the residential quarter of the minoan palace

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The Residential Quarter of the Minoan PalaceAuthor(s): J. Walter GrahamSource: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 1959), pp. 47-52Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/502107Accessed: 17-03-2015 10:39 UTC

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2/11

T h e

esidential

Q u a r t e r

o f

t h e

i n o a n

P a l a c e

J.

WALTER

GRAHAM

PLATES

15-18

The

complex,

multi-roomed

Minoan

palaces,

seats

of

the

administration of the Minoan

realms,

were

surely

also

the residence

of their

rulers.' It was

reasonable therefore for

Sir

Arthur

Evans

to

iden-

tify

as the

"Domestic

Quarter"

a

suite

of rooms

whose

spaciousness

and

careful

decoration

pro-

claimed

them

to be

quite

different

from the

multi-

tude of

small

cult-rooms,

storage-rooms,

and work-

rooms

throughout

the rest

of

the

ground

floor of

the

palace,

yet

which were

located

so far from

the

principal

entrances

of the

building

and were so

insulated and self-contained as

clearly

not to

be

intended

for

important public

reception

rooms.

The

latter, indeed,

Evans located in

the

"Piano

Nobile,"

i.e. the first

storey

above

the

ground

floor in

the

area west

of the Central

Court;

and

surely

that

is

where

we are to look for similar state

apartments

n

the

other

palaces

at

Phaistos,

Mallia,

and

probably

at

Gournia.2

The two

lower

storeys

of

the

Knossos

Domestic

Quarter-or,

as

I

prefer

to term it

in order to avoid

any implication that it was intended for the "do-

mestics,"

the "Residential

Quarter"-were

set in

a

great

artificial

cutting

made to the

southeast of

the

Central Court.'

The lower

of

these

two

storeys,

whose

floor-level

lay

some

eight

to

nine

meters be-

low

that

of

the Central

Court,

was

remarkably

well

preserved,

thanks to the

slow settlement of

the

upper

storeys,

and has

been restored to a

semblance

of its

original

condition

(pl.

16,

fig.

2).

It is

reached

today,

as in

antiquity,

by

the

"Grand

Staircase"so

ingeniously

rebuilt

by

Evans. At

the foot of

these

stairs a corridor

passes

east

along

the north

side

of

the

light-well,

and from

this a door

opens

south

into the

"Hall

of

the Double

Axes."

On

the

right,

i.e.

west,

of

this

great

hall a two-columned

portico

opens

on

a

light-well.

Halfway

down

the room

is

a

"pier-and-door

partition"4

of

four

bays,

followed

by

another at the east

end of the

room,

and

one

of

three

bays

along

the

eastern

half of the

south

side;

beyond,

to

the east

and

south,

an

L-shaped

portico

or veranda

with six

columns

and

a

square

pier

at

the

angle

provides

a

view

over the

valley

and

hills

beyond.'

The floors

throughout

the

Hall

were

paved

with

slabs of

gypsum,

and

a

high

gypsum

dado

faced

the

lower

part

of

the

walls;

above

this

ran

a

painted

spiral

band

to

which

was

attached,

Evans

suggests,

a

series

of

figure-of-eight

shields,6

a

scheme

imitated with

painted

shields on

the

walls

of

the

Grand

Staircase.

Against

the

north

wall of

the

western

section of

the

Hall

traces of

a

formal

wooden

chair or thronos

were

found,

surmounted

by a canopy.7

Near

the

southwest corner

of

the

Hall

a

narrow

corridor,

with

a door

at

both

ends,

leads

by

two

right-angled

turns

into a

smaller

but

similar

cham-

ber called the

"Queen's

Megaron"

by

Evans

but

which,

to avoid

the term

"megaron"

in

a

Cretan

context,

we

shall

refer

to as

the

"Queen's

Hall."

A

series of

bays

on

the

west,

south,

and

east

sides of

the

room

open

on

a

bath and

two

light-wells;8

be-

tween

the

east

light-well

and

the

room

runs a nar-

*

The

author wishes to

thank

the American

Philosophical

Society and the University of Toronto for grants in aid of

research.

1

The Palace

at

Mari

on

the

Euphrates,

occupied

from

about

2000

to about

1700

B.C.,

is

a

similar

complex

of

"quarters"

used

for

storage,

artisans'

workrooms,

administrative

offices,

cult-rooms,

and

state

reception

rooms,

as

well

as for

the

royal

living-quarters

which have

been identified

in

the northwest

corner

of

the

vast

palace.

