Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Glass objects : Model of female garment [Υ58]

Model of female garment

Υ58

Faience

Mended from fragments and restored.

Height: 23 cm.

Knossos

Palace

Middle -Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Middle Minoan ΙΙΙΒ - Late Minoan ΙA period.:

1650 - 1550 BC:

Gallery:

VIII

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). Minoan religion. Palace cult

The Temple Repositories of the palace of Knossos

Description

Model of a female garment in the shape of a relief faience plaque. The skirt and bodice were made separately, while the join is hidden by the wide girdle (the upper part of the girdle forms part of the bodice while the lower is part of the skirt). The bodice has short sleeves and a plunging V-shaped neckline. The long skirt is decorated with bands and an embroidered or woven panel decorated with crocuses. The crocus in Minoan art often appears in cult scenes and in association with female figures. The plaque itself was found together with the Snake Goddess figurines and other votive and ritual objects in the Temple Repositories of Knossos. It was a votive object, perhaps suspended from a wire or supported on a wooden frame. The practice of offering ceremonial robes or models of them to the gods is depicted on Minoan seals and Theran frescoes.

Bibliography:

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. Volume I. London, 1921, 506. Dimopoulou-Rethemiotaki, Ν. Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου. Athens, 2005, 113. Marinatos, N. Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol. Columbia, 1993, 141-145. Panagiotaki, M. The Central Palace Sanctuary at Knossos. The British School at Athens Supplementary Volume no. 31. London, 1999, 101-104. Simandiraki-Grimshaw, A. and F. Stevens. "Destroying the Snake Goddesses. A re-examination of figurine fragmentation at the Temple Repositories of the Palace of Knossos". In J. Driessen (ed.), Destruction. Archaeological, Philological and Historical Perspectives, Louvain-la-Neuve, 2013, 161, fig.7.

Author:

E. S.

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