CHAPTER XIII.

ΗΒΟΥΛΗΚΑΙΟΔΗΜΟΙΛΙΕΩΝΕΤΙΜΗΣΑΝΑΥΚΛΑΥΔΙΟΝΚΑΙΚΙΝΑΙΑΙΟΝΚΥΖΙΚΗΝΟΝΑΤΑΛΟΓΙΣΤΗΝΥΠΟΤΟ5ΟΤΑΤΟΥΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣΑΡΟΣΤΙΤΟΥΑΙΛΙΟΥΑΔΝΟΥΑΝΤΩΝΙΟΥΣΕΒΑΕΥΣΕΒΟΥΣΚ..ΙΠΟΛΛΜΕΓΑΛΑΤΗΙΠ..ΛΕΙΚΑΤΟ10ΣΑΝΤΑΚΑΙΠ..ΡΑΣΧΟΝΤΤΕΤΗΛΟΓΙΣΤ..ΙΑΚΑΙΣΥΓΟΡΙΑΙΣΑΝΔ...ΠΑΣΗΣΤΑΞΙΟΝΑΡΕΤΗ..ΕΝΕΚΕΝΚΕΥΝΟΙΑΣΤΗΣΠΡΟΣΤΗ15ΠΟΛΙΝ

The first name occurring in this inscription, of which the syllableΑΥis preserved, is probablyΑΥΛΟΣ.ΚΑΙΚΙΝΑΙ, must certainly be the family-name, and must indicate the Latin ablative. Whether the other name, of whichΑΙΟΝremains, is intended forΓΑΙΟΝ, I do not venture positively to maintain, but I consider it to be probable. For the inscription, which I read as follows, is written in bad Greek, especially towards the end: Ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος Ἰλιέων ἐτίμησαν Αὖλον Κλαύδιον Καικινᾷ Γάϊον Κυζικηνὸν ἄρχοντα λογιστὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ θειοτάτου αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Τίτου Αἰλίου Ἀδριανοῦ Ἀντωνίου Σεβαστοῦ Εὐσεβοὺς καὶ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα τῇ πόλει κατορθώσαντα καὶ παράσχοντά τε τῇ λογιστείᾳ καὶ συνηγορίαις ἄνδρα πάσης τιμῆς ἄξιον ἀρετῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ εὐνοίας τῆς πρὸς τὴν πόλιν.

The Emperor mentioned in this inscription is of course Antoninus Pius, whose reign began in the year 138A.D., and who died in 161A.D.; it is merely by an error that he is here called Antonius. He got the name of Hadrian from his adoptive father, the Emperor Hadrian, and tookthe name of Ælius after the death of Hadrian’s first adopted son, Ælius Cæsar.

Upon the upper end of the block of marble there are two foot-marks, the one considerably in advance of the other. Each of them being 15-1/3 inches long, they leave no doubt that upon this block the colossal statue of the Cyzicene, who is praised in the inscription, stood in the attitude of an orator. In the hinder foot there is a square hole, 1-4/5 inch square, in which was placed the iron rod for fixing the statue. To judge from the size of the footmarks, the statue must have been more than 8 feet high, and, as the marble block is 5¼ feet in height, the whole must have been at least 13¼ feet high, and hence we may conclude that the temple in which this work of art stood was very spacious.

The excavations to the right and left of the Tower have unfortunately to be made from above, which makes the work slower, but gives me the advantage of being able again to state with great accuracy at what depths the various objects are found. Generally the ruins of the Greek period extend to a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet), but there are places where the remains of the pre-Hellenic period commence at less than 1 meter (3¼ feet), and this is the case on the east of the Tower, where at even 3¼ feet below the surface I found a seal made of clay with a tree and two stars. At the same depth I found one straight and three crooked copper knives, as well as a large double-edged axe and several other instruments of the same metal. Almost immediately on the surface I found, among other coins, an exceedingly remarkable medal, such as I believe has never before been met with; on one side it has the portrait of the Emperor Commodus (here writtenΚΟΜΟΔΟΣ); upon the other there is a figure in armour, armed with two lances (probably Minerva) standing upon the fore part of a ship, which ends in an extremely well-wrought head of a gazelle; in a semicircle round it is the wordΕΛΑΙΟΥΣΙΩΝ. The medaltherefore comes from the very small island of Elæusa, on the coast of Cilicia, and it proves the remarkable fact that this small island, which now scarcely possesses any inhabitants, was anciently so populous that it struck its own coins.