Parrot,

Une

ville

perdue

(I936);

Mari

(1953).

2

Cf.

"The

Phaistos

'Piano

Nobile,'

"

AJA

6o

(1956) 151-157;

and

"Windows,

Recesses,

and

the

Piano

Nobile,"

forthcoming.

3

Evans has

published

the

"Domestic

Quarter"

in

detail in

the Palace

of

Minos

III,

282-390.

A

storey

at

the

level

of

the

Central

Court,

and

at

least

one above

this,

may

also

have formed

part

of

the

royal

residential

quarters.

4 By "pier-and-doorpartitions" we mean the series of piers

with

double-doors

in each

opening

or

bay,

such

as

we find

very commonly in Minoan palace and house architecture;by

closing

the

doors

the

apartment

could

be

subdivided into

smaller

rooms,

or

a room could

be closed off from

an

open

portico

or

area

beyond;

cf.

Palace

of

Minos

III,

340.

In

a

previous

article

(AJA

6o

[1956]

51I,

note

4)

I

used

the term

"semi-partition"

for this

purpose,

but

the term

proposed here,

though

slightly

more

cumbrous,

is

certainly

less

ambiguous.

5

The existence of

doors in

the

north

and

south

walls

east

of

the

east row of

columns

does not

prove

that

the

east,

or

even

the

south,

terrace

walls

were

high enough

to

obstruct

the

view;

they

may

have

formed

a

parapet

two or

three feet

high,

or

have

been

higher

but

pierced by

broad

openings.

6

See

the

color

restoration

of

the

Hall

of

the

Double

Axes,

PM

III,

pl.

xxiv.

7PM

III,

333-338.

8

The scheme on the east and south sides somewhat resembles


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3/11

48

J.

WALTER

GRAHAM

[AJA

63

row

corridor

whose

winding

route to the

terrace

and

verandas

t the east

of the Hall

of the

Double

Axes

was

guaranteed

against

intrusion

by

no

less

than

four

doors.

The

Queen's

Hall

was also

floored

with

gypsum

slabs,

and

Evans has

restored

paint-

ings of dancinggirlsand of dolphins n a seascape

as mural

decoration,

rom

the

evidence of

frag-

ments found

in

the

fill.

On the west

side

of the

Queen's

Hall

a

narrow

door

leads to

the familiar

Minoan

bathroom.

This

was

lighted

by

"borrowed"

light

from

the

hall

and

decorated

with

painted

spirals

above a

gypsum

dado.Remains

of

a

painted

erracotta

athtub

were

found

just

outside

the door of the

room.

On

the

south side

of the

bathroom

a

long

corridor

con-

nects with

even

more

private

apartments

which

include a

well-devised

oilet.

One

last

point

of

importance.

wo

sets

of

narrow

stairways,

one

leading

from

the

northeast

corner

of

the

Queen's

Hall

and the

other n

the

northwest

part

of the

Domestic

Quarter

and

reached

both

by

way

of the

room

of

the

Queen's

oilet

and

by

a

door

from

the

"Hall of

the

Colonnades"

t the

foot

of

the Grand

Staircase,

onnect

with

the

storey

above.

This

storey,

as

restored

by

Evans,

was

similar

in

plan

to

the

one

below

it,

and

no

doubt

formed

part

of

the

living

quarters

f

the

royal

amily.9

The

remarkable

similarity

f

the

various

Minoan

palacesin general plan and in many individual

features,

such

as

the

Central

Court,

the

Piano

Nobile,

and

the

details

of

the

west

fagade,"0

ould

lead

one

to

expect

analogous

Residential

Quarters

in

the

other

palaces,

ut it is

not,

I

think,

adequately

realized

that

these

do in

fact

exist,

and

that

the

mutual

resemblance

n

detail

s

rather

extraordinary.

This

paper

will

describe

our

such

sets

of

apart-

ments

other

than

the

familiar

one at

Knossos,

and

will

attempt

o

generalize

he

features

which

they

exhibit

in

common.

