Reaper vase

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The reaper vase as an exhibit in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum

The reaper vase ( modern Greek Αγγείο των θεριστών Angio ton Theriston ) is a relief frhyton made of black soapstone from the time of the Minoan culture . The rhyton was found in 1902 in the west wing of the archaeological site of the palace of Agia Triada on the Greek island of Crete . The reaper vase is generally believed to date from around 1500 to 1450 BC. Dated to the new palace period of Crete ( SM I ). It is now under inventory no. AE 184 in the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion , the capital of Crete.

Find history and description

Coordinates of the place of discovery: 35 ° 3 ′ 32.6 ″  N , 24 ° 47 ′ 32.9 ″  E

The palace of Agia Triada, also known as the Villa of Agia Triada, was first examined from May 1902 by Federico Halbherr from the Missione Archeologica Italiana di Creta . Stratigraphic excavations took place in the same year . The excavations had been under the direction of Roberto Paribeni since 1903 and were continued with interruptions until 1914 by Federico Halbherr and Enrico Stefani . From 1910 onwards the securing and restoration of the found building remains began.

Site of the reaper vase in Agia Triada

The reapers vase, a rhyton made of soapstone, also called steatite, of which only the upper two parts of the former three-part vessel have survived, was discovered during the experimental excavations in 1902. The find was in a room in the northern part of the west wing of the palace of Agia Triada, which is furnished with surrounding benches and an alabaster floor. The wall cladding, also made of alabaster, is interrupted by vertical columns in which there were wooden beams that supported the roof and gave the structure strength and elasticity, the latter important because of the frequent earthquakes . The room was reconstructed after the excavations and provided with a concrete roof to protect it from the weather. It is believed that the reaper's vase fell from an upper floor into the room with the alabaster benches when the palace was destroyed.

The official first publication of the find took place in 1903 with the excavation report Il Vaso di Hagia Triada by Luigi Savignoni . In advance, the British School at Athens published a short passage from a comprehensive report on the Greek excavation results of 1901 and 1902, the announcement of the find by its director Robert Carr Bosanquet .

Preserved shell of the reaper vase

The preserved upper area of ​​the reaper vase is 10.0 centimeters high and has a maximum diameter of 11.5 centimeters. The spherical soapstone rhyton with its bas-relief running around the entire vessel wall has a diabolo-shaped attachment for the pouring. Its shape resembles a painted clay pot found in Kato Zakros . A replica by Emile Gilliéron , donated to the Metropolitan Museum by the archaeologist Gisela Richter in 1908, assumes an original height of the reaper vase including the base of 18.4 cm. In the relief of the reaper vase carved out of the outer surface, 27 male persons are shown. They are apparently in motion by marching from left to right in an uninterrupted cycle for the viewer. 20 of them run side by side in pairs. She and another single person in the "middle" of the elevator are shown with a bare muscular torso, a small beret-like cap on short hair and a Minoan apron with a phallic pocket . Over the left shoulder of each of the 21 young men apparently wearing a geschäfteten trident or three-pronged fork and on the left thigh, a non-definable object is attached.

At the "beginning" of the procession, the Gruppo iniziale del bassorilievo near Savignoni, a bareheaded person with long hair, a scaled cloak that leaves the right shoulder free and fringes at the bottom, and a long stick curved at the bottom strides over the right shoulder. Between the young men marching in pairs, one sees in the Gruppo centrale a person who deviates from the athletic body shape of the trident bearer with an open mouth and a sistrum , a rattle known from ancient Egypt , in his right hand. The sistrum on the reaper's vase with two bells in a row is very similar to a find unearthed in the necropolis of Fourni in the central Cretan municipality of Archanes , but which has four bells on two rows. Other instruments of this type were found in Archanes and the cave of Agios Charalambos in eastern Crete. Offset behind the sistrum bearer, in the relief of the reaper vase, you can see 3 men without hats with short hair, whose open mouths may suggest singing or loud shouts. In front of the “last” 4 men of the procession, in the group finale , a face can be seen at waist height of the marching people, a person who could have fallen or is being carried between the paired trident carriers.

