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52-599: Notable finds include the Hagia Triada sarcophagus and the " Harvester Vase ". About 150 Linear A tablets were found, the largest cache at any Minoan site. Twenty three roundels (circular lumps of clay sealed on the edge) and a large number of nodules (clay lumps with 3 faces of which two had small inscriptions and one face a seal) were also found. All of the Linear A finds date to the Late Minoan IB period, before

104-448: A sistrum . Other interpretations of the procession have been proposed. The Chieftain Cup is a serpentine footed conical cup or chalice measuring 11.5 centimetres high and with a diameter of 9.9 centimetres. It depicts five males, three with "hides" and two facing each other. The rightmost faving figure stands in front of a pillar and wears three necklaces, several arm bands and bracelets, and

156-582: A Roman villa was built at the site. Nearby are two chapels: Hagia Triada in the deserted village and Hagios Georgios, built during the Venetian period. Hagia Triada is in south central Crete, 30–40 meters above sea level. It lies four kilometres west of Phaistos , which is situated at the western end of the Mesara Plain . The site was not a Minoan palace but an upscale town with some kind of local administration center. Though occupied earlier, most of

208-588: A belted short kilt with dagger. The other is holding a sword in one hand and an object in the other thought to be a ritual "sprinkler" and also wears a short kilt. On the back only the heads of the three ox-hide bearing figures are seen. There have been a variety of possible explanations for the scene on the Chieftain's Cup. Hagia Triada sarcophagus The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus is a late Minoan 137 cm (54 in)-long limestone sarcophagus , dated to around 1400 BC or some decades later, excavated from

260-439: A boat. They seem to be approaching the only figure in the right-hand section, with a white background. He is a static left-facing male figure without arms and feet, who wears a full-length hide cloak-like garment, with gold edging; it is presumed that he represents the dead man receiving gifts (and the boat for his journey to the next world). The dead man stands outside what is presumably the elaborate entrance to his tomb, beside

312-594: A chamber tomb at Hagia Triada , Crete in 1903 and now on display at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum (AMH) in Crete, Greece. Uniquely for such a piece from this date on Crete, it is coated in plaster and painted in fresco on all faces. Unlike the ancient Egyptians , the Minoans only used frescoes to decorate palaces and houses for the enjoyment of the living, not for funerary use. It

364-443: A clay figurine, and two seals. It has been suggested that a number of grave goods found in the nearby Tomba degli Ori originally resided in this tomb. In 1956 a complete cleaning and restoration of the sarcophagus was completed. It is the only limestone sarcophagus of its era discovered to date and the only sarcophagus with a series of narrative scenes of Minoan funerary ritual. The sarcophagus has fresco painting on all four sides. On

416-529: A crown is carrying two vessels on a yoke over her shoulders. Behind her a man dressed in a long robe is playing a seven-string lyre . This is the earliest picture of the lyre known in Greece. This scene brings to mind a description in Homer, where the dead needed blood. In the central section, with a blue background, three men wearing hide aprons or kilts face right and carry models of animals (probably bulls) and

468-579: A group from the Italian Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene , directed by Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier . The site includes a town and a miniature "palace", an ancient drainage system servicing both, and Early Minoan tholos tombs. The settlement was in use, in various forms, from Early Minoan I until the site's destruction by fire in Late Minoan IB . Excavation resumed between 1910 and 1914, with

520-416: A hide skirt apron is emptying a decorated vase or bucket into a large metal cauldron; this might be blood from the sacrifice on the other side, possibly as an invocation to the soul of the deceased. The cauldron appears to sit on a tripod, and stands between two poles on decorated bases. The poles are topped with labrys symbols and a bird each above that. Behind the first woman a richly-dressed woman wearing

572-651: A loom weight limits a loom to certain thread counts , and the mass of the loom weight is related to the yarn used. This means that loom weights can be used to calculate the density and other properties of the fabric made on them. The warp-weighted loom may have originated in the Neolithic period. The earliest evidence of warp-weighted looms comes from sites belonging to the Starčevo culture in modern Serbia and Hungary from late Neolithic sites in Switzerland. This loom

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624-422: A pedestal or altar. Shown as in the air beside her are a decorated vase and a bowl with fruit-like round objects. In front of this is a pole with a labrys double axe at the top and a black bird sitting on this. This has a chequered base; or perhaps this is a step up to the final element, either an altar or a building (in which case probably the tomb). This is topped by four Horns of Consecration symbols, and also

676-400: A pipe player, incense in the hand of one of the four rear participants and the jug of water for purification. The time of day of the sacrifice is night because chthonic rituals took place during the night, ouranic rituals took place during the day. The action of both the sacrifice scene and the libation scene moves from left to right. In Egyptian religion, the left was the side of death and right

