The "Miniature Fresco" from Thera and the Emergence of Mycenaean Art

• I

The rich contents of the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, first discovered by H. Schliemann in Grave Circle A about a hundred years ago, continue to puzzle scholars. Emily Vermeule has demonstrated that various stylistic elements in the objects of the Shaft Graves, pointing to different ethnic origins, make the interpretation of these graves rather difficult (Vermeule 1964, chap. IV; 1975).

Recent discoveries at Akrotiri, on the island of Thera, and especially the "Miniature Fresco" found in the main room of the "West House", may throw new light on the background of the mysterious art of the Shaft Graves.

The fresco under discussion is really a frieze which presumably decorated the upper part of the walls of this room (room 5) (Marinatos 1974, 19f. 38f). The room's west wall unfortunately disappeared in the volcanic eruption; its remaining walls, whose paintings have been partly restored, depict a series of extraordinary scenes, in which three "towns" and a fleet of seven ships are involved. The scenes of the frieze painted on the northern, eastern and southern walls, of the room are not yet fully understood. However, they could change some of our basic concepts about the relations between the Cyclades, Minoan Crete and mainland Greece at the time of the Shaft Graves. ⁽¹⁾

S. Marinatos already pointed out that the "Miniature Fresco" bears several "Aegean" characteristics, which are well attested by:

a)    the features of the "admiral of the fleet", whose ships occupy most of the restored frieze on the south wall; and

b)    the military gear of the marching warriors on the shore of the "first town" portrayed in the eastern part of the frieze that has been restored on the north wall (Marinatos 1974, 41. 43; col. pls. 7 (right). 9).

It is noteworthy that the "Aegean" characteristics discussed by Marinatos, to which several others will be added further on, are almost unparalleled in LM IA Crete. The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that these characteristics are closely related to mainland Greece, and especially to contemporaneous objects from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae.

• II

Let us comment first on the two "Aegean" characteristics that have already been noticed by Marinatos.

a)     The "admiral of the fleet"

seated in the cabin of the flagship has been regarded by Marinatos as a "genuine Mycenaean" (Marinatos 1974, 54; pl. 112 - the second ship in the upper row). The admiral's features have been compared by him, quite convincingly, with the head engraved on an amethyst gem from Grave Gamma in Circle B, which seems to represent the oldest Mycenaean portrait found so far in mainland Greece. ⁽²⁾ It is noteworthy that the "admiral of the fleet" is not the only Mycenaean among the occupants of the seven ships in the "Miniature Fresco". A detailed anthropological study of Marinatos seems to indicate that the professional mariners in the crew of each ship were Aegean: The helmsmen and officers bear unmistakable Minoan features, while the captains are presumably Mycenaeans. ⁽³⁾

Furthermore, accepting Marinatos' suggestion that the "admiral of the fleet" apparently was also the owner of the "West House" at Thera (Marinatos 1974, 43. 54), it seems logical to assume that people of Mycenaean stock were already living on the island in the 16th century B.C.

b)     The warriors

marching along the shore of the "first town" wear boar's tusk helmets and ox-hide body shields (Marinatos 1974, 47; pls. 97, 102b). Boar's tusks are recorded from the last burial of Grave Nu in Circle B and also from Grave IV in Circle A (Wace 1932, 212 f; 1949, fig. 65; Mylonas 1966, 92. 99. 102). These tusks apparently belong to the same type of crested helmets which appear in tombs of Mycenaean warriors from the 15th century B.C. onwards. ⁽⁴⁾ The body shields, which according to Marinatos, represent a naval version of those used in terrestial warfare, recall the bronze cuirass found intact in a LH II tomb at Dendra. ^( 5)

The presence in Thera of people wearing militatry gear of the mainland seems to contrast with the evidence from contemporaneous LM IA Crete, since Mycenaean warriors did not appear there at such an early date. However, relying on the data provided by the Mycenaean "admiral" and his crew (see above, a), it may be questioned whether the Mycenaean warriors were really foreign invaders of the "first town", as suggested by Marinatos (1974, 41). The idyllic atmosphere of this town may further indicate that another explanation has to be given for the role played by the Mycenaean warriors in Thera during the 16th century B.C.

