ΩΝΙΟΥΤΟΥΕΥΔΟΣΜΕΝ ΟΥΚΑΜΕΝΑΧΟΣΓΛΑΥΚΟΕΠΕΓΡΑΨΑΜΕΝΕΙΣΣΤΗΛΗΝΚΑΤΑΤΟΝΝΟΜΟΝΕΡΓΟΦΙΛΟΝΠΑΤΡΟΣΟΥΧΡΗΜΑΤΙΣΖΗΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΡΟΤΑΝΕΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΔΙΟΦΑΝΗΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΤΟΥΣΚΑΤΑΤΟΝΝΟΜΟΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟ5ΚΑΙΜΗΝΟΓΕΝΗΝΜΝΗΣΑΡΧΟΥΚΑΙΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΝΦΑΝΙΑΚΑΙΔΙΟΜΗΔΗΝΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΥΣΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΡΥΤΑΝΕΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΔΙΟΦΑΝΗΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΥΠΟΗΜΕΡΑΣΤΡΕΙΣΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΣΕΚΑΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΩΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΝΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΥΚΑΙΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΗΝΚΑΙΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΝΤΟΥΣΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΥΣΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΦΑΙΝΩΝΑΚΤΑΕΥΔΗΜΟΥΠΡΥΤΑ10ΝΕΩΝΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΕΚΑΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΩΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΝΜΗΝΟΦΑΝΤΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΝΟΜΟΦΥΛΑΚΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΙΠΠΑΡΧΟΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟ...........................................ωνίου τοῦ Εὐδ..........οσμεν.........ουκαμεναχος γλαυκο..ἐπεγράψαμεν εἰς στήλην κατὰ τὸν νόμον Ἐργόφιλον Πατρόσου (;)Χρήματις[228]ζη[229]ἐζημιωμένον ὑπὸ τῶν προτάνεων[230]τῶν περὶ Διο-φάνην Ἡγησιδήμου, ὀ(φ)ίλοντα τοὺς κατ(ὰ) τὸν νόμον στατῆρας δύο5καὶ Μηνογένην Μνησ(άρχ;)ου καὶ Ἀρτεμίδωρον Φανία καὶ ΔιομήδηνἈπολλωνίου, ἐζημιωμένους ὑπὸ τῶν πρυτάνεων τῶν περὶ Διοφά(νην)Ἡγησιδήμου ὑπὸ ἡμέρας τρεῖς ὀφίλοντας ἕκαστον αὐτῶν στατῆρας δύο.Μηνόδοτον Μηνοδότου καὶ Ἡρακλείδην καὶ Μηνόδοτον τοὺς Ἡρακλεί-δου ἐζημιωμένους ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Φαινώνακτα Εὐδήμου πρυτά-10νεων, ὀφείλοντα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν στατῆρας δύο.Ἀρτεμίδωρον Μηνοφάντον ἐζημιωμένον ὑπὸ τῶν νο-μοφυλάκων τῶν περὶ Ἵππαρχον Ἡγησιδήμου, ὀφίλον-τα στατῆρας δύο.
ΩΝΙΟΥΤΟΥΕΥΔΟΣΜΕΝ ΟΥΚΑΜΕΝΑΧΟΣΓΛΑΥΚΟΕΠΕΓΡΑΨΑΜΕΝΕΙΣΣΤΗΛΗΝΚΑΤΑΤΟΝΝΟΜΟΝΕΡΓΟΦΙΛΟΝΠΑΤΡΟΣΟΥΧΡΗΜΑΤΙΣΖΗΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΡΟΤΑΝΕΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΔΙΟΦΑΝΗΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΤΟΥΣΚΑΤΑΤΟΝΝΟΜΟΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟ5ΚΑΙΜΗΝΟΓΕΝΗΝΜΝΗΣΑΡΧΟΥΚΑΙΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΝΦΑΝΙΑΚΑΙΔΙΟΜΗΔΗΝΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΥΣΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΡΥΤΑΝΕΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΔΙΟΦΑΝΗΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΥΠΟΗΜΕΡΑΣΤΡΕΙΣΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΣΕΚΑΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΩΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΝΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΥΚΑΙΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΗΝΚΑΙΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΝΤΟΥΣΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΥΣΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΦΑΙΝΩΝΑΚΤΑΕΥΔΗΜΟΥΠΡΥΤΑ10ΝΕΩΝΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΕΚΑΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΩΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΝΜΗΝΟΦΑΝΤΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΝΟΜΟΦΥΛΑΚΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΙΠΠΑΡΧΟΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟ...........................................ωνίου τοῦ Εὐδ..........οσμεν.........ουκαμεναχος γλαυκο..ἐπεγράψαμεν εἰς στήλην κατὰ τὸν νόμον Ἐργόφιλον Πατρόσου (;)Χρήματις[228]ζη[229]ἐζημιωμένον ὑπὸ τῶν προτάνεων[230]τῶν περὶ Διο-φάνην Ἡγησιδήμου, ὀ(φ)ίλοντα τοὺς κατ(ὰ) τὸν νόμον στατῆρας δύο5καὶ Μηνογένην Μνησ(άρχ;)ου καὶ Ἀρτεμίδωρον Φανία καὶ ΔιομήδηνἈπολλωνίου, ἐζημιωμένους ὑπὸ τῶν πρυτάνεων τῶν περὶ Διοφά(νην)Ἡγησιδήμου ὑπὸ ἡμέρας τρεῖς ὀφίλοντας ἕκαστον αὐτῶν στατῆρας δύο.Μηνόδοτον Μηνοδότου καὶ Ἡρακλείδην καὶ Μηνόδοτον τοὺς Ἡρακλεί-δου ἐζημιωμένους ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Φαινώνακτα Εὐδήμου πρυτά-10νεων, ὀφείλοντα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν στατῆρας δύο.Ἀρτεμίδωρον Μηνοφάντον ἐζημιωμένον ὑπὸ τῶν νο-μοφυλάκων τῶν περὶ Ἵππαρχον Ἡγησιδήμου, ὀφίλον-τα στατῆρας δύο.
