Editing Knossos (section)

===Throne Room===
{{Main|Throne Room, Knossos}}

The centrepiece of the "Minoan" palace was the so-called [[Throne room|Throne Room]] or Little Throne Room,<ref>Matz, ''The Art of Crete and Early Greece'' Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, {{ISBN|1-163-81544-6}}, uses this term.</ref> dated to [[Minoan chronology|LM II]]. This chamber has an [[alabaster]] seat which Evans referred to as a "[[throne]]" built into the north wall. On three sides of the room are [[gypsum]] benches. On the south side of the throne room there is a feature called a ''[[lustral basin]]'', so-called because Evans found remains of unguent flasks inside it and speculated that it had been used as part of an annointing ritual.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

The room was accessed from an anteroom through double doors. The anteroom was connected to the central court, which was (in the later phases of the palace) four steps up through four doors. The anteroom had gypsum benches also, with carbonized remains between two of them thought possibly to be a wooden throne.<ref>{{harvnb|Günkel-Maschek|2020|pp=424-428. 436-437}}</ref> Both rooms are located in the ceremonial complex on the west of the central court.

The throne is flanked by the Griffin Fresco, with two [[griffins]] couchant (lying down) facing the throne, one on either side.<ref>{{harvnb|Günkel-Maschek|2020|pp=444-445}}</ref> Griffins were important mythological creatures, also appearing on [[Seal (emblem)|seal rings]], which were used to stamp the identities of the bearers into pliable material, such as clay or wax.<ref>{{harvnb|Günkel-Maschek|2020|pp=455-474}}</ref>

The actual use of the room and the throne is unclear. The two main theories are as follows:

* The seat of a [[priest-king]] or a queen. This is the older theory, originating with Evans. In that regard Matz speaks of the "[[heraldry|heraldic]] arrangement" of the griffins, meaning that they are more formal and monumental than previous Minoan decorative styles. In this theory, the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaeans]] would have held court in this room, as they came to power in Knossos at about 1,450. The "lustral basin" and the location of the room in a sanctuary complex cannot be ignored; hence, "priest-king".
* A room reserved for the epiphany of a goddess,<ref>Peter Warren: ''Minoan Religion as Ritual Action'', Volume 72 of Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, 1988, the University of Michigan</ref> who would have sat in the throne, either in [[effigy]], or in the person of a priestess, or in imagination only. In that case the griffins would have been purely a symbol of [[divinity]] rather than a heraldic motif.
<!--This statement is not NPOV. The epiphany theory is not generally accepted; it is only a theory. The chronology statement is too vague: The label of "throne room" could be seen as being misleading in the light of the religious aspect to the Room, and may confuse the issue of there being a "priest-king". The chronology of the Throne Room must also be borne in mind.-->

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Throne Hall Knossos.jpg|The throne from which the room was named, not the only throne at Knossos
File:Knossos_Thronsaal_(1900).jpg|The throne room prior to reconstruction
Роспись тронного зала. Минойский дворец. Knossos. Crete. Greece. Июль 2013 - panoramio.jpg
</gallery>