728-429: A prince. It provides probably the most comprehensive iconography of a pre-Homeric thysiastikis ceremony and one of the best pieces of information on noble burial customs when Crete was under Mycenaean rule, combining features of Minoan and Mycenaean style and subject matter, as well as probable influence from Ancient Egyptian religion . All four faces of the sarcophagus are fully painted in several colours, using

780-597: A series of large earthquakes. After that destruction monumental rebuilding occurred on a large scale. By sometime in the Late Minoan III (LM III) period the site came under Mycenae control. In the 13th century BC the site of Haghia Triada was destroyed and abandoned. In the Mycenae Protogeometric period (c. 1050-900 BC) a sanctuary was established in the Regione dei Sacelli area, primarily at

832-468: A tree representing regeneration and the seven branches is an Egyptian number signifying completeness. There are seven participants in the sacrifice scene with hands down palms down possibly indicating a forceful prayer or invocation of the chthonic deity behind the low altar in epiphany. Also, the sacrifice scene has three other elements common in sacrifices in Classical Greece, the presence of

884-632: A tree, and three steps. Recent 20th century excavations on the same site have allowed the sarcophagus's dating to be tightened up to 1370-1320 BC, which coincides with the end of the 18th Dynasty in Egypt, a period of extensive contact between Crete and Egypt, thus allowing the sarcophagus's technical and artistic elements to be related to similar decorative techniques in Egyptian temples and tombs. Some miniature sculpture found in other places of Crete (Kamilari, Archanes) during this period are connected with

936-414: A tree. Both the structures in this part of the scene have decoration including spiral scrolls and stripes that is comparable to that on the borders on the sarcophagus. The narrative scene on the second long side (called here the "front") is also divided into three zones with different background colours. On the left, with a white background, there are three left-facing figures. Firstly a woman wearing

988-405: A yellow background, which changes to white at the altar. Blood pouring from the altar table is falling into a bucket or rhyton at the right of this section. In the final section the background colour changes again to a blue that is now rather muddy. A female figure with a skirt or apron of shaggy animal hide faces away from the bull towards the right. She holds out both arms over a bowl on

1040-479: Is a male figure playing the aulos double flute. He is painted red in the usual Minoan convention, unlike the white females. At the left of the scene are five female figures in profile, facing the altar. Only the front one is complete, as a chunk of the plaster is missing, and the others are missing their upper bodies. The front figure has a large crown with long plumes, probably of feathers. She holds her hands in front of her, with open palms. This section has

1092-433: Is a simple and ancient form of loom in which the warp yarns hang freely from a bar, which is supported by upright poles which can be placed at a convenient slant against a wall. Bundles of warp threads are tied to hanging weights called loom weights which keep the threads taut. Evidence of the warp-weighted loom appears in the Neolithic period in central Europe. It is depicted in artifacts of Bronze Age Greece and

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1144-462: Is the only limestone sarcophagus of its era discovered to date; there are a number of smaller terracotta "ash-chests" ( larnax ), painted far more crudely, usually in a single colour. It is the only object with a series of narrative scenes of Minoan funerary ritual (later sarcophagi found in the Aegean were decorated with abstract designs and patterns). It was probably originally used for the burial of

1196-412: The "water" as nourishment because the dead did not feed on solid food, but rather on liquids. Therefore, the calves are symbolic food for dead. The stairs in front of the dead man's tomb, an Egyptian concept, allows the spirit of the dead man to ascend into the realm of the living. The tree on a sarcophagus in ancient Egypt represented regeneration. Warp-weighted loom The warp-weighted loom

1248-573: The Chieftain Cup. The lower portion was not preserved. The date of the vase is in some dispute. The range of Middle Minoan III to Late Minoan I had been proposed. An alternative proposal is to the last phase of the NeoPalatial period (Late Minoan II). Men are walking in twos with rods on their shoulders. The leader is dressed in a priestly robe with a fringe and is carrying a stick. A group of musicians accompany with song, and one of them holds

1300-670: The Middle Minoan IA (MM IA) period it is known to have had a cemetery with a large circular " tholos " tomb. The site grew rapidly during the MM IB to MM IIB period. With the Protopolatial period (c. 1925 BC) an extensive building program began which continued through the NeoPalatial period. Toward the end of the LM IB period (c. 1625–1470 BC) the site was destroyed by fire. It has been suggested that this destruction resulted from

1352-483: The North or Front (because it faced the door of the tomb), is divided into four directional zones. In the rightmost zone there is a structure with three stairs and a spiral border holding a leafless tree. Next to the left an armless figure (speculated to be a god, statue, or deceased man) faces left. In the next leftward zone three men in procession face the armless figure bearing two bulls and a crescent shaped white boat. In

