Matriarchy in Bronze Age Crete: A Perspective from Archaeomythology and Modern Matriarchal Studies

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Matriarchy in Bronze Age Crete: A Perspective from Archaeomythology and Modern Matriarchal Studies offers a very different perspective of Crete than is usually found in academic writing; making a compelling case for a matriarchal Bronze Age Crete. Bronze Age Crete evokes for many the image of an exceptionally sophisticated civilization: peaceful, artistic, and refined; a society in which women were highly visible and important, and the supreme deity was a Goddess. Yet, despite the fact that authorities acknowledge that the preeminent deity of Crete was a Female Divine, and that women played a major role in Cretan society, there is a gap in the scholarly literature, and a lively, ongoing debate regarding the centrality of women and the existence of matriarchy in Bronze Age Crete. The purpose of this work is to fill that gap, and to advance the debate over whether or not ancient Crete was a woman-centered and matriarchal society toward a more complex, detailed, and certain conclusion. To that end this publication utilises the field of modern matriarchal studies, with its carefully elucidated definition of the term matriarchy, and employs the methodology of archaeomythology – the use of historical, mythological, linguistic, and folkloric as well as archaeological sources. Given its scope, the volume will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields encompassed by archaeomythology, as well as the fields of women’s studies, women’s history, women’s spirituality, and modern matriarchal studies. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Contents Page List of Figures Figure 1. The Ierapetra Snake Goddess. Neolithic, c. 6000-5500 BC, 14.5cm x 9cm, clay, surface find, Ierapetra, Crete. Giamalakis Collection, Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 2. The Mochlos Goddess (on the right). The Malia Goddess (on the left). Mochlos Goddess: Early Minoan III, c. 2300-2150 BC, 18cm in height, clay, found in Tomb XIII, Mochlos, Crete. Malia Goddess: Early Minoan III, c. 2300-2150 BC, 16.4cm in height Figure 3. Small Snake Goddess, Temple-Palace of Knossos. LM I, c. 1580-1450 BC, 20cm. in height, faience, found in Knossos Temple Repositories. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 4. Large Snake Goddess, Temple-Palace of Knossos. LM I, c. 1580-1450 BC, 34cm. in height, faience, found in Knossos Temple Repositories. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 5. Shells, flying fish and argonauts. LM I, c. 1580-1450 BC, fish and argonauts of faience, shells are natural but painted, found with the Knossos Snake Goddesses in the Temple Repositories. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by Dr. Mara Lynn Kell Figure 6. Goat with kid (on the left), and cow with calf (on the right). LM I, c. 1580-1450 BC, faie Figure 7. Faience dresses. LM I, c. 1580-1450 BC, faience, found with the Knossos Snake Goddesses in Temple Repositories. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 8. Front of Ayia Triadha sarcophagus. Third Temple Palace/Postpalatial period, LM IB-LM IIIB c. 1450-1350/1300 BC, sarcophagus is 0.895m in height, 1.373-1.385m in length, and 0.45m in width, limestone, found inside a tomb, Ayia Triadha, Crete. Her Figure 9. Back of Ayia Triadha sarcophagus. Third Temple Palace/Postpalatial period, LM IB-LM IIIB c. 1450-1350/1300 BC, sarcophagus is 0.895m in height, 1.373-1.385m in length, and 0.45m in width, limestone, found inside a tomb, Ayia Triadha, Crete. Hera Figure 10. Side panel of Ayia Triadha sarcophagus with two Goddesses being pulled by griffins. Third Temple Palace/Postpalatial period, LM IB-LM IIIB c. 1450-1350/1300 BC, sarcophagus is 0.895m in height, 1.373-1.385m in length, and 0.45m in width, limest Figure 11. Goddesses with Upraised Arms. The Goddesses depicted here are from the sites of Karphi, Kannia, and Gazi. Postpalatial period, c. 1350/1300-1000 BC, clay. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by Dr. Mara Lynn Keller. Reprinted with permission. Figure 12. Goddesses with Upraised Arms from Kannia, Crete. Postpalatial period, LM IIIB c. 1360-1325 BC. The figure on the left is 52cm. in height, the one on the right is 32cm. in height, clay, found in Kannia Sanctuary Complex. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Figure 13. Bull-leaper or ‘Taureador’ Fresco. LM IA, c. 1600/1580-1480, or LM IB, c. 1480-1425 BC, 78.2cm x 104.5cm, fresco, found in east wing of Temple-Palace of Knossos. