Stone statue head
Γ345
Stone (Poros stone)
Missing the upper edge
Height: 18.5 cm. Width: 10.3 cm. Thickness: 7.3 cm.
Amnissos
Early layers of the temple of Zeus Thenatas
Late Geometric period:
Mid-8th c. BC:
Gallery:
XVCase:
158Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th-4th c. BC). Cities and SanctuariesSanctuaries
Description
Head of what is probably a male figurine, as the features and the cap, similar to those worn by riders, indicate. There are hollows for inset eyes; the bone plaque found in the excavation is probably one of these. This is the oldest stone sculpture of the Historical period discovered in Crete. It is reminiscent of acroliths, statues with a wooden torso and stone head, arms and legs. Similar sculptures from the Athens Acropolis are depicted on vases. They were usually carried by worshippers in ceremonies in honour of the deity, such as the festival of the Panathenaea in Athens, where the xoanon of the goddess Athena was clothed in a peplos woven by the young priestesses of the Parthenon.Bibliography:
Marinatos S. "Άνασκαφαί εν Αμνισώ Κρήτης " Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας (1936) 81-86. Schåfer J. Amnisos nach der Archaeologischen Zeugnissen des Altertums und der Neuzeit, Berlin, 1992. S. Mandalaki (ed.), ΔΑΙΔΑΛΟΣ. Στα ίχνη του μυθικού τεχνίτη, Heraklion 2019, p. 234, cat no. 195 (entry by K. Sidiropoulos).Author:
M. K.Photographs' metadata