Median Aceon Achar, Spell sue WL. 6, 3, pp. 27.32 apg © 2006 MAN inten Grae Ages seed A Taurus Map on a Minoan Vase? George Banos University of loannina, Department of Physics Division of Astro-Geophysics, loannina, Greece (eban@hol.gr) Received: 11/4/2006, Accepted: 22/11/2006 Abstract During the excavation of a shrine at Anemospilia on Crete in 1979, an important, richly decorated vase was discovered, like that appearing on the sarcophagus of Aghia Triada to be used for the collection of the blood of the sacrificed bull. The vase was dated to the Middle Minoan period (around 1700 B.C.) The central motif of the decoration of the vase is a plastic bull painted off-white, with a pattern of red ‘round spots scattered over its body. The whole decoration was considered by the excavators and other investigators, as a “speaking symbol” of a bull sacrifice. In this article we suggest that the pattern of round spots could be considered as a map of the Taurus constellation, the oldest one known in the “Aegean; moreover, that the whole decoration refers to the Spring, when the vernal equinox was locat- ed in Taurus in Minoan times. We also suggest that the beginning of the year would be fixed follow- ing this equinox. Keywords: Minoan pottery, decoration, symbolism, Taurus constellation, Minoan calendar. Introduction ‘Among the most important of their finds, was a Some years ago, Yannis and Eli Sakellaraks large, richly decorated vse, similar to that depicted (2997), inan excellent wo volume publication enti- inthe bullsacrifie scene ofthe Aghia Trada sar- fled “Archanes. Minoan Crete in a New Light”, pre-_cophagus, sed to collect he blond ofthe sacrificed sened their finds from the excavations a Archanes animal (bid, 48-61); it was characterized by the and its surroundings. ‘excavators as a unique one in Minoan art pottery. The On a northern hill of the mount Juktas, called decoration of the vase, as it is described by the ‘Anemosplia, they excavated a very important shrine, authors, consists of an artistic composition, plastic, dated about 1700 B.C., that they considered as a incised and polychrome, covering the surface of the ‘unique one, mainly because they discovered remains vase all around, as a frieze. It is formed by motifs of human sacrifice. In conclusion, they suggested painted in whit, off-white and red overa lack back that the shrine has been destroyed by earthquake and ground. The central motif is « plastic figure ofa bl, fire, just atthe time of the sacrifice ofa young man, _ emerging lightly from the surface ofthe vase, painted arRY Fig. I: The oldest record ofthe Taurus constellation cna Mi- roan vase unearthed by Yannis and Efi Sakellerakis at Anemosplia cn Crt, dated around 1700 B.C. (Phogra Yand E.Sakelarakis, 1997) off-white, with « number of round red spots of dffer- ent sizes scattered on its body (Fig. 1, 4). ‘The whole decoration of this vessel is similar to ‘that founel on a vase from Phaistos, with plastic wild goat as a central motif. In addition, the figure of the bull looks like that appearing in the decoration of the sarcophagus of Aghia Triada, The authors, ater a detailed description of the vase, focused their interest on the symbolism of its decoration and they concluded that the artist must hhave composed a scene for some specific purpose. ‘Thus they wrote: “itis quite possible, that the white bull of Anemospilia, dappled with red blots, symbol- ized a special sacrificial animal”, And they added: ‘we have to hope for new discoveries that will throw ‘more light on the subject” A throw of more light could come, of cours, rom, another source of Science than that of Archaeology, ‘namely Astronomy. The Sun, the Moon and bright stars have attracted the attention and the worship of people since the early times of human history. Some of the brightest stars are landmarks and in combina- tion with fainter ones around them, they seem toform distinctive arrangements and shapes, the so-alled constellations. Constellations are presented in star maps as patterns of round dots, like the round red spots appearing on the bull’simage.Itisinteresting to note that a numberof stars really have an easily dis tinguished red-orange colour, such as that of the brightest star ofthe Taurus constellation (o-Tasrus), named Aldcbaran, the so-called “eye of the bull” Some of the constellations are mentioned by Homer (liad, £ 486.9, X 29-31) and Hesiod (Works and Days, 609-20), ‘Archaeologists looked at the “bull-vase”; in our ‘turn we shall look atthe *vase-bull”™ The vase bull Archaeologists state thatthe artist used the round spots on the bull's image inorder to depict the hide of the animal. However, it is quite obvious that the spots are not distributed randomly over the bull's body. On. the contrary, a certain patter is well distinguished, reminding ofa constellation’s picture on asta char. With such a working hypothesis in mind, the next step should be to compare the map on the vase to the Taurus constellation, as it appears on asta chart. Furthermore, for such a comparison, it should be ‘taken into account that: a) The pattern of the round spots on the bull-vase is the mirror image (reversed from left to right) of the constellation. This is rather due to the technique used forthe decoration, that isto the use of a mould forthe plastic bull. Such a reversal {s also found in some star maps of the Renaissance (Fig. 2), in which only the front half of Taurus is tra- ditionally depicred on