• III

Quite recently, S. Iakovidis presented a new interpretation for the scene of the "'Meeting on the hill" restored in the west corner of the north wall. ⁽⁶⁾ Since the fresco on the west wall is completely destroyed, it is difficult to know whether this fragmentary scene, regarded by Iakovidis as a religious ceremony held in a Minoan peak sanctuary, is actually the continuation of a story which began on the lost frieze of the west wall.

However, one tends to accept his suggestion that the assembling of the mariners in the peak sanctuary took place before the following events :

a)     A sea-battle indicated by the fragmentary frieze of "shipwrecks", seen in the centre of the north wall, between the "peak sanctuary" and the "first town" (Marinatos 1974, 40; col. pl. 7 left and right).

b)     A landing on a foreign land, of which the landscape is portrayed in the "'Libya fresco", beginning at the east wall and joining with the "second town" in the east corner of the south wall (Marinatos 1974, 39f. 42; col. pls. 8. 9).

c)     The departure of the fleet from the "second town" and its arrival at the "third town", depicted in the west corner of the south wall (Marinatos 1974, 43; col. pl. 9).

It is generally accepted that these events represent three successive stages in a naval expedition led by the "admiral of the fleet" who was also the owner of the "West House" (see above, II: a). Since the Shaft Graves from Mycenae seem to provide us with the closest parallels for the "miniature fresco", the story of the admiral may be better understood when contemporaneous evidence from the Shaft Graves is also taken into account. For this reason the three successive scenes of the fresco are to be examined in relation to a series ot objects from these graves.

a)     The "Shipwrecks" scene

(Marinatos 1974, col. pl. 7), is quite fragmentary, and it is therefore difficult to explain what was actually happening in the sea, close to the shore of the "first town". It is apparent, however, that the three ships in the scene have suffered severely. The two ships depicted at the bottom of the frieze, are badly damaged and the bodies of the seamen are seen floating in the water (Marinatos 1974, pl. 93). The third, uppermost, ship is in much better shape. In her cabin stands a tall man holding a spear, whose appearance recalls that of the Minoan helmsmen and officers of the fleet (see above, II : a). It seems likely that he is the only one left on board, since the Mycenaean warriors have already landed on the shore (see above, II : b).

In spite of the poor condition of this scene, one can hardly mistake its striking similarity to the sea-battle restored on the silver "Siege rhyton" from Grave IV in Circle A at Mycenae ⁽⁷⁾. The disintegrated condition of the rhyton makes its reconstruction even harder than that of the fresco. However, some of its fragments are of special importance for our study. One of them clearly depicts a helmsman and the headgear of four other seamen, who are thought to be pulling a vessel toward the shore; naked men, either swimming or hauling themselves from rock to rock, can be made out on other fragments of the rhyton. ⁽⁸⁾ Vermeule and Smith both agree that the mariners, identified by their Mycenaean helmets, apparently belong to a relieving force which joined the defenders of the city.

The naked men in the water, most of them probably dead, seem to belong to the enemy of which the only survivors are two figures with clubs moving toward the city.

The story told on the silver rhyton can be only partly understood since it has hardly any parallels elsewhere. ⁽⁹⁾ However, it is tempting to accept Smith's suggestion that the Mycenaeans "are landing from their ships to aid the Minoan outpost in repelling a barbarian attack" (Smith 1965, 68). If the siege rhyton is "a genuine historical relief", as suggested by Vermeule (1964, 102), it may be further assumed that a similar, if not the same, event is also recorded in the contemporaneous fresco from Thera.

The main difference between the rhyton and the fresco is in the timing of the event. The rhyton scene shows a town under siege, where everyone on land is yet engaged in fighting. The fresco seems to portray the situation when the battle is over and the enemy has already perished. Nobody is fighting any more: the men on the roof of the main building are gazing at the wreckage in the sea below, while behind it the women and the shepherds are busy with the "sheepfold" and cattle. In fact, the "first town" is a small village near the sea, whose inhabitants look genuinely Minoan. The peak sanctuary identified by Iakovidis on the hill west of it, seems to emphasize further the Minoan characteristics of the "first town" .

