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The Palace of Zakros is located on the east coast of Crete, south of Palaikastro. Its position shelters it from the dangerously strong north winds that pass Cape Sidero on the northeast tip of Crete. It was the last of the major palaces to be discovered and is smaller than the other three at Knossos, Malia and Phaistos. The original excavations were begun by D.G. Howarth of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, and 12 houses in the town surrounding the Palace, whose existence remained unknown, were unearthed before the excavation was abandoned. Nikolaos Platon resumed the excavation in 1961 and was able to unearth a palace which had not been looted at the time of its destruction. The excavations have continued until the present day. The excavation represents one of the most important for Minoan archaeology since the Second World War, and the lateness of its discovery allowed it to be excavated using more modern and more scientific methods than those adopted in the excavation of the other Palaces some 60 years earlier.
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The Palace of Zakros probably acted as the Minoan gateway to the east and this view is supported by various movable finds on the site which had come from the Middle East. Like the other palaces, Zakros was rebuilt after the earthquake destruction of the old palaces. The second palace was built around 1600 BCE and finally destroyed around 1450 BCE, along with other centres of Minoan civilisation in Crete. Fortunately many artefacts were left in situ, probably due to the suddenness of the destruction. The palace covered 8,000 square metres, contained 150 rooms and had a Central Court measuring about 30 metres by 12 metres, smaller than that of Knossos..
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The harbour was connected to the Palace by a road and the complex was entered by the north-east entrance which led to the central court, where the base of an altar can still be seen. To the north west of the central court were the magazines (store rooms) and to the south the Hall of Ceremonies. Fresco remains were found here, together with cult objects which had presumably fallen from the floor above, as has been noticed so often at Minoan palaces. Among the finds were two rhytons. The first was the famous bull's head rhyton and the second showed a tripartite peak sanctuary.
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The shrine in the west wing included a lustral basin. The role of these lustral basins has been disputed amongst scholars. Some believe that they were domestic bathrooms, especially when located adjacent to rooms which are considered to be some kind of royal apartment. On the other hand, many scholars argue that they have a purely religious function and that they were probably used for ritual cleansing. Certainly the presence of gypsum in many lustral basins would rule out large quantities of water being used in them as the gypsum would dissolve over time. Those who believe that the lustral basins were purely for ritual purposes argue that any ritual cleansing would have been done using water from jugs rather than filling the bottom of the basin with water.
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The west wing shrine itself was a small room with two benches, and here various libation vases were found. The Treasury contained a large number of important vessels, including one of rock crystal and many of stone. In the Archive Room boxes with tablets inscribed with Linear A were stored.
Platon, basing himself on Evans's view of Knossos, argued that the royal apartments were located in the East Wing of the Palace. A portico runs the whole length of the court on the east side and behind the portico Platon identified the "Queen's Megaron" and, to the south, the larger "King's Megaron". In Platon's view, the royal bedrooms would have been on an upper floor.
East of the royal apartments is the "Cistern Room", with its seven steps that descend to the floor of the cistern. Although the cistern was part of the palace complex the cistern was not covered with a roof. Nobody is certain what its purpose was and suggestions have included a swimming pool and an aquarium. According to Gae Callender, the Circular Pool is thought to be some sort of ritual item - perhaps an alternative for a lustral basin? There are many thoughts about it. It was meant to be entered because there are steps going down into it. Apparently, it's connected to the Spring Basin (the T-shaped basin nearby) by a pipe. The T-basin had small offerings thrown into it, so it, too, was a cultic place - one of many places where water was a prominent feature.
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The South wing of the palace contained workshops and it is believed that this wing included a faience workshop. This is a pottery technique which gives a glazed effect. The North Wing contained the kitchens at its west end, and a very large room which may have been a dining room for servants or even a banqueting hall. The buildings at the north-east corner of the court contain a lustral basin, now roofed over for protection, in which remains of frescos showing sacred objects like double axes and horns of consecration were found.
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The Palace was surrounded by the town, of which only a part has so far been excavated. The houses were often quite large, containing up to 30 rooms, with small storage rooms built around a large room with a bench and a central support. The houses were arranged in blocks and both olive oil and wine presses were found in the town. It is almost certain that some of the buildings were not houses, however, but buildings belonging to the palace.
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In one such building Hogarth discovered 500 clay sealings with images of imaginary creatures. South of the harbour road a furnace was discovered which, judging by its size, must have been one of the most important in this part of the Mediterranean.
The site is very remote, and involves a long drive across fairly barren countryside, but the final drive down to the seashore and the setting of Zakros itself is spectacular.