ΩΝΙΟΥΤΟΥΕΥΔΟΣΜΕΝ ΟΥΚΑΜΕΝΑΧΟΣΓΛΑΥΚΟΕΠΕΓΡΑΨΑΜΕΝΕΙΣΣΤΗΛΗΝΚΑΤΑΤΟΝΝΟΜΟΝΕΡΓΟΦΙΛΟΝΠΑΤΡΟΣΟΥΧΡΗΜΑΤΙΣΖΗΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΡΟΤΑΝΕΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΔΙΟΦΑΝΗΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΤΟΥΣΚΑΤΑΤΟΝΝΟΜΟΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟ5ΚΑΙΜΗΝΟΓΕΝΗΝΜΝΗΣΑΡΧΟΥΚΑΙΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΝΦΑΝΙΑΚΑΙΔΙΟΜΗΔΗΝΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΥΣΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΡΥΤΑΝΕΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΔΙΟΦΑΝΗΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΥΠΟΗΜΕΡΑΣΤΡΕΙΣΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΣΕΚΑΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΩΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΝΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΥΚΑΙΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΗΝΚΑΙΜΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΝΤΟΥΣΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΥΣΥΠΟΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΦΑΙΝΩΝΑΚΤΑΕΥΔΗΜΟΥΠΡΥΤΑ10ΝΕΩΝΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΕΚΑΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΩΝΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΝΜΗΝΟΦΑΝΤΟΥΕΖΗΜΙΩΜΕΝΟΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΝΟΜΟΦΥΛΑΚΩΝΤΩΝΠΕΡΙΙΠΠΑΡΧΟΝΗΓΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΥΟΦΙΛΟΝΤΑΣΤΑΤΗΡΑΣΔΥΟ
...........................................ωνίου τοῦ Εὐδ..........οσμεν.........ουκαμεναχος γλαυκο..ἐπεγράψαμεν εἰς στήλην κατὰ τὸν νόμον Ἐργόφιλον Πατρόσου (;)Χρήματις[228]ζη[229]ἐζημιωμένον ὑπὸ τῶν προτάνεων[230]τῶν περὶ Διο-φάνην Ἡγησιδήμου, ὀ(φ)ίλοντα τοὺς κατ(ὰ) τὸν νόμον στατῆρας δύο5καὶ Μηνογένην Μνησ(άρχ;)ου καὶ Ἀρτεμίδωρον Φανία καὶ ΔιομήδηνἈπολλωνίου, ἐζημιωμένους ὑπὸ τῶν πρυτάνεων τῶν περὶ Διοφά(νην)Ἡγησιδήμου ὑπὸ ἡμέρας τρεῖς ὀφίλοντας ἕκαστον αὐτῶν στατῆρας δύο.Μηνόδοτον Μηνοδότου καὶ Ἡρακλείδην καὶ Μηνόδοτον τοὺς Ἡρακλεί-δου ἐζημιωμένους ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Φαινώνακτα Εὐδήμου πρυτά-10νεων, ὀφείλοντα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν στατῆρας δύο.Ἀρτεμίδωρον Μηνοφάντον ἐζημιωμένον ὑπὸ τῶν νο-μοφυλάκων τῶν περὶ Ἵππαρχον Ἡγησιδήμου, ὀφίλον-τα στατῆρας δύο.
In the inscription quoted in the ‘Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum’ under No. 3604, which is admitted to belong to the time of Augustus Octavianus, Hipparchus is mentioned as a member of the Ilian Council, and as on line 13 the same name occurs with the same attribute, I do not hesitate to maintain that the above inscription belongs to the same period.
Spring weather in the Plain of Troy—The Greek Temple of Athena—Numerous fragments of sculpture—Reservoir of the temple—Excavation of the Tower—Difficulties of the work—Further discoveries of walls—Stone implements at small depths—Important distinction between the plain and decorated whorls—Greek and Roman coins—Absence of iron—Copper nails: their peculiar forms: probably dress and hair pins: some with heads and beads of gold and electrum—Original height of the Tower—Discovery of a Greek house—Various types of whorls—Further remarks on the Greek bas-relief—It belonged to the temple of Apollo—Stones from the excavations used for building in the villages around—Fever.
Spring weather in the Plain of Troy—The Greek Temple of Athena—Numerous fragments of sculpture—Reservoir of the temple—Excavation of the Tower—Difficulties of the work—Further discoveries of walls—Stone implements at small depths—Important distinction between the plain and decorated whorls—Greek and Roman coins—Absence of iron—Copper nails: their peculiar forms: probably dress and hair pins: some with heads and beads of gold and electrum—Original height of the Tower—Discovery of a Greek house—Various types of whorls—Further remarks on the Greek bas-relief—It belonged to the temple of Apollo—Stones from the excavations used for building in the villages around—Fever.
Pergamus of Troy, March 15th, 1873.
SINCEmy report of the 1st of this month I have continued the excavations with great zeal, favoured by glorious weather and an abundance of workmen. The nights are cold, and the thermometer still frequently falls to freezing point towards morning, whereas during the day the heat of the sun is already beginning to be troublesome, the thermometer often showing 18° Réaumur (72½° Fahrenheit) in the shade at midday. The leaves of the trees are only now beginning to sprout, while the Plain is already covered with spring flowers.[231]For the last fortnight we have heard the croaking of millions of frogs in the surrounding marshes, and during the last eight days the storks have returned. One of the discomforts of our life in thiswilderness is the hideous shrieking of the innumerable owls which build their nests in the holes of the walls of my excavations; their shrieks sound mysterious and horrible, and are especially unendurable at night.
I have proceeded with the excavation of the site of the Temple of Athena with the greatest energy. The foundations of this sanctuary nowhere extend deeper than 2 meters (6½ feet), and generally only to 1 meter (3¼ feet). The floor, which consists of large slabs of sandstone, and which rests upon double layers of large hewn blocks of the same stone, is frequently covered only with a foot, and never with more than 3¼ feet, of vegetable soil; this explains the total absence of entire sculptures. For whatever sculptures there were in or upon the temple could not sink into the ground on the summit of the hill, and they therefore remained lying on the surface for many centuries, till they were destroyed by religious zeal or wantonness. This, and this alone, explains the enormous mass of fragments of statues which cover the entire hill.
