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The miniature fresco from the West House at Akrotiri, Thera, and its Aegean Setting*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

Peter Warren
Peter Warren
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
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Extract

The mansion known as the West House or House of the Admiral at Akrotiri, Thera, was excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in the 1971 and 1972 seasons. The miniature fresco, one of the most important monuments of Aegean art yet found, decorated room 5, which was the north-west corner room on the upper, first floor of the building. This room, approximately 4×4 m internally, had wide windows of three and four frames respectively in the north and west walls, an exit eastwards into the central part of the house and a door in the south-east corner into room 4 and the adjacent bathroom, 4a (Fig. i). Although its function cannot now be demonstrated room 5 was probably a living room, with its wide windows and reasonable size. But a curious vessel, which may have been a ritual sprinkler (Thera VI 31—2 and pl. 70), was found in the south-west corner among the fresco fragments and carries a hint of other functions.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 99 , November 1979 , pp. 115 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1979

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References

1 Thera V 17–20 and pl. 97b; Thera VI 19–31, 38–60, pls 42a, 91–112, colour pls 7–9 and plans 3–7.

2 Thera VI pls 42b, 85–90 and colour pl. 6.

3 Thera VI pls 38b, 42b.

4 Thera VI pl. 38a–b.

5 Evans, , PM II (1928) 109–16Google Scholar and fig. 49. Cameron, M. A. S., ‘On Theoretical Principles in Aegean Bronze Age Mural Restoration’ in Betancourt, P. (ed.), Temple University Aegean Symposium 1976 40Google Scholar n. 55 and fig. 1 E. For a valuable discussion of the position of fresco friezes, with a list and measurements, see Cameron, , ‘Savakis's Bothros: a minor Sounding at Knossos’, BSA lxxi (1976) 6–8 and n. 17Google Scholar.

6 Luce, J. V., ‘Thera and the Devastation of Minoan Crete: a New interpretation of the Evidence’ in AJA lxxx (1976) 9–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar (with Addendum by K. Bolton, 17–18).

7 For the Late Minoan IB marine and other styles see R. C. Bosanquet, ‘The Pottery. The Late Minoan Period. Late Minoan I and II’ [ = LM IA and B], in Bosanquet, R. C. and Dawkins, R. M., The Unpublished Objects from the Palaikastro Excavations (BSA Suppl. Paper No. 1: 1923) 21–54Google Scholar and pls XVIII–XXI; Evans, J. and Evans, A., index to the Palace of Minos (1936) 132–5Google Scholar; Furumark, A., The Mycenaean Pottery: Analysis and Classification (1941) 158–65Google Scholar; Popham, M. R., ‘Late Minoan Pottery: A Summary’, BSA lxii (1967) 339–43Google Scholar (on LM IB); Platon, N., Zakros. The Discovery of a Lost Palace of Ancient Crete (1971) figs on pp. 106–14, 117, 121–3Google Scholar; Τὸ νέον μινωϊκὸν ἀνάκτορον (1974) figs 15–6, 45–7, 49–51, 53–4, 56–7; Coldstream, J. N. in Coldstream, J. N. and Huxley, G. L. (eds), Kythera. Excavations and Studies (1972) 123–48, 291–303Google Scholar; Betancourt, P., ‘The Polyp Workshop: a Stylistic Group from LM IB’ in AJA lxxvii (1973) 333–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘Some new Attributions to Minoan Ceramic Workshops’, Abstracts of Papers Delivered in Art History, College Art Assoc. of America (1975) 14; ‘Economic implications of the Reed Painter's Vases’ in Betancourt, P. (ed.), Temple University Aegean Symposium 1976 15–17Google Scholar; ‘Further Observations on the Marine Style’ in AJA lxxxi (1977) 561; ‘Marine-Life Pottery from the Aegean’ in Archaeology xxx (1977) 38–43; Mountjoy, P.-A., ‘A Note on the LM IB Marine Style at Knossos’ in BSA lxix (1974) 173–5Google Scholar; ‘A Later Development in the Late Minoan IB Marine Style’ in BSA lxix (1974) 177–8; ‘A Late Minoan IB Marine Style rhyton from Pseira’ in Athens Annals of Archaeology ix (1976) 83–6; ‘Attributions in the LM IB Marine Style’ in AJA lxxxi (1977) 557–60.