No. 150. Terra-cotta Vase (7 M.).No. 150. Terra-cotta Vase (7 M.).

No. 151. Terra-cotta Vase in the form of an Animal, from the Trojan Stratum (10 M.).No. 151. Terra-cotta Vase in the form of an Animal, from the Trojan Stratum (10 M.).

The frequently discussed whorls of terra-cotta, bearing simple or double crosses with the marks of four nails, or having three, four, or five double rising suns in the circle round the central sun, are met with to the east of the Tower quite close below the surface, that is, at a depth of not quite a foot. At a depth of 1 meter (3¼ feet) I found a small whorl, upon which theRosa mystica, with its four petals, forms a cross round the sun. At as small a depth as 2 meters (6½ feet) I discovered a small and coarsely made cup, with the owl’s face of the Ilian tutelary goddess, also very clumsy goblets in the form of champagne-glasses with two handles; at a depth of 3 meters (10 feet) small saucers with three little feet, which are adorned with 卐 and trees of life. I also found at the same depth small terra-cotta volcanoes and tops with the 卐, and a great number of them at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet). At the latter depth I found, when excavating the west side of the Tower, an extremely curious cup, nearly 8 inches high, in the form of a Mecklenburg roll (Plutensemmel), with four divisions, but round and furnished with two enormous handles; it has a rounded foot, so that it can only stand on its mouth. In the same place I found a curious vase, with little rings on the sides for suspension by strings, and a little spout in the bulge, so that the fluid poured into the vase would run out again directly. Vases with such tubes in the bulge, but without rings at the sides, are very frequently met with. Further, at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet) I found goblets in the form of champagne-glasses, with two large handles; also a curious little terra-cotta volcano with four 卐, the symbol of lightning, and two sacrificial altars covered with flames. At a depth of 5 meters (16½ feet)I found several such pieces with extremely interesting symbolical signs; one of them had a very fine engraving of the flaming altar and the tree of life. In the same stratum I found a neat little vase with three feet, two handles, and prettily engraved decorations; lastly, a number of small knives made of silex, in the form of saws. At a depth of 6 meters (20 feet) we found a vessel, a little more than 9 inches long, which is exactly in the shape of an animal; it has three feet, a tail, and an upright neck, which is connected with the back by a large handle. At a depth of 7 meters (23 feet) I found a very pretty vase, with the owl’s head of the tutelary goddess of Troy, her two female breasts and navel; the two arms are raised by the side of the head, and served as handles. From the same depth we brought out a curious saw made of bone; from a depth of 8 meters (26 feet), idols with the image of the Ilian Athena, with her girdle, made of very fine marble; at the same depth some of those earthen funnels which I have already frequently mentioned, also several terra-cotta balls covered with engravings of little stars. I also discovered during the last few days, at depths of from 8 to 11 meters (26 to 36 feet) a number of large vases and vessels of various forms, with two, three, and four handles, and, besides these, at 10 meters (33 feet) deep, a vessel in the form of an animal, with three feet and a tail; a horn, which projects from the upright neck and serves as a handle, connects the head with the end of the back. This vessel is not unlike a locomotive engine.

No. 152. Terra-cotta Vessel in the shape of a Pig, from the Lowest Stratum (14 M.).No. 152. Terra-cotta Vessel in the shape of a Pig, from the Lowest Stratum (14 M.).

No. 153. Skull of a Woman, found near some gold ornaments in the Lowest Stratum (13 M.).No. 153. Skull of a Woman, found near some gold ornaments in the Lowest Stratum (13 M.).