I find, however, a great number of large sculptured blocks of marble in the Corinthian style which are difficult to destroy, and the removal of which causes me great trouble and loss of time. As the Tower, which I partly uncovered last year, extends directly below the temple at a great depth, and as I wish at all events to lay bare its entire breadth, I shall leave only the ruins of the north and south walls of the temple standing, and break away all the rest, except a reservoir, 27 feet long and 26 feet broad, which is in the sanctuary, and is built of blocks of limestone laid together without cement or lime, and the walls of which have a thickness of 8 feet. The four aqueducts mentioned in my last report empty themselves into the reservoir. I shall leave it standing in order to give visitors to the Troad a faint idea of the trouble which I have to take in removing all the stones of a temple which is about 288 feet long and 72½ feet broad. But what is even much more difficultthan the removal of the stones, is the carrying off of thedébris, for as the excavation is made on the flat earth, this can only be effected by side paths, which become steeper the deeper we dig. However, I only wish to uncover the top of the ruined Tower, for to bring it to light down to the primary soil is a piece of work to which my patience is unequal. This new large cutting, therefore, only requires a depth of 26 feet, and on the western end I have given it a breadth of 78¾ feet. By this means I hope to reach the ancient and highly important monument on the north side in two or three days. As soon as this is done, I shall have an upper and a lower terrace made for facilitating the removal of the rubbish, and shall thus in a month from to-day be able to finish the entire excavation of the Tower as far as its eastern end, which I came upon yesterday in my steep cutting at the south-eastern corner of the Pergamus, and of which I have laid open a breadth of 13 feet. This eastern side of the Tower, thus brought to light, runs down at an angle of 60 degrees, and has the same appearance as the ancient buttress which I uncovered at the north side of the Pergamus. As I did not at first think that it was the Tower, I had the first layer of stones broken off, but I soon found a piece of masonry composed of large stones joined with earth. In consequence of this I have entirely stopped the works in this cutting, which already extended to a length of 111½ feet, and in spite of its small breadth was one of the most difficult works in Troy. For, as already said, I had first to break through a wall 10 feet thick, consisting of large blocks of marble, but principally of Corinthian pillars joined with lime (seep. 239); then the wall of Lysimachus, which was also 10 feet thick, and built of large hewn stones. The large drums of pillars had to be rolled up the steep path and then carried off; the large hewn stones had to be broken with hammers and then removed in wheel-barrows. In addition to this, as the visitors to the Pergamus may see in the walls of this cutting, we had to cutthrough two Trojan walls, the first of which is 5¼ feet thick, and the second 10 feet; both consist of stones joined with earth. The first of these walls is directly below a portion of the western wall of the comparatively modern Temple of Athena, and as—according to my pocket compass—it runs due E.S.E.1/2E., I at first thought that it might belong to the ancient diminutive temple of the Ilian tutelary goddess, which Alexander the Great[232]found here. But nothing further has appeared which could help to prove this. The second wall, 10 feet thick, is extremely interesting, for it is built of large unhewn blocks of shelly limestone (Muschelkalk), and on the top of it is a wall of small stones joined with earth. It evidently belongs to a much later age, but was in any case built long before the arrival of the Greek colony in Ilium. But even the lower wall of large stones was not built till the Tower of Ilium had formed a heap ofdébris20 feet high; it must therefore have been built centuries after the erection of the Tower. Thisdébrisconsists of ashes mixed with bones and small shells, and on account of its dampness and toughness is just as difficult to break down as damp limestone rock. In it I found many fragments of those Trojan vessels, which are of a brilliant red or black colour, both outside and inside, but nothing else of any interest. Above the Tower, at the east side of the Pergamus, there is nothing but yellow wood-ashes and a great number of stones. In fact, down to the present depth of 4½ meters (14¼ feet) below the surface, that is, from 7 to 10 feet below the foundations of the temple of Athena, I find nothing but yellow wood-ashes, and among these an immense number of enormous earthen jars (πίθοι) from 3¼ to 6½ feet long, and pointed below, which must have served not only as wine and water jars, but as cellars for keeping provisions, for there are no walled cellars.
Stone implements, such as I found in my former excavations only below a depth of 13 feet (with the exceptionof the few knives of silex), are met with here in great numbers at as small a depth as 6½ feet, that is, directly below the Temple of Athena; those most frequently found are clumsy hammers of diorite, but occasionally also hammers of the same or of green stone very prettily worked; some of them have a wide hole at both sides and a narrow one in the middle, and I cannot understand how a handle could have been fixed into them. The best finished instrument is always the wedge,[233]which is of diorite or of hard green stone, sometimes also of white silex, and occurs in all sizes from about ¾ of an inch to above 5 inches in length. This instrument is always of such exquisite workmanship and so well polished, that it is really astonishing how it was possible, with the miserable means at the disposal of those times, to make anything of such an excellent quality, for a modern artist with the best instruments could not possibly make better ones. The knives of silex, which I found last year in such great quantities, are as yet but rarely met with in this excavation. As stone implements do not occur elsewhere before reaching a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), it is probable that the numbers of stone implements met with here, as early as at a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet) on the site of the temple, belong to thedébriswhich was dug up when the large reservoir was constructed, for it appears to extend pretty far down, and its foundations may perhaps reach down to the Tower.
As, even in the temple itself, I find exclusively the round terra-cottas in the form of cones andwithoutdecorations, while, on the other hand, below the foundations of the temple I meet with great quantities of them in the form of volcanoes and tops, with the most various Aryan religious symbols, I am now of the opinionthat all those bearing such Aryan symbols must belong to the tribes which preceded the Greek colony on this site.
Of moulds of mica-schist I have only found two, one of which was used on all the six sides for casting weapons and instruments, the other for casting headless nails, and has two round holes, not perforated, for what purpose I do not know.[234]
While speaking of implements, I must mention a very remarkable hammer of bone, found at a depth of 3 meters (10 feet), which is covered with little engraved stars.
We again met with several marble idols, with the engraved owl’s face of the Ilian Athena and her girdle with dots; also a very pretty marble idol without the owl’s head, but with two small arms extended horizontally. The only terra-cottas with owls’ heads that have been met with, since my last report, are two cups (vase-covers).
