Religious symbols and Thalassocracy

Religious symbols: labrys, horns of consecration, the bull, snakes, trees, birds

Labrys

  • Major symbol of Minoan religion, found widely across Crete

  • Labrys is not recorded in Linear A so it may not be original Minoan name

  • Found in religious settings such as Nirou Khani and Arkalochori Cave

  • Used as votive offerings often made from gold or bronze

  • Depicted in frescoes, pottery and rings, often placed between horns of consecration

  • Also carved into pillars and pottery

  • Exact significance is uncertain

  • Likely linked to bull sacrifice and religious rituals

Horns of Consecration

  • Term coined by Arthur Evans for stylised bull’s horns

  • May symbolise the crescent moon or rising sun

  • Linked to the importance of the bull in Minoan religion, representing strength and natural forces

  • Used as architectural forms on roofs or near outdoor religious areas and altars

  • Used as supports for cult objects like double axes, rhyta and branches

  • Depicted in art (frescoes, pottery, seals and larnakes)

  • Made as small votive offerings

  • Interpretation:

    • May symbolise the rising sun (solar disk)

    • Also seen in Ancient Egypt and Eastern cultures

    • Alternative to Evans’ bull worship interpretation

The Bull

  • Central role in Minoan religion and culture

  • Common in art and artefacts (vases, frescoes, seals, rhyta, statues)

  • Used in rituals, myths and votive offerings

  • Possibly associated with power and fertility

  • Bull leaping:

    • Featured in frescoes and figuries

    • Involved performers interacting with bulls in a ritualised activity

    • Location, rules, participants and significance are uncertain and debated

    • Likely had a religious/cult function, not only entertainment

Snakes

  • Important in Minoan and ancient religions

  • Symbolised fertility and renewal due to shedding skin

  • Linked to earth/underworld as they live underground

  • Associated with power through venom

  • Seen as protectors of grain supply

  • Recognised in ‘Snake Goddess’ figurines from Knossos

  • Depicted in figurines and staircases in Phaestos and snake tubes/stands in Gournia

Trees

  • Seen as symbols of life, renewal, fertility and rebirth

  • Commonly depicted in frescoes, seals and gemstones

  • Present in many Minoan cult scenes, especially on ring bezels

  • Linked to religious rituals including ecstatic dancing and branch shaking

  • ‘Tree-pulling’ may represent calling a deity or divine epiphany (Ring of Minos)

  • May be related to column worship with trees associated with outdoor shrines and columns worshipped indoors

Birds

  • Often doves and ravens in Minoan religious contexts

  • Doves are linked to epiphanies of deities

  • Depicted in frescoes and votive offerings, including on heads of goddess figures and between horns of consecration

  • Found in various religious artefacts and contexts but meaning remains unclear

  • Appears on bird rhyta, ring bezels and terracotta models

  • Seen perched on double-axe strands (Agia-Triada Sacrophagus) and on goddess figurines from Third Palatial period

Sacred Knot

  • Stripped cloth that was knotted in a loop and worn by priestesses

Source:

La Parisienne

Exposed Breasts

  • The Minoans treated the breast as a natural, non provocative part of the female form, the exposure linked to ritual contexts.

  • The exposed breasts symbolise the Mother Goddess and her nurturing role, nourishing all of life

  • Represents elite women or priestess, a high status in religious, social and economic roles.

Thalassocracy

Thalassocracy - Rule over maritime empire controlling islands/coasts through naval power and tribute by the member states to the dominant power.

Minoanisation - Cultural and economic influences and contact rather than political control

Thucydides’ view

  • Minos created a naval empire controlling the Cyclades

  • Claimed he overthrew the Karians, ended piracy and placed his sons as rulers

  • Portrays Minoans as a powerful sea-based empire

Arthur Evans

  • Accepted Thucydides’ idea of a Minoan thalassocracy

  • Influenced by Greek mythology and classical sources

  • His reconstruction of Knossos, particularly in the ‘Prince of the Lilies’ reflect this idea

Modern criticisms

  • Thucydides may have projected Athenian 5th century ideas back in time by using the ‘Minoan empire’, argued by Chester G. Starr

  • Evans was influenced by British imperial thinking, shaping his interpretation

Archaeological evidence

  • Minoan goods and influence found in Cyclades (Thera, Melos, Ayia Irini, Phylakopi, Kythera, Rhodes) → supports Starr, Cadogen and Niemer and also aligns with Thucydides’ idea of Minoan expansion through trade and contact

  • Evidence of settlements and cultural interaction including Linear A at Akrotiri → supports Cadogen and Niemer of strong Minoan presence and cultural influence

  • No clear evidence of direct political control or empire → supports modern scholars rejecting a Minoan empire in favour of trade networks and cultural influence

  • Conclusion: Bronze Age Minoan Crete likely showcased strong trade networks and cultural influence, not a fully controlled naval empire