Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Rhyton with agrimi head in the round [Π3890]

Rhyton with agrimi head in the round

Π3890

Clay

Incomplete, mended and restored.

Height: 27 cm. Rim diameter: 7.4 cm. Diameter of hole in tip: 0.5 cm.

Palaikastro

Block Ε

Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan IB period.:

1500-1450 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

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

Settlements of East Crete

Description

Rhyta (vessels for decanting and offering liquid goods) in the shape of animals or animal heads were more popular in Minoan Crete than those decorated with applied animal figures, like this vase from Palaikastro. It belongs to the type of rhyton with globular body and pointed tip with pouring hole. The mouth is in the shape of a cup with three small handles. The vase has a long vertical handle, opposite which is the head of a wild goat modelled in the round, with long horns curving back to join the rim. The body is richly decorated in dark-on-light: the two zones of spirals and plant clusters (perhaps crocuses) on the belly of the vase are delimited by wide diagonal bands, while the bottom of the vase features a narrow band of tortoiseshell ripple pattern. The upper part of the long handle is decorated with white bands. The agrimi (wild goat) is a popular decorative theme in Minoan Crete and sometimes carries symbolic meaning, as we see from depictions on sealstones, frescoes, the Sanctuary Rhyton from Palaikastro and figurines in the round. Due to the cult associations the agrimi evidently bore, the rhyton may have been used as a ceremonial libation vessel. It is worth noting that another rhyton with a rare modelled agrimi was discovered in Palaikastro, while a similar vessel was found at Akrotiri Thera.

Bibliography:

Dawkins, R.M. Excavations at Palaikastro III. Annual of the British School at Athens 10 (1903-1904): 205-6, fig. 4. Koehl, R.B. Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta. INSTAP Prehistory Monographs 19. Philadelphia, Penn., 2006, 132, no. 374, pl. 30.

Author:

I. N.

Photographs' metadata