I find very many copper coins of Ilium and Alexandria Troas, and Roman ones from the time of Augustus to Constantine the Great, especially the latter, directly below the surface, and at most down to a meter (3¼ feet) deep. Iron I do not find at all, not even in the temple, but a number of copper nails, which, however, I begin to think could not have been used for driving into wood; for this purpose they seem to be far too long and thin. The usual length of the nails occurring below 6½ feet is from about 4 to above 6 inches, with a thickness of 1/5 of an inch, and I do not think that it would be possible to drive such a nail even into very soft wood. Besides this, most of the nails have no head at all, others two heads, and many have two pointed ends, one of which is bent round so as to form a head. Thick copper nails suitable for driving into wood are very rarely met with; I have only found two in two years. I am therefore induced to believe that all the nails which I find in the strata of the nations preceding the Greeks have been used only as dress or hair pins. Thisbelief is confirmed by a copper nail, about 5 inches long, with a head of the usual form, and the fragment of a similar nail, which were found only 3 inches below the surface, in a small groove, which my men had made round their reed-hut to allow the rain-water to run off. On the head of the nail there is a small gold ball, and then there follows downwards on the nail a row of eighteen similar little gold balls. At the end of this row there is a second row of nine gold balls of like size. The rows of the little balls are in the form of necklaces, and cover a third part of the nail. The fragment of the other nail is still more remarkable, for it shows a string of little balls which form a perfect bow; they are made of the alloy which in antiquity was calledelectrum(ἤλεκτρον), consisting of three parts of gold and one part of silver; below the bow, in a horizontal direction, there is a row of little balls, which are probably intended to represent the string. The little balls are firmly soldered to both of the nails. In addition to this I must also mention that the silver nails so frequently met with are generally of the same form and size as the copper ones, and can certainly never have been used for driving into wood.
On the west side of the Great Tower, which I laid bare last year, I am likewise making an excavation 47 feet long and 48 feet broad, so as to bring to light more of this side, and to see how the walls of Ilium are connected with it. It is worth a journey round the world to see this Tower, whose site was at all events so high, that it not only commanded a view of the Plain, but also of the plateau lying to the south of it, whereas its summit now lies a great many feet below the level of the plateau. According to this it seems that the accumulation ofdébrison the site of the city is as large as it is in the Pergamus.[235]
In the western excavation, already mentioned, I found the ruins of a very large house of the Greek period. It extended to the depth of 6½ feet, and must have belonged to a rich man, for the floors of the rooms are made of large red slabs splendidly polished. In it I found two small and very pretty female heads of terra-cotta, as well as two extremely remarkable pieces of hard brittle black stone, like glass, in the form of mushrooms, but with a tube running through the centre. The heads of the two pieces have decorations similar to those on the round terra-cottas in the form of humming-tops and volcanoes, and I therefore believe that both pieces belong to the pre-Hellenic period.
Below the foundations of the Greek house I found, at the depth of 3 and 4 meters (9¾ to 13 feet), many of the whorls with the usual decorations of four, five, or six double or treble rising suns; or four flaming altars; or fourRosæ mysticæ; or four or five 卐 in the circle around the central sun. I likewise found, at a depth of 10 feet, one of these articles, upon which there is a very rude and inartistic engraving of the Ilian Athena, with the owl’s head and outstretched arms. By the side of this representation there are two crosses, and at the four ends of each are the marks of the nails with which our forefathers fastened the two pieces of wood which were laid crosswise for igniting the holy fire. In the same circle with the image of the goddess there are two symbols of lightning. A faithful drawing of this terra-cotta is given in the cut.
No. 172. A Whorl with rude Symbols of the Owl’s Face, Suastika, and lightning (3 M.).No. 172. A Whorl with rude Symbols of the Owl’s Face, Suastika, and lightning (3 M.).
Of the earthenware found in this excavation there is one piece especially deserving of attention. This is a vessel in theform of a helmet, with a round hole at the bottom; it may have served as a kind of funnel.
As has been already said, the splendid block of triglyphs representing Phœbus Apollo with the four horses of the Sun, which I discovered last July, must, as the triglyph on the left side proves, have stood over the entrance of the temple, probably on its propylæa, and must have had another block of triglyphs of the same size on its right side. It would be of the greatest interest to archæology if I should find the second block of triglyphs, which, as happened with the other block, has probably been thrown from the summit of the hill down the steep declivity. I have also previously expressed the opinion, that the block of triglyphs which I saved had been thrown down by fanatical Turks because it represented living creatures, which is strictly prohibited in the Koran. However, the locality has not been inhabited at all since the ninth century, and the labourers of the distant Turkish villages cannot possibly have given themselves the trouble of rolling down from the hill such tremendous weights from mere religious zeal. Besides this, the good state in which the sculpture has been preserved proves that it cannot possibly have stood upon the top of the hill up to the time of the Turkish invasion, and this leads me to suppose that it was thrown down by the early Christians more than a thousand years before, very likely even in the fourth centuryA.D.; for it is well known, that all sculptures of heathen gods which were difficult to destroy they simply hurled from the top of the hills upon which they stood. That this is the only true explanation is also confirmed by the covering of earth, 3¼ feet thick, which enveloped the sculpture on the declivity of the hill. According to the average accumulation of the soil in this locality, the formation of such a covering would be impossible in the course of three or four centuries: it would have required more than a thousand years.
It is now quite certain that the Doric temple, which at one time stood on the north side, and in the depths of which I have so long been working, was the sanctuary of Apollo; and that the block of Doric triglyphs so frequently mentioned belonged to this temple of Apollo, and to none other; since Ilium’s great temple, which I am now investigating, could only have been dedicated to the tutelary goddess of Ilium, Athena, for in the great inscription quoted in my last report it is simply called “τὸ ἱερόν.”
In order to try to find the second block of triglyphs, I have since yesterday set 25 men to work upwards from the foot of the hill at the point where the Phœbus Apollo was found, over a breadth of 59 feet, to remove thedébriswhich unfortunately I had thrown down the declivity last year, and which forms a covering of 23 feet in thickness; and then to dig away the whole steep side of the hill to a depth of 4½ feet from the bottom upwards.
As soon as I have workmen to spare, I shall also employ thirty to make a deep cutting into the theatre, the stage of which, as already said, is 197 feet broad; this cutting I intend to make 33 feet broad and 148 feet long; for, in a small opening which I made there last year, I found a number of fragments of broken statues, and it is quite possible that some, which might be of the greatest interest to archæology, escaped the zeal of the early Christians.
