No. 8. Piece of ivory, belonging to a Trojan Lyre with Four Strings (about 8 M.).No. 8. Piece of ivory, belonging to a Trojan Lyre with Four Strings (about 8 M.).
The building materials of the Trojans are of various kinds. With but few exceptions, all the house-walls which I have uncovered are composed of unburnt sun-dried bricks, which in the heat of the conflagration have become a kind of really burnt bricks. But the royal palace and two small buildings in the depths of the temple ofAthena, as well as the Great Tower of Ilium, the Scæan Gate, and the great enclosing Wall, are generally composed of unhewn stones joined with earth, the less rough face of the stones being turned to the outside, so that the walls have a tolerably smooth appearance.
I thought last year, upon uncovering the Great Tower of Ilium, that it must have been at one time higher than it now is, namely 6 meters or 20 feet; but its flat-built top beside the Scæan Gate, and thebenches(not ruins, as I formerly thought) afterwards found upon it, prove that it can never have been higher.[45]I would draw especial attention to the fact, that the masonry of the Scæan Gate, upon being uncovered, looked as wonderfully fresh as if it had been erected quite recently. It is quite certain that it possessed strong wooden fortifications, and probably also a wooden tower above the gateway; for otherwise it is inexplicable to me how the entrance of the Gate can have been covered to the height of 10 feet by those red Trojan wood-ashes, and especially how it was that there, far from the other buildings, the heat should have been so great that even the thick slabs of stone have been destroyed by it.
Homer speaks of Troy as having been destroyed by Hercules previous to the Trojan war,[46]and it will ever remain an enigma to us whether this information, which had been preserved by traditions down to his time, really refers to the Ilium of Priam, or to the very ancient town of the first settlers.
As to the chronology of Troy, we have only the general supposition of antiquity that the Trojan War occurred aboutB.C.1200, and Homer’s statement (Iliad, XX. 215-237) that Dardanus, the first Trojan King, founded Dardania, which town I agree with Virgil and Euripides in considering identical with Ilium, and that after him it was governed by his son Erichthonius, and then by his grandson Tros, by his great-grandson Ilus, and then by his son Laomedon, and by his grandson Priam. Even if we allow every one of these six kings a long reign of 33 years, we nevertheless scarcely carry the foundation of the town beyond 1400B.C., that is 700 years before the Greek colony.
The site of Troy, which at the time of its foundation was 10 meters (about 33 feet) below the present surface, was only 7 meters (23 feet) below it after its destruction, when Ilium was again rebuilt by another people of Aryan origin; for, in thedébrisof this people, which extends to a depth of from 7 to 4 meters (23 to 13 feet) below the present surface, I find the same objects of terra-cotta with religious symbols.
No. 9. Ornamented Piece of Ivory belonging to a Trojan Seven-Stringed Lyre (7 M.).No. 9. Ornamented Piece of Ivory belonging to a Trojan Seven-Stringed Lyre (7 M.).
On the photographic plates of the Atlas I have carefully stated the depth at which every object was found, so that it is very easy to find out which of them belong to this people.[47]Their pottery resembles that of the Trojans, but it is worse and coarser, and we meet with many new types. Almost all their vases have a tube on either side for hanging them up by cords. I here found, at a depth of 16½ feet, part of a lyre made of stone, with six strings; andat a depth of 13 feet the beautifully ornamented ivory piece of another lyre, with seven strings, here shown.
The architecture of this people, as may be seen from the many house-walls which I have uncovered, was always of small stones joined with earth. Yet in two places in the depths of the temple of Athena there is a wall of sun-dried bricks, which appears to belong to this nation. Their houses were smaller, and less wood was employed in their construction than in those of the Trojans; for, although the ruins of houses lying one upon another show that several great convulsions have taken place, still we find here far fewer charred ruins than among those of the preceding people; nay, these layers ofdébrishave in the majority of cases a grey or black appearance, and they contain millions of small mussel-shells, bones, fish-bones, and so forth. It is curious that in these strata certain types of terra-cottas are only found exactly at the same depth, and that, for instance, the splendidblackcups in the form of an hourglass, and with two large handles, are confined to a depth of 6 meters (nearly 20 feet).
