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Votive double ax
Early Aegean, Minoan
Bronze Age, Late Minoan IA Period
about 1550–1500 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Gold
Dimensions
Length: 9 cm (3 9/16 in.); width: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Theodora Wilbour Fund in memory of Zoë Wilbour
Accession Number58.1009
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsRitual objects
DescriptionGold double axe composed of thin sheet gold mounted on a hollow gold shaft and outlined by bands of five incised lines. On left blade, inscription of four signs in undeciphered Linear A; posssible an invocation to the goddess Demeter. Two pierced holes on right blade. The axe was deposited in a sacred cave as a votive offering.
Provenance1934: said to have been found by a farmer at Arkalokhori (?); date unknown: said to have been in the possession of Herr Bruns; by 1954: with Hans M. F. Schulman, 545 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, N.Y.; seen on the New York market in July 1956; date unknown: Swiss private collection; by date unknown: with Spink & Son, Ltd., 5, 6, & 7 King Street, St. James's, London S.W. 1, England; purchased by MFA from Spink & Son, Ltd., November 13, 1958, for £ 2,400