Let uslookfirstatPhaistos(pl.15, ig.i). The en-

tire

series

of

rooms

along

the

west

fagade

on

the

ground

loor

eems

o

have

served,

asat

Knossos,

or

storage

and

for

cult

purposes,

with

the

Piano

Nobile

above

and reached

by

a broad

stairway

north

of

the

Grand

Propylon,

the

main entrance

of the

palace."

From

a lower

landing

of this

stairway

a

corridor

leads

into

a

rather

large

square

peristyle-court,

and

from

its

northeast

corner

a

flight

of

steps descends

to a landing from which it continues in a longer

flight

(76)

to

the

east.

The

complex

of rooms

served

by

this

stairway

(pl.

17,

fig. 5; pl.

I8,

fig.

7),

rooms

50

and

77-86,

was

set on

a

great

artificial

terrace

cut

along

the

north

edge

of the

hill

on

which

the

palace

was

built,

and

seems

to

have

been

accessible

from

no

other

direction.12

Certainly

there

is

no

entrance

to

it from

court

48,

south

of

50,

nor

from

the

long

passage

87

leading

north

from

this

court

to

a

north-

east entrance

to the

palace.

Its isolation

is

therefore

comparable to that of the Knossos Residential

Quarter and in the official

Italian

publication these

rooms

are described

as the

quartiere

signorile;"3 n-

deed

an

examination

of these

apartments

will

reveal

many

analogies

with those

at

Knossos.

From a

corridor

at

the foot

of the

"grand

stair-

way,"

76,

a door

opens

north

into

one

end of

a

spacious

hall,

77-79.

At the

right

a

two-columned

portico

opens

on

a

light-well,

78.

Across

the

middle

of

the room

extends

a

pier-and-door

partition of

four

bays,

while

along

the whole

north

side

of

79

and

77

another

of

six

bays

opens

on a

columned

portico,

possibly

originally

L-shaped,

with

a

mag-

nificent

view

across

the

plain

toward

the

range

of

Ida

on

the

north.

Both

floors

and

walls

were

cov-

ered

with

gypsum

slabs.

At

the

southwest

corner

of the Men's

Hall,

79,

a

narrow

corridor

leads

by

two

right-angled

turns,

with

a

door

at both

ends,

into

a

smaller

chamber,

8i.

This

clearly

formed

the

main room

of

a

suite

of rooms

secondary

to

79-77-

Its floor

was

laid

in

a

regular

pattern

of

gypsum

slabs

(like

79)

and

its

walls

were faced

partly

with

gypsum,

partly

with

stucco painted with designs among which vegetable

motifs

can

be

recognized.

From

8i

a few

steps

led

down

to the usual

Minoan

type

of

bathroom,

83,

no

doubt

illumina'ed

by

borrowed

light

from

8i;

its

the

pier-and-door

partition,

but

only

at

the

north

end

of

the

east

side is

there a

door;

the

other

pillars

are

set on

a

low

parapet

which

forms

a

series of

seats

in

the

bays;

PM

III,

367-

369

and

frontispiece.

9

PM

III,

290ff,

354.

10

See

"Windows,

Recesses,

and

the

Piano

Nobile,"

forth-

coming,

and

"The

Central

Court

as

the

Minoan

Bull-ring,"

AJA

61

(1957)

255-62.

x

"The

Phaistos

'Piano

Nobile,'"

AJA

60

(1956)

15I-157.

12

In

arguing

that

this

complex

of

rooms

did

not

form

"

'il

gineceo,'

"

as it was

at first termed

in the

preliminary

reports,

Miss

Banti

says

that

the north

portico

was

easily

accessible

rom

the north,

but

this

is far from

clear

to

me

from

the

remains;

enclosing

porticoes

may

have

extended

northward

on

one

or

both

sides,

Festrbs

I,

255.

13

ibid.

479.

And

so

recognized

by

Dinsmoor,

Architecture

of

Ancient

Greece

(1950) 15.




4/11

1959]

RESIDENTIAL

QUARTER

OF THE MINOAN

PALACE

49

walls

were

aced

partly

with

gypsum,

artly

with

colored

tucco.

A

door n

thewest

wall

of 81

opened

into still

more

private uarters

eyond.

Of

these

82

had a floorof

painted laster;

whilethe

westside

of

the

unnumbered

oom o the

northof

this,

un-

fortunatelyncompleten the north,was paved

with

slabs

of

gypsum

at the

northwest orner

f

which another

gypsum

slab,

a few centimeters

higher

hanthe

general

loor-level,

s

pierced

with

a

rectangular

ole

connecting

itha

drain

unning

northward,

learly

he remains

f a latrine

Festas

II,

fig.