During the first two years of my excavations, at the depth of from 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet), I found scarcely any copper, and consequently I believed that the metal was but rarely, if at all, known to this people. This year, however, I found a number of copper nails in this stratum, as well as some knives and battle-axes, together with moulds of mica-schist for casting them, besides other weapons and implements.[48]Yet copper must have been rare with them; for stone implements, such as knives of silex, hammers and axes of diorite, and so forth, are found by thousands.
This people also seem to have disappeared simultaneously with the destruction of their town; for not only do I find, at a depth of from 4 meters up to 2 meters(13 to 6½ feet), many new types of terra-cotta vessels, but I no longer find any remains of house-walls; nay, even single stones are scarcely ever met with. At all events, directly after its destruction, the town was rebuilt of wood by another tribe of the Aryan race; for the small terra-cottas, adorned with Aryan religious symbols, although frequently of new types, occur in numbers in these layers ofdébris. Walls of fortification are indeed met with in these depths, but they had been built by the preceding people; as, for instance, the wall 19½ feet in height, whose base is at a depth of 5 to 6½ feet above the treasure, and which reached to within 1¼ ft. of the surface. Thiswooden Iliumwas, to all appearance, still less fortunate than the stone town of its predecessors; for, as is proved by the numerous calcined layers ofdébris, it was frequently desolated by fire. Whether these fires broke out accidentally, or were kindled by the hands of enemies, must for ever remain a riddle to us; but thus much is certain and evident from the terra-cottas found at these depths, that the civilization of the people, which had been but slight from the beginning, continued to decrease during the perpetual misfortunes of their town. I find, among the ruins of this nation, lances, battle-axes, and implements, of pure copper, and moulds for casting them; likewise a number of copper nails, which, however—as in the case of the preceding peoples who have inhabited this hill—are too long and thin to have been employed for fastening wood together, and must in all probability have been used as brooches: this seems to be proved by two nails of this kind on the top of which I found rows of perforated beads of gold orelectrumsoldered upon them. These two copper nails were, it is true, found immediately below the surface, but they must in any case belong to the pre-Hellenic time.
In the ruins of this people, at a depth of from 13 to 6½ feet, we also meet with stone implements, such ashammers, splendidly polished axes and battle-axes of diorite, but considerably fewer than in the preceding stratum.
When the surface of the hill was about 2 meters (6½ feet) lower than it is now, Ilium was built by a Greek colony; and we have already endeavoured to prove that this settlement must have been founded about the year 700B.C.From that time we find the remains of Hellenic house-walls of large hewn stones joined without cement. From about 1 meter (3¼ feet) below the surface, and upwards, there are also ruins of buildings, the stones of which are joined with cement or lime. We also meet with great numbers of copper coins of Ilium of the time of the Roman empire, from Augustus to Constans II. and Constantine II.; likewise older Ilian coins with the image of Athena, and medals of Alexandria Troas; also with some coins of Tenedos, Ophrynium and Sigeum, in some few cases at 3¼ feet, but generally at less than 20 inches below the surface. I once remarked erroneously that Byzantine coins were also met with here near the surface. But in my three years’ excavations I have not found a single medal of a later date than Constans II. and Constantine II., except two bad coins belonging to a Byzantine monastery, which may have been lost by shepherds; and, as there is here not the remotest trace of Byzantine masonry or of Byzantine pottery, it may be regarded as certain that the Ilium of the Greek colony was destroyed towards the middle of the fourth century after Christ, and that no village, much less a town, has ever again been built upon its site. The wall I mentioned in my memoir of the 1st of March, 1873,[49]as consisting of Corinthian pillars joined with cement, and which I believed to have belonged to the Middle Ages, must be referred to the time of Constantine I. or to Constans II., when the temple of Athena was destroyed by the pious zeal of the first Christians.
Of the walls and fortifications of the Greek colony, almost the only portions that have been preserved are those which were apparently built by Lysimachus. The lower and prominent portion of the wall of the Tower belongs to more ancient times, probably to the beginning of the Greek colony. Of great political convulsions or catastrophes there seem now to have been but few or none at all; for the accumulation ofdébrisduring the long duration of the Greek colony, about 10½ centuries, amounts only to 2 meters (6½ feet).
