Pendlebury, John D.: Aegyptiaca: a catalogue of Egyptian objects in the Aegean area (Cambridge, 1930)

XII. PLATANOS

Platanos lies in the Messara Plain on the Hieropotamos River some two and a half
miles south-west of Gortyna. There were three tholos tombs. In the largest, A, were
discovered, as at Koumasa, ivory figures of men with dome-shaped heads, pointed
chins and the figure ending in a point, which very much resemble Predynastic Egyptian
types from Naqada (P. of M. n. i. fig. 13).1 Tholos B may have been built in Early
Minoan III. Middle Minoan I, however, was its main period and further interments
were made later.

1 Dr H. R. Hall was the first to mention these resemblances (J.E.A. 1914, p. 113). He considers that
they point rather to a common source for both the Cretan and the Egyptian examples than to an importa-
tion or even an imitation by Cretans of Egyptian originals.

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