Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Figure of goddess with upraised arms [Π15116]

Figure of goddess with upraised arms

Π15116

Clay

Mended from several pieces an extensively restored, mainly on the torso and right arm

Height: 34 cm. Base diameter: 9.7 cm.

Kannia

Villa

Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙI period.:

1300 - 1200 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

116

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs

Communal shrines

Description

Figurine of the "goddess with upraised arms" type. The female figure is wearing a notched diadem with snakes, which would have been more impressive than it is today, as there are seven small holes in her head for one or more attached items which were not found. Snakes are also coiled round her raised arms, while a bird is attached to her neck under the right ear. Snakes are thought to symbolise the connection of the goddess to the earth, while birds reveal her connection to the sky. Details of the diadem, the face and the cylindrical skirt are picked out in black and red paint. This figurine is one of the seven “goddesses with upraised arms” found in Rooms I, V and XV of the villa at Kannia together with other items of a religious nature. The villa is dated to the Neopalatial period but its east part was modified to separate it from the rest of the building and used in the Postpalatial period as a shrine.

Bibliography:

Alexiou, S. "Μητρόπολις Γόρτυνος." Το Έργον της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας (1957): 92-94. Alexiou, S. "Η Μινωική Θεά μεθ' Υψωμένων Χειρών." Κρητικά Χρονικά 12 (1958): 179-295, pl. Ζ fig.1,2. Gesell, G.C. "The Snake Goddesses of the LM IIIB and LM IIIC period." In O. Krzyszkowska (ed.), Cretan Offerings. Studies in Honour of Peter Warren. BSA Studies 18. London, 2010, 131-139. Levi, D. "La Villa Rurale Minoica di Gortina." Bolletino d' Arte 44 (1959): 237-265, figs 14ψ, 34α.

Author:

E. S.

Photographs' metadata