Curiously enough, I find extremely little metal in thedébrisof the Greek colony. Half-a-dozen scythe-shaped knives, a double-edged axe, about two dozen nails, a cup, a few lances and arrows, are pretty nearly all that I discovered. I have described these objects in my memoirs as made of copper; but upon a more careful examination they have been found to be bronze, and pure copper is no longer met with in the Greek colony. The only objects of iron which I found were a key of curious shape, and a few arrows and nails, close to the surface. From Homer we know that the Trojans also possessed iron, as well as the metal which he calls κύανος, and which, even in antiquity, was translated by χάλυψ (steel). I am sure, however, that I have not discovered even a trace of this metal, either among the Trojan ruins or among those of any of the other nations which preceded the Greek colony on the hill.[50]Yet articles of iron and steel may have existed: I believe positively that they did exist: but they have vanished without leaving a trace of their existence; for, as we know, iron and steel become decomposed much more readily than copper. Of tin, which Homer so repeatedly mentions, I found of course no trace: this metal, as we know, is corroded very rapidly even when lying in a dry locality. Lead is found in the ruins of all the differentnations which have inhabited the hill; but, among those which preceded the Greek settlement, it is found principally in lumps of a hemispherical form. I find it first in general use only in the Greek colony, where it was employed as a means for uniting stones in building.
PLATE III.
BLOCK OF TRIGLYPHS, WITH METOPÉ OF THE SUN-GOD. Page 32. From the Temple of Apollo in the Ruins of Greek Ilium.BLOCK OF TRIGLYPHS, WITH METOPÉ OF THE SUN-GOD. Page 32.From the Temple of Apollo in the Ruins of Greek Ilium.
To judge from the area of the Ilium of the Greek colony,[51]it may have possessed 100,000 inhabitants. It must in its best days have been very rich, and the plastic art must have attained a high degree of perfection here. Accordingly the site of the town, which is covered with abundant relics of grand buildings, is strewn with fragments of excellent sculptures, and the splendid block of triglyphs—6½ feet in length and 2 feet 10 inches in height, with ametopéwhich represents Phœbus Apollo with the four horses of the Sun—is one of the most glorious masterpieces that have been preserved from the time when Greek art was in its zenith. I discovered it in the depths of the temple of Apollo, and it now adorns my garden at Athens. In describing this treasure of art in my memoir of the 18th of June, 1872,[52]directly after having discovered it, I made the remark that it must have belonged to the time of Lysimachus, that is to say to about the year 306B.C.I sent a plaster cast of it to the Museum of Casts in Munich, and the Director of the Museum, Professor H. Brunn, who is certainly one of the greatest authorities in the world respecting the plastic works of antiquity, wrote me the following communication with regard to it. “Even photographs furnish no adequate means of judging of plastic works, and, in the present case, the cast alone has quite convinced me that this work must be judged much more favourably than it has been in the ‘Archäologische Zeitung.’ I do not venture to speak decidedly about the triglyphs: the history of the Doric style after the time of the Parthenon and the Propylæa is still utterly obscure: yet the straight cutting of the channellings can certainly be referred to pre-Romantimes. Of external criteria the halo of rays is the only one. According to the investigations of Stephani,[53]this first occurs about the time of Alexander the Great. For the special form of long and short rays, we have the coins of Alexander I., of Epirus and of Ceos (Carthæa), mentioned by Curtius. The most recent example that I have as yet found is the Hades vase of Canosa, in our Museum, which belongsat latestto the second century before Christ; hence the extreme termini for the relief would be about the end of the fourth and the middle of the second centuries. The composition, as a work of art, shows the greatest skill in solving one of the most difficult problems. For the team of four horses oughtnotto move on the surface of the relief, but to appear as if it came out of it in a half-turn. This has been attained principally by making the right hinder thigh of the horse in the foreground pressed back while the left foot steps forward, and moreover this same horse is slightly foreshortened, and the surface of the thigh lies deeper than the upper surface of the triglyphs, while, on the other hand, the surfaces of the withers and of the neck are higher, and the head, in conformity with the rules of Greek reliefs, is again almost parallel with the base. For this reason there is no indication of a chariot, which has to be imagined as concealed by the foremost horse. Moreover the position of the god is half turned forwards, slightly following that of the head, and here also the arm is again strongly turned inwards, but not so as to bring the position in conflict with the rules of relief. If the encroachment of the head on the upper border of the triglyph is considered inaccurate, I find in this a very happy thought, which may remind us of the differently conceived pediment of the Parthenon, where only the head and shoulders of Helios rise out of the chariot still under the ocean. Helios here, so to speak, bursts forth from the gates of day and sheds the light of his glory over all. Theseare beauties peculiar only to Greek art in the fulness of its power. The execution corresponds perfectly with the excellence of the ideas, and thus I do not hesitate to place the relief nearer to the commencement than to the end of the above limited space of time. If, therefore, for other reasons, you believe it to belong to the time of Lysimachus, I, from an archæological point of view, have no objection to make against the supposition, but I rejoice to see our treasure of monuments enriched by an original from those times.”
