252-259

The mino an peak sanctuary of Thylakas

Σκινδαλαμοί

• Σακελλαράκης, Γιάννης

Among the most intensively studied places of worship in Crete are the so- called peak sanctuaries, open or closed sanctuaries which are found on the peaks of high mountains looking over a vast area. There the Minoan goddess was worshipped from the early Minoan until Subminoan times, probably in her double status as celestial and as πότνια Θηρών with burning sacrifices and offerings1. These sanctuaries were studied at length by N. Platon2, who described their characteristics in detail. Their number was augmented later by the surface research of P. Faure3 who added to the catalogue the important peak sanctuary of the palace at Kato Zakro, Traostalos, which was later partly excavated by K. Davaras, as well as many sanctuaries in central and East Crete. Recently the character of those sanctuaries and the duration of the worship were studied by L. Press4 and mainly by B. Rutkowski5. One peak sanctuary, however, long ago excavated and published, escaped the observation of the scholars, although it could very well be the peak sanctuary of the important Minoan centres of the North part of the so-called Isthmus pf Hierapetra, perhaps of Gournia and Pseira, that is, the sanctuary of Thylakas6.The peak 521 m. high of that mountain, NW of H. Nikolaos, looks over the entire SW part of the Mirabello Gulf, from Lato in the vicinity and Kalo Chorio, to Gournia, the island of Pseira, Mochlos, the capes Tholos, Trachela and Bambakia of Sitia, even the cape Sidero and the islands Diony- sades to the East, the mountain Axia or Oxa, Elounta and Spinalonga to the North (fig. 1 ).Thylakas is first referred to in the archaeological bibliography in 1901 by P. Demargne7. In 1910 an excavation was made there and the remits were published by A. Reinach in Rev. Arch. 21 ( 1913), 278-300 under the title «L’autel rustique du mont Phylakas ».8 This publication, the only one so far of Thylakas, is very picturesque and typical of the heroic age of Cretan archaeology, when the French expedition researched the area around Lato, but not in agreement with the present state of knowledge. For that reason the sanctuary is discussed here.Reinach describes at length in the beginning of his article the topography of the site, comparing the Mirabello Gulf with the gulf of Naples in Italy and the island of Pseira to Capri. Continuing, he describes the excavation on the peak, the remains of the « mandra », that he found on the SE part of the peak, and the open « temenos » with a small court on its E side, which was revealed during a three- hour excavation. He describes the « altar» on the SW part of the peak, matic since, as is admitted, « neither bones, nor sherds, nor votive idols » were found, nor any building, except for a modern heap of stones. Lastly he describes the circumstances of the find of idols in that excavation and at length some selected ones.As is shown also in the plan ( Reinach 279, fig. 1 ) these idols were found on the W part of the peak, in the process of clearing the rock, in the area between the so - called « temenos » and the «aitar», not on the surface, but scattered throughout the many clefts in the rock. These are mainly male and female human idols, but there are also animals, mainly oxen, some of them birds, dogs, and pigs, as well as reproductions of parts of the bodies of human beings and of oxen. Besides the idols were found some little joined cups, some reliefs and a lamp. Many of the idols are described by Reinach and some of them are illustrated but, as was usual at that time, only the most beautiful are described or depicted. Reinach goes on characteristically to stress the simplicity and crudity of the often hand - made idol types. Finally he considers the idols to be offerings to a fertility goddess and dates them between 750 and 250 B.C.There are no objections to the lower terminus of this dating, because of the existence of some well-dated examples, but there are for the higher, for the definition of which even Reinach found some difficulties. As we shall see later, among the finds of Thylakas some are doubtless Mipoan, which is clear also in the publication, although the descriptions are incomplete and the quality of the photographs poor.The depicted idol of « a kouros » standing on a plinth ( Reinach 286, 2 ) does not simply betray the Minoan tradition, but finds exact parallels in position and workmanship among i- dols from Petsofa9. Its dress as described, rendered apparently with colour, with which it is covered from the waist to the limbs, is nothing more than the Minoan zoma10 which the idols of this type wear. The heads of the male idols ( Reinach 287, 6a - j ) are of the type of male Minoan idols, as is shown by their carving and by the rendering of the eye as a hollow or with small added pieces of clay. The bare skull is also a well known Minoan characteristic. The idols pictured in fig. 6 c - d wear possibly a simple strip of hair on the head, which, as P. Demargne first long ago remarked11, connects this type with the representation of human faces on the Phaistos disc12.As for the bodies of female idols (Reinach 289-290, 11, 18, 41 ) it is difficult, because of the poor quality of the pictures, to make observations on the carving, but once more the gesture of placing the hands on the breasts is typical of Minoan idols13. For the same reason it is also difficult to distinguish the Minoan from the later idols of oxen, but some of them ( Reinach 291,49, 51 ) are similar to Minoan examples; Minoan is also the custom of offering parts of animals as well as of human idols ( Reinach 293, 19,19', 20; 295, 69, 73; 296, 75). This is known, as was also mentioned by Reinach, from Petsofa. These are not Minoan survivals, but real Minoan creations. Reinach’s assumption that the Minoan idols of oxen can be distinguished from the later ones, because they are covered with colour, is of course unfounded. Certainly Minoan are also the examples of joined small cups ( Reinach 296,77, 77a ), parallels of which were found by Reinach in Psychro. But the Psychro example, as was shown by Boardman14, is without doubt Minoan.These observations should have demonstrated sufficiently the existence of idols dating to Minoan times among the finds of Thylakas. But from the further study of the position of Thylakas, as already mentioned above, surveying the entire area, from the study of the finds and of the circumstances in which they came to light, as these are described by Reinach, it is possible to identify with certainty the so-called « autel rustique » of Thylakas as a Minoan peak sanctuary.The peak sanctuary of Thylakas has all the main as well as the secondary characteristics of the Minoan peak sanctuaries, as these were established by N. Platon in the publication of the peak sanctuary of Maza15. The type of idols as complete or parts of human and animal figures, as well as their offering in the splits of the rock, is a typical characteristic of that type of sanctuary, the façade of which we know now from the Zakro sanctuary- rhyton16. Characteristic is also the absence from this sanctuary of vases, as well as of bronze offerings17 which is also typical of the peak sanctuaries. It is possible that the « temenos » on Thylakas, which was excavated by Reinach, is of Minoan date, as the so-called « Casa Sancta » of Juktas, or the analogous building of Petsofa, but .this is not certain. The existence of offerings dated to later times at Thylakas does not exclude its use also in Minoan times, but simply shows the continuity of the cult. The continuous use of the same cult centre in Crete, mainly known from the excavation of Sp. Marinatos in the Eileithyia cave at Amnisos18 is found also in the peak sanctuaries, at Juktas near Archanes, at Prophitis Helias of Malia and at Christos Messara, where the cult continues until the present.Through the identification of the peak sanctuary of Thylakas as a Minoan peak sanctuary, we know, possibly, the peak sanctuary of some important Minoan centres in the Mirabello Gulf, and we can use the idols found there in the study of Minoan sculpture. Possibly a small excavation on the peak, where some surface building remains are discernible (fig. 2 ), in spite of the destruction of recent times, would bring to light some further clues to the use of the sanctuary in Minoan times.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

μινωική εποχή, Κρήτη

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