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Clay Bull’s-Head Rhyton
Bulls featured hugely in ancient Minoan culture. While this decorated clay head in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum in Crete looks like it could have come out of a home-decor shop, it is actually a rhyton, an ancient Greek drinking horn, and dates somewhere between 1450 and 1370 BC.
I’m not normally a huge fan of museums: there are only so many plaques I can read on dusty displays before I hit overload, or become mind-numbingly bored.
But, all of the guide books and everyone I met on Crete recommended the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. It is reputed to be one of the greatest museums in Greece – and in a country where classical Greek ruins and artefacts are all around, that is saying something!
More importantly, the museum houses the world’s most extensive collection of Minoan art and artefacts. After my small taste of Minoan culture during a visit to the Palace of Knossos (see: The Minotaur, Mythology and an Ancient Palace), my interest was piqued.
The museum was originally founded in 1908, with a dedicated building erected between 1904 and 1912 in the centre of Heraklion. Following three damaging earthquakes, a new, modernist, anti-seismic construction was completed in 1940. Although the site suffered some damage during the Second World War, the collection – which spans antiquities from 7000 BC through to the Roman occupation in the third century CE – survived. The structure was extensively renovated between 2006 and 2013, and retains a fresh, contemporary appearance.
I was surprised when I was allowed to take the cameras inside – and even more surprised that I felt compelled to use them! While there are numerous examples of art from the Roman period (between 600 BC and 300 CE), I skimmed over them in favour of the earlier Cretan artefacts.
The ancient Minoan art absolutely captured me – and I spent far more time inside the museum than I had planned.
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Heraklion Archaeological Museum
The current museum – a modern anti-seismic structure – was built between 1937 and 1940 by Greek architect Patroklos Karantinos. Damaged in the Second World War, it has been repaired and extended over the years, and was extensively renovated between 2006 and 2013.
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Marine Ritual Triton
The age and beauty of the artifacts on display are breathtaking. This elegant trumpet shell dates between 3600 and 3000 BC.
Terracotta Goddess (5300 – 3000 BC)
Pottery and weaving came into their own during the Neolithic period; …
“Steatopygous Goddess” from Pano Chorio
… this beautiful little sculpture can take her place beside the Paleolithic Venus figurines of Europe.
Neolithic Jug (2600-1900 BC.)
The descriptive signage calls the decoration of these dishes ‘typical’. I find the jug shape, and the pattern of converging lines, both beautiful and modern.
Clay Figurines (1900-1700 BC)
This ancient woman (and the men) are believed to be in an ‘attitude of worship’.
Storage Jars
The building’s designer, Patroklos Karantinos (1903-1976) is described as an architect of ‘classical modernism’. The place feels spacious and airy, with plenty of light from the skylights above and along the top of the walls.
Patterned Jugs
Wonderful shapes and designs are everywhere!
Decorated Pots
Kamares ware is a stylish example of Middle Minoan (2100-1600 BC) ceramics, characterized by elegant shapes, and light-on-dark abstract and floral patterns.
Kamares Ware (1900-1700 BC)
The style is named for a cave, discovered in 1864, where some of best examples were found.
Model of the Palace of Knossos
Knossos was the center of Minoan civilization during the Neopalatial period (1750 –1450 BC). This impressive and detailed wooden model of the palace’s complex floor plan was made by Zacharias S. Kanakis – who was the conservator of the Archaeological Society of Athens in 1968.
Bull’s Head Rhyton and Figurines
Considering that these beautiful objects are around 4000 years old, it amazes me that so many have survived!
Another Bull’s Head Rhyton (1500-1450 BC)
These clay libation vessels were used at royal banquets and were symbols of high status. The purpose of the rhyton was to deliver a controlled amount of liquid into the bowl of the banqueter – but they were sometimes drunk from directly.
Phaistos Disc (Early 17th Century BC)
The descriptive plaque calls this clay object ‘enigmatic’. The forty-five pictorial signs and their different arrangements are assumed to be words, but the meaning and the relationship to Cretan script has not been established. Best guess is that this disc from Phaistos depicts a hymn or a magic spell.
Bull-Leaping Fresco
I’ve shared a picture of this fresco before (see: The Minotaur, Mythology and an Ancient Palace). It shows the most spectacular Minoan acrobatic sport: bull-leaping. Young athletes made a dangerous leap over the horns and back of a charging bull – presumably in front of a large crowd of excited spectators.
Bull Leaper
This is the artwork that left me with my mouth hanging open. Dated between 1600-1450 BC, this impossibly modern, almost abstract, ivory figurine of a bull-leaper is thought to be the first attempt ‘to render the instantaneous, free rotation of a carved figure in three-dimensional space’.
Double Axes
Offerings of small axes were made from gold, silver, and bronze sheet. (1700-1450)
Clay Figurines (1650-1500 BC)
These stylised clay figurines are thought to depict worshippers.
And Another Bull’s Head Rhyton (1550-1500 BC)
This partially restored libation vessel was carved from a single block of black steatite.
Where Art and Myth Meet : The Ring of Minos (1450-1400 BC)
Found in Knossos, the so-called Ring of Minos is a stunning work of Minoan art, inscribed with religious iconography.
Figurines of the Snake Goddess (1650-1550 BC)
These are considered the most important religious objects from the Knossos Temple Repositories. The figurines of the “Snake Goddess” are named for the snakes twining around the body and arms of the larger figure, and the two snakes that the smaller figure holds in her hands. The snakes symbolise the chthonic (underground, living in the underworld) character of the goddess. The cat on the head of the smaller figure is thought to suggest her dominion over wildlife. Both wear luxurious clothes, with close-fitting bodices exposing their breasts to symbolise the fertility of the goddess, women, and nature itself.
Decorative and Functional Pitchers
The Poppy Goddess (1300-1200 BC)
Five goddess figurines were found in a small shrine room at Gazi, Heraklion. They are crowned with – among other things – symbols believed to be the fruit of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum).
Burial Pithoi
During the Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC), the dead were laid to rest in wide-mouthed clay jars (pithoi), in wooden coffins, …
Clay Larnakes
… on beds and biers, or in sarcophagi chests made of clay.
Bronze Grave Statue : Hellenistic Period (Mid 1st Cent BC)
Jump forward two thousand years, and funereal art is more classically realistic, as in this sculpture of a sorrowful young man in a mantle.
Winged Cupids
These terracotta cupids from the Hellenistic period (323 BC – 30 BC) probably accompanied the burial of a women or child.
And, so the cycle of life continues … bringing out the best of human creativity.
The magnificent art and artefacts that were once used in daily life, religious practice, and burial rituals that are on display in the Archaeological Museum are rightly celebrated!
Pictures: 09September2022
