Minoan frescoes: Did you mean...?

The Phaistos disk is a fired clay disk, probably of Minoan origin, measuring some 16cm in diameter and impressed on both sides with 242 symbols set in a spiral arrangement. As yet, this unique archaeological find remains an undeciphered enigma...

A solid gold Minoan pendant depicting two bees clutching a honeycomb, Old Palace cemetery at Chrysolakkos near Malia, Crete, 1800-1700 BCE. Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete.

Stone rhyton (libation vase) in the form of a bull's head from the Minoan site of Knossos, New-Palace period (1600-1500 BCE), Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete.

A solid gold pendant from the Minoan civilization depicting a deity holding two birds, possibly geese (18-17th century BC). Provenance: Aegina (British Museum, London)

An engraved gold ring from the Minoan civilization on Crete, 15-14th century BCE. The ring probably originates from Knossos and depicts the epiphany of a goddess: seated in a shrine, floating in the air and standing in a boat. The hoop is...

An ivory figurine representating a bull-leaper from a three dimensional composition (with two other figures and a bull) depicting this Minoan sporting or religious activity. Hair would have been added using bronze wire and clothes in gold...

Bronze shield, Crete, Geometric period, 8th-7th century BCE. Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. The bronze tympanon/shield found in the Idaean Cave is a votive offering from around the 8th century BCE. It is decorated with a bas-relief...

Giotto di Bondone (b. 1267 or 1277 - d. 1337 CE), usually referred to as simply Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect whose work was hugely influential in the history of Western art. Giotto is most famous today for the cycle of frescoes...

Alabastron (pl. alabastra) - a small jar for storing perfumes, named after the material (alabaster) the first examples were made from. They were often carried by a string looped around the neck of the vessel. Amphora (pl. amphorae) - one...

Located on the fertile Mesara plain in central Crete, Phaistos has been inhabited since the Final Neolithic period (c. 3600-3000 BCE). The settlements greatest period of influence was from the 20th to 15th century BCE, during which time it...