8 Thera V 18, pls 24b, 25, 102 and colour pl. c. Cf. Thera IV pl. 82, from Delta Room 8.

9 ‘The Miniature Frescoes from Akrotiri, Thera’, Πρακτικὰ τῆς Ἀκαδημίας Ἀθηνῶν li (1976) 135–52 and pls I–III.

10 Sp. Marinatos, ‘Das Schiffsfresko von Akrotiri, Thera’, in Gray, D., ‘Seewesen’, Archaeologia Homerica i G (1974) 140–51Google Scholar and pls XIII–XVII; Buchholz, H.-G., ‘Bemerkungen zum Schiffsfresko von Thera’ in Hellas, ewig unsere Liebe, Fest. W. Zschietzschmann 5–14Google Scholar; Brown, L. M., ‘The Ship Fresco from Thera; some Thoughts on the Iconography’ in BICS xxiv (1977) 144–5Google Scholar; ‘The Ship Procession in the Miniature Fresco’ in Doumas, C. (ed.), Thera and the Aegean World. 1. Papers Presented to the Second international Scientific Congress, Santorini, Greece, August 1978 629–44Google Scholar.

11 Monkeys: Thera V colour pl. D. Papyri: Thera V colour pl. F; Warren, P., ‘Did Papyrus grow in the Aegean?’ in Athens Annals of Archaeology ix (1976) 89–95Google Scholar.

12 ‘Unpublished Paintings from the “House of the Frescoes” at Knossos’ in BSA lxiii (1968) 1–31, especially fig. 13.

13 Cf. Page (n. 9) 140.

14 The analysis made independently of mine by Betancourt, P., ‘Perspective and the Third Dimension in Theran Painting’ in Betancourt, P. (ed.), Temple University Aegean Symposium ii (1977) 19Google Scholar, reaches similar conclusions.

15 Marinatos and Hirmer pls 103–5.

16 Comparable interpretations in favour of composite, syncretizing imagery were offered by Vermeule, E., Greece in the Bronze Age (1964) 102CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Sakellariou 195–208, esp. 206, in relation to the scenes on the silver rhyton and silver Battle Krater from Shaft Grave IV at Mycenae and the faience Town Mosaic from Knossos.

17 Thera VI 34–60, esp. 54–7; Athens Annals of Archaeology vii (1974) 87–94.

18 This point has been accepted, though not argued, in an interesting and valuable paper by DrImmerwahr, Sara, ‘Mycenaeans at Thera: Some Reflections on the Paintings from the West House’ in Kinzl, K. H. (ed.), Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean in Ancient History and Prehistory. Studies Presented to Fritz Schachermeyr (1977) 173—91Google Scholar. Dr Immerwahr argues for quite strong Mycenaean influences at Akrotiri and for Mycenaeans and Minoans in peaceful co-existence and co-operative ventures here on the fresco and elsewhere in the Aegean. I am not so sure about this proposed friendly collaboration—the composition of the fleet does argue for it (officers in Minoan dress and passengers with Mycenaean helmets), but the sea battle on the fresco and several scenes on the comparative works cited in my discussion below make for difficulties; but I feel that among the many independent Aegean communities, raiding for booty and friendly co-operation are modes of living each as likely to have been practised in Late Bronze I as they undoubtedly were in all subsequent periods of Aegean history.

A further relevant paper is Brown, L. M., ‘The Ship Procession in the Miniature Fresco’ in Thera and the Aegean World (1978)Google Scholar (see n. 10 above). Here too the Aegean setting is accepted, with an argument that the ships are equipped for a short voyage, perhaps for a nautical festival at the Resumption of the Navigation Season. This paper is exceptionally valuable for its analysis of the ships; while the particular interpretation is well argued, I feel that the presence of armed warriors, their hung boar's-tusk helmets indicating that they have been fighting or expected to fight, is still in favour of an interpretation at least partly concerned with raiding, as in the earlier scene on the fresco. Note that the earlier, north wall scene displays ships damaged in battle and of the same type and construction as those of the fleet on the east and south walls.