The day before yesterday, at the depth of 14 meters (46 feet), we met with a great number of interesting things; for instance, the neck of a brilliant red vase with the owl’s head, which has two enormously large eyes; then a brilliant brown vessel, 8-2/3 inches long, 7 inches high, and nearly 6 inches thick, in the form of a sow, with a projecting but closed head of excellent workmanship, and with three feet; the orifice of the vessel is in the tail, which is connected with the back by a handle. Further, a lance and several instruments, as well as a number of copper nails, and needles of ivory for embroidering. In the ashes of the same house, which has evidently been burnt, I also found, at a depth of 13 meters (42½ feet), a tolerably well preserved skeleton of a woman, of which I think I have collected nearly all the bones; the skull especially is in a good state of preservation, but has unfortunately been broken in our excavations; however, I can easily put it together again; the mouth is somewhat protruding, and shows good but astonishingly small teeth. By the side of the skeleton I found a finger-ring,three ear-rings, and a dress-pin of pure gold. The latter is perfectly simple, and has a round head; two of the ear-rings are of quite a primitive kind, and consist of simple gold wire 0.058 of an inch thick; as does also the third ear-ring, which, however, is much more finely wrought and ends in a leaf, which is formed of six gold wires of equal thickness, riveted together.[204]The finger-ring is made of three gold wires 0.115 of an inch thick. All of these objects bear evidence of having been exposed to great heat. The Trojan woman must, however, have also worn other ornaments, for by the side of the skeleton I collected several gold beads only 0.039 of an inch large, and also a very thin oval ring only a quarter of an inch in length. Even the colour of the bones leaves no doubt that the lady was overtaken by fire and burnt alive. With the exception of the skeleton of the embryo of six months which was found in a vase upon the primary soil, this is the only human skeleton I have ever met with in any of the pre-Hellenic strata on this hill.[205]As we know from Homer, all corpses were burnt, and the ashes were placed in urns, of which I have found great numbers in the ruins of all the nations which inhabited this hill before the time of the Greek colony. The bones, however, were always burnt to ashes; at most I have occasionally discovered a whole tooth, in no case have I ever met with another entire bone in the urns.

Among the remains of the same Trojan house, and not far from the skeleton, I found the fragment of a yellow cup (vase-cover), with a very expressive man’s face; the nose is long and somewhat aquiline. In addition to this I found there seven of the round terra-cottas in the shape of a flat top. Among these was one 2-1/3 inches in diameter, which has the exact form of a wheel; in the circle roundthe nave it has five rising suns. As usual, these decorations are engraved and filled with a white substance.

Of pillars I have as yet found no trace in Troy; hence if there existed real pillars, they must in all cases have been of wood. Moreover, the word “κίων” is never met with in the Iliad, and only in the Odyssey. In a house at a depth of 39¼ feet, I found a prettily carved and very hard piece of limestone in the form of a crescent, with a round hole 1½ inch deep, and I conjecture that it may have been used as the support for a door.

In conclusion, I flatter myself with the hope that, as a reward for my enormous expenses and all my privations, annoyances, and sufferings in this wilderness, but above all for my important discoveries, the civilized world will acknowledge my right to re-christen this sacred locality; and in the name of the divine Homer I baptize it with that name of immortal renown, which fills the heart of everyone with joy and enthusiasm: I give it the name of “Troy” and “Ilium,” and I call the Acropolis, where I am writing these lines, by the name of the “Pergamus of Troy.”[206]

No. 154. Block of Limestone, with a socket, in which the pivot of a door may have turned (12 M.).No. 154. Block of Limestone, with a socket, in which the pivot of a door may have turned (12 M.).

Intended cessation of the work—Further excavation of the Tower—Layers of red ashes and calcined stones—Objects found on the Tower—Weapons, implements, and ornaments of stone, copper, and silver—Bones—Pottery and vases of remarkable forms—Objects found on each side of the Tower—First rain for four months—Thanks for escape from the constant dangers—Results of the excavations—The site of Homer’s Troy identified with that of Greek Ilium—Error of the Bunarbashi theory—Area of the Greek city—Depth of the accumulateddébrisunexampled in the world—Multitude of interesting objects brought to light—Care in making drawings of them all.

Pergamus of Troy, August 14th, 1872.

SINCEmy report of the 4th of this month I have continued the excavations with the utmost energy, but I am now compelled to stop the works this evening, for my three foremen and my servant, who is also my cashier, have been seized by the malignant marsh-fever, and my wife and I are so unwell that we are quite unable to undertake the sole direction throughout the day in the terrible heat of the sun. We shall therefore leave our two wooden houses and all our machines and implements in charge of a watchman, and to-morrow we shall return to Athens.

The admirers of Homer, on visiting the Pergamus of Troy, will find that I have not only laid bare the Tower on the south side, along the whole breadth of my trench, down to the rock upon which it stands, at a depth of 14 meters or 46½ feet, but that by my excavations on the east and west I have uncovered it considerably further, without having found its end. On the contrary, upon the east side, where it is 40 feet broad, and seems even to be broader still, I found the ruins of a second storey, of which,however, as far as I can at present judge, four broad steps have been preserved.[207]On the western side it is only 9 meters or 30 feet in breadth, and on this side there extends to the north an enormous wall, the thickness of which I have not been able to ascertain. The fact of my not having been able to carry these new excavations down to the primary soil, but only to a depth of 11 meters (36½ feet) is owing to the brittle nature of the walls of rubbish and ruins round about the Tower, which, as anyone may convince himself, consist of red ashes and of stones calcined by the heat, and which threatened at any moment to fall in and bury my workmen.

