View source for Mount Juktas

{{short description|Mountain in north-central Crete}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Mount Juktas
| photo = Mt. Juktas-1.jpg
| photo_caption = Juktas is said to resemble the face of Zeus.
| elevation_m = 811
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| map = Greece
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| label_position = top
| listing = 
| location = [[Island of Crete, Greece]]
| range = 
| coordinates = {{coord|35|13|57|N|25|8|37|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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| topo = 
| first_ascent = 
| easiest_route = 
}}

A mountain in north-central [[Crete]], '''Mount Juktas''' ({{langx|el|Γιούχτας}} - ''Giouchtas''), also spelled '''Iuktas''', '''Iouktas''', or '''Ioukhtas''', was an important religious site for the [[Minoan civilization]].<ref>Donald W. Jones, 1999</ref>  Located a few kilometers from the palaces of [[Knossos]] and [[Phourni|Fourni]] and the [[megaron]] at [[Vathypetro]], Mount Juktas was the site of an important peak sanctuary in the Minoan world. At the base of Juktas, at [[Anemospilia]], is a site that has suggested to some that the Minoans practiced human sacrifice, but the evidence is currently somewhat in question.
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The ancient Minoans believed that Mount Juktas was the site where their version of the later Greek god [[Zeus]] had died. According to lore, Zeus died and sank into the earth on that spot.  His great head still remained above the ground as the mountain.  The mountain, as viewed from the city of [[Iraklio]]), looks like a man's head in profile facing west.

The above paragraph is utter nonsense. In the only extant translated texts from Minoan Crete, the Linear B documents from Knossos, there is no reference to "Zeus" as a deity worshipped by the Minoans. Any attempt to suggest he was is anachronistic and wholly inaccurate. However, Juktas does resemble a human facial profile but there is no ritual or cultic evidence to suggest that the Minoans viewed this as significant.  -->

== Peak Sanctuary ==
Mount Juktas is the site of one of the most important [[peak sanctuaries]] in the Minoan world, and probably the first of them. 
===Archaeologial importance===
[[Archaeologist]]s have studied the site over an extensive period, examining fragments of pottery, remains of walls, and some unique kinds of stone that must have been hauled up the mountain because they do not otherwise occur there.

===Religious importance===
The mountain remains important in the religious life of the people of the area to this day &ndash; a [[Greek Orthodox]] chapel is located about a kilometer south of the sanctuary along the ridge of the mountain. Every year, people from towns down in the plains below Mount Juktas bring flowers in procession to the chapel.

==Archaeology==
Juktas was first excavated in 1909 by [[Arthur Evans|Sir Arthur Evans]]. It can be regarded as an adjunct archaeological site to the important [[Knossos]] site a few kilometres away.<ref>C. Michael Hogan, 2007)]</ref> Among the finds at the Juktas Minoan peak sanctuary were clay human and animal figurines, stone [[horns of consecration|horns]], stone altars, bronze [[Labrys|double axes]], and both bowls and tables with [[Linear A]] inscriptions.  See references for a more comprehensive inventory.  Pottery sherds from the site date back as far as [[Minoan pottery|Middle Minoan IA]].

==References==
* Anna Simandiraki, ''Middle Minoan III Pottery from Building B of the Peak Sanctuary of Mount Juktas, Crete, and a general re-assessment of the Middle Minoan III Period'', PhD Thesis, University of Bristol, 2002, British Library catalogue
* C. Michael Hogan (2007) [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes ''Knossos fieldnotes'', The Modern Antiquarian]
* Donald W. Jones (1999) ''Peak Sanctuaries and Sacred Caves in Minoan Crete'' {{ISBN|91-7081-153-9}}

==Line notes==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.minoancrete.com/juktas.htm Juktas Peak Sanctuary at Ian Swindale's Minoan Crete website]
*Younger, John [http://www.people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/religioustexts.html Linear A Texts: Religious Texts]

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[[Category:Landforms of Heraklion (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Peak sanctuaries]]
[[Category:Geography of ancient Crete]]
[[Category:Mountains of Greece]]
[[Category:Mountains of Crete]]

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