The Court Building on the south-eastern terrace of the hill

Fig. 1 Court Building in 2019

Very few surface remains visible in 2007 betrayed the presence of an important monumental building on the south-eastern terrace of the summit of the hill. Excavation here started in 2008 but it was only at the end of the 2011 campaign that we realised its importance. That campaign was the last of our first five-year permit so when we started again in 2015, we first asked Dr. Apostolos Sarris for a full geophysical cover of the area. It is then that we realised the presumed court was more than 33 m long and this was confirmed by the successive excavation campaigns between 2015 and 2019. In our third five-year program, we again focus on this Court Building, making tests to find out more of its history, pre-history and function. The original excavator was Simon Jusseret, assisted by Nicolas Kress. They were later joined by Maud Devolder, Sylviane Déderix, Quentin Letesson, Thérèse Claeys and Ophélie Mouthuy (fig. 1).

Excavation in 2015 first concentrated on the easternmost part of the lower terrace where a few large blocks were visible on the surface. These blocks proved to belong to a free-standing Building F, which was last occupied during the Postpalatial period and seemingly abandoned late in the 13th c. BCE. This reoccupation eradicated some of the earlier plan and probably also most of the earlier deposits within. Its west façade was cleared and proved to form a straight line of more than 20 m long, only interrupted by two entrances with substantial thresholds. The façade consisted of fine flat limestone blocks originally meant to carry an ashlar elevation, some of which were found collapsed in front. Most remarkable was the presence, immediately south of one of the entrances, of a large stone kernos formed by an oblong limestone block with almost 30 depressions in its top side, set on its own low platform, not unlike the finer example at nearby Malia (fig. 2).

Figure 2. The kernos along the west façade of Building F ©Sissi project

Immediately west of the façade we found a pebble-and-plaster surface, unusual as street cover but quite common where open courts are concerned. The façade and the court turned out to continue both to the north and south. We then opened a trench perpendicular to the northernmost part of the west façade of Building F and found an east-west wall of large limestone boulders with a bench against it (fig. 3). This bench has 13 artificial oval hollows, each about 10 cm in diameter, the purpose of which remains unclear. This east-west wall was found to abut to the west against a north-south running sandstone ashlar façade parallel to the west façade of Building F. It was only then that we started to conceive the possibility that we were in fact, unexpectedly, excavating a Court Building. Later excavations confirmed this hypothesis, since a large court was brought to light, surrounded on all sides by different wings (fig. 4).

Figure 3. Bench forming the northern limit of the court ©Sissi project

Later excavations then showed that Building F was reusing the East Wing of the Court Building. We have labelled the complex Court Building because this label remains neutral. While the general appearance of the remains is similar to that of the better-known palaces at Knossos, Malia, Phaistos, Galatas and Zakros, we still discuss the nature of the latter buildings. Were such complexes political centres? If so, all of them? Or can we assume that more or less the same architectural form was used for different functions? The Sissi Court Building in its Neopalatial phase lacks certain functions that the larger complexes have: production, storage and administration. There are, however, sufficient indications that the Sissi complex was used for rituals and feasts. These too must have had a political importance but perhaps at a lower, hierarchical level than those organised in the palace courts. It is very likely that the entire Sissi complex was in fact placed within a large depression in the plateau of the hill and that the western upper bedrock ledge once served as foundation for the west façade of the complex.

Here we give a brief description of the court and the different wings.

The last floor of the court is made of a mixture of plaster and pebbles, called tarazza in Minoan archaeology (fig. 5). It is quite well preserved near its west façade and it connects the different structures. Tests in a few areas showed that this court was a successor to three earlier court levels, in whitish earth or with pebbles. There is less than 10 cm between the bedrock, which was undoubtedly levelled, and the top tarazza court. The latter is at least 33 m long and its width varies from only 9.60 m, to the very north, up to 15.30 m somewhere in its centre. In any case, it seems to have had a trapezoidal shape and to cover ca. 450 m². Apart from isolated sherds and some figurines, little of interest was found on the surface of the court and only in the southeast part was a burnt layer, comprising almost a hundred miniature goblets. But we hope that, once fully processed, the archaeobotanical, phytolith and micromorphological samples will provide information on the use of this open space.

Figure 5. General and detailed views of the surface of the court ©Sissi project

What we did find about 20 m south from the north bench and more or less in the centre of the court is a well-preserved circular structure of burnt clay. It has a diameter of a little less than 90 cm and it is preserved for a height of about 30 cm (fig. 6). There is no entry hole and it contained only burnt earth, ashes and a few larger stones intentionally placed in it. There is no indication that the structure was domed. In shape and size, it resembles Levantine tabuns or tannurs, bread ovens in which the loaves were either stuck against the outside or the inside. Alternatively, it could also simply be some kind of lighting device. Its position, however, reminds one of the square built hearth in the middle of the court of the palace in nearby Malia.

