Two Minoan snake goddess figurines were excavated in 1903 in the
Minoan palace
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 palac ...
at
Knossos
Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...
in the Greek island of
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
. The decades-long excavation programme led by the English archaeologist
Arthur Evans
Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age.
The first excavations at the Minoan palace of Knossos on the List of islands of Greece, Gree ...
greatly expanded knowledge and awareness of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan palaces at K ...
, but Evans has subsequently been criticised for overstatements and excessively speculative ideas, both in terms of his "restoration" of specific objects, including the most famous of these figures, and the ideas about the Minoans he drew from the archaeology. The figures are now on display at the
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is a museum located in Heraklion on Crete. It is one of the largest museums in Greece, and the best in the world for Minoan art, as it contains by far the most important and complete collection of artefacts of t ...
(AMH).
The Knossos figurines, both significantly incomplete, date to near the end of the
neo-palatial period of
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan palaces at K ...
, around 1600 BCE. It was Evans who called the larger of his pair of figurines a "Snake Goddess", the smaller a "Snake Priestess"; since then, it has been debated whether Evans was right, or whether both figurines depict priestesses, or both depict the same deity or distinct deities.
The combination of elaborate clothes that leave the breasts completely bare, and "snake-wrangling", attracted considerable publicity, not to mention various fakes, and the smaller figure in particular remains a popular icon for Minoan art and religion, now also generally referred to as a "Snake Goddess". But archaeologists have found few comparable images, and a
snake goddess A snake goddess is a goddess associated with a snake theme.
Examples include:
* Meretseger ("She Who Loves Silence"), an Egyptian snake goddess
* Minoan snake goddess figurines, Minoan archaeological artifacts
*Medusa (to guard, to protect), a Gree ...
plays little part in current thinking about the cloudy topic of
Minoan religion
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 such as Minoa ...
. Several scholars have also argued that these figurines are not really holding snakes in their hands, or as many snakes as Evans thought, but some other items.
Knossos figurines
The two Knossos snake goddess figurines were found by Evans's excavators in one of a group of stone-lined and lidded
cist
In archeology, a cist (; also kist ;
ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...
s Evans called the "Temple Repositories", since they contained a variety of objects that were presumably no longer required for use, perhaps after a fire. The figurines are made of
faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...
, a crushed
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
-paste material which after firing gives a true
vitreous finish with bright colors and a lustrous sheen. This material symbolized the renewal of life in old
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, therefore it was used in the funeral cult and in the sanctuaries.
The larger of these figures has snakes crawling over her arms and up to her "tall cylindrical crown", at the top of which a snake's head rears up. The figure lacked the body below the waist, one arm, and part of the crown. She has prominent bare breasts, with what seems to be one or more snakes winding round them. Because of the missing pieces, it is not clear if it is one or more snakes around her arms. Her dress includes a thick belt with a "sacred knot".
The smaller figure, as restored, holds two snakes in her raised hands, and the figure on her head-dress is a cat or
panther
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards
***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...
. However, as excavated, she lacked a head and the
proper left
Proper right and proper left are conceptual terms used to unambiguously convey relative direction when describing an image or other object. The "proper right" hand of a figure is the hand that would be regarded by that figure as its right hand. ...
arm was missing below the elbow. The head was recreated by Evans and one of his restorers. The crown was an incomplete fragment in the same pit, and the cat/panther was another separate piece, which Evans only decided belonged to the figure some time later, partly because there seemed to be matching fittings on the crown and cat. Recent scholars seem somewhat more ready to accept that the hat and cat belong together than that either or both belong to the rest of the figure.
A third figure, intermediate in size, is broken off at the waist, but the lower part is comparable. The cist also contained another arm that might have held a snake.