The location of the "first town" may provide the main clue for reconstrucring the entire frieze of the north wall. Marinatos inclined to place it somewhere on the coast of North Africa, presumably in Libya, and therefore he has to regard the Mycenaean warriors as foreign invaders (see above II : b). The "siege rhyton" seems to support our assumption that the "first town" is to be located in the Aegean world, either in the Cyclades or in Crete, where friendly relations between "Minoans" and "Mycenaeans" are already attested by the owner of the "West Dome" at Thera (see above, II : a). 

b)      The "Libya fresco"

(Marinatos 1974, col. pls. 8. 9.) is a narrow frieze restored on the southern half of the east wall. Since the frieze on the northern half of the same wall is missing, a gap has to be filled between the scenery of the "first town" situated somewhere in the Cyclades or in Crete (see above, a) and the North African landscape of the "Libya fresco" that merges into the outskirts of the "second town" (Marinatos 1974, 56). It seems reasonable to assume that the fleet, which later departs from the "second town" to the "third town" (see below, c) had earlier to leave the "first town" and sail in the open sea, in order to arrive at the foreign land depicted in the "Libya fresco".

The main feature of the "Libya fresco" is an oasis distinguished by a narrow winding river, scattered rocks and hydrophilic flora, which includes elaborate palm trees, sparse reeds, giant willow herbs, two tall sedges, and a rush. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The exotic landscape of the fresco, which can hardly be compared with any other wall painting from the Cyclades or Crete, ⁽¹¹⁾ is further emphasized by its fauna. A running griffin and a leopard pursuing a swan are depicted on the left (upper) bank of the river; a flying duck and another galloping leopard appear on its right (lower) bank. ⁽¹²⁾

The griffin, which has no prototypes in Minoan Crete, is one of the most favorite images in later Mycenaean art, ⁽¹³⁾ and therefore it can hardly be expected in the Cyclades at such an early date. Nonetheless, the griffin of the "Libya fresco" is not the only one represented in Aegean art of the 16th century B.C. Vermeule has already pointed out that "the griffin appears fully formed in the Shaft Graves" (Vermeule 1975, 46), as it does in Thera. A pair of griffins adorns a pin-head from Grave III and a sword hilt from Grave IV in Circle A. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Yet, the closest parallel to the griffin of the "Libya fresco" is provided by a series of engraved griffins in flying gallop stretched along a sword blade from Grave Delta in Circle B. ⁽¹⁵⁾ 

Furthermore, Grave VI, regarded as the oldest one in Circle A, has yielded a Cydadic griffin vase (Vermeule 1975, 8. 46; fig. 4), which may indicate that the Cyclades had probably been responsible for introducing the griffin from the East to mainland Greece.

The leopards of the "Libya fresco" recall the "cat hunting fresco" from Hagia Triada (Smith 1965, 77f.; fig. 110; Buchholz 1973, no. 1043; Vermeule 1975, 42), but they bear a much closer resemblance to the wild cats chasing ducks, as portrayed on the famous "Nilotic dagger" from Grave V in Circle A at Mycenae (Vermeule 1964, 99; pl. XII A; Smith 1965, 74; fig. 105a; Buchholz 1973, no. 681). The "Libya fresco", which contrasts with the Minoan wall painting in its natural setting and the stance of its animals, differs from the Mycenaean dagger in its flora, but both share the chasing scene of aquatic birds on the bank of a winding stream. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Furthermore, two of the dagger's wild cats, like the leopards and the griffins on the fresco under discussion, are distinguished by their elongated bodies outstreched in a flying gallop. ⁽¹⁷⁾