184).

Another oor n the northeastorner

of the

main

room,

8i,

would

communicate

ith

the

porticoes

orthof the

Men's

Hall.

Surely

his

suite

of rooms

an,

on the

analogy

f

the

similar

suite

in

the

Residential

Quarter

t

Knossos,

be

identifiedstheQueen'sApartments.

The

suite

of

roomsnumbered

0

on

the Italian

plan,

and also entered rom

stairway 6, clearly

formed

part

of

the residential

uarter.

ts

light-

well,14

n

the

center,

opened

to

east and

west

through

wo-columned

orticoes,

nd the room

o

the westhad a

gypsum-flagged

loor

and

veneered

walls around

he

baseof which s a

low

gypsum

bench."

A further

nalogy

with the

Knossos

lan

is

the

flight

of

stairs

eading

rom the

northwest

corner

f

50

directly

o

therooms

bove,

which

may

have beenbedrooms.

The

northern,

nstead f

eastern,

rientationf

the

Phaistos

Residential

Quarter

s

quite

under-

standable,

ither

because

f

the

superior

iewfrom

this direction-theMinoan

ove of

natural

eauty

is obvious romtheir

wall-paintings;"6

r

because

of the

heat,

or the

summer un

at

Phaistos,

s

I

can

say

rom

xperience,

s

something

o be

avoided

But

what

of

thecoolerwinter

months

The

rulers

of

Phaistos ad taken

hat into

their

calculations

too and

provided

hemselves ith

a

secondary,

ess

sumptuous,

esidential

uarter

n

the

same

posi-tion

as at

Knossos,

the

southeastern

part

of the

palace pl.

15,

fig.

I)*1

Entered

nly

through

a

small

dooroff

the east

portico

f the Central

ourt,

a

few

steps

ead

up

to the

evel

of therooms.

Again

we note

the same

general

cheme

pl.

16,

fig.

4).

The

main

room,

63,

with

perhaps

light-well,

marked y a cement loorprovidedwith a drain,

in

its southeast

corner;

and

a

pier-and-door

parti-

tion

of three

bays

unning

crosshemiddle

f

the

room,

while

another,

lso

of

three

bays, pens

o

the

east

on

a

columned,

-shaped

ortico

r

veranda

with

a

fine

view

o eastandsouth.

The

higher

evel

of

the

native

rock

surface

beyond

he

cement-

floored

rea

between

he two

porticoes,

makes t

perfectly

lear

hat

this

was

not

a

peristyle.18

he

remains

f

three tone

steps

beyond

he southeast

corner

f the court

uggests

smaller

errace t

a

lowerlevel;we mightwell think of a terraced

garden.

At the northwest

orner f the

main

room,

3,

a

door

opens

ntoa narrow

pace

which

wouldbe of

very

ittleuse

as a

closet;

athert

suggests

small

flight

of

steps

o

rooms

above,

nd the

analogy

f

the

stairs

eading

rom

50

in

the

northResidential

Quarter

s so

closeas to

make his

interpretation

almost

a

certainty."

Another

door from the southeast

ornerof

63

opens

nto

63b,

whose

position

elativeo

the

main

room,

combined

with

the

presence

f

a bathroom

reached

y

a few

steps

down rom

t,

anda

couple

of

more

private

ooms

eyond one

witha toilet -

note

drain

n southeast

orner), ompletes

heResi-

dential

Quarter,

s

we havecome

o

know

t

from

the two

preceding

xamples,

with the

"Queen's

Apartments."

The

nearby

summer-palace"

r

"villa" f

Hagia

Triada

differs

rom he standard

lan

of the

three

great

palaces

n

many

respects,

ut

most

of the

characteristicsf the

Residential

uarter

ppear

n

a

suite

of

rooms

at the

northwest ornerof

the

palace

(pl.

i6,

fig.

3)*20

A broad

flight

of fourteen

14

This is

certainly

a

long,

narrow

light-well

of

the normal

type, though

it

supplies

light

in

two

directions

like the one

in

the Residential

Quarters

at

Hagia

Triada

(pl.

I6,

fig.

