[ΚΕΝΟ]



Pendant bead of lapis lazuli in shape of crouching frog

Υ176
Stone (lapis lazuli)
Intact
Height: 1.07 cm. Length: 1.6 cm.
Knossos
Isopata, Royal Tomb
Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan II period.:
1450-1400 BC:
Gallery:
X
Case:
110
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC) - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC).The cemeteries
The cemeteries of Knossos
Description
Pendant bead of lapis lazuli in the shape of a crouching frog with large, bulbous eyes. In Egypt the frog was the animal form of the fertility goddess Heqah, represented as early as the Predynastic period, and symbolised regeneration. Frogs are rare in Minoan art, but a gold frog amulet has been found in a Prepalatial tholos tomb in Koumasa. We do not know what the amphibian represented in Minoan beliefs; however, the Royal Tomb of Isopata contained not only this pendant but also an assemblage of imported Egyptian objects attesting to contacts with Egypt.
Bibliography:
Evans, A.J. Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos. London, 1906, 141, 153, fig. 132. Banou, Ε. "176. Περίαπτο". In Karetsou, A. M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki and N. Papadakis (eds), Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος. Πολιτισμικοί δεσμοί τριών χιλιετιών, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, 21 Νοεμβρίου 1999-21 Σεπτεμβρίου 2000, Heraklion, 2000, 187.
Author:
G. F.


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