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Knossos

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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #15 on: October 24, 2007, 01:20:21 pm »

The centerpiece of the "Mycenaean" palace was the so-called Throne Room or Little Throne Room, dated to LM II. This chamber has an alabaster seat identified by Evans as a "throne" built into the north wall. On three sides of the room are gypsum benches. A sort of tub area is opposite the throne, behind the benches, termed a lustral basin, meaning that Evans and his team saw it as a place for ceremonial purification.

The room was accessed from an anteroom through two double doors. The anteroom in turn connected to the central court, which was four broad steps up through four doors. The anteroom had gypsum benches also, with carbonized remains between two of them thought to be a possible wooden throne. Both rooms are located in the ceremonial complex on the west of the central court.

The throne is flanked by the Griffin Fresco, with two griffins couchant (lying down) facing the throne, one on either side. Griffins were important mythological creatures, also appearing on seal rings, which were used to stamp the identity of the bearer into pliable material, such as clay or wax.

The actual use of the room and the throne is unclear. The two main theories are:

The seat of a priest-king or his consort, the queen. This is the older theory, originating with Evans. In that regard Matz speaks of the "heraldic arrangement" of the griffins, meaning that they are more formal and monumental than previous Minoan decorative styles. In this theory, the Mycenaean Greeks would have held court in this room, as they came to power in Knossos at about 1450. The "lustral basin" and the location of the room in a sanctuary complex cannot be ignored; hence, "priest-king." Because Evans was limited by personal experience to the view that any head of state must have been male, the strong possibility that the peaceful people of Crete were led by a priestess-queen would not have occurred to him.
A room reserved for the epiphany of a goddess, who would have sat in the throne, either in effigy, or in the person of a priestess, or in imagination only. In that case the griffins would have been purely a symbol of divinity rather than a heraldic motif.

The lustral basin was originally thought to have had a ritual washing use, but the lack of drainage has more recently brought some scholars to doubt this theory. It is now speculated that the tank was used as an aquarium.

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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2007, 01:33:10 pm »



Griffin couchant facing throne.
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2007, 01:25:47 pm »

A long-standing debate between archaeologists concerns the main function of the palace, whether it acted primarily as an administrative center, a religious center -- or both, in a theocratic manner. Other important debates consider the role of Knossos in the administration of Bronze Age Crete, and whether Knossos acted as the primary center, or was on equal footing with the several other contemporary palaces that have been discovered on Crete. Many of these palaces were destroyed and abandoned in the early part of the 15th century BCE, possibly by the Mycenaeans, although Knossos remained in use until destroyed by fire about one hundred years later. It is worth noting that Knossos showed no signs of being a military site -- no fortifications or stores of weapons, for example. Minoan civilization was a remarkably unmilitaristic society. Likewise, the position of Minoan women was unusual compared to any other contemporary society.

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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2007, 01:26:30 pm »



Palazzo di Cnosso 076a Immagine scattata e rilasciata sotto
« Last Edit: October 25, 2007, 01:27:35 pm by Angelina Demarco » Report Spam   Logged
Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #19 on: October 25, 2007, 01:27:06 pm »



planol del palau de Cnossos, foto pṛpia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #20 on: October 25, 2007, 01:28:13 pm »



Columnes a Cnossos, foto propia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2007, 01:29:01 pm »



Gerres a Cnossos, foto propia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #22 on: October 25, 2007, 01:29:55 pm »



Tron del rei de Cnossos, foto propia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #23 on: October 25, 2007, 01:30:34 pm »



objectes trobats a Cnossos, foto pṛpia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #24 on: October 25, 2007, 01:31:24 pm »



pintura trobada a Cnossos, foto propia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #25 on: October 25, 2007, 01:32:06 pm »


les banyes de Cnossos, foto pṛpia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #26 on: October 25, 2007, 01:32:42 pm »



cambrals reials a Cnossos, foto propia
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #27 on: October 25, 2007, 03:16:36 pm »



Creta, Palazzo di Cnosso
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #28 on: October 25, 2007, 03:17:13 pm »



Description: Mural painting in the ruins of knossos
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Angelina Demarco
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« Reply #29 on: October 25, 2007, 03:17:52 pm »



Ruins of Knossos
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