DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1066#0078
for holding incense or corn and other fruits of the
earth. No arrangements could be simpler, and it
would be unsafe to draw any very definite con-
clusions from them, but we have other proofs
that Minoan religion was remarkably free from
debasing fear, and paid its utmost devotion to
the kindly mysteries of Mother Earth.
Our rapid survey of the eastern half of the
palace is now complete, and we turn to the West
Wing, where supplies and possibly payments of
tribute were delivered and stored. These were
not admitted by the North Gate to the Central
Court, but were brought to a large paved court
on the west (I), and were probably examined and
weighed within a small outstanding portico or
porter's lodge (J), before they were received at the
south-western entrance of the palace. This
entrance communicated somewhat indirectly with
an important system of magazines or store-rooms.
An idea of the character of the West Court is
gained from its background, the outer west wall
of the palace. This has a projecting base, whereon
the peasants and humbler merchants could sit
dozing, with one eye upon their merchandise and
pack-animals. During the long morning hours
when traffic was busiest, this seat was always in
shade—a pleasant refuge from the sun's rays
that beat so fiercely on the open court. The
wall above the seat bore splendid decorations,
of which interesting fragments remain. These
include parts of an ornamental border, the facade
of a shrine, and a spirited life-size figure of a bull,
a conspicuous representation of the royal, sacred,
and heraldic beast, as significant to a Minoan
earth. No arrangements could be simpler, and it
would be unsafe to draw any very definite con-
clusions from them, but we have other proofs
that Minoan religion was remarkably free from
debasing fear, and paid its utmost devotion to
the kindly mysteries of Mother Earth.
Our rapid survey of the eastern half of the
palace is now complete, and we turn to the West
Wing, where supplies and possibly payments of
tribute were delivered and stored. These were
not admitted by the North Gate to the Central
Court, but were brought to a large paved court
on the west (I), and were probably examined and
weighed within a small outstanding portico or
porter's lodge (J), before they were received at the
south-western entrance of the palace. This
entrance communicated somewhat indirectly with
an important system of magazines or store-rooms.
An idea of the character of the West Court is
gained from its background, the outer west wall
of the palace. This has a projecting base, whereon
the peasants and humbler merchants could sit
dozing, with one eye upon their merchandise and
pack-animals. During the long morning hours
when traffic was busiest, this seat was always in
shade—a pleasant refuge from the sun's rays
that beat so fiercely on the open court. The
wall above the seat bore splendid decorations,
of which interesting fragments remain. These
include parts of an ornamental border, the facade
of a shrine, and a spirited life-size figure of a bull,
a conspicuous representation of the royal, sacred,
and heraldic beast, as significant to a Minoan