Plate XXXIIGOLDSMITHS' WORK FROM BEEHIVE TOMBS, PHÆSTOS (p.216)G. Maraghiannis
GOLDSMITHS' WORK FROM BEEHIVE TOMBS, PHÆSTOS (p.216)G. Maraghiannis
The recollections of the fallen power that survivedin the Greek mind were chiefly those connected with the oppressive aspect of the dominion which the Lord of Knossos exercised over the Ægean area; but in Egypt there lingered for centuries a tradition which did more justice to the glories of Minoan Crete. In the Timæus, Plato tells a story of how Solon went to Egypt, and was told by a priest at Sais that long ago there had been a great island in the western sea, where a wonderful central power held sway, not only over the whole of its own land, but also over other islands and parts of the continent. In an attempt at universal conquest, this island State made war upon Greece and Egypt, but was defeated by the Athenians, and overwhelmed by the sea as a punishment for its sins, leaving only a range of mud-banks, dangerous to navigation, to mark the place where it had been. In the Timæus and Critias, Plato describes with considerable detail the features of the island State, and the details are such that he might almost have been describing what the Egyptian priest who originally told the story was no doubt endeavouring to describe—the actual port and Palace of Knossos, with the life that went on there. 'The great harbour, for example, with its shipping and its merchants coming from all parts, the elaborate bathrooms, the stadium, and the solemn sacrifice of a bull, are all thoroughly, though not exclusively, Minoan; but when we read how the bull is hunted "in the temple of Poseidon without weapons but with staves and nooses," we have an unmistakable description of the bull-ring at Knossos, the very thing which struck foreignersmost, and which gave rise to the legend of the Minotaur.'[*]
[Footnote *: 'The Lost Continent,'Times, February 19, 1909. The anonymous writer was the first to identify Crete with the 'Lost Atlantis.']
The boundaries which Plato assigns to the Empire of the lost State are practically identical with those over which Minoan influence is now known to have spread, while the description of the island itself is such as to make it almost certain that Crete was the original from which it was drawn. 'The island was the way to other islands, and from these islands you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean.' So Plato describes Atlantis; and when you set beside his sentence a modern description of Crete—'a half-way house between three continents, flanked by the great Libyan promontory, and linked by smaller island stepping-stones to the Peloponnese and the mainland of Anatolia'—there can be little doubt that the two descriptions refer to the same island.
The only difficulty in the way of accepting the identification is that it is stated that the lost Atlantis lay beyond the Pillars of Hercules; but doubtless this statement is due to Solon's misinterpretation of what was said by his Egyptian informant, or to the Saite priest's endeavour to accommodate his ancient tradition to the wider geographical knowledge of his own time. The old Egyptian conception of the universe held that the heavens were supported on four pillars, which were actual mountains; and probably the original story placedthe lost island beyond these pillars as a metaphorical way of stating that it was very far distant, as indeed it was to voyagers in those early days. But by Solon's time the limits of navigation were extended far beyond those of the early seafarers. The Phœnician trader had pushed at least as far west as Spain; Necho's fleet had circumnavigated Africa; and so 'the island farthest west,' which naturally meant Crete to the Egyptian of the Eighteenth Dynasty who first recorded the catastrophe of the Minoan Empire, had to be thrust out beyond the Straits of Gibraltar to satisfy the wider ideas of the men of Solon's and Necho's time.
Almost certainly then, Plato's story gives the Saite version of the actual Egyptian records of the greatness and the final disaster of that great island state with which Egypt so long maintained intercourse. Doubtless to the men of the latter part of the Eighteenth Dynasty the sudden blotting out of Minoan trade and influence by the overthrow of Knossos seemed as strange and mysterious as though Crete had actually been swallowed up by the sea. The island never regained its lost supremacy, and gradually sank into the insignificance which is its characteristic throughout the Classical period. So, though neither the priest of Sais nor his Greek auditor, and still less Plato, dreamed of the fact, the wonderful island State of which the Egyptian tradition preserved the memory, was indeed Minoan Crete, and the men of the Lost Atlantis whose portraits Produs saw in Egypt were none other than the Keftiu of the tombs of Sen-mut and Rekh-ma-ra.
Prior to 1580 B.C. the dates in the summary must be regarded as merely provisional, and the margin of possible error is wide. The tendency on the part of the Cretan explorers has been to accept in the main the Berlin system of Egyptian dating in preference to that advocated by Professor Flinders Petrie ('Researches in Sinai,' pp. 163-185), on the ground that the development of the Minoan culture can scarcely have required so long a period as that given by the Sinai dating. It must be remembered, however, that the question is still unsettled, and that the longer system of Professor Petrie must be regarded as at least possible.
