Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel, X, no. 145.
The 'minotaur' is quite often found on Minoan seals; so too are stag-men, goat-men and even double-headed combinations. There is no other example associated with such a mask-like face as on the above seal, although very similar faces are found with animals and, like the figure-eight and impaled triangle symbols also found with animals and man-animal combinations, they may well denote animals involved in sacrificial ritual. Quite how man-animal combinations fit into this complex of ideas cannot be determined but it might just be that celebrants wore the upper parts of the animal to be sacrificed.
Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel, X, no. 145.
The 'minotaur' is quite often found on Minoan seals; so too are stag-men, goat-men and even double-headed combinations. There is no other example associated with such a mask-like face as on the above seal, although very similar faces are found with animals and, like the figure-eight and impaled triangle symbols also found with animals and man-animal combinations, they may well denote animals involved in sacrificial ritual. Quite how man-animal combinations fit into this complex of ideas cannot be determined but it might just be that celebrants wore the upper parts of the animal to be sacrificed.