The Bull’s Head Rhyton of Knossos is an example of a Minoan stone ritual vase from the Late Bronze age (1550 – 1500 BCE). It is a bull’s-head shaped vase with a hole in the neck and muzzle, through which liquid was poured (Heraklion). The location of the vase was in the Minoan area of ancient Greece (also known as Crete). The Bull has a lot of ceremonial and religious value in Minoan culture and art, as it was important to ancient Minoan society and is seen in many different pieces of art.
The Bull’s Head Rhyton from Knossos, which is carved out of black steatite and decorated with shell, rock, crystal, jasper, and gold, was actually too heavy to be used in areas outside of rituals (McInerney). The horns themselves were not found with the actual rhyton, as stated in the Heraklion Archaelogical Museum’s webpage, were most likely made of gilded wood. Rhytons are a type of container that holds the liquids that were used in libation ceremonies. For example, the bull’s head would hold the liquid in its neck and …show more content…
Knossos, where this particular Rhyton is from, was the largest Cretan palace. According to legend, King Minos, who was ruler over Knossos, was said to have hunted the half-man, half-bull creature called the Minotaur in the labyrinth where it lived. There was even a ceremony called ‘bull-leaping’ (or taurokathapsia) where men attempted to swing onto the back of the bull by grasping onto the horns from the front (Gardner, 89-91). Sacrificing bulls and playing games and sports, such as bull-leaping and bull wrestling, were very significant in Minoan religious festivals (Gregg). There have even been other objects, such as masks, horns, and axes, which have been found around Crete in excavations that portray or use part of the Bull (Minoan Culture). The fact that the subject of the rhyton is a bull fits the vase into this time period rather easily, since the bull was so important and
The Bull’s Head Rhyton from Knossos, which is carved out of black steatite and decorated with shell, rock, crystal, jasper, and gold, was actually too heavy to be used in areas outside of rituals (McInerney). The horns themselves were not found with the actual rhyton, as stated in the Heraklion Archaelogical Museum’s webpage, were most likely made of gilded wood. Rhytons are a type of container that holds the liquids that were used in libation ceremonies. For example, the bull’s head would hold the liquid in its neck and …show more content…
Knossos, where this particular Rhyton is from, was the largest Cretan palace. According to legend, King Minos, who was ruler over Knossos, was said to have hunted the half-man, half-bull creature called the Minotaur in the labyrinth where it lived. There was even a ceremony called ‘bull-leaping’ (or taurokathapsia) where men attempted to swing onto the back of the bull by grasping onto the horns from the front (Gardner, 89-91). Sacrificing bulls and playing games and sports, such as bull-leaping and bull wrestling, were very significant in Minoan religious festivals (Gregg). There have even been other objects, such as masks, horns, and axes, which have been found around Crete in excavations that portray or use part of the Bull (Minoan Culture). The fact that the subject of the rhyton is a bull fits the vase into this time period rather easily, since the bull was so important and