"Throne Room"

"Throne Room". "Αίθουσα του Θρόνου". English Text:, You are in the antechamber of a complex of rooms that Evans named the "Throne Room". Its name comes from the stone seat found in the room behind the antechamber (Figure 1)., Stone benches are preserved in the antechamber, and between them were discovered traces of a burnt wooden construction. Today, a wooden seat has been placed here which is a copy of the stone one in the neighboring chamber. After the antechamber is the central room of the complex. Right and left of the stone seat are yet more stone benches. Pieces of fresco depicting plants and griffins, mythical beasts with a lion's body and bird's head (Figure 2) were found in the same room. The restored fresco is in Herakleion Museum. Evans put a copy in its place. Stone vases for oil, often connected with rituals, were found on the floor. The stone basin you see was actually found in a neighboring corridor and placed here To the left, a low partition wall with a column creates a small area like a cistern since it has a sunken floor. Evans thought that areas with a similar form were used for purification ceremonies and therefore called them "Lustral Basins"., The central room connects at the back with a series of small, dark rooms which were lit by lamps, as the finds illustrate., The function of the complex is difficult to determine. Evans believed that the rooms were used for ceremonies with the main figure being the king of Knossos in his religious capacity. However, it seems unlikely to have been a "Throne Room" in the modern sense of the word.