April 15, 1922] 



NATURE 



467 



I 



" E:M. I.," the First Early Minoan sub-period (roughly 

 ^00-2800), sees the transition from stone to copper 

 iplements, and from copper to bronze. On the 

 sthmus of Hierapetra, a short cut across the island 

 )r early trade, we meet with rectangular, many- 

 )6med houses of sun-dried bricks framed in timber, 

 rith roofs of reeds and clay such as the peasants 

 lere still use. In the next stage (2800-2400) the 

 rails are protected with plaster containing 40 per 

 mt. of carbonate of lime ; Mr. Noel Heaton's analyses 

 low how this developed into the fine white stucco of 

 Imost pure lime on which the fresco-painters worked 

 'a thousand years later. Knossos was now importing 

 diorite bowls from Egypt, and imitating them in 

 liparite brought from the ^olian Islands north of 

 Sicily ; otherwise this period is scantily represented 

 lere, and the author draws freely on the graves found 

 Mr. Seager at Mochlos, rich in finely wrought jewelry 

 id vases of variegated stone. Gold eye-bandages 

 iticipate the gold masks worn by the dead warriors of 

 Lycense, and a votive double axe shows that Minoan 

 jligion had already chosen its characteristic emblem. 

 In " E.M. III." (2400-2100) the centre of interest 

 lifts to the fertile plain south of Mount Ida. Sir 

 thur Evans publishes a series of ivory seals found 

 tholos " tombs of this region by Dr. Xanthudides, 

 le Cretan Inspector of Antiquities, the motives of 

 which include apes, lions, scorpions, and meander- 

 patterns, carved by native hands, but closely related 

 to designs current at this time in the Delta. From a 

 similar deposit, excavated by Prof. Halbherr, came a 

 seal on which the author recognises an adaptation of 

 the Egyptian draught-board sign (Fig. i) with draughts- 

 men of characteristic form, and he is able to assign 

 to this period somethree- 

 and four-sided bead seals 

 with scenes from daily 

 life. Before the close of 

 this period huge works 

 were being undertaken 

 at Knossos ; a round sub- 

 terranean chamber, hewn 

 to a depth of 53 ft. below 

 the rock-surface, and 



Fk;. I.— a, Draught-bo.ird .incl pieces entered by a StCp-WaV 

 on E.M. III. ivory signet (Fracture . . . 



restored), b, c, Early types of Egyptian CUrVingaboUt itS CirCUm- 



draught - board sign (jnen). e, /, ^ , , 



Egyptian pieces. From "The Palace fcrenCC, ShOWS remark- 

 of -Minos at Knossos." , , ^ ^. , .,, 



able constructive skill. 

 Whatever their purpose, this and another " hypogaeum " 

 (as yet unexcavated) were disregarded when the First 

 Palace was built in the First Middle Minoan period 

 (2100-1900). It was the Age of Palaces. Alike at 

 Knossos and at Phaistos there rose a great complex of 

 state-apartments, sanctuaries, and store-houses ; both 

 were laid in ruins by some catastrophe, due to invasion 

 NO. 2737, VOL. 109] 



or revolt, at the close of " M.M. II." (before 1700), and 

 both were rebuilt with greater splendour soon afterwards , 

 to be overthrown again at the close of " M.M. III." 

 (about 1580). The Late Minoan phases, in which the art 

 of Knossos attained its acme and declined, lie outside 

 the scope of this volume. 



From " M.M. I.'.' onwards Knossos seems to dominate 

 Crete. The buildings about the central court were 

 planned with an eye to defence, notably the tower- 

 like " Early Keep " which flanked the north entrance 

 and had deep dungeons or store-pits in its basement. 

 The neighbouring Peak-sanctuary on Mount luktas, 

 frequented at this period, yielded votive offerings like 

 those of Petsofa, above Palaikastro ; these " high 

 places " seem to have been sacred to the Mountain 

 Mother, the supreme deity of Minoan religion, wor- 

 shipped in the Palace as the Snake-Goddess. The 

 remodelling of the Palace in " M.M. II." suggests 

 elaborate provision for the ritual purification of those 

 who entered it ; from the first it was a sanctuary, 

 ruled by priest-kings, who drew revenues in kind^ 

 from large territories and exported oil and other pro- 

 duce to Egypt. The gay-coloured " M.M. II." pottery 

 is dated within narrow limits by finds at Abydos and 

 Kahun, and it may be that Cretan workmen settled 

 at Kahun and worked for the Pharaohs, and even 

 that the very ancient wharves and breakwaters off 

 the island of Pharos, near the later site of Alexandria, 

 which have been explored in recent years by M. Jondet, 

 were constructed by Minoan engineers. Cretan art 

 owed some of its technical accomplishment to this 

 intercourse, but developed on its own lines, tending 

 more and more to naturalism. 



After the destruction of Knossos and Phaistos at 

 the close of " M.M. II." a new dynasty took control, 

 as the author infers from the introduction of a ne\y 

 linear script, not a direct outgrowth of the hieroglyphic 

 system, and new methods of sealing ; but the sacred 

 character of the Knossian palace persisted, and a large 

 part of the six acres which it covered was devoted to 

 " lustral basins " (the " bath-rooms " of earlier reports), 

 " pillar-rooms," and shrines. The state-apartments of 

 the period, built on the hill-side east of the central 

 court, are preserved to a height of two stories ; the 

 excavation of this region, and its reconstruction by 

 the substitution of new beams and pillars for the 

 carbonised ancient timbers, were feats of which Sir 

 Arthur Evans and his staff may be proud. The eleva- 

 tion of the Grand Staircase (Fig. 2) illustrates the 

 spacious dignity of Minoan architecture at its best. 

 Of the fresco-paintings two examples are reproduced 

 in colour, but the larger pieces are reserved for a 

 Knossian Atlas to be published hereafter. Other 

 colour-plates represent the faience Snake Goddess, 

 the famous inlaid draught-board of ivor>', gold, and 



