Lustral Basins were first identified by Arthur Evans
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 in a pilaster and column. The examples
at Knossos were all lined with gypsum and so Evans thought
they were used for bathing—a clay tub was 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.
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This
interpretation has come under question in recent
years, however. For one thing, the rooms are not
particularly well designed for that particular
purpose. Gypsum is not the ideal waterproofing
agent and, in any case, not all of them have paved
floors. The fact that—in a palace noted
for its superb plumbing—there are no drains
in any of the rooms also raises doubts. Of course,
it can be argued that the bathing was done in
clay tubs, which were then carried away by servants
to be emptied but that assumes that the tub found
in the bathroom of the so-called Queen’s
Quarters at Knossos (left) was used for
that purpose. In fact, they are a type of coffin
known as a larnax and its resemblance to a classic
Victorian bathtub may be purely coincidental.
Many
lustral basins were found to contain cult objects
such as offering tables or sacred vessels and
the walls are often decorated with religious themes,
such as the those associated with the gathering
of the crocus harvest from House Xesté
3 at Akrotiri on |
Thera.
This would seem to indicate a religious function, to be
sure, but one more associated with the renewal of the
nature. Many scholars now prefer the term Adyton, a Greek
term meaning “off limits” and referring to
the most holy part of a Classical temple.
Akrotiri.
Detail of the Crocus Festival Fresco from House Xesté
3
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