3),

and

not a

square

peristyle-court

anticipating

the

scheme of

the

Tuscan

Atrium,

as stated in Pernier and

Banti,

Guida

degli

Scavi Italiani in

Creta

(I947)

6i,

and

hesitatingly

reaffirmed n

Festobs

I,

471;

this

is

indicated

by

the

fact

that the

stylobates

on

both

the

east

and

west sides continue

through

to

the

north

and

south

walls where there are

pilasters

to

receive

the

ends of

the beams

of

the

epistyle.

15

Gypsum

was

used in abundance at Phaistos thanks to the

nearby

quarries

at

Hagia

Triada which

are

again

being

used

by

the

Italians in their

restorationwork at both Phaistos and

Hagia

Triada.

16

Snijder's

contention that the

Minoans

had

no

feeling

for

beauty

of

landscape

and did not

construct their

palaces

with

reference

to

it

is

rightly

denied in

Festbs

II,

478.

17

This is also

recognized

in

Festbs

II,

478.

18

Although

so

stated

by

Dinsmoor,

loc.cit.

19

Festbs

II,

169

suggests,

on

the basis

of

a

not

very

compelling

analogy,

that

the

space

was

used as a

sleeping-room,

and that

the

original

idea

that

a

flight

of

steps

was

located here

ought

to be

abandoned;

however

no reasons are

given

why

the

original

view

is

impossible.

20

See Pernier

and

Banti,

Guida

30-32.




5/11

50

J.

WALTER GRAHAM

[AJA

63

steps

leads

down from

a

higher

level

to

the

east to

a

point

opposite

a door

opening,

as

before,

into one

of the

long

sides of the

main

room

3,

12.

Again

we

have the

light-well

to

the

right

with two-columned

porticoes

to

east

and

west,

resembling

the

arrange-

ment of 50 of the north Residential Quarter of

Phaistos

(pl. 17, fig. 5),

and

like that

too there

is

a

room

beyond

(4)

with

gypsum-flagged

floor,

gyp-

sum-veneered

walls,

and a continuous

gypsum

bench

around the walls. The room to the north of

4

has a

large

flat

slab of

gypsum

in one corner and

the

suggestion

is

made

in

the Guida that this

was

a

bedroom.2"

Returning

to

the

main room

we find

the

usual

pier-and-door

partition

with four

bays

dividing

it

into

an

eastern and

larger

western

section

(12

and

3).

Another

with

six

bays along

the

north side

of

3

opens

on an

L-shaped

veranda

with

a

corner

pillar

(compare

Knossos)

and two

columns

preserved

(pl.

i8,

fig.

9).

The

terrace,

on

which

the

verandas

face

and which has been

artificially

extended

and

supported

by

a

retaining

wall,

affords the

finest

view

from

the

site: north to the

range

of

Ida,

and

west over the fertile

plain

of the

Geropotamos

to

the

blue waters of the

Gulf

of

Mesara

beyond

(fig. 9).

A

door

at the

northeast

corner

of 12

opens

into

a

corridor,

at the

west

end

of which

another door

turns north into

13.22

By analogy, then, room 13

should be

the

Queen's

Hall. Can

14,

to

the

east and

entered from

13 by

a

door,

be

an

unrecognized

bathroom? A

pier-and-door

partition

leads into

a

destroyed

room

to

the

north,

and at the

northeast

corner a half

dozen

steps

descend to

a

door into a

tiny open

court

and

to a

stairway

leading

to an

upper

storey.

The

main rooms and

the

porticoes

of

the

court all

seem

to have

had

gypsum-paved

floors,

and some

rooms,

such

as

4,

had

gypsum

dadoes on

the

walls,

while in 14 were found the fragments of the well-

known

"Cat-and-Bird"

mural.

Last

we

turn

to Mallia where we are somewhat

handicapped,

as

at

Hagia

Triada,

by

the fact that

the

palace

has

not

yet

received

its final

publication.23

In

general plan

the

palace

is

strikingly

like

Knossos

and

Phaistos,

but

since

it was built on a

nearly

level

site we have no terrace at a lower level to mark the

position

of the

Residential

Quarter.

In

the

northwest

corner of the

palace,

however,

we

find

a

suite

of rooms accessible from the rest of

the

building only

by

one or two doors reached in

round-about

ways

(pl.