Other Minoan figures
Another figurine now in Berlin, made of bronze, has on her head what may be three snakes, or just tresses of hair. She seems to be a priestess or worshipper rather than a deity, as she is stooped slightly forward, and making the Minoan worship gesture of a
facepalm
A facepalm is the physical gesture of placing one's hand across one's face, lowering one's face into one's hand or hands or covering or closing one's eyes. The gesture is often exaggerated by giving the motion more force and making a slapping noi ...
with one hand and the other brought up to the chest or, in this case, the throat. The one breast visible has a prominent nipple, so is presumably intended to be bare. This is probably
Late Minoan
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 architect ...
I, rather later than the Knossos figures.
[Hood, 112][
Later still are some terracotta ]votive offering
A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
s, probably representing the goddess rather than humans, in at least one case "snake-wrangling" and with snakes rising from the diadem or headress. This type of figure often has attributes rising from the headress, typified by the Poppy goddess (AMH).
Fakes
The tremendous impact of the Knossos figures, once published by Evans and in a book by the Italian doctor Angelo Mosso
Angelo Mosso (30 May 1846 – 24 November 1910) was a 19th-century Italian physiologist who invented the first neuroimaging technique, known as 'human circulation balance'.
Mosso began his groundbreaking work by recording the pulsations of the h ...
, quickly led to ingenious fakes. A figure in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
with an ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
body and gold snakes twined around the arms is now generally regarded as a fake. It was bought by the museum in 1914.
Another figure, in the Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
in Baltimore, is a small steatite
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in subdu ...
bare-breasted female figurine with a snake engraved around her headdress, and holes pierced through her clenched fists, presumably to suggest these held snakes. This is also now regarded as a fake. It was bought by Henry Walters
Henry Walters (September 26, 1848 – November 30, 1931) was noted as an art collector and philanthropist, a founder of the Walters Art Gallery (now the Walters Art Museum) in Baltimore, Maryland, which he donated to the city in his 1931 will f ...
from a dealer in Paris in 1929, and left to the museum in 1931.
File:Ivory and Gold Cretan Statuette, Boston Museum of Art.JPG, The Boston ivory and gold figure, probably a fake, pre-1914. Gold snakes coil round the arms.
File:Minoan - Snake Goddess - Walters 23196.jpg, Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
stone figure, probably a fake, pre-1929. A snake winds round the headdress and the hands are pierced as if to hold snakes.
Interpretations
Emily Bonney regards the figures as reflective of Syrian religion which had a brief impact on Crete, when "the elites at Knossos emulated Syrian iconography as an assertion of their access to exotic knowledge and control of trade."
The figurines are probably (according to Burkert) related to the Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
traditions regarding women and domesticity. The figurines have also been interpreted as showing a mistress of animals-type goddess and as a precursor to Athena Parthenos
The statue of ''Athena Parthenos'' () was a monumental chryselephantine sculpture of the goddess Athena. Attributed to Phidias and dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, it was an offering from the city of Athens to Athena, its tutelary deity. The ...
, who is also associated with snakes.
The serpent is often symbolically associated with the renewal of life because it sheds its skin periodically. A similar belief existed in the ancient Mesopotamian
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary o ...
s and Semites
Semitic people or Semites is a term for an ethnic, cultural or racial group[Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...]
. However, Martin P. Nilsson noticed that in the Minoan religion the snake was the protector of the house,[ as it later appears also in Greek religion. Within the Greek Dionysiac cult it signified wisdom and was the symbol of fertility.][
Barry Powell suggested that the "snake goddess" reduced in legend into a folklore heroine was ]Ariadne
In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...
(whose name might mean "utterly pure" or "the very holy one"), who is often depicted surrounded by Maenads
In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the ''thiasus''.
Their name, which comes from :wikt:μαίνομαι#Ancient Greek, μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to ...
and satyrs
In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. Early artistic represen ...
. Hans Georg Wunderlich
Hans Georg Wunderlich (19 January 1928 – 28 May 1974) was a German geologist.
Life and work
Wunderlich studied geology in Bonn and Göttingen. In 1952 he was awarded his doctorate in Göttingen (''Contributions to the geology of the Northern H ...
related the snake goddess with the Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n Astarte
Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...
