Ἔστι δέ τις προπάροιθε πόλιος αἰπεῖα κολώνη,Ἐν πεδίῳ ἀπάνευθε, περίδρομος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,Τὴν ἤτοι ἄνδρες Βατίειαν κικλήσκουσιν,Ἀθάνατοι δέ τε σῆμα πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίνης.Ἔνθα τότε Τρῶές τε διέκριθεν ἠδ’ ἐπίκουροι.‘Before the city stands a lofty mound,Each way encircled by the open plain;Men call it Batiea; but the GodsThe tomb of swift Myrina; mustered thereThe Trojans and Allies their troops arrayed.’
Ἔστι δέ τις προπάροιθε πόλιος αἰπεῖα κολώνη,Ἐν πεδίῳ ἀπάνευθε, περίδρομος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,Τὴν ἤτοι ἄνδρες Βατίειαν κικλήσκουσιν,Ἀθάνατοι δέ τε σῆμα πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίνης.Ἔνθα τότε Τρῶές τε διέκριθεν ἠδ’ ἐπίκουροι.‘Before the city stands a lofty mound,Each way encircled by the open plain;Men call it Batiea; but the GodsThe tomb of swift Myrina; mustered thereThe Trojans and Allies their troops arrayed.’
Ἔστι δέ τις προπάροιθε πόλιος αἰπεῖα κολώνη,Ἐν πεδίῳ ἀπάνευθε, περίδρομος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,Τὴν ἤτοι ἄνδρες Βατίειαν κικλήσκουσιν,Ἀθάνατοι δέ τε σῆμα πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίνης.Ἔνθα τότε Τρῶές τε διέκριθεν ἠδ’ ἐπίκουροι.
‘Before the city stands a lofty mound,Each way encircled by the open plain;Men call it Batiea; but the GodsThe tomb of swift Myrina; mustered thereThe Trojans and Allies their troops arrayed.’
M. Nikolaïdes gathers from this, that in front of Ilium there was a very high hill, upon which the Trojan army of 50,000 men were marshalled in battle-array. I, however, do not interpret the above lines by supposing that the mound of Batiea was large and spacious, nor that 50,000 were marshalled upon it in battle-array. On the contrary, when Homer uses the word ‘αἰπύς’ for height, he always means ‘steep and lofty,’ and upon a steep and lofty height 50,000 Trojans could not possibly have been marshalled. Moreover, the poet expressly says that the steep hill is called by the gods the tomb of the nimble-limbed Myrina,while ‘Batiea,’ the name which men gave the hill, can signify only ‘the tomb of Batiea.’ For, according to Apollodorus (iii. 12), Batiea was the daughter of the Trojan King Teucer, and married Dardanus, who had immigrated from Samothrace, and who eventually became the founder of Troy.[180]Myrina was one of the Amazons who had undertaken the campaign against Troy.[181]Homer can never have wished us to believe that 50,000 warriors were marshalled upon a steep and lofty tumulus, upon whose summit scarcely ten men could stand; he only wished to indicate the locality where the Trojan army was assembled; they were therefore marshalled round or beside the tumulus.
“M. Nikolaïdes goes on to say, that such a hill still exists in front of Bunarbashi, whereas there is no hill whatever, not even a mound, before Ilium Novum. My answer to this is that in front of the heights of Bunarbashi there are none of those conical tumuli called ‘σήματα’ by Homer, that however there must have been one in front of Hissarlik, where I am digging, but it has disappeared, as do all earthen mounds when they are brought under the plough.[182]Thus, for instance, M. Nikolaïdes, during his one day’s residence in the Plain of Troy in the year 1867, still found the tumulus of Antilochus near the Scamander, for he speaks of it in his work published in the same year. I, too, saw the same tumulus in August, 1868, but even then it had considerably decreased in size, for it had just begun to be ploughed over, and now it has long since disappeared.
“M. Nikolaïdes says that I am excavating in New Ilium. My answer is that the city, whose depths I am investigating, was throughout antiquity, nay from the time of its foundation to that of its destruction, always simply called Ilium, and that no one ever called it New Ilium, for everyonebelieved that the city stood on the site of the Homeric Ilium, and that it was identical with it. The only person who ever doubted its identity with Ilium, the city of Priam, was Demetrius of Scepsis, who maintained that the famous old city had stood on the site of the village of the Ilians (Ἰλιέων κώμη), which lies 30 stadia (3 geog. miles) to the south-east. This opinion was afterwards shared by Strabo, who however, as he himself admits, had never visited the Plain of Troy; hence he too calls the town ‘τὸ σημερινὸν Ἴλιον,’ to distinguish it from the Homeric Ilium. My last year’s excavations on the site of the Ἰλιέων κώμη have, however, proved that the continuous elevation on one side of it, which appeared to contain the ruins of great town walls, contains in reality nothing but mere earth. Wherever I investigated the site of the ancient village, I always found the primary soil at a very inconsiderable depth, and nowhere the slightest trace of a town ever having stood there. Hence Demetrius of Scepsis and Strabo, who adopted his theory, were greatly mistaken. The town of Ilium was only named Ilium Novum about 1000 years after its complete destruction; in fact this name was only given to it in the year 1788 by Lechevalier, the author of the theory that the Homeric Ilium stood on the heights of Bunarbashi. Unfortunately, however, as his work and map of the Plain of Troy prove, Lechevalier only knew of the town from hearsay; he had never taken the trouble to come here himself, and hence he has committed the exceedingly ludicrous mistake, in his map, of placing his New Ilium 4¼ miles from Hissarlik, on the other side of the Scamander, near Kum-kaleh.