The same pose also characterizes a lion and a herd of deer from Thera, which are seen running down the hill, above the "second town" (Marinatos 1974, 42; pl. 112). The galloping lion and the deer in flight are related to a lion chasing antelopes, as depicted in the "lion hunt dagger" from Grave IV in Circle A (Marinatos & Hirmer 1960, pl. XXXVI; Buchholz 1973, no. 682; Vermeule 1977, 43; fig. 58). A series of metalwork from the Shaft Graves, showing various animals, and especially lions in flying gallop, may be added to this dagger. ⁽¹⁸⁾ 

Strangely enough the Aegean pose of flying gallop which seems to have originated in Minoan art, is hardly represented in LM IA Crete. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Its best representations are provided by Mycenaean and Cycladic art of that period, as attested to by the Shaft Graves metalwork and the wall paintings from Thera.

c)    The "third town"

(Marinatos 1974, col. pl. 9), which is situated near a harbour, consists of superposed buildings surrounded by large walls. Some of its people are watching from the towers and the windows and many others are marching along the shore to welcome the incoming fleet (Marinatos 1974, pls. 92. 104). The Minoan-looking people of this town seem to justify Marinatos' suggestion that the fleet which approaches the harbour "has put in at a town of the Minoan World" and he tends "almost certainly to imagine it as being in Thera". ⁽²⁰⁾

The architecture of the town, unlike its people, looks Mycenaean rather than Minoan, and Marinatos was quite correct in his statement that the same type of constructions is "already familiar from the famous silver rhyton from Mycenae" (Marinatos 1974, 43; Vermeule 1964, pl. XIV; 1975, 13, n. 22).

The only Minoan feature distinguished by him in the masonry of the town are horns of consecration that surmount one of its walls and the balcony of its projecting tower (Marinatos 1974, 52f; pls. 103b. 105).

It seems likely, however, that this distinctive Minoan symbol was introduced to the Cyclades and mainland Greece at approximately the same time, since horns of consecration are also to be found in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae. They appear in a small tripartite shrine of sheet gold from Grave III, and once again, beside a stepped portico of the city depicted on the silver "siege rhyton" from Grave IV in Circle A. ⁽²¹⁾

The "siege rhyton", which has been discussed before in relation to the sea-battle near the "first town" (see above, a) thus provides us with further parallels for the "third town". Fortified settlements that later characterize Mycenaean Greece, are unknown in Minoan Crete, but have a long history in the Cyclades and in the mainland. ⁽²²⁾ It may be assumed, therefore, that the "third town" and the city of the "siege rhyton" share certain features which are unparalleled in contemporaneous LM IA Crete. The combination at the "third town" of Minoan-looking people with Mycenaean type of architecture demonstrates that non-Minoan elements were present in Thera at the time of the Shaft Graves.

• IV

Non-Minoan elements have long been attested to in the art of the Shaft Graves (Vermeule 1964, Chap. IV; 1975), but they have hardly been noticed so far on the island of Thera (see above, I). The "miniature fresco" is a Cycladic masterpiece, unique at the moment, which clearly indicates that Minoan and Mycenaean alike were living in Thera as early as the LM IA (see above, II). It seems likely that the resemblance between certain scenes in the fresco and a series of metalwork from the Shaft Graves is too close to be merely accidental (see above, III). Thus, a further investigation is needed in order to explain their likeness.

The metalwork from the Shaft Graves, and especially the bronze daggers and the silver rhyton from Graves IV - V in Circle A, which form the bulk of our comparative study, are distinguished in their style and technique.

The "Nilotic dagger" and the "lion hunt dagger" are the best examples of metal inlaying in niello technique from the Shaft Graves. Their bronze blades like those of the "lion dagger" and the "lily dagger" found in the same graves, are inlaid with pictorial cutouts of precious metals. Unlike the latter, however, the inlays of the former were also filled with niello.⁽²³⁾

Metal inlaying in niello technique, or "painting in metals", as it is usually called, became quite popular in the mainland after the time of the Shaft Graves.⁽²⁴⁾ It has recently been shown by Ellen N. Davis that " 'niello' was not used in Crete, but was introduced to the Aegean by the Mycenaeans".⁽²⁵⁾ On the other hand she tried to demonstrate that "inlaying without the use of 'niello' was a technique practised by the Minoans."⁽²⁶⁾ It is noteworthy, however, that inlaid daggers have not been recorded so far from Crete, but only from the Cyclades. A bronze dagger found in Thera is inlaid with panels of small golden axes, in the same fashion as its Mycenaean counterparts from the mainland (Vermeule 1964, 98; pl. XIIIC; Smith 1965, 70; Davis 1976, 6).

