The West House

It is a long narrow edifice of medium size, with a ground floor, first floor and, at least in its east wing, a second storey. The entrance is located at the eastern end of the south facade, which constitutes the northern limit of Triangle Square. The main starcase, at the entrance, connected all the storeys, while a second one, more or less in the middle of the north side, served only the ground floor and the first floor. The entire ground floor was designed to accomodate such needs as the storage and preparation of food, workshops, etc., as the installations and equipment indicate. The central section of the first floor, facing Triangle Square, is occupied by Room 3, a spacious chamber accessible from the first landing of the staircase. A large column, standing firmly on the strong party wall of the ground floor, supported the roof. The extraordinarily large window, 3.20 meters wide, overlooking the square and the considerable number of loom weights found in situ, support the view that weaving activities were carried out in this room.

A door at the north-west corner of Room 3 in the upper storey led into the west wing of the building, which was divided into Rooms 4, 4a, 4b and 5 by flimsy partitions of mud-brick. The remaining section of the north side was occupied by Corridor 7, a closet and Room 6, all of which were found crammed with pottery vessels. With the exception of Room 4a, in which there is a lavatory installation and which was designed as a privy, the entire west wing was lavishly decorated with wall-paintings.

ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME - CONVENTIONS

 The wall-paintings of the West House are distributed as follows: the two Fishermen, the so-called Priestess and the Miniature Freize were in Room 5, while the wall-painting of the Ikria adorned Rooms 4 and 4b. In all these compositions common traits in the artistic conventions of Thera and Egypt are strikingly apparent. For example, in order to render depth, the West House artist(s) employed the devices of lateral layering for the moving figures (landing party of warriors, deer, flocks of animals), vertical layering the the static ones (bunches of fish, houses in the towns), and the representation of scenes in successive tiers with no overlapping between them (sea, shore, hinterland). The sense of depth was also conveyed by the superimposition of some details upon others (legs of the fishermen, palm trees on the river). Artistic conventions characteristic of the art of the eastern Mediterranean in general are observed in the depiction of inert bodies in the scene of the naval battle and the piebald hides of the cattle (herds of bovines, ikria). The representation of the drowned men in the sea as naked is perhaps due to a similar convention, registering the fact that these are the bodies of defeated adversaries.

ROOM 5

This room is unusual in that there are openings on all four walls: doors, closets (east and south), windows (north and west), which dictated the programme of its decoration. Thus the wall surface under the windows on the north and west side constituted the lower zone, obviated by the doors and closets on the other two sides. The representations of the Fishermen and the so-called Priestess belonged to the middle zone, the greater part of which was occupied by openings, while the upper zone was covered by the Miniature frieze.

       Lower zone:     Vertical strips of yellow ochre, an extension and imitation of the wooden frames of the windows, divided this register into oblong panels, each equal in width to that of the window to which it corresponded exactly. Each panel was embellished with a system of freely arranged alternating coloured wavy bands, in an attempted imitation of slabs of polychrome veined marble. Through this artifice the artist managed to marry the decoration with the architecture; the vertical strips successfully continuing the window frames conveyed the impression of wooden uprights which supported the entire upper structure of the building with the upper zone of decoration.

       Middle zone:     In reality there was no middle zone in Room 5, since the greater part of it was occupied by openings in the walls. Only at the eastern end of the north wall and the southern end of the west was there a surface of about the same dimensions as the adjacent window, which the artist exploited in both cases for portrayals of Fishermen. The Fisherman on the north wall was discovered in rather good condition. It seems that in the tremors of which presaged the eruption the wall-painting was detached from the wall and slid down vertically, until the lower part reached the floor. There it remained, resting upright against the wall, until it was covered by a layer of pumice which preserved it until the present day, hardly damaged except for its lower part. It is this fact which led S. Marinatos to describe it as a portable painting. The wall-painting depicts a young, nude male figure, his head and lower limbs shown in profile, the chest en face and the abdomen in three-quarter pose. Apart from two black tresses, one at the front and one behind, the entire head is painted blue, probably in a conventional rendering of the greyish appearance of shaven hair. By showing the arms open to the sides, the artist overcame the problem of confusing the left and right hand: he rendered both thumbs uppermost. Serious arguments have recently been expressed in support of the view that the representation of the arms in this manner is an attempt to render the figure en face, with both arms extended in front. The young fisherman holds a bunch of fish in each hand, seven in the right and five in the left. Three colours have been used for the fish: black for the outline and fins, yellow for the belly and blue for the back.

