Snake Goddess or attendant
from Knossos
MM III
Height 11 1/2 inches
(Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, Crete)
In two open cists or vats in the Temple Repositories were found a large quantity of vases and a variety of small objects, including sealings or seal impressions, ivory and bone objects, shells both real and made of faience, beads andinlays, a marble cross, and faience figures of a snake goddess and votaries.
Faience was developed very early in Western Asia and then in Egypt as early as 3000 BCE. It is comprised of a core of quartz grains cemented together and covered with a vitreous glaze, and then fired. The precise method of manufacture is unknown.
For an extended discussion of this statuette, see my essay The Minoan Snake Goddess
Snake Goddess or attendant
from Knossos
MM III
Height 13 1/2 inches
(Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, Crete)
Note that most of the lower part of the figure is restored. Discussion of this statuette is included in my essay The Minoan Snake Goddess
Evans believed that most of the objects formed part of a cult shrine
which he tentatively reconstructed.
Evans's Snake Goddess Shrine
Male Acrobat
from Knossos
MM III
Ivory
Length 114/5 inches
(Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, Crete)
The figure is believed to be engaged in an acrobatic sport associated with the bull cult. The figure is realistically modelled with carefully detailed anatomy.
SPRING 2016 