In the following short list will be found the volumes on the Minoan and Mycenæan civilizations which are most accessible to the ordinary reader:
Annual of the British School at Athens, vols. vi.- . (Reports of excavations by Evans, Hogarth, and others, and many articles of interest on the results of discovery. Well illustrated.)
Journal of Hellenic Studies, vols. xx.- . (Articles by Evans, Hall, Mackenzie, Rouse, and others. Admirable illustrations.)
BROWNE, H.:Homeric Study. (Relations of Homeric and Minoan civilizations).
BURROWS, R. M.:The Discoveries in Crete. (An able discussion of the results of excavations).
EVANS, A. J.:Cretan Pictograms and Pre-Phœnician Script.(Dr. Evans's earlier volume on the Minoan writing.)Essai de Classification des Époques de la Civilisation Minoenne.(Short summary of the Minoan periods.)Mycœnean Tree and Pillar Cult. (Reprint fromJournal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xxi.)Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos. (Isopata, etc.).Scripta Minoa. (Latest and fullest discussion of Minoan script.) Articles in theTimesnewspaper and theMonthly Review.
HALL, E. H.:The Decorative Art of Crete in the Bronze Age.
HALL, H. R.:Egypt and Western Asia. (Relations of Crete and Egypt.)The Oldest Civilization of Greece. (Deals with Mycenæan discoveries up to 1901.) Various articles in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, theJournal of Hellenic Studies, etc.
HARRISON, J. E.:Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. The Religion of Ancient Greece.
HAWES, C. H. and H.:Crete the Forerunner of Greece. (Concise and interesting manual.)
HAWES, H. B.:Gournia, Vasiliki, and other Prehistoric Sites on the Isthmus of Hierapetra, Crete.
HOGARTH, D. G.:Authority and Archœology; (Contains summary of earlier Mycenæan discoveries.)Ionia and the East. (Relations of Oriental and early Greek civilizations.) Articles inCornhill MagazineandFortnightly Review.
LANG, A.:Homer and his Age.
MOSSO, A.:The Palaces of Crete and their Builders. (Chiefly useful for its numerous illustrations.)
MURRAY, G.:The Rise of the Greek Epic. (Exceedingly vivid and suggestive.)
RIDGEWAY, W.:The Early Age of Greece.
SCHUCHHARDT, C.:Schliemann's Excavations. (Useful summary of the work of Schliemann, translated by E. Sellers.)
SEAGER, R. B.:Excavations on the Island of Pseira, Crete. Philadelphia, 1910. (Finely illustrated.)
TSOUNTAS AND MANATT:The Mycenæan Age.
For the chronology of Ancient Egypt see—
BREASTED, H.:History of Egypt. (1906. Abridged issue, 1908.)
PETRIE, W. M. F.:History of Egypt, vols. i.-iii.Researches in Sinai.
For the topography of Crete, Pashley'sTravels in Creteand Spratt'sTravels and Researches in Cretewill still be found interesting and useful, though published in 1837 and 1865 respectively. For the history of the island in mediæval and modern timesA Short Popular History of Crete, by J. H. Freese, may be consulted.
Antiquités Crétoises, by G. Maraghiannis, Candia, Crete, gives fifty excellent plates of Minoan relics, chiefly from Phæstos and Hagia Triada, with a short introduction by Signor Pernier, of the Italian Archæological Mission.
TRANSLATIONS OF THE PHÆSTOS DISK
Two translations of the Phæstos disk have been put forward. The first is by Professor George Hempl, of Stanford University, U.S.A., and appeared inHarper's Magazinefor January, 1911, under the title, 'The Solving of an Ancient Riddle.' The second, by Miss F. Melian Stawell, of Newnham College, appeared in theBurlington Magazineof April, 1911, under the title, 'An Interpretation of the Phaistos Disk.'
Both are characterized by considerable ingenuity; but the trouble is that they do not agree in the very least. Professor Hempl maintains that the disk is the record of a dedication of oxen at a shrine in Phæstos, in atonement of a robbery perpetrated by Cretan sea-rovers on some shrine of the great goddess in Asia Minor. Miss Stawell, on the other hand, believes that the disk is the matrix for casting a pair of cymbals, and that the inscription is the invocation which the worshippers had to chant to the goddess.
A comparison of portions of the two renderings will at least show that certainty can scarcely be said to have been reached. Professor Hempl thus renders the opening lines of Face A:
'Lo, Xipho the prophetess dedicates spoils from a spoiler of the prophetess. Zeus, guard us. In silence put aside the most dainty portions of the still unroasted animal. Athene Minerva, be gracious. Silence! The victims have been put to death. Silence!'
