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О так называемых «Змеиных богинях» Крита периода «новых дворцов»
Our article aims to bring some clarification genesis on the so-called snake deities in Minoan world and identify which parallels can be found in ancient Near East cultures, including in Elam but also in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Bactria, Margiana and Syro-Palestine, Phoenician regions.
There have been many different studies on this topic but none has tried to select a wide and cross-cultural view on its artistic and historical developments. The appearance of similar iconography in a Cretan context coincides with a period of active exchanges of these areas with the Minoan culture and this could be a likely explanation for the use of a Minoan Snake Goddess as a basic type.
Snake deities display many aspects and Minoan ones aren't an exception.
However, the most interesting fact is that we can present their differences by analyzing other similar figures in nearby civilizations. As a matter of fact, the main reasons of a potential Minoan Snake Goddess could be reflections of common cultual practices finding parallels in ancient Near East and Mediterranean cultures.
For these cultural contacts, most probably trading exchanges between Crete, Mari, Ugarit and Egyptian shores are the essential factors of this cross-cultural connection.