“I wonder where M. Nikolaïdes obtained the information that the city which he calls Ilium Novum was founded by Astypalæus in the sixth centuryB.C.It seems that he simply read in Strabo (XIII. 602), that the Astypalæans, living in Rhœteum, built on the Simoïs the town of Polion (which name passed over into Polisma), which, asit had no natural fortifications, was soon destroyed, and that he has changed this statement of Strabo’s by making the Astypalæans build Ilium Novum in the sixth centuryB.C.In the following sentence Strabo says that the town (Ilium) arose under the dominion of the Lydians, which began in 797B.C.Whence can M. Nikolaïdes have obtained the information that the foundation of the town was made in the sixth century?
“M. Nikolaïdes further says that Homer certainly saw the successors of Æneas ruling in Troy, else he could not have put the prophecy of that dynasty into the mouth of Poseidon.[183]I also entertained the same opinion, until my excavations proved it to be erroneous, and showed undoubtedly that Troy was completely destroyed, and rebuilt by another people.
“As a further proof that the site of the Homeric Ilium was on the heights of Bunarbashi, M. Nikolaïdes says that the Trojans placed a scout on the tumulus of Æsyetes, to watch when the Achæans would march forth from their ships, and he thinks that, on account of the short distance from the Hellespont, this watching would have been superfluous and unreasonable if, as I say, Troy had stood on the site of Ilium, which M. Nikolaïdes calls Ilium Novum. I am astonished at this remark of M. Nikolaïdes, for, as he can see from his own map of the Plain of Troy, the distance from hence to the Hellespont is nearly four miles, or 1½ hour’s walk, whereas no human eye can recognise men at a distance of 1 mile, much less at a distance of four. M. Nikolaïdes, however, believes the tumulus of Æsyetes to be the mound called Udjek-Tépé, which is 8 miles or 3½ hours’ journey from the Hellespont. But at such a distance the human eye could scarcely see the largest ships, and could in no case recognise men.
“In like manner, the assertion of M. Nikolaïdes, that there is no spring whatever near Hissarlik, is utterly wrong. It would be unfortunate for me if this were true, for I have constantly to provide my 130 workmen with fresh water to drink; but, thank God, close to my excavations, immediately below the ruins of the town-wall, there are two beautiful springs, one of which is even a double one. M. Nikolaïdes is also wrong in his assertion that the Scamander does not flow, and never has flowed, between Hissarlik and the Hellespont; for, as already stated, the Scamander must at one time have occupied the large and splendid bed of the Kalifatli-Asmak, which runs into the Hellespont near Cape Rhœteum, and which is not given in the map of M. Nikolaïdes.
“Lastly, he is completely wrong in his statement that the hill of Hissarlik, where I am digging, lies at the extreme north-eastern end of the Plain of Troy; for, as everyone may see by a glance at the map, the Plain extends still further to the north-east an hour and a half in length and half an hour in breadth, and only ends at the foot of the heights of Renkoï and the ancient city of Ophrynium.
“It will be easily understood that, being engaged with my superhuman works, I have not a moment to spare, and therefore I cannot waste my precious time with idle talk. I beg M. Nikolaïdes to come to Troy, and to convince himself with his own eyes that, in refuting his erroneous statements, I have described all I see here before me with the most perfect truth.”
Increase of men and machinery and cost on the works: but slow progress—Continued hurricane on “the windy Ilium” (Ἴλιος ἠνεμόεσσα)—The great platform proves too high—New cutting—Excavation of the temple—Objects found—Greek statuettes in terra-cotta—Many whorls with 卐 and suns—Wheel-shaped whorls with simple patterns in the lowest strata—Terra-cotta balls with suns and stars—Use of the whorls as amulets or coins discussed—Little bowls, probably lamps—Other articles of pottery—Funnels—A terra-cotta bell—Various beautiful terra-cottas—Attempts at forgery by the workmen—Mode of naming the men—The springs in front of Ilium—Question of Homer’s hot and cold spring—Course of the Simoïs—The tomb of Batiea or Myrina identified with the Pacha Tépé—Theatre of Lysimachus—Heat and wind—Plague of insects and scorpions—Konstantinos Kolobos, a native genius without feet.
