“Many of the troves are located underground for security reasons,” Xenia added.
Cassie inspected the room more closely. Against the back wall were rows of tall metal shelves holding a variety of artifacts in no particular order: broken shards of pottery, jewelry, and small votive statues.
Xenia noticed the direction of Cassie’s gaze. “Those are items that still need some restoration work. Anything that has been finished is catalogued and placed in storage.”
“That’s where my lot comes in,” Griffin explained. “Every object that is added to the collection needs to be logged into the Central Catalog.”
“Where do you store all the artifacts?” Cassie didn’t see much space in the room where they were standing.
“That depends on the size and type of object. Some of the little things like jewelry and seals are right here.” Xenia gestured to a locked metal cabinet with dozens of rows of shallow drawers. “We have separate rooms for the larger objects in the collection.”
For the first time, Cassie noticed other doors flanking the metal shelves which led into more storage space. “It doesn’t look the way I expected.” She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “No torches flaming from the walls. No cobwebs. No snakes.”
“I fear you’ve seen one too many Indiana Jones movies.” Griffin chuckled.
“Maybe that’s it. But it doesn’t look like a museum either. No display cases.”
“That is because we are attempting to protect our finds not display them,” Xenia corrected gently. “Think of this as an underground storage facility.”
Cassie’s mind leaped to another topic. “I don’t know why you would even keep a trove here on Crete.”
“Pardon?” Xenia seemed shocked at the comment.
“The entire Minoan culture was matristic,” Cassie said. “All the artifacts are out in the open, and the people who’ve been excavating for a century aren’t trying to suppress anything. What exactly do you need to hide?”
Xenia’s face grew serious. “That is a very good question, Cassie. We are fortunate that the local archaeologists are so friendly to a goddess culture. However, their liking for the Minoans does not prevent them from making errors when they interpret the artifacts. This trove collects objects that contradict some of their explanations about Minoan culture and its symbols.
“You have already seen two instances at Knossos. The lily prince fresco and the throne room which were reconstructed based on overlord assumptions about Minoan social order. But they are minor compared to other errors which are repeated by many as if they were truths. In fact, one of the artifacts I want to show you is an example of how they can be explained incorrectly.”
Xenia reached out for an object on the table. A young woman was brushing debris off a small stone sculpture which was about the size of a human hand. She gave it to the trove keeper.
Cassie recognized the object. She looked at Xenia questioningly. “Isn’t that a miniature of the giant sculpture we saw at Knossos?”
“Yes,” the Greek woman replied. “It is another example of the horns of consecration. This one would have been used at a small votive altar in a home perhaps.”
The pythia stepped closer to inspect the relic. “The horns look pretty abstract to me. What are they supposed to be exactly?”
Xenia smiled knowingly. “I think perhaps we should start by talking about what they are not.”
Griffin joined the discussion. “The conventional explanation is that horns of consecration are the horns of a bull.”
Cassie tilted her head to one side. “Oh, I see it now.”
“How do you know the horns belong to a bull?” Xenia asked pointedly.
“Because the Minoans were fixated on bull-leaping.”
“What if I were to tell you that horns of consecration have been found in European villages dating back to 7000 BCE?” the trove keeper persisted.
“Then maybe old Europeans had a bull fixation too?” Cassie offered uncertainly.
“Horns of consecration represent regeneration,” Griffin explained. “Does it seem likely to you that a goddess-worshipping culture would take the horns of a bull as its most important symbol?”
Cassie gave an exasperated sigh. “I don’t have a clue if they would or wouldn’t. Why don’t we make this painless, and you tell me what you want me to know?”
Griffin and Xenia looked at one another and laughed.
“I suppose we are being rather too hard on our new pythia,” the scrivener admitted.
“Let us go into my office. All will be clear in a moment.” The trove keeper brought the small stone sculpture along with her.
The trio went through one of the doors on the back wall to a small office stacked with papers and books.
“Please sit,” Xenia invited.
Cassie took a chair while Griffin perched on the end of the desk.
Xenia scanned her bookshelf and selected a volume. She thumbed through it quickly until she found the page she wanted. “You must remember that ancient matristic cultures saw the goddess as the source of life, death, and rebirth. Not the rebirth that is called reincarnation but the rebirth of seasons. Winter is followed by spring, and with it, the goddess shows her power to bring forth new life out of death. The ancients worshipped the power to give life.”
Xenia paused and then prompted gently, “Does a bull bring forth new life?”
“No, but a cow does,” Cassie blurted out the words automatically before the significance of what she’d just said had sunk in. “Holy cow!”
“Precisely.” Griffin laughed. “Holy cow. As Hathor in Egypt, she was called the cow of heaven. Cows, as well as bulls, have horns. The overlord obsession with phallic symbols like the horn would automatically assume the gender of the animal to be male.”
“But there are plenty of other female animals they might have picked to symbolize regeneration. Why the cow?” Cassie was mystified.
“There are two reasons,” Xenia replied. “The cow became an important source of food. She could provide not only a calf but also milk. Neolithic farmers began to incorporate this new food into their diet, and they saw the cow as a special gift from their goddess.