Terra-cotta Covers of Vases, with the Owl’s Face. No. 10.—From 3 M. No. 11.—From 2 M. No. 12.—From 7 M. Interesting for depth and form.Terra-cotta Covers of Vases, with the Owl’s Face.No. 10.—From 3 M. No. 11.—From 2 M. No. 12.—From 7 M. Interesting for depth and form.
No. 13. Terra-cotta Vase, marked with an Aryan symbol (6 M.).No. 13. Terra-cotta Vase, marked with an Aryan symbol (6 M.).
I have already proved the relationship of the four different peoples, who inhabited the site of Troy before the arrival of the Greek colony, by the small terra-cottas in the form of volcanoes and tops which are met with in quantities in all of the strata, and by the similarity of the Aryan religious symbols engraved upon them. I prove this relationship further, and above all, by the plastic representations of Athena, the owl-faced tutelary goddess of Ilium, for this representation is common to all the four nations which preceded the Greek colony. Immediately below the strata of the last, at a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet), I found this owl’s face upon terra-cotta cups with a kind of helmet, which likewise occur in all the succeeding layers ofdébristo a depth of 12 meters (39½ feet), and are of very frequent occurrence down to a depth of 9 meters (29½ feet). These cups may, as my learned friend Émile Burnouf thinks, have served only as lids to the vases which occur contemporaneously with them, and which have twoup-raised wings, and the breasts and abdomen of a woman, for they fit these vases perfectly. I found likewise in all the layers ofdébris, from a depth of 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) down to a depth of 10 meters (33 feet), vases with owls’ faces, two upraised wings (not arms, as I formerly thought), and the two large breasts and abdomen of a woman, and even, at a depth of 6 meters (nearly 20 feet), a vase upon which the navel is ornamented with a cross and four nails. As far down as a depth of 14 meters (46 feet) I found the upper portion of a vase and the fragment of a dish adorned with owls’ faces. Besides these, in all the layers ofdébris, from a depth of 6½ feet downwards, as far as the primary soil, there were found idols of very fine marble, of bone, of mica-schist, of slate, and even of ordinary limestone, which are from ¼ of an inch to 7¼ inches in length, and from 0·6 of an inch to 4·8 inches in breadth. Upon a great many of these there is an owl’s face, and some have even long female hair engraved upon them; many also have a woman’s girdle. As upon several of the idols, upon which I find the owl’s head, it is not cut, but represented in a red or black colour, I presume that this was once the case with all the idols which now possess no indications of an owl, and that the colour upon these latter has been destroyed by damp, during the course of thousands of years. Upon several idols of marble and bone there are mere indications of wings on the sides. But I also find the petrified vertebra of an antediluvian animal upon which the Trojans have carved a large owl’s head. Further, at a depth of 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 14 meters (10, 13, 20, 23, 26, 30 and 46 feet), I found twelve idols of terra-cotta, and all, with only one exception, have owls’ facesupon them; most of them also have the two breasts of a woman, and upon the back traces of long female hair. One of these owl-headed idols has the form of a vessel, with a funnel on each side in the shape of a smaller vessel; the front part of the body of the goddess, up to the neck, is covered by a long shield, and on the back of the body there is the long female hair hanging down, like that of the Karyatides in the Acropolis of Athens. Upon several of these terra-cotta idols there are indications of wings.