1404-544: The Piazzale dei Sacelli. Numerous votive figurines were found there. After an occupation gap of three centuries the site came back into use in the Hellenistic period (323-30 BC) with several shrines being built. At that time the site was under the control of nearby Phaistos. The site was then abandoned in the 2nd century BC after Phaistos was destroyed by Gortyn . Later, after the island was conquered by Rome in 69 BC,

1456-488: The addition of Gaetano De Sanctis though the work from this effort is largely unpublished. In 1938 and 1959 Luisa Banti carried out limited excavation at the site. From 1970 until 1976 the site was excavated by Doro Levi and Clelia Laviosa. All of these excavations remain thinly published. From 1977 to 2012 a team from the Italian Archaeological School at Athens led by Vincenzo La Rosa excavated at

1508-405: The beam and rest against the shed rod (E). The heddle-bar (G) is tied to some of the warp threads (A, but not B), using loops of string called leashes (H). So when the heddle rod is pulled out and placed in the forked sticks protruding from the posts (not lettered, no technical term given in citation), the shed (1) is replaced by the counter-shed (2). By passing the weft through the shed and

1560-556: The bull. In Classical Greece the offering of fruits of the earth was made to a chthonic deity just as on the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus. On the high altar, altar for the ouranioi, are the horns of consecration and a tree with seven branches. Most often, but not always, the horns of consecration are found in high places in Minoan religious art indicating they related to the ouranioi. The tree, with seven branches, may be

1612-410: The centre of one of the long sides of the sarcophagus (here called the "rear" side, purely for convenience) is a scene with a sacrifice of a bull, who is lying tethered on a table-like altar. Under the altar are at least two smaller animals, variously described as calves, deer or goats, possibly terracotta models like those being carried on the other side, or real ones waiting to be sacrificed. Behind this

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1664-458: The chthonioi. The position of the throat of sacrificial animal, the bull, is down indicating the sacrifice is for the chthonioi or chthonic deity. The high altar is reserved for the ouranioi, deities of the heavens. Above the low altar, chthonic altar, are two objects, a jug of water and a basket of fruits of the earth (standard Egyptian icon). The jug of water is for purification of the sacrifice participants who wash their hands before sacrificing

1716-545: The coast of Norway and among the Sami of Norway and Finland in the 1950s. Today, the warp-weighted loom is used as a hobby and in historic preservation societies. A warp-weighted loom has two upright posts (C); they support a horizontal beam (D), which is cylindrical so that the finished cloth can be rolled around it, allowing the loom to be used to weave a piece of cloth taller than the loom, and preserving an ergonomic working height. The warp threads (F, and A and B) hang from

1768-409: The counter-shed, alternately, cloth is woven. The warp-weighted loom is used in a near-vertical position, and the fabric is woven from the top of the loom toward the ground. This allows the weaver to walk back-and-forth while working, so that wider cloth can be woven than is practical on a ground loom. On Ancient Greek vase paintings , two weavers, most often women, are shown working side-by-side on

1820-490: The fresco technique otherwise only found in Minoan paintings on walls, and sometimes floors and ceilings. Each of the long sides has a long section with a narrative figure scene of religious ritual. One of the short end sides has a roughly square section with a scene of a chariot with two figures, presumably goddesses as they are pulled by a griffin (possibly two), above which hovers a large bird. The other end has two scenes,

1872-403: The heavens, and the chthonioi , earth deities: position of the hands of the worshipers, level of the altar and color of the deity. The position of the hands of the participants is hands down, palms down indicating the deity invoked is a chthonic deity who is the deity in epiphany as a black bird on the baetylus behind the low altar, the altar for the chthonioi, who has black color, the color of

1924-413: The latter) suggests the hide skirt reflects close involvement with ritual sacrifices and offerings, and that the same royal figures are shown more than once on the sarcophagus, especially the queen, who is shown both in procession wearing a long robe and plumed crown, and then changed into a hide skirt to conduct ceremonies. In her view, in Minoan art "the plumed crown" is only worn by deities, griffins and

1976-487: The leftmost zone a man dressed in a long robe is playing a seven-stringed lyre ( Phorminx ) preceded by a woman who is wearing a crown and carrying two baskets. She in turn is preceded by a woman offering a libation to an altar. The altar is decorated with double axes and two yellow and red birds. An agrarian procession is depicted on the black steatite " Harvester Vase " which was found in Hagia Triada along with

2028-523: The magazines (in one case found inside two pithoi and in the Village at the "Casa del Lebete". Although the site was partially rebuilt after the LM IB fire there was no evidence of administration from that point on. The site was first identified in June 1900 by Luigi Pernier who was excavating at Phaistos at that time. While work proceeded at nearby Phaistos , Hagia Triada was excavated from 1902 to 1908 by