The many thousands of stones which I bring out of the depths of Ilium have induced the inhabitants of the surrounding villages to erect buildings which might be called grand for the inhabitants of this wilderness. Among others, they are at present building with my Ilian stones a mosque and a minaret in the wretched Turkish village of Chiplak, and a church-tower in the Christian village of Yenishehr. A number of two-wheeled carts, drawn by oxen, are always standing by the side of my excavations,ready to receive the stones which can be of any use as soon as they have been brought to the surface; but the religious zeal of these good people is not great enough for them to offer to help me in the terrible work of breaking the large, splendidly hewn blocks so as to make them more convenient to remove.
Although spring is only just commencing, there is already a great deal of malignant fever in consequence of the mild winter, and the poor people of the neighbourhood are already daily beginning to make large claims upon my stock of quinine.
I found myself obliged to raise the men’s wages to 10 piasters or 2 francs, eight days ago.
No. 173. Splendid Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta, representing the tutelary Goddess of Ilium, θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη. The cover forms the helmet. (8 M.)No. 173. Splendid Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta, representing the tutelary Goddess of Ilium,θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη. The cover forms the helmet. (8 M.)
9
PLATE IX.
Altar and Reservoir UPPER PART OF THE BUILDINGS DISCOVERED IN THE DEPTHS OF THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA. Page 259.UPPER PART OF THE BUILDINGS DISCOVERED IN THE DEPTHS OF THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA.Page 259.
Weather and progress of the work—The lion-headed handle of a sceptre—Lions formerly in the Troad—Various objects found—Pottery—Implements of stone and copper—Whorls—Balls curiously decorated—Fragments of musical instruments—Remains of house-walls—The storks of the Troad.
Weather and progress of the work—The lion-headed handle of a sceptre—Lions formerly in the Troad—Various objects found—Pottery—Implements of stone and copper—Whorls—Balls curiously decorated—Fragments of musical instruments—Remains of house-walls—The storks of the Troad.
Pergamus of Troy, March 22nd, 1873.
DURINGthis last week we have again had constant splendid weather, and, with 150 men on an average, I have got through a good piece of work. On the north side of the excavation on the site of the Temple of Athena, I have already reached a depth of 26 feet, and have laid bare the Tower in several places. The space to be dug down is now divided into four terraces, and I am having the lowest terrace, which forms the surface of the Tower, worked with especially great energy. As the paths are getting both steeper and longer, the men with the wheelbarrows have now to stop and rest half-way, so the work proceeds more slowly every day. Still I hope that I shall bring to light the whole breadth of the Tower in the eastern direction in three weeks, but the western side in a week and a half. The only part of the interior of the Temple of Athena which I have left standing is the reservoir built of large white stones without cement, which, owing to my excavations, will in a few days be 26 feet above the Tower, and will have a very pretty appearance. It is only by excavating the west side of that part of the Great Tower which I uncovered last year, that I shall be able to judge in what direction the walls run out from it, and what my next work will be. The most remarkable of the objectsfound this week is certainly a large knob belonging to a stick, of the purest and finest crystal, and in the form of a very beautifully wrought lion’s head; it was discovered upon the Tower at a depth of 26 feet. It must have been the ornament of a Trojan’s staff or sceptre (σκῆπτρον), for I found it among those brilliant red and black fragments of pottery, which only occur at a depth of from 36 to 46 feet, except upon the Tower. Not only this lion’s head, but the illustrations drawn from the lion, which occur repeatedly in the Iliad, make it seem extremely probable that in remote antiquity lions existed in this neighbourhood. Homer could not possibly have described so excellently the characteristics of this animal, had he not had frequent opportunity of watching them, and his geographical knowledge of southern countries is too slight for us to suppose that he had visited them, and had there become intimately acquainted with the characteristics of the lion. Not far from the lion’s head I found a splendidly cut hexagon of the purest crystal, as well as a small pyramid, 1½ inch long and broad, and 1-2/3 inch high, made of black, white and blue streaked marble, such as is not found in this district; the hole which runs through the centre of the pyramid is filled with lead.
No. 174. A Lion-Headed Sceptre-handle of the finest crystal: found on the Tower (8 M.).No. 174. A Lion-Headed Sceptre-handle of the finest crystal: found on the Tower (8 M.).
I also found upon the Tower a very primitive marble idol, 7½ inches in length, 3-1/3 inches broad, and 1-1/5 inch thick; also a very fine copper lance; further, a large mould of mica-schist for casting twelve different weapons and instruments, as well as a beautiful sling-bullet made of loadstone. In the higher strata, and in fact at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), the most curious article certainly is an idol of the Trojan tutelary goddess made of slate, such as has never hitherto been found. It shows the owl’s face, two breasts and a navel, and long hair at the back of the head;two horizontal lines on the neck, which are joined by small cross lines, seem to denote armour. Marble idols without the owl’s face, but otherwise of exactly the same form as those with the owl’s face, are met with in numbers in all the strata between 3 and 8 meters deep (10 to 26 feet). I likewise found long, thin copper nails with round heads at the thick end, or without heads, but with the end bent round, which I now perceive can only be breast or hair pins, and not actual nails for driving into wood. I find them also in quantities in the strata of this excavation between 4 and 7 meters deep (13 to 23 feet), and I must therefore decidedly pronounce that the people to whom these strata of ruins belong were acquainted with copper.
No. 175. A Mould of Mica-schist, for casting various metal Instruments (Tower, 8 M.).No. 175. A Mould of Mica-schist, for casting various metal Instruments (Tower, 8 M.).
No. 176. A curious Instrument of Copper (3 M.).No. 176. A curious Instrument of Copper (3 M.).No. 177. A perforated and grooved piece of Mica-schist, probably for supporting a Spit. Found on the Tower (8 M.).
A strange instrument of copper, almost in the shape of a horse’s bit, but with two pointed hooks, was found at a depthof 10 feet. Besides this, we met with two somewhat crooked copper knives, at from 13 to 16½ feet down, as well as a small but very fine knife, in the form of a saw, made of a shell. Stone instruments are continually met with here in great numbers in all of the strata between 2 and 8 meters deep (6½ to 26 feet), whereas in my excavations of 1871 and 1872 I only found them below a depth of 13 feet. Two beautiful stone lances, one of diorite, the other of hard green stone, were found, the one at 20 feet down, the other at 11½ feet. During this week, I also found very many knives of silex in the form of saws or of sharp blades, with one or two edges; further, a very prettily cut piece of mica-schist with a perforated hole and a groove on the upper side, which may have been fastened to a fireplace and have served for turning a spit.
