Minoan Bull Sacrifice

This is the bull sacrifice scene from the Minoan Hagia Triada Sarcophagus, a late Minoan limestone sarcophagus, dated to around 1400 BC, excavated from a chamber tomb at Hagia Triada, Crete in 1903 and now on display at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete, Greece.

As far as I know, all the scenes depicted on this sarcophagus are interpreted as "funeral offerings". This particular scene is interpreted as: "...an offering table on which lies a trussed bull...blood...coming from the bull’s neck and pouring into a vessel next to the table. Beneath the table are two small goats, possibly awaiting a similar fate..."

In the Khan Academy article about this sarcophagus we read:

 "In some ways what we see on...sarcophagus is simple to understand: women and men...making sacrifices and preparing the deceased for burial before his tomb. However, looking more deeply, many questions remain. How is it to be read?"

So how indeed is this to be read? 

I personally don't think this is a depiction of a funeral sacrifice at all...Here is why: 

This is climate in Crete...The climatic year is divided into hot and dry half (Apr/May - Sep/Oct) and the cool and wet half (Sep/Oct - Apr/May)...

The hot and dry half starts when the calving of the wild Eurasian cattle used to start, so it's marked by animal calendar marker Bull...

The cool and wet half starts when the mating season of Cretan Ibex starts, so it's marked by animal calendar marker Goat...

So, does killing of the bull, with goats under the table, symbolise the end of the dry season and the beginning of the wet season? A very big deal in Crete...Hence all the leafy green vegetation at the altars everywhere...

The death of the bull brings the rebirth of nature...

I first talked about the climate in Crete and goat and bull as calendar markers in my post "Goat riding thunder god". In this post I talked about this larnax, a type of small closed coffin, box or "ash-chest" often used as a container for human remains. It was found in Mycenaean Tanagra cemetery which was dated to 14th - 13th century BC...

And it was definitely developed under huge Minoan influence. This can be seen from the fact that the bottom part of the panel depicts bull leaping, favourite "past time" of the Minoans. I would say that this activity was a religious ceremony performed during the bull part of the year, summer. In the top panel we see Ibex goat hunt. I would say religious ceremony performed during the goat part of the year, winter.  The main question here is why was this panel divided like this? And why were these two scenes depicted separated like this?

I then talked about this bull/ibex duality in my post "Theseus ring" about two, officially, Mycenaean, but I think Minoan, rings, one depicting bull leaping and the other depicting a sacrifice made to an ibex. 

Now the priestess which performs the bull sacrifice stands in front of an altar which stands in front of a shrine topped with "bull horns of consecration" from which a tree (of life) grows. 

I talked about "bull horns of consecration" temples for the first time in my post "Sanctuary rhyton" where I analysed the scene depicted on the so called "Sanctuary Rhyton" from Zakros, Crete, Greece, dated to the Late Bronze Age, 1550-1500 BC.

The scene depicts a so called "Peak Sanctuary", a mountain top temple, one of many discovered on Crete, whose purpose and dedication is unknown. I proposed that this image actually explains that these mountain top temples were linked with the worship of the "goat of rain"...

You can see that the ibexes, whose mating, which takes place on mountain tops during the peak of the rain season on Crete, are depicted sitting on, what I proposed is, a cistern fool of water, depicted by swirling spirals. 

I talked about them as being the symbol for swirling, running, moving water in my post "Tuna boats" about Cycladic "frying pans".

Quite a lot of these Cycladic frying pens have depictions of boats as part of the decoration...Like this one...A boat depicted among the swirling spirals representing waves, or moving, running water...And right above the bow of the boat there is always a depiction of a fish...Which would suggest that Cycladic boatsmen were fishermen...

Now the same swirling spirals are depicted on the sides of the sacrificial altar and the shrine from the Hagia Triada sarcophagus...Swirling, running, water...

Do you see a jug standing on the altar? Jug with water? Holy, rain, water?

And do you see the basket of fruit above the altar? These could only be oranges, lemons, pomegranates...All winter, rain season, fruit...

Oh are these saffron crocus flowers depicted on the priestess's skirt? 

Like these depicted on a famous saffron gatherers Minoan fresco?

Like these depicted on the skirts of these figurines found in Knosos?

Saffron crocus flowers and is harvested at the beginning of the rain season in Crete...

Interestingly, between the altar and the shrine stands a pole with double headed axe topped by a bird...

In my post about the Mountain Sanctuary, I proposed that the depicted birds are migratory birds, which fly over Crete southward just before the beginning of the rain season, and fly over Crete northward just after the end of the rains season. Thus serving as animal calendar markers for the rain season. 

Now no one knows what the double axe means in Minoan context. We know that it was an important sacred symbol, but not what it meant. But in contemporary Levant and Anatolia, double axes were symbols of the thunderbolt. The double-axe is associated with the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub and his Hittite and Luwian counterpart Tarhun. Both are depicted holding a triple thunderbolt in one hand and a double axe in the other hand.

For instance

I talked about this Ugarit seal in my post "Mystery seal"...

So, I would say that the bull sacrifice scene from the Hagia Triada sarcophagus suggest that the Minoan double axe topped by a bird, next to a mountain sanctuary shrine is also a symbol of thunder and rain.

But, I can hear archaeologists shouting, in Crete the double axe only accompanies goddesses, never gods...

Well, If you read my posts about Minoan culture and religion, you will see that I have linked goddess to the rain season (winter, cool, wet, yin, female, goat) and god to the sun season (summer, hot, dry, yang, male, bull)...

Here are these articles, check for yourself: "Goat riding thunder god", "Sanctuary rhyton", "Cornucopia", "Saffron", "Origin of saffron", "Theseus ring"...

So the double axe can be a symbol of thunder and rain and be associated with goddesses only...

A sacrifice of a bull (summer, hot, dry, yang, male) to the double axe (thunder and rain)  standing in front of a shrine symbolising a mountain (goat of rain) sanctuary from which a tree of life grows, now makes a lot of sense...Right?

BTW, I don't think the goats are going to be sacrificed...They are not tied...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

PS: I just looked at the other 3 sides of this sarcophagus. There is a lot more to be said about it. Soon.