DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1117#0185
14o 'SNAKE TUBES'
Utensils floor level. It rested on a pavement belonging to the very beginning of
i!,Ta°Sgeed the New Era (M. M. Ill <5-L. M. I a), but its lower part, up to about a fifth
jar- of a metre, had been covered by deposit forming the underlying support of
a new floor that had been in existence at the close of the Palace period
(L. M. II) and must have been laid down at some intermediate epoch.
The jar proved to have been the repository of what appears to have
been a complete set of clay vessels and other utensils designed for the
tending and cult of domestic snakes, and in some cases bearing plastic
figures -of the snakes themselves, coiling round the vessels and raising their
heads above their rims. Both the jar itself and its contents had been much
broken, probably by the falling in of the house itself, at the time of the
catastrophic destruction that set a final term to the neighbouring Palace.-
■Milk- _ The jar (reproduced in Suppl. PI. XLVI) was 71 centimetres in height and
Temple about 30 in the width of the rim. The objects that it contained—originally
Tomb. between thirty and forty in all—were of comparatively small size, the tubular
vessels, which were the tallest, being about 30 centimetres in height. A class
of plain pots, some handleless, some with rudimentary remains of handles,
of which remains of about a score were found, averaged only about 8 centi-
metres or 3 inches in height (Fig. 109, 18, 19, 20, 22). They seem to have
represented miniature milk-jugs used in this domestic snake cult and the
recurrence of identical vessels in the Temple Tomb at Knossos has a deep
religious significance.
Bowls for Besides these little pots there were several shallow bowls, the largest
ings asTn ' 7 centimetres in diameter, of a form recalling those containing food offerings,
Spring of which such quantities were found in the later Spring- Chamber sanctuary
Chamber. ■ . .,, . - . . ., f
by the Caravanserai.1 Here, again, we have an interesting evidence 01
the survival of the local cult, otherwise illustrated in the same ' Spring-
Chamber' shrine by the traditional figurine of the Goddess standing
within the hut-urn, found in company with the bowls of offering.
' Snake Tubes' or Cylinders.
The The objects shown in Fig. 109, 4, 5, 6, recall, except for the cups attached
Tubes'. t° them and the fact that in this case they are closed at the bottom, a familiar
article of ritual furniture of which specimens are known from a series 01
small domestic shrines that have come to light in Central and Eastern
Crete (see Fig. 110). The essential feature of these utensils is a terra-cotta
tube or cylinder, in these cases open both above and below. The tallest
of them, as at Kumasa, attain a height of 80 centimetres, but the analogous
1 StxP.ofM., il,Pt.I,p. 134, Fig. 68. Many olives were there found among the food-offerings.
Utensils floor level. It rested on a pavement belonging to the very beginning of
i!,Ta°Sgeed the New Era (M. M. Ill <5-L. M. I a), but its lower part, up to about a fifth
jar- of a metre, had been covered by deposit forming the underlying support of
a new floor that had been in existence at the close of the Palace period
(L. M. II) and must have been laid down at some intermediate epoch.
The jar proved to have been the repository of what appears to have
been a complete set of clay vessels and other utensils designed for the
tending and cult of domestic snakes, and in some cases bearing plastic
figures -of the snakes themselves, coiling round the vessels and raising their
heads above their rims. Both the jar itself and its contents had been much
broken, probably by the falling in of the house itself, at the time of the
catastrophic destruction that set a final term to the neighbouring Palace.-
■Milk- _ The jar (reproduced in Suppl. PI. XLVI) was 71 centimetres in height and
Temple about 30 in the width of the rim. The objects that it contained—originally
Tomb. between thirty and forty in all—were of comparatively small size, the tubular
vessels, which were the tallest, being about 30 centimetres in height. A class
of plain pots, some handleless, some with rudimentary remains of handles,
of which remains of about a score were found, averaged only about 8 centi-
metres or 3 inches in height (Fig. 109, 18, 19, 20, 22). They seem to have
represented miniature milk-jugs used in this domestic snake cult and the
recurrence of identical vessels in the Temple Tomb at Knossos has a deep
religious significance.
Bowls for Besides these little pots there were several shallow bowls, the largest
ings asTn ' 7 centimetres in diameter, of a form recalling those containing food offerings,
Spring of which such quantities were found in the later Spring- Chamber sanctuary
Chamber. ■ . .,, . - . . ., f
by the Caravanserai.1 Here, again, we have an interesting evidence 01
the survival of the local cult, otherwise illustrated in the same ' Spring-
Chamber' shrine by the traditional figurine of the Goddess standing
within the hut-urn, found in company with the bowls of offering.
' Snake Tubes' or Cylinders.
The The objects shown in Fig. 109, 4, 5, 6, recall, except for the cups attached
Tubes'. t° them and the fact that in this case they are closed at the bottom, a familiar
article of ritual furniture of which specimens are known from a series 01
small domestic shrines that have come to light in Central and Eastern
Crete (see Fig. 110). The essential feature of these utensils is a terra-cotta
tube or cylinder, in these cases open both above and below. The tallest
of them, as at Kumasa, attain a height of 80 centimetres, but the analogous
1 StxP.ofM., il,Pt.I,p. 134, Fig. 68. Many olives were there found among the food-offerings.