Eileithyia Cave (also the Cave of Eileithyia) was a sacred cave dedicated to the goddess of childbirth,

Eileithyia Eileithyia or Ilithyiae or Ilithyia (; grc-gre, Εἰλείθυια; (''Eleuthyia'') in Crete, also (''Eleuthia'') or (''Elysia'') in Laconia and Messene, and (''Eleuthō'') in literature)Nilsson Vol I, p. 313 was the Greek goddess of ch ...

, on the island of

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, ...

, that was used from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

era to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, with worship flourishing in the Late Minoan period. It has been suggested that rock formations within the cave resemble female figures, most prominently a stalagmite in the centre that appears as a standing female.

Geography

The cave is located one kilometer south of the town of Amnisos.

Mythology

The cave is mentioned in Odysseus's Cretan narrative to

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...

in the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

Archaeology

Eileithyia Cave was occupied by prehistoric human settlers from the

period until around 400 BCE. The archaeological finds made in the cave are on display at the Iraklion Museum and the Archaeological Museum of Iraklion. Pottery ranging from the Neolithic to Roman periods has been discovered in the cave, with the most significant number of finds coming from the Minoan era. Four anthropomorphic vases from the Orientalizing period, which could be of Greek origin were found in the sanctuary. They are similar to Egyptian vases that show

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

nursing her infant son Horus. The sanctuary is the largest collection of

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

and Egyptianizing artifacts on Crete. The cave was discovered by Christoforos Anerrapsis of Candia.

References

External links

* http://www.ellada.com/creteiraklion.html Neolithic sites in Crete Landforms of Heraklion (regional unit) Minoan sites in Crete Ancient caves of Greece Landforms of Crete Mycenaean Crete Mycenaean sites {{Crete-geo-stub