Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Gold/silver objects : Gold bull's-head accessories [Χ-Α139]

Gold bull's-head accessories

Χ-Α139

Metal (Gold)

Intact

Length: 57 cm. είναι σωστό;

Hagia Triada

Tomb 5 ("Tomba degli Ori")

Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙΑ2 early.:

1375-1350 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

110

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC) - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC).The cemeteries

Cemeteries of Phaistos

Description

Three gold miniature hanging necklace ornaments in the shape of bulls’ heads from the “Tomba degli Ori”, the “Tomb of the Gold Ornaments” in the cemetery of Agia Triada. They are made of thin gold sheet and render the animal’s features in a very naturalistic way. Theriomorphic (animal-shaped) pendants, like these bull’s heads and the drop-shaped amulet decorated with a hand, a scorpion and a snake from the same tomb, were probably apotropaic amulets to avert evil. The precise location of these ornaments, as well as a scarab of Queen Tiyi, the wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and other luxury items accompanying human bones in secondary burial is unknown, as the funerary assemblage was disturbed. According to one theory, they may have been transferred there from the nearby tomb containing the painted Agia Triada Sarcophagus, which was otherwise empty when it was discovered.

Bibliography:

Paribeni, R. “Ricerce nel sepolcreto di Haghia Triada presso Phaistos". Monumenti Antichi 14 (1904): 677-756. La Rosa, V. “La c.d. Tomba degli ori e il nuovo settore nord-est dell’insediamento di Haghia Triada”. Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene 70-71 (1992-93): 121-172. Cucuzza, N. ”Il sarcofago dipinto di Haghia Triada e l’Egitto”. Aegyptica I (2010): 51-58. Mandalaki, S. "Ο ταύρος ως σύμβολο δύναμης". In S. Mandalaki and G. Rethemiotakis, Μινωικός κόσμος. Ταξίδι στις απαρχές της Ευρώπης, Heraklion, 2015, 144.

Author:

G. F.

Photographs' metadata