Zominthos: Interior stairway discovered during the excavation (photo: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports)
Posted on 09/30/2018 2:07:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Minoan palace of Zominthos was a complex with three-story buildings grounded in the rock at 1,200 meters above sea level. As early as 2000 BC, worshippers began placing offerings in clefts in the rock, such as "egg cups" - simple cup-shaped vases with a disc-like base - both painted and plain. The honorary director of the Antiquities Department, Dr Efi Sapounas-Sakellarakis, spoke enthusiastically... The palace of Zominthos, she notes, had more than 150 rooms.
"...The large limestone floor slabs, which look like marble... were brought there from a quarry 20 kilometers away."
...This section yielded bronze daggers, seals, stone vessels and a fragment of a chalice with a small bronze spoon, dated to before 1750 BC. Sapounas-Sakellarakis also points out that, in excavation terms, it is the first time a multistory building has been found on a rock in a center of habitation. Interestingly, a stone vessel with a relief depicting a worshipper placing an offering on an altar between rocks had previously been found in the area of Gypsades Hill at Knossos.
Zominthos, where 20 years ago Yannis Sakellarakis launched the excavations that have been continued by his wife, is inexhaustible. This year, an entrance from north to south was found with a double door leading to a paved area built on a suitably shaped part of the rock. In Minoan times it may have served as an outdoor area for sports or ceremonies, and later as a courtyard of the building that the Romans built on the Minoan ruins.
Also interesting for the archaeologists was the discovery of a coin showing the Emperor Hadrian. This, together with another one featuring Marcus Aurelius that was unearthed last year, confirms a Roman presence at the site.
(Excerpt) Read more at tornosnews.gr ...
Zominthos: Interior stairway discovered during the excavation (photo: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports)
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Seems at the outset to predate the Thera eruption/tsunami.
Always thought it was the memory of those which led the Minoans to build their cities so far above sea level.
Since it hasn’t happened yet, I agree. :”)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3679761/posts?page=7#7
“Vanity”
I was stationed at Iraklion Air Station, Crete, Greece as a Morse Systems Operator in 1983-1984. I would go back in a heartbeat. I miss the fried cheese. The “Ville” in Hersonissos was the place to be.
:^)
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