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ASIA, JAPAN
The Idea Behind the Jomon Pottery and its Representations
September 17, 2022 Joanna Pyrgies 4 Comments
The matter of pottery and its invention was one of numerous subjects dedicated to Southeast and East Asian Archaeology, which I studied during one of my chosen modules at the university. Although for many scholars the subject of pottery does not seem to tell a compelling story, it turned out to give me a highly interesting insight into general research and the question about the time of pottery's invention, as according to universal knowledge, its appearance is conventionally associated with the Neolithic, which is, in turn, joined with the high-speed revolution in the development of human kind. Nevertheless, such an idea mostly concerns the area of the Middle East. In Far East Asia countries, such as Japan or China, the subject of pottery should be regarded differently.
Development of pottery has been generally linked to the Neolithic period and primarily associated with the Old Europe and Middle East, with its earliest introduction believed to have occurred in west Asia (Ganj Darreh in western Iran) (circa 7300 BC.) (Rudgley 2000:28; Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2). In such a context, pottery, together with a craft of weaving, polished stone tools, a sedentary lifestyle (permanent settlements), religion, monuments, and domesticated plants or animals, is still used to describe Neolithic cultures around the world, conventionally appearing around 10000-8000 BC. (Solovyeva 2017:157; The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2021). Nevertheless, as it is supported by archaeological finds, an invention of pottery had already taken place much earlier, surely in the Palaeolithic, and further eastwards, more precisely in north-east Asia, including the Amur River basin in Eastern Russia (eastern Siberia), China (Jiangxi, a southeast Chinese province) and Japan (Rudgley 2000:28-29; Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2; Norman 2004-2021).
Yet before 1960, it was believed that the earliest Japanese pottery came back from around 2500 BC. (Omoto, Takeishi, Nishida, Fukui 2016:534). But when the so-called Jōmon pottery from the site of Natsushima (Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture) was radiocarbon dated back to around 7000 BC., it turned out to be a real watershed in the archaeology of prehistory (Rudgley 2000:28). Other contemporary excavations at Fukui Cave in Nagasaki Prefecture not only revealed shreds of pottery, which were around 3000 years older than those from Natsushima (Serizawa 1976:2; Kobayashi 2004:9), but also proved "a direct continuity from [the microlithic culture of] the late Japanese Palaeolithic, [showing] a strong communality with the mainland […], to the [times of the] pottery-using [Jōmon]" (Kobayashi 2004:9,12,14). Further archaeological finds of undecorated pottery fragments in a charcoal residue at the Odai-Yamamoto Site (Sotogahama Town, Aomori Prefecture), pushed the beginnings of Japanese pottery even earlier in time to around 13000 BC. (Jomon Japan 2017). Still the oldest examples of undecorated, simple pottery vessels of the Jōmon culture are said to have been first produced around the same time, at the site of Shinonouchi in Nagano (Cartwright 2017) and at the sites in southern Kyūshū (Kakoinohara in Kagoshima Prefecture) (Kobayashi 2004:15-17,19). At the time of the mentioned excavations, the fact of the earliest pottery finds in Japan simultaneously questioned a common idea about a cultural predominance of ancient China over Japan in terms of innovations (Rudgley 2000:28-29). And although continuous excavations proved that pottery fragments also appeared in eastern Siberia around the same time as the Japanese evidence of earthenware vessels, and even earlier (c. 18 000 BC.) in southern China, pottery of the Jōmon culture in Japan is treated as an archaeological phenomenon and often referred to as the earliest pottery in the world (Norman 2004-2021; Rudgley 2000:29; Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2,19; cf. Kenrick 1995), though it should be rather called the earliest pottery tradition due to its continuous development over thousands of years (Lewis 23rd September, 2021).
The Jōmon period, which covers a vast expanse of time of approximately thirteenth thousands years (Palmer 2007:49), can roughly fall within the Neolithic time range in Europe or in the Middle East, and so it is usually described as "Japan's Neolithic period" (MET 2022; see: Solovyeva 2017:157; Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2; Bleed 1976:107). Still, it is important to mention that at its earliest stages, it overlaps with European and Middle Eastern Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods (Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2). Bleed (1976:107) simultaneously claims that describing the entire Jōmon period as Neolithic is actually "unfortunate" and incorrect. Accordingly, if the agricultural revolution constitutes one of the significant aspects recognising the period of Neolithic, the Japanese Neolithic should only refer to the period with the end of the Jōmon culture, between 900 BC. and 300 AD., when the Yayoi culture introduced the agriculture and started to cultivate white rice (Lewis 23rd September, 2021; Kobayashi 2004:133; cf. Barton 2012).
The Jōmon culture is the earliest one that we can identify in Japan. Yet it is little known about it because it was unfamiliar with the writing (Burns 2017). For this reason, the main source of knowledge about it are archaeological finds, such as pottery (Ibid.). Conventional time frames given for the Jōmon culture usually differ, depending on a given source (Cf: Solovyeva 2017:157; Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2). The chronology shown below is provided by scholars, such as Tatsuo Kobayashi (2004:5, Fig.1.2) and ChungHae Amana Oh (2011:35), and has been established basing on estimated radiocarbon dates from the last decade of the twentieth century (Amana Oh 2011:35). Accordingly, the Jōmon culture spans between 13600 BC. to 900 BC. and is traditionally divided into the subsequent periods: Incipient (13600-9200 BC.), Initial (9200-5300 BC.), Early (5300-3500), Middle (3500-2500), Late (2500-1200 BC.), and Final (1200-900BC.), when the Jōmon style wares and statues were gradually replaced by Yayoi pottery (ChungHae 2011:35, Kobayashi 2004:5, Fig.1.2).
The Jōmon culture came into existence with the end of the Last Glacial Period, and when it was in a gradual process of development, the Global Warming with significant climate change had already begun (Kobayashi 2004:1; Jomon Japan 2017). Consequently, sea levels rose in the contemporary world, causing in the region the inflow of the warm Tsushima Current into the Sea of Japan, and furthermore the growth of abundant forests of beech, chestnut, walnut and acorn in the Japanese archipelago (Kobayashi 2004:19). With time, "the ocean moved further inland, bringing with it [additional wealth] of fish and shellfish" (Jomon Japan 2017). Such favourable climate changes allowed contemporary groups of humans to use and "[manipulate] the resources available to them in the natural environment" (Kobayashi 2004:3). Jōmon groups initially led a nomadic and then a semi-sedentary life (MET 2022; Jomon Japan 2017); at that time, they built their villages composed of "pit dwellings arranged around central open spaces" (MET 2022), mostly along the ocean coast or along rivers and lakes, and obtained their food by gathering and fishing, collecting shellfish and hunting (Jomon Japan 2017). There was no need to move further, as they could dispose a large quantity of natural resources in one place, being usually stored in deep house pits (Kobayashi 2004:21). Kobayashi (2004:21) speculates that Jōmon peoples could have lined their storage pits with clay, as in the case of the West Asian Natufian culture, and so the Jōmon pottery could have originated from Japanese peoples' observations that protruding fragments of the clay-lining hardened by the heat from nearby ovens (Ibid.:21). Or, there was a case when a piece of clay from the house wall (e.g. Ganji Darehor) or one dropped from the clay lining of a basket (e.g. North American southwest), was accidentally burnt and fire-hardened (Ibid.:21). Consequently, the Jōmon culture could have started processing clay wider to finally use it as a substance for containers (Ibid.:21). Although these are only some of speculations about actual foundations of pottery in Japan (Ibid.:21), they may constitute "a clue to the origins of pottery making in this region" (Ibid.:21).
Gradual increase in temperatures in Japan resulted in further remarkable inventions (Kobayashi 2004:7), such as "adoption of revolutionary new technologies and tools" (Ibid.:7). Typical of the Jōmon culture was an innovative way of cooking by means of pottery, which allowed them with time to initiate a typically sedentary lifestyle (Jomon Japan 2017). Accordingly, greater settlements were established, together with constant residential centres, sometimes featuring graveyards (e.g. Kakinoshima Site, Hakodate City, Hokkaido), and later also impressive monuments in the form of stone circles (e.g. Oyu Stone Circle, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture or Kiusu Earthwork Burial Circles, Chitose City, Hokkaido) (Ibid.).
According to the archaeological evidence, It is said that groups of people who produced the earliest pottery mainly inhabited the main Japanese island of Honshu, though the centre of the mature Jōmon culture was more likely established in southern Hokkaido and northern Tohoku (northern end of Honshu) (e.g. Irie Takasago Shell Midden, Toyako, Town, Hokkaido or Futasumori Shell Midden, Shichinohe Town, Aomori Prefecture) (Jomon Japan 2017). Such a hypothesis is also supported by the fact that, despite that Honshu and Hokkaido areas had been divided by the Tsugaru Strait, different Jōmon peoples from these areas produced pottery of comparable shapes and by using analogous designs (Ibid.).
The Jōmon pottery was produced by hand, by employing turntables but without the use of a proper wheel, which had been unknown in Japan till the Yayoi phase of development (Kobayashi 2004:77; MET 2022). "The clay was mixed with a variety of adhesive materials, including mica, lead, fibres, and crushed shells, [and when] completely dry, [the pottery] was fired in an outdoor bonfire at a temperature of no more than about 900°C" (MET 2022). Kobayashi (2004:21) compares the earliest Japanese pottery manufacture to a contemporary process of baking a cake of crushed nuts and water. The Jōmon pottery is characterised by a cord pattern and hence the name of the culture – 'Jōmon', which stands for a 'cord design' (MET 2022). Apart from pottery vessels, also typical of the Jōmon culture were intriguing "[clay] figurines […] and other ritual [objects], demonstrating a rich spirituality" (Jomon Japan 2017). Most recognisable of all are definitely the so-called Dogu. Some researchers believe such pottery clay figures actually represent divine ancestors of the ancient Japanese (Burns 2017).
Shintō, the traditional native religion of Japan based on Japanese mythology, can be translated as the way of gods, literally kami-no-michi, where kami means gods (Shintō 2022). Hence, Japanese people believe in kami celestial beings who are still to reside in modern Japan (Burns 2017). According to an ancient Japanese tradition, there are millions of Kami; each has its own personal characteristics and can inhabit different entities, such as people and animals, or even objects (Ibid.). They come down to earth from Takama-ga-hara (High Plain of Heaven), and inhabit Jinja, which are in the Japanese Shintō religion places of worship devoted to various kami (Ibid.). Kami, in turn, are usually thought to be represented as the Dogu figurines (Ibid.). Around 15,000 Dogu representations in the form of various human-like creatures have been found throughout Japan (Ibid.). Also, according to alternative researchers, Dogu are surely to represent the mythological Kami that visited the earth in ancient times; they have goggle-like eyes and their bodies are covered with rivets, which may indicate an outfit or a type of an armour.
"While the many excavations of Jōmon sites have added to our knowledge of specific artifacts, they have not helped to resolve certain fundamental questions concerning the people of the protoliterate era, such as their ethnic classification and the [actual origins] of their language [and of phenomenal pottery vessels and clay figurines they unceasingly produced]" (MET 2022).
Edwina Palmer (2007:49) suggests that while discussing Jōmon Japanese culture, one should use plural Jōmon peoples as the term should be understood as various groups of "the population spanning at least thirteen millennia across the whole of the present Japanese archipelago"(Ibid.:49). The author also believes "that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that some [Jōmon groups] spoke an Austronesian language or languages" (Ibid.:49). Such assumptions have resulted from a long-term debate on the origins of the Jōmon culture in Japan (Cf. Palmer 2007). Scholars, like Charles Loring Brace et al. (1990) and Peter Bellwood (1997) supported an 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis, postulating that Jōmon culture might have been established by migrations from Taiwan (Palmer 2007:47-49). Simultaneously, it is claimed that in the Jōmon period, some groups travelled by sea from Sundaland (modern-day Southeast Asia) due to a postglacial flooding and eventually settled down on the islands of present-day Japan (Ibid.:47). Even though these two theories seem contradictory, Palmer (2007:47) assumes that "an 'Out of Sunda' scenario of migration to Japan in the [Jōmon] period is not necessarily entirely incompatible with an 'Out of Taiwan' theory" (Ibid.:47). And so she concludes that there must have been numerous migrations in Japan during a long-time Jōmon period, according to "[a] common-sense approach […] that humans were never traveling in only one direction at any time […]" (Ibid.:48). Such an approach "may, [at the same time], accommodate many aspects of the various theories proposed" (Ibid.:48). Similarly, it is underlined by Ryan W. Schmidt and Noriko Seguchi (2014:43), who claim that the Jōmon culture was rather like an ethnic mosaic composed of various Palaeolithic peoples migrating to the islands of Japan, and so "in this respect, the biological identity of the Jōmon is heterogeneous, and it may be indicative of diverse peoples who belonged to a common culture, known as the [Jōmon]" (Ibid.:43). That, in turn, agrees with the claim that "the [Jōmon] revolution, [creating pottery], did not arise from [an isolated] microlithic culture in the archipelago, nor was it the result of just a single wave of influence from the continent, but rather a [consequence] of several phases of intervention and interaction" (Kobayashi 2004:14). Consequently, there were hypotheses the pottery could have originated in the continental East Asia, invented independently by different groups of people, and then brought with numerous waves of migrations to contemporary Japan and consequently adopted by its inhabitants (Ibid.:19).
The Jōmon pottery is generally distinguished by its characteristics (Cartwright 2017) "that [clearly identify its makers] and [set] them apart from all other [later] Japanese [or contemporary Asian] cultures" (Bleed 1976:107), including the first cases of pottery in Western Asia (Kobayashi 2004:20). A suggested similarity of the Jōmon pottery to examples found in eastern Siberia, China, the Korean peninsula or Taiwan has been challenged, adding to that the pottery in Japan is generally dated earlier than in most parts of contemporary East Asia (except for China and Siberia), where its invention was possibly a result of analogous technologies (Palmer 2007:48; Kobayashi 2004:19; Rudgley 2000:28-29; Norman 2004-2021). Only later, like in the Early Jōmon period, "[similarities] between pottery produced in Kyūshū and contemporary Korea suggest that regular commerce existed between the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula, [together with the Mainland Southeast Asia]" (MET 2022). It is also theorised that the earliest pottery may have been invented independently in various locations in East Asia, with eastern Siberia, China and the Japanese archipelago in the lead (Kobayashi 2004:20). Moreover, by studying the origins of pottery in Neolithic Middle East, it can be analogically assumed that the Jōmon pottery could also have had a few different foundations (Chosuke in Kobayashi 2004:20).
On the other side, the question of the earliest pottery finds ascribed to the Jōmon culture between the Incipient and Initial periods appears much more complex in terms of its different but subsequential decorative styles (Bleed 1976:108), such as "linear relief, fingernail impression, and simple cord marking" (Ibid.:108). Such pottery remains were usually unearthed further from the said mature Jōmon centre (Jomon Japan 2017), namely, in the area from southern Tohoku to Kyūshū (Bleed 1976:108), which is the region considered "the forefront of the [Jōmon] revolution" (Kobayashi 2004:17). Additionally, it is evident that such early examples of pottery were made by peoples with divergent tools, technologies and skills (Bleed 1976:109). "In sum, […] all the evidence available indicates that during [the Incipient period in Japan, the Jōmon culture] continued to be [highly] complex […], characterized by regionally diverse and distinctive technologies. This kind of complexity and regional diversity is also apparent during the succeeding cultural horizon, [when throughout] central Honshu, fingernail-impressed pottery was [subsequently] replaced by ceramics finished with simple exterior cord marking" (Ibid.:109). Generally, foremost features of the Jōmon pottery and its technological homogeneity are more widely observed only with its later stages (Cf. Bleed 1976), yet, "the population of Jōmon Japan [remained] by no means [anthropologically] homogeneous" (Palmer 2007:49).
In conclusion, the invention and continuity of the Jōmon pottery mostly resulted from the plentiful environment of the Japanese archipelago, together with its effective adaptation and development by independent groups of contemporary humans (Shinpei in: Kobayashi 2004:19; Bleed 1976:113). Kobayashi (2004:20) compares the invention of Jōmon pottery to the so-called 'springboard principle', where a technological knowledge of manufacturing earthenware vessels met the actual human needs for such a product (Cf. Kohler in: Kobayashi 2004:20). Yet, apart from being regarded as a product of a technological development, playing mostly a functional role as a container and a cooking vessel, the early Japanese pottery should be equally seen as the beginning of the Jōmon cultural revolution, and so could be interpreted wider, by means of social, economic, religious and artistic ways of expression (Kobayashi 2004:12,22).
Featured image: Reconstruction of the Sannai-Maruyama Site in the Aomori Prefecture. The site shares cultural similarities with settlements of Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula, as well as with later Japanese culture, pointing to continuity between ancient and modern Japanese culture. Photo by 663highland (2014). CC BY 2.5. In: 'Jōmon period', in Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia (2022).
By Joanna
Faculties of English Philology, History of Art and Archaeology.
University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland;
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland;
University College Dublin, Ireland.