Interpretations of the relief

In the first report on the find by Robert Carr Bosanquet in Archeology in Greece 1901–1902 , the relief on it was interpreted as a “harvest scene”. The author interpreted the relief as a ' reaper- homecoming' when he wrote:

“A vase made of incised steatite ... All around is a bas-relief that shows a happy procession of dancing and singing peasants with three-pronged forks on their shoulders. The leader is a striking figure with long hair in a scale armor - cuirass ; the rest, twenty or more in number, only wear the characteristic loincloth with a narrow belt and a small cap. In the middle of the procession is a man who beats the beat with a sistrum for three boys who march behind him with their mouths open, as if they were singing at the top of their throats. The group that forms the end has a man on their shoulders. The explorers explain the scene as the return from a successful foray, and the man carried above as a prisoner. In view of the light equipment of those involved, one is tempted to regard it as a 'reaper-homecoming' and to see Θρίνακες or winnowed forks in the trident they wear , which are still called Θρινάκια in Crete today. "

- Robert Carr Bosanquet : Archeology in Greece 1901–1902
Trident bearers in pairs
Leader with scale armor
"End" of the elevator
Sistrum bearers in front of singers

The reference to the explorers' explanation of the scenes in Bosanquet's interpretation makes it clear that he was familiar with the excavation report before it was published in 1903. In his essay The 'Harvester' Vase of Hagia Triada from 1954, John Forsdyke assumed that Bosanquet must at least have seen pictures of the reaper vase in order to reject the interpretation of the excavators.

Luigi Savignoni, asked by Federico Halbherr to publish the excavation report, described the figures in the relief of the reaper vase as soldiers marching on their return from a successful operation. The trident they wore, τρίαινα or τριόδους in Greek, tridens or fuscina in Latin, were interpreted as weapons. Savignoni's detailed description of the rhyton and the relief juxtaposed the reaper vase with images from other Minoan finds of the time and compared them with descriptions from classical Greek literature . In response to Bosanquet's dissenting opinion, he explained that the decision had to be made via the shouldered device. He concluded that the devices were three-prongs or tridents with blades, scythes or hooks, as were common in military use, especially, but not exclusively, in maritime warfare. For the object on the left thigh of the trident bearer, Savignoni decided on a food bag after considering various alternatives . He considered the cloak of the “leader” to be a cuirass for protection in combat, and the “stooping” man possibly an unruly prisoner.

Forsdyke said in 1954, including other interpretations:

“[Savignoni] explained the fork-like devices as stabbing weapons like the trident of Roman gladiators , improved by the addition of a cleaver. This is the utmost imagination but has been adopted by some of the German commentators. Déchelette, Milani and others believed that the men were on their way to or from an offering and were using the long sticks as skewers for roasting meat. Hammarström, who writes in Finland, compared the forks to brooms used in some modern fertility rites for cutting fruit trees and suggested that the blades could be jackknives. But most scholars recognized the scene as an agricultural festival at harvest time. H. R. Hall called the devices mallets (with a question mark) and John Pendlebury called them winnowing fans: but the last one must be a careless mistake for winnowing forks. In general, the prongs and blades made people relate to scythes and pitchforks without considering how the assembled device could have been used for either purpose. "

- John Forsdyke : The 'Harvester' Vase of Hagia Triada
Detail of the trident bearer