No. 178. A large Terra-cotta Vase, with two large Handles and two small Handles or Rings (5 M.).No. 178. A large Terra-cotta Vase, with two large Handles and two small Handles or Rings (5 M.).
I have observed that the terra-cottas here generallyoccur in great numbers only in and below those strata ofdébriswhich are mixed with enormous quantities of small shells, and which usually commence at a depth of 13 feet, but sometimes not till 20 feet. However, every now and then we come upon beautiful terra-cottas above these shell strata; and thus, for instance, in the great cutting, directly in front of my door, we found, at a depth of 10 feet, several large and splendid vessels, among which was an extremely elegant black vase, in the shape of a soup-tureen, and at a depth of 11½ feet two mixing-bowls, the smaller one of which has two, the larger one four, handles; the larger mixing-bowl is two feet high, and its orifice is as much in diameter. (See Cut, No. 41, p. 74.) At a depth of 16½ feet I found an extremely curious large vase, which has two large handles at the top and two small ones at the sides. Various other vases of extremely curious forms were discovered at a depth of from 13 to 26 feet; of them I will only mention one large brilliant black vase with two female breasts and two handles, by the side of which are the stumps of the upraised arms which ornamented this vessel. The upper part of it, which, as is proved by the arms and breasts, was ornamented with the owl’s head of the Ilian Athena, is unfortunately wanting. It is strange that this vase has no navel.
Of the large and brilliant red goblets in the form of huge champagne-glasses, with two immense handles, we met with many in a more or less broken condition at a depth of from 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet); among them is an enormous goblet 15¾ inches long, of which I have been able to collect all the fragments and shall therefore be able to restore it. (See No. 112, p. 158.)
I found, at a depth of from 23 to 26 feet, quantities of earthen plates, some of which are of a brilliant red colour, but most of them are uncoloured. At a depth of 20 feet I found a fragment of pottery with a cross, at the four ends of which are dots, which can only indicate thenails by means of which it was fastened. Small terra-cotta whorls, with Aryan religious symbols, were again found in great numbers; several of them have decorations not hitherto met with. Of terra-cotta balls we have found three during these last days, two of them are very remarkable. One hemisphere of the first has nineteen figures like the Greek letter Rho (Ρ) in a circle round it, and ten of the same figures in a line through the middle point, also a number of little stars; the other hemisphere is entirely filled with little stars. The second ball has a half moon on the one hemisphere and large stars on the other.
No. 179. A remarkable Terra-cotta Ball (6 M.).No. 179. A remarkable Terra-cotta Ball (6 M.).
No. 180. A finely engraved Ivory Tube, probably part of a Flute. Found on the Tower (8 M.).No. 180. A finely engraved Ivory Tube, probably part of a Flute. Found on the Tower (8 M.).
Among the remarkable objects found during the week, I must also mention a splendidly ornamented piece of ivory, from a depth of 8 meters (26 feet), which is almost the shape of a flute, and may have been used as such; further, a flat bone, which has one hole at the one end and three at the other, and seems certainly to have belonged to a musical instrument.
I sometimes find here house-walls built of stones joined with mere earth, which must certainly have been erected long before the Greek settlement, but which rise to within a meter (3¼ feet) of the surface; in fact in thegreat cutting in front of my house, I have pierced through two such walls 6½ feet thick, which here formed the corner of a house, and which reach up to within a foot of the surface; they appear to extend pretty far down, and in my next letter I shall be able to give more details about them.
Although the Pergamus, whose depths I have been ransacking, borders directly upon the marshes formed by the Simoïs, in which there are always hundreds of storks, yet none of them ever settle down here. Upon one of my wooden houses and upon the stone one I had two comfortable nests made for them, but although there are sometimes twelve storks’ nests upon one roof in some of the surrounding Turkish villages, yet none will settle on mine; it is probably too cold and stormy for the little storks on “Ἴλιος ἠνεμόεσσα.”
No. 181. Knob for a Stick, of fine marble (3 M.).No. 181. Knob for a Stick, of fine marble (3 M.).No. 182. Bone handle of a Trojan’s Staff or Sceptre, σκῆπτρον (7 M.).[236]
Splendid vases found on the Tower—Other articles—Human skull, bones, and ashes, found in an urn—New types of whorls—Greek votive discs of diorite—Moulds of mica-schist—The smaller quantity of copper than of stone implements explained—Discussion of the objection, that stone implements are not mentioned by Homer—Reply to Mr. Calvert’s article—Flint knives found in the Acropolis of Athens—A narrow escape from fire.
Splendid vases found on the Tower—Other articles—Human skull, bones, and ashes, found in an urn—New types of whorls—Greek votive discs of diorite—Moulds of mica-schist—The smaller quantity of copper than of stone implements explained—Discussion of the objection, that stone implements are not mentioned by Homer—Reply to Mr. Calvert’s article—Flint knives found in the Acropolis of Athens—A narrow escape from fire.
Pergamus of Troy, March 29th, 1873.
SINCEmy report of the 22nd of this month I have unfortunately made little or no progress, for most of the villagers are trimming their vineyards during this week; and besides this, we have been tormented by a horrible icy-cold high north wind, which yesterday and to-day rendered it impossible to carry on the works.
No. 183. A brilliant Black Vase, with the Symbols of the Ilian Athena, from the Tower (8 M.).No. 183. A brilliant Black Vase, with the Symbols of the Ilian Athena, from the Tower (8 M.).
No. 184. Vase-cover with Handle in shape of a Coronet (8 M.).No. 184. Vase-cover with Handle in shape of a Coronet (8 M.).No. 185. Vase-cover with a Human Face: found on the Tower (8 M.).
No. 186. Flat piece of Gold, in the Form of an Arrow-head: from the Tower (8 M.).No. 186. Flat piece of Gold, in the Form of an Arrow-head: from the Tower (8 M.).No. 187. Prettily decorated Tube of Ivory. From the Tower (8 M.).