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EUROPE, MALTA
Sleeping Beauty of the Underworld
November 6, 2021 Joanna Pyrgies Leave a comment
Numinous statuettes of Malta from the late Neolithic (3200-2500 B.C.) are one of the unique expressions of the mysterious culture of megalithic builders who abruptly appeared and lived on the Island between 3800 and 2500 BC., scattering around it over twenty constructions, today referred to as temples (Biaggi 1986:131; Magli 2009:49). For this reason the period between around 3500-2500 BC. in Malta is usually "referred to as the Temple Period, during which this small and arid archipelago, composed of Malta, the nearby Gozo, and tiny Comino, [yet by] 3400 BC. [had already witnessed] one of the greatest architectural marvels of all human history, the Ggantija Temple, [believed by academics to be the second oldest temple in the world (just after Göbekli Tepe)]" (Magli 2009:47).
Remains of the colossal statue (originally two metres high) from Tarxien Temple (reconstructed replica) in Malta. It shows only the lower part of a female body with a carved pleated skirt. It is probably the oldest monumental representation of a human being in the region of the Mediterranean, from prehistory. The original statue has been moved to the National Museum of Archaeology in Valetta, Malta. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
What is surprising, the activity of those megalithic masters living in Malta can be archeologically observed merely for one millennium; after this period they disappeared as unexpectedly and mysteriously as they came into being (Ibid.:48). As it is not possible to surely identify a real purpose of the megalithic 'temples' erected in Malta, it is not either likely to fully understand the idea of carved figures left in various sacred areas between the megaliths.
Females of prehistory
After Cristina Biaggi (1986:131) prototypes of Maltese figures either belong to the Palaeolithic or the Mediterranean Early Neolithic. Consequently, most of these statuettes are believed to represent females, who are additionally called deities, goddesses or women ascribed of divine powers or a high importance and status (Ibid.:131-138).
"[Some] figures are nude, other clothed, some do not show primary sexual traits, and all are obese" (Ibid.:131). Although each group shares certain characteristics and there are differences between them, their peculiar style of the carving is distinctive of Malta, for no other statuette looking like them has ever been found elsewhere in the Mediterranean (Ibid.:131).
The earliest women in Malta
Female figures of the so-called Grey and Red Skorba Phases represent the earliest Maltese female statues made of clay; they are naked and feature strongly emphasised sexual characteristics (Biaggi 1986:137). They do not look obese as later representations and usually measure up to ten centimetres in height.
Maltese giantesses
With time, Maltese "[depictions] of the numinous tend to increase in size and elaboration or stylisation when a religion becomes entrenched in a society" (Biaggi 1986:137).
The earliest representations of Maltese females. Red Skorba figurine with the visibly underlined breast and pubic. Photo by Hamelin de Guettelet (2008). CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo source: "National Museum of Archaeology, Malta" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Among them, opulent but rather sexless representations of the Maltese divine womanhood probably look like legendary Maltese giantesses, who may have once dragged megalithic stones on their backs (Ibid. 131-137). They were either naked or partially clothed, and carved in various positions: standing, squatting or seated with their legs folded (Ibid.:131-132). Although not numerous, some of those ladies could reach almost three metres in height (Ibid.:132). They all are carved from Globigerina limestone, the local stone commonly used also for constructing the megalithic temples in Malta (Ibid.:131). Yet some figurines were also manufactured of alabaster-like stone, which was definitively imported, possibly from the mainland of modern Italy (Pace 2004:22). Such materials from beyond the archipelago may have had a special significance and value, and so did the objects made of it (Ibid.:22).
Refined sculpture of terracotta
Another group of statues, different in style but contemporary to the 'giantesses', are much smaller in size and made of clay; moreover, their physical appearance and attire clearly define females (Biaggi 1986:137). Similarly to the larger statues, they are also either naked or dressed (Ibid.:137). Although the Maltese type of female figures phased various metamorphoses, most of their representations were covered in paint of red ochre (Ibid.:131). Red ochre, "which may have been menstrual blood in its earliest manifestation, is the [colour] of fertility, death and rebirth – the [colour] of the [goddess]" (Ibid.:136).
Lying on a coach in the underworld
"About thirty of [those various] figures, ranging in [style and] size from [ten centimetres] to about [three metres] have been found in the […] Maltese temples and in the Hypogeum" (Biaggi 1986:131; see Maltese History in the Negative).
Figurines found in the Hypogeum. Photo by Elżbieta Pierzga. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Among other Maltese statuettes and carvings, three particular figures have been found in the Hypogeum of Ħal Saflieni (Pace 2004:22). The statues belong to the group of smaller representations and are made of pottery (Biaggi 1986:137; Pace 2004:22). All the three statues are depicted while lying on a couch, possibly covered with a rush grass mattress (Pace 2004:22; Haughton 2009:163). The presence of such a coach seems to be symbolic as it also appears among the other type of female representations (Pace 2004:22). Although it today escapes a clear understanding, in all three cases, the base of the coach is rendered in a refined manner as an arrangement of framework (Pace 2004:22; Information boards in the National Museum Of Archaeology of Malta (Valetta) 2017). One of the carvings depicts something that looks like a fish, whereas the two others show definitely female figures (Information boards in the National Museum Of Archaeology of Malta (Valetta) 2017).
The sculpture exhibited in her own display case is widely known as Sleeping Lady or Sleeping Beauty. Nowadays, this female statue is also the symbol of the Neolithic ideal of femininity in Malta.National Museum of Archaeology in Malta. Photo by Elżbieta Pierzga. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
The first one, partially damaged in her lower part, reveals traces of red ochre; the woman is headless or decapitated, and she is lying face down on a coach (Pace 2004:22). The whole carving measures four centimetres height, nine centimetres length and almost six centimetres width (Ibid.:22). In turn, the second female statue has been preserved nearly complete, except some damage made in the area of her breast (Pace 2004:22; Haughton 2009:163). Also the left corner of the couch she is lying on is slightly broken and its shape is more oval in comparison to the previous two, which are more squared. The whole sculpture is seven centimetres high, twelve centimetres long and almost seven centimetres wide (Pace 2004:22). Slight traces of red ochre are also visible on it (Haughton 2009:163). The female figure is depicted in a lying posture similar to the 'counched' burial position, typical of an arrangement of the body in prehistoric graves (Pace 2004:22). She looks as if she was peacefully asleep. Thus the sculpture is widely known as Sleeping Lady or Sleeping Beauty. Nowadays, this female statue is also the symbol of the Neolithic ideal of femininity in Malta.
Face to face with a mystery
Currently all the three terracotta statues are part of the exhibition in the National Museum Of Archaeology in La Valetta, Malta, where I have had an opportunity to study them, among other Maltese artefacts from the Temple Period. Whereas the two former figures, including the fish-like creature and a woman, lying down on her face, are exposed together in one display glass case, the Sleeping Lady, as the most privileged of all, not only has been provided with her own display case but also with a special room filled only with dimmed light, as if in fear of disturbing her dreams.
Fat but graceful
The Sleeping Lady is a highly refine representation of the reclining, excessively opulent but graceful woman (Pace 2004:22); she is lying on her right side on top of a couch, resting her head probably on a pillow that is slightly sagging under the weight of her head. While her right hand is delicately gripping the pillow, her left hand is resting on the corpulent forearm of her right hand. Like many other female Maltese statues, she is dressed in a bell-shaped skirt with fringes or pleating at the bottom, reaching halfway down the legs (Biaggi 1986:132).
The famous Sleeping Lady of Malta. a clay figurine found in the deep pit leading to the third level of the Hypogeum. National Museum Of Archaeology, Valetta, Malta. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
The Lady's opulent legs seem to be slightly bent at the knees, so the skirt only reveals their small lower part that looks like two hewn pegs instead of the feet, visible at the edge of the couch. The upper part of the woman's body is naked, with a rather opulent abdomen in the form of a single roll of fat with a noticeable navel. Her large and full breasts are partially covered with her left arm. In proportion to the Lady's enormously obese body, especially her excessively modelled bulbous arms, thighs and huge buttocks, whose details are discretely hidden under the material of the skirt, the figure's hands and head seem extremely minuscule, as if they did not belong to the same person (Ibid.:132). Her face is oval with delicate features: two small horizontal lines resemble closed eyes, "the nose wide with a definite ridge, the mouth [tiny and barely visible]" (Ibid.:132). Her hair is close to the head but long, reaching her arms (Ibid.:132).
Natural and artificial obesity
Obesity of the Maltese statues from the Temples Period, which is also evident in the case of the Sleeping Lady, seems to have been really important as it appears in all contemporary types of female figurines, either clothed or nude, including those with rather asexual characteristics (Biaggi 1986:137-138).
It possibly "implied power, sanctity, [and] strengthened their [aesthetic-symbolic] connection with the temples, which they resembled in shape". (Ibid.:138). Following "the law of mimetic magic, [obesity may also] have had a magical function to [favour] fecundity, [for example], the growth of vegetation" (Ibid.:138). Nevertheless, Cristina Biaggi (1986:138) assumes that in contract to natural obesity, the artificial overweightness, possibly represented by a far-reaching stylisation of sculpted female representations was "a product of patriarchal culture because it presupposes the loss of woman's control over her own body, which is not a characteristic of early Goddess worshipping cultures" (Ibid.: 138).
Lady of the Temple Period
Like other Maltese figures, the Sleeping Lady "dates back to the island's [mysterious] prehistory, specifically to the thousand-year span, [between circa 3500 to 2500 BC.]" (Magli 2009:47). Due to the high quality of the sculpture, and the belief that its image expresses the numinous of an already well-established religion, it is believed to date back to a later period, that is, between 3000 and 2500 BC. (Biaggi 1986:137; Haughton 2009:163). The fact is, however, that the exact date of the figure is unknown and provided dating is merely modern guessing.
The final resting place of the 'Sleeping Lady'
As mentioned above, "[this remarkable] gem [of Malta] was unearthed in one of the world's most singular and enigmatic places, the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni" (Magli 2009:47). Precisely, the statuette was found either in one of the niches of the Hypogeum's Main Chamber (Zone A) or, more likely, in a nearby deep pit or a cavity (Zone B), also referred to as the Snake Pit (Pace 2004:39,48; Haughton 2009:163) or "the final resting place of the 'Sleeping Lady'" (Pace 2004:48). The pit is one of numerous examples of a high quality of craftsmanship applied in the Hypogeum (Ibid.:48). The discovery of the Sleeping Lady in that cavity would suggest it "may have once served as a repository of votive offerings" (Ibid.:48). Moreover, alongside the pit, between two decorated pillars, there is a shaft leading to the most mysterious place of the construction, the Third Level (possibly the deepest in the Hypogeum), where visitors are not allowed to descend (Ibid.:48). The ceiling of the elliptical chamber, where the pit is located, is additionally covered in abstract paintings, representing spirals, polygons and plant-like patterns, all made with red ochre (Ibid.:48). Such a decoration equally evokes a rather religious purpose of the site (Ibid.:48). In such circumstances, the terracotta statue may have been deposited in the pit as a burial offering possibly representing death seen as an eternal dream or the afterlife (Pace 2004: 22 Haughton 2009:164).
In the Hypogeum, which is usually interpreted as the subterranean temple of the dead and the necropolis, the deceased were buried accompanied by offerings of significant and religious funerary objects, which also included sophisticated artworks, such as the Sleeping Lady (Pace 2004:22). The meaning of the funerary custom of deposing valuable offerings alongside the dead is unknown but, likewise in other ancient cultures, as Egypt, they were definitely to accompany the deceased in their way to the afterlife and to reveal their high social status in front of their mysterious deities (Ibid.:22).
Is it the Mother Goddess or a priestess?
Along with other figurines from the Mediterranean region, the Sleeping Lady has sometimes been used as a testimony to support the theory of the universalism of the Mother Goddess or the Great Peacemaker Goddess who was worshiped in prehistory (Haughton 2009:163-164). It is a theory advocated by researchers such as Marija Gimbutas and Vicki Noble (Ibid.:164; see Noble 2000). It is the fact that "[the] worship of the Great Goddess was universal from the upper Paleolithic to the late Neolithic in Europe and the Near East, [and the] Maltese goddess figures represented the very stylised visual manifestation of that worship in Malta" (Biaggi 1986:137).
"No one knows if the sculptor who carved [the Sleeping Lady] was inspired by his own beloved or was simply following an established model of an idealised female form" (Magli 2009:47). National Museum of Archaeology in Malta. Photo by Elżbieta Pierzga. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
However, apart from female figurines, there is no other evidence of the universality of this peaceful matriarchy cult, and the finds of weapons and fortifications dating back to the same period weaken the argument reinforced by the contemporary female sculpture (Haughton 2009:164). Moreover, Cristina Biaggi (1986:137) claims that the Sleeping Lady, as much as the other female lying on her face, does not represent a goddess but a priestess "engaged in dream incubation [or] an adept in giving oracles, interpreting dreams, or suggesting cures for illness" (also see: Krzak 2007:85).
Entering an incubation dream
The whole religious rite of falling into an incubation dream may have consisted in the fact that priestesses or priests, or both, went to the tomb, or to a cave or temple, and during their sleep they would obtain divinations from deities or ancestors, or seize their vital forces (Krzak 2007:85). This was considered in classical times in Greece and Rome, where such practices were certified as early as in the second century AD. (Ibid.:85). Aristotle, Diodorus and Pausanias all testify in writing about such cult dreams (Ibid.:85). Apart from Malta, the incubation also played a special role in North Africa, Libya and Sardinia (Ibid.:85). To this day, similar beliefs are found among Berbers in Maghreb and among people in Ireland (Ibid.:85).
This interesting theory tells that the Sleeping Lady – a goddess or not, a sleeping woman or in a trance – possibly points to a place in the Hypogeum, where dreams or visions were interpreted by means of incubation rituals (Haughton 2009:164). Such a dark area underground would be ideal for stimulating similar states and for inducing dreams and visions (Ibid.:164).
Twelve-centimetre masterpiece
But who modelled the figurine? "No one knows if the sculptor who carved [the Sleeping Lady] was inspired by his own beloved or was simply following an established model of an idealised female form" (Magli 2009:47). Giulio Magli (2009:47) "[leans] towards the first hypothesis, because, [as he claims] the sculpture is a masterpiece, the infusion of the creative soul into [hardly twelve] centimetres of [terracotta] statuette".
Featured image: The clay figure of a reclining lady (Sleeping Lady) was found in one of the pits of the Hypogeum in Hal Saflieni in Malta. It has traces of red ochre paint. Temple Period, 4000 – 2500 BC. National Museum of Archaeology in Malta. Photo by Jvdc (2009). CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo by Jvdc (2009). CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo and caption source: "National Museum of Archaeology, Malta" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
"National Museum of Archaeology, Malta" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3uXG194>. [Accessed on 4th March, 2021].
Biaggi C. (1986). "The Significance of the Nudity, Obesity and Sexuality of the Maltese Goddess Figures". In: Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean: Papers Presented at the First International Conference on Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean, University of Malta, 2-5 September 1985. Bonanno A. ed., pp. 131-13. Amsterdam: Grüner Publishing Co.
Haughton B. (2009). Tajemne miejsca. [Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places], Ferek M. trans. Poznań: REBIS.
Krzak Z. (2007). Od matriarchatu do patriarchatu. Warszawa: Wudawnictwo TRIO.
Magli G. (2009). Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy: From Giza to Easter Island. Praxis Publishing. Ltd.
Pace A. (2004) Malta Insight Heritage Guides: the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. Paola. Heritage Books & Heritage Malta.
Vicki N. (2003) The Double Goddess. Women Sharing Power. Rochester, Vermont: Bear & Compony.
ArtifactsCeramicsLegends&MythsSculptureSepulchral monuments
DICTIONARY, LETTER H
Habanic Ceramics Made by Those 'Who Baptize again'.
February 27, 2021 Joanna Pyrgies Leave a comment
Tin-glazed faience vessels, often decorated with colorful painting decorations, occurring in the greatest number in Moravia, Slovakia, but also in Switzerland, Tirol and Transylvania, roughly from the mid-sixteenth century to the beginning of the eighteenth century. The vessels and utensils were made by wandering craftsmen of the Anabaptist sect who were harshly persecuted and usually driven out of the countries because of their radical religious beliefs.
Modra ceramics. Photo by Zuzana Tomčalová (2012). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: "Ceramika z Modrej" (2020) In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia.
"Anabaptism […] is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation. […] The movement is seen by outsiders as another offshoot of Protestantism, although this view is not shared by Anabaptists, who view themselves as a separate branch of Christianity. […] The name Anabaptist means 'one who baptizes again', [which refers to their beliefs] that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. This believer's baptism is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized" ("Anababtism" 2021).
The Habanic pottery made by Anabaptists was usually spherical and melon-shaped but polygonal apothecary bottles, plates and platters were also manufactured. In the painting decoration, cobalt or colorful floral motifs were applied. Such an ornamentation seem to be a folk version of plant painting decorations used on Italian Majolica.
Featured image: Pottery from a small factory in Modra, Slovakia. In the seventeeth century, the first potters' guilds began to appear in Modra (the first one was established in 1636). Among them, there were potters from the Anabaptist sects who came from Switzerland, and who made the so-called Habanic ceramics. Photo by Limojoe (2013). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: "Ceramika z Modrej" (2020) In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia.
"Anababtism" (2021) In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/2N5baFX>. [Accessed on 9th February, 2021].
"Ceramika z Modrej" (2020) In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3rCRvMs>. [Accessed on 9th February, 2021].
PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 145. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Artistic movementsCeramicsDictionary
EUROPE, UNITED KINGDOM
Images of the 'Infancy Gospels' on Medieval Clay Tiles
Once again I found myself among the finest artefacts gathered by the British Museum; I felt as if I had been in the middle of piled or scattered volumes, surrounding me and calling for being opened and read. Walking up and down between all the museal objects, without paying them enough attention, would be like skipping pages of those books and missing their stories. It is worth thus choosing one and read it from cover to cover.
Room 40 in the British Museum
At that time, the Room 40 of the Medieval Europe galleries was my destination for homework; I was studying one of the core modules of Medieval Cultures at Birkbeck College and was analysing medieval artefacts preserved by the Museum for the following class. There were just few people around so I decided to squat on the floor and making my notes in front of 'my homework'. Those were eight red clay tiles resembling large domino blocks of 33 centimetres long and 16 centimetres wide, but without black dots (The British Museum I 2021).
Instead, there were intriguing medieval representations of apocrypha scenes related to the unknown events of Jesus Christ's lifetime, which is not recorded in the canonical Bible (Robinson et al. 2008:118; Casey 2007:1). Such artistic documents do not only seem uncommon in traditional representations of the Christ but may be also provocative in their interpretations (Casey 2007:1). First of all, the official image of Jesus known from the writings and art stand here in sharp contrast to the illustration of Christ provided by the tiles, especially because they depict and regard Him as a Child at the age between five and twelve (Ibid.:1). Such images, however, do not belong to a canonical tradition of the Gospels but are taken possibly from the anonymous second century's Apocryphal Infancy of Christ Gospels, translated into art in the form of the earthenware rectangular tiles in the fourteenth century AD., precisely circa 1330 (Casey 2007:1; The British Museum I 2021).
Biblical story of the Child Jesus
The four Gospels written by tradition by the Evangelists, Saint Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the only recognized source of Christ's life and ministry (Robinson et al. 2008:118).
Nazareth as depicted on a Byzantine mosaic (Chora Church, Constantinople) (created between 1315-1320). Meister der Kahriye-Cami-Kirche in Istanbul – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202. Public domain. Colours intensified, Image source: "Nazareth" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Marble sculpture of "Christ as the Teacher" (Cristo docente) by anonymous early Christian Roman sculptor (the fourth century AD.) Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome. Photo source: Weitzmann, K., ed. (1979). "Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century:", p. 524; statue: 469. In: MET Publications.
According to the Evangelists, Saint Luke and Saint Matthew, the Holy Family, after their stay in Egypt, returned to Nazareth in Galilee (Rops 1944:109). Little Christ's homeland was just that little town, white and green, situated on the slope of the rolling hills that enclose the Jezreel Valley to the north (Ibid.:111). The streets and houses of Nazareth are like all the streets and houses of the East (Ibid.:111). The city is only distinguished by the number of its churches, monasteries and bell towers; it is surrounded by a semi-circle of gently rolling hills dotted with villages with houses made of white clay (Rops 1944:111). Among the olives, the vineyards and grain fields, bullets of black cypress trees shoot up into the sky (Ibid.:111). The gardens of Nazareth are full of lilies and verbenas, and on many walls of its houses, juicy flowers of bougainvillea spread their covers in the colour of episcopal purple (Ibid.:111). It was in this environment that Jesus the Child grew up (Ibid.:111). However, one should not imagine him under the very graceful figure represented by a late antique statue from the fourth century, known as Jesus the Teacher, preserved in the National Museum of Baths of Diocletian in Rome: he is represented there too calm, too well-mannered, and hieratic in his long pleated tunic (Ibid.:111). Rather, it should be assumed that little Jesus looked like one of those lively, nervous kids that one still meets on the roads of Palestine, lightly dressed, barefoot, with an expression of great intelligence on passionate and serious faces (Ibid.:111).
The House of the Holy Family
The life of the Holy Family, whose secrets so many painters wanted to represent, was passing in one of the modest houses of Nazareth, one of those that can still be seen today (Rops 1944:111). There is usually only one room inside them; there is a sweet smell of oil in the air; smoke from the fire often comes out only through the door; in the evening, a clay lamp placed on an iron candle, or on a stone protruding from the wall, casts a dim light (Ibid.:111).
In the modern town of Nazareth, there are plenty of monuments ascribed to the times of Christ Child: the Basilica of Annunciation with said remains of the house of the Virgin Mary, the Mary's Well or Joseph's workshop. Based on various archaeological excavations, it is assumed the Holy Family's house looked like the one in which the Archangel Gabriel announced Mary she would conceive and bear the Son of God (today overbuilt with the walls of the Basilica of the Annunciation); it was probably largely underground, embedded in the soft local limestone; God's Child was to walk up its rather primitive stairs, in the contemporary Basilica, they are today decorated with mosaics (Rops 1944:111-112).
Bejt-haseter
Jesus received the education that all young Israelites received; it seems that at that time there were whole cycles of studies described by the Talmud (Rops 1944:112). They were dependent on the synagogue, and they were led by a hassan, someone like a sacristan, perhaps the administrator of a venerable place, where the faithful gathered (Ibid.:112). In the bejt-haseter, an elementary school, boys, sitting around the great scroll of the Law, repeated the verses of the Torah in chorus until they had memorized them perfectly (Ibid.:112).
Probably, the adolescent Jesus did not pursue further studies in one of the rabbinical schools that existed near Nazareth (Ibid.:112). This assumption is supported by an openly expressed amazement of Jesus' family members and acquaintances who heard his wise preaching in God's matters (Ibid.:112).
Finding in the Temple
Jesus, therefore, grew up in Nazareth living in a modest house with his mother and adoptive father, Joseph, and after his death, He lived in the company of numerous cousins (Rops 1944:113). The canonical messages regarding this period are limited (Ibid.:113): "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him" (Luke 2:40). And only one episode of this time is known from the Bible; namely, the one that happened in the twelfth year of Jesus' life, when a young Jew was becoming a man and a "son" of the Law (Ibid.:113).
Christ among the Doctors, c. 1560, by Paolo Veronese. Public domain. Colours intensified. Painting source: "Finding in the Temple" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
The event in question is the famous scene from the Temple; Mary and Joseph, as devout Jews, went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover (Rops 1944:113). Perhaps for the first time they took the Son with them (Ibid.:113). In the evening of the first day of their journey back, Joseph and Mary were looking for Jesus among their friends and relatives (Ibid.:114). They did not him all day, but assumed that he had joined some group of relatives or friends (Ibid.:114). Extremely worried, they returned to Jerusalem and it took them three days to finally find Him in the Temple (Ibid.:114). In its cloisters, surrounded by a circle of students, the wise men taught; the children squeezed into the crowd of listeners and were sometimes allowed to ask questions (Ibid.:114).
The twelve-year-old Jesus, however, was not among the listeners but sat among the wise men of Israel (Rops 1944:114), and "[everyone] who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Luke 2:47). "When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you '.' Why were you searching for me? ' [Jesus] asked. 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?' "(Luke 2: 48-49). Jesus' words show that He is fully aware of his mission. There is also the teaching of the Gospel that whoever wants to follow Christ must sever all human ties and bonds (Ibid.:114).
'Unofficial' God's life
This one and only event in Jesus' childhood, described in detail in the Bible, though so eloquent, has not satisfied yet the curiosity of the crowds since the first centuries of Christianity through the Middle Ages to the present day (Rops 1944:114).
New Testament Apocrypha. First page of the Gospel of Judas (Page 33 of Codex Tchacos). Uploaded by WolfgangRieger (2009)."The Gospel of Judas. Critical Edition". Washington 2007. Public domain. Photo source: "Infancy gospels" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
There are yet other ancient records of Christ's life but apocryphal, that is to say officially rejected from the standard Bible, though not sanctioned by the Church (Robinson et al. 2008:118). "In everyday conversation 'apocryphal' refers to a story of doubtful authenticity, but one that is nevertheless told frequently, perhaps even believed widely. The New Testament apocrypha are books accepted by neither Catholic nor Protestant faiths, although artists and theologians have used them as sources of information and ideas" (Austin "Footnote" Date unknown). Especially in the Middle Ages, the apocrypha was used to elaborate on gaps in the Gospel stories, which were thought fairly sparse in details about the life of Christ (Robinson et al. 2008:118; see Casey 2007; Austin Date unknown). "Apocryphal stories, [such as the one] based on the dream of Pilate's wife, […] or of the forging of the nails for Christ's crucifixion were [therefore] incorporated into medieval mystery plays and were an integral part of the imaginative religious experience" (Robinson et al. 2008:118). The light and colour used in the art of churches and cathedrals additionally embellished the words heard from priests during their homilies; by various artistic expressions, people who everyday experienced poor and hard conditions, could admire the splendour and dignity of the image of the mighty and omnipresent God who yet became Man and suffered for the sins of mankind. At the time, when Biblical stories were accessed in paintings and sculpture for the illiterate populace, their main characters were treated similarly to modern celebrities, and like today, common people wished to know more details about their lives than the official version of the Church was able to offer.
Jesus between His years five and twelve
"One of the most frustrating absences in the Gospels is the early years of Christ's life, [that id to say when He is between five and twelve. In the Bible, "Christ is encountered as an infant and then later as an adolescent disputing with the doctors of the law in the Temple but no mention is made of His upbringing or his relationship with his parents" (Robinson et al. 2008:118).
Nazareth,1842. In the Holy Land Book. Image by David Roberts. Public domain. Photo source: "Christ Child" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
In the eyes of contemporary people, this gap had successfully been complemented by the apocryphal Infancy Gospels, believed to have been written anonymously by early Christians from the second century AD., who imaginatively tried to create their own fictional version of what Jesus' childhood might have been like (Casey 2007:3). Yet these imaginary pictures were quite successfully interwoven with the canonical portrayal of Jesus' life (Ibid.:3-4). Simultaneously, the apocrypha author built up the stories around their own experiences in the process of the development of Christianity (Ibid.:3; see Elliott ed. 2005).
Anecdotes about the Christ's Childhood
Surely, the Infancy Gospels had circulated in oral tradition before a series of their written compilations appeared (Casey 2007:4). From the very beginning, however, all of them shared several cohesive narrative elements (Ibid.:4). Central to this genre is the Gospel of Thomas dating back to the second century (Ibid.:4). It "describes the doings of Jesus during his boyhood, no record of which exists in the canonical gospels. According to Thomas, Jesus proved to be an infant prodigy at school, instructing his teachers in the unsuspected mysteries of the alphabet and astonishing his family and friends by the miracles that he performed" (Austin "Footnote" Date unknown). The Infancy Gospels tell a lot of different anecdotes about this unknown period of Christ' childhood (Rops 1944:114-115). Some of them are famous and charming; Jesus, playing with His companions, makes birds out of clay, and then gives them life, and when He claps his hands, the wonderful creatures start flying in the air (Ibid.:115). Jesus is also playing with the other children at the entrance to the grotto, and then suddenly two huge snakes come out of it; the joyful flock runs away screaming, only Jesus remains and calmly orders the dangerous beasts to place their heads under the feet of His Mother, Mary (Ibid.:115).
Jesus (on the right) animating the clay bird toys of his playmates. Klosterneuburger Evangelienwerk, Germania, 14th century. Public domain. Colours intensified. Photo source: "Nazareth" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
The Apocrypha also attributes many miracles to Christ Child (Rops 1944:115). Many of them are modelled on the miracles of the canonical Gospels; they tell that one seed Child Jesus planted is enough to feed an entire city in times of famine (Ibid.:115). Another time, the Apocrypha depict the young worker who is resurrected by Christ (Ibid.:115). Other miracles are rather magical; Jesus, riding the mule, turns the spell on him and the animal becomes a beautiful youth again (Ibid.:115). Another miracle tells that as the little Christ calls out, the salted fish begins to roll and flutter (Ibid.:115). Another time at school, when a teacher starts teaching Jesus the alphabet, the Child proves that he can do it, even though he has not learned it before (Ibid.:115).
Other apocryphal miracles can seem utterly repulsive while being attributed to the Son of God; when the same teacher wants to punish his rebellious Student, he sees at once that his hand is withered (Rops 1944:115). In turn, to show off His power to His playmates, Jesus turns one of them into a ram, another, who poked Him, becomes stroke dead (Ibid.:115).
Apocrypha in art
In the eighth or ninth centuries, the Gospel of Thomas was furthermore compiled with the Protevangelium of James, including the Apocrypha of the Virgin Mary (Casey 2007:4). As such, it formed the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (Ibid.:4; see Elliott ed. 2005). And when the cult of the Virgin Mary had grown since the twelfth century, an interest in her Parents' lives and the Holy Family with the Christ Child in the center also raised, and so did the interest in the Apocrypha, which was mainly reflected through art in the whole Christian world (Robinson et al. 2008:118). As such all these, more or less known apocryphal fairy tales served especially as a source of inspiration for the painters and sculptors of the Middle Ages; paintings and mosaics of small churches and images of Gothic cathedrals are full of memories of these Christian legends (Rops 1944:115).
Saint Anne ( circa ninth century AD). Nubian wall painting. By unknown author. The National Museum in Warsaw. Public domain. Source: "Saint Anne (wall painting)" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
It is enough to mention a set of wall paintings created inside the Nubian church of Faras, with the representations known ultimately from the Apocrypha. Among them, there is the eight century's famous representation of the Virgin Mary's Mother, Saint Anne with her mysterious gesture of pointing her index finger to the lips (see: Saint Anne of Nubia – "it will make you speechless".). "Scenes such as these are [also] depicted in the [fourteenth century's] Tring Tiles" (Austin "Footnote" Date unknown).
Medieval apocryphal writings
With the late twelfth century, an increased fascinations with the humanity of the Christ, especially with His childhood, had further inspired the creation of a large number of manuscripts, which mainly originated from the writings of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, many of which were written in vernacular languages (Casey 2007:4). Such extensive compilation of the Infancy stories, along with the French manuscript Bodleian MS. Selden Supra 38.8 (circa 1325), combined of the Anglo-Norman manuscript, Les Enfaunces de Jesu Crist and an Apocalypse manuscript, were apparently the foundations of the now lost model for the Tring Tiles (Ibid.:4-5). Although the Bodleian MS. Selden Supra 38.8 is the most complete medieval illuminated manuscript with the Infancy Gospel stories, its illustrated simple and miniature figures significantly vary with the style of highly expressive and highly caricatured images on the Tring Tiles (Ibid.:5).
Red clay tiles
The Tring Tiles, ceramic pieces of 3,5 centimetres in thickness, were made in the technique known as sgraffito, an expensive hand-worked process popular especially in France (The British Museum I 2021; Austin Date unknown), which involves "decorating ceramics [where] a substrate, usually 'slip', is incised to reveal the contrasting ground underneath" (The British Museum I 2021). Obtained in this way slip-decorated designs on the tiles were additionally lead-glazed (Ibid.). The group of tiles was uncovered during the late Victorian (the mid-nineteenth century) restoration of Tring Parish Church in Hertfordshire, which has given the tiles its name (Casey 2007:7; Austin Date unknown).
Four of the Tring Tiles preserved by the British Museum; Room 40 in the Medieval Gallery. Image cropped and colours intensified.. Photo source: Priory Tiles (2021). "The Tring Tiles". In: Priory Tiles.
"Although the tiles were, for the most part, found in a curiosity shop in Tring" (Munday 2018), it is not sure if they had originally been laid down in the church or only preserved or applied there after being moved from elsewhere, even from abroad (Austin Date unknown; Munday 2018). "More research into the origins of the tiles needs to be done, for the mystery is still far from solved" (Ibid.). Nevertheless, "the peculiar character of their sgraffito design, may suggest that they were produced in the east of England, where this technique was popular on pottery" (British Museum II 2021).
Having been found, the tiles were continuously passed through many hands before achieving their final place: nowadays, ten complete tiles and a few fragments are known, of which the eight are preserved in the British Museum and the two, saved by a local resident, are displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum (The British Museum I 2021; Casey 2007:7-8; Austin Date unknown).
Still their number is not complete; the tiles must have been part of a much larger scheme, unfortunately now lost (Robinson et al. 2008:118). Their condition is surprisingly good, and for this reason, it is believed that the tiles had never been walked on in a pavement of the church floor but were possibly used as a frieze set on the walls of the chancel (Austin Date unknown; the British Museum I 2021). What message were they to convey?
Featured image: The Wedding Feast at Cana (Fig.4), represented in one of the Tring Tiles. First quarter of the fourteenth century, England. The British Museum; Room 40 of the Medieval Galleries. Image cropped. Photo source: Wendy Austin (Date unknown; accessed on 23rd January, 2021). The Mystery of the Tring Tiles.
Faculties of English Philology, History of Art and Archaeology;
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EUROPE, GREECE
Following the Spiral of the Phaistos Disc's Mystery
January 16, 2021 Joanna Pyrgies Leave a comment
Here in the capital of Crete, the Phaistos Disc is preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Today, it is one of the icons of Minoan civilization and so one of the main attractions of the Museum attracting visitors from all the corners of the modern world (Gregor 2016).
Just like Zbigniew Herbert[1] once, during his visit to the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion, I devoted some time to this Disc, standing long in front of its private glass case. I was wondering that if it stood just among other Minoan artifacts, it would attract so much attention of many visitors who would not know its history, or what mystery it is associated with. Or perhaps their trained eye would notice that it differs from typical Cretan finds, especially the Minoan writing from clay tablets or from images of miniature seals made of gold and carved stone.
