• Figure of goddess with upraised arms



Figure of goddess with upraised arms
Figure of goddess with upraised arms

Figure of goddess with upraised arms

Π11043
Clay
Mended and restored.
Height: 86 cm. Base diameter: 21 cm.
Karphi
Settlement
Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan IIIC period.:
1200 - 1070 BC:
Gallery:
XI
Case:
117
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs
Communal shrines
Description
Standing female figurine with arms bent at right angles and raised in the posture typical of figurines of the "goddess with upraised arms". Her diadem is decorated with discs and three birds with open wings, thought to be symbols of the heavenly aspect of the goddess or her epiphany. The skirt has a gap in the front and the back to reveal a pair of legs which are made separately. It was found together with another three or four figurines in Room 1 of the “temple” of the settlement at Karphi, the main communal shrine. Two of the figurines from Karphi are of this larger type, approximately 85 cm tall, while three have legs that are visible behind the lifted skirt. This is a characteristic feature of the Karphi figurines, as most figurines simply have a hollow cylindrical skirt that also functions as a base.
Bibliography:
Gesell, G.C. Town, Palace, and House Cult in Minoan Crete. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 67. G?teborg, 1985. Gesell, G.C. "From Knossos to Kavousi: the Popularizing of the Minoan Palace Goddess." In A.P. Chapin (ed.), ΧΑΡΙΣ. Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr (Hesperia Supplement 33). Princeton, 2004. Pendlebury, J.D.S., Money-Coutts, M.B. "Excavations in the Plain of Lasithi. III. Karphi. A City of Refuge in the Early Iron Age in Crete." Annual of the British School at Athens 38 (1937-1938): 57-145.
Author:
E. S.


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