Increase of men and machinery and cost on the works: but slow progress—Continued hurricane on “the windy Ilium” (Ἴλιος ἠνεμόεσσα)—The great platform proves too high—New cutting—Excavation of the temple—Objects found—Greek statuettes in terra-cotta—Many whorls with 卐 and suns—Wheel-shaped whorls with simple patterns in the lowest strata—Terra-cotta balls with suns and stars—Use of the whorls as amulets or coins discussed—Little bowls, probably lamps—Other articles of pottery—Funnels—A terra-cotta bell—Various beautiful terra-cottas—Attempts at forgery by the workmen—Mode of naming the men—The springs in front of Ilium—Question of Homer’s hot and cold spring—Course of the Simoïs—The tomb of Batiea or Myrina identified with the Pacha Tépé—Theatre of Lysimachus—Heat and wind—Plague of insects and scorpions—Konstantinos Kolobos, a native genius without feet.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, July 13th, 1872.
MYlast report was dated the 18th of June. As the great extent of my excavations renders it necessary for me to work with no less than 120 men, I have already been obliged, on account of the harvest season, to increase the daily wages to 12 piasters since the 1st of June; but even this would not have enabled me to collect the requisite number of men, had not Mr. Max Müller, the German Consul in Gallipoli, had the kindness to send me 40 workmen from that place. In consequence of this, even during the busiest harvest season, I have always had from 120 to 130 workmen, and now that the harvest is over, I have constantly 150. To facilitate the works, I have procured, through the kindness of the English Consul in Constantinople, Mr. Charles Cookson, 10 “man-carts,” whichare drawn by two men and pushed by a third. The same gentleman also sent me 20 wheel-barrows, so that I now work with 10 man-carts and 88 wheel-barrows. In addition to these I keep six more carts with horses, each of which costs 5 francs a day, so that the total cost of my excavations amounts to more than 400 francs (16l.) a day. Besides battering-rams, chains, and windlasses, my implements consist of 24 large iron levers, 108 spades, and 103 pickaxes, all of the best English manufacture. From sunrise to sunset all are busily at work, for I have three capital foremen, and my wife and I are always present at the works. But for all this I do not think that I now remove more than 400 cubic yards ofdébrisin a day, for the distance is always increasing, and in several places it is already more than 262 feet. Besides this, the continual hurricane from the north, which drives the dust into our eyes and blinds us, is exceedingly disturbing. This perpetual high wind is perhaps explained by the fact that the Sea of Marmora, with the Black Sea behind it, is connected with the Ægean Sea by a strait comparatively so narrow. Now, as such perpetual high winds are unknown in any other part of the world, Homer must have lived in the Plain of Troy, otherwise he would not have so often given to his Ἴλιος the appropriate epithet of “ἠνεμόεσσα” (the “windy” or “stormy”), which he gives to no other place.
As I have already said, at a perpendicular depth of 12 meters (39½ feet) below the summit of the hill (on the site of what is probably the temple built by Lysimachus) I have dug a platform, 102 feet broad below and 112 feet wide at the top: it already extends to a length of 82 feet. But to my great alarm I find that I have made it at least 5 meters (16½ feet) too high; for, in spite of the great depth and the great distance from the declivity of the hill, I am here still in thedébrisof the Greek colony, whereas on the northern declivity of the hill I generally reached theruins of the preceding people at a depth of less than 6½ feet. To make the whole platform 16½ feet lower would be a gigantic piece of work, for which I have no patience at present, on account of the advanced season of the year. But in order as soon as possible to find out what lies hidden in the depths of this temple, I have contented myself with making a cutting 26 feet broad above and 13 feet wide below, exactly 16¼ feet below the platform and in the centre of it. This cutting I am having dug out at the same time from below and on two terraces, so it advances rapidly.
Since the discovery of the Sun-god with the four horses, many blocks of marble with representations of suns and flowers have been found, but no sculptures of any importance. As yet very few other objects have been brought to light from the excavation of the temple; only a few round terra-cottas with the usual decoration of the central sun surrounded by three, four, or five triple or quadruple rising suns; knives of silex in the form of saws, a few pretty figures in terra-cotta, among which is a priestess with very expressive Assyrian features, with a dress of a brilliant red and green colour, and a red cloth round her head; also a small bowl, the lower end of which represents the head of a mouse. The mouse, it is well known, is a creature inspired by the vapours of the earth, and, as the symbol of wisdom, was sacred to Apollo. According to Strabo (XIII. p. 613) Apollo is said to have caused mice to show the Teucrians, who migrated from Crete, the place where they were to settle. However, the bowl with the head of a mouse is no more a proof that the temple built here by Lysimachus was dedicated to Apollo than is the metopé representing the Sun-god with four horses.
In the other parts of my excavations, since my last report, we have again brought to light an immense number of round terra-cottas, and among them, from a depth of from 4 to 10 meters (13 to 33 feet), a remarkable numberwith three, four, or five 卐 round the central sun.[184]One, from a depth of 23 feet,[185]shows the central sun surrounded by six suns, through each of which a 卐 passes; upon another, found at a depth of 33 feet, the central sun has 12 trees instead of rays;[186]upon a third, brought from a depth of 16½ feet, the sun has seven rays in the form of fishing-hooks, one in the form of the figure three and two in the shape of the Phœnician letter Nun, then follow 12 sheaves of rays, in each of which are four little stars; upon a fourth terra-cotta, which I found at a depth of 16½ feet, there are four rising suns and a tree in the circle round the sun.[187]I very frequently find between the rising suns three or four rows of three dots running towards the central sun,[188]which, as already said, according to É. Burnouf, denote “royal majesty” in the Persian cuneiform inscriptions. It is certain that this symbol is here also intended to glorify the Sun-god. At a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) we also find round terra-cottas, upon which the entire surface round the sun is filled with little stars, and in addition only one 卐.
