The Savannah morning news., 1900-12-24
FABULOUS LABYRINTH.
TIE HOME on THE MINoTAUR mas
BEEN DISCOVERED.

IRON the New York Commercial Advcr-
tiser
ln letter recently printed In the Lon
don Times an account IL given OF the
wonderfully interesting ruins that have
h.eiy been unoarthed IA the island OF
crete Tho discovery Is that % the an
lent city Of Knossos. Say Mcssrs. Ho-
-irta and Evans the explorers:
The discoveries made az Knossos throw
INTO the shade all the other exploratory
elmpalgns OF last season IN the Eastern
Mediterranean by whatever nationality
.5uducted II Is not too much to say tina,
-ae materials already gathered have rev.
outionizod our knowledge OF prehlstorlo
Greece. and that to ind even an approa, n
go the results obtained We must 20 back
to schheman's great discovery Of the
ROYAL Toombs al Mycenae
The prehistoric site. Of which some two
a.tes have now been uncovered at Kuos-
sos. proves to contain palace besides
vaieh those OF Tiryus and Mydenae sink
into insignihcance. by an unhoped-for
piece Of good fortune the site though ln
che immediate neighborhood Of the great
go civic centers OF the island IN ancient.
medieval and modern times had remained
practically untouched for over 5000 years
A. but a very slight depth below the sur.
iace Of the ground the spade has uncov-
cred great courts and corridors propylaea
a .ong succession Of ma guzines. contain
Dag gigantic stone jars that might have
hidden the forty thieves. and a multi
Jude OF chambers, pre-eminent among
which Is che actual throne room and
council chamber OF HOmeric kings The
throne itself. on which ~ 80 much faith
D. permitted IN us) Minos may have de-
siared tho law. IS carved out OF aIabas-
Ter. once brilliant with colored designs
end relieved with curious tracery and
,rocketed arlading which ls wholly
unique 10 ancient art and exhibits a strange
Anticipation Of thirteenth century Gothic
L. the throne room. the western entrance
sa4ery, and elsewhere, partly siu al
herring to. the walls. partly ia detached
pieces on tho floors, was a series OF fresco
paintings, excelling any known examples
Of the art IN Mycensean Greece
beautiful life-size painting OF a yoush
With European and almost classioaily
Greek profile, gives as the first real knowl-
edge Of the race who produced this rnvs-
ferrous early civilization. other frescoes
Introduce US 20 lively ana hitherto un-
known miniature style representing
among otner subjects. groups OF women
engaged Ia animated conversation In the
courts and on the balconies OF the palace
The monuments OF the sculptor's art are
equally striking. II may be- sufficient 60
mention here marble fountain In the
shape OF "A honess head with enameiled
''es. fragments OF frieze with beautl-
iAly cut roseltes. superior In its kind to
anything known from Mycenae; an ala
ui-ler vase, Enthusiastically copied from
Triton shell; porphyry lamp. with
AiaceInl collation. supported on an Egyp-
'iAulzln6 lotus column. The head ana
l"fis of the body OF magnificent painted
ithei OF bun In gesso duro are unsur-
f@ssed Tor vitality and strength.
~ is impossible here 90 refer more than
incidentally 10 the new evidence OF In.
torea'4res. bot. ...a.. s~.-a.. "a 49,. =.
very remote period supplied 81 the
palace finds Of knossos n may be mem
Toned however. as showing che extreme
antiquity Of the earlier elements OF the
building that In the great ezatern court
was found an Egyptian seated figure OF
Hl"flte. broken above. which can be ap-
proximateiy dated about 300 n G. Re
4p" this again extends a vast Stone Age
ttluemeut which forms a deposit Ia some
places twenty-four feet IN thickness
Neither IS % possible here TO dwell on
~ new indications supplied by some OF
The discoveries IN the House Of Minosr
~ 60 the cult and religious beliefs OF n.
occupants. II must be SUFFICIENT 20 OBJ
serve that one Of the miniature frescoes
found represents the facade OF a Myccn.
aran shrine and that the palace itself
seems. TO have been sanctuarv OF the
'rctan god Of the Double Axe. as well as
. dwelling place OF prehistoric kings
There can be little remaining doubt that
Us huge building, with rs maze OF cor
f-uors and tortuous passages Its medley
ui small chambers Ns long succession
or magazines with their blind endings,
was IN fact the labyrinth OF later tradi-
lion which supplied "a local habitation
Tor the Mlnotaur OF grisly fame. The
great figures OF bulls IN fresco and re-
lief that adorned the walls the harem
sofues Of some OF the frescoes the corner
stones ard Pillars marked with the la
trys or double ax-tho emblem Of the
'retan Zeus. explaining the derivation OF
she name labyrinth" itself-are 50 many
dciells which an conspire 20 bear out this
Identification. In the palace-shrine OF
knossos there stands az last revealed 10
us the spacious structure which the skill
Of Daedalus IS said 60 have inflated from
the Ereat Egyptian building on the shore
nt Lake Moeris ard with Il some part at
least OF his febled masterpieces still
cliuging 70 the walls.
Huti hfilliaIf as are the illustrations
thus recovered Of the nigh early civiiiza-
ton of the city OF Minos and OF the sub
siantial truth OF early tradition, they
are almost thrown into the shade by
discovery which carries back the exist
ence Of written documents IN the Hellenic
hands some seven centuries beyond the
first known monuments OF the historic
Greek writing. In the chambers ana mag
azines Of the palace tssere came TO light
"a series OF deposits OF clay tablets. In
form somewhat analogous 70 the Baby
lontan, but inscribed with characters In
two distinct types Of indigenous prehis.
toric script-one hieroglyphic or quasi-ptc-
tor!al the other linear. The existence %
"a hieroglyphic script iu the island has
been already the theme OF some earlier
researches by the explorer OF the palace,
based on the mere limited material sup
oiled by groups Of signs on class ar
Cretan seal stones. and the ample corTob-
Grafton Of the conclusions arrived az was,
therefore. the more satisfactory These
Cretan hioroglyphs will be found 90 have
special Importance IN their bearing on the
origin Of tho Phooniolan alphabcs.
But the great bulk OF tablets belonged
20 the linear class. exhibiting an elegant
and much more highly developed form OF
script with letters Of an upright and sin
gularly European aspect. The inscrip-
tons. over i.0o0 OF which were collected.
were originally contained ia Golfers OF
clay. wood and gypsum. which had been