April 03, 2005
April 3 Photos: Peter
A Minoan Lines ship very much like the Knossos Palace, which brought us from Piraeus to Crete in glitzy style last night. The ship made use of reflective faux marble, mirrors, and predominant apricot coloring to complete the effect.
Welcome to Crete! A view from the top of Heraklion’s city walls over houses and shops to the sea.
Professor Rutter rapidly recounts two thousand years of Minoan prehistory just before we enter the Heraklion Archaeological Museum
Some of the girls looking at Neolithic stone sculptures of human figures.
Professor Rutter answers a question while Caleb and Nkosi examine a slotted spearhead, possibly used by the Minoans to hunt boars.
An elaborate bull head rhyton. The rhyton is a vessel designed with a large opening at the top and a small opening at the bottom. In this vessel, the small opening is the mouth, while the large opening is on the back. It is believed that they were used to transport liquid short distances by covering the large hole with a hand and then let out, much like moving liquid from cup to cup using your finger over one end of a plastic drinking straw.
Professor Rutter points out details on a house model which was found at Archanes and dates from the 17th Century BC. This small, clay model provides us with a great deal of information about Minoan building techniques, such as window shaping and the placement of structural columns on upper floors.
Laura cranes her neck to see two Minoan double-headed axes on large wooden hafts. The axes were originally mounted much as they are depicted here and are thought to have had ritual importance to the Minoans.
Abby examines the harvester vase from Hagia Triadha. The vase is made of steatite and depicts men singing as they come back from the harvest.
Katherine provides human scale for a large pithos jar. Pithoi were used by the Minoans to store produce such as olive oil underneath the palaces
Professor Rutter recounting the tale of Eleftheris Benizelos, a Cretan political figure of the early 20th Century. Benizelos pushed for Tα Mεγάλi Iδέα, The Good Idea, which was a plan to unite all speakers of Greek in the Aegean world under one nation.
Just a handful of the beautiful wildflowers we were walking past all day. From what we’ve been told, they should only get better as we go inland, so expect to see some spectacular shots in the next week or so.
Professor Rutter discussing Heraklion’s impressive 15th Century Venetian walls. The city wall began a small distance in from the coast, and buildings are now to be found on both sides of it.
The group examines the simple grave of Cretan writer Nikos Kazantsakis. Kazantsakis wrote a number of well-known novels, including Zorba the Greek.
Mount Iuktas as seen from atop the Venetian walls. The Minoans believed this head-like rock formation to represent the head of Zeus; we were reminded of New Hampshire’s Old Man in the Mountain.