The shouldered device, which the majority of the marching men carry and which, according to Savignoni, is decisive for the interpretation of the relief, was described by Kurt Müller in 1915 as “consisting of a long rod into which a short, slightly curved, pointed blade appears to be inserted at the top; above it are three long, straight and fairly thin rods bound like a fork ”. Müller rejected the interpretation of the "light device" as a weapon, as well as a spit or pitchfork. For the latter, he said, “you would expect the tines to be less thin and long, but curved”. With regard to the "short Krummesser" attached to the device, however, Müller contradicted himself by initially seeing it as part of the device that could have been removed and stored more conveniently on the march, but on the other hand could probably be removed to use it as a Grindstone to sharpen the accepted object on the left thigh. Finally, he came to the conclusion that the device was probably used for cutting off tree fruits, such as olives, using the protruding knife to cut individual fruits or wild branches. Friedrich Matz , who attached a cultic meaning to the “happy procession” on the reaper's vase, and Sabine Beckman also later spoke out in favor of an interpretation as a tool for the olive harvest .

In 1954, John Forsdyke also had difficulties with the practicality of the shouldered device, especially the joint use of the three long prongs and the protruding knife or hook. Because he could not find a use in which both parts of the device would not interfere with each other, he finally assumed that the hook was the primary object and that it was a hoe for field work, thus joining Eduard Meyer , who the “field hoe” on the reaper's vase was already mentioned in the second volume of his work History of Antiquity . According to Forsdyke, the three prongs are attached willow branches to ritually celebrate the hoe. However, since the hoe would not be attached to the end of the pole after removing the willow branches, as required for a corresponding agricultural implement, it could have been a sliding blade. Forsdyke seemed to have more imagination than he accused Savignoni. In Forsdyke's opinion, the reaper vase represented a cultic agricultural festival in which both the “leader” and the sistrum bearer wore ritual clothing. He saw the object tied to the left leg of the marchers as a sack with seeds as a sign of favor to the divine supervision of the festival.

Warriors with lances , boar tooth helmets and cloaks (fresco from Akrotiri in Santorini )

Hans Pars (pseudonym) first presented the relief in his 1957 book Divine but was Crete as a “train of harvest workers”, but then came to the conclusion in the course of his analysis that Savignoni must have been right. Pars compared the scale armor-like clothing of the “leader” on the reaper vase with that of the commanders of the naked archers on the fragment of a funnel-shaped silver rhyton from shaft grave IV of Mycenae , which shows a city siege. A similar misshapen clothing, which left one shoulder free and must be seen as a protective cloak, can be found in the warriors wearing lances and boar-tooth helmets in a fresco from Akrotiri on Santorini , but here apparently made from animal skins. On the other hand, the representation on a signet ring from Agia Triada, where the reaper vase comes from, is different, in which the scale armor of the cloak is clearly visible. Scale armor from the Bronze Age consisted of bronze plates sewn or riveted onto reinforced clothing such as linen armor or leather armor and are known from ancient Egypt as well as from Syria and Mesopotamia .

The curved staff that the “leader” wears could have been a sign of dignity, similar to Kurt Müller's assumption for the Prince's Cup . Such a crook can also be seen at the bottom right of the above-mentioned fresco by Akrotiri, sinking into the sea next to a ship. Hans Pars compared the effect of the sistrum for the marching column on the reaper vase with a bell tree . In 1957 he was unable to know anything about the sistras that were later found in Crete, which is why he compared the instrument with those previously known from Egypt and the Roman Empire . Pars also assumed that the three "singers" wore a kettledrum or a similar instrument that covered their bodies on the right side.

After he identified the object tied to the left thigh as a heavy club and asked, in relation to Kurt Müller's interpretation, why a "grindstone" should be represented as a club, he turned to the three-pronged devices carried on his shoulders. The laterally projecting part held Pars for a slasher , which was firmly attached to the handle by the above it and wrapping the pick has been used or pickaxe to something to tear or cut. He concluded that although the fork itself could be used as a pitchfork , the fixed connection with the cleaver prohibits its use as a harvesting device. In addition, only men are shown at this assumed harvest festival, although at that time women were usually in the majority in field work. Pars concludes that it is in the shouldered by the 21 men devices to harpoons IN QUESTION, which are not intended for fisheries, but "people jump": "The three-pronged harpoon is attested as a weapon of war by the whole of antiquity, Poseidon leads them to fight the titans , and they were still seen in the hands of gladiators during the Roman Empire . "

lili rere
Male person with two small trident on his belt (relief on a golden sword handle from Malia and its markings)