[1] Zbigniew Herbert (1924 – 1998), a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. His trilogy (three volumes of essays: Barbarian in the Garden, Still Life with a Bridle and Labyrinth on the Sea-Shore) is the result of his trips around Europe, during which he describes, with a passion typical of art connoisseurs, particular places and artifacts he has seen.
The pearl of Italian Archaeology
A famous discovery in Phaistos was made by members of the Italian Archaeological Society, who were working at the same time as Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941) in Knossos (Gregor 1997:24). 'Glory to the Italian archaeologists to whom Phaistos has been entrusted,' writes Zbigniew Herbert (2000:54). It includes sheer ruins, without pretentious reconstructions, a complete contradiction to Knossos (Herbert 2000:54).
Palace complex at Phaistos. Ruins of Phaistos; Municipality of Festos, Crete, Greece. Photo by Olaf Tausch (2007). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Dr Alessandro Greco says that Italian archaeology on Crete began in very special historical circumstances, when Greece had achieved an independence from the Ottoman Empire, in the middle of the previous century (Gregor 2016). Consequently, Crete was divided into several protectorates: Italian, French and British (Ibid.). It was due to this situation that archaeologists from Italy were able to work without any obstacles (Ibid.). Nevertheless, when an Italian archaeologist and the protagonist of the story, Luigi Pernier (1874–1937), landed on Crete, the island was still officially ruled by Ottoman Turks (Ibid.). At that time, archaeologists working in the south of the Island of Crete had far greater difficulties to deal with than Evans' group working parallelly in Knossos (Ibid.). The coast in the south is bleak and uninviting; archaeologists there had to be good climbers because many of the sites have been set in the remote valleys or in high mountains, where access is still extremely difficult (Ibid.). In such mountainous landscape, it was possible to explore the island only on donkeys and the researchers themselves were continuously exposed to malaria (Ibid.). Although challenging, the mountains also provided once Minoans with the protection against foreign invaders (Ibid.). Beyond the mountains lies the Libyan Sea, which once connected the Minoans with the developed cultures of the Near East and Egypt (Ibid.).
From the hills of Phaistos the valley leads to the sea, and behind it, Mount Ida rises with a white cap on the top; there was the grotto of Zeus (Herbert 2000:54-55). The so-called Phaistos Palace, where Luigi Pernier was excavating, was also the site where one of the greatest puzzles of the Minoan Empire was discovered – the Phaistos Disc (Gregor 2016).
Mystery of baked clay
"In July 1908, […] Luigi Pernier [had] discovered a small disc of baked clay in a basement cell […] at the site of the Palace of Phaistos, on the south coast of Crete." (Ward 2020).
The Phaistos Disc: Side A; the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete, Greece (2011). Copyright©Archaeotravel.
At first sight, the discovery must rather have seemed unexceptional; it was just a simple terracotta disc in the shape of a not quite regular circle, with a diameter of sixteen centimetres and about two centimetres thick (Gregor 1997:24; Herbert 2000:53). Nevertheless, soon it has turned out to be one of the most unique archaeological artifacts, which has ever been excavated on Earth (Georgievska 2016). Today it still "remains an enigma; its purpose and meaning and even its original geographical place of manufacture remain disputed, making it one of the most famous mysteries of [human history]" (Ibid.).
Invention of ancient Gutenberg
The Phaistos Disc's mystery is inscribed on both of its sides, labelled as A and B, where its surface is covered with undecipherable pictographs (see: Ward 2020). Those are stamps pressed in wet clay yet before the Disc was fired (Ibid.). They are composed of various symbols, which involved making a movable type or rather sealstone for each pictograph (possibly for the very first time in the history of writing) (Gregor 1997:24-25; Ward 2020). As Zbigniew Herbert notices, creators of the Phaistos Disc must have been then Gutenberg's precursors, because each character on the Disc was imprinted with a separate stamp, which could be satisfactorily called a prototype of a modern type used for printing (Herbert 2000:53).
The Phaistos Disc: Side B; the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete, Greece (2011). Copyright©Archaeotravel.
As such, the so-called Phaistos Disc is the oldest embossed inscription, yet significantly different from the hieroglyphic writing of the Minoans (Linear A) (Gregor 1997:24-25; Herbert 2000:53).
Signet seal with a spiral
By this occasion, it is worth mentioning that Minoans astoundingly mastered the craftsmanship of miniature, though highly precise, gold or hardstone seal-stones with intricate carvings in their own peculiar style, showing various mythological, ritual and everyday scenes, typical of the Minoan culture ("Minoan Sealstones" 2018).
A gem-grade seal-stone (top) and its impression. Minoan Seal, 1700 BC, Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe – Special Exhibition. Photo by Andree Stephan (2001). CC BY 3.0. Photo source: "Minoan sealstone" (2018). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Even if the visual language of the scenes is still puzzling, the function sealstones is not such a mystery; they were possibly used by rulers, dignitaries and priests to place their official seals on documents and letters (Gregor 2016). But whereas on each of the Minoan sealstones, there is a 'negative' (embossed) image leaving a 'positive', three-dimensional impression on the soft surface, the pictographs from Phaistos were made in the other way round; the types with 'positive' images therefore have given 'negative' impressions in clay. The way the Minoan sealstones were used also suggests that such archaic types as those from Phaistos must have been used more than once, even if they had been intended uniquely for composing sacred texts (Ward 2020). Yet they had not been applied to any other known clay surface (Ibid.). At least, no other Minoan artefact bearing pictographs identical to those of the Phaistos Disc, has ever been found in Crete (Ibid.). There are, however, a few examples showing iconographical analogies present on the Phaistos Disc (Gregor 2016). One of the Minoan gold seals, which is a signet with a 'negative' image, has got the spiral form and includes an undeciphered pictorial inscription; the both characteristics resemble the features of the Phaistos Disc (Ibid.).
What is the Disc's message?
The mysterious characters all flow around the Disc as spiral strings that may represent pictorial or hieroglyphic writing that archaeologists are still trying to decipher (Gregor 199724-25). However, so far they have not produced any decisive results (Ibid:25). What do the Disc's symbols mean and what is their message? (Gregor 1997:25). The Disc has already been ascribed many different functions; a calendar, "poem, hymn [or] a prayer [ to the goddess of fertility], sacred text, magic inscription, curse, […] funerary record, almanac, court list, political treaty, proof of a geometric theorem, list of soldiers, a board game and even musical notation for a stringed instrument" (Ward 2020). For some it can be even a message from aliens or the Atlanteans (Gregor 1997:25); "[some] believe that it was a Token used in healing rituals or other ceremonies in ancient times" (Georgievska 2016), whereas others have recognised in it a report of the journey of one of the Minoan missionaries who visited Numidia, located in the northern coast of Africa (the ancient kingdom of the Numidians, 202–40 BC., situated in what is now Algeria and a smaller part of Tunisia and small part of Libya in the Maghreb) (Gregor 1997:25; "Numidia" 2021). On the other side, for a British researcher Alan Butler (TheHallOfRecords 2015), the Disc was a piece of a Bronze Age sophisticated calendar, and so it should rather be interpreted in terms of astronomy.
Fields numbering by Louis Godart (born in 1945); an Italian archaeologist of Belgian origins, a specialist in Mycenaean archaeology and philology, currently Director for the Conservation of Artistic Heritage of the Italian President. Image by D. Herdemerten (2009). CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Zbigniew Herbert (2000:53) mentions a French researcher, Marcel F. Homet, who basing on a certain similarity of the hieroglyphs from Phaistos and Indian rock carvings of South America, concluded that this Minoan artifact is no less than a letter of the last inhabitants of Atlantis, containing a description of the catastrophe and the fate of those few who managed to escape it safe. Academic scholars, however, ignore Homet's theory placing it between fairy tales (Ibid.:53).
In the 1980s, an ancient history and languages specialist, Christian O'Brien (1985), puts forward another hypothesis related to the Phaistos Disc, comparing its pictographs to Sumerian cuneiform (Ward 2020), "wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, made by use of a blunt reed as a stylus" (Ibid.). After the researcher, the inscription from Crete would have originated from the earliest systems of writing, which were invented in the fourth millennium BC., in Mesopotamia (Ibid.). Such an ancient writing is present in the world's oldest religious text, known as the Kharsag Epics, which tells a story of the foundation of a settlement near Mount Hermon, in modern-day Lebanon (Ibid.). Accordingly, the Phaistos Disc would be a Cretan version of the story which had originated in the Middle-Eastern Kharsag, and had been written in the pictographs predating but linked to the proto-Sumerian language (Ibid.).
It is also worth mentioning another way of reading the inscription (Gregor 1997:25). It was proposed by a Norwegian linguist Kjell Aatrun in 1991 (Ibid.:25). He interpreted the signs as a Semitic writing (Ibid.:25). Semites represent the nations of the ancient Middle East, using the following languages: Aramaic, Hebrew, Syrian, Arabic, and Akkadian (Ibid.:25). During the Bronze Age, Semitic influences reached Ethiopia and Upper Egypt, and from there over 4,500 years ago came to Crete (Ibid.:25). Aatrun believes that he can decipher the secrets of the disk by comparing its writing to other old Semitic written records (Ibid.:25). Aatrun interpreted the signs in the Phaistos disc as an invitation to intercourse addressed by a woman to a man (Gregor 1997:25). In his opinion, these forty-five characters are a written rite celebrating the deprivation of virginity (Ibid.:25). Every spring in Phaistos, girls who were mature enough to begin their sexual life may have gathered in large numbers to sacrifice their virginity to some deity by participating in the initiation ritual and becoming women (Ibid.:26). According to Aatrun's interpretation, the disc would be a songbook and instructions for priests (Ibid.:26). Massive deflorations made by Minoan priests as a part of the fertility rite would also occurred in Babylonia, so Kjell Aatrun's proposition to interpret the disc is not without sense (Ibid.:26).
In a pile of valuable deposition
Most researchers agree that the Phaistos Disc is Minoan in its origins and it possibly dates back to the Middle Minoan (2100-1600 BC.) or Late Minoan (1600-1100 BC.) Bronze Age. Although the information board in the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion says that the Disc comes from the New Palace Period (1600-1450 BC.) (information from July, 2011, generally accepted period for the Disc is the end of the so-called First Palaces on Crete (1900-1700 BC.) (Georgievska 2016; Gregor 2016). Such a range of dating also shows how little is known about the artifact. Accepting the latter period, it was a very wealthy time in Minoan history but it was ended around 1700 BC by massive earthquakes (Gregor 2016).
Tablet of Linear A (Ph-1), found with Phaistos disc. From Arthur Evans "The palace of Minos", 1921 (PD-license). Public domain. Drawing source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
The Phaistos Disc, which was found in the basement along with the remains of other clay tablets and Kamares pottery (Gregor 2016). For this reason it can be assumed that the Disc had been deposited in the part of the Palace, where other valuable objects were stored (Ibid.). After Luigi Pernier the Disc probably fell down together with other artifacts from the upper story during the earthquakes (Ibid.). But how did such a fragile object survive its fall from several meters down and the crash against the hardstone floor without any apparent damage? (Ibid.) An answer to this question is offered by another theory, according to which the Disc did not fall down but it had been originally deposited in the basement cell, where it was finally excavated.
Precursor of Minoan Linear A?
The date ascribed to the Disc is also the time of Linear A script development. "Comparisons of existing Linear A examples have led some scholars to believe the [Disc] actually is a version of Linear A" (Ward 2020); for example, Kjell Aatrun believes that the clay tablets with Linear A script found in the archives of the palace in Phaistos are a simplified working version of ritual-religious hieroglyphs from the Disc, collecting data from the field of administration or legal rulings (Gregor 1997:26). Perhaps the priests, using 'holy' archaic writing, recorded some spells or a mystery on the disc? (Ibid.:25). Some language experts studying the script argue that it may be a cult hymn because it is possible to find the rhythmic arrangement of symbols and the repetition of certain combinations of signs (Ibid.:25). Also Dr Alessandro Greco claims the Phaistos Disc originated in Crete; it is because its script features open syllables as much as all later Minoan scripts in Linear A and B, which are also an open syllable writing type (Gregor 2016).
How to read it?
Generally, it is believed that even a layman, after examining the artifact more closely, will realize that he Phaistos Disc's narrative should be read from the outside to the inside (Gregor 1997:25; Ward 2020), that is to say "clockwise from the outside of the spiral into the centre" (Ward 2020).
After a researcher, Dr. Minas Tsikritsis (Menzies 2011:306), however, the idea of spiral is actually the key to the way of reading the Disc. He claims that the Minoans continued to use spiral patterns, as in the Disc of Phaistos, and unlike other researchers, Dr. Tsikritsis believes that the spiraling symbols printed in the clay can be read back and forth, that is to say, from the outside to the center and backwards, from the inside out (Ibid.:306). Supporting the thesis is the fact that characters printed on the outer edge also repeat inwards (Gregor 1997:25). Also Geoff Ward (2020) indicates the spiral format of the Disc's writing can be significant itself in understanding its meaning. After the author "[the] spiral [is] the age-old symbol, found in cultures [in the whole world], of creation, life-giving and aspiration, of birth and rebirth, and of spiritual development and our identity with the universe" (Ward 2020). The spiral is also a universal symbol of the Mother Goddess to whom the Phaistos inscription has been equally ascribed as a prayer or a hymn (Ibid.).
The side A of the disc of Phaistos, as displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion after the 2014 renovation. Photo by C messier (2015). CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
The spiralling string of symbols actually begin with a visible straight line marked with five or six dots at the edge of each side of the Disc, which is probably the point from where the reading of the text should also be started (Ward 2020). On side A, adjacent to the starting point there are two symbols; the first one looks like a plumed head, the second is a circle with seven dots inside it, possibly a warrior's shield, a loaf or a sun symbol (Ibid.). This pair of signs keeps being repeated throughout the whole writing; they can be equally noticed on side B, also next to the straight line with points, matching exactly the position of the both pictographs on the opposite side (A) (Ibid.). Those symbols and others are grouped from three to five individual symbols, sectioned off by a dividing line (Ibid.). Yet on the outer edge, the number of pictographs included between the dividing lines is always limited to four. In turn, the vertical lines separating the signs are sometimes identified with punctuation marks (Herbert 2000:53).
Forty-five pictographs
"There are [two hundred and forty-two pictographs] on the disk, comprising [forty-five] distinct signs. […] The [forty-five] symbols were numbered by Arthur Evans from 01 to 45, and this numbering has become the conventional reference used by most researchers" (Georgievska 2016). Dr Gareth Alun Owens explains that there are "[too] many signs for an alphabet, too few signs for a system, like Chinese or Egyptian, so [it was decided] to progress with systematic, epigraphic work [in the case of the Disc; consequently, the linguistic studies have followed the rule according to which] if a sign is the same in different scripts, it has the same sound value. And all the forty-five signs, the sound values, can be found among the ninety sound values of Linear B, which is a script of roughly the same time, from the same place, which has [already] been deciphered" (Gregor 2016).
Unfortunately, in order to read some unknown language with absolute statistical certainty, it takes at least fifty-six symbols, yet, there are only forty-five different signs represented in the Disc of Phaistos (Menzies 2011:306). In his book, Gavin Menzies (2011:304-310) refers to the research done by Dr. Minas Tsikritsis on the Linear A. To proceed with his studies, the researcher first had searched for tablets and other artifacts, such as rings with spiral engravings, that could help him to translate the insufficient number of symbols on the Disc (Ibid.:306). In the course of his work, he has found that the artifact actually shows fifteen symbols identical to the characters of a script in Linear B (Ibid.:306). What is more, he claims that the meaning of individual symbols is likely to change depending on what word follows a given symbol (Ibid.:306). On the whole, the researcher's systemic solution to the ancient puzzle of Linear Type A seems to be consistent and well-thought-out (Ibid.:307). So what is the thesis proposed by Dr. Tsikritsis? The results of his research reveals that the examples of ancient texts in Linear A mostly concern ways and the process of obtaining bronze, an alloy of special importance for the Minoans (Ibid.:307). Is it also the actual message of the the Disc of Phaistos?
