By identifying Minoan sacred symbols, cult objects and the evidence of rituals from reliefs and frescos, it is possible to build up an image of what motivated Minoan religion and how they worshipped and petitioned their gods.

Minoan Ancient Symbols

Depicted on reliefs, masonry and frescos, the sacred symbols of Minoan religion were associated with fertility, nature and the links between the Minoan gods and humanity. Common sacred symbols included: 

• The Double Horns. The most common Minoan sacred symbol, also known as the bull’s horns. Double horns were found crowning altars or the tops of sacred buildings, such as the ceremonial wing of the palace of Knossos. Their exact significance is unknown. They may have been associated with the bucranium or head of the bull — the symbol of one of the Minoan’s most sacred animals. However, there is no proof that this symbol was linked to a specific link bull cult.
• The Double Axe or Labrys was the most important Minoan religious symbol, often associated with the bull’s horns or carved on masonry and vases. Reliefs often depicted female figures interpreted as goddesses or priestesses holding them. The sacred nature of the labrys possibly relates to its role in bull sacrifices, which were carried out as part of religious rituals.
• Sacral Knot. Designed to bind and provide protection from the gods, the sacral knot was a stylised symbol formed from a piece of coloured material knotted in the centre with the loose hanging free. Sacral knots are often found adorning ivory figures.
• The Sacred Tree. Depicted in frescos, this represented a living tree often planted in the sacred enclosure of palaces. An altar was commonly situated close by. The tree was a symbol of the close association made by the Minoans between the gods and nature.

Worship of the Minoan Gods

Evidence for Minoan religious rituals comes from frescos and reliefs. Formal Minoan worship was led by priests who carried out sacrifices and libations. They also prayed to the gods and carried out exorcisms. The highest priests in Minoan society were members of the royal family. Frescos show them sitting on thrones under the sacred tree where the people worship them, presumably as proxies for the gods.

The priests were marked out by their distinctive dress, which consisted of animal skins and — in the case of men — long female styled garments.

Worship took various forms. It could consist of a series of formal postures used for prayer, supplication or surrender to the deity. Such poses involved the worshipper standing straight with their fists on their foreheads or chests, or their arms held high, extended to their side or folded.

Offerings were also part of Minoan religious ritual. Sacrifices of bulls and goats were made on altars, with their blood collected in troughs or bowls. When making offerings to the gods in vessels, priests would have carried them ritually at arm’s length. The gods were also left bloodless thanksgiving gifts of fruit or liquid. 

Models of clothing, animals, thrones and human limbs were also left for the gods, in gratitude or else as a way of ensuring divine help. In addition, people often left models of themselves to show their faithfulness to the gods.

Other forms of worship were less formal. Religious processions were common, but seals, frescos and reliefs show that dance had a sacred function in Minoan rites, as did other spectator activities such as bull leaping, boxing and hunting.

The Cult Objects of Minoan Religion

Many of the religious objects used in the rites of the Minoans survive. They include:

• Altars. These were rectangular or square dressed stone, often crowned with sacred horns. Examples can be found at Knossos and Phaistos palaces. Altars were used for blood sacrifices and bloodless offerings such as fruit and objects.
• Offering Tables. These round stone slabs were used for solid bloodless offerings, with liquid offerings from libation tables shaped like an inverted pyramid. Offering tables are often found at mountain sanctuaries, many inscribed using Linear A script.
• Kernoi. These special vessels had two or more cavities for offerings of fruit or seeds. They could be rectangular, or round stone slabs with depressions or clay vessels of two or more joined cups. The offerings contained in kernoi were designed to ensure a good harvest or to act as thanksgiving gifts. Their function is known because kernoi has survived into Christian rites on the isle of Crete.
• Rhyta or Libation Vases. Made of semi-precious stone, metal or clay, libation vessels were shaped like animals, shells, or simple conical or oval shapes. They were filled through one opening, with the offering poured out of another.
• Tubular Stands. Used to hold libation vases or baskets of other offerings, these tube-shaped vessels had many handles and were often decorated with snakes, bull’s heads and goats.
• Lustral Bowls. Lustral bowls were often a sacred feature in semi-basement rooms of the religious wings of palaces and used for ritual bathing.

Sources

Vasilakis, Andonis (1999) Minoan Crete: From Myth to History. Adam Editions: Athens