Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Clay black-figure cup with pictorial scene [Π25787]

Clay black-figure cup with pictorial scene

Π25787

Clay

Restored in places and mended from several sherds

Max. Height: 11.4 cm.Rim diameter: 12.1 cm.

Kommos

Temple Β

Early Archaic period:

630-600 BC:

Gallery:

XVII

Case:

181

Exhibition thematic unit:

Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th - 4th c. BC). The Sanctuaries. From Minoan cult to the amalgamation of religious beliefs

Sanctuaries

Description

This cup bears what may be the most multifigured scene on a Cretan ceramic vessel. It is completely covered in black glaze, with a conical body and a single strap handle. The surface is richly decorated with incised geometric motifs and complex images. On one side of the cup is depicted a dead man laid out on a covered litter, between a seated male figure and a warrior. This is probably a prothesis scene, the ritual carrying of the deceased to his final resting place. Both the seated figure and the warrior are interesting to note: they may be involved in the ritual. Another image from the ceremony is seen on the other side of the vessel, with running men, perhaps a foot race in honour of the dead. The cup was found next to a hearth, among other minor objects and remains of a ritual offering at Temple B at Kommos.

Bibliography:

Shaw J.W.-Shaw C.M. (eds.), Kommos ΙV, The Greek Sanctuary, Part 1-2, Princeton-Oxford, 2000, 237, pl. 4.47. Antonis Kotsonas, The Iconography of a Protoarchaic Cup From Kommos: Myth and Ritual in Early Cretan Art, Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens Vol. 88, No. 4 (October-December 2019), 595-624, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Author:

S. P.

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