Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Gold/silver objects : Gold signet ring with cult scene [Χ-Α424]

Gold signet ring with cult scene

Χ-Α424

Metal (Gold)

Intact

Diameter 2.25 cm.

Knossos

Isopata

Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan IB period.:

1500-1450 BC:

Gallery:

VIII

Exhibition thematic unit:

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

The epiphany cycle - Gold rings

Description

Gold ring with cult scene of four female figures on the oval bezel. The two women on the left are raising their arms parallel over their heads, palms facing the viewer, and bending the torso slightly backwards. The single woman on the right brings her hands in front of her torso in a gesture of adoration. The woman in the centre of the scene is depicted on a larger scale than the rest. She is bringing her left hand to her face while inclining her head and lowering her right arm. In the background is the goddess in the form of a small floating figure. The women are wearing characteristic flounced skirts and have their thick hair bound in a single tress falling down the back. The scene is interpreted as a ceremonial dance to invoke the epiphany of the goddess. The central female figure, sometimes identified as a personification of the goddess, appears to be coordinating the dance movements, perhaps as the leader of the dance. The open-air ritual space, in a verdant field, is indicated by flowering lily plants, while floating symbols (an eye, snakelike lines) signal the high theological content of the scene. The stylised faces, lacking details, indicate the dancers’ ecstasy.

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 III. London, 1930, 68, fig. 38. Persson, A. The Religion of Greece in Prehistoric Time, California, 1942, 47-50 no. 8. Nilsson, M. The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in Greek Religion, Lund, 1950, 279-80, fig. 139. CMS II3, 51. Cain, C.D. "Dancing in the Dark: Deconstructing a Narrative of Epiphany on the Isopata Ring". American Journal of Archaeology 105 (2001): 27-49. Morris, C. " ‘Art Makes Visible’: An Archaeology of the Senses in Minoan Elite Art". In N. Brodie και C. Hills (eds), Material Εngagements: Studies in Ηonour of Colin Renfrew, McDonald Institute Monographs, Cambridge, 2004, 31–43. Mandalaki, S. "Ο χορός στη Μινωική Κρήτη". Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες 90 (2004): 16, fig. 4.?

Author:

S. M.

Photographs' metadata