(''virgin daughter''). She was the goddess of fertility and sexuality and her worship was connected with an orgiastic cult. Her temples were decorated with serpentine motifs. In a related Greek myth Europa
Europa may refer to:
Places
* Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace
* Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro
* Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development
* Europa Cliffs, Alexan ...
, who is sometimes identified with Astarte in ancient sources, was a Phoenician princess whom Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
Zeus is the child ...
abducted and carried to Crete.[ (First British edition, published 1975 by Souvenir Press Ltd., London.)] Evans tentatively linked the snake goddess with the Egyptian snake goddess Wadjet
Wadjet (; "Green One"), known to the Greek world as Uto (; ) or Buto (; ) among other renderings including Wedjat, Uadjet, and Udjo, was originally the ancient Egyptian Tutelary deity, local goddess of the city of Dep or Buto in Lower Egypt, ...
but did not pursue this connection. Statuettes similar to the "snake goddess" type identified as "priest of Wadjet" and "magician" were found in Egypt.
While the statuette's true function is somewhat unclear, her exposed and amplified breasts suggest that she is probably some sort of fertility figure. The figurines may illustrate the fashion of dress of Minoan women, however, it is also possible that bared breasts represented a sign of mourning. Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
gives a literary description of this kind of mourning, and this was also observed by Herodotus
Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
among Egyptian women.
The snake goddess's Minoan
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...
name may be related with ''A-sa-sa-ra'', a possible interpretation of inscriptions found in Linear A
Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 BC to 1450 BC. Linear A was the primary script used in Minoan palaces, palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It evolved into Linear B, ...
texts. Although Linear A is not yet deciphered, Palmer relates tentatively the inscription ''a-sa-sa-ra-me'' which seems to have accompanied goddesses, with the Hittite ''išhaššara'', which means "mistress".
Emily Bonney argues that the goddess isn’t holding the snakes at all, and thus could not be seen as a ‘Snake Goddess’. Instead, “she stands with arms raised, holding either end of what appears to be a long cord that hangs nearly to her feet”. This fits well with the Syrian iconographic tradition of similar images as in the Figure 10 of her article. Citing Nanno Marinatos
Nanno (Ourania) Marinatos (Greek: Ναννώ (Ουρανία) Μαρινάτου; born 1950) is Professor Emerita of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, whose research focuses on the Minoan civilisati ...
, she argues that these images were meant to represent the goddess opening her skirt to display her sexuality.
According to Bonney,
: “In any case, HM 65 vans' famous reconstructed statuetteis not holding a snake, but a spirally-striped object that could not have been a snake, as Evans knew. ... eknew that snakes never have ‘peppermint stripes’. Indeed the textured surface of the upper original portion of the ‘serpent’ seems to reflect the craftsman’s intent to depict a twisted object such as a rope or cord.”
Sacral knot
Both goddesses have a knot with a projecting looped cord between their breasts. Evans noticed that these are analogous to the ''sacral knot'', his name for a knot with a loop of fabric above and sometimes fringed ends hanging down below. Numerous such symbols in ivory, faience, painted in frescoes or engraved in seals sometimes combined with the symbol of the double-edged axe or labrys
''Labrys'' () is, according to Plutarch (''Quaestiones Graecae'' 2.302a), the Lydian language, Lydian word for the Axe#Components, double-bitted axe. In Greek it was called (''pélekys''). The plural of ''labrys'' is ''labryes'' ().
Etymology ...
which was the most important Minoan
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...
religious symbol.[ Such symbols were found in ]Minoan
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...
and Mycenaean sites. It is believed that the ''sacral knot'' was the symbol of holiness on human figures or cult-objects.[ Its combination with the double-axe can be compared with the Egyptian ]ankh
The ankh or key of life is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol used to represent the word for "life" and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself.