the sky, because i represents Zeus carrying the princess Buropa across the Medliter- ranean to Crete. Evidently, it is not an important effect, occurring also in the observation of the sky through a telescope. b) People in antiquity might hhave grouped the stars in diferent constellations from those of today. For example, the cluster Pleiades, which now belongs to Taurus, was considered as a separate adjacent constellation in ancient times. c) 28-ATALRUS MAP ON A MINN ASE? Fig, 2: Taurus map fom “Urenometria™ of) Bayer (1603), (lf), ain the frm ofa star char (ight). ‘The map scale on the body and the head of the bul is differen, This s not unusual in the an perspective. d) ‘A part of the vase map, the head of the bull, which constitutes the well-known, since antiquity, cluster ‘yades, is slightly inclined, by comparison to a star chart, so that to be adjusted to the image of the bul The identification In Figure 3, four drawings, labeled a,b, d, cor respote othe following explanations: 1) the pattern ofthe ound red spots on the bull's Pictur, ') the same pattern in the form of star chart, ©) the Taurus constellation ona modern star chat, reversed rom left to righ, in order to be compared to @), <) the same constellation with a change in scale ‘and in inclination of the bull's head, as well as with- cout the thre legs, so that it ean easly be compared to the drawing (b, Only stars visible with the naked eye Ihave been included. Tes quite clay, Think, that theres nota signi cant difference between the drawings (6) and (@, ‘except in the Aldcbaran's position, As tis known, this star moves in front of the Hyades, being a a smaller distance than it (atl ese than the hal), and asa lange proper motion of 0.2 arsee per yea towards S SE. On the contrary, the rest of the Taurus stars 20. Fig. 3: Drawings ofthe Taurus constellation: a) asi ap pearson the bul vase, b he sme inthe form ofa star char, ©) ina moder sar chart, d) the same ina form compar leo).Figure 4 The whole decoration ofthe bull vase:a real aris- \iccomposiion, a “speaking symbol” (Photograph ¥.and E, Sukellarakis, 1997) (Cyades and the others) have nota significant proper ‘motion, Consequently, there int a noticeable change in the shape of Taurus since the Minoan times, except in the Aldcbaran’s shift, which is effected towards the ditection expected, though much high- erin measure (value). “The identification becomes more evident, i one takes into consideration the following complemen- tary factors: 1) Some ofthe stars, ike (€) and (o) of Taurus (Fig, 3.) are so close on the sky as to appear as one star, when observed with the naked eye, paticular- ly under bad seeing (observing ~ atmospheric) con- ditions. This could be a reasonable explanation why these stars are coalesced in a lage dot on the vase- boll. But this could also be due to faulty restora- tion of the picture's painting. On the other hand, the sizeof each dot on a star chart is analogous to the brightness of the corresponding star, on the ball vase 2) The prominent characteristic of Taurus is its head, in the shape of aV, formed by ive bright stars (4, y,6,€,0-Taurus) (Fig. 3). Thre of them (a, 6) form a triangle, the "jw ofthe bull”. The stars of the bull's head constitute the cluster Hyades, known since eaely antiquity in many countries and peoples, 3) Another characteristic is the absence of spots fon the three legs ofthe vase-bull. There sre only two adjacent spots on the lft foreleg, corzespondling to two stars of Taurus, but none on the others, either because they were out of igure or because they were not considered members of the group at that tine 30 Im addition, the last star of the pattern belongs today tothe Cetus constellation (a-Ceti. The symbolism of the decora- tion The authors, aswel os other ivestigorsmen- tioned by them, have aged in tha the plyehrome decoration af te entire vase (Fig, 4) constitutes a unique antic compesition wth some specie sign icance. So, Fapahatzis (1987, 44-45) estimate that itisa “speaking emblem’, a “peaking smb” of a tall sce, asthe authors confi. With regud to the rosettes of the decoration, “highly unusual roi in Kamares potry" the authors add that, “they ae no simply decorative mous, but hey have some other significance” T think hit the signin ofthe whole decors ton coud be revealed thrcugh prehistoric stonomy, namely Minoan astronony, I seems to me qe ce tain thatthe budding and the blaming landscape pained on the vase refers tothe pring when he ver tal equinox (place of the Sun and begining ofthe Spring), Minonn times, as lated in aes, Some scholars support that te coming of the Spring was alvaysclzrated with estvals and othe remotes including sacrifices (Wiles 1962; Heberer 1972) The for white dss, two on ether side ofthe bulls image, show the solar dis with the well known spiral moti (discoid spiral of Walberg). Ta general, a spl (simple, dole or contin) isa Symbol the apparent solar motion round the eth and ofthe continous, teal cycle of le, with the annual eit ofthe Neue. This mois found on diferent atiacts, such as petolypson Neos and elsewhere, Cycladie fying pans”, pstey, ee, not only inthe Aegean but aso ina mmber of countries and peoples Banos, 1997) “The to cightleafrsetes, «solar mai to, in the upper part ofthe vase, and the eight pant rea rent around the bul, could symbolize the eight-year Cycle ofthe lun-solar calendar ofthe Miwa sup ported by some scholars (Herberger 1972, 1983; Blriberg 1994), At