The interpretation of the three-pronged device as a polearm that can be pushed or thrown corresponds to the trident of antiquity . This is supported by the straight teeth and the obvious ease with which it is carried by the men on the reaper vase. In the Middle Ages , war forks , peasant weapons from the agricultural sector, were constructed similarly. The prongs of the device on the reaper's vase could obviously be exchanged, since the two outer prongs end at the part protruding sideways and are hinted at in a hole in the part. Further up, they are individually connected to the middle prong for stability. Whether the middle prong was also replaceable cannot be seen from the wrapping over the side protruding part. It is noticeable that this hook-shaped protruding part is shown thicker than the rod to which it is attached. This is probably why the part was pushed onto the rod through an eye (shaft hole), like an ax or hoe, and can therefore not be seen as an inserted knife, but as a wider hook. A similarly composed weapon is the scepter of Zenoposeidon , Zeus von Osogo (a), depicted as a trident with a double ax on the shaft on a Carian coin from Mylasa .

If one assumes fishing as the origin of the polearm on the reaper's vase, as Hans Pars deduces, then the downward-bent hook on the harpoon is understandable. It served like a gaff to hoist the harpooned animals on board, whether dolphins , monk seals or larger fish. The missing barbs on the three prongs on the reaper's vase now speak for a conversion of the harpoon to a polearm, which also changed the function of the downward-pointing hook, making it useful as a grappling hook . Tridents and grappling hooks were mainly used in open boat maritime warfare. Their durability was designed for short battles, after which they could be repaired. In contrast, agricultural implements were manufactured for longer-term use. The reference to the lightness of the device is therefore not an indication that it is not a weapon, as Kurt Müller assumed, because its manageability in combat was above its longevity.

Stylized Minoan harpoon weapon as a character for the sound "i" (after Kehnscherper )

Also Günther Kehnscherper saw the scene in 1973 as a "marching column, armed with harpoons." He rejects the interpretation of tridents as scythes and pitchforks, as such agricultural implements were come up until 1,000 years later. In addition, only men are depicted, although field and gardening were mainly left to women in the Minoan culture. On the reapers vase, Kehnscherper recognizes a marching group wearing uniform uniforms and weapons, which is led by a captain with scale armor and command staff and accompanied by cantors. Their weapons consist of clubs and three-pronged harpoons with laterally protruding blades. The harpoons as dangerous cutting and stabbing weapons were probably used in close combat on ships. According to Kehnscherper, the main weapon of the Minoans was the three-pronged harpoon as a character for the sound "i" in the linear script A (phonetic sign 86 = L 100 a / c), somewhat modified also in the Mycenaean linear script B (character 28 = i) and as a further development in the Cypriot linear script . Finally, Kehnscherper states that in the mortuary temple of Ramses III. of Medinet Habu , a warrior of the Sea Peoples is represented by a horned helmet and the harpoon gun.

There is another indication that a ship's crew should be represented on the reaper vase, the number of men. Although the manning of Minoan ships is not known today, it seems that the artist wanted to accommodate a certain number of people on the Rhyton and only managed to do this by working out the “last” part of the train, the Gruppo finale , much more densely. as the trident bearers behind the "leader". Parallels to this person in his armor can be found in vase paintings of later times from Enkomi ( SH IIIB : around 1300–1190 BC) and Sounion (7th century BC), each in connection with ships, possibly as a helmsman or Captain who had to be protected in a special way.

