DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0145
118
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
the scarab, in which case the spiral coils are at times seen to terminate in the
cemetery talismanic nefer sign, often reduced, as on the Cretan example, to the stem and
stone seals \00p without the cross-piece. In other cases such spiraliform scrolls are con-
Scarabs nected with the ankh or life sign, a reminiscence of which again is to be seen
in the circle and T-cross set horizontally in the lower part of the design in
Fig. 149 ' (i.e. the right-hand part of the design on Plate XV). Length -015 m.
These two, then, are imitations of the early Egyptian scarabs of the
twelfth dynasty, and thus confirm the date given to Tholos B and the first
Middle Minoan period.
H24 1124 (Plate XV). This third scarab is also from Tholos B. The beetle is
a fair imitation of nature, but the design is very much stylised, an insect with
three legs on each side of a long hatched body.
The presence in Tholos B of these three scarabs and the Babylonian
cylinder is strong corroboration of the other evidence for a date for the tomb
subsequent to the Early Minoan age, since such imitations of scarabs are not
known before the first Middle Minoan period.1
(2) Five steatite seals
Five steatite In close connection and probably contemporary with these scarabs are
Seals five small seals of white steatite, one found in Tholos A, three in B, and one
in the small Tholos r.
1034 1034 (Plate XIII). From Tholos A. This has the ' signet' form, a disc
with a knob at the back to hold it by, which is pierced vertically and hori-
zontally. The design consists of three intersecting circles. Each of these has
a tree or bough design, a stem, that is, with side branches, filling the area
untouched by the other circles.
1078 1078 (Plate XIV). This is a small very short cylinder with a toothed
circumference. Both ends have a design, the one, two hatched triangles with
a spiral at the apex, and between them a double spiral like a capital S reversed,
the other, along the edge two hatched motifs bordered by curved lines meeting
at an angle, and between them one hatched triangle with spiral apex.
1C94 1094 (Plate XIV). This is a particularly elegant seal, a disc with a toothed
circumference and slightly convex surfaces, one of which has a rich cross design
with the quarters finely hatched, the other a rosette of eight petals within
two circles.
1084 1084 (Plate XV). A prism with a design on each of the three surfaces.
The base has a cross on a hatched field, the two sides, one an irregular rosette
of six petals, the other a triangle, standing out in relief from a hatched ground.
The three-sided shape (cf. No. 1079) began about the end of E.M. Ill, and
became the usual form in the Middle Minoan age.
1126 1126 (Plate XIV). A pretty seal shaped like a small pulley wheel, with
two round convex surfaces and a grooved edge. The one side has within a
1 Evans, Palace, p. 199-
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
the scarab, in which case the spiral coils are at times seen to terminate in the
cemetery talismanic nefer sign, often reduced, as on the Cretan example, to the stem and
stone seals \00p without the cross-piece. In other cases such spiraliform scrolls are con-
Scarabs nected with the ankh or life sign, a reminiscence of which again is to be seen
in the circle and T-cross set horizontally in the lower part of the design in
Fig. 149 ' (i.e. the right-hand part of the design on Plate XV). Length -015 m.
These two, then, are imitations of the early Egyptian scarabs of the
twelfth dynasty, and thus confirm the date given to Tholos B and the first
Middle Minoan period.
H24 1124 (Plate XV). This third scarab is also from Tholos B. The beetle is
a fair imitation of nature, but the design is very much stylised, an insect with
three legs on each side of a long hatched body.
The presence in Tholos B of these three scarabs and the Babylonian
cylinder is strong corroboration of the other evidence for a date for the tomb
subsequent to the Early Minoan age, since such imitations of scarabs are not
known before the first Middle Minoan period.1
(2) Five steatite seals
Five steatite In close connection and probably contemporary with these scarabs are
Seals five small seals of white steatite, one found in Tholos A, three in B, and one
in the small Tholos r.
1034 1034 (Plate XIII). From Tholos A. This has the ' signet' form, a disc
with a knob at the back to hold it by, which is pierced vertically and hori-
zontally. The design consists of three intersecting circles. Each of these has
a tree or bough design, a stem, that is, with side branches, filling the area
untouched by the other circles.
1078 1078 (Plate XIV). This is a small very short cylinder with a toothed
circumference. Both ends have a design, the one, two hatched triangles with
a spiral at the apex, and between them a double spiral like a capital S reversed,
the other, along the edge two hatched motifs bordered by curved lines meeting
at an angle, and between them one hatched triangle with spiral apex.
1C94 1094 (Plate XIV). This is a particularly elegant seal, a disc with a toothed
circumference and slightly convex surfaces, one of which has a rich cross design
with the quarters finely hatched, the other a rosette of eight petals within
two circles.
1084 1084 (Plate XV). A prism with a design on each of the three surfaces.
The base has a cross on a hatched field, the two sides, one an irregular rosette
of six petals, the other a triangle, standing out in relief from a hatched ground.
The three-sided shape (cf. No. 1079) began about the end of E.M. Ill, and
became the usual form in the Middle Minoan age.
1126 1126 (Plate XIV). A pretty seal shaped like a small pulley wheel, with
two round convex surfaces and a grooved edge. The one side has within a
1 Evans, Palace, p. 199-