Lustral basin

Last updated February 23, 2024

The lustral basin is an architectural form used in Minoan architecture. Consisting of a small sunken room reached by a staircase, they are characteristic of elite architecture of the Neopalatial period (c. 1750-1470 BC).

Description

Lustral basins are small square chambers sunk into the floor of the surrounding room. They are entered via a descending L-shaped staircase and are open at the top, allowing their occupants to be viewed from above.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Lustral basins are found at sites throughout Crete as well as at Akrotiri in the Cyclades. However, no examples have been found on the mainland.^[6]

Lustral basins were common in elite buildings such as Minoan palaces and villas. Each palace had at least one lustral basin, with Phaistos having four of them.^[3]^[4]^[5] At Knossos, one is adjacent to the throne room, while another is located near the north entrance.^[7] Although they are commonly associated with palaces, lustral basins were common in other elite buildings. Known examples include the Villa of the Lilies at Amnisos, two houses at Tylissos, and several of the houses surrounding the palace of Knossos.^[8]

Lustral basins at various sites

Lustral basin at the Throne Room, Knossos
North Lustral Basin, Knossos
Palace at Malia

History

Lustral basins are characteristic of the Neopalatial period. One earlier example from the Protopalatial period is known from Building A in Quartier Mu at Malia. This building contains early antecedents of other architectural forms that would become standard in elite architecture of the Neopalatial period.^[9]

Lustral basins were added to the palaces during the renovations that marked the beginning of the Neopalatial period (MM III, c. 1750–1700 BC).^[10]

Lustral basins fell out of use and were filled in during the LM IB period (c. 1625–1470 BC), simultaneous with an island-wide change in religious practice that also saw the abandonment of peak sanctuaries.^[3]^[4] In some instances, it is not clear whether an old lustral basin was filled in or whether the level-floor lustral basin had become an architectural feature in its own right. Examples include a putative filled-in in the villa at Nirou Khani as well as one adjacent to the Queen's Megaron at Knossos.^[11]

Filled-in lustral basins

House C, Tylissos
Villa of the Lilies, Amnisos

Function

What lustral basins were used for is unknown. They are presumed to have been used for rituals, in particular given that at least some were decorated with religious-themed frescoes. However, their exact function is unknown. The term "lustral basin" was coined by Arthur Evans, who found unguent flasks in a lustral basin at Knossos and inferred that it had been used for annointing rituals. Subsequent researchers have interpreted them as forerunners of the classical-era adyton or as the locus of an initiation ritual. An alternate hypothesis regards them as baths, though they lack drains and show no signs of water weathering.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[12]

When Evans excavated the Throne Room Lustral Basin at Knossos, he initially mistook it for an impluvium and then for a culinary fishtank. Given local aquaculture, he speculated that during its time of use, the lustral basin was full of eels.^[13]

Notes

↑ Shelmerdine, Cynthia (2008). "Plate Section". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. Plate 6.4 and caption thereof. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.021. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.
↑ Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.
1 2 3 4 Hitchcock, Louise (2012). "Minoan Architecture". In Cline, Eric (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford University Press. pp. 189–199. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199873609.013.0014. ISBN 978-0199873609.
1 2 3 4 Lupack, Susan (2012). "Crete". In Cline, Eric (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford University Press. pp. 251–262. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199873609.013.0019. ISBN 978-0199873609.
1 2 3 Preziosi, Donald; Hitchcock, Louise (1999). Aegean. Oxford University Press. p. 94,100,125–126. ISBN 9780192842084.
↑ Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.
↑ McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 70, 73, 77.
↑ McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 94–96, 100.
↑ McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 64–65.
↑ Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. pp. 156–157. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.
↑ McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 100.
↑ Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 141,148. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.
↑ Kienzle, Peter (1998). Conservation and Reconstruction at the Palace of Minos at Knossos (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of York.

Related Research Articles

The 1450s BC was a decade lasting from January 1, 1459, BC to December 31, 1450, BC.

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and its energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe.

Knossos is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major center of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on the outskirts of Heraklion, and remains a popular tourist destination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phaistos</span> Ancient Greek city in Crete

Phaistos ), also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south central Crete. It is notable for the remains of a Minoan palace and the surrounding town.

Cycladic culture was a Bronze Age culture found throughout the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. In chronological terms, it is a relative dating system for artifacts which serves as a roughly contemporary dating system to Helladic chronology and Minoan chronology (Crete) during the same period of time.

Gournia is the site of a Minoan palace complex on the island of Crete, Greece, excavated in the early 20th century by the American archaeologist, Harriet Boyd-Hawes. The original name for the site is unknown. The modern name comes from the abundant hollow vessels found all over the site. Gournia lies in the municipality of Ierapetra in the prefecture of Lasithi.

The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large tholos or beehive tomb constructed between 1300 and 1250 BCE in Mycenae, Greece.

Amnisos, also Amnissos and Amnisus, is the current but unattested name given to a Bronze Age settlement on the north shore of Crete that was used as a port to the palace city of Knossos. It appears in Greek literature and mythology from the earliest times, but its origin is far earlier, in prehistory. The historic settlement belonged to a civilization now called Minoan. Excavations at Amnissos in 1932 uncovered a villa that included the "House of the Lilies", which was named for the lily theme that was depicted in a wall fresco.

