DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0057
30
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
tholos b E. Seals.
SEALS
The burial strata of this tholos yielded some twenty seals of ivory or
stone. The most interesting are reproduced on Plate IV. Originally the
ivory seals must certainly have been more numerous, and we must suppose
that the damp, which has damaged all but two or three of the few that have
survived, has destroyed many more.
Dove with Young 516. The largest and most interesting of the Tholos B seals is of ivory
carved to represent a dove sheltering her two young ones with her wings.1
It is partly damaged and is '05 m. high. It is pierced twice, vertically and
horizontally, to ensure its hanging the right way up. The seal design on the
flat oval base is a quadruple spiral within a border of elongated loops. Sir
Arthur Evans 2 holds that there is a religious significance in the dove form
of this seal, as also in the chalcedony dove pendant from Mochlos,3 and in other
doves from the Cyclades.4 The spiral signet design is met with for the first
time in these Cretan ivory seals of E.M. II, and came from the north through
the Cyclades, and not from Egypt.5
517. A seal of ivory in the form of an irregular cylinder pierced vertically
and horizontally. The design is four linked spirals.
518. A small ivory seal in the form of a truncated cone. It is very
well preserved and has the same double piercing. The intaglio design on
an oval base consists of four-petalled cruciform flowers, tAvo large and two
small.
519. 520. Cylindrical ivory seals very much damaged with spiral
designs.
522. An ivory seal of unique shape, a segment apparently cut slantwise
from the end of the cylinder. The design is a simple spiral.
646. This ivory seal is in the form of a very broad ring, or rather it is
a cylinder pierced longitudinally with a flat bezel applied to one side. The
hole is very small, too small for it to go even on a child's finger. The design
on the oval bezel can be interpreted as a pair of grasshoppers arranged in
exact symmetry.
801. This is a small slab of ivory pierced through the rounded end. The
design on the flat end seems to be intended for the nude body of a man in
profile.
Most of the other seals from this tholos are of steatite. Their shapes are
as a rule regular, and borrowed from geometry; we find cubes, cones, and
cylinders, and also buttons. Their designs are likewise for the most part
geometric, parallel and criss-cross lines, fine or broad.
1 Published by Evans, Palace, p. 117, fig. 86. 4 'E<j>. 'Apx- (1898), IIiv. VIII, 16, 17, 23.
2 Evans, Palace, p. 102.
3 Seager, Mochlos, p. 48, fig. 20, IV, 7. 6 Evans, Palace, p. 114.
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
tholos b E. Seals.
SEALS
The burial strata of this tholos yielded some twenty seals of ivory or
stone. The most interesting are reproduced on Plate IV. Originally the
ivory seals must certainly have been more numerous, and we must suppose
that the damp, which has damaged all but two or three of the few that have
survived, has destroyed many more.
Dove with Young 516. The largest and most interesting of the Tholos B seals is of ivory
carved to represent a dove sheltering her two young ones with her wings.1
It is partly damaged and is '05 m. high. It is pierced twice, vertically and
horizontally, to ensure its hanging the right way up. The seal design on the
flat oval base is a quadruple spiral within a border of elongated loops. Sir
Arthur Evans 2 holds that there is a religious significance in the dove form
of this seal, as also in the chalcedony dove pendant from Mochlos,3 and in other
doves from the Cyclades.4 The spiral signet design is met with for the first
time in these Cretan ivory seals of E.M. II, and came from the north through
the Cyclades, and not from Egypt.5
517. A seal of ivory in the form of an irregular cylinder pierced vertically
and horizontally. The design is four linked spirals.
518. A small ivory seal in the form of a truncated cone. It is very
well preserved and has the same double piercing. The intaglio design on
an oval base consists of four-petalled cruciform flowers, tAvo large and two
small.
519. 520. Cylindrical ivory seals very much damaged with spiral
designs.
522. An ivory seal of unique shape, a segment apparently cut slantwise
from the end of the cylinder. The design is a simple spiral.
646. This ivory seal is in the form of a very broad ring, or rather it is
a cylinder pierced longitudinally with a flat bezel applied to one side. The
hole is very small, too small for it to go even on a child's finger. The design
on the oval bezel can be interpreted as a pair of grasshoppers arranged in
exact symmetry.
801. This is a small slab of ivory pierced through the rounded end. The
design on the flat end seems to be intended for the nude body of a man in
profile.
Most of the other seals from this tholos are of steatite. Their shapes are
as a rule regular, and borrowed from geometry; we find cubes, cones, and
cylinders, and also buttons. Their designs are likewise for the most part
geometric, parallel and criss-cross lines, fine or broad.
1 Published by Evans, Palace, p. 117, fig. 86. 4 'E<j>. 'Apx- (1898), IIiv. VIII, 16, 17, 23.
2 Evans, Palace, p. 102.
3 Seager, Mochlos, p. 48, fig. 20, IV, 7. 6 Evans, Palace, p. 114.