literature

  • Robert Carr Bosanquet : Archeology in Greece 1901–1902 . In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . No. 22 , 1902, pp. 389 ( online [accessed January 26, 2013]).
  • Luigi Savignoni: Il vaso di Haghia Triada . In: Monumenti antichi . Pubblicati per cura della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. tape 13 . Milan 1903, p. 77-132 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  • Philipp Kropp: The Minoan-Mycenaean culture in the light of tradition in Herodotus . Otto Wigand, Leipzig 1905, The Minoans - Karer, p. 17-20 ( online [accessed August 9, 2014]).
  • Kurt Müller : Early Mycenaean reliefs from Crete and the Greek mainland . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 30 , 1915, 3. The reaper vase, p. 251-257 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  • John Forsdyke: The 'Harvester' Vase of Hagia Triada . In: Journal of the Warburg and Courtault Institutes . tape 17 , 1954, pp. 1–9 ( online, subject to license [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  • Spyridon Marinatos : Crete, Thera and the Mycenaean Hellas. Hirmer, Munich 2nd edition 1973, p. 144, plates 103-105.
  • Fritz Blakolmer: The "reaper vase " from Agia Triada. On the narrativity, facial expressions and prototypes in Minoan visual art. In: Creta antica 8, 2007, pp. 201-242.
  • Dieter Rumpel: The "Harvester" Vase Revised. In: Anistortion 10, 3, 2007 ( PDF file, 1.47 MB )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eric H. Cline (Ed.): The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean . Oxford University Press, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-536550-4 , pp. 495 ( excerpt online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  2. ↑ Κ. Πνευματικός: Η Υστερομινωική Έπαυλη της Αγίας Τριάδας. Βορειοδυτικά διαμερίσματα / Ιστορικό της ανασκαφής. www.archive.gr, 2004, archived from the original on November 3, 2004 ; Retrieved January 24, 2013 (Greek).
  3. ↑ Kurt Müller : Early Mycenaean reliefs from Crete and the Greek mainland . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 30 , 1915, 3. The reaper vase, p. 251 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  4. ↑ Stella Kalogeraki: Festos, Agia Triada . Mediterraneo Editions, Rethymno 2012, ISBN 960-8227-39-9 , The Villa from the New Palace Era , p. 57 .
  5. ^ Costis Davaras: Phaistos, Hagia Triada, Gortyn . Short educated archaeological guide. Publishing house Hannibal, Athens 1990, Hagia Triada, p. 24/25 .
  6. ↑ Stella Kalogeraki: Festos, Agia Triada . Mediterraneo Editions, Rethymno 2012, ISBN 960-8227-39-9 , The Villa from the New Palace Era , p. 58 .
  7. ↑ Luigi Savignoni: Il vaso di Haghia Triada . In: Monumenti antichi . tape 13 . Milan 1903, p. 77-132 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  8. ^ Robert Carr Bosanquet: Archeology in Greece 1901-1902 . In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . No. 22 , 1902, pp. 389 ( online [accessed January 26, 2013]).
  9. ^ A b Luigi Savignoni: Il vaso di Haghia Triada . In: Monumenti antichi . tape 13 . Milan 1903, p. 83-84 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  10. ^ Reproduction of the stone "Harvester's Vase". The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org), accessed January 24, 2013 .
  11. ↑ Diamantis Panagiotopoulos: Sign of dignity on the head . In: Hans-Günter Buchholz (Ed.): Archaeologia Homerica. The monuments of the early Greek epic . Volume I, Chapter D. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-25443-1 , Typology: Other headwear, p. 125 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  12. ↑ Luigi Savignoni: Il vaso di Haghia Triada . In: Monumenti antichi . tape 13 . Milan 1903, p. 85-86 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  13. ^ Vessel and sistrum (copy), terracotta from Fourni, Archanes. Described like Middle Minoan. Original: signature 0502040, in Herakleion. Eidola.eu Image Database (εἰδώλα), March 3, 2010, accessed on January 24, 2013 .