19 Sakellariou 204–7.

20 Evans, , PM I (1921) 685Google Scholar and fig. 503 a–b.

21 Marinatos, Sp., ‘A “Γλῶσσα” of Hesychius’, Athens Annals of Archaeology iv (1971) 229–31Google Scholar and fig. 2.

22 Hood, S. and Warren, P., ‘Ancient Sites in the Province of Ayios Vasilios, Crete’ in BSA lxi (1966) 181 and pl. 39 a–bGoogle Scholar. This is the Megas Potamos at A. Savvas; low palms are visible in the middle between church on the left and river, and tall as well as low ones grow a short way into the Preveli Gorge, just off the picture. For the palmfringed Almyros river at Gazi, see below p. 125 and n. 40.

it has been argued by L. M. Brown (n. 10) 144 and by O. Rackham, ‘The Flora and Vegetation of Thera and Crete before and after the great Eruption’ in Thera and the Aegean World (n. 10), that the palms in the river scene on the fresco are cultivated date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.), not the Cretan endemic palm, Phoenix theophrasti Greuter; this suggests (Rackham) that the river scene is in north Africa or the Near East. While the poorly formed fruit of the Cretan palm is scarcely edible—see Greuter, W., ‘Beiträge zur Flora der Sudägäis 8’, Bauhinia iii (1967) 243–50Google Scholar; Murray, C. and Warren, P., ‘PO-NI-KI-JO among the Dye-Plants of Minoan Crete’ in Kadmos xv (1976) 46–7Google Scholar—the argument that date palms mean a non-Cretan setting is open to criticism: it has not, I think, been shown that all palms in Crete are of the endemic species and the date palm has been thought to have been introduced to Crete early in Minoan times (Evans, , PM III [1930] 177Google Scholar n. 1). But even if it is the case that no palm in Crete is Phoenix dactylifera the fact remains that, whether or not the artist of the fresco intends to convey the point that the stems of the low palms have been deliberately trimmed (which seems to me doubtful, and could in any case have been to provide useful foliage, without any connexion with fruiting), the combination of tall and low palms in the river scene is extraordinarily reminiscent of palm-fringed rivers in Crete, such as the Megas Potamos (Hood and Warren, above) or the Almyros at Gazi (below p. 125 and n. 40).

23 Evans, , PM II (1928) 493–9Google Scholar; IV (1935) 271–2, 366–9; Pelagatti, P., ‘Osservazioni sui ceramisti del I palazzo di Festos’, Κρητικὰ Χρονικά, ΙΕ′–ΙΣΤ′ (1961–1962) 105–8Google Scholar and pls Ζ′–ΙΒ′.

24 P. Warren (n. 11). The two finest representations are on the inlaid dagger from Shaft Grave V at Mycenae (Marinatos and Hirmer pls XXXV top and XXXVII top) and in the House of the Ladies at Thera (Thera V pl. 94, colour pls F and rear cover; Warren, op. cit.).

25 I am much indebted to Dr K. Thompson, University of Waikato, for an advance copy of his paper (with J. Gaudet), ‘A Review of Papyrus and its Role in Tropical Swamps’, to appear in Archiv für Hydrobiologie. Thompson has collected information on the growth of the papyrus in Israel (as well as throughout the world), in particular Lake Huleh in the Jordan River basin; some authors consider it indigenous here, due to dispersal by birds (especially storks) on the migration route north-east from Africa. He observes that several other aquatic, tropical plants occur in this lacustrine environment and may be likewise explained. We may add that precisely the same mechanism could have brought the papyrus to Crete, which is the first landfall for the spectacular annual migration of birds moving north from Africa. I witnessed the astonishing variety (bee-eaters, golden aureoles, hoopoes, white egrets and many others) of the migration at Zakros on 9th April, 1969.

26 Lewis, N., Papyrus in Classical Antiquity (1974) 18–20Google Scholar. These papyri, fringing the Fonte Ciane stream near Syracuse, were examined by Dr O. Rackham, Mrs E. Warren and the writer in August, 1973.

27 Dagger: see n. 24 above. Comb: Poursat, J.-C., Les ivoires mycéniens (1977) 46Google Scholar, 196, 200 (NM 8357); Catalogue des ivoires mycéniens du Musée National ďAthènes (1977) pl. XLI.