The ankh has a T-shape topped by a droplet-shaped loop. It was used in writing as a tri ...
(eternal life), or with the tyet
The tyet (), sometimes called the knot of Isis or girdle of Isis, is an ancient Egyptian symbol that came to be connected with the goddess Isis. Its hieroglyphic depiction is catalogued as V39 in Gardiner's sign list.
History
In many respects ...
(welfare/life) a symbol of Isis
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
(the knot of Isis).
Art
The 1979 feminist artwork ''The Dinner Party
''The Dinner Party'' is an installation artwork by American feminist artist Judy Chicago. There are 39 elaborate place settings on a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine, ...
'' by Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...
features a place setting for a "Snake Goddess".
Gallery
File:Minoan figurine praying woman, 16 c BC, AS Berlin, Misc. 8092, 144324.jpg, Bronze Minoan figure in Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, LM I, probably a worshiper, with either snakes or tresses of hair.
File:Sacred serpent vessel, Knossos, 1700-1600 BC, AMH, 145169.jpg, Pot, probably a stand for rhyton
A ''rhyton'' (: ''rhytons'' or, following the Greek plural, ''rhyta'') is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table; in other words, a cup. A ...
s, with snake, Knossos, 1700-1600 BC, AMH
File:Minoischer Siegelring 03a.jpg, Gold ring & blow-up. Four women with similar dress. The wavy line about the woman at far right has been called a snake.
File:Psira Fresko Frauenfigur 01.jpg, Largely reconstructed relief fresco of a (?) goddess from Psira; one of the few figures with comparable bodices
See also
*Ishtar
Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
*Wadjet
Wadjet (; "Green One"), known to the Greek world as Uto (; ) or Buto (; ) among other renderings including Wedjat, Uadjet, and Udjo, was originally the ancient Egyptian Tutelary deity, local goddess of the city of Dep or Buto in Lower Egypt, ...
*Gorgon
The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to sto ...
(female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes in Greek mythology)
*Maenads
In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the ''thiasus''.
Their name, which comes from :wikt:μαίνομαι#Ancient Greek, μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to ...
(female snake-handling followers and maddened victims of Dionysos)
*Master of Animals
The Master of Animals, Lord of Animals, or Mistress of the Animals is a motif in ancient art showing a human between and grasping two confronted animals. The motif is very widespread in the art of Mesopotamia. The figure may be female or male ...
*Matriarchal religion
A matriarchal religion is a religion that emphasizes a goddess or multiple goddesses as central figures of worship and spiritual authority. The term is most often used to refer to theories of prehistoric matriarchal religions that were proposed b ...
*Snake worship
Snake worship is devotion to serpent deities. The tradition is nearly universal in the religions and mythologies of ancient cultures, where snakes were seen as the holders of knowledge, strength, and renewal.
Near East Ancient Mesopotamia
Anc ...
(in Hindu mythology)
* Revadim Asherah
Notes
References
*"Boston"
"Statuette of a snake goddess"
Boston MFA page - "about 1600–1500 B.C. or early 20th century"
*German, Senta
"Snake Goddess"
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2006 by Sal Khan. Its goal is to create a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short video lessons. Its website also includes suppl ...
* Hood, Sinclair, ''The Arts in Prehistoric Greece'', 1978, Penguin (Penguin/Yale History of Art),
*
Further reading
*Gere, Cathy. ''Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism'', 2009, University of Chicago Press.
*Lapatin, Kenneth, ''Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire, and the Forging of History'', 2002, Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0618144757
External links
{{Minoan civilization
17th-century BC works
1903 archaeological discoveries
Minoan archaeological artifacts
2nd-millennium BC sculptures
Greek mythology
Mother goddesses
Minoan religion
snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
Snake goddesses
Legendary serpents
Sculpture forgeries
Sculptures of goddesses
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
Sculptures of snakes
Astarte
Ariadne
Archaeological discoveries in Crete
Sculptures of women in Greece