Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Seals : Lentoid seal with two bulls and gorgoneion [Σ-Κ175]

Lentoid seal with two bulls and gorgoneion

Σ-Κ175

Stone (Jasper)

Intact

Diameter: 1.6-1.7 cm. Thickness: 0.9 cm.

Phaistos

Cemetery of Kalyvia, Tombe dei nobili

Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙA2 period.:

1400-1375 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC). The Knossos monopalatial system

Jewellery, seals and sealings from settlements and cemeteries, Neopalatial and Final Palatial period

Description

Jasper lentoid seal. Two short-horned bulls are depicted back to back in clockwise motion. In the space in the centre of the seal is a frontal face of the Gorgoneion type, with prominent nose, eyebrows and ears. Frontal faces or masks are occasionally found in the early Final Palatial period, notably surrounded by themes associated with sacrifice. They may be an evolution of the grotesque gorgoneia of the late Protopalatial period, which were apotropaic symbols. This seal from Kalyvia is a representative example of the naturalistic style of the early 14th century BC. The cemetery of rock-cut tombs at Kalyvia lies a low hillside one kilometre southeast of the palace of Phaistos. It probably belonged to an as-yet-unidentified small settlement.

Bibliography:

Platon, N. and I. Pini. Iraklion Arch?ologisches Museum, Teil 3. Die Siegel der Neupalastzeit, Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel II, Berlin, 1984, 133 (no. 115). Savignoni, L. "Scavi e scoperte nella necropoli di Phaestos." Monumenti Antichi 14 (1904): coll. 501-666. Poursat, J.-C. “Iconographie minoenne : continuit?s et ruptures.” In P. Darcque and J.-C. Poursat (eds), L’iconographie minoenne. Actes de la table ronde d’Ath?nes (21–22 avril 1983), 1985, 54. Krzyszkowska, O. “Warding off evil: apotropaic practice and imagery in Minoan Crete.” In O. E. Alram-Stern, F. Blakolmer, S. Deger-Jalkotzy, R. Laffineur and J. Weilhartner (eds), Metaphysis. Ritual, Myth and Symbolism in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 39, Leuven-Liege, 2016, 120-121, n. 43.

Author:

G. F.

Photographs' metadata