bind the worshipper to any artistic
D