Druid Ritual Knives (Athames)

Athames would have been used either during the ritual to prepare offertory food items or to create a sacred space by figuratively cutting off the mortal realm from the divine realm.

Minoan workshop tags with inscriptions from Malia
The center sign Nun (N) means "to reveal" when applied to inanimate objects. It has either sun rays or rain below it as an illustration of fertility fluid revelation. Sign assignments by Olmsted (Image from foldout 3 of Goldart and Poursat 1978)

References


Godart, L. and Poursat, J-C (1978) Malia. Le Quartier Mu 1. Introduction générale par J.-Cl. Poursat. Écriture hiéroglyphique crétoise par L. Godart et J.-P. Olivier. Études crétoises, 23, 1978 - 2021 École Française d'Athènes. Online at: https://cefael.efa.gr/detail.php?site_id=1&actionID=page&serie_id=EtCret&volume_number=23&ce=oatbaqmb7gsvpv7saktgh9sd9dd7b3sr&sp=230

Minoan Malia Tag 3 Side B for Shipping Ritual Knives (Athame) for Revealing Things 1700 BCE (Minoan Text 1.3.2)

(July 11, 2022) It reads from point to flat (right to left):

Translation into Akkadian

  1. ṣu nu ya | (3 knives) nu

Into English

  1. For activities which are not being revealed | (3 knives) for revealing.

This trade tag is a combination of text and pictures. These 3 athames (ritual knives) are being used in a ritual to cut through the fog of the material realm to reveal the spiritual realm. 

Minoan Athame now at the Heraklion Museum
Minoan Athame on display at the Heraklion Museum in Crete. It was found in a different work quarter called Mu at Malia.
Floor mosaic from Hamat Tiberius Synagogue in Galilee showing a gateway surrounded by ritual tools. On display at the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. Online at: https://www.imj.org.il/en/wings/archaeology/archaeology-land-israel

Athame and Other Ritual Tools Around an  Altar on the Mosaic floor at the Hamat Tiberius Synagogue in Galilee (400 CE)

Image showing ritual tools around a gateway altar on the mosaic floor at the Hamat Tiberius Synagogue in Galilee (400 CE). This floor also had a zodiac. Surrounding the gateway are a ritual knife (athame), a sistrum rattle (also used in Egypt), and a horn.

This Divine gateway has a draped cloth to represent the veil which separates the material from the spiritual realm. The seven candled menorah represents the seven heavens, that is, the seven sky-shells holding the celestial bodies (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). The rounded arms represent these spherical sky shells.