The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera circa 1600 BCE. It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with subsequent earthquakes and paleotsunamis. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of between 6 and 7, it resulted in the ejection of approximately 28–41 km³ (6.7–9.8 cu mi) of dense-rock equivalent (DRE), the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events in human history. Since tephra from the Minoan eruption serves as a marker horizon in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean, its precise date is of high importance and has been fiercely debated among archaeologists and volcanologists for decades, without coming to a definite conclusion.

Minoan chronology is a framework of dates used to divide the history of the Minoan civilization. Two systems of relative chronology are used for the Minoans. One is based on sequences of pottery styles, while the other is based on the architectural phases of the Minoan palaces. These systems are often used alongside one another.

Minoan religion was the religion of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization of Crete. In the absence of readable texts from most of the period, modern scholars have reconstructed it almost totally on the basis of archaeological evidence of such as Minoan paintings, statuettes, vessels for rituals and seals and rings. Minoan religion is considered to have been closely related to Near Eastern ancient religions, and its central deity is generally agreed to have been a goddess, although a number of deities are now generally thought to have been worshipped. Prominent Minoan sacred symbols include the bull and the horns of consecration, the labrys double-headed axe, and possibly the serpent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horns of Consecration</span> Symbol used in the Minoan civilisation

"Horns of Consecration" is a term coined by Sir Arthur Evans for the symbol, ubiquitous in Minoan civilization, that is usually thought to represent the horns of the sacred bull. Sir Arthur Evans concluded, after noting numerous examples in Minoan and Mycenaean contexts, that the Horns of Consecration were "a more or less conventionalised article of ritual furniture derived from the actual horns of the sacrificial oxen".

Kamares ware is a distinctive type of Minoan pottery produced in Crete during the Minoan period, dating to MM IA. By the LM IA period, or the end of the First Palace Period, these wares decline in distribution and "vitality". They have traditionally been interpreted as a prestige artifact, possibly used as an elite table-ware.

Minoan art is the art produced by the Bronze Age Aegean Minoan civilization from about 3000 to 1100 BC, though the most extensive and finest survivals come from approximately 2300 to 1400 BC. It forms part of the wider grouping of Aegean art, and in later periods came for a time to have a dominant influence over Cycladic art. Since wood and textiles have decomposed, the best-preserved surviving examples of Minoan art are its pottery, palace architecture, small sculptures in various materials, jewellery, metal vessels, and intricately-carved seals.

Minoan palaces were massive building complexes built on Crete during the Bronze Age. They are often considered emblematic of the Minoan civilization and are modern tourist destinations. Archaeologists generally recognize five structures as palaces, namely those at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Galatas, and Zakros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phylakopi</span>

Phylakopi, located at the northern coast of the island of Milos, is one of the most important Bronze Age settlements in the Aegean and especially in the Cyclades. The importance of Phylakopi is in its continuity throughout the Bronze Age and because of this, it is the type-site for the investigation of several chronological periods of the Aegean Bronze Age.

The Throne Room was a chamber built for ceremonial purposes during the 15th century BC inside the palatial complex of Knossos, Crete, in Greece. It is found at the heart of the Bronze Age palace of Knossos, one of the main centers of the Minoan civilization and is considered the oldest throne room in Europe.

Kavousi Vronda is an archaeological site in eastern Crete, Greece, located about 1.25 km south of the modern village of Kavousi, a historic village in the municipality of Ierapetra in the prefecture of Lasithi.

The Tomb of Aegisthus is a Mycenaean tholos tomb located near the citadel of Mycenae, Greece. It was constructed in the Late Helladic IIA period, approximately 1510–1450 BCE, and rediscovered in the 19th century. It was first excavated by Winifred Lamb in 1922, as part of a project led by Alan Wace.

Christine E. Morris is an Irish classical scholar, who is the Andrew A. David Professor in Greek Archaeology and History at Trinity College Dublin. An expert on religion in the Aegean Bronze Age, her work uses archaeological evidence to examine the practice and experience of belief. She is a member of the Standing Committee for Archaeology for the Royal Irish Academy.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Shelmerdine, Cynthia (2008). "Plate Section". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. Plate 6.4 and caption thereof. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.021. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.

[2] Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.

[HitchcockHandbook-3] 1 2 3 4 Hitchcock, Louise (2012). "Minoan Architecture". In Cline, Eric (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford University Press. pp. 189–199. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199873609.013.0014. ISBN 978-0199873609.

[LupackHandbook-4] 1 2 3 4 Lupack, Susan (2012). "Crete". In Cline, Eric (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford University Press. pp. 251–262. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199873609.013.0019. ISBN 978-0199873609.

[prezhitchLB-5] 1 2 3 Preziosi, Donald; Hitchcock, Louise (1999). Aegean. Oxford University Press. p. 94,100,125–126. ISBN 9780192842084.

[6] Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.

[7] McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 70, 73, 77.

[8] McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 94–96, 100.

[9] McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 64–65.

[10] Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. pp. 156–157. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.

[11] McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 100.

[12] Younger, John; Rehak, Paul (2008). "The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete". In Shelmerdine, Cynthia (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 141,148. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.007. ISBN 978-0-521-89127-1.

[13] Kienzle, Peter (1998). Conservation and Reconstruction at the Palace of Minos at Knossos (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of York.

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]