During the last few days we have also found, in the strata next above the primary soil, at a depth of from 46 to 36 feet, a number of round brilliant black terra-cottas of exquisite workmanship; most of them much flatter than those occurring in the higher strata, and resembling a wheel; many are in the shape of large flat buttons.[189]But we also meet with some in the form of tops and volcanoes, which differ from those found in the higher strata only by the fineness of the terra-cotta and by their better workmanship. The decorations on these very ancient articles are, however, generally much simpler thanthose met with above a depth of 10 meters (33 feet), and are mostly confined to the representation of the sun with its rays, or with stars between the latter, or of the sun in the centre of a simple cross, or in the middle of four or five double or treble rising suns. At a depth of 6 meters (20 feet) we again found a round terra-cotta in the form of a volcano, upon which are engraved three antelopes in the circle round the sun.
At a depth of from 5 to 8 meters (16½ to 26 feet) a number of terra-cotta balls were found, the surface of each being divided into eight fields; these contain a great many small suns and stars, either enclosed by circles or standing alone. Most of the balls, however, are without divisions and covered with stars; upon some I find the 卐 and the tree of life, which, as already said, upon a terra-cotta ball found at a depth of 26 feet, had stars between its branches.
No. 143. Terra-cotta Ball, representing apparently the climates of the globe (8 M.).No. 143. Terra-cotta Ball, representing apparently the climates of the globe (8 M.).[190]
Among the thousands and thousands of round terra-cottas in the form of the volcano, the top, or the wheel,which are found here from the surface down to a depth of from 14 and 16 meters (46 to 53 feet)—that is, from the end of the Greek colony down to the ruined strata of the first inhabitants, I have not yet found a single one with symbolical signs, upon which I could discover the slightest trace that it had been used for any domestic purpose.[191]On the other hand, among those which have no decorations I find a few, perhaps two in a hundred, of those in the form of volcanoes, the upper surfaces of which show distinct traces of rubbing, as if from having been used on the spinning-wheel or loom. That these articles, which are frequently covered with the finest and most artistic engravings, should have served as weights for fishing-nets, is utterly inconceivable, for, apart from all other reasons opposed to such a supposition, pieces of terra-cotta have not the requisite weight, and of course are directly spoilt by being used in water.
M. É. Burnouf writes to me, that these exceedingly remarkable objects were either worn by the Trojans and their successors as amulets, or must have been used as coins. Both of these suppositions, however, seem to me to be impossible. For amulets they are much too large and heavy, for they are from above 1 inch to nearly 2 inches, and some even 2-1/3 inches, in diameter, and from 3/5 of an inch to nearly 2 inches high; moreover, it would be most uncomfortable to wear even a single one of these heavy pieces on the neck or breast. That they were used as coins appears to me inconceivable, on account of the religious symbols; moreover, if they had been so used, they would show traces of wear from their continual transfer. The white substance with which the engravings are filled seems also to contradict their having been used as coins; for in their constant passage from hand to hand it would have soon disappeared. Lastly,such an use is inconsistent with the fact that they also occur in the strata of the Greek colony, in which I find a number of copper and some silver coins of Ilium. However, the latter belong for the most part to the time of the Roman emperors, and I cannot say with certainty that they reach back beyond our Christian era. There are, however, coins of Sigeum, which probably belong to the second century before Christ, for in Strabo’s time this town was already destroyed.
No. 144. Small Terra-cotta Vessel from the lowest Stratum, with four perforated feet, and one foot in the middle (14 M.).No. 144. Small Terra-cotta Vessel from the lowest Stratum, with four perforated feet, and one foot in the middle (14 M.).[192]
At a depth of 14 meters (46 feet) I find, among other curious objects, small round bowls only 1¾ inch in diameter; some of them have, on the edge of the bottom, four little feet with a perforated hole, and in the centre a fifth little foot without a hole. Other bowls of the same size have four little feet, only two of which have a perforated hole. My conjecture is that all of these small bowls, which could both stand and be hung up, were used by the ancient Trojans as lamps. Among the ruins of the three succeeding nations I find no trace of lamps, and only at a depth of less than a meter (3¼ feet) do I find Greek λύχνοι.
Nos. 145, 146. Two little Funnels of Terra-cotta, inscribed with Cyprian Letters (3 M.).Nos. 145, 146. Two little Funnels of Terra-cotta, inscribed with Cyprian Letters (3 M.).
