EXCAVATIONS AT GOURNIA, CRETE. 509 



steps leading west gives access to the interior of the palace. With- 

 out trying foi- the present to explain a huge single block of stone near 

 the top of the ste})s that may have been the floor of a bath, we may 

 turn northward, cross a threshold 1 meter wide and 2 meters long, 

 and following a corridor that runs first west and then north, enter 

 an inner court paved with cement (" terrazza '') and open to the sky. 

 The west side of this inner court Avas formed by a line of storerooms 

 mentioned above, which lie on a somewhat lower level; north of the 

 court are more storerooms, a corridor leading to the west entrjince of 

 the palace, a well-preserved bath, and a small staircase to the second 

 story. On a step of this staircase stood a three-legged stone basin, 

 too heavy to be saved by the owners or easily looted by an enemy. 



The east side of the inner court opens through a portico composed 

 of two square pillars alternating with two round on a sijuare hall, 

 which was certainly covered, as it was choked with fallen timbers, 

 masses of plaster, and stone slabs that in Minoan houses, as in many 

 Italian houses to-day, made the flooring of the second story. In the 

 southeast corner of the hall is a rectangular recess with a stone bench 

 around three sides and a round base for a cohnnn that nuist have sup- 

 ported an architrave across the open side. Here we may suppose the 

 l>rince sat to receive his friends and to dispense justice. It is a semi- 

 public part of the palace, corresponding to the throui' room at Knos- 

 sos. No doubt the private rooms were on the second stor3\ To them 

 a narrow flight of stairs led from the nortln^ast corner of the hall. 

 The walls of this hall are carefully built of well-squared blocks of 

 soft limestone, like those used in the more important j^arts of the 

 outer walls of the building. At first we wer<; astonished to find im- 

 mediately adjoining this important hall on the north one square and 

 two oblong storerooms, the square room containing 12 huge pithoi, 

 one of which is still perfect; but reflection shows that this arrange- 

 ment is a good one, for if the hall was semipublic and was an eating 

 hall for retainers it would be convenient to have '' cellar '' and pantry 

 at hand. 



A part of the hill was cut away to give a level floor for the hall 

 and the adjoining rooms, and on the east the ground lies G or 8 feet 

 higher. Here on the top of the hill no soil could accumulate to pro- 

 tect the ancient structure, and a careful scouring down to live rock 

 simply proved that there had been nothing lower than the second- 

 floor level between the hall and some narrow rooms of '•'" magazine 

 type " on the extreme eastern limit of the palace, where the land 

 again descends, and that of the second story not even a vestige re- 

 mains. To the south of the palace, as here described, lies a building 

 of many rooms, which nuiy foi-ui a southern wing (i)ossibly the 

 women's quarters) or may be the beginning of a block of houses. It 