28 Evans, , PM IV (1935) 525–40Google Scholar. Marinatos and Hirmer pls XXXV–VII and 198–9 (attacking deer among palms), 208 and 210 (attacking bulls). For a lion pursuing a deer on stele 1427 from Mycenae, Shaft Grave V, see Mylonas, G. E., ‘The Figured Mycenaean Stelai’ in AJA lv (1951) 141Google Scholar fig. 6. For the frequent occurrence of the lion in scenes of animal pursuit and combat on Mycenaean ivories see the detailed study of J.-C. Poursat (n. 27, above) 79–82.

29 Hdt. vii 125–6 is the locus classicus: lions attack Xerxes' camels in Thrace; Herodotus goes on to say that all northern Greece (from the Nestos to the Akheloos) abounded with lions and wild cattle. This juxtaposition neatly parallels the frequent depiction of a lion attacking a bull on Minoan and Mycenaean ivories and seals (see n. 28, above). Aristotle, , Hist. An. vi 31Google Scholar, 519a, accepted Herodotus's statement. For evidence that the lion may not have become extinct in northern Greece until the third or fourth century A.D. (Parthenius, Aelian, Themistius) and not until after the sixteenth century A.D. in Turkey see Schliemann, H., Ilios (1880) 110–11Google Scholar (quoting Tchihatcheff, , Asie Mineure: Description physique 582Google Scholar); Gejvall, N.-G., ‘The Fauna of the Successive Settlements at Troy: Second Preliminary Report’ in Kungl. Humanistika Vetenskapssamfundet I Lund, Årsberättelse (Bull, de la Soc. Royale des Lettres) (1938–1939) 5Google Scholar, quoting Barker Webb (no reference, probably Webb, P. B., Topographie de la Troade ancienne et moderne [1844]Google Scholar) on the zoology of the Troad; Daly, L. J., ‘The Mandarin and the Barbarian’, Historia xxi (1972) 368Google Scholar. The likelihood of lions in Greece had already been noted by Evans, , PM III (1930) 120Google Scholar, 122, in relation to the evidence of Herodotus. More tangible evidence for the Aegean comes from Keos where, among 400,000 animal bones, were two adult lions' teeth (one of them LM IB/LH II). I owe the information to the kindness of Professor J. L. Caskey. The faunal remains from Keos are being published by Dr Jennie Coy.

30 information kindly provided by Mr jarman, who is publishing the faunal remains from Knossos.

31 Thera VI pl. 107. The reader is referred to this plate for reproduction at an adequate scale for observation of the crested hair.

32 Davaras, C., ‘Zur Herkunft des Diskos von Phaistos’, Kadmos vi (1967) 101–5Google Scholar and pl. 1 a–b.

33 Thera VI pl. 108. The reader is again referred to this plate for adequate reproduction.

34 Conveniently illustrated by Marinatos at Thera VI pl. 109.

35 For madder and other red dye-plants and substances in Crete see Murray, C. and Warren, P., ‘PO-NI-KI-JO among the Dye-Plants of Minoan Crete’ in Kadmos xv (1976) 47–57Google Scholar. See also Forbes, R. J., Studies in Ancient Technology iv (1956) 106–7Google Scholar (ancient sources) and Rechinger, K. H., Flora Aegaea (1943) 582Google Scholar (find spots of Rubia tinctorum in Crete).

36 Marinatos and Hirmer pls 15 and 17.

37 Hood, M. F. S., The Minoans (1971)Google Scholar pls 22–3.

38 Lembese, A., Ὁ οἰκίσκος τῶν Ἀρχανῶν᾽, Ἀρχ. Ἐφ. (1976) 12–43Google Scholar and pls 6–11.

39 II Regno tutto di Candia (1651) pl. 21.

40 Pausanias (i 27. 9) told the story of a river Tethris in the kingdom of Minos in Crete, around which a bull made havoc until it was killed by Theseus. I recall the tale in view of the fact that (i) the river Tethris has been placed near Knossos, though not at Gazi (Pashley, R., Travels in Crete [1837] i 204Google Scholar), or at the Almyros (Hoeck, K., Kreta [1823–1829] map)Google Scholar and (ii) the river scene on the fresco is preceded by the scene with leaping bulls on the east part of the north wall. Too good to be true.

41 Chr. Zervos, , Ľart de la Crète néolithique et minoenne (1956)Google Scholar pls 496–7. For Minoan gestures see Brandt, E., Gruss und Gebiet. Eine Studie zu Gebärden in der minoisch-mykenischen und frühgriechischen Kunst (1965)Google Scholar; Alexiou, S., Gnomon xxxiv (1967) 609–13Google Scholar.