The preservation of the Fisherman on the west wall is much poorer, indicative of the way in which it collapsed and was damaged. Nevertheless, the surviving fragments were sufficient to make possible its restoration and completion. The young, nude fisherman is portrayed in profile, proferring a bunch of just three fishes with both hands. The fish are again shown in three colours: black for the outlines and details on the fins, white on the belly and blue on the back. 

On account of its position on the east jamb of the door leading from Room 5 to Room 4, the wall-painting of the so-called Priestess is included in the iconographic programme of Room 5. Clad in a heavy, sleeved robe, she wears an elaborate parure of ear-rings, bracelets and necklace and has the lips and ear painted red. Her head, the greater part of which is shaven (blue), is crowned by a snake-like band. The figure is portrayed moving leftwards, as if to enter Room 5. In one hand she holds a firebox, perhaps containing glowing charcoal, upon which she is apparently sprinkling some substance - possibly incense. In my opinion the sobriquet Priestess is completely arbitrary.

       Upper zone:     The many openings in the walls of Room 5 prevented the artist from developing the main theme, the culmination of the iconographic programme - since this is the most important room in the house - in the middle zone. Undaunted, however, he exploited the architectural idiosyncracies of the available space and transferred this subject to the upper zone. The long narrow surfaces above the doors and windows proved ideal for the painting of the Miniature Frieze, one of the most important monuments in Aegean art.

In a recent study, C. Televantou has convincingly demonstrated that the Miniature Frieze ran around all four walls of Room 5. Because of the many openings in the walls, their strength as bearing elements was reduced and the upper part of the building collapsed completely in the destruction. Moreover, since, as a rule, the walls of buildings collapsed outwards, the very poor state of preservation of the sections of the frieze from the north and west (outside) walls is hardly surprising. From the excavation data and impressions on the plaster fragments, it is deduced that the wooden beams supporting the roof were aligned east-west, thus reducing the height of the upper zone on the east and west walls, on which they rested. This explains why the height of the frieze on these walls is about half that on the other sides (north and south).

From the restoration and completion of this wall-painting it is clear that the painter of the Miniature Frieze sought to tell the story of a major overseas voyage, in the course of which the fleet visited several harbors and cities, five in all, which the artist successfully depicted on the four walls of Room 5. The narrative evidently begins and ends at the south-west corner of the room, since the very few surviving fragments with a representation of a town (Town I) seem to belong at the southernmost end of the west wall, exactly above the Fisherman. If, as it is logical to assume, the voyage immortalized in the wall-painting was a Theran expedition, then Town I could be identified with Akrotiri itself, the harbor from which the fleet set sail.

The preservation of the north section of the frieze is much better and thus the continuation of the story can be read more clearly. The episode depicted here took place in the environs of a coastal town (Town II): in the water are the wrecks of ships and the naked bodies of drowned men, while marching along the rocky shore, which is protected by a fortified enceinte with triangular battlements, is a landing party of panoplied warriors. The detailed rendering of the armour and weapons of the latter leaves no doubt as to their identity: the boar's tusk helmet, large rectangular shield, long spear and sword are the standard armament in the Aegean at this time. The manner in which the artist has rendered the hair of the downed men - as if flowing with the sea - underlines the presence of water.