At the depth of 2 meters (6½ feet) I found, among the ruins of a house, a great quantity of very small bowls, only 3-4ths of an inch high and 2-5ths of aninch broad, together with their small lids; their use is unknown to me. At all depths below 4 meters (13 feet) I find the small flat saucers of from nearly 2 inches to above 3 inches in diameter, with two holes opposite each other; from 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet) they are coarse, but from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) they are finer, and from 13 to 14 meters (42½ to 46 feet) they are very fine. I am completely ignorant as to what they can have been used for. At all these depths I also find funnels from 2¾ to above 3 inches long, the broad end of which is only a little above an inch in diameter. In the upper strata they are made of very coarse clay, but at an increasing depth they gradually become better, and at a depth of 46 feet they are made of very good terra-cotta. It is extremely remarkable, however, that these curious and very “unpractical” funnels were kept in use in an entirely unchanged pattern by all the tribes which inhabited Ilium from the foundation of the city to before the Greek colony. I also find, in the second and third strata, terra-cottas in the form of the primitive canoes which were made of the hollowed trunk of a tree. From 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet) they are coarse, and about 4 inches long; at a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) they are finer, and from 1½ to 2¾ inches long. They may have been used as salt-cellars or pepper-boxes; I found several with flat lids.These vessels cease to be found in the lowest stratum. Miniature vases and pots, between 1 and 2 inches high, are frequently found in all the strata from a depth of from 10 to 33 feet; at a depth of from 46 to 52½ feet only three miniature pots were discovered; one is not quite an inch high. At a depth of 5 meters (16½ feet) we found a perfectly closed earthen vessel with a handle, which seems to have been used as a bell, for there are pieces of metal inside of it which ring when it is shaken.
No. 147. A Trojan Humming-top (7 M.).No. 147. A Trojan Humming-top (7 M.).No. 148. Terra-cotta Bell, or Clapper, or Rattle (5 M., 7 in the Photograph).
Of cups (vase-covers) with owls’ heads and helmets, since my last report two have been brought out from a depth of 10 and 11 feet, two from 16 feet and one from 26 feet. The first are made of bad terra-cotta and are inartistic; those from a depth of 16 feet are much better finished and of a better clay; while that from 26 feet (8 meters) is so beautiful, that one is inclined to say that it represents the actual portrait of the goddess with the owl’s face.[193]During these last few days we have found a number of those splendid red cups in the form of large champagne-glasses, without a foot, but with two enormous handles, one of which was 10½ inches high; but I have already found one 12½ inches in height. From a depth of from 26 to 33 feet we have also brought out many small pots with three little feet, with rings at the sides and holes in the mouth for hanging up, and with pretty engraved decorations. Upon the whole, we havemet with many beautiful terra-cottas from all the strata during the last few days.
I have still to describe one of those very pretty vases which occur abundantly at the depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet), and have either two closed handles, or, in place of them, two handles with perforated holes, and also two holes in the mouth in the same direction; thus they could stand or be hung up by means of strings drawn through the four holes. They have in most cases decorations all round them, which generally consist, above and below, of three parallel lines drawn round them horizontally; between these there are 24 perpendicular lines, which likewise run parallel; the spaces formed by the latter are filled alternately with three or six little stars.[194]At a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) we also meet, although seldom, with vases having cuneiform decorations. I must, however, remind the reader that all the decorations met with here, at a depth of from 33 feet up to 6½ feet, have always been more or less artistically engraved upon the terra-cottas when they were still soft and unburnt, that all of the vases have a uniform colour (though the ordinary pots are in most cases uncoloured), and that we have never found a trace of painting in these depths, with the exception of a curious box in the form of a band-box, found at a depth of 8 meters (26 feet), which has three feet as well as holes for hanging it up. It is adorned on all sides with red decorations on a yellow ground, and on its lid there is a large 卐 or a very similar symbol of the Maya, the fire-machine of our Aryan forefathers.
In the lowest stratum also, at the depth of 52½ feet, I found only the one fragment, already described, of a vase with an actual painting.[195]All of the other vessels found in these strata, even the round terra-cottas in the form of wheels, volcanoes, or tops, are of a brilliantblack, red or brown colour, and the decorations are artistically engraved and filled with a white substance, so as to be more striking to the eye.
As every object belonging to the dark night of the pre-Hellenic times, and bearing traces of human skill in art, is to me a page of history, I am, above all things, obliged to take care that nothing escapes me. I therefore pay my workmen a reward of 10 paras (5 centimes, or a half-penny) for every object that is of the slightest value to me; for instance, for every round terra-cotta with religious symbols. And, incredible as it may seem, in spite of the enormous quantities of these articles that are discovered, my workmen have occasionally attempted to make decorations on the unornamented articles, in order to obtain the reward; the sun with its rays is the special object of their industry. I, of course, detect the forged symbols at once, and always punish the forger by deducting 2 piasters from his day’s wages; but, owing to the constant change of workmen, forgery is still attempted from time to time.
As I cannot remember the names of the men engaged in my numerous works, I give each a name of my own invention according to their more or less pious, military or learned appearance: dervish, monk, pilgrim, corporal, doctor, schoolmaster, and so forth. As soon as I have given a man such a name, the good fellow is called so by all as long as he is with me. I have accordingly a number of Doctors, not one of whom can either read or write.
Yesterday, at a depth of 13 meters (43½ feet), between the stones of the oldest city, I again came upon two toads, which hopped off as soon as they found themselves free.