No. 155. A Trojan Terra-cotta Vase, with an Ornament like the Greek Lambda (8 M.).No. 155. A Trojan Terra-cotta Vase, with an Ornament like the Greek Lambda (8 M.).No. 156. Curious Terra-cotta Vessel in the shape of a Mole (Tower: 7 or 8 M.).

Upon the Tower, and more especially in the long oval depression on the top of it, and upon the steps I found two copper Trojan lances, several arrow-heads in the primitive form of thick pegs, from above 1 inch to nearly 2 inches long, which were fastened at the end of the shaft; further, an arrow-head 2½ inches in length, made of silex, and in the form of a pointed double-edged saw; then several copper and silver nails with round heads, which may have served as clothes-pins; further, great quantities of bones, masses of fragments of Trojan pottery of a brilliant red and black, and a number of vases and pots more or less well preserved. Among them is a pretty brilliant red vase nearly 10 inches high, filled with the bones of a sea-fish. This vase (found in an urn, which was unfortunately broken to pieces) has two small handles, and on two sides an ornament in the form of the Greek letterLambda, but with circular ends.[208]Three other vasesof a similar form, and with exactly the same decorations, were found upon the Tower. Two other vases of the same form, and with very similar decorations, were found at depths of 26 and 20 feet. I also found upon the Tower an exceedingly curious vessel nearly 6 inches in length, exactly the shape of a mole, and with three feet; it can also be placed so that the snout of the animal is lowest and serves as a foot; the orifice is in the tail, which a large handle connects with the back. I also found there a splendid Trojan vase, of a brilliant black colour, 15¾ inches high, which was unfortunately completely broken, but I have all the pieces of it, and consequently shall be able to restore it. Besides these, a Trojan pot, and a globular vessel with the above-mentioned decoration of a rounded lambda. I likewise saved, in an almost perfect condition, an exceedingly interesting red jug, above 9 inches high, quite round below and with a neck more bent backwards than I have ever found it in such vessels. I further found there a Priapus and a very pretty bird’s egg made of fine marble, many small terra-cotta whorls with the usual symbols of double and treble crosses, six suns, four or five double or treble rising suns, or stars, in the circle roundthe central sun; also one article where four 卐 form a cross round the sun, and the rest of the space is filled with stars. Further, a few small vessels with suspension rings were found also on the Tower, as well as 25 very ordinary earthen plates, which have been turned by the potter, whereas all the other articles appear to have been made by the hand without a potter’s wheel; about half of the plates were got out uninjured.

No. 157. A Trojan Dish with side Rings, and Plates turned by the Potter (Tower: 7 M.).No. 157. A Trojan Dish with side Rings, and Plates turned by the Potter (Tower: 7 M.).

In digging to the left and right of the Tower, a number of other interesting objects have been found since my last report; for instance, at a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet), a number of very neat although ordinary vessels with small rings on the sides and holes in the mouth for hanging them up, which have hitherto only been met with much further down; at a depth of 3 meters (10 feet) a small cover, with the owl’s face and helmet of the Ilian Athena, of very good manufacture; then, at a depth of 11½ feet, a small terra-cotta whorl with three stags in the circle round the sun. At a depth of from 5 to 6 meters (16½ to 20 feet), I found a great number of small knives of silex in the form of saws. At a depth of 10 meters (33 feet) I discovered a very curious instrument of brilliantyellow terra-cotta, a drawing of which I give. It is quite inexplicable to me for what purpose it can have been used; it is almost in the shape of a shield, and by the side of the handle which is ornamented with a tree, it has a cavity for putting the hand in. As it is made of terra-cotta it cannot, of course, have been used as a shield.[209]

After having had no rain here for four months, to-day, curiously enough, just after stopping the works, we have had a thunderstorm accompanied by a tremendous downpour of rain, and I regret extremely not to have been able to make a channel for leading off the rain-water from the Tower as far as the western declivity of the hill. But such a channel would need to be 50 feet deep and as many broad, otherwise its walls, consisting of calcined ruins and loose red ashes, would fall in. I should therefore have to remove 5000 cubic meters (6000 cubic yards) ofdébris, and such a gigantic piece of work I cannot now undertake.

