[ΚΕΝΟ]



Gold signet ring, characteristic example of cloisonn? decoration

Χ-Α1033
Metal (Gold)
Almost intact, parts of the decoration incomplete
Maximum length of bezel: 2.258 cm. Maximum diameter of bezel: 2.042 cm.
Knossos
Sellopoulo, Tomb 4
Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙ-ΙΙΙA2 period.:
1450-1375 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
Gold ring from a funerary assemblage. The bezel and hoop are decorated with a combination of granulation and cloisonn?, formed of trilobe cloisons of gold strips inlaid with blue glass paste. The refinement of the cloisonn? technique, in which metal strips form spaces that are filled with glass paste, is an outstanding achievement of the 15th century BC. This ring accompanied a burial in Tomb 4 of the cemetery of Sellopoulo at Knossos, as a personal item or status symbol. Besides the necklaces, signet rings and seals found in the tomb, the large number of bronze vessels and weapons it contained indicates that the three men buried there belonged to an upper class which had invested in the ideological promotion of warrior status and the prestige of luxurious banquets.
Bibliography:
Popham, M.R., Catling, E.A. and H.W. Catling. “Sellopoulo Tombs 3 and 4, Two Late Minoan Graves near Knossos”. The Annual of the British School at Athens 69 (1974): 218-219, fig. 14H. Effinger, M. Minoischer Schmuck. BAR IS 646. Oxford, 1996, 49, 218, pl. 7h. Exhibition catalogue: A Journey to the land of the immortals: treasures of ancient Greece, Tokyo, 2016, 52, no. 62. Dimopoulou-Rethemiotaki, Ν. Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου. Athens, 2005, 324. Panagiotaki, Μ. "112α-γ. Δαχτυλίδια". 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, 130-131, no. 112β.
Author:
G. F.


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