Hagia Triada (also Ayia Triada, Agia Triada, Agia Trias, , "

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

") is the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site of an ancient

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

settlement. Hagia Triada is situated on the western end of a prominent coastal ridge, with

Phaistos Phaistos ( el, Φαιστός, ; Ancient Greek: , , Minoan: PA-I-TO?http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/download/11991/4031&ved=2ahUKEwjor62y3bHoAhUEqYsKHZaZArAQFjASegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1MwIv3ekgX-SxkJrbORipd ), also transliterated as Phaestos, ...

at the eastern end and the Mesara Plain below. Hagia Triada has yielded more

Linear A Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 to 1450 BC to write the hypothesized Minoan language or languages. Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civil ...

tablets than any other

site. Important finds include the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, and three carved stone vessels, known as the "Chieftain's Cup", the "Boxer Vase", and the Harvester Vase. After the destruction of the palace at

in around 1450 BC, it was not rebuilt and Hagia Triada and its harbour settlement of Kommos took over as the local capital for south-central Crete, continuing until the 13th century BC.

Geography

Hagia Triada is in south central Crete, 30–40 meters above sea level. It lies four kilometers west of

, which is situated at the western end of the Mesara Plain. The site was not a Minoan palace but an upscale town and possibly a royal villa. After the catastrophe of 1450 BC, when the Mycenaeans attacked Crete and destroyed many Minoan settlements, the town was rebuilt and remained inhabited until the 2nd century BC. Later, a Roman villa was built at the site. Nearby are two chapels: Hagia Triada in the deserted village and Hagios Georgios, built during the Venetian period.

Archaeology

Hagia Triada, as was nearby

, was excavated from 1900 to 1908 by a group from Italian ''Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene'', directed by

Federico Halbherr Federico Halbherr (Rovereto, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 15 February 1857 – Rome, 17 July 1930) was an Italian archaeologist and epigrapher, known for his excavations of Crete. A contemporary, good friend, and trusted advisor of Arthu ...

and

Luigi Pernier Luigi Pernier (Rome, 23 November 1874 – Rhodes, 18 August 1937) was an Italian archaeologist and academic now best known for his discovery of the Disc of Phaistos.Savignoni, Paribeni --> The site includes a town and a miniature "palace", an ancient drainage system servicing both, and Early Minoan tholos tombs. The settlement was in use, in various forms, from ''Early Minoan I'' until the fires of Late Minoan IB. Archaeologists unearthed the famous and unique Hagia Triada sarcophagus painted with illuminating scenes of funerary rituals. It is the only limestone sarcophagus of its era discovered to date and the only sarcophagus with a series of narrative scenes of

funerary ritual. However, it is possible that the Minoan religious beliefs were mixed with the beliefs of the

Mycenea Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. T ...

ns, who captured the island in the 14th century BC. It was originally used for the burial of a prince. In the center of one of the long sides of the sarcophagus is the scene of a bull sacrifice. On the left of the second long side, a woman who is wearing a crown is carrying two vessels. By her side, a man dressed in a long robe is playing a seven-stringed

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

. This is the earliest known picture of the classical-Greek lyre. Harvester Rhyton

In front of them, another woman is emptying the contents of a vessel—perhaps the blood of the sacrificed bull—into a second vessel, possibly as an invocation to the soul of the deceased. It seems that the blood of the bull was used for the regeneration of the reappearing dead. This scene is reminiscent of a description of Homer, where the dead needed blood.F.Schachermeyer (1972), Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta.

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...

Stuttgart, p. 172, 185 On the left, three men holding animals and a boat are approaching a male figure without limbs; he presumably represents the dead man receiving gifts. The boat is offered for his journey to the next world . According to a Minoan belief, beyond the sea, there was the island of the happy dead

Elysion Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...

, where the departed souls could have a different but happier existence.

Rhadamanthys In Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus () or Rhadamanthys ( grc, Ῥαδάμανθυς) was a wise king of Crete. As the son of Zeus and Europa he was considered a demigod. His name means "showing stern and inflexible judgement". He later became one o ...

was the judge of the Elysion, and this idea probably predates some later

Orphic Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus ...

beliefs. It seems that, in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, some festivals corresponded to later Greek festivals. An agrarian procession is depicted on the "Harvesters' Vase", or "Vase of the Winnowers", which was found in Hagia Triada. The vase is dated from the last phase of the neopalatial period (LM II). Men are walking in twos with rods on their shoulders. The leader is dressed in a priestly robe with a fringe and is carrying a stick. A group of musicians accompany with song, and one of them holds the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian

sistrum A sistrum (plural: sistra or Latin sistra; from the Greek ''seistron'' of the same meaning; literally "that which is being shaken", from ''seiein'', "to shake") is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient ...

.F.Schachermeyer (1967) p. 144

References

{{Authority control Heraklion (regional unit) Minoan sites in Crete Populated places in ancient Greece Former populated places in Greece Individual vases

Geography

Archaeology

See also

References