In stopping the excavations for this year, and in looking back upon the fearful dangers to which we have continually been exposed since the 1st of April, between the gigantic layers of ruins, I cannot but fervently thank God for His great mercy, that not only has no life been lost, but that none of us has even been seriously hurt.

Now, as regards the result of my excavations, everyone must admit that I have solved a great historical problem, and that I have solved it by the discovery of a high civilization and immense buildings upon the primary soil, in the depths of an ancient town, which throughout antiquity was called Ilium and declared itself to be the successor of Troy, the site of which was regarded as identical with the site of the Homeric Ilium by the whole civilized world of that time. The situation of this town not only corresponds perfectly with all the statements of the Iliad, but also with all the traditions handed down tous by later authors; and, moreover, neither in the Plain of Troy, nor in its vicinity, is there any other place which could in the slightest degree be made to correspond with them. To regard the heights of Bunarbashi as the site of Troy, contradicts, in every respect, all the statements of Homer and of tradition. My excavations of Bunarbashi, as well as the form of the rocks, prove that those heights, as far as the three sepulchral mounds, can never have been inhabited by men. As I have already said, behind those tumuli there are the ruins of a very small town, the area of which, surrounded on two sides by the ruins of an enclosing wall, and on the other side by precipices, is so insignificant, that at most it can have only possessed 2000 inhabitants. The enclosing wall of its small Acropolis is scarcely a foot thick, and the gate scarcely 3¼ feet wide. The accumulation ofdébrisis not worth mentioning, for in many places the naked flat rocks are seen on the ground of the Acropolis. Here in Ilium, however, the proportions are very different. The area of the Greek city, which is indicated by the surrounding wall built by Lysimachus, is large enough for a population of more than 100,000 souls; and that the number of the inhabitants was actually as large is proved by the stage of the theatre, which is 200 feet in breadth. Here the surrounding wall of Lysimachus is 6½ feet thick, whereas the wall which runs out from the Tower at a great depth below the other seems to be five times as thick, and Homer assuredly ascribed the erection of the walls of Troy to Poseidon and Apollo on account of their enormous proportions.[210]Then, as regards the accumulation ofdébris, here in the Pergamus there is no place where it amounts to less than 14 meters, or 46½ feet, and in many places it is even much more considerable. Thus, for instance, on my great platform, I only reached the primary soil at a depthof 16 meters, or 53-1/3 feet, and in the depths of the temple, on the adjacent field, belonging to Mr. Frank Calvert, I have not yet reached it at a depth of 15½ meters, or 51-2/3 feet. Such an accumulation of ruins has never as yet been discovered in any other part of the world, except occasionally in the rocky valleys of Jerusalem; where, however, it has only begun to accumulate since the destruction of the city by Titus, and hence is scarcely more than 1800 years old.[211]Here in Troy the remains of the Greek period cease entirely at a depth of ½, 1, or 2 meters, and thence, down to the primary soil, we find in regular succession the mighty layers of ruins belonging to four very ancient nations.

In like manner, as regards the more than a hundred thousand objects which I have brought to light, and which were used by those very ancient tribes, I venture to say that I have revealed a new world to archæology; for, in order to give but one instance, I have here found many thousands of those wheels, volcanoes, or tops (carrousels) of terra-cotta with the most various Aryan religious symbols.

If, as it seems, neither the Trojans nor any of the three succeeding peoples possessed a written language, we must, as far as possible, replace it by the “monuments figurés” which I have discovered.[212]As already said, Imake a drawing in my diary each evening of every one of the objects which have been found during the day, and more especially of the pictorial symbols, with the greatest exactness. By comparing the innumerable symbols I have succeeded in deciphering some of them, and I hope that my learned colleagues will succeed in explaining the rest. Archæology shall on no account lose any one of my discoveries; every article which can have any interest for the learned world shall be photographed, or copied by a skilful draughtsman, and published in the Appendix to this work; and by the side of every article I shall state the depth in which I discovered it.

No. 158. A curious Trojan Jug of Terra-cotta (8 M.).No. 158. A curious Trojan Jug of Terra-cotta (8 M.).

Return to Troy to take plans and photographs—Damage to retaining walls—The unfaithfulness of the watchman—Stones carried off for a neighbouring church and houses—Injury by rain—Works for security during the winter—Opening up of a retaining wall on the side of the hill, probably built to support the temple of Athena—Supposeddébrisof that temple—Drain belonging to it—Doric style of the temple proved by the block of Triglyphs—Temple of Apollo also on the Pergamus.