In my last report I did not state the exact number of springs in front of Ilium. I have now visited all the springs myself, and measured their distance from my excavations, and I can give the following account of them. The first spring, which is situated directly below the ruins of the ancient town-wall, is exactly 365 meters (399 yards)from my excavations; its water has a temperature of 16° Celsius (60.8° Fahrenheit). It is enclosed to a height of 6½ feet by a wall of large stones joined with cement, 9¼ feet in breadth, and in front of it there are two stone troughs for watering cattle. The second spring, which is likewise still below the ruins of the ancient town-wall, is exactly 725 meters (793 yards) distant from my excavations. It has a similar enclosure of large stones, 7 feet high and 5 feet broad, and has the same temperature. But it is out of repair, and the water no longer runs through the stone pipe in the enclosure, but along the ground before it reaches the pipe. The double spring spoken of in my last report is exactly 945 meters (1033 yards) from my excavations. It consists of two distinct springs, which run out through two stone pipes lying beside each other in the enclosure composed of large stones joined with earth, which rises to a height of 7 feet and is 23 feet broad; its temperature is 17° Celsius (62.6° Fahrenheit). In front of these two springs there are six stone troughs, which are placed in such a manner that the superfluous water always runs from the first trough through all the others. It is extremely probable that these are the two springs mentioned by Homer, beside which Hector was killed.[196]When the poetdescribes the one as boiling hot, the other as cold as ice, this is probably to be understood in a metaphorical sense; for the water of both these springs runs into the neighbouring Simoïs, and thence into the Kalifatli-Asmak, whose enormous bed was at one time occupied by the Scamander; the latter, however, as is well known, comes from Mount Ida from a hot and a cold spring.
I remarked in my last memoir that the Doumbrek-Su (Simoïs) still flows past the north of Ilium into the former channel of the Scamander, and I afterwards said that one of its arms flowed into the sea near Cape Rhœteum. This remark requires some explanation. The sources of the Simoïs lie at a distance of eight hours from Hissarlik; and, as far down as the neighbouring village of Chalil-Koï, though its water is drawn off into four different channels for turning mills, its great bed has always an abundance of water even during the hottest summer weather. At Chalil-Koï, however, it divides itself into two arms; one of which, after it has turned a mill, flows into the Plain in a north-westerly direction, forms an immense marsh, and parts into two branches, one of which again falls into the other arm, which flows in a westerly direction from Chalil-Koï, and then empties itself directly into the Kalifatli-Asmak, the ancient bed of the Scamander. The other arm of the Simoïs, which flowed in a north-westerly direction from Chalil-Koï, after it has received a tributary from the Kalifatli-Asmak by means of an artificial canal, turns directnorth, and, under the name of In-tépé-Asmak, falls into the Hellespont through an enormously broad bed, which certainly was at one time occupied by the Kalifatli-Asmak, and in remote antiquity by the Scamander, and is close to the sepulchral mound of Ajax, which is called In-tépé. I must draw attention to the fact that the name of Ajax (Αἴας, gen. Αἴαντος) can even be recognised in the Turkish name (In-tépé:Tépésignifies “hill.”)
In returning to the article by M. Nikolaïdes, I can now also refute his assertion that near Ilium, where I am digging, there is no hill which can be regarded as the one described by Homer as the tomb of Batiea or the Amazon Myrina.[197]
Strabo (XIII. i. p. 109) quotes the lines already cited from the Iliad[198](II. 790-794) as an argument against the identity of Ilium with the Ilium of Priam, and adds: “If Troy had stood on the site of the Ilium of that day, Polites would have been better able to watch the movements of the Greeks in the ships from the summit of the Pergamus than from the tumulus of Æsyetes, which lies on the road to Alexandria Troas, 5 stadia (half a geographical mile) from Ilium.”
Strabo is perfectly right in saying that the Greek camp must have been more readily seen from the summit of the Pergamus than from a sepulchral mound on the road to Alexandria Troas, 5 stadia from Ilium; for Alexandria Troas lies to the south-west of Ilium, and the road to it, which is distinctly marked by the ford of the Scamander at its entrance into the valley, goes direct south as far as Bunarbashi, whereas the Hellespont and the Greek camp were north of Ilium. But to the south of Ilium, exactly in the direction where the road to Alexandria Troas must have been, I see before me a tumulus 33 feet high and 131 yards in circumference, and, according to an exact measurementwhich I have made, 1017 yards from the southern city wall. This, therefore, must necessarily be the sepulchral mound of which Strabo writes; but he has evidently been deceived in regard to its identity with the tumulus of Æsyetes by Demetrius of Scepsis, who wished to prove the situation of this mound to be in a straight line between the Greek camp and the village of the Ilians (Ἰλιέων κώμη), and the latter to be the site of Troy. The tumulus of Æsyetes was probably situated in the present village of Kum-Koï, not far from the confluence of the Scamander and the Simoïs, for the remains of an heroic tumulus several feet in height are still to be seen there.
The mound now before me is in front of Troy, but somewhat to the side of the Plain, and this position corresponds perfectly with the statements which Homer gives us of the position of the monument of Batiea or the Amazon Myrina: “προπάροιθε πόλιος” and “ἐν πεδίῳ ἀπάνευθε.” This tumulus is now called Pacha-Tépé.
