Snake Goddess - Figurines

Figurines

The first 'Snake Goddess' figurines to be discovered were found by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1903, in the temple repositories of Knossos. The figurines are made of faience, a technique for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a quartz paste. This material symbolized in old Egypt the renewal of life, therefore it was used in the funeral cult and in the sanctuaries. After firing this produces bright colors and a lustrous sheen.

These two figurines are today exhibited at the Herakleion Archeological Museum in Crete and they probably represent the mother goddess and her daughter. It is possible that they illustrate the fashion of dress of Minoan women: a tight bodice which left the breasts bare, a long flounched skirt, and an apron made of material with embroidered or woven decoration. The larger of these figures has snakes crawling over her arms up to her tiara. The smaller figure holds two snakes in her raised hands and a small animal is perched on her head, which seems to be the imitation of a panther. These were usually symbols of an earth goddess.

Excavations in Knossos showed the climax of the Minoan civilization being 1500 BC. Originally it was considered that it was the best time for the Mycenaeans because of the riches they have found there. However, what was found was works from the Minoans, and one of those arts being the statuette of the snake goddess. In particular, one of the snake goddesses was found in few pieces apart, and was later filled with a solution of paraffin to preserve it from further damage.

The goddess is depicted just as in other statues (crown on head, hands grasping snakes and so on…) The expression on her face is described as lifelike, and is also wearing the typical Minoan dress. She is named a goddess because when Sir Arthur discovered her in 1903, she was found in a sort of treasure chest with other objects that were also clearly part of a shrine. Two other statuettes were found as well, that somehow survived. Also another figure found in Berlin, made of bronze, looks more like a snake charmer with the snakes on top of her head. Many Minoan statues and statuettes seem to express a sort of pride.

The symbols of the snakes and the panther, are also depicted on representations of Maenads, the women dancers who accompanied the rituals honouring Dionysos with frenzied dancings in classical Greece, but the relation seems uncertain. However the rapid spread of the cult of Dionysos in Ancient Greece, may indicate a pre-existing cult which was regenerated by the Thraco-Phrygian cult of Dionysos when the Greeks migrated to Anatolia.

Clay idols with raised hands and curling snakes were found in the "house of the double axes" in Knossos, in Asine,in Gournia,and in Myrtos.Objects with snakes curling up the sides of clay-tubes were also found in Cyprus and Palestine.