Athens, September 28th, 1872.

IWROTEmy last memoir on the 14th of last month, and on the 10th of this month, accompanied by my wife and Sisilas the land-surveyor, I returned to Troy in order to make a new plan of the Pergamus, which contains the most exact picture of my excavations, as well as of the depth in which the remains of immortal fame were discovered by me. I also took the photographer Siebrecht from the Dardanelles with me, in order to have photographs taken of my excavations, of two of the four springs situated on the north side of Ilium, of Ilium’s Great Tower and the Plain of Troy, as well as of the Hellespont as seen from this monument.

To my horror, upon arriving there, I found that the watchman whom I had left in charge had been faithless, and that an immense number of large hewn stones dug out of my excavations, with which I had erected walls in several places in order to prevent the winter rains from washing away thedébriswhich we had pulled down, had been carried off. The man excused himself by saying that the stones had been used for a good purpose, namely forthe construction of a belfry in the Christian village of Yenishehr, and for building houses in the Turkish village of Chiplak. I, of course, packed him off directly, and engaged in his place a watchman whom I armed with a musket. He had the reputation of being honest, and his physical strength will inspire the pilferers of the stones with respect. What vexed me most was, that these thieves had even laid their hands upon the splendid bastion of the time of Lysimachus, which I had uncovered on the south side of the hill; they had made off with two large stones from it, and the bastion would assuredly have vanished entirely had I been away a week longer.

I also regret to see that the downpour of rain on the 14th of August has filled the great cutting, which I made on the south side of the Tower, in order to bring the Tower to light down as far as the rock upon which it is built, withdébristo a height of 2 meters (6½ feet). So, immediately upon my arrival, I engaged 20 workmen, 10 of whom are busy in clearing the south side of the Tower as far as the primary soil, in wheeling away thedébris, and in building in front of the cutting a wall of large blocks of stone, through which the rain-water can escape, but not thedébristhat may be washed down.

I have now had an opportunity of convincing myself that the rain does not harm the Tower, for it disappears directly to the right and left of it in the loosedébris. Of the other ten workmen, six are occupied in repairing the walls which have been destroyed or injured by wanton hands, while the other four are working in order to lay bare as far as possible an exceedingly remarkable wall, which rises at an angle of 40 degrees at the depth of 15½ meters (50½ feet) and at 43½ yards from the edge of the hill, on the site of the temple, exactly 6½ feetbelowthe Trojan wall which I there brought to light. (See p. 200.) As I have before remarked, the strata ofdébris, which run obliquely to the north below that Trojan wall, prove thatit was built upon the steep slope of the hill, and this is an additional and infallible proof that the buttress, which is erected 6½ feet below it, can have served no other purpose than for consolidating and strengthening the ground of the declivity so effectually that buildings of an enormous weight might be erected upon the summit without danger. Now as I have never hitherto found buttresses of this kind for consolidating the declivity of the hill among the strata of the pre-Hellenic period, although there was no lack of grand buildings in the Pergamus of Troy (as is proved by the colossal masses of hewn and unhewn stones from 16½ to 20 feet high, mixed with charreddébris, with which I had to struggle upon my great platform), I positively believe that the above-mentioned buttress was erected to support the site of a temple of great sanctity. I believe this all the more, as the buttress here forms a curve and appears to protect the whole of the north-eastern corner of the hill, which was the extreme end of the Pergamus and perfectly corresponds with Homer’s statement about the position of the temple of Athena, “on the summit of the city” (ἐν πόλει ἄκρῃ:Iliad, VI. 297). I have no doubt that in ascending from this buttress I shall find the ruins of that ancient temple at a distance of less than 10 meters (33 feet). But in order to penetrate further, I must first of all pull down the Trojan wall, 10 feet high and 6½ feet thick, which I have already frequently mentioned, and remove the enormous masses ofdébris; this work must be deferred till the 1st of February, for I am now too ill and tired to attempt it. The discovery of the very ancient temple of Athena at the north-eastern corner would, moreover solve the great problem—whence arises the colossal accumulation ofdébris, which here covers the declivity with a crust as hard as stone, 131 feet in thickness, and which caused me so much trouble, not only in this excavation, but also at the eastern end of my platform, along an extent of more than 80 feet. It will be found that this enormous crust hasarisen solely from the remains of the sacrifices offered to the Ilian Athena.