01: PEDESTRIAN; (11 signs); marching figure of a human. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
02: PLUMED HEAD; (19 signs; the most frequent symbol, always word-initial (if direction is inward); head of human with crested helmet. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
03: TATTOOED HEAD; (2 signs on side A only); a bald human head in profile, with tattoo or jewellery on the cheek. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
04: CAPTIVE; (1 sign); a standing human figure with bound arms. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
05: CHILD; (1 sign). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
06: WOMAN; (4 signs). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
07: HELMET; (18 signs); a bell-shaped symbol. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
08: GAUNTLET; (5 signs); fist with cestus. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
09: TIARA; (2 signs; on side B only). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
10: ARROW; (4 signs; on side A only). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
11: BOW; (1 sign). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
12: SHIELD; (17 signs; 12 times in the group 02-12). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
13: CLUB; (6 signs). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
14: MANACLES; (2 signs; on both sides); the flat tops of the two prominences in this figure as well as the slots in the base are characteristic features of manacles, the slots being for the attachment of thongs. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
15: MATTOCK; (1 sign). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
16: SAW; (2 signs; on side B only); knife. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
17: LID; (1 sign); instrument for cutting leather. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
18: BOOMERANG; (12 signs); carpenter's angle. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
19: CARPENTRY PLANE; (3 signs; on side A only); Y shape. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
20: DOLIUM; (2 signs; on side B only); handled vase. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
21: COMB; (2 signs; on side A only); possibly a palace floorplan. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
22: SLING; (5 signs; on side B only); double pipe. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
23: COLUMN; (11 signs); square headed mallet. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
24: BEEHIVE; (6 signs); pagoda-like building. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
25: SHIP; (7 signs); a vertical symbol of ship. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
26: HORN; (6 signs); a horn of ox. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
27: HIDE; (15 signs); of animal, probably an ox. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
28: BULL'S LEG; (2 signs; on side A only); ox's foot. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
29: CAT; (11 signs); head of animal of the feline family. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
30: RAM; (1 sign); head of horned sheep. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
31: EAGLE; (5 signs; on side A only); flying bird. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
32: DOVE; (3 signs); seated dove. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
33: TUNNY; (6 signs); fish (the horse mackerel or common tunny, Thunnus thynnus). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
34: BEE; (3 signs); insect, possibly a bee. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
35: PLANE TREE; (11 signs); plant or tree sign; the Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
36: VINE; (4 signs, on side B only); olive branch. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
37: PAPYRUS; (4 signs); plant with a fan-shaped flower. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
38: ROSETTE; (4 signs); maguerite or star-anemone; eight-petaled flower. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
39: LILY; (4 signs); saffron flower, Ψ shape. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
40: OX BACK; (6 signs). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
41: FLUTE; (2 signs, on side A only). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
42: GRATER; (1 sign). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
43: STRAINER; (1 sign); triangle with internal granulation. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
44: SMALL AXE; (1 sign). Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
45: WAVY BAND; (6 signs); water. Each character's "name" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in upper case; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in lower case. Image by Ch1902 (2008). Public domain. Source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Generally, researchers assume that each of the forty-five different characters on the Disc also stands for a syllable (Gregor 1997:25). The pictographs represent either easily identifiable things or abstract signs (Gregor 1997:25; Georgievska 2016). Among the stamps, which are all surprisingly clear, there are human heads, whole human figures, tools, vessels, birds, flowers, fish, weapons, and a series of difficult to define ideographs: dotted fields, rectangles, geometric figures, or wavy lines (Herbert 2000:53).
Philistines depicted in Minoan Disc?
More identifiable pictures show objects bringing to mind or even pinpointing various cultures developing in different periods in the area of the Mediterranean; for example, one "sign depicts a structure similar to a sarcophagus used by the Lycians of Asia Minor" (Georgievska 2016), whereas the mentioned above picture looking like a plumed head or 'fluted crowns' possibly portrays a helmet with crest (Ibid.). Strikingly similar headgears have been depicted in a famous scene from the north wall of the Temple of Medinet Habu in Egypt, illustrating the Egyptian campaign led by Ramses the Third (1198 – 1166 BC.) against the so-called Sea Peoples ("Sea Peoples" 2021). Such a helmet was also used later by Philistines, who settled down in Juda, in the twelfth century BC. (Georgievska 2016). They may once have been a part of the Sea Peoples who plundered the Eastern Mediterranean region in the late thirteenth century BC. (Aleff 1982-2015).
This famous scene from the north wall of Medinet Habu is often used to illustrate the Egyptian campaign against the Sea Peoples in what has come to be known as the Battle of the Delta. Whilst accompanying hieroglyphs do not name Egypt's enemies, describing them simply as being from "northern countries", early scholars noted the similarities between the hairstyles and accessories worn by the combatants and other reliefs in which such groups are named. The original uploader was Seebeer at German Wikipedia (2006). Public domain. Photo source: "Sea Peoples" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
It is still difficult to precisely identify the Philistines' origins, although it is certain they did not create homogeneous society in respect of their culture, apparently composed of elements typical of Asia Minor, Mycenae, the Aegean islands, and Cyprus (Aleff 1982-2015). According to the Bible, the Philistines had come from Caphtor, which is usually believed to stand for Crete (Ibid.). Taking into account the fact that the Phaistos Disk is impressed all over with the symbol of a plumed head, it can be assumed that the sea raiders sailed eastwards centuries after the Disk was buried in the south of Crete (Aleff 1982-2015; Ward 2020). The problem is, however, that the Disc dates back to at least the late sixteenth century BC. (most often 1700 BC), whereas the Philistines appeared as the invaders only in the late thirteenth century BC. and set up a historically recorded civilization in the twelve century BC (see Ward 2020). There is thus over three hundred years gap and lack of the continuous tradition; neither Minoan frescoes nor other artifacts show Minoans wearing such a headgear, especially if it is widely accepted the Minoan civilization was not based on warfare but mostly on trade.
H. Peter Aleff (1982-2015), however, suggests that "the Disk is more firmly connected with the Philistines as religious descendants of its maker than it is with Crete". Although the artifact was found in Crete, it might not have been made there (Aleff 1982-2015). Even if the Disc's clay was compared by Luigi Pernier to the fine clay of Kamares, it has never been analysed in this aspect and so could have come from elsewhere in the Mediterranean region (Ibid.). Moreover, the Phaistos Disc in completely unique in its appearance among other excavated Minoan objects; some scholars have consequently claimed the Disk can have been either a hoax or an import from beyond Crete, or even the Aegean region, taking into consideration the fact Cretans sailed far and wide (Aleff 1982-2015; Ward 2020). Therefore, as H. Peter Aleff (1982-2015) underlines "[the] place where the Disk turned up says […] nothing about where it was made". Nevertheless, even if the Phaistos Disc is related to the Philistines, it predates the historical records of those ancient people for a few centuries, irrespective of the fact if they actually came from Crete or passed by the island on their way to the East.
Forged or genuine?
Due to the mentioned above anachronisms, discrepancies and questions, the Phaistos Disc is declared by some scholars as a modern forgery or a hoax made in the middle of the last century (Georgievska 2016; Ward 2020). "[Although the Phaistos Disc] is generally accepted as authentic by archaeologists" (Georgievska 2016), it has been long the subject of international debate regarding its authenticity and archaeological value (Ward 2020). As Geoff Ward speculates, "the suggestion it might be a forgery was probably generated by a hundred years of failure to decode it" (Ibid.). Moreover, an official request to conduct scientific tests of the Disc's clay to resolve the question of its date and origins were definitely turned down by the Ministry of Culture in "Greece on grounds that the Disc [is] a national treasure and 'untouchable'" (Ward 2020).
Similar accusations of forgery have also been made against such famous artifacts as the iconic bust of Nefertiti, preserved by the Egyptian Museum of Berlin, Nebra sky disk at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany or the Lady of Elche at the Archaeological Museum in Madrid (Gregor 2016; see: Mystery of the Lady). While, some of those artifacts were examined in this aspect and eventually turned out to be genuine, the Ministry of Culture of Greece still refuses such an analysis of the Phaistos Disc. The fact that "the Greek government [does not want it to be] tested [does not have to] mean its authenticity is problematic. Such a stance is not uncommon when such [examining of the fragile artefact] can cause damage to, or loss or theft" (Ward 2020).
Further doubts of experts
Although there are many voices of different specialists that the Disc is genuine, an art collector from New York, "Dr Jerome Eisenberg, an expert on ancient forgeries, [is] still convinced that Luigi Pernier […] forged [it]" (Ward 2020).After his opinion, the Italian archaeologist did 'invent' his famous discovery as "he was jealous of the successes of fellow archaeologists, Sir Arthur Evans and the Italian Federico Halbherr (1857–1930), at other excavations in Crete" (Ibid.). Moreover, there exists an artifact that may have served as a prototype of his potential forgery. In addition to archaeological excavations, Luigi Pernier was also employed in Florence as an Antiques Inspector (Gregor 2016). His jurisdiction included the city's Archaeological Museum, where one of the most valuable artifacts in the Etruscan collection is the so-called Magliano Disc (Ibid.). The object is made of lead and "was found in Magliano in the Toscana near Grosseto (Italy) in 1883 and bears an Etruscan script dating to the [fifth or fourth century BC.]" (Luwian Studies 2019). It is half the size of the Phaistos Disc (Gregor 2016). The words and sentences sections on it are separated by dots, whereas on Phaistos Disc vertical lines are used instead (Ibid.). Despite such striking similarities, the Etruscan Disc originated thousand years after the Palace collapsed in Phaistos; for this reason, cultural exchange between Etruscans and Minoans would appear extremely unlikely (Ibid.). For Dr Jerome Eisenberg such a phenomenon is inexplicable (Ibid.). After the art collector, Luigi Pernier could have studied the Magliano Disc while staying in Florence (Ibid.). At that time, the Etruscan script on the Disc had not been deciphered yet, and so Pernier could have used it as a model for his forgery, when he later excavated at the site in Phaistos (Ibid.).
Line Art Drawing of a cestus. Drawing by Pearson Scott Foresman – Archives of Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the Wikimedia Foundation (2007). Public domain. Drawing source: "Cestus" (2020). In Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Furthermore, Dr Jerome Eisenberg points to some examples of suspicious discrepancies regarding the Phaistos Disc (Gregor 2016). First, the inscription goes from right to left as Egyptians hieroglyphs do, whereas Minoan scripts, both Linear A and B, are read from left to right (Ibid.). Secondly, the pictographs are too highly realistic to compose an ancient script; for instance, there is a symbol of a gloved hand or cestus or caestus (Latin), an ancient battle glove, which only occurs in Roman period, which is fifteenth hundred years later (Gregor 2016; "Cestus" 2020). Thirdly, Dr Jerome Eisenberg points to the fact that ancient tablets accompanying the artifact are unevenly fired, which happened during the fire of the First Palace in Phaistos (Gregor 2016). Such a damage to clay objects was typical if they were long exposed to the heath (Ibid.). On the other hand, the Phaistos Disc was fired too evenly and thoroughly (Ibid.). Dr Gareth Alun Owens, however, claims the Disc was baked deliberately in the process of being created and not accidentally like the destruction level that saved other clay tablets with Linear scripts during the First Palace's fire (Ibid.). It would then suggest the Disc must have fallen down from the upper floor as Luigi Pernier assumed (Ibid.). But then, how did it avoid being crashed into pieces? (Ibid.) In addition to that, Dr Jerome Eisenberg claims that the edges of the Phaistos Disc are still quite sharp and hardly defaced, whereas in other ancient tablets and anything made of clay have especially had their edges damaged (Ibid.). Next, the circumstances of the famous discovery are suspicious; the excavations in Phaistos were directed by Luigi Pernier and so has been naturally ascribed to the find of the famous artifact. Nevertheless, no archaeologist was a direct witness of the discovery, (Ibid.). According to the records, at the very moment of uncovering the Phaistos Disc, Luigi Pernier was taking a nap (Ibid.). Finally, the Ministry of Culture in Greece does not allow to take any tests on the artifact or even to handle it, which according to the expert is already questionable (Ibid.). He thinks that the government, unsure of results of the tests, is afraid of losing one of the most iconic ancient objects attracting tourists to Crete (Ibid.).
Who then made the Phaistos Disc if it is a forgery? (Gregor 2016). After specialists, It must have been an expert very familiar with archaeological material, like Emile Gilliéron (1850-1924), who worked for Arthur Evans at restoration and reinterpretation of Minoan frescoes, and other artifacts, and made very successful replicas (Ibid.). Only such a person was well positioned to be able to make forgeries like the Phaistos Disc (Ibid.).
Archaeology in favour of the authenticity
Despite all the claims against the Phaistos Disc, recent archaeological discoveries can indicate that it is actually genuine (Gregor 2016). Such evidence is provided, for example, by another artifact, also preserved in the Museum in Heraklion; it is a bronze double-axe, possibly a religious and ritual Minoan object (Ibid.). On the head of the axe, there are three lines with overlapping signs engraved upon them (Ibid.). Linguistic experts, like Dr Gareth Alun Owens, see in those signs parallels with stamped pictographs on the Phaistos Disc, and believe the script is a prayer to the Minoan Goddess from the top of the Mountains, where Minoans massively pilgrimaged with their offerings (Ibid.). A lately discovered sacrificial bowl from such a holy mountains' peak also bear similar pictographs; they are almost identical to those on the Phaistos Disc (Ibid.).
The side B of the disc of Phaistos, as displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion after the 2014 renovation. Photo by C messier (2015). CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo source: "Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Similar clues are highly valuable in the quest for true origins of the Phaistos Disc and evidence needed to confirm its authenticity, and to defend the good name of its founder (Gregor 2016 ).Professor of archaeology and the director of the Heraklion Museum, Dr. Athanasia Kanta says that she has no doubt the artifact is authentic (Ward 2020). In her opinion, accusing an eminent scholar of fraud after a century of his discovery, without providing any strong evidence is highly unfair (Ibid.).
Everlasting mystery
For many scholars, the Phaistos Disc in another Minoan mystery, for others, a tantalizing message from the ancient world and a link to a lost and legendary civilization. Although archaeologists mostly agree it is genuine, its content and origins are still under debate. Generally, it is thought to have been either an import from Asia Minor or a local product of Minoans (Herbert 2000:53). Granting the last option, the Phaistos Disc would be the oldest script in Europe, whose message yet will possibly remain lost forever.
Featured image: Detail of the Phaistos Disc, side A. Photo by Geoff Ward (2020). Photo source: Geoff Ward (2020). "The mysterious Phaistos Disc: a lost message from the ancient world". In: geoffward.medium.com.
"Cestus" (2020). In Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/3idp6t0>. [Accessed on 14th January, 2021].
"Minoan sealstone" (2018). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/3spYJVB>. [Accessed on 12th January, 2021].
"Numidia" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at < http://bit.ly/3i0yEYj>. [Accessed on 11th January, 2021].
"Phaistos Disc" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/3nIHR8N>. [Accessed on 11th January, 2021].
"Sea Peoples" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/38zGJ2U>. [Accessed on 12th January, 2021].
Aleff H. P. (1982-2015). "The Board Game on the Phaistos Disk: 3.1.2. The Philistine connection with the Disk". In: recoveredsince.com. Available at <http://bit.ly/2XumPjx>. [Accessed on 11th January, 2021].
Georgievska M. (2016). "The Phaistos Disk is the best-known Minoan inscription and one of the most famous mysteries of archaeology". In: The Vintage News (2014-2021). Available at <http://bit.ly/3nw53a9>. [Accessed on 11th January, 2021].
Gregor M. (1997) "Państwo króla Minosa". In: Sfinks. Tajemnice Historii, część 1 [Sphinx. Geheimnisse der Geschichte] Posmyk A. trans. Huf Hans-Christian ed. Warszawa: Berteismann Media.
Gregor M. (2016). The Secret of the Phaistos Code. doc.station Production in association with 2DFArte & 2DF.enterprises.
Herbert Z. (2000) Labirynt and morzem. Fundacja Zeszytów Literackich.
Luwian Studies (2019). Caption under the image of the Magliano Disc. In: "The Etruscan Culture". In: Luwian Studies. Available at <http://bit.ly/3oTSPdb>. [Accessed on 13th January, 2021].
Menzies G. (2011). Atlantyda odnaleziona. Rozwiązanie największej zagadki w dziejach świata. [The Lost Empire of Atlantis. History Greatest's Mystery Revealed.]. Mikos J. trans. Warszawa: Grupa Wydawnicza Foksal MMXIII, First edition.
O'Brien C., Joy B. (1985). "The Enigma of the Phaistos Disc. A Question of Language". In: The Genius of the Few, Appendix F, pp. 340 – 352. Available at <http://bit.ly/3i9R74z>. [Accessed on 12th January, 2021].
Ward G. (2020). "The mysterious Phaistos Disc: a lost message from the ancient world". In: geoffward.medium.com. Available at <http://bit.ly/2XumPjx>. [Accessed on 11th January, 2021].
TheHallOfRecords (2015). "Alan Butler – Mystery of the Phaistos Disc". In: TheHallOfRecords Youtube Channel. Available at <https://bit.ly/3uv4HF6>. [Accessed on 6th May, 2021].
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It was the end of January when my group was travelling north from Petra through the King's Highway, in Jordan. It was the very moment when the Egyptian revolution of 2011 had started and we learnt about it a few days earlier, while crossing the Israelite-Jordan border (see Mount Sinai Trekking). But we did not stop our study trip and continued to discover Jordan's archaeological treasure till the time we had to come back to Sinai, in Egypt.
Travelling around Jordan. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Madaba in Jordan
After having stopped at one of large Crusader castles – the Kerak, we headed off to Madaba, the city situated half an hour south of the capital. "It is a relatively small [urban area] that is nowadays home to around 60,000 people" (Esparza 2017). Throughout history, the site has been populated by "the Moabites, the Nabateans, the Romans, the Byzantine, the Rashidun and the Umayyad" (Ibid.). It "is now home to the biggest Christian community in all of Jordan, proportionally speaking: both Catholics and Greek Orthodox make up around [ten percent] of the total population of Madaba (Ibid.) and their origins reach the times of Jesus Christ (Mack 2018). "Archaeologists affirm Madaba has been inhabited since the Middle Bronze Age" (Esparza 2017). The Bible itself mentions Madaba twice (Numbers 21:30; Joshua 13:9) (Ibid.). "The city then stood in the very borders of the Moabite empire [but] during Roman (and consequently, Byzantine) rule, it belonged to the broader Arabian Province, founded by Trajan to substitute the Nabatean Kingdom. It was during those centuries, from the [second to the seventh], when the Christian community of the city established itself" (Ibid.).