We may form an idea of what a large population Ilium possessed at the time of Lysimachus, among other signs, from the enormous dimensions of the theatre which he built; it is beside the Pergamus where I am digging, and its stage is 197 feet in breadth.
The heat during the day, which is 32° Celsius (89.6° Fahrenheit), is not felt at all, owing to the constant wind, and the nights are cool and refreshing.
Our greatest plague here, after the incessant and intolerable hurricane, is from the immense numbers of insects and vermin of all kinds; we especially dread the scorpions and the so-called Σαραντοπόδια (literally “with forty feet”—a kind of centipede), which frequently fall down from the ceiling of the rooms upon or beside us, and whose bite is said to be fatal.
I cannot conclude without mentioning an exceedingly remarkable person, Konstantinos Kolobos, the owner of a shop in the village of Neo-Chorion in the Plain of Troy,who, although born without feet, has nevertheless made a considerable fortune in a retail business. But his talents are not confined to business; they include a knowledge of languages; and although Kolobos has grown up among the rough and ignorant village lads and has never had a master, yet by self-tuition he has succeeded in acquiring the Italian and French languages, and writes and speaks both of them perfectly. He is also wonderfully expert in ancient Greek, from having several times copied and learnt by heart a large etymological dictionary, as well as from having read all the classic authors, and he can repeat whole rhapsodies from the Iliad by heart. What a pity it is that such a genius has to spend his days in a wretched village in the Troad, useless to the world, and in the constant company of the most uneducated and ignorant people, all of whom gaze at him in admiration, but none of whom understand him!
No. 149. A Trojan decorated Vase of Terra-cotta (7 M.).No. 149. A Trojan decorated Vase of Terra-cotta (7 M.).
Discovery of an ancient wall on the northern slope—Discovery of a Tower on the south side—Its position and construction—It is Homer’sGreat Tower of Ilium—Manner of building with stones and earth—A Greek inscription—Remarkable medal of the age of Commodus—Whorls found just below the surface—Terra-cottas found at small depths—Various objects found at the various depths—A skeleton, with ornaments of gold, which have been exposed to a great heat—Paucity of human remains, as the Trojans burnt their dead—No trace of pillars—Naming of the site as “Ilium” and the “Pergamus of Troy.”
Discovery of an ancient wall on the northern slope—Discovery of a Tower on the south side—Its position and construction—It is Homer’sGreat Tower of Ilium—Manner of building with stones and earth—A Greek inscription—Remarkable medal of the age of Commodus—Whorls found just below the surface—Terra-cottas found at small depths—Various objects found at the various depths—A skeleton, with ornaments of gold, which have been exposed to a great heat—Paucity of human remains, as the Trojans burnt their dead—No trace of pillars—Naming of the site as “Ilium” and the “Pergamus of Troy.”
Pergamus of Troy, August 4th, 1872.
PLATE VIII.
Page 200. THE GREAT TOWER OF ILIUM. Seen from the S.E. THE top is 8 M. (26 ft.) below the surface of the Hill: the foundation is on the rock 14 M. (46 ft.) deep: the height of the Tower is 20 feet.Page 200.THE GREAT TOWER OF ILIUM.Seen from the S.E.The top is 8 M. (26 ft.) below the surface of the Hill: the foundation is on the rock 14 M. (46 ft.) deep: the height of the Tower is 20 feet.
Referring to my report of the 13th of last month, I am glad now to be able to mention that, in excavating the depths of the temple, I found a wall 10 feet high and 6½ feet thick, which, however, has at one time been much higher, as the quantity of stones lying beside it seem to prove. It is at a distance of 131 feet from the declivity of the hill, and at a perpendicular depth of 34 feet.[199]This wall is composed of large stones joined with earth, and, as is attested by the layers ofdébriswhich extend in an oblique direction below it, it was built originally upon the steep slope of the hill. Hence, since the erection of the wall, the hill at this point has increased 131 feet in breadth and 44¼ feet in height by the accumulation ofdébris. I have not yet been able to ascertain whether this wall was the foundation of an ancient Trojan temple, or whether it belongs to the enclosing wall which, says Homer,[200]was built by Poseidon and Apollo. In the latter case, it wouldappear strange that it is only 6½ feet thick, and was never higher than 16½ feet, for it must be remembered that the hill has a steep incline on the north side, and that it is very precipitous at this part especially.
Below the wall I found five of those splendid, brilliant black flat Trojan terra-cottas, which are so like a wheel, that they can be distinguished at a glance from all the others. One has six suns in the circle round the central sun; another has four stars forming a cross round the sun; a third has three double rising suns in the circle round the central sun; a fourth has four rising suns with five lines, forming a cross round the sun; a fifth has three triple rising suns round the sun. I also found below the wall a number of fragments of black Trojan vessels which are directly recognised by their fineness, and by the long single or double rings on the sides.
