Thor and I complete our tour of the lovely Phaistos site and admire the distinctive pottery found in the nearby sacred Kamares Cave.
NOTE: Of course, Thor and I had to make another trip to Greece, as he’s fallen as much in love with the islands as I am. This time, in addition to other island-hopping, I wanted to return to Crete after 37 years. My first months-long trip was as a hippie backpacker, camping in the ruins and falling under the spell of the mysterious, vanished Minoan culture. This time, I got to introduce Thor to “glorious Kriti” and research more settings for my novel-in-progress, THE ARIADNE DISCONNECT. This new blog series started October 19, 2019, and will continue every Saturday.
Last week’s blog post (12/7/19) introduced the important Minoan palace/community complex of Phaistos, established in the late Neolithic Era and reaching its height between the 20th and 15th centuries BC. It was mentioned by Homer in “The Illiad” as a well-founded city” and one of the fabled 99 cities of the ancient Cretans. It’s hard to separate fable from rare facts about the ancient people sometimes called the Keftiu, but mostly termed Minoans after King Minos of the most famous Cretan palace-city of Knossos. But apparently Phaistos (sometime spelled in English as Phaestos) was named for a son or grandson of Herakles (Hercules). Phaistos (the man) was apparently killed by a Cretan King Idomeneus, who was the war leader of the Cretan contingent supporting Agamemnon in the Trojan War. Confused yet?
Anyway, today we’ll finish up our tour with a look at the royal apartments and some of the artifacts, including the striking Kamares Ware featured in the top photo. Let’s start with the North Wing:
Note the bull-leaping figures in the drawing above. The large courtyards in the complex were probably used for such ceremonial events. Both men and women athletes took part in the leaps over the sacred bulls.
The West Wing next:
The Heraklion museum, which we’ll visit in upcoming posts, is a treasure trove of artifacts from all over Crete, including distinctive female figurines with arms upraised in a sacred posture. This figurine vessel was found in Phaistos, possibly in this West Wing shrine area:
On to the East Wing:
Thor is always interested in structural details, like the round light well and these drainage tiles.
The Peristyle:
And, finally, the royal apartments, starting with the Queen’s Megaron:
And the King’s Megaron:
This is the view from the King’s Megaron of the Psiloriti Range and the sacred Kamares Cave in the saddle:
In the cave and at the Phaistos site, archaeologist have found an abundance of the striking Kamares Ware from the Middle Minoan era (around 1900-1700 BC), the first mass-produced ceramics from the area to be made on pottery wheels.
Artifacts in this distinctive style, which to my eye looks like some of our own modern designs, have been found in Egypt, the Levant, the Cycladic islands, mainland Greece, and southern Italy. These finds have helped establish Bronze Age Crete’s trading area.
A special set designated as royal ware was found in Phaistos:
Next, we’ll visit the nearby Roman site of Gortys and its wall of engraved laws, before exploring the fabulous site of Knossos and the treasures in the Iraklion Museum. But before we left Phaistos, Thor and I visited the small shop to purchase a replica Phaistos Disc, then relaxed with lunch at the outdoor cafe to enjoy the tranquil valley view. And, reminded by the feline contingent at home that they haven’t seen many Cretan cat photos, I’ll leave you with this handsome fellow who shared the view and some lunch tidbits with us. “Kali spera.” Good afternoon!
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
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