The nineteenth century Greek Orthodox Church, dedicated to Saint George. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
What did the Middle East and, precisely, the Holy Land look like in the early days of Christianity (till around 614 AD)? Today, those days are brought to life by a legendary, ancient mosaic forming a map on the floor of Saint George's Church in Madaba, in Jordan (Stakelbeck 2018).
Early Christian mosaic map within a modern church
MOSAIC a design made by cementing small pieces (tesserae) of hard, coloured substances (e.g. marble, glass, ceramic or semi-prcious stones) to a base.
(Lucie-Smith 2003:141)
Dr. Merav Mack showing the patches of the mosaic under the carpet; in the shot from the documentary: "The Legendary Madaba Map: World's Oldest Map of the Holy Land" Source: Mack, M. (2018) "The Legendary Madaba Map: World's Oldest Map of the Holy Land". In: Stakelbeck, E. (2018) The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck.
Dr. Merav Mack (2018), a research associate from German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in Amman, calls the mosaic one of the oldest maps in history of the Holy Land. "Originally, the map measured 21×7 meters, and was made with more than two million 'tesserae' (mosaic stones)" (Esparza 2017). Nowadays, its patches cover of the floor space in the apse of the active and rather modest nineteenth century Greek Orthodox church, yet adorned with some of the most beautiful icons in the region (Esparza 2017; Mack 2018; Raezer 2020). The modern church was built on the site of the sixth century Byzantine temple (Rogoff 2013; Mack 2018). There, the mosaic map was originally designed on the floor of the apse. While a service is going on in the church, carpets are rolled down all over to protect the remains of the mosaic, and when the service is over, the carpets are rolled up again for visitors coming inside the church to expose the mosaic map (Mack 2018).
Intriguing characteristics
"Interestingly, the map is not oriented northwards, like modern maps are" (Esparza 2017) but to the East, towards the altar of the church (Esparza 2017; Mack 2018). In its center, there is an elliptical layout of the Holy City – Jerusalem (Sani 2014; Mack 2018). And although the map also features other famous and significant cities of the region, such as Jericho, Ascalon and Gaza (Mack 2018), it especially constitutes a unique guide to the Old City of Jerusalem, represented with all its major characteristics (Rogoff 2013). And irrespective of some minor errors in its layout (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995), the Madaba map remains one of the most important and revealing representation of the sixth century Christian Middle East (Esparza 2017). It is features more than one hundred and fifty cities, towns, and villages (Ibid.), "including some exceptionally intriguing symbols that, according to some archaeologists, represent pilgrimage places" (Ibid.).
One of the boats floating on the Dead Sea. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
At the top of the map, there is a representation of the Dead Sea with the blue horizontal stripes symbolising waves, on which two boats are floating (Mack 2018). Inside them, there are sitting human figures (Ibid.). They are now defaced, which is apparently the result of the Muslim rule in the area (Ibid.). In the sixth century, when the map was created, the whole depicted land was under the Eastern Christianized Roman Empire: there were monasteries scattered densely around, especially in the desert, housing around five thousands monks (Rogoff 2013; Mack 2018).
The River Jordan with two fishes facing each other. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
The map also shows the part of land where the mosaic is preserved today, which is in the hills, on the eastern side of the River Jordan (Mack 2018). The latter is shown as a ribbon of water with depictions of fishes (Ibid.). Actually, in one section, there are "two fishes facing each other. One of them seems to be swimming back from the Dead Sea, while the other swims towards it, in the Jordan River. But it is well known that fish cannot survive in the Dead Sea […] Therefore, most historians and archaeologists interpret this to symbolize a meeting point for Christians" (Ibid.), for one of their early symbols was fish. Additionally, the River Jordan is important as the site of Jesus' Baptism (Mack 2018). The city of Madaba, itself should be located somewhere in the hills, at the point where the map is unfortunately cut off and ruined (Ibid.). Generally, "much of the map's tiles have been chipped away or been destroyed but a large contiguous piece of the map still exists illustrating both locations and names ranging from geographic features to cities" (Liza B 2020).
Η ΑΓΙΑ ΠΟΛΙϹ ΊΈΡΟΥϹΑ[ΛΗΜ] (Greek: The Holy City of Jerusalem)
The Holy City of Jerusalem in the sixth century. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Generally, "the mosaic covers lands from Egypt to Lebanon, including sites such as Bethlehem and Gethsemane, but [as it is underlined above], the gem of the mosaic is the detailed representation of the city of Jerusalem" (Liza B 2020). The picture of Jerusalem is additionally highly ideological (Mack 2018). The city "was considered the navel of the earth, [as the place] of God's salvation history" (Sani 2014), and so physically and metaphorically situated at the very heart of the contemporary Christian world (Mack 2018). And although it was depicted "completely out of proportion to the scale of the map, [it was] entirely in proportion to its historical and spiritual significance. [Accordingly], the detail of the Holy City is remarkable, down to the level of identifiable structures" (Rogoff 2013). Jerusalem of the sixth century "was an expansion of the Aelia Capitolina, as it was rebuilt and renamed by pagan Rome 400 years earlier" (Ibid.).
From a general layout to details
The Madaba map reflects Jerusalem's contemporary landmarks: the Holy City is surrounded around by thick walls, protected by nineteen towers (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). "The map assumes an oblique perspective, as if the viewer were standing atop a very high mountain and looking eastward (north is on the left)" (Raezer 2020). Actually, "a viewer in Jordan would look westward for a view of Jerusalem (north is on the right). The eastward vantage suggests that the artist was likely creating the mosaic based on a map prototype that was designed in the West, likely in Constantinople" (Ibid.). According to the perspective applied in the Madaba map, "the western part of the city-wall is shown from outside, the eastern part from inside" (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995).
Starting from left, that is to say, the north part of the city, there is the largest gate of Jerusalem consistent with Damascus Gate (1), and called Saint Stephen's Gate in the sixth century (Rogoff 2013; Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). The gate is flanked by two towers and leads to an oval square with the tall column topped probably with the statue of the emperor Hadrian (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995). The Arabic name of the gate, Bab el-Amud, which means the Gate of the Column, indicates that it existed yet after the Arabs' invasion in the seventh century (Rogoff 2013). From the east, the city is opened by the so-called Gate of the Sheep Pool (2) (today's Saint Stephen's Gate) (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). To the south of it, there is the Gate Beautiful (3), aka Golden Gate, leading to the temple area, and farther, there is Dung Gate (4), seen from a different perspective than the previous three (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995).
Jerusalem on the Madaba Map. Photo by Unknown author (2005). Public domain. Photo source: "Madaba Map" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
In the south of the city, there is Sion Gate (5), from which the main street goes across the city to Damascus Gate (1) (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995). In the west, there is Jaffa Gate (6), called Gate of the Tower in the sixth century, which is depicted here from the front. (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995).
The Cardo Maximus (the main street in Ancient Roman cities) is running across the city, from north to south, that is to say, from Damascus Gate (1) to Sion Gate (5) (Mack 2018; Liza B 2020). It is lined with a row of columns on each side and covered with a roof (Ibid.). "Its western colonnade is interrupted by the staircase of the Anastasis-Church (7), known as the Church of Holy Sepulchre [whereas] the eastern one ends in front of the Nea Theotokos-Church (12)" (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). Apparently, the mosaicist's aim was to point out to the fact that the Cardo leads from both sides to the middle of the city, which is actually marked by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Mack 2018). In reality, the Church has never been centrally placed in the city (Ibid.). However, by placing it in the center of the map, the very idea of Christianity was expressed, namely the picture of heavenly Jerusalem with the holiest sites of Christian faith, where Jesus was crucified, buried, and where he finally resurrected (Ibid.). Authors of the mosaic also represented the Church's details, such as four steps leading to its three gates, and at its top – the golden dome, which is hovering above the tomb of Christ (Ibid.; also see the illustration: "Jerusalem with its landmarks in Madaba Map". In: David, Jennifer Raezer (2020). "Madaba Map: Mosaic of Jerusalem" In: Approach Guides).
Jerusalem with the main street (Cardo Maximus) across the city; from northern Damascus Gate to the southern Sion Gate. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
The surprising fact is that "the street network of Byzantine Jerusalem remains essentially unchanged today, even in the modern Jewish quarter in the southern part of the Old City" (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). Apart from the Cardo, there are four other streets depicted: the "second street begins on the east side of the oval square under an arch and runs to the south until the Dung Gate (4). It is colonnaded as well, but only the eastern colonnade is visible. […] The third street, starting from [the Gate of the Sheep Pool (St. Stephen's Gate)] (2), is the beginning of the Christian 'Via Dolorosa.' [The] fourth street without columns — the Decumanus of Roman-Byzantine Jerusalem – starts from Jaffa Gate (6) and runs to the east. It seems to end at the main street (Cardo Maximus). The fifth street, finally, branches off the Decumanus to the south: this is, probably, the Armenian Street" (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995).
Single buildings and constructions
Apart from centrally positioned Church of Holy Sepulchre, other main churches of Byzantine Jerusalem are also represented by the mosaicist (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). Baptistery of the Church of the Anastasis (8) "stands west of a light-brown trapezoidal space, probably the market-place(Forum) of Roman-Byzantine Jerusalem" (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995). However, "its identification with the baptistery of the Holy Sepulchre [remains] uncertain. [Then, there is the] Church of the Sheep Pool (Probatica) (10), built in the first half of the [fifth] century over [the site] where Jesus healed a paralyzed man, [but it] was destroyed by the Persians in 614" (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995).
Jerusalem shown "upside down" with the golden dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (visible above it). Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Another church is the already mentioned "New Church of the Mother of God (Nea Theotokos) (12), built by the emperor Justinian and consecrated on November 20, 542, [which is] a fact important for dating the Madaba [map. Next, there are the] Basilica on Mount Sion (14), one of the most important churches in Jerusalem, second only to that of the Holy Sepulchre, [and] Diaconicon of the Basilica on Mount Sion (15), attached to the basilica in the south, for a time used as the Martyrium of St. Stephen. [Finally, there are also depicted the] Church of the House of Caiphas (16), [then the] Church of St. Sophia (17) [possibly standing] on the ruins of Pilate's Praetorium, [and], the Church of St. Cosmas and St. Damianus (18)" (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995).
Old photograph from the "American Colony Photo Department". Title: Madaba map mosaic, Jordan Abstract/medium: G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection Physical description: 1 negative. Photo by Matson Collection – Library of Congress Catalog. Created: between 1898 and 1946. Public domain. Photo source: "Madaba Map" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
There are also two other buildings identifiable in the Madaba map (Sani 2014; see Donner 1992-1995). In the eastern part of the map, there is "Temple Esplanade (22), indicated by a black line of cubes only [and the] Citadel (al-Qalca) (19), [situated in the west] on the right side of the Jaffa Gate (6). The Citadel of Jerusalem had been improved by Herod the Great. The Herodian Citadel was protected by three strong towers. […] Two of them are represented on the Madaba map, the bigger one identical with what is still called the 'Tower of David" (Ibid.; see Donner 1992-1995).
Madaba map's dating
Preserved patches of the precious mosaic on the floor of the apse. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
The mosaic map was uncovered in Madaba in the nineteenth century, precisely in 1897 (Donner 1992-1995:13; Esparza 2017). It is dated back to the second half of the sixth century, which is also ascribed to its general style and special contents (Ibid.:13). By all accounts, the map tiles may have been composed into the floor mosaic probably during the reign of the Byzantine emperor, Justinian (527-565), and before 614, when Palestine was devastated by the Islamic Persians (Ibid.:14). Some observations on the map are also very useful in its dating (Ibid.:14). As mentioned above, in the depiction of Jerusalem, there is already the New Basilica of the Mother of God (Nea-Theotokos), which was consecrated in 542 (Ibid.:14). It is hence clear that the map itself was made later (Ibid.:14). Moreover, there are four churches on the map, which had been first mentioned in circa 570, namely the churches of Galgala, of the Egyptian Martyrs near Ascalon, of Saint Victor near Gaza, and the church of Zacharias (Ibid.:14).
Maps of the Mediterranean
Today, the map is one of the most significant archaeological "sources for the character and topography of Byzantine Palestine both west and east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, as well as of Lower Egypt" (Donner 1992-1995:13). Consequently, it is the oldest known geographic map of Palestine in existence, except for "a small section of the so-called Peutinger Plates" (Donner 1992-1995:13). The latter comes from the fourth century A.D. and constitutes a road map of the Roman Empire, now preserved in Vienna, in Austria, as a medieval parchment copy of a possible Roman original record (Ibid.:13).
One side of the Jordan River. The Madaba map gives astonishingly many details. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Such mosaic pavements as the Madaba map were widely common in the Christian Byzantine Empire, especially in the Mediterranean region and among them, there are also analogous mosaic representations of cities or even villages, for example the sixth century mosaics from Antioch or Jerash (Donner 1992-1995:13). However, the way in which they are represented substantially differs from the map depicted in the mosaic of Madaba (Ibid.:13). Mostly, the former give a more pictorial view of cities mainly depicted from the front (Ibid.:13). This manner of representation is also observed on the Madaba map but to a smaller degree (Ibid.:13). Yet more significant elements of the map under study, such as large cities, are usually depicted from above, which is a manner typical of a modern cartography (Ibid.:13). Additionally, all illustrated landmarks are accompanied by the Greek inscriptions for a better understanding of the picture. The writings are in different style (Ibid.:18): "black on a bright background, white on a dark background, red for texts of special importance. Some belong to cities or villages, others recall Biblical events or quote Biblical texts" (Ibid.:18).
Inferior and superior purposes of the Madaba map
The Holy Land seen in a bird's eye view for the very first time. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Even if the sixth century examples are similar in style to the Madaba map, contemporary exact parallels depicted in a bird's eye view are not known (Donner 1992-1995:13). As far as the Madaba map' contents are concerned, it could have been made for different purposes (Ibid.:14). One of them, although interior, "was surely the intention to offer information for Christian pilgrims" (Ibid.:30). Herbert Donner (1992-1995:14) claims that the Madaba map itself "looks like a cartographic illustration of two pilgrims' reports from the sixth century: the first one written by the archdeacon Theodosius, […] the other one by an anonymous pilgrim from Piacenza, [the so-called Anonymous of Piacenza]. We may add the so-called Breviarius de Hierosolyma (Short Description of Jerusalem), […] containing only a description of the Holy City. Naturally, not everything that these reports describe can be found on the Madaba map" (Ibid.:14). Apart from being just a guide for contemporary pilgrims, one of the superior purposes of the map was "the realisation of the exceptional idea, totally unknown before the [sixth] century, to illustrate God's salvation history in a map. On the mosaic map both Testaments […] are represented and the holy sites are [fully] displayed to the spectator's eyes. Further purposes can be considered, for example, a clear liturgical [and symbolical] function" (Ibid.:30).
An original illustration of God's salvation history in a map. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Nonetheless, it can be concluded that the Madaba map was not just a metaphorical collections of Biblical illustrations with inscriptions but a real geographical and topographical map of the Holy Land (Ibid.:18). Accordingly, "it is not only the oldest but also the most exact map" (Ibid.:18) of the region before the appearance of modern cartography in the nineteenth century (Ibid.:18).
Madaba in the past and today
Madaba deliberately surrendered to the Muslims in 614. Consequently, the city was not destroyed and so the temple of Madaba, which was also dedicated to Saint George, may have been still used as an active church (Donner 1992-1995:14). Unfortunately, the eighth century brought an earthquake [and the fire] destroyed the temple. The city had subsequently been abandoned until the nineteenth century (Esparza 2017). "In the year 1884, when the new church of [Saint] George was being built in the place in which the old basilica stood, the mosaic was [uncovered], and incorporated in the new building across from the church's magnificent iconostasis" (Ibid.). And even if it was made for the purposes of the early Christian Church, it is still valued in the eyes of modern pilgrims coming to the Holy Land, and visiting Madaba itself.
Christians made ten percent of the total population of Madaba and their origins reach the times of Jesus Christ. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Having left Saint George's church, we also studied another sixth century mosaic work, namely the so-called Hippolytus Hall mosaic in Madaba's Archaeological Park. This time, however, the intricate floor mosaic was not designed for the church but for a Byzantine private villa, and represents not a Christian story, but an ancient myth. Such a melange is in abundance in Jordan and everywhere in the Middle East, where various aspects of different cultures, traditions and religions have collided or intertwined for centuries.
Featured image: Madaba Mosaics in the early Byzantine church of Saint George in Madaba, Jordan. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
"Madaba Map" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3bi5x0h>. [Accessed 16th April, 2020].
Donner, H. (1992-1995) The Mosaic Map of Madaba: An Introductory Guide. Palestina Aniqua 7. The Netherlands, Kampen: Kok Pharos Publishing House.
Esparza, D. (2017) "The 'Madaba Map' is the oldest surviving original cartographic description of the Holy Land." In: Aleteia. Available at <https://bit.ly/2XGi9sj>. [Accessed 16th April, 2020].
Liza B (2020) "Madaba Mosaic Map" In: Atlas Obscura. Available at <https://bit.ly/2V6c4U8>. [Accessed 14th April, 2020].
Lucie-Smith, E. (2003) The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms. London: Thames & Hudson World of Art.
Mack, M. (2018) "The Legendary Madaba Map: World's Oldest Map of the Holy Land". In: Stakelbeck, E. (2018) The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck. Available at <https://bit.ly/2RBuCcO>. [Accessed 14th April, 2020].