But in spite of this, during the week we have found at a depth of 8 meters (26 feet), and upon the Tower, a great number of splendid vases of the most remarkable form; they are indeed all in a more or less broken condition, but they can easily be mended, as I have all the pieces. Those especially deserving of being mentioned are a brilliant black vase with two large female breasts, a large navel, and with two mighty upraised arms (No. 183); further, a vase 33¾ inches high, in a good state of preservation; a large mixing bowl (κρατήρ) with two handles, and a smaller vase, round below, with four handles of two different forms. Among the smaller vessels there are, especially deserving of attention, a brilliant black cup cover, with a handle in the form of a coronet, and a brilliant red cover, with a very curious human face, in which the features of the owl cannot be mistaken. (Nos. 184, 185, p. 268.) Of the other articles,I can only mention a little plate of gold in the form of an arrow-head, with a small hole at the lower end (No. 186); an ivory tube with very curious decorations (No. 187); and a well-preserved skull with neat little teeth, which I discovered, together with a few bones and a quantity of human ashes, in a vase (unfortunately broken) 27½ inches high and broad, at a depth of 26 feet, upon the Tower. This is the first time that I have found such well-preserved human bones and even a skull in an urn. Funereal urns, indeed, we dig out daily, but the bodies are always completely burnt to ashes; and, with the exception of the skeleton (already described) of an embryo found in a vase at a depth of 51 feet upon the primary rock, I have hitherto never found an entire bone in a funereal urn. The vase in which I found the skull is made of that excellent Trojanterra-cotta which I find only at a depth of from 36 to 46 and 52½ feet, except upon the Tower; the skull must have belonged to a Trojan woman, for it is too delicate to have been the skull of a man. In the same urn I also found a copper hair or dress pin. Upon the Tower we also met with two marble idols without owls’ faces, one of which is 6 inches long, the other 6-1/3 inches. We likewise discovered quantities of terra-cotta whorls with symbolical decorations, twelve of which are of types not previously found. One is the form of a shirt stud,[237]1-1/3 inch high and 1-1/5 inch broad, with the never-failing perforated hole and an engraved flower, the four petals of which form a cross round the central point; in three of the petals thereare very large dots, which may denote suns or moons; upon another, in the form of a top, there are six trees in the circle, the top and the foot of which are alternately directed to the central sun.[238]
I have already repeatedly mentioned the terra-cotta discs, between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, thick in the middle and cut smooth on one side, in the shape of a Greek lamp; they always have at one side two very small perforated holes, and frequently a round or oval potter’s stamp, in which one can recognise either an altar and a bee with outspread wings, or a swan, an ox, a horse, a man, or something of the kind. I have also said that these discs must have belonged to the Greek colony, for I generally find them quite close to the surface as far down as 3¼ feet and rarely below 6½ feet, and besides this the fine and almost microscopical figures in the stamp show a Greek style of art.[239]The small holes at the sides leave no doubt that the articles have been used as votive offerings to be hung up in the temples or beside the idols. These discs, which have hitherto only occurred in terra-cotta, I have this week found at a depth of 1 meter (3¼ feet), made of diorite with two holes on one side, which, however, are not perforated; owing to the hardness of the substance it was no doubt found difficult to make the two perforations.
During the last few days we have again found upon the Tower, at a depth of 8 meters (26 feet), a mould of mica-schist, 11 inches long, upon five sides of which there are forms for casting twelve, lances, knives, and extremely curious implements, the use of which is a puzzle to me.
The many stone moulds for casting weapons, knives, and implements, which are met with here, sufficiently prove that Troy possessed a number of copper weapons, knives, and instruments. It is, however, quite natural that I should find comparatively few of them, for the copper implementscould of course easily be melted down and re-cast, and it must not even be supposed that I shall find any except those which were lost in the tumult of battle, or were preserved amidst the destruction of the city. Therefore the fact that I find immensely larger numbers of silex knives than of copper knives, and by far more axes and hammers of stone than of copper, by no means proves that at the time of the Trojan war there were more stone than copper instruments. Stone lances are, moreover, very rarely met with; this year I found only two of which I know positively that they are lances; the one was discovered at a depth of 11½ feet, the other at 20 feet deep.
Mr. Frank Calvert of the Dardanelles, who wishes to convince me by the hippopotamus which I found at a depth of 23 feet, that thedébrisat this depth belongs to a period when hippopotami inhabited the rivers of the Troad, has expressed the opinion, in his article in theLevant Heraldof the 25th of January, 1873, that Homer would necessarily have mentioned stone knives and instruments if they had existed in Troy, and that, as he speaks of none, there could have been none; consequently, that none of the ruined strata which I have cut through, containing stone implements, can belong to the Homeric Troy, and that the stratum directly following the Greek ruins, which extend as far down as 6½ feet, must be more than 1000 years older than the Trojan war.
If Mr. Calvert had taken the trouble to look into Homer, he would have found that the word ‘hammer’ (ῥαιστήρ) occurs only once (Iliad, XVIII. 477), and that is in the hand of Hephæstus. It is, indeed, not said of what material the hammer was made; the fire-god, however, would probably have had none other than a copper hammer. Mr. Calvert also does not appear to have ever seen a silex knife, for otherwise he would know that they are almost always only from 1½ to 2½, and rarely 3, inches long; and moreover, with but few exceptions, they are made in theform of saws. I have here only once met with a saw of this kind 5 inches in length.
In Homer there isnot oneopportunity where such small saw-knives could have been mentioned, nor is it as yet altogether clear to me what they can have been used for.[240]Homer’s heroes carry their copper knives beside their swords, and generally use them for killing the sacrificial animal, for which purpose, of course, flint knives from 1½ to 3 inches long would not have been appropriate; but those long copper knives, the size of which is accurately indicated by the stone moulds in which they were cast, would have been very suitable. In the Iliad (XVIII. 597), we see Hephæstus making youths with golden cutlasses upon the shield of Achilles.
Mr. Calvert believes that the fact of Homer’s not mentioning either the small flint saws or stone knives is a proof against the identity of Hissarlik with the site of Troy. I, however, should find it surprising, and so assuredly would all scholars and admirers of Homer, if the Homeric heroes had appeared armed with silex saws from 1½ to 3 inches in length; for a hero, especially in an epic poem, can only carry and achieve something heroic. If the Homeric hero requires a stone weapon, he does not feel in his pocket for a silex saw from 1½ to 3 inches long, but he takes the first huge stone he meets with, such as two of the strongest men from among the people could not have raised from the earth on to a cart by means of levers; but the hero carries it in his hand with the same ease with which a shepherd would carry the fleece of a ram, and flings the rock with infinite force against the gate of the enemy, splinters the panels to shivers, and shatters the double hinges and the bars; the gate flies open, and the stone-falls with a mighty crash into the hostile camp.[241]Upon another occasion, another hero uses a stone weapon. He, too, does not look for a small silex saw, but takes an immense block of stone, which two men from among the people would have been unable to lift, and hurls it against his opponent.[242]Mr. Calvert’s excavations in the Pergamus were confined to two small cuttings which still exist, and he is wrong in saying that I have continued his excavations. As my plans of the Pergamus prove, my excavations of 1870, 1871, and up to the middle of June, 1872, were made exclusively on the Turkish portion of the Pergamus; and it was only in June that I began to excavate the site of the temple of Apollo upon Mr. Calvert’s land, because a depression in the ground, 111½ feet long and 75½ feet broad, had betrayed the site to me. My friend’s two small cuttings by no means gave any idea of the existence of such a temple.
