Notes on Some Cypriote Priests Wearing Bull-Masks

Abstract

The bull was known in Cyprus as the symbol of the god of fertility already in the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium B.C.). The bucranium, which is the most characteristic part of this animal, appears as a religious symbol on a number of religious documents from Cyprus, namely, models of sanctuaries where bucrania are represented on wooden poles, forming the centre of worship (Fig. 1). In the Aegean world, particularly in Minoan Crete, the head of the sacrificed bull played an important part in religious ritual, especially during the second millennium B.C. In the Near East the idea of fertility impressed most profoundly prehistoric man, and consequently the bull appears in the religious iconography as early as the 7th millennium. The idea of entering into a direct association with the god by putting on the divine image led to the invention of masks which were worn during religious rituals. Monsters with bull's heads appear both in Oriental and Aegean religions already in prehistoric times. The “bull-man” in the Near East and the “Minotaur” in the Aegean dominated for centuries the religious scenes as they appear in both regions, particularly in glyptic. This conception is more evident in later dramatic performances, which succeeded ritual, where the mask was of primary importance.