Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Seals : Bone seal in the shape of a seated ape [Σ-Κ1040]

Vaulted Tombs of Mesara ➔ Bone seal in the shape of a seated ape

Σ-Κ1040

Bone (Hippopotamus tusk)

Mended

Height: 3.4 cm. Dimensions of sealing surface: 2.7 x 2.3 cm.

Platanos

Tholos Tomb Α

Early - Middle Bronze Age. Prepalatial - Protopalatial period, Early Minoan ΙΙΙ - Middle Minoan I period.:

2200 - 1800 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Early Bronze Age - Prepalatial period (3000 - 1900 BC). Settlements and cemeteries - the rise of ruling groups

The sea roads. Trade and foreign influences

Description

Theriomorphic (animal-shaped) seal of the type popular in the Prepalatial period, when seals were carved in the shapes of animals, birds and insects. Since Crete had neither apes nor hippopotami, both the shape and the material of the seal (hippopotamus ivory) are evidence of Minoan contacts with Syria and Egypt. The ape seated with its front legs between its hind legs resembles Egyptian imagery. In Egypt the ape was associated with the god Thoth and other deities, but we do not know if the Egyptian symbolism of the animal was adopted by the Minoans. The depiction of the ape on this seal, however, differs from Egyptian representations, in which the animal is shown with its tail, a detail not repeated by the Minoans. The seal was worn by its owner suspended from a string running through the holes in the ape’s head and shoulders.

Bibliography:

Platon, N. Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel. Band II.1. Iraklion Arch?ologisches Museum. Die Siegel der Vorpalastzeit. Berlin, 1969, nr. 249. Spier, J., T. Potts and S.E. Cole (eds). Beyond the Nile. Egypt and the Classical World. Catalog of the Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 27 March - 9 September 2018. Los Angeles, 2018, 37-38. Xanthoudides, St. The Vaulted Tombs of Mesara. An Account of Some Early Cemeteries of Southern Crete. London, 1924, 114, pl. XIII: 1040.

Author:

E. S.

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