Gold signet ring

Mycenae, Chamber Tomb 84. 15th c. BC
ΝΑΜ, Π 3148

A male figure wearing Minoan dress stands upright before a structure on which has been placed a tree or plant. Behind the man is rendered a wild goat, intended for sacrifice(?). The iconographical composition depicts religious rituals that took place in open-air sanctuaries on Crete and in Mainland Greece, seeking the “epiphany” of the deity, in the form of a tree or a structure or a goddess. Both were likely imported from Crete or were made in Mycenae by Cretan artisans.