The Amphora of Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III from Katsamba, Crete.

ABSTRACT:

The habitation and cemetery site of Katsamba in Crete, first excavated by Arthur Evans in the nineteen-twenties and later by Stylianos Alexiou in the fifties and sixties; is today identified as the harbour-town of Minoan Knossos. The excavation of the so-called 'Tomb of the Blue Bier' at Katsamba, dated to LM IIIA1 (c 1400 BC), has resulted in the discovery of a large number of luxury grave goods, among which, were imported objects from Egypt. Of particular interest for this study is the amphora of Eighteenth Dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose III from the same tomb, (Herakleion Museum Λ 2409) bearing the following inscription with the nomen and epithets of the ruler inscribed in cartouche (as translated from hieroglyphs):

'the good god Men-kheper-Re, son of Re,Thutmose
perfect in transformations, endowed with eternal life'.

This find can best illustrate the elite connections, trade and gift-exchanging between the palaces of Minoan Crete and Egypt in the Late Bronze Age, while at the same time it raises issues in concurrent chronology and history.