Figure 6. Circular feature discovered in the south-central part of the court ©Sissi project

The East Wing, of which the north part was reused as Building F, is unfortunately not well preserved. It is clear, however, that the west façade of the southern part is constructed in a markedly different way from that to the north and described earlier, but the pebble-and-plaster court also stops against it. Bedrock outcrops in several places but Neopalatial pottery, including a small askos with spiral decoration and conical cups were found (fig. 7). One room preserved a fire destruction deposit. A test in another room came upon Prepalatial remains. In the east part is a channel-like depression, perhaps also to drain water. The most southern part of the façade marks a sharp turn towards the west, almost forming a rounded edge to the court at this side.

Figure 7. Askos from building L ©Sissi project

The North Wing of the building has no traces of occupation later than Late Minoan IA in contrast to Building F. The eastern part of this North Wing is badly preserved because of agricultural activities and erosion but there is good evidence for architectural phasing. In the room with the column base is part of a floor made of terracotta slabs (fig. 8), and this is located on top of an earlier phase with similar terracotta slabs, presumably a rebuilding then after the Middle Minoan IIIA earthquake. The scanty architectural remains allow the identification of a double staircase and a long, wide corridor, originally paved. The number of fragments of plaster found in the west part of this wing, however, was impressive and suggests that the entire building was amply plastered. A fine stone drain with a clay gutter inside drained the Central Court between this east part and the East Wing (Building F) (fig. 9). It seems to have remained open till quite late.

Fig. 8

Fig. 9 Drain

There is almost a 2 m difference between the east and the west part of the North Wing, which occupies a higher terrace. In between is a fine, paved corridor that connects the outside of the Court Building with the Central Court, the Northern Entrance Passage (fig. 10). There are some signs that this corridor was reconstructed or modified at some stage and between some paving slabs we found some Santorini tephra while in its south part, near the court, were fragments of a bull rhyton. The Northern Entrance Passage seems aligned with the top of the Selena Mountains in the distance. Within this west part of the North Wing are five rooms, also abandoned in the Neopalatial period. Against the west, rising bedrock, however, earlier Prepalatial remains were preserved, walled-in when the area was reconstructed in Middle Minoan IIIA. Further west, however, higher up the hill, the excavation brought to light extensive Prepalatial remains (see The Prepalatial Houses) and more were found in the West Wing of the Court Building.

Fig. 10 Northern Entrance Passage

The West Wing of the Court Building incorporated much of the Prepalatial remains (fig. 11), including an extensive obsidian deposit of more than 700 pieces, no doubt indicative of a workshop. But there were also goat horn cores, some gold foil, much pottery, including some pithos bases and several examples of Mottled Ware, an imitation of the famous Vasiliki pottery. Signs of a fire destruction in Early Minoan IIB are clear and these deposits are stratified between the bedrock ledge to the west and an impressive terrace wall to the east made of large boulders which seems to have played an important role in the architectural development of the court complex as a whole. Rather than tearing it down, the Neopalatial builders maintained it and structured the rest of the construction around it. Indeed, it formed the core for the Neopalatial reconstruction in this area.

Fig. 11

The West Wing proper has an ashlar façade to the south and west, partly built against the Prepalatial terrace wall. Both parts have a 45 cm first course of cut hard dark grey limestone and a 40 cm second course of sandstone ashlar. The most northern ashlar part, however, projects, enclosing a small room 6.17. Tests suggest that this room was first an open platform, accessible by three steps from the south and east (fig. 12). Only later, when an additional, higher platform was constructed south of it, provided with a staircase, which we found collapsed, were the earlier steps hidden. At least four wide steps can be reconstructed ascending to the higher platform and some of these were plastered. Both the higher platform and the elaborately decorated room 6.17 were placed in front of the Prepalatial terrace wall which, more to the south, is abutted by the continuation of the limestone and ashlar façade which runs for another 12 m before turning west (Fig. 13).

Figure 12. The collapse of the west façade on the court and the rooms of the West Wing behind it ©Sissi project

Fig. 13

The south façade of the West Wing can be followed for a length of about 9 m until it stops against the rising bedrock to the west. Much of this southern façade is still plastered. Only some blocks of the sandstone second course of the façade are preserved while the rest collapsed on the floor level of the court. The Neopalatial phase within the West Wing is badly preserved and only Space 10.12 kept part of its plastered floor and a fire destruction. Often we came upon Prepalatial levels almost immediately.