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 14. Clanmother, Priestess, or Goddess (‘La Parisienne’) from the Campstool Fresco. LM IIIA/B, c. 1450-1300 BC, fresco, found in west wing, Temple-Palace of Knossos. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 15. Fresco of Goddess descending from the sky. LM IA, c. 1600/1580-1480, or LM IB, c. 1480-1425 BC, fresco, found in east wing Temple-Palace of Knossos. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photograph by author. Figure 16. Isopata ring: Epiphany of the Goddess witnessed by female worshippers. Dated to c. 1575-1450 BC on stylistic grounds, 2.25cm long and 1.16cm wide, gold seal ring, found in a chamber–tomb at Isopata, near Knossos, Crete. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Preface Introduction Topic and inquiry questions Personal relationship to topic Scope and limitations of the study Key definitions Explanation of capitalization of Goddess Significance of the study: academic, social, personal, and spiritual Academic significance Personal and spiritual significance Social significance Conclusion Literature review Women’s spirituality Anthropological, archaeological, and historical evidence for matriarchy Archaeological and mythological evidence for Bronze Age Crete as a Goddess-centered society Archaeological, archaeomythological, and historical evidence for Bronze Age Crete as a woman-centered society Bull-leaping Women and/or the Goddess in frescoes, statues, and seals Women’s legal rights in marriage, divorce, and property Archaeologists divided on Crete as a matriarchy Evidence for male rulership? Conclusion Methodology Archaeomythology Components of archaeomythology: archaeology Components of archaeomythology: mythology Components of archaeomythology: linguistics Dating system used within this work Conclusion Theoretical context: matriarchy / patriarchy debates Historical background to the debates over matriarchy The twentieth century debates over matriarchy The late twentieth century/early twenty-first century debates over matriarchy The Mother Goddess of Crete Attributes and iconographic forms of the Minoan Mother Goddess The character of Minoan religion and the Minoan Mother Goddess The pantheon of deities: one Goddess or many? Minoan gods The Minoan Mother Goddess defined Conclusion Analysis of the iconography of the Mother Goddess in Crete Cretan neolithic Mother Goddess figurines The controversy surrounding the interpretation of Neolithic female figurines A new interpretation of Ucko’s ‘sexless’ figurines The Ierapetra Snake Goddess The Goddess at the Eileithyia cave at Amnisos The early Minoan period The Goddess of Myrtos The Koumasa I Goddess The Mochlos Goddess Conclusion: early Minoan Mother Goddesses The Old Palace Period, c. 2100-1700 BC The bowl of the Snake Goddess and the fruitstand of the Goddess of the lilies The New Palace Period, c. 1700-1450 BC The Snake Goddesses from the temple repositories at Knossos The Minoan frescoes The fresco in room 14 of Ayia Triadha The frescoes at Xeste 3 at Thera, Akrotiri The eruption at Thera and the arrival of the Mycenaeans The Third Palatial and Postpalatial Periods, c. 1450-1070 BC The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus The Mountain Mother seal impression The Goddesses with Upraised Arms Conclusion The role of women in Bronze Age Crete Women in Minoan frescoes Mythology and the position of women in Minoan society The law code of Gortyn and the position of women in Minoan and post-Minoan society Women’s preeminence in Minoan art Glyptic art and what it reveals about women in Minoan society Models of rulership: the paucity of images of male rulers; the images of female rulers Possible candidates for the title of Priest-King The Lily Prince Shared rulership A Hittite storm god as representative of the Minoan king? Male figures in spirally wound garments The Naster Impression Minoan art shows no male ruler, but rather, important women, priestesses or Goddesses Was Bronze Age Crete a matriarchy? Does a definition of patriarchy apply to Minoan Crete? Sanday’s, Eisler’s, Gimbutas’s, and Du’s definitions and their application to Minoan Crete Goettner-Abendroth’s definition of matriarchy at the economic level and its application to Minoan Crete Goettner-Abendroth’s definition of matriarchy at the political level and its application to Minoan Crete Goettner-Abendroth’s definition of matriarchy at the social level and its application to Minoan Crete Goettner-Abendroth’s definition of matriarchy at the spiritual level and its application to Minoan Crete Conclusion: based on Goettner-Abendroth’s definition of matriarchy, Minoan Crete was a matriarchal society References