14. 14 M. Nos. 14-30. Rude Idols found in the various Strata (2 to 14 M.). No. 14 is of Ivory, with the same Decorations on both sides. Nos. 15, 16, 18, 20, 25, 26, 28, are of very fine Marble. No. 17 is of Green Slate. Nos. 23, 24, 27 are of Terra-cotta: and No. 19 is a Piece of a Dish.Nos. 14-30. Rude Idols found in the various Strata (2 to 14 M.).No. 14 is of Ivory, with the same Decorations on both sides. Nos. 15, 16, 18, 20, 25, 26, 28, are of very fine Marble. No. 17 is of Green Slate. Nos. 23, 24, 27 are of Terra-cotta: and No. 19 is a Piece of a Dish.
No. 31. Remarkable Trojan Terra-cotta Vase, representing the Ilian Athena (9 M.).No. 31. Remarkable Trojan Terra-cotta Vase, representing the Ilian Athena (9 M.).
These owl-faced female figures, which occur so frequently upon the cups, vases and idols, can represent but one goddess, and this goddess can be none other than Athena,the tutelary goddess of Troy, all the more so as Homer continually calls her “θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη;” for “γλαυκῶπις” has been wrongly translated by the scholars of every century, and does not signify “with bright and sparkling eyes,” but “with the face of an owl.” The natural conclusion, in the first place, is that Homer perfectly well knew that the owl-faced Athena was the tutelary goddess of Troy; secondly, that the locality whose depths I have ransacked for three years must be the spot “ubi Troja fuit;” and thirdly, that, in the progress of civilization, Pallas Athena received a human face, and her former owl’s head was transformed into her favourite bird, the owl,which as such is quite unknown to Homer. At a depth of from 4 to 9 meters (13 to 29½ feet), I also found some vases and cups with a human face, but which have a good deal of the owl about them.
As I did not find a trace of the owl’s face among the ruins of the Greek colony, we may regard it as certain that it had already advanced beyond the civilization of the old Ilians of whose town it took possession, and that it brought the idea of the goddess with a human face with it to Troy.
With regard to the often mentioned perforated terra-cottas in the form of a top and the crater of a volcano, adorned with Aryan religious symbols, it is possible that their original form was that of a wheel, for they occur frequently in this shape upon the primary rock at a depth of from 14 to 16 meters (46 to 52½ feet).[54]In the upper layers ofdébris, these objects in the form of wheels are indeed rare, but the representation of the wheel in motion, effected by the incisions being more numerous, still occurs very frequently.[55]In spite of all my searching and pondering, I have not yet succeeded in arriving at an opinion as to what these extremely interesting objects were used for. As has now become evident by the excavation of the temple of Athena, it is only among the pre-Hellenic peoples that they were adorned with Aryan symbols. In the Greek colony these occur but rarely; they are of a different form, and they possess no trace of carved decorations; instead of these, we find the much larger objects of terra-cotta, round, and twice perforated, which occasionally bear the mark of a kind of stamp.[56]
Through the kindness of my friend Professor Giuseppe G. Bianconi in Bologna, I have received the drawings often similar round articles of terra-cotta in the form of the top or volcano, which are preserved in the Museum of Modena, and were found in the terramares of that district, in the lake-habitations of the stone age. To my extreme astonishment, I found that six of them possessed the same ornamental carvings which I found upon the articles of the same form here in Troy. Three of them have a circle round the central sun, a triple cross, which, as I have endeavoured minutely to explain in my sixth memoir, was the symbol of the two pieces of wood of our Aryan forefathers for producing the holy fire, and is an emblem of the highest importance. The fourth represents one of these machines for producing fire with five ends, and Indian scholars may possibly find that one of the staves represents the piece of wood called “pramantha,” with which fire was generated by friction, and which the Greeks at a later time transformed into their Prometheus, who, as they imagined, stole fire from heaven. The fifth represents a somewhat different form of the fire producer of our remote ancestors; and the sixth has twelve circles round the central sun. Probably these are the twelve stations of the sun which are so frequently mentioned in the Rigvêda, and which are personified by the twelve Adityas, the sons of Adity (the Indivisible or Infinite Space), and represent the twelve signs of the Zodiac.