I had not noticed this buttress at the time of my departure on the 15th of August, and I have now only discovered it because the rain has laid bare two of its stones. It is built of blocks of shelly limestone (Muschelkalk), from about a foot to 2 feet 2 inches long and broad, joined with earth, and it probably covered the whole north-eastern corner of the hill from the bottom to the top. I presume that the drain of green sandstone, nearly 8 inches broad and about 7 inches high, which I spoke of in my report of the 25th of April, belongs to the very ancient temple of Athena; it will be remembered that I found it at about 11½ feet above my great platform, and at a distance of 46 feet from the edge of the declivity.

The block of triglyphs with the Sun-god and the four horses, which I found here, proves that the temple which it adorned was built in the Doric style; and, as the Doric is confessedly the oldest style of architecture, the ancient temple of the Ilian Athena was doubtless in that style. We know, however, from the Iliad[213]that there was also a temple of Apollo in the Pergamus. It probably stood at the south-eastern corner of the hill, for at the foot of it may be seen, in a small excavation, a wall composed of splendid Corinthian pillars joined by means of cement. It is probable that these pillars belong to a temple of Apollo of the time of Lysimachus. In excavating the Tower further to the east, I hope to find the site of this temple, and in its depths the ruins of the very ancient temple of Apollo.

If the Trojans possessed an alphabetical language, I shall probably find inscriptions in the ruins of the two temples. I am, however, no longer sanguine in regard to this, as I have hitherto found no trace of writing in the colossal strata of the four tribes which preceded the Greek colony.[214]

Return to Hissarlik in 1873—Interruptions by holydays and weather—Strong cold north winds—Importance of good overseers—An artist taken to draw the objects found—Want of workmen—Excavations on the site of the Temple—Blocks of Greek sculptured marble—Great increase of the hill to the east—Further portions of the great Trojan wall—Traces of fire—A terra-cotta hippopotamus, a sign of intercourse with Egypt—Idols and owl-faced vases—Vases of very curious forms—Whorls—Sling-bullets of copper and stone—Piece of ornamented ivory belonging to a musical instrument—New cutting from S.E. to N.W.—Walls close below the surface—Wall of Lysimachus—Monograms on the stones—An inscription in honour of Caius Cæsar—Patronage of Ilium by the Julii as the descendants of Æneas—Good wine of the Troad.

Pergamus of Troy, February 22nd, 1873.

IRETURNEDhere on the 31st of January with my wife, in order to continue the excavations, but we have been repeatedly interrupted by Greek church festivals, thunderstorms, and also by the excessive cold, so that I can scarcely reckon that I have had as yet more than eight good days’ work. Last autumn, by the side of my two wooden houses, I had a house built for myself of stones from the old Trojan buildings, the walls of which were 2 feet thick, but I was compelled to let my foremen occupy it, for they were not sufficiently provided with clothes and wrappers, and would have perished through the great cold. My poor wife and I have therefore suffered very much, for the strong icynorth wind[215]blew with such violence through the chinks of our house-walls which were made of planks, that we were not even able to light our lamps of an evening; and although we had fire on the hearth, yet the thermometer showed 4 degrees of cold (Réaumur = 23° Fahrenheit), and the water standing near the hearth froze in solid masses. During the day we could to some degree bear the cold by working in the excavations, but of an evening we had nothing to keep us warm except our enthusiasm for the great work of discovering Troy. Fortunately this extreme cold lasted only four days, from the 16th to the 19th of this month, and since then we have had glorious weather.

Besides Georgios Photidas, who was with me during the excavations of last year, I have as foremen Georgios Barba Tsirogiannis (a sea-captain from Chalcis in Eubœa), and an Albanese from Salamis, whom, however, I shall shortly send back on account of his uselessness, and get two other foremen from the Piræus in his stead. A good foreman is more useful to me than ten common workmen, but I find that the gift of command is rarely met with except among seamen.

I have also brought with me an artist, that I may have the objects found copied immediately in Indian ink, and the drawings multiplied in Athens by means of photography. This will, however, render it impossible for me to state the depths at which the objects were found upon distinct plates, as I have hitherto done. The articles discovered in the different depths are now mixed together, but in each case the depth, as well as the relative size, is stated in meters, in addition to the number in the catalogue.

