Continuing on our historical journey – this could well turn out to be a four or even five page saga!

This is the Phaistos Disc – dated early 17th century BC.

The inscribed clay disc takes pride of place in the history of Cretan scripts.  It bears forty five signs arranged in different combinations into sixty one groups which are separated by lines presumably representing words. There are no conclusions regarding the inscription but the repetition of certain combinations provides the most persuasive evidence that the inscription is a hymn or magic characters.

Isn’t this incredible?  Discovered at Knossos it is a double jug with a strainer, decorated with lilies and birds on the rim.  Dating from 1500-1450 BC I cannot believe that it has survived in one piece – even the handle looks to be intact and not patched up in some way.

The painting on the pottery is really breath-taking.  Following are some large jugs also discovered at Knossos.

The painting of marine life that adorns these vessels include tritons, starfish, coral and rocks.  Octopus also take a prominent place as you may have noticed.

I pass more pottery, double head axes, trinkets and bulls head rhytons but then this masterpiece  – you must recognize it for sure –

The Bull-Leaping Fresco from Knossos Palace 1500-1400 BC.  There are three participants, two white skinned women and a brown skinned man.  One of the female athletes is restraining the bull by the horns to reduce its speed and prevent the leaper performing the dangerous backwards somersault from being gored.  The second female athlete, behind the bull, is waiting with outstretched arms to catch the leaper as he lands. The fresco was found on the east side of the Palace, together with fragments of others depicting different stages of the same sport.  Obviously the fresco is not complete – but what pieces are there have been incorporated into the painting.

Another fresco is the Captain of the Blacks – Knossos House of the Frescoes 1350-1300 BC. Even though it is only a fragment it depicts a running military detachment.  The leader of the men, wearing a Monoan loincloth and holding two spears, has been named the ‘Captain of the Blacks’ because he is followed by two men painted black, perhaps African soldiers in the service of the palace. This is probably a depiction of an exercise or sport similar to the ancient Greek ‘ hoplite race’.  They are breath taking.  There are more frescoes upstairs and if they are anything like these I will be a happy chappy.

This is The Harvester Vase – dating 1450 BC.

It is a black soapstone rhyton with a relief depicting a procession of twenty seven men carrying the harvest and cutting tools.  The group sings to the accompaniment of a musical instrument with rattles called a sistrum.

At the head of the procession is a man carrying a staff and wearing a ceremonial mantle. He could be an official or a priest and the procession may form part of a religious festival for the blessing of a new harvest.

Below left is a fragment of the ‘Three Columned Shrine’. It depicts the portico of a palace with columns. Dated 1700-1450BC.

In the centre is a libation vessel consisting of hollow rings.  How delicate is this and to have survived 3000 years.  The liquid entered at the top, ran through the rings and was poured out through the base,  Fancy, fancy don’t you think?  On the right is a stone bulls head rhyton.  The left side of the head and the horns have been restored.  A masterpiece of Minoan art, it is very lifelike.  The snout is outlined with white seashell while the preserved right eye is rock crystal with a rim and iris of red jasper.  Dating 1600-1450 BC, the liquid would have been poured in a hole in the neck and then out the snout!

The so-called Ring of Minos is a masterpiece.  The goddess is shown hovering in the air, seated on a stepped platform and rowing and steering a boat that has a seahorse head.

The passage of the goddess through the three natural elements of air, land and sea serves as a unification of the mortal world and imposes the message of Minoan power over land and see.  Dated 1450-1400 BC, it was discovered at Knossos.

The most important cult objects from the Knossos Temple are the figures of the ‘Snake Goddess’  They are named after the snakes twining around the body and arms of the larger figure and the two snakes that she holds in her upraised hands.

The snakes symbolise the character of the cult of the goddess, while the feline creature on the head suggests her dominion over wildlife.  She wears luxurious garments consisting of a long layered skirt, an embroidered apron and a close fitting bodice that exposes the large breasts which symbolise the fertility of women, the goddess and nature itself.

Dating from 1650-1550 BC – it’s a miracle how the snakes survived.

There are loads of clay pots, vases, amphora etc but I will concentrate on the intricate smaller items.

This head of a lioness is made from translucent limestone with a hole in the muzzle four pouring out the liquid offering.

An exquisite work, showing the skill of the stone carver, the nose and eyes were originally inlaid with materials which have not survived.  This was discovered in the Palace of Knossos and dates from 1600-1500 BC.

Just look at the workmanship of this rhyton, justly considered a masterpiece of Minoan stone carving. It is a small luxury item discovered at the Zakros Central Sanctuary Complex and dates from 1500-1450 BC.

It is made of rock crystal with the elongated body made from an unusual single piece of the hard stone.  The neck, produced from another core is attached to the body by a ring of crystal beads and gilded ivory discs.  The raised handle consists of spherical crystal beads threaded onto a bronze wire.

This vase is a characteristic example of the originality and refinement of Minoan craftsmen. It looks so delicate that if you breathed on it, maybe it would shatter into a million pieces.

The Ewer from Poros (left) is an elegant ewer with trefoil (three leaved plant) mouth and densely painted relief decoration which is an exquisite example of Marine style.  The body is covered by a network of dotted scale patterns indicating the sea and nautili swimming amongst rocks, seaweed, corals and sea urchins.  There are also relief seashells adding to the scene.  This ewer was made by a specialised workshop on the Knossos area dating circa 1450 BC.

I have come to the conclusion that I may need help.  Not to write this journal but on what photos to show.  It is so hard TO choose because I want you to see what I saw and appreciate the work of the artisans.  I give up!!   Let’s continue – –

Above left – a boars tusk helmet with cheek guards.  The preserved tusks are pierced and sewn onto an inner leather base.  It is the same design that the Cretan hero Meriones wore and was described in Homer’s Iliad.  Centre is a ritual jug, decorated with a relief figure of eight shield on the neck and painted papyri and nautili,  Dating Katsambas 1450-1350 BC. Right is a composite libation clay vessel (rhyton) in the shape of a man on a chariot drawn by oxen. Karphi Post palatial period 1200-1000 BC.

I will finish this part with an appropriate finale – sarcophagi.  Unfortunately those in the first photo made of terracotta – have no notes any where to tell us where they came from or how old they are.

These coffins were considered by the ancients as consuming the flesh of the corpses placed in them. The use of a coffin, whether of wood, lead or stone, came from the ancient East and was intimately connected with veneration for the dead.

Traces of prehistoric sarcophagi have been found among the Egyptians and Cretans, who used wood, earthenware and stone and fitted the vessel with a cover.

The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus is made from limestone and dates from 1370-1300 BC.  It was found in a rectangular built tomb and belonged to a ruler who was splendidly honoured by the palace priesthood and the gods on earth and the hereafter after his death.

Above left the dead man is depicted wearing a long tunic in front of a building, perhaps the tomb itself.  He is receiving offerings of a goat and animals.  Priestesses accompanied by a lyre are pouring libations into a bucket between columns surmounted by double axes on which perch birds symbolising the presence of the deity.  Above right is a bull sacrifice. The animal, trussed to a table is being sacrificed to the accompaniment of a double flute and offerings made by a priestess at an altar.  In front of a sanctuary crowned with horns of consecration and enclosing a tree.  Between the sanctuary and the tree is a pole with a double axe on which sits a bird indicating the epiphany of the deity.

On the two narrow sides are goddesses in chariots drawn by griffins and horses or wild goats and a procession of men.

And on that note I will finish Part 3 and think about Part 4 which will commence with us returning to life and the wonderful frescoes from Knossos.