The several scenes illustrated on a higher level, above Town II, perhaps reflect the artist's desire to show the diversity of activities in the region. The herd of cattle to the left of the town and the flock of sheep and goats to the right, accompanied by herdsmen and shepherds respectively, portray the peaceful life of the hinterland, far removed from the martial atmosphere of the coast. The relationship, if any, between the pastoral scenes and the 'Meeting on the Hill', depicted slightly to the left, is difficult to decipher. Marinatos discerned 'the tension of spirits and a moment of crisis' in the difference in the attire and stature of the congregated figures and their animated gestures.

The flock of sheep and goats is being driven into a circular pen, the entrance to which is flanked by two towering trees. The structure just outside this fold is evidently a well, in front of which a small huddle of men watches the lissome women who come to fill their pitchers and then leave with them balanced upon their head. The whole scene could well record an incident in the Greek countryside today: the shepherds driving their flock into the fold to be watered and to rest in the shade of the trees, out of the midday sun, while the village lads congregate at the fountain where they may meet their sweethearts who come on the pretext of drawing water.

Since neither the beginning nor the end of the north section of the frieze has been preserved, it is difficult to reconstruct these stages of the episode. However, the attribution of pieces showing a ship and part of a town (Town III) to the beginning of the east section permits the association of the east end of the north section with the estuary of the river on the east one. Thus the third town is both coastal and at the mount of the river. With the representation of the river on the East Frieze the artist temporarily interrupts the narration of the seashore episodes and, much in the manner of the Homeric poems, inserts in the lay the description of the hinterland in great detail - a hinterland, the exotic nature of which is emphasized not only by the representation of sub-tropical flora and fauna, but by the presence of the mythical griffin in flight. Perhaps by interpolating this episode the painter wished to show the fleet's long sojourn in the river delta: obligatory or not, this waiting period gave the crews of the ships the opportunity to explore the hinterland in considerable depth. The edges of the river, which is shown in blue, are marked by tiny forked tongues, a modification of the more rounded tongues conventionally used in the Aegean art for rendering sea shores. The riparian landscape with its palms and other trees and bushes is the setting in which aquatic birds (wild ducks) and wild beasts (wild cat, jackal) are depicted in the eternal struggle for survival. The only allusion to the presence of humans is the pruned palm fronds, a characteristic which has been regarded as an indication that these trees were cultivated.

Although the south end of the east section of the frieze is preserved in good condition, it is impossible to connect it with the south section. However, Town IV is, like Town III, at once coastal and riverine, being located on the delta and it is not impossible that they are in fact the same place. Indeed through their repetition on the frieze, the artist perhaps sought to pick up the thread of the story of the fleet, after the interpolation of the description of the exotic land. The scene of a deer being chased by a lion seems to link the south wall thematically with the east and reinforce the identification of Towns III and IV as one and the same.

The south section of the frieze constitutes the last chapter in the story. The fleet is sailing away from the harbour of Town IV in the direction of the home port (Town V). A small rowing boat in front of Town IV, with five oarsmen and a helmsman, seems to be carrying an important person, whose head projects above the throne-like structure on the stern. Perhaps it is a local dignitary who is accompanying the departing fleet as it leaves the harbour. The fleet comprises seven large sailing vessels depicted in two rows, three above and four below. Of these, presumably because of limited space, only three - two above and one below - are shown with their masts raised and only one in full sail. On this ship the passenger section is closed and the paddlers are not depicted. Perhaps the representation of two steersmen and the decoration of its bows with flying doves emphasize the fact that this craft is the swift messenger ship of the fleet. On the remaining ships the mast and rigging are arranged horizontally supported on forked poles.