The effect gained by the colourful scenes of the pictorial daggers is a rare achievement of Mycenaean metalworking. Mylonas has already mentioned that in applying the refined technique of inlaying coloured metals and niello "the goldsmith tried to rival the fresco painter in variety of colour and in the brilliance of his materials" (Mylonas 1966, 195; Vermeule 1964, 98f.; Smith 1965, 73f.). Influence of wall paintings and vase paintings from Crete and the Cyclades has long been attested in the gold inlays of the "lily dagger".⁽²⁷⁾ However, the inspiration of the Cyladic school of painting is quite apparent in the floral inlays of the "Nilotic dagger". These inlays which depict sea-daffodils rather than papyruses or lilies, bear close resemblance to the elaborate sea-daffodils of a fresco from the "House of the Ladies" in Thera (Marinatos 1972, pls. G. - H.). Furthermore, the entire scene of this pseudo "Nilotic dagger" is without any Egyptian or Minoan connections, and it seems to have its only parallels in the "Libya fresco" from Thera.

This assumption is also supported by the "siege rhyton", which represents one of the best examples of silver repoussé technique from the Shaft Graves.⁽²⁸⁾ Vermeule has shown that the rhyton "gives the impression of being reduced from wall painting or from some other broad flat surface where the variety of figures and architecture would seem less cramped" (Vermeule 1964, 100). The same conclusion has been reached by William S. Smith, who dedicated a whole chapter in his book to "The Mycenaean silver rhyton and the Aegean paintings" (1965, chap V). Smith has quite convincingly demonstrated that "the adjustment of such a composition as the Mycenaean siege scene to the tapering conical form of a rhyton" is an interesting attempt to execute a composition of large-scale wall decoration "upon a small and badly damaged object of shape obviously ill-suited for such an effort." (idem 72. 65). According to his view "Cretan frescoes in miniature style, which are either slightly earlier or contemporaneous with the Mycenaean rhyton, would seem to provide a more suitable surface and medium for the development of such subject matter." (idem, 70f.).

In fact Cretan frescoes of this style do not provide us with parallels for the rhyton, and they were hardly expected to do so, since battle scenes are alien to Minoan conception, but are well known from later Mycenaean art (Vermeule 1964, 100.102; and n. 9 above). For this reason it has been suggested by Smith that the siege rhyton and the inlaid daggers from the Shaft Graves might have a common source in early Mycenaean wall paintings (1965, 88).

It seems likely, however, that wall paintings were still unknown in mainland Greece at such an early date. The "miniature fresco" from Thera, which provides us with the only parallel for the "siege rhyton" and the inlaid daggers from Mycenae, may indicate that elements of early Mycenaean art already were established in the Cyclades at the time of the Shaft Graves. Since the rhyton and the daggers depend in their style and technique on Cycladic wall paintings, as we have tried to demonstrate, it is logical to assume that they could also have originated in Cycladic workshops.

The excavations at Akrotiri have yielded only a small number of metal objects and therefore it has been suggested by Marinatos that when the natural disaster began, the inhabitants of Thera, in their hurried flight from the stricken island, "'may have taken with them valuables and the things they could carry.⁽²⁹⁾"

It is quite tempting therefore to suggest that people of high official rank like the "admiral of the fleet" from Thera, would have sailed in their ships to the mainland and brought with them their precious vessels and weapons. This suggestion may shed some light on the origin of the people who were buried in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, although the source of the great wealth found in these graves is still far from being clearly explained.

- (1).   It was recently shown by Vermeule (1975, 7 f.) that the Shaft Graves are to be dated to the later half of the 16th and the early half of the 15th centuries B.C. Since the objects from several burials in Circle B overlap at least those found in the middle burials in Circle A, a date around 1500 B.C. may be suggested for most of the graves.