Compare Miss Stawell's translation of the same lines:
'Lady, 0 hearken! Cunning one! Ah, Queen! I will sing, Lady, oh, thou must deliver! Divine One, mighty Queen! Divine One, Giver of Rain! Lady, Mistress, Come! Lady, be gracious! Goddess, be merciful! Behold, Lady, I call on thee with the clash! Athena, behold, Warrior! Help! Lady, come! Lady—keep silence, I sacrifice—Lady, come!'
A
Aahmes, founder of Eighteenth Dynasty,147
Abnub,82,155,203
Abydos: First Dynasty graves at,142,191; Twelfth Dynasty grave at,150,199
Achæans: position of, in Homeric poems,23; manners of,26; invasion of Greece,62; influence of, on Cretan customs,178; conquest of Mycenæ,182; modifications of Minoan religion by,247
Achilles: arms of,27; shield of,27,28,58,74
Ægean,13
Ægeus, King of Athens,10-13
Agamemnon, Tomb of,37,42,43,45,46
Agriculture, Minoan,226
Aigaios, Mount,136
Aithra, mother of Theseus,11
Akhenaten,163,173,174,185,208
Alabastron of Khyan,93
Alcinous, Palace of,25,26,47,49,56
Altar: in Dictæan Cave,137; at Shaft-Graves,251
Amaltheia,7,111
Amenemhat III.,150; Labyrinth of,150-155; pyramid of,47; cylinders of,199
Amenhotep, II.,174
Amenhotep III.,158,162,173,174,184,185,208
Amen-Ra, statuette of, in Dictæan Cave,137
Amor, Amorites,165
Amorgos,193
Anatolia,6; Minoan settlements in,184
Androgeos, son of Minos,10
Andromache,24,41
Aniconic worship,245,246
Aphrodite: aspect of Cretan goddess,104,122; identified with Minoan goddess,247
Aqayuasha invade Egypt,164
Archon, the King,108
Argives,166
Argolid: place of, in Greek history,22; conquest of, by Achæans,182
Ariadne,3,179; flees with Theseus and deserted by him,13; Choros of, at Knossos,103; title of Cretan goddess,104,122
Aristides, 'The Unjust,'240
Armour: Homeric,26-28,61; Mycenæan,61
Army, Minoan,225,226
Arrows, deposits of, at Knossos,110,225
Artemis Dictynna, aspect of Cretan goddess,122,247
Asia, community of religious conceptions between Crete and,141
Athens: conquered by Minos,10,170; place in Homeric poems,21
Atlantis, Plato's legend of,257-259
Atreus, Treasury of,43,46-48
Axos,166
B
Babylonia, relations with Crete,139-142
Bacchylides, legend of Theseus and the ring of Minos,13
Basilica, origin of,108
Bathroom of Queen's Megaron,95
Beak-jugs=schnabelkanne,q.v.
Beehive chamber at Knossos,113,114
Beehive tombs: at Mycenæ,46-48,56; at Orchomenos,48,56; at Phæstos,229
Bliss finds Minoan pottery at Telles-Safi,167
Boghaz-Keui, treaty between Hittites and Egyptians discovered at,162
Bosanquet, Mr.: Minoan purple,133; marine decoration,204
Boxer Vase, the,124,169,172,204
Boxing, Minoan,103
Breasted, H., Egyptian chronology,148
Britomartis,122
Bronze, use of, for weapons,27,60,228
Browne, H., 'Homeric Study,'30-32,62
Bucchero: deposit of, at Knossos,66,189,191; at Abydos,142,143
Bügelkanne=stirrup-vases,q.v.
Bull: fresco of, at Tiryns,49,90; at Knossos,66; relief of, at Knossos,77,78,172; fresco,88,89
Bull-god,105,252,253
Bull-grappling,88-91,257,258
Bunarbashi, supposed site of Troy,38
Burial,58-60
Burrows, Professor: quoted,88,98,99,108,109,122,174,177; Minoan art in Egypt,185
Button seals,143,194
Byblos, Wen-Amon at,186
C
Callimachus, character of Cretans,8
Carians expelled by Minos,9
Carpenter, tools of,221,222
Chariots,225
Cherethites=Cretans,168
Chieftain Vase, the,125,126,172,204,213
Choros built by Dædalus at Knossos,14
Chronology, Egyptian and Minoan,147et seq.