South of the West Wing proper is an area that seems originally devoted to water collection and storage (Fig. 14). A water collection basin, cut out in the bedrock, is located immediately south of the ashlar south façade. This shallow basin was found packed with different layers of pottery, separated by thin lenses of plaster. Since most of the pottery studied by Iro Mathioudaki consists of drinking cups that can be dated to MM IIIA, MM IIIB and a few to LM IA, we assume these cups were used in the successive drinking feasts that were organised in the court. The creation of this basin may go back to Middle Minoan IIB if not earlier. The final layer above the basin also comprised tephra lapilli from Santorini, an identification confirmed by Dr. C. Lane (Cambridge University).

Fig. 14 Basin Building

Apart from in this area and in the north corridor, no other tephra has been found within the buildings at Sissi, so it remains unsure whether the eruption caused the abandonment of the complex, or whether the building was already in ruins when the eruption occurred. When the basin was still functioning, it collected water that was drained out into a large underground space or cistern to the south. On excavation, this underground space was also found filled-in and packed with many sandstone ashlar blocks, intentionally deposited. These blocks are left west of the building. We assume that the dumped ashlar inside the cistern originally adorned the west façade of the West Wing. This cistern, together with some small rooms, seems to have formed an independent construction, which we have labelled the Basin Building.

The orientation of this Basin Building differs from that of the Court Building and it could conceivably be somewhat earlier but the ashlar used in its reconstruction is identical to that used for the façades around the court. Tests in the area, however, have shown that some of its walls go down very deep and are associated with Middle Minoan IB sherds. Similar sherds were also found more to the south, below another finely paved corridor. This corridor – the Western Entrance Passage – also leads from the outside straight into the Central Court. Its walls are not well preserved but arriving at the Central Court, one can notice to the right a large stone platform (A on Fig. 15), next to which we found a complete stone vase, while to the left, the court façade wall is formed by two upstanding stones with a small bench in front (Fig. 15).

Fig. 15 Platform and Horns

We reconstruct these stones into horns of consecration, a typical Minoan religious symbol. Coming from the West Corridor too, one has a good view on the East Hills. These may have played a role in the Minoan calendar, showing the rising sun at a certain moment of the year (equinox/solstice).

South of Western Entrance Passage is an area with a dozen or so small rooms. On excavation these were all covered with a thick layer of stones, which may imply that they were already given up at an earlier moment, apart from the most western room, which is the only one which preserved a Neopalatial floor deposit with two pithoi, a bronze knife, a marble slab and a few small pots. In the east part only were remains of plastered floors. In one of these rooms, however, we noticed the plaster floor stopped in a semi-circular edge. We tested this and found a very large plastered cistern beneath (Fig. 16). It has a diameter of about 5 m and a depth of ca. 2 m. The cistern had been filled in during MM IIIA-B, no doubt after the earthquake that is attested elsewhere on the site. But its construction dates at least to MM II, if not earlier. During its life, a partition wall was inserted within the cistern. We also found many pieces of thick tarazza which suggests the cistern had been roofed. A large clay slab found in the centre may originally have been a manhole cover, allowing water to be drawn.

Fig. 16 Cistern and Southwest area

The area south of the Central Court is rather odd (Fig. 17). In its final Neopalatial phase, it comprised a series of small cells that did not communicate with each other. Perhaps they simply served as buttresses to retain the large terrace wall of the court. Tests showed that there were earlier remains at the lowest level, dating to Middle Minoan II. One of the rooms was then used as a potter’s workshop.

Fig. 17 South Wing

It must be clear from this brief and preliminary description that there is surprisingly little evidence that helps us to understand the function of the complex apart from an obvious public ceremonial purpose. This is alluded at by the elaboration of the court with ashlar facades, the stepped platform, the presumed fire altar in its centre but also by the stone kernos and the bench with hollows. As far as we can judge for the moment, the final complex was constructed in Middle Minoan IIIA but suffered from a Middle Minoan IIIA earthquake after which it was reconstructed and we assume the ashlar was added at this moment. It was abandoned in Late Minoan IA, around the time of the Santorini eruption. In any case, the complex must have been in use in the same period as the palace at Malia and it hence duplicates to some degree the ceremonial function of the latter which, at the least, suggests some regional decentralisation during the Neopalatial period. Tests have shown an earlier Middle Minoan I-II occupation in the same area but it is too early to decide whether the remains formed a single structure and had a central court already.

Jan Driessen, Simon Jusseret, Maud Devolder, Quentin Letesson, Théo Terrana,
Thérèse Claeys, Sylviane Déderix, Ophélie Mouthuy