I have never, as Mr. Calvert says, found the native rock at a depth of 67 feet. I found it at a depth of 16 meters (or 52¾ feet) upon my large platform, and at a depth of 14 meters (or 46-1/5 feet) in my great cutting, in the Roman well, and upon the south side of the Tower. In Mr. Calvert’s field, however, I found the primary soil only in the hill covered by the very ancient buttress, which has been repeatedly described.
Examining Mr. Calvert’s article further, I assure my readers that, with the exception of the wall which I have already described as consisting of Corinthian pillars taken from the temple of Athena, I have never come upon any Byzantine ruins here;[243]that all the Byzantine coins I found were but a few inches below the surface; and that the ruins and thedébrisof the Greek colony, as anyone may convince himself from the earthen walls of my excavations, rarely extend below 2 meters (6½ feet). Mr. Calvert’s statement, that I also find stone implements, perforatedcylinders, grinding-mills, and masses of shells, immediately below these ruins, is incorrect; for in not one of my excavations have I hitherto found these things at less than 4 meters (13 feet) deep, and if I now find them immediately below the foundations of the Temple of Athena, I explain this by assuming that thedébriswhich was dug out of the great excavation for the reservoir of the temple was used for increasing the elevation of the site of the sanctuary. Mr. Calvert is also wrong in his statement that the larger bones were all broken to get at the marrow; on the contrary, we very rarely meet with broken bones. He is again incorrect in stating that I find small articles of bronze, as well as ornaments in gold and silver filigree work. I have never as yet found bronze here, but in all cases copper; and never have I found ornaments of gold or silver filigree work. The ornaments represented in the drawings are of pure gold, or electrum, or silver, or copper. His statement is also erroneous, that I occasionally find engraved representations of fish-bones upon vessels. It is true that I often find vessels round which rows of cuneiform decorations are engraved; but these are never connected with one another, and therefore have no resemblance at all to fish-bones. Further, Mr. Calvert is mistaken in his assertion that in the depths of this hill there are house-walls composed of unhewn stones laid roughly one on the top of the other. The architect is not yet born, who could construct house-walls of such stones without some kind of cement. The walls of clay do not, as Mr. Calvert’s statement would lead one to believe, consist ofonemass of clay, but of sun-dried bricks; and I assure my readers that I have never yet, as Mr. Calvert erroneously maintains, found the impressions of long rushes, which indicate the use of thatch-work. My learned friend is also completely wrong in his statement that the floors of some of the houses have been glazed, and that the regularity of the levellingsand the flatness of these floors prove that the glaze is not the result of accident; further, that one of these glazed floors has a length of 20 feet. I would give a great deal if this were true, for such a Trojan marvel would attract thousands desirous of information. Unfortunately, however, such glazed floors exist only in Mr. Calvert’s own imagination. My friend is as completely mistaken in his reports about the Great Tower, which he describes as consisting of two walls, which meet at a sharp angle and diverge to a distance of 40 feet, the space between them being as yet unexplored. It is only the southern wall of this building that rises at an angle of 75 degrees: on the north side, as it was sufficiently supported by the mound 65½ feet broad which rested against it, it had above it only a small perpendicular wall, 3¼ feet high and broad; whereas the southern wall, which inclines at an angle of 15 degrees, is 6½ feet thick. The whole of the inner space between the two walls consists of stones laid loosely upon one another. The perpendicular height of the Tower above the primary rock is not 15 feet, as Mr. Calvert says, but exactly 20 feet. The terra-cotta discs with two small holes, which, according to Mr. Calvert, I find here at all depths, I have in reality always found only close to the surface, as far down as 3¼ feet, and rarely as far down as 6½ feet. I further assure my readers that I know nothing about the large perforated cylinders, which Mr. Calvert says I find in great quantities, and frequently with half their diameter entirely in the clay of the walls. The largest of the terra-cotta cylinders which I have discovered here are only 4 inches long, and never have I seen one of these cylinders in a house-wall.
In conclusion, I must positively deny Mr. Calvert’s assertion that stone implements, although met with in the same stratum with articles made of different metals and with splendid earthenware, argue a primeval and pre-historic age. Small knives and saws of silex are, forinstance, found in numbers in the Acropolis of Athens, and they appear to have been used up to a very late period. A rude pre-historic people could by no means have made the beautiful terra-cottas which are found here immediately below the ruins of the Greek colony, and still less could they have manufactured the splendid pottery which shows such a high degree of artistic taste, and which I meet with here at a great depth.
The life in this wilderness is not without danger, and last night, for instance, my wife and I and the foreman Photidas had the narrowest escape of being burnt alive. In the bedroom on the north side of the wooden house which we are inhabiting, we had had a small fireplace made, and, owing to the terrible cold which has again set in during the last six days, we have lighted a fire in it daily. But the stones of the fireplace rest merely upon the boards of the floor, and, whether it was owing to a crevice in the cement joining the stones, or by some other means, the floor took fire, and when I accidentally awoke this morning at 3 o’clock, it was burning over a space of two yards long by a yard broad. The room was filled with dense smoke, and the north wall was just beginning to catch fire; a few seconds would have sufficed to burn a hole into it, and the whole house would then have been in flames in less than a minute, for a fearful north wind was blowing from that side. In my fright I did not lose my presence of mind. I poured the contents of a bath upon the burning north wall, and thus in a moment stopped the fire in that direction. Our cries awoke Photidas, who was asleep in the adjoining room, and he called the other foremen from the stone house to our assistance. In the greatest haste they fetched hammers, iron levers and pickaxes; the floor was broken up, torn to pieces, and quantities of damp earth thrown upon it, for we had no water. But, as the lower beams were burning in many places, a quarter of an hour elapsed before we got the fire under and all danger was at an end.