The same friend has also sent me drawings of eighteen similar round terra-cottas found in the graves of the cemetery in Villanova, and now in the Museum of Count Gozzadini in Bologna. As the count found an “aes rude” in one of the graves, he thinks that the cemetery, like it, belongs to the time of King Numa, that is, to about 700 years before Christ. G. de Mortillet,[57]however, ascribes a much greater age to the cemetery. But, at all events, fifteen of the eighteen drawings lying beforeme have a modern appearance compared with the ten in the Museum of Modena, and compared with my small terra-cottas in the form of tops, volcanoes, and wheels, found in Troy; for not only the decorations, but the forms also of the articles are very much more elaborate. Only three of the eighteen articles show a shape and decorations like those met with in Troy. All three have the form of a top: the first has seven suns in a circle round the central sun; the second has two crosses, one of which is formed by four stars, the other by four lines. The third has five triangles and five stars in the circle round the central point. The comparison of these eighteen articles with those from Troy convinces me that Count Gozzadini is right in ascribing no greater age to the cemetery of Villanova than 700B.C.
But besides the articles ornamented with religious symbols, we meet in Troy with thousands of terra-cottas of a similar, but in most cases more lengthened form, with no decorations whatever; at a depth of 3 metres (10 feet), they occur also in the shape of cones.[58]Formerly, at a depth of 10 feet, I found similar pieces in blue or green stone, which I have also recently met with frequently at a depth of from 23 to 33 feet. Among the unembellished terra-cottas of this description I find some, but scarcely more than 2 per cent., which show signs of wear, and may have been used on spindles. The pieces adorned with carvings, on the other hand, never show signs of any kind of wear, and the symbols engraved upon them are filled with white clay so as to make them more striking to the eye.[59]This white clay must have disappeareddirectly, if the pieces had been used on spindles or as coins. They cannot have been worn as amulets, on account of their size and weight: I am therefore forced to believe that they were employed as offerings, or that they were worshipped as idols of the Sun, whose image is seen in the centre.
Unfortunately, owing to the great extent of my excavations, the hurry in which they were carried on, and the hardness of thedébris, by far the greater portion of the terra-cotta vessels found by me in the depths of Ilium were brought out more or less broken. But everything that could in any way be repaired I have restored by means of shell-lac and gypsum, and in this state they are represented in the drawings.[60]In all cases where I found a piece broken off and wanting, I restored it according to the model of other vessels of the same kind which I obtained in an unbroken condition; but where such models were wanting, or where I had the slightest doubt, I did not attempt to restore the articles.
The town of Ilium, upon whose site I have been digging for more than three years, boasted itself to be the successor of Troy; and as throughout antiquity the belief in the identity of its site with that of the ancient city of Priam was firmly established and not doubted by anyone, it is clear that the whole course of tradition confirms this identity. At last Strabo lifted up his voice against it; though, as he himself admits, he had never visited the Plain of Troy, and he trusted to the accounts of Demetrius of Scepsis, which were suggested by vanity. According to Strabo,[61]this Demetrius maintained that his native town of Scepsis had been the residence of Æneas, and he envied Ilium the honour of having been themetropolis of the Trojan kingdom. He therefore put forward the following view of the case:—that Ilium and its environs did not contain space enough for the great deeds of the Iliad; that the whole plain which separated the city from the sea was alluvial land, and that it was not formed until after the time of the Trojan war. As another proof that the locality of the two cities could not be the same, he adds that Achilles and Hector ran three times round Troy, whereas one could not run round Ilium on account of the continuous mountain ridge (διὰ τὴν συνεχῆ ῥάχην). For all of these reasons he says that ancient Troy must be placed on the site of the “Village of the Ilians” (Ἰλιέων κώμη), 30 stadia or 3 geographical miles from Ilium and 42 stadia from the coast, although he is obliged to admit that not the faintest trace of the city has been preserved.[62]
Strabo, with his peculiarly correct judgment, would assuredly have rejected all these erroneous assertions of Demetrius of Scepsis, had he himself visited the Plain of Troy, for they can easily be refuted.
I have to remark that it is quite easy to run round the site of Troy; further, that the distance from Ilium to the coast, in a straight line, is about 4 miles, while the distance in a straight line north-west to the promontory of Sigeum (and at this place tradition, as late as Strabo’s time, fixed the site of the Greek encampment) amounts to about 4½ miles. For Strabo says:[63]“Next to Rhœteum may be seen the ruined town of Sigeum, the port of the Achæans, the Achæan camp, and the marsh or lake called Stomalimne, and the mouth of the Scamander.”
