Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Bronze objects : The Idaean Cave "Drum" [Χ9]

The Panhellenic character of the Cretan sanctuaries ➔ The Idaean Cave "Drum"

Χ9

Metal (Bronze)

Intact

Diameter: 45 cm.

Idaean Cave

Cave

Geometric- Early Archaic period:

730-680 BC:

Gallery:

XVII

Case:

171

Exhibition thematic unit:

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

Sacred Caves

Description

Bronze drum (?) displaying strong Assyrian and Eastern influences. In the centre is a bearded male figure grasping a lion, his left foot treading on a bull in the lower part of the scene. On either side of the central figure are two winged “daemons” beating drums. The composition is framed by an elaborate floral motif. The scene is interpreted as the myth of Zeus and the Curetes or Corybantes. These daemons beat drums to cover the crying of the infant Zeus, whom his mother Rhea had hidden in the Idaean Cave from his father Cronus, who devoured his own children. The work of an Eastern bronzesmith or a Cretan craftsman with strong Eastern influences, the drum of the Idaean Cave is one of the few material testimonies for the enactment of mystery rites, known from ancient sources, in the sacred cave.

Bibliography:

Rizzo M.A, “The first Explorations”, in Ancient Crete, A Hundred Years of Italian Archaeology (1884-1984), Rome, 1984, 27-28, fig. 3.

Author:

S. P.

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