| A clay model of a Mycenaean litter, probably dating to the Late Helladic III period, was bought by J. Cook in an Athens antique dealer’s shop and donated to the collection of the British School of Archaeology. The use of portable chairs in Mycenaean mainland Greece is also attested in a fresco from Mycenae. The custom came from Minoan Crete; fragments of a clay litter and the remains of a fresco possibly depicting a procession with the king-archpriest borne in a litter have been found at the Palace of Knossos. This means of transport was used in Egypt as early as the Old Kingdom, and later in Mesopotamia. The custom was imported from the East to the West. There are references to portable chairs in ancient Greek authors; however, their use did not continue into Hellenic times. |