In November, 1871, I made excavations upon the site of the “Ἰλιέων κώμη,” the results of which completely refute the theory of Demetrius of Scepsis; for I found everywherethe primary soil at a depth of less than a foot and a half; and the continuous ridge on the one side of the site, which appeared to contain the ruins of a large town-wall, consisted of nothing but pure granulated earth, without any admixture of ruins.
In the year 1788, Lechevalier visited the plain of Troy, and was so enthusiastically in favour of the theory that the site of Homer’s Troy was to be found at the village of Bunarbashi and the heights behind it, that he disdained to investigate the site of Ilium: this is evident from his work ‘Voyage de la Troade’ (3eéd., Paris, 1802) and from the accompanying map, in which he most absurdly calls this very ancient town “Ilium Novum,” and transposes it to the other side of the Scamander, besideKumkaleh, close to the sea and about 4 miles from its true position. This theory, that the site of Troy can only be looked for in the village of Bunarbashi and upon the heights behind it, was likewise maintained by the following scholars: by Rennell, ‘Observations on the Topography of the Plain of Troy’ (London, 1814); by P. W. Forchhammer in the ‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’ vol. xii., 1842; by Mauduit, ‘Découvertes dans la Troade’ (Paris et Londres, 1840); by Welcker, ‘Kleine Schriften;’ by Texier; by Choiseul-Gouffrier, ‘Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce’ (1820); by M. G. Nikolaïdes (Paris, 1867); and by Ernst Curtius in his lecture delivered at Berlin in November, 1871, after his journey to the Troad and Ephesus, whither he was accompanied by Professors Adler and Müllenhof, and by Dr. Hirschfeldt. But, as I have explained in detail in my work, ‘Ithaque, le Péloponnèse et Troie’ (Paris, 1869), this theory is in every respect in direct opposition to all the statements of the Iliad. My excavations at Bunarbashi prove, moreover, that no town can ever have stood there; for I find everywhere the pure virgin soil at a depth of less than 5 feet, and generally immediately below the surface. I have likewise proved, by my excavations onthe heights behind this village, that human dwellings can never have existed there; for I found the native rock nowhere at a greater depth than a foot and a half. This is further confirmed by the sometimes pointed, sometimes abrupt, and always anomalous form of the rocks which are seen wherever they are not covered with earth. At half-an-hour’s distance behind Bunarbashi there is, it is true, the site of quite a small town, encircled on two sides by precipices and on the other by the ruins of a surrounding wall, which town I formerly considered to be Scamandria; but one of the inscriptions found in the ruins of the temple of Athena in the Ilium of the Greek colony makes me now believe with certainty that the spot above Bunarbashi is not the site of Scamandria, but of Gergis. Moreover, the accumulation ofdébristhere is extremely insignificant, and the naked rock protrudes not only in the small Acropolis, but also in very many places of the site of the little town. Further, in all cases where there is an accumulation ofdébris, I found fragments of Hellenic pottery, and of Hellenic pottery only, down to the primary soil. As archæology cannot allow themost ancientof these fragments to be any older than from 500 to 600 years before Christ, the walls of the small town—which used to be regarded as of the same age as those of Mycenæ—can certainly be no older than 500 to 600B.C.at most.
Immediately below this little town there are three tombs of heroes, one of which has been assigned to Priam, another to Hector, because it was built entirely of small stones. The latter grave was laid open in October 1872, by Sir John Lubbock, who found it to contain nothing but painted fragments of Hellenic pottery to which the highest date that can be assigned is 300B.C.; and these fragments tell us the age of the tomb likewise.
The late Consul J. G. von Hahn, who in May 1864, in his extensive excavations of the acropolis of Gergisdown to the primary soil, only discovered the same, and nothing but exactly the same, fragments of Hellenic pottery as I found there in my small excavations, writes in his pamphlet, ‘Die Ausgrabungen des Homerischen Pergamos:’ “In spite of the diligent search which my companions and I made on the extensive northern slope of the Balidagh, from the foot of the acropolis (of Gergis) to the springs of Bunarbashi, we could not discover any indication beyond the three heroic tombs, that might have pointed to a former human settlement, not even antique fragments of pottery and pieces of brick,—those never-failing, and consequently imperishable, proofs of an ancient settlement. No pillars or other masonry, no ancient square stones, no quarry in the natural rock, no artificial levelling of the rock; on all sides the earth was in its natural state and had not been touched by human hands.”
