The Central Court, 150 feet long by 70 broad, is a fine paved
quadrangle, but has not the impressiveness of the Central Court
at Knossos, with its area of about 20,000 square feet.
On the whole, the two palaces wonderfully resemble each other in
the general ideas that determine their structure, though, of course,
there are many variations in detail. But, as contrasted with the
sister palace, the stately building at Phaestos has exhibited a
most extraordinary dearth of the objects of art which formed so
great a part of the treasures of Knossos. Apart from the Kamares
vases and one graceful flower fresco, little of importance has
been found. The comparative absence of metal-work at Knossos can
be explained by the greed of the plunderers who sacked the palace;
but Phaestos is almost barren, not of metal-work alone. All the
more interesting, therefore, was the discovery, made in 1908, of
the largest inscribed clay tablet which has yet been found on any
Minoan site. This was a disc of terra-cotta, 6.67 inches in diameter,
and covered on both sides with an inscription which coils round
from the centre outwards. 'It is by far the largest hieroglyphic
inscription yet discovered in Crete. It contains some 241 signs
and 61 sign groups, and it exhibits the remarkable peculiarity
that every sign has been separately impressed on the clay while
in a soft state by a stamp or punch.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142