DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1117#0211
1.66 'SNAKE TUBES' INHERITED BY CYPRIAN GODDESS
'Snake
tube*
assimi-
lated
to cult of
Cyprian
Dove
Goddess.
Becomes
a dove-
cot.
W
from the Temenos of that Goddess at Greek-speaking Idalion, is still
closely related to the early class and is of a purely cylindrical form. It
differs, however, in the door-like opening below and the round hole above
seen on two of its sides, which seem to have a special refer-
ence to the Cyprian religion. This maybe still more clearly
gathered from the other variety, of a taper shape, derived
from the sanctuary at
Kition1 (Fig. 12S,a,6).
In this case the God-
dess actually appears
E-^-iiSS standing in a large
doorway, while the
upper contour of the
tube is perforated by
numerous holes, beside
which small figures of
doves are moulded, as
if flying out of the in-
terior. We have here,
in fact, the Dove God-
dess at the entrance of
her sacred dove-cot.
This transforma-
tion — in accordance
with the then prevail-
ing Cyprian cult2—of an object originally designed for the actual use
of household snakes was facilitated by the fact that already in the little
Cretan sanctuaries referred to, as at Goumia, we find the domestic ' snake
h
Fig. 127. Cult
Object resembl-
ing'SnakeTube'
from Idalion.
' Snake Tube', from
aphrodite-astarte,
Kition, transformed into Dove-cot.
Figs. 187-9). It is described in vol. i,- p.
169 as a ' Raucherbecken \ The general
affinity of these objects with the Cretan
cylinders was recognized by Zahn, op. at.,
PP- 3°> 31- The object is in the Berlin
Antiquariuin • its height is 32 cm.
1 Ohnefalsch-Richter, op. cit., PI. XVII, 2,
3, and vol. i, p. 269, and p. 2S7. Its height
is only 13 cm.
2 Primitive snake cult was also deeply
rooted in Cyprus, witness Early Copper-Age
pots and cylinder seals. Mr. P. Dikaios has
now brougbt out at Vounous a remarkable clay
object representing a household yard, with
ring-dance, cattle feeding, and other domestic
scenes. Against the wall opposite the arched
entrance, behind what seems to be a semi-
circular hearth, is a kind of double table
with two ascending snakes (see Fig. 140, p-
177). In the inner space opposite appears a
standing figure. (///. London News, Dec. 5,
1931: but the details were wrongly interpreted,
as also in his article Les Cultes prehisforiques
dans Pile de Chypre, Syria, 1932, p. 345 secl^
■#
'Snake
tube*
assimi-
lated
to cult of
Cyprian
Dove
Goddess.
Becomes
a dove-
cot.
W
from the Temenos of that Goddess at Greek-speaking Idalion, is still
closely related to the early class and is of a purely cylindrical form. It
differs, however, in the door-like opening below and the round hole above
seen on two of its sides, which seem to have a special refer-
ence to the Cyprian religion. This maybe still more clearly
gathered from the other variety, of a taper shape, derived
from the sanctuary at
Kition1 (Fig. 12S,a,6).
In this case the God-
dess actually appears
E-^-iiSS standing in a large
doorway, while the
upper contour of the
tube is perforated by
numerous holes, beside
which small figures of
doves are moulded, as
if flying out of the in-
terior. We have here,
in fact, the Dove God-
dess at the entrance of
her sacred dove-cot.
This transforma-
tion — in accordance
with the then prevail-
ing Cyprian cult2—of an object originally designed for the actual use
of household snakes was facilitated by the fact that already in the little
Cretan sanctuaries referred to, as at Goumia, we find the domestic ' snake
h
Fig. 127. Cult
Object resembl-
ing'SnakeTube'
from Idalion.
' Snake Tube', from
aphrodite-astarte,
Kition, transformed into Dove-cot.
Figs. 187-9). It is described in vol. i,- p.
169 as a ' Raucherbecken \ The general
affinity of these objects with the Cretan
cylinders was recognized by Zahn, op. at.,
PP- 3°> 31- The object is in the Berlin
Antiquariuin • its height is 32 cm.
1 Ohnefalsch-Richter, op. cit., PI. XVII, 2,
3, and vol. i, p. 269, and p. 2S7. Its height
is only 13 cm.
2 Primitive snake cult was also deeply
rooted in Cyprus, witness Early Copper-Age
pots and cylinder seals. Mr. P. Dikaios has
now brougbt out at Vounous a remarkable clay
object representing a household yard, with
ring-dance, cattle feeding, and other domestic
scenes. Against the wall opposite the arched
entrance, behind what seems to be a semi-
circular hearth, is a kind of double table
with two ascending snakes (see Fig. 140, p-
177). In the inner space opposite appears a
standing figure. (///. London News, Dec. 5,
1931: but the details were wrongly interpreted,
as also in his article Les Cultes prehisforiques
dans Pile de Chypre, Syria, 1932, p. 345 secl^
■#