DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0051
'CYPRO-MINOAN* EXAMPLES
407
physically described as proto-Armenoid and well represented by the Hittite
monuments, and which emerges at Knossos in the royal seal-types of the
'Hieroglyphic deposit'—that seems to have supplied the facial profile
later ascribed to the Hebrews.1
At Knossos, as we have seen, the connexion of the dove with the
central cult may be traced back to the beginning of the Second Millennium,
B.C., nor can we forget the artistic carving of the ivory seal of E. M. Ill date2
in the form of a dove sheltering her nestlings beneath her wings. An
amuletic pendant of chalcedony, moreover, in the form of a dove was found
in Tomb IV at Mochlos,8 recalling similar objects from Early Cycladic
Graves.*
In Cyprus the evidence of the dove cult goes back into the Copper
Age, and is well illustrated by a series of clay vessels, often ring-shaped
with three or four feet, on which are doves accompanied by libation vases
and rude female figures.5 Later on, in the period of intimate contact with
Crete—which seems to find its inception in L.M. Id, and is characterized
by cylinder-seals with religious representations of what may be called a
' Cypro-Minoan' class 8—we witness a kind of fusion of Cypriote and
Minoan ideas regarding the Dove Goddess. The bird perched on the
little temple before the adoring figure on the Cylinder from Old Salamis 7
(Fig. 338) recalls the miniature gold shrines with the perched doves from
antiquity
of Cy-
prian
clove
1 F. von Luschan, Huxley Memorial Lec-
ture for igu: The Early Inhabitants of
Western Asia, p. 240 seqq., and Plates XXIV,
XXV, XXX-XXXII {Jonrn. JR. Ant.hr. Inst.
xli). Von Luschan refers (p. 242) to his con-
vincing identification of the later [ Jewish'
physiognomy with this early ' Syro-Anatolian'
element, first put forth by him in 1902. The
prevalence of a brachycephalic type with a
distinctly Armenoid profile among the Ornani
of S. Arabia, now established (Sir Arthur
Keith and Dr. W. M. Kroyman, App. I to
Bertram Thomas, Arabia Felix, 1932), does
not stand in the way of this conclusion as
the type is clearly intrusive in that area.
The Aryan Kurds have taken over this type
in the same way as the Jews (see op. tit., PI.
XXV). Von Luschan quotes the Song of
Songs, vii, 4 for the Jewish ideal of beauty.
'Thy nose is like the Tower of Lebanon
which looketh towards Damascus.'
" P. of M., i, p 117, Fig. 86, a, b\ see
Xanthudides, Vaulted Tombs of Mesarii
(transl. Droop), PI. IV, 516, and p. 30
(Tholos B).
3 Seager, Explorations in the Island of
Mothlos, p. 40, and Fig. 20, 7. Cf. P. of M.,
i, p. 102.
4 E.g. Tsountas, KvKXdSiKa. I and II ; 'E<£.
'Apx- i9rS, PI. VIII, 16, 17, 23; iS99, PI.
X,27,2S.
5 A set of such vessels was found in Tomb 13
at Paraskevi; see Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros,
die Bibel mid Homer, PL CLXX. (Compare
PL CLXXIII: Tomb 22). Cf. ibid., text,
p. 283 seqq., and Figs. 1S1-6.
5 In my jVyc. Tree and Pillar Worship
(p. 50 [148] seqq.) I referred to this class of
cylinders as ' Cypro-Mycenaean '.
' Cesnola, Salaminia, PL XIV. 45 ; Ohne-
falsch Richter, Kypros &c, i, p. 291, Fig. 197
&c.
407
physically described as proto-Armenoid and well represented by the Hittite
monuments, and which emerges at Knossos in the royal seal-types of the
'Hieroglyphic deposit'—that seems to have supplied the facial profile
later ascribed to the Hebrews.1
At Knossos, as we have seen, the connexion of the dove with the
central cult may be traced back to the beginning of the Second Millennium,
B.C., nor can we forget the artistic carving of the ivory seal of E. M. Ill date2
in the form of a dove sheltering her nestlings beneath her wings. An
amuletic pendant of chalcedony, moreover, in the form of a dove was found
in Tomb IV at Mochlos,8 recalling similar objects from Early Cycladic
Graves.*
In Cyprus the evidence of the dove cult goes back into the Copper
Age, and is well illustrated by a series of clay vessels, often ring-shaped
with three or four feet, on which are doves accompanied by libation vases
and rude female figures.5 Later on, in the period of intimate contact with
Crete—which seems to find its inception in L.M. Id, and is characterized
by cylinder-seals with religious representations of what may be called a
' Cypro-Minoan' class 8—we witness a kind of fusion of Cypriote and
Minoan ideas regarding the Dove Goddess. The bird perched on the
little temple before the adoring figure on the Cylinder from Old Salamis 7
(Fig. 338) recalls the miniature gold shrines with the perched doves from
antiquity
of Cy-
prian
clove
1 F. von Luschan, Huxley Memorial Lec-
ture for igu: The Early Inhabitants of
Western Asia, p. 240 seqq., and Plates XXIV,
XXV, XXX-XXXII {Jonrn. JR. Ant.hr. Inst.
xli). Von Luschan refers (p. 242) to his con-
vincing identification of the later [ Jewish'
physiognomy with this early ' Syro-Anatolian'
element, first put forth by him in 1902. The
prevalence of a brachycephalic type with a
distinctly Armenoid profile among the Ornani
of S. Arabia, now established (Sir Arthur
Keith and Dr. W. M. Kroyman, App. I to
Bertram Thomas, Arabia Felix, 1932), does
not stand in the way of this conclusion as
the type is clearly intrusive in that area.
The Aryan Kurds have taken over this type
in the same way as the Jews (see op. tit., PI.
XXV). Von Luschan quotes the Song of
Songs, vii, 4 for the Jewish ideal of beauty.
'Thy nose is like the Tower of Lebanon
which looketh towards Damascus.'
" P. of M., i, p 117, Fig. 86, a, b\ see
Xanthudides, Vaulted Tombs of Mesarii
(transl. Droop), PI. IV, 516, and p. 30
(Tholos B).
3 Seager, Explorations in the Island of
Mothlos, p. 40, and Fig. 20, 7. Cf. P. of M.,
i, p. 102.
4 E.g. Tsountas, KvKXdSiKa. I and II ; 'E<£.
'Apx- i9rS, PI. VIII, 16, 17, 23; iS99, PI.
X,27,2S.
5 A set of such vessels was found in Tomb 13
at Paraskevi; see Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros,
die Bibel mid Homer, PL CLXX. (Compare
PL CLXXIII: Tomb 22). Cf. ibid., text,
p. 283 seqq., and Figs. 1S1-6.
5 In my jVyc. Tree and Pillar Worship
(p. 50 [148] seqq.) I referred to this class of
cylinders as ' Cypro-Mycenaean '.
' Cesnola, Salaminia, PL XIV. 45 ; Ohne-
falsch Richter, Kypros &c, i, p. 291, Fig. 197
&c.