Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Bull rhyton [Π5413]

Bull rhyton

Π5413

Clay

Mended and restored.

Height: 16 cm. Length: 27 cm.

Pseira

Seager House A/Building ΑΑ

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

1500-1450 BC:

Gallery:

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 in the shape of a bull or a bull’s head were particularly popular in Minoan Crete. They are directly associated with ritual practices, due to the close relationship between the bull symbol and religion, as well as the expression of political authority. This rhyton was found in the settlement on the islet of Pseira, as were another seven similar rhyta. It was made in a mould. The muscled body and the various features of the bull, such as the relief eyes, the incised nostrils and the tail, are very naturalistically rendered, while the horns are not shown in full. The filling hole in the neck and the pouring hole in the muzzle show that this was a libation vessel for making liquid offerings during religious, secular and funerary ceremonies. The surface was originally white-slipped. It bears a net pattern in reddish-brown paint, perhaps representing a “ceremonial covering” or a net used to capture the bull. This vessel is a typical example of the imagery of the bull in the form that peaked in the Neopalatial period, as we see from the multitude of depictions of the animal in various art forms of the time.

Bibliography:

Seager, R.B. Excavations on the island of Pseira, Crete. The University of Pennsylvania Museum Anthropological Publications 3.1. Philadelphia, 1910, 23, fig. 7. Evans, A.J. The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos. Vol. II,1. London, 1928, 259, fig. 154b. Evans, A.J. The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos. Vol. ΙΙΙ, London, 1931, 206, 159b. Betancourt, P.P. and C. Davaras (eds). Pseira I: The Minoan buildings on the west side of area A. University Museum Monograph 90. Philadelphia, 1995. Betancourt, P.P. The History of Minoan Pottery. Princeton, 1985, pl. 19Γ. Koehl, R.B. Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta. INSTAP Prehistory Monographs 19. Philadelphia, Penn., 2006, 74-5, no. 22, pl. 3.

Author:

I. N.

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