Gods and goddesses

As important as the ritual materials in the storerooms are the written documents in the palaces. From the Mycenaean Linear B tablets, we can perhaps identify Pi- pi-tu-na and A-ma-tun-na as Minoan goddesses worshipped in Mycenaean times.

Most important, however, was the goddess Ja-sa-sa-ra, the object of offerings at the peak sanctuaries, as she is also found in seal impressions and on seals related to the palaces. It is thus clear that among the most important deities identified as being worshipped in the peak sanctuaries was the same one known in the palaces. Ja-sa-sa-ra is the most prominent goddess and she is probably to be associated with the figurines (depicting either she herself or her priestess). Etymologically, Ja-sa-sa-ra herself is probably to be linked to the Levantine goddess Astarte or Asharah (originally Akkadian Ishtar and Sumerian Inanna). The Greek Potnia (“mistress”, “queen” = “she who has power”), known from the Mycenaean texts, is clearly an inheritance from the Minoan world, and might be a “translation” of a Minoan epithet of the goddess Ja-sa-sa-ra. Athena also appears in the Mycenaean sources, referred to as Potnia in Knossos, but the form of the name - Athana - betrays a foreign (potentially Minoan?) origin.

The evidence can be interpreted as implying that one single goddess lay at the centre of Minoan practices, and that the various forms are merely different manifestations of this one goddess. This would be the implication of the texts which distinguish the goddess. Alternatively, the various divinities may have been different individuals - or there may have been roles for a goddess and her priestesses. In any case, any conclusions probably depend upon one’s understanding of divinity.

meaning of the figurines such as those depicted in the figures here (including Figs

12.5, 12.7-12.9). These female figurines may have depicted goddesses, priestesses or even members of a royal family.