Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Clay chest larnax with painted decoration [Π33412]

Clay chest larnax with painted decoration

Π33412

Clay

Intact

Length: 123 cm. Width: 52 cm. Height: 99 cm.

Phourni

Phourni, Tholos Tomb Α

Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙΑ2 period.:

1370-1300 BC:

Gallery:

XII

Case:

Not in case

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). The larnakes. The world of the dead

The larnakes: The world of the dead

Description

Chest larnax with gabled lid. This is one of the largest larnakes found in Crete and bears rich painted decoration. The long sides of the chest are covered with a scale pattern, the narrow sides with a double row of spirals, and the legs with running spirals. A row of stylised papyrus flowers adorns the sides of the lid. The holes for the rope that attached the lid to the chest are visible in the lid handles and the upper ends of the chest posts. Once the lid was secured, the larnax was sealed with a thick layer of white or buff plaster, traces of which have been identified where the chest touches the lid. The larnax was found in a side chamber of Tholos Tomb A at Archanes Phourni and contained the remains of a female burial with rich grave goods, including gold and silver rings, necklaces and a mirror with a relief ivory handle. Next to the larnax lay a large number of bronze vases and a footstool with relief ivory inlays. The wealth and quality of the grave goods, and the bull and horse sacrifice discovered at the entrance to the tomb, demonstrate that the tomb was used for the burial of a particularly high-status woman.

Bibliography:

Sakellarakis, Y. and Ε. Sakellaraki. Αρχάνες. Μια νέα ματιά στη μινωική Κρήτη. Athens, 1997, 159-168, 479-480.

Author:

D. M.

Photographs' metadata