- (2).   Thera VI: Pls. 108 - 109; Mylonas 1957, 139, Fig. 49; Vermeule 1964, 88, Pl. XI C; Idem., 1975 : 12. For later versions of Mycenaean portraits on silver cup inlays from Mycenae and Pylos, see Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, Nos, 1107 - 1108.

- (3).   See Thera VI: 46 ff., 52, Pl. 106. The two helmsmen of the only masted ship (Ibid., Pl. 112 - the third ship from the left on the lower row), wear a Minoan loin cloth and a Minoan hair-style (Ibid., 52, Pl. 104). The helmsman and the officer of the "best preserved ship" (Ibid., Fig. 5; and Pl. 112 - the first ship from the left on the upper row), bear the same features, while the helmet of her captain is of Mycenaean type (Ibid., 43, 46, 49, Pl. 100). Features of Negroid type, presumably Libyan, have been identified by Marinatos among the fighters travelling, in the ships (Ibid., 54, Fig. 107).

- (4).   Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, No. 510 (with additional bibliography). It is noteworthy that the boar's tusk helmet from Dendra has metal cheek-pieces (Vermeule 1964 : 135), while the Theran fresco shows a strap for fastening the helmet (Thera VI: 41, n. 29).

- (5).   Thera VI: 41; Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, No. 712. Vermeule also mentions that an ideogram of a cuirass of the same type is recorded on a contemporaneous Linear B tablet from Knossos, see Vermeule 1964, 135 f., 244, Fig. 41b, Pl. XXI A.

- (6).   See Thera VI: 40, Col. Pl. 7 left; and Iakovidis 1977, 8. I am deeply indebted to Prof. Iakovidis for the excellent paper he presented at the Colloquium of the Centennial of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, and for our interesting conversation on Thera during the colloquium.

- (7).   For suggested reconstructions of the rhyton, see Vermeule 1964, 100 ff. Pl. XIV; Smith 1965, 63 ff. Figs. 84 - 86.

- (8).   See Vermeule 1964, 101 f.; Smith 1965, 66. It is noteworthy that the helmsman who was apparently standing on board, wears a crested helmet and a tunic; the four other men, whose helmets only are preserved, were presumably sitting and therefore they have been regarded by Smith as rowers.

- (9).   For a contemporaneous scene of warriors in combat, depicted on a silver krater from the same grave, see Vermeule 1964, 103, Fig. 21a; Smith 1965, 67, Fig. 88. For later battle scenes on steatite vases from the mainland, see Vermeule 1964, 100, 103, Fig. 20; Smith 1965, 67, Fig. 87 b. For the siege motif in later frescoes, especially the siege fresco from the Megaron of the palace at Mycenae, see Vermeule 1964, 103; Pl. XXXI A; Smith 1965, 82, Fig. 118; for the faience "town mosaics" from Knossos as the only possible forerunner of the "siege rhyton", see Vermeule 1964, 100, 102 f.; Smith 1965, 67, Fig. 87a.

- (10).   My husband, Prof. M. Negbi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has kindly provided me with the following information: All the plants portrayed in the "Libya fresco" are extant and found in aquatic habitats of the Mediterranean arid and semi-arid zones. Two of them can easily be identified: the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and the common reed (Phragmites communis Trin.). A rush (Juncus sp.) is depicted near the flying duck on the right (lower) bank of the river, and three giant willow herbs (probably Epilobium hirsutum L.) appear among the date palms on the left (upper) bank. Three vegetative catstails (Typha latifolia L.) are presented between the griffin and the leopard. The two plants which resemble the Egyptian papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) deserve some comment: The umbels of the Cyperus papyrus L., as portrayed in Egyptian art, are subtended by short involucers (about 1/3 of the height of the umbels), in the same fashion as they appear in nature. Since the umbels of the plants of the "Libya fresco" are subtended by long involucers (almost as long as the height of the umbels), and the plants themselves are very tall, they may be identified as the tan sedge Cyperus longus L. It is noteworthy that tall sedges similar to those of the "Libya fresco" also appear in one of the Minoan wall paintings from the "House of frescoes" at Knossos, see Smith 1965, 75, Pl. 101.

