[Footnote *: _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, vol. xxvi., part I,
plate ix. 3.]
Middle Minoan I. has no surviving link with Egyptian art, a fact
which may be explained by the consideration that from the end of the
Sixth Dynasty to the establishment of the Eleventh, Egypt appears
to have been passing through a time of great confusion. The period
is practically a Dark Age so far as Egyptian history is concerned.
[Illustration XXV: (1) KNOSSOS VALLEY
(2) EXCAVATING AT KNOSSOS]
_Middle Minoan II_.--We now come to the period when the first undoubted
traces of the Cretan palaces begin to reveal themselves. The chief
architectural remains of the period are, however, not at Knossos,
but at Phaestos. There the Theatral Area, at least, was in existence
early in this period, possibly in the later part of the preceding
one. But at Knossos the chief evidence for the high state of
civilization attained in this period is the pottery, which reaches a
very advanced development. This is the age of the splendid polychrome
vessels of the type called 'Kamares,' from the cave on Mount Ida
where they were first discovered by Mr. J. L. Myres. The vases
and cups of this fabric, from the delicacy of their forms, the
grace of their designs, and the richness of their colour, are among
the most notable survivals of Minoan ceramic art.
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