present, this is speculativeaspect (as nearly all studies on Minoan astronomy) but it seems plausible, Ic is quite probable that the beginning of this eee was marked on the appeat- ance of the new moon or of the full moon (CPasiphae") just after the spring equinox, and was possibly celebrated through a sacrifice (human or animal) inthe context ofa festival. Aernatively, it could be possible to symbolize simply the beginning of an annual cycle, of a year, which, as in Mesopotamia, was marked at the fist appearance of the crescent new Moon at dusk on the western hori- zon ater the beliaal rising of «certain star group as Hades or Pleiades. Discussion and Conclusion The Taurus map on the vase-bull from Anemo- spilia may be the oldest one recorded so far in the ‘Aegean. This fact adds a considerable piece of asiro- nnomical knowledge to the Minoan observers of the night sky, who presumably used peak sanctuaries for their observations (Herinkesson and Blomberg, 1996). (One has to recall Ovenden's article (1966), that constellations were known since 3000-2000 B.C. and that they were used to define a celestial coordi- nate system by a people living in a country of the Aegean on a latitude 36° N, a claim pointing to the Minoans. Furthermore it was proposed that the description of constellations by Aratus (3th century B.C.) was based on old observations made between 3400-1800 BC. by the same people. Ovenden’s claims, however, were strongly criticized by Dicks (2991, 28). (On the other hand, Kyriakidis (2005) has recent- ly supported a constellation theory of floating objects fon Minoan seal rings, ic. that constellations had been symbolically (not as a group of stars) depicted cn these rings in the Late Minoan I period, Moreover, ‘he wonders about a possible classification of stars into ‘constellations by the Mincans and he concludes that at least some bright stars would be classified togeth- fe, in groups, although in different constellations from those today. Moreover, Blomberg P. E. (2006), =e ATHURUS MAPON A MINGAN VASE? ‘on the basis ofa comparative study of different works ‘on Minoan astronomical knowledge, has been led to the hypothesis “that che westem map of constella- tions has its root on Crete daring the Minoan period around 2000 B.C." In conclusion, it seems quite likely that the Tau rus constellation was the first one named in the Greek Urinographia (Taurus is the Greek name of the bull), becasse of the power of the bull in work and fertlization and its world-wide profile. [am convinced that the vases decoration is real- Iya speaking symbol”, as Papahacls suggested and that this decoration is an additional indication about the Minoan astronomical knowledge. So, one may conclude that very probably the Minoan year began at the fitst moon following the spring equinox. This {s in contradiction to Blomberg's findings indicating that the year of Minoans began at the first new ‘moon following the autumn equinox” (2005), when, however, there seems none so important as it is the renewal ofthe Nature in Spring ‘Another point of much interest is that the two grandest star clusters on the sky for the maked-eye observers are the Hyades and the Pleiades, belonging to Taurus, They were both well known since the times of Homer and Hesiod and possibly as early as 4000-3000 B.C. The Hyades, named possibly after the Greek word «uerds» (“rain"), constitutes the “Taurus head and was considered asa basic sign by the farmers, the navigators and generally by people obliged to fit their work to the weather conditions. The morning setting on November of the Hades in the western horizon signaled, since antiquity, the ‘onset of winter's rainfalls, coming from the West, ‘Their pluval characteris quoted to by some Roman authors; and the Greek historian Hellanikos of Myt lene linked Zeus and the rain with the seasonal appearance of the Fyades. Thus, the pluvial reputa- tion of this cluster rellects the Taurus importance as an agent of fertility and renewal of Nature, Conse~ quently, i is quit lely thatthe pries-observers of the heaven at Anemospilia (the *hill-cave of the winds") were engaged in pursuing these phenomena, ‘Some of these priests could be important artists too.George Banos “The second equally important cluster of tars, the Pleiades, named possibly after the Greek verb «ao» (“sail”) and related perhaps to the month “ploistos» recorded on a tablet of Linear B text, asthe ‘voyages started with its heliacal rising on May, was used as sign by many peoples in the world. In Greece, for example, on a sundial made by Andronikos of Kyrros of Macedonia (Ist century BC) and unearthed on Tenos by Paul Graindor (1907), the beginning of the winter and ofthe sum- rer are marked by tracings associated to the morn- ing rising and setting of the Pleiades, while, after ‘Theophrastus (4th century B.C.) the Pleiades bisect- cd the year. It seems possible, thus, that the tradition of ‘Acgean astronomy might have been plausible source for the development of the Greek astronomy and its culmination in the Hellenistic period Acknowledgements Tam rtf tthe three anonymous referees for their contrive eomments References ‘Banos, G, (1997) Evidence of Prehistoric Astronomy inthe ‘Aegean, in Barth and Space. A Volume i Honour of Prof, L. Mardis, University of Thessaloniki (in Greek). Blomberg, M. (1904) Workshop in Aegean Archacoastron- ‘ony, Abstract Book p. Athens. Blomberg, M. 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