Immediately in face
of the opening a square niche breaks the wall behind the dais,
and here stand the broken fragments of a gypsum throne. A fine
stone lamp of lilac gypsum stands on the second step of the dais
(Plate XXIV.). The two rows of pillars which run down the hall
divide it into a nave and side aisles, and the hall presents all the
elements of a primitive basilica, with its throne for the presiding
Bishop or Priest-King. It is possible that we have here the first
suggestion of that style of architecture which, passing through the
stage where the King-Archon of Athens sat in the 'Stoa Basilike'
to try cases of impiety, found its full development at last in
the Roman Basilica, the earliest type of Christian church. 'Is
the Priest-King of Knossos, who here gave his decisions,' says
Professor Burrows, 'a direct ancestor of Praetor and Bishop, seated
in the Apse within the Chancel, speaking to the people that stood
below in Nave and Aisles?'[*]
[Footnote *: 'The Discoveries in Crete,' pp. 10, 11.]
So far in the explorations at Knossos metal-work had been conspicuous
by its absence. That the Minoans were skilled metal-workers was
obvious, for many of their ceramic triumphs presented manifest
indications of having been adaptations of metal forms; and the gold
cups of Vaphio, which, there can be little doubt, came originally
from Crete, bore witness to a skill which would not have disgraced
the best Renaissance goldsmiths.
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