The wall proceeds from west to east, and consequently obstructs my path, and I cannot remove thedébrisfrom behind it without considerably widening my trench, which would be a gigantic piece of work between the enormous earthen walls. In continuing my trench in a horizontal direction I have arrived at exactly 6½ feet below this wall. It is very interesting from a perpendicular depth of 15½ meters, or 51-1/3 feet, to see this mass of primeval Trojan masonry in a depth of 13½ to 10½ meters (44¼ to 34 feet), and the wall beside it which was built by Lysimachus, and is almost immediately below the surface, standing as it were in mid air.
On the south side of the hill where, on account of the slight natural slope, I had to make my great trench with an inclination of 14 degrees, I discovered, at a distance of 197 feet from the declivity, a Tower, 12 meters or 40 feet thick, which likewise obstructs my path, and appears to extend to a great length.[201]I am busily engaged in makinglarge excavations to the right and left of it, in order to lay bare the whole; for, independently of the mighty interest attached to this Tower, I must necessarily dig a channel to allow the waters of the winter rains to run off, as they would otherwise rush violently down from my platform (197 feet in length, and with a considerable slope) against the Tower and injure it. I have uncovered the Tower on the north and south sides along the whole breadth of my trench, and have convinced myself that it is built on the rock at a depth of 14 meters or 46½ feet.
An elevated mass of calcareous earth, 65½ feet broad and 16½ feet high, rests upon the north side of the Tower, and is evidently composed of the rubbish which had to be removed in order to level the rock for building the Tower upon it. I have of course pierced this hillock, and have convinced myself that the north side of the Tower, 16½ feet above the rock, does not consist of masonry, but of large blocks of stone lying loosely one upon another, and that only the upper part, about a yard high, consists of actual masonry. This hillock, having the form of a rampart, thus serves to consolidate the north side of the Tower, and renders it possible to ascend to the top without steps. The south side of the Tower, looking out upon the Plain, consists of very solid masonry, composed of blocks of limestone joined with earth, some of the stones being hewn, others not. This south side of the Tower rises from the rock at an angle of 75 degrees.
None but those who have been present at these works can have any idea of the enormous difficulties connected with making excavations 46½ feet deep on the right and left of the Tower, where thedébrishas to be carried off to a distance of more than 262 feet. At this great distance it is very fatiguing to work with wheel-barrows and man-carts; so I now keep seven carts drawn by horses, which I find a very great relief.
The Tower is at present only 6 meters (20 feet high),but the nature of its surface, and the masses of stones lying on both sides, seem to prove that it was at one time much higher.[202]For the preservation of what remains we have only to thank the ruins of Troy, which entirely covered the Tower as it now stands. It is probable that after the destruction of Troy much more of it remained standing, and that the part which rose above the ruins of the town was destroyed by the successors of the Trojans, who possessed neither walls nor fortifications. The western part of the Tower, so far as it is yet uncovered, is only from 121 to 124 feet distant from the steep western slope of the hill; and, considering the enormous accumulation ofdébris, I believe that the Tower once stood on the western edge of the Acropolis, where its situation would be most interesting and imposing; for its top would have commanded, not only a view of the whole Plain of Troy, but of the sea with the islands of Tenedos, Imbros, and Samothrace. There is not a more sublime situation in the area of Troy than this, and I therefore presume that it is the “Great Tower of Ilium” which Andromache ascended because “she had heard that the Trojans were hard pressed and that the power of the Achæans was great.”[203]After having been buried for thirty-one centuries, and after successive nations have built their houses and palaces high above its summit during thousands of years, this Tower has now again been brought to light, and commands a view, if not of the whole Plain, at least of the northern part and of the Hellespont. May this sacred and sublime monument of Greek heroism for everattract the eyes of those who sail through the Hellespont! May it become a place to which the enquiring youth of all future generations shall make pilgrimage and fan their enthusiasm for knowledge, and above all for the noble language and literature of Greece! May it be an inducement speedily and completely to lay bare the walls of Troy, which must necessarily be connected with this Tower and most probably also with the wall laid open by me on the north side, to uncover which is now a very easy matter.
The expenses of excavating Ilium are, however, too great for private means, and I hope that a company will be formed, or that some government will decide to continue my excavations, so that I may proceed to the excavation of the acropolis of Mycenæ. Meanwhile I shall continue the excavations at my own expense, but I shall in future confine myself to gradually uncovering the large surrounding walls, which are sure to be in a more or less good state of preservation at a great depth below the city wall built by Lysimachus.
Before I had seen even the smallest ruins of walls belonging to Ilium, I repeatedly maintained in my reports that the whole city was built, as it is now proved by the Wall and the Tower to have been, of stones joined with earth. That this style of building, if not more ancient, is at least just as ancient as the so-called cyclopean, is proved by the walls and houses of Thera (Santorin) and Therassia, which are built in the same way, and which, as is well known, were discovered beneath three layers of volcanic ashes 68 feet thick. These ashes were, however, thrown up by a central volcano, which must have been at least 3800 feet high, and which, as is generally supposed, sank into the sea at latest 1500 years before Christ.
Upon the site of the temple I found, at a depth of 6½ feet, a block of marble 5¼ feet high, and 2¾ feet both in breadth and thickness; it weighs about 50 tons, andcontains the following inscription:—