17,

fig.

6;

pl.

18,

fig.

Io).24

One

of

these,

via IV

6,

opens

into a

long

side of

the

familiar

"main

room,"

1117,

on the left

(south)

of

which is the

usual

two-columned

light-well.

Again

the

room

is divided

transversely by

a

pier-

and-door

partition

with four

bays.25

Beyond

this

the section

of

the

room

to

the

north

has,

like the

Hall

of the Double

Axes,

pier-and-door

partitions

in front

(north)

and on

one

side

(east).

The east

partition

with

three

bays opens

into a room

with

a central

pillar.

The

north

partition,

with three

bays,

opens

into the

usual

columned

portico

facing

north.

Other

columns were

found for a

portico

facing

west,

and

although

the

French

thought

that

these

belonged

to

some

earlier constructions

be-

cause

they

are at a

slightly

lower

level,

their

regular

relationship

to the

other

portico,

and the

analogy

of the

L-shaped

porticoes

at

Knossos,

Phaistos,

and

Hagia Triada, suggest that they form part of the

same

ensemble.26

The

French

searched

diligently

for some

sign

of

rooms in

the area

north of this

and

were

surprised

to

find

nothing

but

a few low

strag-

gling

walls of

uncertain

period.27

And

surely

for

good

reason:

for

again

we have

royal

residential

verandas

facing

the

view over

the sea and the cool-

ing

breezes

blowing

from

it.

Nor are

the

"Queen's

Apartments"

missing.

A

door near the southwest corner of

the

main room

opens

into

a

paved

corridor

at

the

north

end of

which another door opens into a smaller paved

room,

III

I,

with

a door

at its

northeast corner on

21

ibid.

31;

cf.

Festbs

II,

169.

22

The

corridor

was

probably

not

open

at

its

east end as it

appears

on

the

plan,

but for

this and

other details

we

must

wait

for Miss

Banti's

promised publication

of

the

site.

23Preliminary

accounts

have

appeared

in

Chapouthier

and

Charbonneaux, Fouilles

exdcutces

a

Mallia,

premier

rapport

(1928);

Chapouthier

and

Joly,

Fouilles

. .

Mallia,

deuxisme

rapport (1936);

Chapouthier

and

Demargne, Mallia, troisirme

rapport

(1942);

also

numerous

reports

in

the BCH and

an

article

by

Charbonneaux,

BCH

52 (1928)

347-363.

24

A

group

of

rooms

labeled

"VI"

is

described

as

a

probable

domestic

quarter

in

Mallia

I,

19-26,

but

it is

certainly

not a

royal

residential

quarter.

25

The

existence

of this

pier-and-door

partition,

and of

those

noted

below,

has not

been

recognized

in

the French

publica-

tions,

yet

is

perfectly

clear at

the

site

(fig.

io).

The

position

of

the

piers

is

marked

by

rectangular

gaps

in

the

stone

sty-

lobate,

for

there

are

no

remains

of

the

dressed-stone

bases

regular

elsewhere--even

at Mallia

in

several

of

the

private

houses. This

was

first

recognized

by

Platon as a

result

of

some

repairs,

Kpfr7tK&r

XpoVLKd

I

(1947)

635f;

cf.

Demargne

and

Santerre,

1tudes

Critoises

IX,

I05,

and

further

references

there.

26

Mallia

III,

figs.

6f.

27

ibid.

26-31.




6/11

1959]

RESIDENTIAL

QUARTER

OF

THE MINOAN

PALACE

51

the north

portico,

nd

one

at

its southwest orner

which

by

a few

steps

down leads

to the

usual

bathroom,

114;

still

anotherdoor

opens

into a

roomon

the

west.The

whole

arrangement

f

the

Queen's

Apartments

s

astonishingly

imilaro

that

of thenorthResidentialuartert Phaistospl.17,

fig.

5).

Finally,

he

private tairway

o the

floor

above

has

been

recognizedby

the French

excavators

to the southof the bathroomt IIIb.

It

could

have

been

reachedither rom

he

southend of the

cor-

ridor

eading

o the

Queen's

Hall,

or

through

he

light-well

t the south

nd

of the main

room.

