Photos of Beautiful Ancient Minoan Larnax Chest

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Photos of the Beautiful Fine Ancient Pottery Minoan Larnax Chest Terracotta Decorated Bath Tubs . Photos by photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of Ancient Pottery Minoan Larnax Chest

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Photos of wonderful Minoan Larnax chest terracotta bath tubs.

To the Greeks, the Underworld was entered by water. As with many other Minoan bathtubs, this one was probably later used as a coffin to convey the deceased across the sea, where marine imagery would be equally appropriate.

The two functions of bathtubs, bathing and burial, combine in the story of Agamemnon who, on return from Troy, was murdered by his wife and her lover in a silver bath.

Water in Greece is precious. Even for the elite, a bath would have been a great and occasional luxury. Homer’s description of Circe’s servants preparing a bath for Odysseus underlines the ritual and formality:

“The fourth maid fetched water and lit up a great fire under the big cauldron so that the water grew warm. When the bright copper was boiling, she sat me down in a bath and washed me with water from the great cauldron mixed with cold to a comfortable heat, sluicing my head and my shoulders until all the painful weariness was gone from my limbs. My bath done, she rubbed me with olive oil, clothed me in a tunic and a splendid robe and conducted me to the hall, where she seated me in a beautiful chair with silver decorations and a footstool below.”

The Minoan Linear B tablets from Pylos also give us the ancient name: re-wo-te-re-jo for the Minoan larnax tubs. The decoration outside is probably a stylized version of octopus tentacles, which, together with the fish inside (bream) are obvious choices for aquatic contexts.

The wavy double line on the floor represents water draining out through the plug; the semi-circles below the rim perhaps sea urchins or anemones.

All photos can be downloaded as editorial royalty free images. Property Rights belong to the relevant museums.