- (11).   A date palm also occurs on the fragmentary fresco of the "African" from Thera, see Thera II : 54, Col. Pl. B. In a wall painting from the "House of Frescoes," at Knossos, which depicts a monkey among reeds and tall sedges, the river and rocks are rendered in a similar manner, see n. 10 above.

- (12).   According to Marinatos, the animal in extended leap shown on the right (lower) bank of the river is a stag pursued by a galloping griffin, which appears on the other bank of the river (Thera VI: 42). Prof. A. Tchernov, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has called my attention to the fact that this animal, like the one on the left (upper) bank of the river, may also be identified as a leopard. I am greatly indebted to Prof. Tchernov for his interesting and constructive remarks on the fauna and flora of the frescoes from Thera.

- (13).   For heraldic griffins in later Mycenaean frescoes from the throne rooms at Knossos and Pylos, see Matz, 1962, 119,1 22 f.; Vermeule 1964, 138, 147, 165. For winged griffins on an ivory pyxis from a royal tomb at Athens, see Ibid., 219, Pl. XXXVI B - C.

- (14).   For the pin-head, see Vermeule 1964, 98, Fig. 19 (the drawing in the second row to the right on p. 96, shows one of these griffins); and Idem., 1975, 40, 46, Fig. 53. For the sword hilt, see Mylonas 1966, 101 n. 52; and Vermeule 1975, 14, 46, Fig. 12.

- (15).   Vermeule 1964, 98, Fig. 19 (the drawing in the bottom row to the right on p. 96 shows one of these griffins); Mylonas 1966, 101.

- (16).   The wild cats of the dagger are chasing ducks; in the "Libya fresco" at least two kinds of aquatic birds (a swan and a duck) are represented. It is noteworthy that a winding stream is also depicted in a wall painting from the "House of Frescoes" at Knossos, see n. 11 above.

- (17).   For one of the leaping wild cats of the Mycenaean dagger, see Smith 1965, 25, Fig. 36; Vermeule 1975, 21, Fig. 18. The same pose also characterizes the cats in the chasing scene carved on an ivory comb from Pylos, dating from the early 15th century B.C., which closely resemble those of the Mycenaean dagger, see Smith 1965, 77, Fig. 105 b; Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, No. 1278.

- (18).   For lions in flying gallop on the "lion dagger" and on a pin-head from Grave IV in Circle A, see Marinatos and Hirmer 1960, Pl. XXXVII below; Buchholz and Kargeorghis 1973, No. 683; and Vermeule 1975, 41, 46, Figs, 53, 56. For scenes of lions chasing antelopes and deer on a gold box from Grave V, see Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, No. 1089; Vermeule 1975, 24, 43, Figs. 26 - 27. A gold cutout from Grave III, which may once have been attached to a box, shows lions attacking a bull, see Vermeule 1964, Fig. 19 (second row from above on p. 96); Idem., 1975, Fig. 50. It is noteworthy that date palms, reminiscent of those of the "Libya fresco", are incorporated in the scene of the two latter objects. For other animals in flying gallop from the Shaft Graves, see especially Vermeule 1975, 23 f., 44 f., Figs. 59 - 60.

- (19).   The flying gallop pose is known mainly from Minoan seal-impressions, but it seldom appears in Minoan major arts, see Smith 1965, 26 f., Fig. 36. It has been shown lately, however, that the groups of seal-impressions from Hagia Triada, Zakros and Knossos, belong to LM IB rather than to MM III as was thought before, see Vermeule 1975, 38 f., Fig. 51.

- (20).   Thera VI: 43, 55. Marinatos has shown that Minoan features characterize the procession of youths seen along the shore, and the woman standing on the projecting tower (Thera VI : 53, Pl. 105). Other people with non-Minoan features prove, according to Marinatos, that Libyan elements existed in the population of the "third town", see Thera VI: 54 f.

