[ΚΕΝΟ]



Bronze double axe

Χ5829
Metal (Bronze)
Intact
Length: 48 cm. Maximum width: 30 cm.
Zakros
Palace
Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan IB period.:
1500 - 1450 BC:
Gallery:
VIII
Case:
91
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). Minoan religion. Palace cult
Religious symbols. Processions
Description
Bronze double axe with elaborate decoration, found in the Treasury of the Shrine of the palace of Zakros. It is made of two thick sheets of bronze forming a central shaft hole, and has double cutting edges. The surface is filled with floral motifs. There are incised papyrus stems and flowers arranged horizontally and a row of individual papyrus flowers. Circular holes and triangular perforations form details of the flowers, while smaller holes are the “eyes” of the running spirals along the axe blades. Rows of small repouss? circles run along the edges of the shaft hole and the cutting edges. This axe is not only a masterpiece of Minoan metalwork but also one of the ritual objects used in the religious ceremonies of the palace of Zakros. Although its precise significance is unknown, the double axe is indisputably one of the main religious symbols of Minoan Crete.
Bibliography:
Haysom, M. "The Double-Axe: A Contextual Approach to the Understanding of a Cretan Symbol in the Neopalatial Period." Oxford Journal of Archaeology 29 (2010): 35-55. Platon, Ν. Ζάκρος. Το Νέον Μινωικόν Ανάκτορον. Athens, 1974, 127, 130, fig. 86, 87. Platon, L. "Double Axe." In M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki, G. Rethemiotakis, N. Dimopoulou-Rethemiotaki (eds), From the Land of the Labyrinth. Minoan Crete, 3000 - 1100 B.C., New York, 2008, 242-243.
Author:
E. S.


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