Wonderfull steatite rhyton in the shape of a bull's head. The horns were gilded, the eyes made of rock crystal and the muzzle of mother - of - pearl, ca 16 th century. From the Little Palace of Knossos.
The art of stone carving, which had suffered a decline in the Old Palace Period, was revived and perfected in New Palace times. Many fine works of art were produced this time.
One of the most important of these stone vessels and certainly one of the masterpieces of the Museum in Iraklion is this rhyton in the shape of a bull's head found in the Little Palace of Knossos.
It was a libation vessel used in sacred rituals. It was filled with the appropriate liquid through the hole in the neck and emptied during the ritual through another hole in the nostrils.
At the Iraklion Museum
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