  14. ↑ Sistrum. Eidola.eu Image Database (εἰδώλα), accessed on January 24, 2013 (English).
  15. ↑ a b c d e Dieter Rumpel: The "Harvester" Vase Revised. (PDF) Anistoriton Journal (www.anistor.gr), January 4, 2008, accessed on January 24, 2013 (English, PDF file, 1.47 MB).
  16. ↑ Halina Wingerath: Studies on the representation of humans in the Minoan art of the older and younger palace times . Tectum, Marburg 1995, ISBN 3-89608-907-2 , cult presentations, p. 102 ( digitized version [accessed on November 6, 2015]).
  17. ↑ Luigi Savignoni: Il vaso di Haghia Triada . In: Monumenti antichi . tape 13 . Milan 1903, p. 91 ( digitized version [accessed on November 6, 2015]).
  18. ↑ Kurt Müller: Early Mycenaean reliefs from Crete and the Greek mainland . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 30 , 1915, 3. The reaper vase, p. 252-254 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  19. ^ Friedrich Matz : Crete, Mycenae, Troja . In: Kilpper Collection (Ed.): Great cultures of the early days . tape 6 . Phaidon, Essen 1985, ISBN 3-88851-085-6 , III. The island kingdom of Minos - society and economy, p. 64 .
  20. ^ Eduard Meyer : History of antiquity . 4th edition. Second volume. First section: The time of the great Egyptian power. Darmstadt 1965, IV. Crete and the Cretan culture: The Eteokreter (Kafti) and their religion, p. 191–192 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  21. ↑ Hans Pars : But Crete was divine . The experience of the excavations. 3. Edition. Walter, Olten, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-530-63520-0 , Unter der Lilienkrone, p. 292 .
  22. ↑ Hans Pars: But Crete was divine . The experience of the excavations. 3. Edition. Walter, Olten, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-530-63520-0 , Unter der Lilienkrone, p. 296 .
  23. ↑ Kurt Müller: Early Mycenaean reliefs from Crete and the Greek mainland . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 30 , 1915, 13. Two silver vases, p. 320 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  24. ↑ Conical Rhyton from Mycenae, Schachtgrab IV. Image index of art and literature (www.bildindex.de), accessed on January 24, 2013 .
  25. ↑ Luigi Savignoni: Il vaso di Haghia Triada . In: Monumenti antichi . tape 13 . Milan 1903, p. 113 ( Online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  26. ↑ Evgenij Vasil'evič Černenko: The protective arms of the Scythians . In: Prehistoric bronze finds . Department III. 2nd volume. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-515-08659-5 , The Origin of Protective Weapons, p. 123 ff . ( Online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  27. ↑ Kurt Müller: Early Mycenaean reliefs from Crete and the Greek mainland . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 30 , 1915, 1. The Hagia Triada cup, p. 244–247 ( online [accessed January 24, 2013]).
  28. ↑ Hans Pars: But Crete was divine . The experience of the excavations. 3. Edition. Walter, Olten, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-530-63520-0 , Unter der Lilienkrone, p. 296-298 .
  29. ^ A b Hans Pars: But Crete was divine . The experience of the excavations. 3. Edition. Walter, Olten, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-530-63520-0 , Unter der Lilienkrone, p. 299/300 .
  30. ↑ Hans Pars: But Crete was divine . The experience of the excavations. 3. Edition. Walter, Olten, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-530-63520-0 , Unter der Lilienkrone, p. 301 .
  31. ^ Günther Kehnscherper : Crete, Mycenae, Santorin . 6th edition. Urania , Leipzig, Jena, Berlin 1986, picture (black and white photo), p. 48-49 .
  32. ^ Günther Kehnscherper: Crete, Mycenae, Santorin . 6th edition. Urania, Leipzig, Jena, Berlin 1986, Pax Minoica, p. 83/84 .

Web links

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