Thus

virtually

all the

typical

elementsof

the

Residential

uarter

reto

be

seen n this

complex

of

rooms. f the stonebases or

the

piers

of

the

pier-and-doorartitions

re

lacking;

f the floors

aremore

rregularlyaved

with

slabs f

limestone;

and

f

the

wallsarecovered

nly

withstucco r

thin

slabs

f slate

?),

this

only

reflects

he

more

modest

quality

f

the

palace

s a whole.

We

may

sum

up

then

by simply

iving

a

generic

description

f theResidential

uarter

f

the

Minoan

palace, description

hich,

with the

specified

x-

ceptions,

pplies

o

all

five

known

examples.

The

Royal

Residential

uarters

n

the Minoan

palaces

onsisted f a

suiteof roomsocated

long

the northor

east

exterior

ide

of the

building

n

a

positionelected n thebasisof viewandclimatic

conditions.

ince

t therefore

ormally ccupied

position

long

one

edge

of the hill on

whichmost

palaces

werebuilt

(except

Mallia),

t was

usually

set n

a

terracen

wholeor

n

part

artificially

reated

by

scarping,

xcavating,

nd

extending.

he

com-

plex

was

well

segregated

rom

he

rest

of the

palace

and

normally

eached

nly by

a

single

entrance.

The main

oom

"Men's

Hall"

or

"General

iving-

room")

was

an

oblong

room

entered

by

a

door

placed

ear

one end

of one

of

its

long

sides,

with

a

light-well,lanked y twocolumns, t oneend;it

was

divided

nto two

usually

nequal

ections,

he

smaller

ontaining

he

entrance,

y

a

pier-and-door

partition

f four

bays;28

ne

or

two of

the

other

sides

of the

larger

ection29

avesimilar

artitions

which

open

on

columned

porticoes.

These columned

porticoes

are

L-shapedso

with

the

corner

support,

except

at

Phaistos,

a

square pier,

and

they

face out

on an

open

terrace.

A

secondary

and more

private

suite

of

rooms,

presumably

the

queen's,

is

reached

by

a narrow corridor

with doors

at both ends.

Off

this room one

door leads down

a few

steps

to

a

bathroom,

another

to more

private

rooms

beyond,

and a third connects with the terrace and its por-

ticoes.

Narrow

stairways

lead

directly

to the

rooms

above,

which

presumably

form

part

of the

same

system.

The Men's

Hall,

the

Queen's

Hall,

and

the

bathroom

have the lower

parts

of the walls

and

the

floor covered with

stone,

which with

the

exception

of Mallia

is

gypsum;

the

upper

walls are

sometimes

plastered

and

painted

with

designs,

particularly

at

Knossos and

Hagia

Triada,

but also at

Phaistos.-"

The

general

quality

of the

principal

rooms

both

in

regard

to size

and decoration

distinguishes

them

from the

ordinary

rooms

of the

palace.

One more

question

would seem worth

attempting

to

answer.

The ceremonial

rooms or

state

reception

rooms

were located-for

reasons we

have tried

to

suggest

elsewheres2-well

above

the

ground

floor

(in

the

"Piano

Nobile"). Why

then

was

the

lowest-and

this was

probably

the

principal-storey

of the

Residential

Quarter

placed

at the

ground

level,

in

fact often

considerably

below

the

general

ground

level of

the

palace?

And this

in

spite

of

the

fact that most

of the

area

at this

level was

given

over

to "service"

uses:

workrooms,

storage-rooms,

and

small cult rooms The explanation will, I think, be

plain

to

many

a man

who

today

prefers

his little

house

in the suburbs where

he can

step

out into

his small

back

garden

to

being

immured

in a

lofty

modern

apartment-house.

The halls

of the

Minoan

Residential

Quarter

could be

opened

wide,

as

we

have

seen,

on to

spacious

and

well-shaded

porticoes,

and from

these one

could

pass

into a

pleasant

open

court

or

garden,

sometimes

provided,

it

may

be,

with

descending

terraces,

and

commanding

a fine

panorama

over

the sea and

the

mountains. The

garden with its pools of water and formal plantings

of

flowers,

shrubs,

and

trees was a

familiar feature

of

the

home

of

the

Egyptian

noble of

the

second

millennium

B.c.

Appreciation

of the

delights

of

nature is

not a

discovery

of

modern

man 33

UNIVERSITY

OF

TORONTO

ROYAL

ONTARIO

MUSEUM

28

Only 3

bays

n

the

east

Residential

Quarter

t

Phaistos.