42 The similarity of the buildings of the home port to those of the town on the rhyton was cited by Marinatos, himself (Thera VI 43–4)Google Scholar. For excellent illustrations of the rhyton see Evans, , PM I (1921) 698Google Scholar; III (1930) 89–106; Karo, G., Die Schachtgräber von Mykenai (1930–1933) 106Google Scholar no. 481 and pl. CXXII; Marinatos and Hirmer 168 and pl. 174; History of the Hellenic World i: Prehistory and Protohistory (1974) fig. on p. 287; Sakellariou.

43 Evans, , PM I (1921) 698Google Scholar Fig. 521 b; III (1930) figs. 51–2, 54–5.

44 Marinatos, Sp., ‘The Swimmers'; Dagger from the Tholos Tomb at Vapheio’, in Casson, S. (ed.), Essays in Aegean Archaeology Presented to Sir Arthur Evans (1927) 63–71Google Scholar; Evans, , PM III (1930) 127Google Scholar and fig. 181.

45 Evans, , PM III (1930) 100Google Scholar and fig. 56; Warren, P., Minoan Stone Vases (1969) 85Google Scholar (HM 257) and P 473.

46 Evans, , PM III (1930)Google Scholar fig. 128; Mylonas (n. 28) 144 and fig. 7 h; Xenaki-Sakellariou, A., ‘La representation du casque en dents de sanglier’ in BCH lxxvii (1953) 48Google Scholar n. 1, 51 and 50 fig. 5; Warren (n. 45) 89 (AM 1938.698) and P 488 c; Guida, P. Cassola, Le armi difensive dei Micenei nelle figurazioni (1974) 91Google Scholar and n. 53 (with further references).

47 ‘Scène de bataille sur un vase mycénien en pierre’ in Rev. Arch. 1971 3–14.

48 The parallelisms between the silver rhyton, Epidaurian stone vase and the fresco were carefully noted by Sakellariou 207.

49 ‘The Miniature Frescoes of Tylissos Reconsidered’ in Arch. Anz. lxxxvii (1972) 171–88.

50 Evans, , PM III (1930) 88Google Scholar and fig. 49.

51 Caskey, J. L., ‘Excavations in Keos, 1964–1965’ in Hesperia xxxv (1966) 374Google Scholar and pl. 90 a; Coleman, K., ‘Frescoes from Ayia Irini, Keos, Part I’, Hesperia xlii (1973) 296Google Scholar.

52 Evans, , PM III (1930) 81–106Google Scholar.

53 Thera VI pl. 106.

54 Evans, , PM I (1921) 301–14Google Scholar. The close relationship of the Town Mosaic to the fresco, especially the home port, was fully discussed by Dr Sakellariou in her paper to the Fourth international Congress of Cretological Studies, Herakleion, 1976, ‘Τὸ “μωσαϊκὸ τῆς πόλεως” καὶ οί μικρογραφικὲς τοιχογραφίες τῆς Θῆρας’.

55 Evans, , PM I (1921)Google Scholar figs 228–30.

56 I agree with Dr Sakellariou 204 ff., that the attackers on the silver siege rhyton are Mycenaeans; cf. p. 122 above.

57 Evans, , PM IV (1935) 867Google Scholar figs. 854 and 856, LM I seal impressions from Zakros and Aghia Triadha.

58 Lembese, A., ‘Ἀνασκαφὴ τάφου ϵἰς Πόρον Ἡρακλϵίου’ ΠΑΕ (1967) 208Google Scholar and pl. 192 β, worked boars' tusks from an LM IA tomb at Poros, Herakleion. For boar's tusk plaques, perhaps from a helmet, from Kea see Caskey, J. L., Hesperia xxxiii (1964) 325Google Scholar and pl. 52 f.

59 Borchhardt, J., Homerische Helme (1972) 18–37 and pls 1–6Google Scholar; P. Cassola Guida (n. 46) 85–93 and pls II, XXV–XXVIII; A. Sakellariou, ‘Un cratère ďargent avec scène de bataille provenant de la IVe tombe de ľacropole de Mycènes’ in Ant. K. xvii (1974) 3–20 and pls 1–2.

60 Page, D. L., History and the Homeric Iliad (1959) 232–5Google Scholar, 241.