Raezer D., J. (2020) "Madaba Map: Mosaic of Jerusalem" In: Approach Guides. Available at <https://bit.ly/3a469XF>. [Accessed 16th April, 2020].
Rogoff, M. (2013) "A Mosaic of Jerusalem on the Ancient Madaba Map" In: Haaretz. Available at <https://bit.ly/3a7gRJs>. [Accessed 14th April, 2020].
Sani, E. (2014) "Madaba Map: The Holy City of Jerusalem" In: Flickr. Available at <https://bit.ly/2ydxrKr>. [Accessed 15th April, 2020].
Stakelbeck, E. (2018) "The Legendary Madaba Map: World's Oldest Map of the Holy Land" In: The Watchman. Available at <https://bit.ly/2RBuCcO>. [Accessed 14th April, 2020].
The Holy Land Translated into a Mosaic of the Church
April 18, 2020 Joanna Pyrgies 1 Comment
One of the world's greatest museums is situated in Turin, in the north of Italy. It is the only museum other than Cairo's wholly dedicated to Egyptian art and archaeology.
Drawing from a Scratchpad
Among multiplied and various artifacts exposed there, I would like to pay your attention to one small and a very fragile object of the size of 20 x 15 cm. It's a painting, or more precisely a drawing on a limestone ostracon representing an Egyptian young girl caught in an acrobatic position. An ostracon itself is a potsherd, usually used as a writing or painting surface. At that time it may have served as a scratchpad.
Ostracon showing a dancer in an acrobatic position. Limestone, New Kingdom, 19th-20th Dynasty (1292-1076 BC). Deir el-Medina. Drovetti collection (1824). Cat. 7052. Creative Commons (CC). Deir el-Medina. Drovetti collection (1824). Museum location: Sala 06 Vetrina 06. Cat. 7052 (2018). In: Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy.
An Acrobatic Somersault
The object comes from the ancient Egyptian village, Deir el-Medina, dating back to the period of the New Kingdom (between 16th and the 11th century BC.). For over four centuries, Deir el-Medina had been home to highly skilled architects, temples and tombs builders, artists and various craftsmen staying in the service of the pharaoh. Thy lived there with their families but usually spent the entire week at work in the Valley of the Kings and Queens. A village artists must have been an author of the drawing probably representing one of girls living in the same community. Village women also served to the pharaoh but as dancers and singers in local temples. Egyptian Dancers played an important role in ancient Egypt. Not only was dancing a form of entertainment but it was mainly associated with religious ceremonies.
The depicted girl is a dancer. She is naked, except for a short black kilt with a decorative patterns on it and circular earrings of gold. The girl is probably performing an acrobatic somersault of a ritual dance. The artist is believed to have drawn first the body and then the head by rotation of the ostracon to a position where the profile could be done in the usual way. After a historian of art, William H. Peck, this way of making the drawing is suggested by the placement of the earring in defiance of the laws of gravity, and a rather unnatural way in which the neck was joined with the shoulders, with strongly elongated arms and legs. Also the shape of the dancer's breast seemed to be sketched as if the artist imagined a woman's torso in a standing position.
Egyptian style of art
Creating all the elements of the entire scene separately was very characteristic of Egyptian style of art.
The photo is showing dimensions of the object by means of a ruler, which is 11.5 x 17 x 4 cm. Deir el-Medina. Drovetti collection (1824). Cat. 7052. Creative Commons (CC). Deir el-Medina. Drovetti collection (1824). Museum location: Sala 06 Vetrina 06. Cat. 7052 (2018). In: Turin Museum, Italy.
It is like in a case of a child drawing an object without a three-dimensional perspective, but in a way the object is perceived from their position of watching, with its major characteristics. Looking down on a puddle, they can see its shape and what is inside, but when they observe a tree, they see it in its vertical form, and not from the above (which is not possible without flying over the trees!). Now they put all these observed elements together, on one piece of paper and they receive a similar stylistically incoherent whole, created once by ancient Egyptians.
Crescent of the Goddess Nut
Representation of the Woman Dancer seems slightly naive, yet it is very subtle and graceful in its form, depicted with a great skill and imagination. The artistic quality of the design is exceptional and erotically charged. The bare-breasted female is bending nearly over reaching the floor with her stretched arms and despite the drawing' simplicity, the young woman seems extremely flexible. You may have an impression she has been caught in a nimble and swift dance at the sound of vibrant music.
The air god Shu, assisted by other gods, holds up Nut, the sky, as Geb, the earth, lies beneath. Detail from the Greenfield Papyrus (the Book of the Dead of Nesitanebtashru). Photograph published 1997; artwork created c. 950 BC. Photo source: What Life Was Like on the Banks of the Nile, edited by Denise Dersin. Photographed by the British Museum; original artist unknown. Public domain. {{PD-US}}. In: Wikimedia Commons.
Her curly long hair touches the ground as her body is bending in a deep bow. As the author, Patrick Hunt has noticed, the Dancer's pose looks like a reversal of the sky goddess Nut in her downward earth-nourishing bend. Nut connects the earth with the sky, and according to the Heliopolis beliefs, the goddess touches the ground only with the tips of her hands and fingers. Simultaneously, her body covered in stars takes the shape of a semi-circle, which immediately evokes a crescent and its associations with femininity.
Voices of Common Egyptians
Ancient Egyptian Music & Dance. Scene from Tomb of Nakht, 18th Dynasty, Western Thebes. Photo source: Carolinarh (2013). "Ancient Egyptian Tomb Art. Necropolis of Thebes" (unknown artist). In:Ars Artistic Adventure of Mankind. The History of Art through the millennia.
Female dancers are usually depicted on tomb walls and temple walls. They are represented nearly naked with golden belts around their waits and collars around their necks. They are wearing jangling bracelets on arms, big earrings, and wigs, unlike our Dancer from Deir el Medina who is represented with her natural hair. All of them are caught in various poses – in profile, in three-quarter profile and even en face, free from being frozen in a hieratic posture of the upper class. They seem simply comfortable and full of life.
I came across the drawing of a female dancer while I was studying for an exam in the first year of studies of History of Art. It caught my eye from the very first moment, maybe because it was not created for formal purposes but probably for pleasure or training as a sketch. I don't know why an artist chose to draw a dancing woman but his work now can tell us a story about simple people who once lived in Egypt.
'On the outskirts of Deir el-Medina, the villagers once had attempted to find a water source', explains Joann Fletcher, an Egyptologist. 'They dug down and eventually they reached more than fifty meters. They wanted to become self-sufficient in water but sadly for them they never did, and what the pit did become was a community dump, and as such became a mine of information. And when this pit and its surroundings were excavated by archaeologists, they made some remarkable discoveries, and the ostracon with the drawing was one of the findings among thousands of these pieces of pottery and stone: some with painted pictures, many with words giving us the real history of the village. These are their notes, reminders, love songs, laundry list, the very voices of common Egyptians.'
Featured image: Dancer, Deir el Medina. Ancient Egyptian depiction of topless dancer with elaborate hairstyle and hoop earrings in gymnastic backbend, on ostrakon (potsherd). Created: 1292-1186 BC. Public Public domain. Photo and caption source: "Dance in "Ancient Egypt" (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
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Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple had been finished; it rose unsurpassed in its beauty and solitude on white terraces, surrounded by columns, against the background of a dark massif of mountains (Żylińska 1972-1986:65).
Temple tells a story
Having come back from the land of Punt, the Queen began to decorate the walls of her temple (Żylińska 1972-1986:65). She had her history painted on them, from the moment when her mother, Queen Ahmose, was visited by the god Amun-Re, through her birth, the announcement of her succession to the throne, the history of the trip to Punt, until the day when she would give her divine body under the protection of the goddess Nut, asking her to make place for her among the stars lest she die forever (Ibid.:65-66).
Porticos have pillars reconstructed by archaeologists, decorated on the front with colossal Osirian statues representing the Queen in the form of the god Osiris. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
A transverse ramp led us to the middle level of the temple, with a similar architectural shape to the lower one, but more extensive (Lipińska 2008:161). On both sides of the portico closing the courtyard from the west, there are chapels of collaterally worshiped deities in the temple (Ibid.:161). The Hathor chapel was built on the south side, and the Anubis chapel on the north side (Ibid.:161,163). In the chapel of the goddess Hathor, embodied by Hatshepsut, both pillars and smooth, cylindrical columns topped with so-called Hathor's capitals were built (Ibid.:164).
The north side of the central courtyard is occupied by a colonnade that was never completed (Lipińska 2008:163). The northern portico is decorated with bas-reliefs illustrating the legend of the divine birth of Hatshepsut (Ibid.:163). The southern portico, on the other hand, is decorated with the highly detailed image of the exotic land of Punt, famous and unusual in the history of ancient Egypt, where the Queen went with a trade expedition (Ibid.:163).
The third story of the Temple has a different spatial layout and here are the main rooms of the monument (Lipińska 2008:164). From the second, central courtyard, we climbed the ramp again (Ibid.:164). At the end of the way up, we were greeted by another terrace with porticoes on either side (Ibid.:164). Porticos have pillars reconstructed by archaeologists, decorated on the front with colossal Osirian statues representing the Queen in the form of the god Osiris; they are five meters high each (Ibid.:164). The entrance is on the axis and leads through a red granite portal (Ibid.:164). It guided us to the inner courtyard, behind which there is a barque shrine, partially carved into the rock and deeper, in the very heart of the temple, there is the sanctuary or the holy of holies (Ibid.:164). On both sides of the inner courtyard there were additionally chapels: on the north side an open courtyard with the altar of solar worship, and on the south side, there was a tomb chapel and two sarcophagi: one for Hatshepsut and the other for her earthly father; these were their sacrificial halls (Lipińska 2008:164; Żylińska 1972-1986:66). For everything that Hatshepsut undertook and everything that she did, she did with her father Thutmose the First in mind, who placed her over his son and appointed her his successor (Żylińska 1972-1986:66).
Hatred Queen
However, not everyone worshiped the Queen as their Pharaoh (Żylińska 1972-1986:67). For the son of Thutmose the Second, Hatshepsut was an ordinary usurper (Ibid.:67). Thutmose the Third hated her with the hatred of all the years spent in the shadow of her divinity (Ibid.:67). He wanted to fill them with the toil of military expeditions, the clamour of battles, the march through the deserts and the glory of the military victory (Ibid.:67).
Deir El Bahari; Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple. Photo by Nina Evensen (2015). Colours intensified. Photo source: Free pictures at Pixbay.
Eventually his wish came true (Żylińska 1972-1986:67). The news of the war fell on Egypt like a vulture from high above; Syrian cities revolted against the Egyptian crews, demolished Egyptian holy statues and proclaimed independence from Pharaoh's rule (Ibid.:67-68). On the day of the Egyptian army's departure, Hatshepsut handed over the highest military power to Thutmose (Ibid.:68). A few months later, news began coming into Thebes announcing the victory of the Egyptian army (Ibid.:68). All Egypt was in a frenzy of joy (Ibid.:68). It was the first triumph of war in over thirty years that struck and drunk city dwellers like young wine (Ibid.:68). Only mothers cried for their slain sons and worried that their bodies were not properly prepared for the journey to the Land of the Dead and that their souls might not have been brought to the Judgment of Osiris and so died for eternity (Ibid.:68-69).
A view to a sanctuary chamber on the upper platform of the Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor's west bank, Egypt. Photo by Przemyslaw "Blueshade" Idzkiewicz (2004). CC BY-SA 2.5. Colours intensified. Photo and caption source: "Deir el-Bahari" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Hatshepsut proclaimed Thutmose the Third the co-regent of Egypt, and they were to share power together (Żylińska 1972-1986:69). There were also rumours that he was going to marry Princess Neferure (Ibid.:69). And when people had ceased to worry about the change and to speculate whether the Queen's stepson would be satisfied with his assigned share of power, Hatshepsut unexpectedly passed away (Ibid.:69). Nobody ever found out under what circumstances she died (Ibid.:69). Yet not long ago, it was still a mystery of history.
Mystery of the history
Moreover, Hatshepsut's body mysteriously vanished from the sarcophagus she had chosen for herself, and in which she would have given her immortal soul into the hands of the goddess Nut; when the sarcophagus was reopened again, it turned out that the queen's mummy originally buried there disappeared without a trace (Żylińska 1972-1986:69; Quilici 2007). However, the Hatshepsut's sarcophagus had never been deposited in her Mortuary Temple, which was rather a cenotaph (Quilici 2007; Lipińska 2008:171). The Hatshepsut's last resting place was to be in the Valley of the Kings, intended for the Pharaohs (Lipińska 2008:171). This place, due to its seclusion and difficult access, provided a better protection against robbers (Ibid.:171). It is also believed that the choice of the site could equally be influenced by the landscape, above which the mighty triangular peak of El-Kurn has stood, towering over the valley like a colossal pyramid (Ibid.:171).
Site plan of Deir el-Bahari (in French). Drawing by Gérard Ducher (user:Néfermaât) (2006). CC BY-SA 2.5. Drawing and caption source: "Deir el-Bahari" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Already at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, to which Hatshepsut belonged, the existing way of building a royal tomb and a mortuary temple in one sepulchral complex was given up (Lipińska 2008:171). It was considered that the separation of these two elements may have contributed to a better protection of the tomb, which had since been placed in the distant, hard-to-reach rocks of the mountain massif in Western Thebes (Ibid.:171). These are complexes belonging to both the Valley of the Kings and of the Queens (Pharaohs' wives). It seems that this chapter in the sacred sepulchral architecture of Egypt was initiated by the second ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep the First (Ibid.:171). His son and Hatshepsut's father, Thutmose the First, on the other hand, introduced the construction of a new type of royal necropolis in the Valley of the Kings, a desert valley on the other side of the massif closing the Deir el-Bahari Valley from the west (Ibid.:171).
Deir el-Bahari with Hatshepsut's temple, temple of Thutmosis III and Mentuhotep II, West Thebes, Egypt. Above the necropolis complex towers the mighty triangular peak of El-Kurn, like a colossal pyramid, which had probably influenced the choice of the place by the pharaohs. Photo by Nowic (2003). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo and caption source: "Deir el-Bahari" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Hatshepsut's mummy was buried in the tomb labelled today as KV20, the deepest tomb in Egypt, situated over ninety-one metres underground, in the Valley of the Kings (Quilici 2007). "It was probably the first royal tomb to be constructed in the valley, […] distinguished from other tombs in the [area], both in its general layout and because of the atypical clockwise curvature of its corridors. […] KV20 was the original burial place of Thutmose I […] and later was adapted by his daughter Hatshepsut to accommodate both her and her father" ("KV20" 2020).
The Name to be forgotten
After Hatshepsut's death, no mourning rituals were announced, and no coronation ceremony took place, as if Thutmose the Third had been a Pharaoh since his father's death (Żylińska 1972-1986:69). Sometime after these events, by the orders of the new Pharaoh, teams of workers began the painstaking work of destroying all traces of Hatshepsut's existence (Ibid.:69).
Thebes – Temple Dêr el Bahri. Photo by Ephtimios Freres – Rare Books and Special Collections Library; the American University in Cairo, early twentieth century. Public domain. Photo and caption source: "Deir el-Bahari" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
In the Sphinx Avenue and in the porticoes on the third-level terrace of her temple, the stonemasons smashed the heads with the face of the Queen, then they threw her statue in coronation garments from a granite base and proceeded to demolish her representations in relief (Żylińska 1972-1986:69). First they hammered her eyes, then they knocked down the uraeus from her forehead, and when they did so, they smashed the statue into thousands of pieces, by throwing it from the height of a two-story building (Ibid.:69). All inscriptions with the name of Hatshepsut were being erased with chisels for many months (Ibid.:70). In their place, engravers carved the name of Thutmose the Third or his son Amenhotep the Second (Żylińska 1972-1986:70; Quilici 2007). Also the papyri with the Queen's edicts were destroyed, and her painted images were covered with thick layers of plaster (Żylińska 1972-1986:70).
Preserving the name of the dead was essential in ancient Egypt as they would not have been recognised by gods. And if the name of a mummy had been forgotten, they would not have been able to enjoy the Eternal Life and their souls would have disappeared into nothingness. Just in the same way as it was going to happen with the soul of deceased Hatshepsut. Erased from the list of Pharaohs, without a sarcophagus, not prepared for the way to the Land of Osiris, she was to fall apart, disappear from memory and dissolve into emptiness (Żylińska 1972-1986:70).
Thutmose the Third began his reign of Egypt by denying the existence of the last divine Queen of Egypt, who was a Pharaoh (Żylińska 1972-1986:70).
Rebirth of the Pharaoh
Thirty-five centuries later, the remnants of the desecrated statue of the Queen were excavated from the sand layers, as the stonecutters had left them, and a team of archaeologists carefully put them back together, restoring the statue of the divine Hatshepsut to its original shape (Żylińska 1972-1986:69). Similarly, Osiris' statues with her features were discovered and reconstructed, along with other covered or smashed images of the Queen, who became one of the most famous and colourful, yet mysterious Pharaohs of Egypt (Lipińska 2008:164-166).
