The Minoan Lady

Η Παριζιάνα

Cretan-Garden products are recognizable by the image of a detail of the Camp Stool Fresco found in the ruins of the Minoan palace at Knossos¹, near Heraklion, Crete.

The fresco dates from c. 1450–1350/1300 B.C., and is currently in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum ².

The fresco was first uncovered in the early 20th century ³ by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans ⁴, who led the excavations at Knossos. While only a fragment of the larger artwork survives, it remains one of the best-preserved and most detailed depictions of a Minoan woman.

She wears an elaborate blue-and-red striped garment, adorned with red loops along the edge. At the nape of her neck, a sacred knot is tied—a long loop of fabric trailing down her back. This sacred knot is believed to denote religious significance, suggesting that she may have been a priestess or someone of high status.

The term “Minoan”  is derived from the name of the mythical King Minos ⁵, who the Classical Greeks believed to have ruled Knossos in the distant past. It was popularized by Arthur Evans, possibly drawing on an earlier suggestion by Karl Hoeck ⁶. It is a modern coinage and not used by the Minoans, whose name for themselves is unknown ⁷.

The Wikipedia page about the Minoan Civilization is a great source of knowledge that I would like to recommend if you are interested in history, cultures and old civilizations, especially since the Minoan civilization is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe.⁸

The use of soap in the Minoan Civilization

It is not certain if the Minoan Lady used soap herself. There is nothing written about the use of soap in the palace of Knossos. There are some articles with information that explain, for instance, the use of salt in bathing rituals:

“Before modern medicine, salt water treated patients as a healing remedy. Before the modern spa day, firm believers in its healing created the concept of therapeutic bathing. In order to cleanse the body, they infused salt with herbal blends, lavender and bay laurel leaves that extracted daily toxins. Another contribution salt progressed into was basic soap making. Dated around 2800 BC, the Greeks were one of the first soap makers who created mixtures of alkaline salts with local vegetable oils, animal fats and wood ashes to form soaps and detergents. By contrast, today an individual uses soap for bathing or personal hygiene. In ancient times, it was produced for cleaning cooking utensils, goods and medicinal purposes.”⁹

“The oldest archaeological findings in Europe related to bathing habits date from the Bronze Age (2,400–800 BC). In the palaces of Knossos and Phaistos in Crete, the population of the Aegean Minoan civilisation left traces of special chambers devoted to bathing. Alabaster bathtubs excavated in Akrotiri (on Santorini Island), as well as washing basins and feet baths, showed how people from the Minoan civilisation maintained their personal hygiene.”¹⁰

“Lustral Basins were first identified by Arthur Evans ¹¹ at Knossos and consist of a sunken rectangular room reached by an L-shaped or dog-legged stairway. There is often a balustrade running alongside the stairway, normally ending with a pilaster supporting a column. All the examples at Knossos, like the one at Mallia (above), were lined with gypsum and so Evans thought they were used for bathing—a clay tub was even found in one of them. However, a few of them were found in areas of the palace; the Throne Room, for example, where relaxing in the tub seems unlikely. In those cases, Evans believed they were used for ritual purification through lustration—hence the name” ¹²

Additional information

1. Minoan woman or goddess from the palace of Knossos (“La Parisienne”) – Khan Academy
2. Appendix Two, La Parisienne – Erenow, Biographies and Memoires
3. Journal article – Water, Fertility and Purification in Minoan Religion – Oxford University Press
4. How ‘ritual’ were the Palaces? – The Secret of Civilization
5. Minoan Religion, Ritual, Image and Symbol – Nanno Marinatos, Academia
6. Hydro-technologies in the Minoan Era – IWA
7. Minoan civilization – YouTube playlist
8. Archaeological Museum Heraklion – Photo album Flickr
9. Minoan Art, Archaeological Museum Heraklion – Photo album Flickr
10. Herbs for health and beauty in Minoan Crete – Explore Crete
11. The Minoan Harem : the Role of Eminent Women and the Knossos Frescoes [article] – Nanno Marinatos
12. Cretan-Garden olive oil soaps – Webshop

Footnotes

1. Knossos Palace – Wikipedia ↩︎
2. Heraklion Archaeological Museum – website
   Photo album ↩︎
3. Knossos Palace – The Mysterious Lady of Knossos ↩︎
4. The palace of Minos : a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustrated by the discoveries at Knossos
   by Evans, Arthur, Sir, 1851-1941; Evans, Joan, 1893- ↩︎
5. King Minos – Wikipedia ↩︎
6. Karel Hoeck – Wikipedia ↩︎
7. The term “Minoan” – Wikipedia ↩︎
8. The Minoan civilization is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe – Wikipedia ↩︎
9. Importance of salt in Ancient Greece – Greek Boston ↩︎
10. Ancient Greek and Roman bathing – Blog Stella ↩︎
11. Sir Arthur Evans and Minoan Crete – Nanno Marinatos ↩︎
12. Lustral Basins in Knossos – Odyssey ↩︎