2080-421: The narrative scenes on the long sides are thin blank (white) strips, into which some elements of the scenes intrude at the top. On the sides the strips are a mixture of colours. Unlike larnakes , the sarcophagus has no lid, and none was apparently intended. It also has drainage holes. The long painted scenes show the stages of the sacred ceremony which was performed at the burial of important personages. In

2132-408: The queen, who is, by definition, also the chief priestess. The king is only shown wearing the hide skirt. She cites Hittite and Syrian ( Ugarit ) equivalents for priest-royalty changing clothes to mark a transition in roles. The sacrifice scene may in part be interpreted by the following criteria from classical and archaic Greece used in worshiping two sets of deities, the ouranioi , deities of

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2184-428: The short sides there is a scene of goats (earlier identified as horses or griffin ) drawing a chariot, led by a female figure. In the center of one of the long sides of the sarcophagus is the scene of a bull lying on a table which has two goats squatting underneath. A man, playing an aulos flute and wearing a phorbeia faces the table and is followed in procession by four women. The second long side, generally called

2236-460: The site was destroyed by fire and then rebuilt. After being found on 62 Linear B tablets at Knossos , the name "pa-i-to" has been proposed for the ancient name of the nearby site of Phaistos. The ancient name of Hagia Triada is not yet known though at one point "da-wo" was proposed as well as Scheria from the writing of Homer. The site was founded in the Early Minoan I (EM I) period. By

2288-471: The site. Finds included a Late Minoan I kiln. Publication of this excavation, which focused on the ProtoPalatial levels, is in progress. During the long course of excavation innumerable small finds have been collected. These include a large bronze cauldron, loom weights , obsidian tools, oil lamps, bronze bowls, 16 copper ingots and large quantities of jugs and drinking cups. For the early excavations

2340-603: The specific find spot is not always clear. In 1903 archaeologists unearthed the Hagia Triada sarcophagus painted with illuminating scenes of funerary rituals. It was found in a 3.8 meter by 4.2 meter tomb (Tomb 4) dated to the LM III period and contained two skulls. The tomb is also known as the Tomb of the Painted Sarcophagus and contained a 2nd, clay, sarcophagus ( Larnax ) and a stone and clay cup, two bronze razors,

2392-620: The structural remains date to the Late Minoan period. The site is traditionally divided into a "Villa" (administrative center) and a "Village" area, at both of which Linear A inscriptions were found (all dated to the site's destruction by fire in Late Minoan IB). The site included three large storage magazines, which is taken to suggest trade. Linear A tablet find spots in the Villa were at northwest corner, southwest corner, and in two of

2444-458: The upper almost entirely missing, but probably with a procession of male figures. The lower scene again has two figures in a chariot pulled by two horses. These scenes are surrounded by ornamental borders covering the remaining areas. These are comparable to the decorative borders around Minoan wall-paintings, although larger in relation to the figures. The ornament includes scrolls , stripes, and rows of rosettes . Immediately above and below

2496-406: The warp-weighted loom. This is unusual because most other looms require a resting position of standing or sitting. According to Artemidorus , if one dreams of a warp-weighted loom it means an upcoming journey. If one dreams of any other type of loom, one should expect rest. Additionally, extra warp thread can be wound around the weights. When a weaver has reached the bottom of the available warp,

2548-462: The worship of the dead and there are traces of a true funereal Egyptian cult at the same period. Funereal cults were not common in Crete, but they were practised in certain instances: at the tombs of dead kings, or possibly of higher officials and kings. Nanno Marinatos , whose view of Minoan religion emphasizes a theocracy ruled by a royal couple of a priest-king and queen, combining political and religious roles (the queen perhaps more central to

2600-635: Was common throughout Europe, remaining in use in Scandinavia into modern times. Loom weights from the Bronze Age were excavated in Miletos , a Greek city in Anatolia. The warp tension needed on a loom is roughly proportional to yarn diameter, and loom weights must be positioned in an even, level row, with all the threads hanging nearly straight down, for smooth weaving. This means that the shape of

2652-487: Was the side of life. The libation scene has seven participants giving force to the offering. The two birds in gold color on baetyls sit on double axes and are the highest objects in the scene indicating they are deities in epiphany. The blood in the sacrifice scene is transformed into water because it quenches lips of the "thirsty dead" as mentioned in the Pylos Linear B tablets. The dead man (lowest object) receives

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2704-538: Was used in Ancient Greece , and spread north and west throughout Europe thereafter. It was extensively used in the north among Scandinavian people. For yet unknown reasons, the warp-weighted loom diminished in popularity and disappeared from common use. The arrival of mechanized looms and industry may have contributed to this decline. It remained in use longest in Scandinavia; researcher Marta Hoffman found warp-weighted looms still in use on an isolated island off

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