The fine red lines above the heads of the passengers represent long spears, also resting on poles, sometimes topped by a boar's tusk helmet. In addition to the passengers, seated and dressed in white tunics, between 18 and 20 paddlers, intent on their task, are also shown on each vessel, as well as the helmsman. On the ship top left there is another figure who may well be the 'time-keeper'. On the stern behind each helmsman a light construction is depicted, the lower part of which is covered with ox hide. Drawn within each of these 'cabins' is the head of a male figure with a long spear, while a boar's tusk helmet hangs from one of the vertical poles of its frame. These elements suggest that the light structure is a kind of shield to protect the warrior-captain. Various motifs (e.g. butterflies, flowers, birds) decorate the bowsprit of each boat, while the poop, which terminates in a kind of pontoon, is likewise embellished with a representation of a wild beast. Indeed, constructional details of the vessels, with their equipment, means of propulsion and many other traits are rendered so meticulously that the Miniature Frieze could be considered a shipwright's manual of the day.

The presence of weapons such as the rectangular shields in front of the helmsman, the spears and helmets, indicates that the ship's passengers are warriors, who are depicted in action elsewhere on the frieze. Thus the character of the entire expedition is revealed as long and dangerous.

The fleet progresses from left to right, across the dolphin-filled sea, and sails into the port which is its final destination. The topographic features of the landscape, the configuration of the habour and the beached boats, the multi-storeyed buildings with Aegean architectural traits, and the appearance of the inhabitants argue for the identification of Town V as Akrotiri. The artist converys the festive nature of the event by showing the population drifting from the town and its environs towards the harbour to welcome the returning mariners.

Since the time of its discovery, the Miniature Frieze has been the subject of many interpretations. It used to be claimed that this important monument immortalized a specific historical event - a campaign of Minoans in Libya and the victors returning home in triumph. The section of the south wall, in particular, has been regarded as a kind of sacred regatta in memory of an old tradition, as a symolic depiction of communications and contacts in the Aegean in general, as the representation of an annual nautical festival, or even as a wedding procession. Recent studies recognize in the Miniature Frieze elements which later appear in descriptions in the Homeric poems.

Whatever the story shown it must be connected with the master of the West House and concern an event significant for his status in Theran society. Perhaps the Miniature Frieze, which is undoubtedly one of the earlier records of a voyage and overseas missions of the seafarer who lived in this building. Its detailed depictions of harbors and lands bring to mind sixteenth - and seventeenth - century maps and the Miniature Frieze could well be regarded as a Bronze Age 'portolan', and must surely by the earliest known map in Europe.

ROOM 4

The excavation data and the reconstruction of the wall-paintings from Room 4 indicate that it was divided by flimsy partitions into three smaller units. The area in the south-west corner (4a) was occupied by a lavatory installation. There was a small, separate chamber (4) between the privy and Room 5, and a third long narrow room (4b) in front of 4 and 4a.

ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME

Of these areas, only 4a was undecorated, the lower part of the walls being covered with a thin layer of yellow ochre plaster. The mural decoration of compartment 4 and 4b was uniform: an imitation marble dado, like that in Room 5, in the lower zone and alternating coloured bands in the upper zone. The main subject was developed in the middle zone and consists of a series of variations of the same motif: the cabin-like structure depicted on the poop deck of the ships in the Miniature Frieze of Room 5. Its large-scale representation here aids our understanding of the constructional details. This light structure, probably with a wooden frame and the lower half of which is covered with ox hide, was evidently portable and free-standing. Of the various interpretations advanced concerning its function (e.g. banner, cabin, palanquin), perhaps the most plausible is that it was a special shield to protect the captain of the ship. The depiction of several similar shields in the West House, each with different decoration and emblems, may symbolize the number of captains who took part in the overseas expedition shown in the Miniature Frieze.

The window which admits light into chamber 4 was also embellished with wall-paintings. The stuccoed sill was painted in imitation marble, while on each jamb an attempt has been made to suggest an open window with a frame of vertical red bands standing on an imitation marble base. Painted within this frame is an elegant, two-handled vase of polychrome marble from which spring five blue stems bearing red lily blossoms.

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