Ægean archæeology; an introduction to the archæeology of prehistoric Greece . mita-tion trumpets of clay, round which serpentstwist their sinuous bodies (Fig. 55, 3). Thetrumpet was evidently a regular accom-paniment of Minoan religious worship, andthe conch-shell was used as a trumpet ; onan intaglio we see one being used, and a bigstone one was found at Knossos which,however, can hardly have served the pur-pose of an instrument. A sacred object ofwhich we do not know the exact signifi- ^|^cance is the sacral knot, which is seen in ?**the hands of the seated male figure on theMelian fresco.^
Ægean archæeology; an introduction to the archæeology of prehistoric Greece . mita-tion trumpets of clay, round which serpentstwist their sinuous bodies (Fig. 55, 3). Thetrumpet was evidently a regular accom-paniment of Minoan religious worship, andthe conch-shell was used as a trumpet ; onan intaglio we see one being used, and a bigstone one was found at Knossos which,however, can hardly have served the pur-pose of an instrument. A sacred object ofwhich we do not know the exact signifi- ^|^cance is the sacral knot, which is seen in ?**the hands of the seated male figure on theMelian fresco.^ Two similar knots in stonehave been found at Knossos and at My-cenae (in a shaft-grave)^ respectively. They fig. 56.—Sacrairepresentasort of towel or kerchief knotted knot; ivory,and with the ends hanging down (Fig. 56), ^Zf X-and are paralleled by an object sometimes eum. Scale \.held by Egyptian figures.* Phylakopi, Fig. 61. Ann., IX, Fig. 4 (p. 6) ; of ivory. ScHUCHHARDT, SchttemMiii, Fig. 253 (of alabaster). Hall, Hieroglyphic Texts, Pt. V, PL 32 ( 708).. 156 AEGEAN ARCHAEOLOGY The small household shrines are the only thing re-sembling a special religious building that we can findin Aegean archaeology. And these are only smallchambers in houses or palaces. It is possible that theworship of the gods on a great scale was only carriedout in the open air, or the palace-court, or in a grave orcave not far distant. Certainly the sacred places towhich pilgrimage was made, and at which votive offer-ings were presented, were such groves, rocky gorges,and caves. The Gorge of Arvi, on the south coast ofCrete, was evidently a very sacred place of the god, asis shewn by the fact of its having been in later timesthe seat of a special worship of Zeus, as JupiterArbius. The sacredness of caves, quite evident fromthe legends, has been abundantly confirmed by thearchaeological discoveries of Minoan offerings at theDictaean Cave on Mount Lasithi and the KamaraisCave on the sou
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