29

One side

at

Hagia

Triada

and both

examples

t

Phaistos;

two

at Malliaand

Knossos.

30

This

is

uncertain or

the north

Phaistos

xample.

81

Festbs

II,

295,

pl.

XL.

82AJA

6o

(1956) 151ff.

3S

Suites of

rooms

similar to

those

studied in

this

article

are

also to be

found

in

several

Minoan

houses.

Perhaps

the

clearest




7/11

52

J.

WALTER

GRAHAM

[AJA

63

instance is

House A

a

at Mallia

(Demargne

and

Santerre,

•tudes

CrItoises

IX,

pls. 63, 66).

It

includes

a

large

"Men's

Hall"

(3) paved

with

irregular flagstones,

which

has a trans-

verse

four-bayed

pier-and-door

partition

and a

single-columned

light-well.

Reached

from

it

by

a narrow corridor

(5)

is

a

"Wom-

en's

Hall"

(6)

with

a

similar

floor;

the usual sunken bathroom

(7) opens off one side, while at the far end is a space enclosed

with

a thin

adobe-brick

wall,

probably

a

latrine. House

Z

a

at Mallia

(ibid.

pls.

65,

66)

is

similar

in

its

arrangement:

a

Men's Hall

(12)

and

a

Women's Hall

(5)-both

with

trans-

verse

partitions-with

a

latrine at

the

far

end;

a bathroom

(11)

opens

off a corridor

(14)

serving

both halls. Other

probable

examples

may

be seen in the

Royal

Villa,

Rooms

E, F, G,

H

(Palace of

Minos

II,

fig.

227);

the

House of the Chancel

Screen,

Rooms

4,

5,

6

(ibid.

fig. 224);

Nirou

Khani,

Rooms 2-10

(ibid.

fig.

167);

House B at

Palaikastro,

Rooms

2,

3,

6

(ibid. fig.

354);

Houses A and C at Tylissos (Hazzidakis, Tylissos, pl. 33);

and

perhaps

in the Little Palace

at Knossos

(Palace

of

Minos

II,

fig.

3I8).




8/11

GRAHAM

PLATE

15

•,','?,•,.

isi

.....

........11At

O

[J...j..iILIlERtv

Fig.

1.

Plan

of the

last

palace

at Phaistos

(adapted

from Festbs

I,

pl.

ii)




9/11

PLATE

I6

GRAHAM

Cr,8AIVP

r4, AtCA E

i l l

111111

Weii

A

Isd

r 7 7 7 Z

40L

W-

Fig.

2. Plan of Knossos

Residential

Quarter

.

,

-

..CI

,,

i,

,,,

,,,,,,,•,

M t

16

I

.

.

.•

•<

Fig. 3.

Plan of

Hagia

Triada

Residential

Quarter

"1t

6?e

i

63

~i C-.1I.C"t?? .4,f

~= -?i

VI .,

I r

.( t C

77~

,.."i

:33 I

?s

r;*

Z ''

-cV~ ~?,.

z .~:.?c?.~c~--~

i-r r

i

7.:

1LtS) : r,:

I r :

_. t?

r

;.:?:?;??

rsL-

7,,

.~

I? '

I'

---?c:,'~L?

i

~j

6,c76

i

\1

r~

3

ij

vr"fW ~,I Y/rl i /~C

i r

cu~br, 9'

r" ~ ?t

M-

r L I:_

P"ilome

f'~

i

r

1

Fig. 4.

Plan of

Phaistos

southeast

Residential

Quarter

North

at

top




10/11

GRAHAM PLATE

17

at

L.

16

...

i

L...~~~ h om.)

Fig.

5.

Plan

of

Phaistos

north

Residential

Quarter

i

\

~7-"

?

-,

"I

"

l

Ilf,

...

.~ .

--

-,

..

h i

..-

t

V~~?

(~j

~ ,om.~

JCffrd

Fig.

6.

Plan

of

Mallia Residential

Quarter

North

at

top




11/11

Fig. 7. Phaistos north Residential Quarter

from east

Fig. io. Mallia Residen

from south

Fig.

8.

Phaistos

southeast

Residential

Quarter

from southwest

Fig.

9.

Hagia

Triada

Resi

and

view

from so

the residential quarter of the minoan palace

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