Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Clay cat's head [Π3680]

Clay cat's head

Π3680

Clay

Incomplete in minor places.

Maximum preserved height: 4.8 cm. Maximum preserved width: 4.5 cm.

Gournia

Area F21

Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period.:

1700-1450 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisation

Trade and foreign contacts. Minoan Thalassocracy. International commerce and cultural influences

Description

Clay cat’s head, hollow inside with a strongly modelled face. It was made in a mould. Similar objects have been found at Palaikastro, in a house in Zakros and at the peak sanctuary of Prinias in Sitia. The fact that all have been found at East Cretan sites and their technical similarities may indicate that they were all produced by the same pottery workshop. The intensive movement of people and goods observed in the East Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age also led to the spread of ideas and religious beliefs. The religious symbolism of the cat in Egypt is well known; it also appears to have been considered the protector of the home, perhaps due to its hunting rodents and snakes. The discovery of the clay cat heads in houses and sanctuaries of East Crete indicates that such symbolisms were not unknown in Minoan Crete.

Bibliography:

Phillips, J.S. The Impact and Implications of the Egyptian and Egyptianizing Material Found in Bronze Age Crete Ca. 3000-ca. 1100 B.C. Toronto, 1991, 661. Karetsou, A., M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki, and N. Papadakis (eds). Κρήτη - Αίγυπτος. Πολιτισμικοί δεσμοί τριών χιλιετιών. Κατάλογος Έκθεσης. Heraklion, 2000 (Greek edition)/Herakleion and Cairo, 2001 (English edition), 178.

Author:

D. M.

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