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Gold signet ring with cult scene

Χ-Α989
Metal (Gold)
Intact
Bezel length: 2.1 cm.
Phourni
Phourni, Tholos Tomb Α
Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan ΙΒ-II period.:
1500-1400 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 scene of tree-worship and baetyl-worship on the oval bezel. At the right of the scene a slim, muscular male figure is vigorously shaking the trunk of a tree emerging from a tripartite wooden enclosure with crisscross decoration on the raised central section. The arduous effort is clearly depicted in the movement of the figure, as the man lifts his bent right leg high and stands on his left to apply more force. At the other end of the scene, a second youth of similar build is kneeling to embrace a long, cylindrical stone with both arms. The centre of the scene is occupied by a dominant female figure bending her right hand to her right shoulder and lowering her left. She is wearing the characteristic Minoan flounced skirt and appears to be playing a leading role in the events, which are taking place on a paved floor or podium. Floating symbols (a rayed pillar and butterflies) near the kneeling worshipper indicate the imminent epiphany of the goddess, the ultimate goal of these ritual acts. The scene pictured here is a recognisable Minoan religious ceremony involving two parallel or alternating cult acts: embracing a natural stone and shaking a sacred tree. This version also depicts the coordination of events by a high priestess, who may be dancing. The participation of both genders, the obscure content of these highly theatrical ritual motions, and the symbolic representation of the epiphany, all indicate the ecstatic nature of the performance and the existence of a myth associated with the deities being worshipped.
Bibliography:
Sakellarakis, Y. and Ε. Sakellaraki. Αρχάνες. Μια νέα ματιά στη μινωική Κρήτη, Athens, 1997, Vol. ΙΙ, 654-60. Niemeier, W.D. "Cult Scenes on Gold Rings from the Argolid". In R. H?gg and G.C. Nordquist (eds), Celebrations of Death and Divinity in the Bronze Age Argolid. Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens (11-13 June 1988), Stockholm, 1990, 168. Warren, P. "Of baetyls". Opuscula Atheniensia 18 (1990): 196. Marinatos, N. "The Tree, the Stone and the Pithos: Glimpses into a Minoan Ritual". In R. Laffineur (ed.), Annales d'arch?ologie de la Gr?ce antique, Aegaeum 6, Li?ge, 1990, 79-92. Marinatos, N. Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image and Symbol, Columbia, 1993, 184-8, fig. 188. Crooks, S. What are These Queer Stones? Baetyls: Epistemology of a Minoan Fetish. BAR International Series 2511. Oxford, 2013, 45-46, fig. 39. Mandalaki, S. "Ο χορός στη Μινωική Κρήτη". Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες, 90 (2004): 17-18, fig. 6. Mandalaki, S. "Η αναζήτηση του υπερβατικού". In S. Mandalaki and G. Rethemiotakis, Μινωικός κόσμος. Ταξίδι στις απαρχές της Ευρώπης, Heraklion, 2015, 101-02.
Author:
S. M.


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