DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7519#0186
THE MIDDLE MINOAN PERIOD
the harem quarters of the Palace.1 To the North of this, over
the Loomweight Area, presumably lay a large hall, the water
from the roof of which was collected in a store tank in the court
below whence an open conduit led it to a blind well.2 To warm
the draughty rooms low tripod hearths of stucco, decorated
with paint, were used.3
At the North end of the Palace, the old wide entrance was
narrowed down all along to the width of the upper section
(i.e. about 2 metres) by means of throwing out a line of bastions
on each side. The blocks of these bastions are marked with
signs typical of the period among which is repeatedly found at
this point a trident as if to signify the sea-gate. At the lower
end was a square pillared hall out of which a gateway led west-
wards, and joined the road leading away from the ' Theatral
Area '.4 On top of the bastions, at a level with the Central
Court, were colonnades, the eastern one of which led on to
the upper story of the pillared hall. These colonnades were
later decorated with painted plaster reliefs of bulls, which will
be described below (PI. XXIV, 2).5
The Lustral Basin by the North-West Portico belongs to
M.M.nirt in its present form with the gypsum lining to the
basin proper and the stepped balustrade though the backing of
small blocks laid in thick beds of mortar is earlier (PI. XXIV, i).6
In the West Wing a door was placed at each end of the central
section of the Long Corridor of Magazines, and in the area so
enclosed cists were sunk both below the floor of the corridor
and of the Magazines (PI. XXIV, 3). Some were lined with
masonry faced with lead and seem to have contained treasure,
the rest were deeper and were lined only with hard plaster as
if they were oil vats.7
The South Propylaeum was built, a very broad structure
entered from the South by five passages, between tall door jambs
and consisting of two unequal parts each fronted by two
columns. In the southern part is a cist.8
In the latter half of the period, after an earthquake, it seems,
had done a certain amount of damage, a few minor alterations
took place. The most important of these consist of the
' Temple Repositories '. These are large stone-lined cists
'P. of M., I, 325-
2 Ibid., 378 ff. The arrangement of the walls below shows the plan,
Fig. 278.
3 Ibid., 390. 1 Ibid., 393. 5 Ibid., Ill, 159 ff.
6 Ibid., I, 405. 7 Ibid., 448. 8 Ibid., II, 692.
the harem quarters of the Palace.1 To the North of this, over
the Loomweight Area, presumably lay a large hall, the water
from the roof of which was collected in a store tank in the court
below whence an open conduit led it to a blind well.2 To warm
the draughty rooms low tripod hearths of stucco, decorated
with paint, were used.3
At the North end of the Palace, the old wide entrance was
narrowed down all along to the width of the upper section
(i.e. about 2 metres) by means of throwing out a line of bastions
on each side. The blocks of these bastions are marked with
signs typical of the period among which is repeatedly found at
this point a trident as if to signify the sea-gate. At the lower
end was a square pillared hall out of which a gateway led west-
wards, and joined the road leading away from the ' Theatral
Area '.4 On top of the bastions, at a level with the Central
Court, were colonnades, the eastern one of which led on to
the upper story of the pillared hall. These colonnades were
later decorated with painted plaster reliefs of bulls, which will
be described below (PI. XXIV, 2).5
The Lustral Basin by the North-West Portico belongs to
M.M.nirt in its present form with the gypsum lining to the
basin proper and the stepped balustrade though the backing of
small blocks laid in thick beds of mortar is earlier (PI. XXIV, i).6
In the West Wing a door was placed at each end of the central
section of the Long Corridor of Magazines, and in the area so
enclosed cists were sunk both below the floor of the corridor
and of the Magazines (PI. XXIV, 3). Some were lined with
masonry faced with lead and seem to have contained treasure,
the rest were deeper and were lined only with hard plaster as
if they were oil vats.7
The South Propylaeum was built, a very broad structure
entered from the South by five passages, between tall door jambs
and consisting of two unequal parts each fronted by two
columns. In the southern part is a cist.8
In the latter half of the period, after an earthquake, it seems,
had done a certain amount of damage, a few minor alterations
took place. The most important of these consist of the
' Temple Repositories '. These are large stone-lined cists
'P. of M., I, 325-
2 Ibid., 378 ff. The arrangement of the walls below shows the plan,
Fig. 278.
3 Ibid., 390. 1 Ibid., 393. 5 Ibid., Ill, 159 ff.
6 Ibid., I, 405. 7 Ibid., 448. 8 Ibid., II, 692.