Osiris' statues with Hatshepsut's features were discovered and reconstructed, along with other covered or smashed images of the Queen. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Since 1961, the Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple has been reconstructed by Polish archaeologists and other specialists, initially under the supervision of a Polish famous archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski (Lipińska 2008:165; see: Saint Anne of Nubia – "It Will Make You Speechless"). During the reconstruction of the retaining wall, which is the background for the temple, a terrace carved in the rock was discovered, probably to protect the temple from rock fragments falling down (Ibid.:165). The destruction of the temple was not made entirely by Thutmose the Third himself; It experienced many further destructions, for example, in the Late Period, and was rebuilt in the Ptolemaic and Coptic times (Ibid.:165). The Ptolemaic enlarged the sanctuary of Amun, creating another one behind it, devoted to the cult of the three healer deities (Ibid.:165). Deir-el Bahari was then famous for miraculous healings, where the sick came even from distant Greece (Ibid.:165-166). In the Coptic times, a Christian monastery was built on the upper level of the temple, and the valley owes its name to the monastery: Deir-el Bahari means 'northern monastery' (Ibid.:166).
Beside the Stepmother anyway
During the work in the Deir el-Bahari Valley, Polish archaeologists unexpectedly also found the ruins of the temple of Thutmose the Third, located in the vicinity of the temple of Hatshepsut, his hatred stepmother (Lipińska 2008:166). The construction of the Temple of Thutmose the Third began when, at the Pharaoh's order, the statues of Hatshepsut were smashed and carvings with her names erased from the walls, which was associated with the destruction of all the traces of the reign of the Queen-Pharaoh (Ibid.:166). Although Thutmose the Third was one of the greatest Pharaohs in history, it is ironically, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, and not the ruins of the Temple of Thutmose the Third, that arouses widespread admiration today, and the very name of the Queen, so shamefully removed, is much more often mentioned by visitors to Deir el-Bahari.
In front of Deir el-Bahri; Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple. Photo by Ron Porter (2014). Photo cropped. Colours intensified. Photo source: Free pictures at Pixabay.
The building of Thutmose the Third was situated in the centre of the Valley, obviously on a higher level than the Queen's temple, despite very unfavourable natural conditions (Lipińska 2008:166). The structure erected had a shape borrowed from both neighbouring temples; those of Mentuhotep the Second and Hatshepsut (Ibid.:166). Tens of thousands of fragments of polychrome reliefs were recovered from the rubble of this, also three-level temple, which was destroyed at the end of the New Kingdom (Ibid.:166). Reconstruction of the wall reliefs allowed to recreate the decoration of the temple after many years (Ibid.:166).
Temples in the Valley of Deir el-Bahari
During the New Kingdom, shortly after the reign of Thutmose the Third, there were three buildings in the Valley of Deir el-Bahari, which must have been once a magnificent complex of architecture harmonizing with the natural landscape of the Valley. At that time, the temple of Mentuhotep had not yet been destroyed (Lipińska 2008:166). Next to it, the temples of Hatshepsut and Thutmose the Third rose in all their majesty (Ibid.:166). The wide processional avenues, running parallel to the bottom of the Asasif Valley, were framed by necropolises with decorated tomb facades (Ibid.:166). As underlined above, the background of the whole necropolis were rock cliffs dominated by the El-Kurn peak with a triangular top resembling a pyramid (Ibid.:166). The rhythm of the horizontal temple porticoes and the sloping ramps of the three temples, each different but consistent with the others in style, must have produced a wonderful effect in the rays of the sun continuously shining from the cloudless sky (Ibid.:166-167). This effect was enhanced by the colour contrasts between the bright brown rocks being the background of the temples, the white and rich polychrome of the buildings, and the green foliage of the trees that used to grow in the lower courtyards (Ibid.:167).
The so-called Hathor chapel on the south side of Temple's second courtyard. A photographer at work. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
At the foot of the ramp in the courtyard of the Hatshepsut's Temple, there were also two small pools filled with water (Lipińska 2008:167). Each part of the architectural complex harmonized with each other and with the surrounding environment; they were built gradually over the centuries, and although there is no question of spatial planning, according to scholars, the harmony of the whole complex and the organic connection of the buildings with nature are the main advantages of Deir el-Bahari, as opposed to richer but chaotic buildings in the Amun-Re district of Karnak in Eastern Thebes (Ibid.:167,170).
Hathor looking down from the capitals
I was standing on the south side of Temple's second courtyard, admiring pillars and columns at the Hathor chapel. They are usually referred to as the Hathor or sistrum columns (The MET 2020). Their capitals show heads of Hathor in the form of a cow on four opposite sides. Each is additionally topped with a naos-sistrum sound-box (Ibid.). Such a capital had been quite typical of Egypt since the beginning of the New Kingdom. Between them, I noticed smooth movements of a photographer nimbly climbing the pillars and columns up and down with a huge camera hanging from his neck. From time to time, he froze in a peculiar pose in his acrobatic dance between the columns, and took a series of pictures of the cow goddess.
Neglected mummy from KV60
Hatshepsut's story was still on my mind. I was trying to piece it together. Her name was wiped out from the history intentionally, her legacy destroyed, her mummy vanished for centuries (Quilici 2007). Actually, it was officially uncovered in the tomb KV60, located close to the KV20, in 1903 by Howard Carter (Ibid.). It is speculated that Hatshepsut's mummy had been removed from her original tomb and shifted from place to place for centuries, in order to save it either from grave robbers or a final destruction by the following Pharaohs, taking into account Hatshepsut's name was being hacked away in the entire Theban region by Thutmose the Third (Ibid.).
Matriarchy had already been over
For some reasons, her image as the Pharaoh must have been removed (Quilici 2007). It was so, along with the names of Senenmut and Hatshepsut's daughter (Ibid.). By this means, Neferure, Hatshepsut's desired heir to the throne, would simply vanish from history (Ibid.). Female Pharaoh grooming her own daughter to be her successor to the throne must have been too radical in her plans at the time of patriarchy (Ibid.). This is probably why Neferure's last resting place is located high in the mountain cliff, In the small opening in the rock, very distant from Thebes and difficult to be found (Ibid.). Moreover, the hacked away name of the Queen was usually being replaced by the name of Thutmose the Third's son, Amenhotep the Second (Ibid.).
Pillars with the Hathor capitals in the Mortuary Temple, Deir el-Bahri. Photo by Dezalb (2015). Colours intensified. Photo source: Free pictures at Pixbay.
After Kara Cooney, it is possibly the key to the whole campaign against Hatshepsut and severe attempts to destroy her legacy; she and her female heir must have been removed from common memory to avoid a woman descendant to mount the throne in Egypt (Quilici 2007). Therefore the attack on Hatshepsut's legacy was all about the politics of succession; Thutmose the Third wanted to make sure that the succession remained patrilineal, that it to say, it would be passed down from father to his son (Ibid.). But in order to guarantee a smooth succession, it was essential to remove the Queen and her daughter from history (Ibid.). Eventually, it made Thutmose the Third's masculine descendants take Hatshepsut's place (Ibid.).
Tale-tale tooth
Discovered in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the mummy of Hatshepsut has finally found its place among other royal mummies in the Museum of Archaeology in Cairo, Egypt (Quilici 2007). It has her left arm bent in a royal position, the feature typical of deceased Egyptian Pharaohs, and is still well preserved, despite the fact it used to be long transferred from one tomb to another before being finally abandoned and neglected (Ibid.). Identifying the Hatshepsut mummy was only possible by means of an analysis of a tooth found in the canopy box with the Hatshepsut name (Ibid.). Further studies have also revealed she died at the age between forty and fifty and was killed by an infection in her body (Ibid.).
Walking down the ramp of the Temple. Photo taken by Marek, Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Rescued from oblivion and becoming famous
Owing to the team of specialists, led by the Egyptian archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, the Queen was rescued from oblivion (Quilici 2007). Hatshepsut has regained her position as one of the most powerful women that the world had ever seen on the throne of the Pharaohs (Ibid.).
Since then, the mysterious story of Hatshepsut has attired attention of various scholars and authors, such as an associate professor of Egyptology, Dr Kara Cooney whose book, The Woman Who Would Be King (2014) greatly underlines Hatshepsut's legacy.
Author Kara Cooney on Hatshepsut's Legacy (2014). Kara Cooney, author of "The Woman Who Would Be King" and leading Egyptologist, discusses Hatshepsut, Egypt's longest reigning female pharaoh and her legacy. Learn more about Hatshepsut at KaraCooney.com. Film source: The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. In: The Crown Publishing Group Youtube Channel.
Featured image: The Mortuary Temple of the Queen Hatshepsut in Deir El Bahari. Photo by Joanna Gawlica-Giędłek (2017). Free images at Pixabay.
"Deir el-Bahari" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/38ldwbX>. [Accessed on 6th January, 2021].
"KV20" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/3omnZcP>. [Accessed on 6th January, 2021].
Free pictures at Pixbay. Available at <https://bit.ly/2LtkZgc>. [Accessed on 7th January, 2021].
Lipińska J. (2008). Sztuka starożytnego Egiptu. Warszawa: Arkady.
Quilici B. (2007). Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen. Starring Kara Cooney and Zahi Hawass. Discovery Channel.
The Crown Publishing Group (2014). "Kara Cooney on Hatshepsut's Legacy". In: The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. In: The Crown Publishing Group Youtube Channel. Available at <https://bit.ly/3pH7BUO>. [Accessed on 3rd February, 2021].
The MET (2020). "Column with Hathor-emblem capital and names of Nectanebo I on the shaft. 380–362 B.C. Late Period". In Metropolitan Museum. Available at <http://bit.ly/3q1SMfv>. [Accessed on 6th January, 2021].
Żylińska J. (1972-1986). Kapłanki, Amazonki i Czarownice. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Last Queen in the Valley of the Kings
Although the Google Map showed an estimated time of reaching the hill of Acropolis in thirty minutes, my uncle and I did not take into account the heat, generously sent by Helios, and the fact that we should first climb the path leading up to the hill (see: Island of the Sun in Favour of the Gods). At some point, we had to slow down our walk as the hillside grew steeper and so we were both out of breath (Lawrence 2005:Scroll XX). And even if we kept moving up, the site seemed still far in the distance. Why is it always so hard to see the summit while you are climbing up?
On the way up the hill
Located on the western edge of the city of Rhodes, the hill with the Acropolis on its eastern slope is called Agios Stephanos, also known as Monte San Stephano by the Italians (Hellenic Ministry of Culture 2010-2019; Via Gallica 2020). But there is also its third name, Monte Smith, after the name of the British Admiral, Sir Sidney Smith who built there in 1802 (Ibid.) "an observation post to monitor the movements of Napoleon's fleet during the Egyptian campaign" (Via Gallica 2020). "[The] Acropolis of Rhodes and its imposing Temple of Apollo, dominates the views" (Hellenic Ministry of Culture 2010-2019).
The Acropolis of Rhodes on Agios Stephanos, also known as Monte Smith. Video source: Tourism Rhodes (2015) "Acropolis of Rhodes". In: Tourism Rhodes Youtube Channel.
From the site, which is situated at altitude of 111 metres, it is possible to see a small valley surrounding the city and the western coast with precipitous cliffs overlooking blue waters of the Ixia Bay (Rice 1995:384; Via Gallica 2020; Themis 2020). Especially at sunset, the site "offers breathtaking [and panoramic] views [reaching as far as] the island of Symi and […] the Turkish coast, about [twenty] kilometres away" (Via Gallica 2020).
Two acropolises instead of one
As recent excavations have revealed, the ancient city of Rhodes had in fact two acropolises; the other one with the Temples of Aphrodite and Dionysus was situated on the site now occupied by the Palace of the Knights and Collachium (the northernmost part of the Medieval City) (Via Gallica 2020; Medieval Town "Collchium" 2019).
The remains of Panagia tou Bourg (Our Lady of the Burgh), the fourteenth century Catholic church built by the Knights of Saint John who operated a hospital on Rhodes for the Crusaders, in the Medieval Town of Rhodes . Copyright©Archaeotravel.
The ancient city of the Classical Greece was therefore much larger; "it stretched from the northern tip of the island at the site of the current" (Via Gallica 2020) Medieval Town and went south-westwards to where today are the remains of the Acropolis of Rhodes (Ibid.). The latter "was a large elevated plateau […], lying just inside the main fortification wall, running [east-west], along the southern boundary of the [ancient] city" (Rice 1995:384). Unlike most ancient acropolis, that one was not fortified (Hellenic Ministry of Culture 2010-2019; Via Gallica 2020); so "it is not a towering citadel which dominates the lower city, but it does present a distinct elevated profile when Rhodes is seen from the sea – the means of approach in antiquity. [Ancient] streets running [westwards and southwards] from the main inhabited areas in the [east] and [north] gave access to the [Acropolis] from the [city], and it could also be reached from outside […], through the city gate situated near the southern end of modern Odos Sophouli (ancient north-south street P)" (Rice 1995:384).
Many tourists spend their time shopping at Ippokratous Square in the medieval walled city of Rhodes. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Nowadays, it is possible to get there from the Medieval Town either by bus or on foot, leaving through the western side of the city walls (Via Gallica 2020).
Lecture on Greek architecture
The Acropolis finally opened to us, revealing its treasures. "Far from the urban liveliness, [we were] standing on the top of Monte Smith hill" (Themis 2020), accompanied just by striking musical performances of Greek cicadas. I felt utterly tired but deeply satisfied we made it. My uncle even speeded up while we are approaching a row of reconstructed columns towering ahead as if the city's guardian (Tourist Guide 2020). They are the part of the Temple of Apollo Pythios, "which are visible today from the commercial harbour even above the intervening modern building" (Rice 1995:384). they. 'Amazing', my uncle admitted, still panting. 'Now I can give you a lecture if you want', he exclaimed enthusiastically, gasping for breath.
It must be emphasized that many areas [of the site] are now overgrown or filled in since they were last investigated many decades ago, which makes any observations based only on what is visible to the naked eye today superficial and in need of refinement" (Rice 1995:387). But in its glorious past, the site must have looked impressing; "it consisted of a monumental zone with [sanctuaries], large temples, public buildings and places of worship, [including underground cult places] (Hellenic Ministry of Culture 2010-2019]. Significant buildings] were mainly built on terraces reinforced by powerful walls" (Via Gallica 2020).
My uncle and university professor of Fine Arts, giving a lecture in front of the Temple of Apollo Pythos on the Acropolis of Rhodes. Copyright©Archaeotravel.
Different constructions vary in their dating but most buildings were erected during the Hellenistic times (323-31 BC) (Stefanu 2017; Via Gallica 2020). "These public structures would have been a visual highlight above the busy harbours, drawing the eyes above and away from the bustling dock areas" (Rice 1995:348). Apart from the Temple of Apollo (C), on the Acropolis stood the Temple of Athena Polias and Zeus Polies (B) (Ibid.:384). There was also "the stadium (D) with an adjacent [Odeion] (E), very probably a nearby gymnasium (F) and possibly the theatre (G)" (Ibid.:384). The lecturer in classical archaeology, E. E. Rice (1995:384) says that "it […] appears likely that the main civic sanctuary of Helios […] was located on the eastern [side] of the [Acropolis of Rhodes]".
In the third century BC., it may have housed one of the legendary Wonders of the Ancient World and Greece, the bronze statue of the Colossus of Rhodes, (Ibid.:384). From that point, the mounting representation of the patron Sun god, Helios, would be visible to those approaching the island from the sea.
A composite photo in a modern setting at Rhodes, showing how the Colossus (a random image selected for illustration purposes, which, while reflecting the statue's actual height, is not meant to be an accurate representation of its stance or configuration) would have dominated the city and harbours below– if, as proposed here, it was once located atop Monte Smith (Fig.1; p. 86). Photo source: Kebric, R. B. (2019) "The Colossus of Rhodes: Some Observations about Its Location". In: Athens Journal of History, Vol. 5, Issue 2, pp. 83-114.
On the Rhodian Acropolis, there were possibly also landscaping features, characteristic of ancient sanctuaries, such as trees and sacred groves surrounding the buildings (Ibid.:386). Such a theory is attested by the observation made by the orator Aelius Aristides, from the second century AD, (Ibid.:386) "that 'the Acropolis is full of fields and groves'. […] The open spaces of the Rhodian [Acropolis were probably] due to the fact it was a virgin site when the city of Rhodes was founded and designed at the end of the fifth century BC. […] The new structures which were built upon the [Acropolis] were therefore inserted into the natural landscape which already predominated; [these were] fields, groves, natural rock hollows [and] cliff faces […]" (Ibid.:386).
Stadium and Odeion
In an olive grove to the east of the Acropolis, there are the partly restored Temple of Apollo, the stadium and the Odeion (Via Gallica 2020). The so-called stadium of Diagoras was built around second century BC. (Themis 2020; Via Gallica 2020).
Acropolis of Rhodes: the ancient stadium. Photo by Tango7174 (2011). CC BY-SA 4.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: "Acropolis of Rhodes" (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
It is located southeast of the hill and oriented north-south (Hellenic Ministry of Culture 2010-2019). It measured according to the Greek standards, over one hundred and eighty metres in length and around thirty-five in width (Via Gallica 2020). This was one of the very first sites that were excavated in 1912 and, like the Odeion, it is was largely restored (Stefanu 2017; Via Gallica 2020). Hence their perfect condition known at present (Ibid.). The stadium could contain over ten thousand spectators, attending various exhibitions and athletic games (Stefanu 2017). There "athletic competitions were staged as part of the Haleion Games, an important celebration held by the ancient Rhodians in honour of the god Helios" (Hellenic Ministry of Culture 2010-2019).