DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0128
PLATANOS
101
respectively. The best is 1665 (Plate XII), which is of variegated alabaster, the
wonderfully elegant in the fineness of its workmanship and the thinness of its cemetery
walls ; for the cavity takes up the whole body of the vase. The low neck is
divided from the shoulder by two grooves with a ridge between.
1672 (Plate XI). This has four vertical lugs in imitation of the handles
of a clay pithos.
The three largest, 1668, 1669, and 1991, in contrast with their bulk have
a very small shallow cavity, useless for any practical purpose.
(g) Cylindrical vases and vases of flozver-pot form. (Plate LIII b.)
There are some thirty cylindrical vases made of various coloured marbles, Cylindrical and
when they are not of black or light grey steatite. Some of them are true Flower-Pot Vases
cylinders, but most either have a waist or widen to the top. The least tall
resemble the modern flower-pot. The nine shown in Plate LIII b are repre-
sentative of the different types. The only one with decoration is 1642 (Plates
XI and LIII b), an elegant little vase with a set of three incised lines round
rim and base.
(h) Tubular vases. (Plate LIII b.)
A variation of Class (g) are the tall, very narrow tube-like vases shown in Tubular Vases
the middle of the top row of Plate LIII b. Of these, 1641 is exceptional in
shape, being in section a square with the corners cut off.
1905 (Plate XI). This small cylinder, open at both ends like a tube, is of
green Laconian porphyry (lapis Lacedaemonius), the well-known stone of
Taygetus, of which the large vessel in the Royal Tomb at Isopata by Knossos
was made,1 and of which large undressed pieces were found in the Palace of
Knossos. The use of this Laconian stone for this little vase proves connection
between Laconia and Crete at least as early as the first Middle Minoan period,
if not in Early Minoan days.
(i) Vases of Egyptian style. (Plate LIII b.)
Two vases of Egyptian shape were found, one, 1637, of alabaster, in store- Vases of Egyptian
room a of Tholos A ; the other, 1904 (Plate XI), in area AB. The shape has Style
been discussed above, p. 65, in connection with 1057 from Porti. The most
probable view is that these two vases are close copies of an early dynastic
model. Sir Arthur Evans regards the shape as a line for line copy of an
Egyptian form of the sixth dynasty.2
(k) Small bowls and cups. (Plate LIV.)
There are about twenty little bowls, so small that we cannot suppose them Small Bowls and
anything but toys or symbols. Most of them have one stick handle projecting Cups
1 Evans, Prehistoric Tombs, p. 146, figs. 123, 124. 2 Evans, Palace, p. 93, figs. 60, 61.
101
respectively. The best is 1665 (Plate XII), which is of variegated alabaster, the
wonderfully elegant in the fineness of its workmanship and the thinness of its cemetery
walls ; for the cavity takes up the whole body of the vase. The low neck is
divided from the shoulder by two grooves with a ridge between.
1672 (Plate XI). This has four vertical lugs in imitation of the handles
of a clay pithos.
The three largest, 1668, 1669, and 1991, in contrast with their bulk have
a very small shallow cavity, useless for any practical purpose.
(g) Cylindrical vases and vases of flozver-pot form. (Plate LIII b.)
There are some thirty cylindrical vases made of various coloured marbles, Cylindrical and
when they are not of black or light grey steatite. Some of them are true Flower-Pot Vases
cylinders, but most either have a waist or widen to the top. The least tall
resemble the modern flower-pot. The nine shown in Plate LIII b are repre-
sentative of the different types. The only one with decoration is 1642 (Plates
XI and LIII b), an elegant little vase with a set of three incised lines round
rim and base.
(h) Tubular vases. (Plate LIII b.)
A variation of Class (g) are the tall, very narrow tube-like vases shown in Tubular Vases
the middle of the top row of Plate LIII b. Of these, 1641 is exceptional in
shape, being in section a square with the corners cut off.
1905 (Plate XI). This small cylinder, open at both ends like a tube, is of
green Laconian porphyry (lapis Lacedaemonius), the well-known stone of
Taygetus, of which the large vessel in the Royal Tomb at Isopata by Knossos
was made,1 and of which large undressed pieces were found in the Palace of
Knossos. The use of this Laconian stone for this little vase proves connection
between Laconia and Crete at least as early as the first Middle Minoan period,
if not in Early Minoan days.
(i) Vases of Egyptian style. (Plate LIII b.)
Two vases of Egyptian shape were found, one, 1637, of alabaster, in store- Vases of Egyptian
room a of Tholos A ; the other, 1904 (Plate XI), in area AB. The shape has Style
been discussed above, p. 65, in connection with 1057 from Porti. The most
probable view is that these two vases are close copies of an early dynastic
model. Sir Arthur Evans regards the shape as a line for line copy of an
Egyptian form of the sixth dynasty.2
(k) Small bowls and cups. (Plate LIV.)
There are about twenty little bowls, so small that we cannot suppose them Small Bowls and
anything but toys or symbols. Most of them have one stick handle projecting Cups
1 Evans, Prehistoric Tombs, p. 146, figs. 123, 124. 2 Evans, Palace, p. 93, figs. 60, 61.