Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Part of clay portable altar [Π32741]

Part of clay portable altar

Π32741

Light red clay

Mended from many sherds, restored and overpainted. The original black slip is fugitive

Height: 77 cm. Base diameter: 86 cm. Mouth diameter: 28.5 cm.

Gortyn

Sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis

Early Archaic period:

7th c. BC:

Gallery:

XVII

Case:

Not in case

Exhibition thematic unit:

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

Sanctuaries

Description

Upper part of a large portable altar (eschara), associated with a separate preserved lower part (not displayed), in an exceptionally rare combination of artefacts. The altar consists of a cylindrical lower part decorated with a band of relief coils, the free ends terminating in panther heads. The gaps are filled with relief miniature shields, while the whole lower part is topped with a free row of tongue-shaped leaves. The upper part is shaped like a truncated cone, or rather an upside-down smoke funnel. It bears mainly painted decoration of a wavy band enclosing alternating drop-shaped and circular motifs. At the top is a row of relief miniature shields between relief bands. Pairs of holes near the juncture of the two sections were intended for suspension strings, indicating that the object was portable.

Bibliography:

D. Levi, Gli scavi del 1954 sull'acropoli di Gortina, Annuario della scuola archeologica di Atene 33-34 (1955-6), 230-1, 234, fig. 27. W. Jοhannowsky, Il santuario sull'acropoli di Gortina, Annuario della scuola archeologica di Atene 2002, 40-41, no. 284, pl. 26.

Author:

K. S.

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