Cilicia,229
Circle-Graves=Shaft-Graves,43-46,172,205; steles of,182; altars at,251
Cists in Temple Repositories,105
Colonnades, Hall of,85
Cooking utensils,218
Copper: export of,223; use of, in beaten work,229
Corinth in Homeric poems,21
Cornaro describes ruins at Knossos,63
Court: Western, Knossos,66,83,84; Central, Knossos,68,70,85; of the Olive Spout,88
Cremation,58-60
Critias, the, legend of Atlantis,257-259
Cross in Snake Goddess shrine,107
Cuirass. See Armour
Cuneiform,81,142
Cup-Bearer: Fresco of,67,68,173,206; dress of,213,214
Currelly, Mr.,124,133,236
Curtius on Treasury of Atreus,48
Cyclades,9; influence on Minoan art,193
Cyprus,51,157; Minoan civilization in,145,185; export of copper,223
D
Dædalus,3; builds Labyrinth,10,14; flees to Sicily,14,15; makes Choros at Knossos,103
Daggers from Shaft-Graves,57,58
Dahshur, Egyptian jewellery from229
Danaos, King of Argos and Rhodes166
Danauna=Danaoi invade Egypt,165,166
Dancing, Minoan,103
Dancing-girls, fresco of,220
Danubian civilization,181,182
David,167,168
Dawkins, Mr.,126
Dead, disposal of,58-60,178
Decimal system, Minoan,238
Deir-el-Bahri: Eleventh Dynasty temple at,154; Hatshepsut's temple at,160; tomb of Senmut,160
Demeter identified with Minoan goddess,247
Determinatives in Minoan writing,235,240
Diana, of Ephesus,111
Dictæan Cave,7,8,64,70,136,137,247,254
Dionysius of Halicarnassus,136
Dionysos,252
Disc, hieroglyphic, of Phæstos,121,241,242
Dolphin Fresco,224
Dor,187
Dorian (Dorians): conquest,2,4,33,62; invasion of Crete,178,210
Dörpfeld, Professor, discovers Sixth City of Troy,40,41,50,51
Double Axe,246; pillars of, at Knossos,70; emblem of Divinity,70;
of Zeus of Labraunda,70; at Gournia,130; in Dictæan Cave,137; on
sarcophagus,250; Hall of the,86,120; in shrines at Knossos,100,105
Drainage: at Knossos,98,99; at Hagia Triada,129
Dress: of Minoan women,73; of men,74,213-216
Dungeons of Knossos,90,91,104
Dynasties, Egyptian: First, date of,148; Third,146; Fifth,146; Sixth,143,149; Twelfth,148,150-155,199; Thirteenth,200; Seventeenth,158,200; Eighteenth,158-163; Nineteenth,163
E
Egypt: relations of, with Crete,139; chronology of,147et seq.
Electrum,229
Enkomi,51
Epeus,103
Erman Egyptian chronology,148
Ethiopia, King of, obliged to slay himself at command of priests,254
Europa, mother of Minos,7,8,136
Euryalus,103
Evans, A. J.,1,2; purchases hill of Kephala,64,65; discoveries at Knossos,65-116; derivation of Labyrinth,71; on relief of bull's head,77,78; on tablets of Knossos,79,80; drains at Knossos,99; bull's headrhyton,113; restoration of Queen's Megaron,115; 'Scripta Minoa' quoted,121; excavations at Zafer Papoura,134; at Isopata,135; Minoan chronology,149; first destruction of Knossos,171; date of sack of Knossos,174; growth of Cretan legends,179,180; classification of Minoan periods,190; origin of spiral,194; decline of Minoan oil-trade,222; Minoan writing,232,233,235,236,237-238,239,240
F
Fetish shrine at Knossos,111,237,245
Fibula, use of, in late Minoan III.,178
Fig-tree,227
Figurines: ivory, at Knossos,96; faïence,105,106,156; banjo,193
Flute on Hagia Triada sarcophagus,127,128
Fortifications: of Knossos,74,75,76; of Tiryns and Mycenæ,75,138
Fresco (Frescoes): bull at Tiryns,49; at Knossos,66; Procession at Knossos,66; Cup-Bearer,67,68,173,206; of Throne Room,71,72; Blue Boy,73,90,172,202; miniature,73,74,172,173,206; toreador,88,89; bird,95,220; dancing-girls,220; Dolphin,224.
Frieze (Friezes): at Tiryns,49,56; at Knossos,56
G
Gallery, the Long,68-70
Gaming Board, the King's, Knossos,87,88,204
Garstang, Professor, Kamares vase at Abydos,150,199
Gath=Tell-es-Safi,q.v.
Gaza,10
Gezer, Minoan pottery at,140
Gilliéron, M., reconstruction of relief,93
God, Minoan: insignificance of,247; identified with Zeus,247
Goddess: seal-impression of,94; Dove Goddess,100,107,245; Snake,105-107,130,156,245; Minoan supreme deity,244; representations of,245,246; identified with Greek goddesses,246,247
Gold: abundance of, in Shaft-Graves,44,45; absence of, at Knossos,77
Goldsmith's work at Mokhlos,134
Gortyna, stele of,182