- (21).   For the gold plaque, see Vermeule 1964, 95, Fig. 19 (in the middle row to the right on p. 97); Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, No: 1303; For the rhyton, see Vermeule 1964, 104, Pl. XIV and n. 19 above. 

- (22).   For earlier fortified settlements, like Lerna III in the Argolid, Malthi in Messenia and especially Chalandriani on the island of Syros and Phylakopi on the island of Melos, see Vermeule 1964, 31 ff., 76 ff.; Caskey 1965, 13, 23, 26 ff. It is noteworthy, however, that the tentative defensive wall recently found at Mallia, is still unique in Crete, see Cadogan 1976, 110.

- (23).   A recent study by Ellen N. Davis has shown that the "lion hunt dagger" (see n. 18 above), contains niello for the colour accent, but it was not used for bedding the inlays. As such it is to be considered as true niello work, see Davis 1976, 4. For the "Nilotic dagger" and the "lion dagger", see nn. 16, 18 above. For the "lily dagger" from Grave V, see Mylonas 1966, 195; Vermeule 1975, Fig. 61.

- (24).   For this technique, see Vermeule 1964, 98 f.; Smith 1965, 73 f.; Mylonas 1966, 195f. For a bronze dagger with a frieze of leopards in gold and niello from Pylos, and an inlaid dolphin in gold and silver and niello from Prosymna, both dating from the 15th century B.C., see Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, Nos. 684 - 685. Fragments of contemporaneous inlaid daggers are also recorded from Vaphio, see Mylonas 1966, 195.

- (25).   See Davis 1976, 4. The origin of the niello technique is still controversial. Scholars usually refer to a sickle sword from the Royal Tombs at Byblos as the earliest example of this technique in the Levant. Its Egyptian counterparts are represented by a copper axe and a dagger of Queen Ah-hotep, but they are later in date than the Byblos piece, see Smith 1965, 155, Fig. 37; Mylonas 1966, 195; Vermeule 1975, 14. Davis has shown, however, that there is a striking difference between the Aegean daggers and their Levantine and Egyptian forerunners, in that the former use cutout shapes rather than metal wire designs for the inlaying, see Davis 1976, 4, 6.

- (26).   See Davis 1976, 3. This assumption is based mainly on a comparative study of metal vases from Crete and the mainland. Noteworthy is a silver jug from Grave V in Circle A, which has parallels in bronze jugs from Crete and Thera. Unlike its Minoan counterparts, however, traces of niello were found on its surface, see Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, No. 1088 a - b; Vermeule 1975, 28; and Thera IV: 39, pls. 94 - 95. The best example of inlay and niello is represented in an electrum goblet from Grave IV. For this goblet and its Mycenaean successors, see Buchholz and Karageorghis 1973, Nos. 1107 - 1108; and Davis 1976, 4 f.

- (27).   See n. 23 above. The lily vases from Knossos and Akrotiri are well known, for example see Matz 1962, 114, Fig. 25; Thera II: 37 ff., Pl. 21, 1; Col. Pl. E7. Lily frescoes are recorded from Knossos, Amnissos and Hagia Triada, but they are best represented in Rhodes (Trianda), Melos (Phylakopi) and especially in Thera (Akrotiri), see Smith 1965, 70, 76; and Thera IV: Pls. A - C.

- (28).   Among other silverworks in the same technique are a krater from the same grave depicting warriors in combat, and a cup from Dendra, portraying a hunting scene, see Vermeule 1964, 103, 133, Fig. 21 a-b; Idem., 1975, 12, n. 20; 28, n. 40; 29 f., Figs. 33 -34.  

- (29).   Thera II: 5, 49; New Radiocarbon dates from Akrotiri indicate that the "eruption of the Volcano on the island of Thera (Santorini) occurred 150 to 200 years earlier than the conventionally accepted date of 1500 B.C.", see Michael 1976, 7; Betancourt and Weinstein 1976, 332 ff. However, since the dates for the beginning and the end of the volcanic activity are still controversial, it is difficult to prove whether the abandonment of Akrotiri actually took place before the time of the Shaft Graves, see also n. 1 above.

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