Workmen are at present not so easily to be had as before; for a merchant from Smyrna residing here has engaged 150 men to gather a medicinal root, which is here called γλυκόριζα, out of which liquorice-juice is prepared.The German wordlakritze, the Frenchlacorice, and the Englishliquorice, are evidently corruptions of γλυκόριζα. Now, as the men employed by the Smyrna merchant work the ground at a certain price by square measure, they earn from 12 to 23 piasters (2 frcs. 40 cent, to 4 frcs. 60 cent.) daily; whereas I can give them only 9 piasters (1 frc. 80 cent.) during the present short days. At Easter I can offer them 10 piasters, and after the 1st of June 12 piasters. As the roots are dug up in the neighbourhood of Renkoï, it is principally the people of this village that are engaged in the work; and for carrying on my excavations I have to apply to the villages of Kafatli-Asmak, Yenishehr, and Neo-Chori, which are situated in and round about the Plain of Troy. If the weather is dry, I can count upon obtaining after to-morrow 120 workmen every day.

On the north side of the hill, at a distance of 131 feet from the declivity and at a depth of 51 feet, the wall of white stones, which rises at an angle of 40 degrees, 6½ feet below the Trojan wall, seems, as I have said, to mark the site of the Greek temple of Athena. Here I am having five terraces made on two sides simultaneously, and thedébriscarried away in man-carts and wheel-barrows. In the north-eastern excavations thisdébris, from the surface to a depth of 10 feet, consists of black earth, mixed with splinters of marble; and among them I find very many large and beautifully-sculptured blocks of marble, which evidently belong to the temple of the time of Lysimachus, which stood here, but are of no further value to archæology. The removal of these blocks, the weight of which is often nearly two tons, gives me the greatest trouble. The site of the temple is indeed indicated distinctly enough by the existence of these large marble blocks in the Doric style, but of the sanctuary itself there is not one stone in its place. A depression in the earth, 112 feet long and 76 feet broad, seems to prove that the place has been ransackedhundreds of years ago by Turks seeking stones suitable for sepulchral monuments; they have also, curiously enough, carried off all the foundations. Below the layer ofdébris, 10 feet thick, which descends at an angle of from 50 to 60 degrees, there is an accumulation of ashes, covering with a crust of 131 feet thick the buttress previously mentioned, which distinctly marks the former declivity of the hill. The declivity at this point is rounded off towards the east; and—as is proved by the fact that the buttress itself (as well as the layers ofdébristhat lie above it) turns in the same direction, and that the strata ofdébriswhich lie above it also extend out to the east—theeasterndeclivity at one time likewise commenced at this point, whereas its present position is 262½ feet distant from it. The hill of the Pergamus has therefore increased 262½ feet in an eastern direction since the buttress was built. I do not believe that there is a second hill in the world whose increase in size, during thousands of years, can in the remotest degree be compared with this enormous growth.

Except those small round terra-cottas in the form of volcanoes and tops, with the usual decorations, and some more or less broken pottery, nothing has as yet been discovered in this excavation. The other cutting—which I opened to reach the supposed site of the very ancient temple of Athena—is at the east end of my large platform, upon which I am again throwing the greater part of thedébriswhich is being dug down there, because to remove it beyond the platform would be too difficult. In the mean time I have only had this cutting made 42½ feet broad, but I intend to widen it as soon as I find any prospect of advantage to archæology from doing so. In the lower terrace of this cutting I find the continuation of that Trojan wall which also shows itself in the more eastern cutting. This wall is here only 3¼ feet high, but the stones lying below it leave no doubt that it was at one time much higher. Every visitor to the Troad confirmsmy observation of the remarkable fact, that this wall continues on the two sides of my large cutting through the entire hill, to the right and left of the entrance, at a depth of 39½ feet. If this wall belongs to a time preceding the Trojan wall (as to which I can entertain no doubt, owing to its great depth), yet the mighty ruins beneath it, as well as the pavement of white pebbles lying below it, at a depth of 1¾ foot in my large cutting, prove that it must have been built a long time after thefirstdestruction of the city. But the real object of the wall here and further to the west is utterly inexplicable to me, for it is built above and through the ruins of mighty buildings.

The strata ofdébrisin this cutting all lie horizontally, which leaves no doubt that they have been gradually formed in the course of time. Their composition proves that most of the houses which stood here were destroyed by fire. But there are also several thick strata here, in which we find thousands of shells in a state of good preservation, which proves that they at least cannot have belonged to buildings destroyed by fire.

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