Anemospilia
Anemospilia ( Greek Ανεμόσπηλια , wind cave ') is the name of a Minoan temple on the northern slope of Mount Giouchtas (Γιούχτας). It is located near Archanes in Crete .
discovery
The archaeologist couple Efi and Iannis Sakellarakis have been digging in this region since 1964 and discovered the Minoan temple of Anemospilia in 1979 . The excavation site is at an altitude of 440 meters. Today it is fenced in and not open to the public.
Finds and reconstruction
Around 1700 BC BC this temple was destroyed by an earthquake. Of particular interest are four human skeletons that were found in the rubble - an approximately 17-year-old man was lying tied up on an altar; his carotid artery had been cut shortly before the disaster. The remaining three skeletons were apparently priests and temple servants.
The human sacrifice was probably carried out to appease the gods and to avert the earthquake. With this discovery, the existence of human sacrifice in the Minoan culture was documented for the first time. Another confirmation was the discovery of children's bones in Knossos .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Ingeborg Witzmann: Altars in shrines of settlements, "villas" and other sanctuaries . In: Bronze Age Fixed Altars in Crete . University of Vienna, 2009, p. 112 ( digital version [PDF; 28.2 MB ; accessed on December 27, 2016]).
Web links
- Archanes: Anemospilia. In: Digital Crete: Archaeological Atlas of Crete. Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Institute for Mediterranean Studies(English).
- On the subject of human sacrifice. Basic religion, archived from the original on December 15, 2005 ; accessed on October 2, 2016 .
- Anemospilia. A unique temple? www.minoancrete.com, July 2, 2013, accessed February 21, 2014 (English).
- Anemospelia Archaeological Site. Interkriti, accessed on January 14, 2017 .
Coordinates: 35 ° 15 ′ 19.5 ″ N , 25 ° 8 ′ 40.4 ″ E