Archaeopaedia: Minoan Religion

The religion of the Bronze Age in general is rather elusive and can only be explored through archaeological finds. Excavations of shrines and sacred locations and images in art are some of the best sources for Minoan religion, however such sources are often open to numerous, and conflicting interpretations. Since its initial discovery in the early twentieth century, the cultic and ritual sphere of the Minoan culture has been viewed in numerous ways, with theories ranging from monotheism worshipping a great mother goddess to an early version of the Classical Greek pantheon and everything in between. The discovery of several places of cult ritual have revealed some of activities that were once associated with the worship of the deities of the island. By piecing together aspects of ritual practice along with images of the sacred and the divine, a fair amount of Minoan religion can be reconstructed from its archaeological remains, though the debate regarding the exact nature of their belief system is far from over.

Sir Arthur Evans, the discoverer and excavator of the Minoan palace of Knossos, was the first to ponder aspects of the Minoan religion. Based on a series of female figurines found at the site and analogy with the cults of the ancient Near East, Evans hypothesized that the Minoans worshipped the Great Mother, a female goddess who embodied fertility, fertility of the earth, of the animal world and of humans. In addition to being a fertility goddess, she was a protectress of the people. Her cult also involved two other figures that of her youthful consort, and her daughter, though neither appear with the same prominence or frequency as the Mother. Evans envisioned an almost monotheistic worship of the “Goddess,” who possessed different natures each depicted in a different way. As a protectress of house and home she was depicted with snakes, as the “Mistress of Animals” she appeared flanked by two beasts, sometimes lions and other times deer. She also appeared as a goddess of the land, often shown with crocuses and/or poppies. Evans interpreted these different depictions as different aspects of the same goddess, who encompassed all parts of life among the Minoans. This interpretation was based on an analogy with the Early Bronze Age settlement of Catal Hoyuk in present day Turkey. Catal Hoyuk and several other Near Eastern sites also demonstrated a near obsession with female figurines, and it was argued by Evans that the Minoan people of Crete originally came from this Near Eastern tradition and brought the worship of the “Great Mother” with them.

Uploaded Image Mistress of Animals

Later scholars disagreed with Evans’ interpretation of the Minoan material. Martin Nilsson viewed the religion of Bronze Age Crete as a fusion of Near Eastern influences, such as the “Mother Goddess,” and Indo-European influences form mainland Greece and beyond. His examination of the various iconographic images from Minoan contexts led to the division of the “Great Mother” into several other goddesses, each one corresponding to one aspect of the goddess’ nature. There were the Snake Goddess, the protectress of the house and palace, the Mistress of Animals, a vegetation goddess, the Mistress of Nature, etc. The Minoan pantheon that Nilsson described consisted primarily of these goddesses, along with a few lesser male gods, the Master of Animals, only secondary to the Mistress, the young lover of one of the goddesses, and her son. Nilsson emphasized the nature aspect of the Minoan religion, so common among agricultural societies. He drew attention to the tradition of a man who died and was reborn each year as symbolic of the yearly renewal of the earth and nature, a tradition associated with both the consort and son of the Goddess of Nature. While Nilsson’s view of Minoan religion is no longer as widely accepted, it is generally thought to better represent the beliefs of the people than Evans’ initial interpretation.

Uploaded Image Faience figurine of the Snake Goddess

Uploaded Image Women gathering crocus blossoms for the Mistress of Nature

Uploaded Image Image of the Master of Animals from a Minoan stamp seal

Several shrines dating to the Bronze Age have been found on Crete and reveal a great deal about the ritual practices of the Minoan worshippers. A distinctive feature of Minoan sacred sites is the frequency of outdoor or natural shrines. The most important shrines appear to be cave and open-air peak shrines, set away from settlements, although religious activities were also carried out both in small household shrines and at tombs. Each of the different classes of shrines featured different types of cult and ritual, as evidenced by the different classes of artifacts found in them. Typical religious activities included the giving of votive offerings, sacrifice, processions, dance, and even attempts to bring about the epiphany of a god. There is no secure evidence for the existence of cult statues, though many figurines have been interpreted along these lines. Offerings of votive figurines and other clay models were popular at peak shrines and other open-air sites, while ceramics vessels appear to have been far more common in cave shrines.

Open-air shines were of two primarily types, the peak shrine and the tree shrine. Peak shrines appear to have been the most communal of all religious sites. Many such shrines feature large fires used for the sacrifice of animals and the dedication of other votives. There is a certain level of variation seen in the construction of peak shrines. Some feature stone altars and most are terraced towards the top of the mountain to provide stability. Two well-documented hill-top shrines include Petsofa and Iuktas. The tree shrines were usually of a simple construction, a wall enclosing a growing tree. Several images depict women dancing around the tree and ritually shaking its branches.

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The cave shrines are usually very simple, with little architectural modification within them. Both ritual offerings of ceramics and figurines, as well as the remains of animal sacrifice have been found in such shrines. A famous example of a Cretan cave shrine is the Cave of Eileithyia, which was a site of veneration from the Neolithic period through the Roman period on the island. The shrine itself is centered around a natural formation that closely resembles the figure of a woman.

Several shrines within buildings have also been identified. There are the small household shrines, usually to the Snake Goddess. But there is also evidence of larger cult buildings, sometimes associated with the palace or located within it (see Minoan Architecture). Some argue that these shrines were the site of animal sacrifice and offerings of burn meat and blood to the gods. The construction of fairly small buildings for this purpose suggests that such rituals were carried out by a much smaller segment of the population than at either open-air shrines or cave shrines. The close connection of the cult buildings, the sphere of the priestly class, with the palace has often been used to support the theory that the Minoans were ruled by a class of priest-kings (see Minoan Society and Way of Life). During the New Palace period on Crete, there appears to have been a greater emphasis placed on such indoor cult centers than had been true in the past.

References

Biers, William R. The Archaeology of Greece. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996.
Dickinson, Oliver. The Aegean Bronze Age. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Fitton, J. Lesley. Minoans. London: The British Museum Press, 2002.
Nilsson, Martin P. The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek Religion. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup, 1950.

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