The erroneous theory which assigns Troy to the heights of Bunarbashi could, in fact, never have gained ground, had its above-named advocates employed the few hours which they spent on the heights, and in Bunarbashi itself, in making small holes, with the aid of even a single workman.
Clarke and Barker Webb (Paris, 1844) maintained that Troy was situated on the hills ofChiplak. But unfortunately they also had not given themselves the trouble to make excavations there; otherwise they would have convinced themselves, with but very little trouble, that all the hills in and around Chiplak, as far as the surrounding Wall of Ilium, contain only the pure native soil.
H. N. Ulrichs[64]maintains that Troy was situated on the hills ofAtzik-Kioï, which in my map I have calledEski Akshi köi. But I have examined these hills also, and found that they consist of the pure native soil. I used a spade in making these excavations, but a pocket-knife would have answered the purpose.
I cannot conceive how it is possible that the solution of the great problem, “ubi Troja fuit”—which is surely one of the greatest interest to the whole civilized world—should have been treated so superficially that, after a few hours’ visit to the Plain of Troy, men have sat down at home and written voluminous works to defend a theory, the worthlessness of which they would have perceived had they but made excavations for a single hour.
I am rejoiced that I can mention with praise Dr. Wilhelm Buchner,[65]Dr. G. von Eckenbrecher,[66]and C. MacLaren,[67]who, although they made no excavations, have nevertheless in their excellent treatises proved by many irrefutable arguments that the site of Ilium, where I have been digging for more than three years, corresponds with all the statements of the Iliad in regard to the site of Troy, and that the ancient city must be looked for there and nowhere else.
It is also with gratitude that I think of the great German scholar, who unfortunately succumbed five years ago to his unwearied exertions, Julius Braun, the advocate of the theory that Homer’s Troy was to be found only on the site of Ilium, in the depths of the hill of HISSARLIK. I most strongly recommend his excellent work, ‘Die Geschichte der Kunst in ihrem Entwickelungsgang,’ to all those who are interested in whatever is true, beautiful and sublime.
Neither can I do otherwise than gratefully mention my honoured friend, the celebrated Sanscrit scholar and unwearied investigator Émile Burnouf, the Director of theFrench school in Athens, who personally, and through his many excellent works, especially the one published last year, ‘La Science des Religions,’ has given me several suggestions, which have enabled me to decipher many of the Trojan symbols.[68]
It is also with a feeling of gratitude that I think of my honoured friend, the most learned Greek whom I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, Professor Stephanos Kommanoudes, in Athens, who has supported me with his most valuable advice whenever I was in need of it. In like manner I here tender my cordial thanks to my honoured friend the Greek Consul of the Dardanelles, G. Dokos, who showed me many kindnesses during my long excavations.
I beg to draw especial attention to the fact that, in the neighbourhood of Troy, several types of very ancient pottery—like those found in my excavations at a depth of from 10 to 33 feet—have been preserved down to the present day. For instance, in the crockery-shops on the shores of the Dardanelles there are immense numbers of earthen vessels with long upright necks and the breasts of a woman, and others in the shape of animals. In spite of their gilding and other decorations, these vessels cannot, either in regard to quality or elegance of form, be compared with the Ilian terra-cottas, not even with those from a depth of 10 feet; but still they furnish a remarkable proof of the fact that, in spite of manifold political changes, certain types of terra-cottas can continue in existence in one district for more than 3000 years.
No. 32. The largest of the Terra-cotta Vases found in the Royal Palace of Troy. Height 20 inches. The Cover was found near it.No. 32. The largest of the Terra-cotta Vases found in the Royal Palace of Troy. Height 20 inches. The Cover was found near it.
After long and mature deliberation, I have arrived at the firm conviction that all of those vessels—met with here in great numbers at a depth of from 10 to 33 feet, andmore especially in the Trojan layer ofdébris, at a depth of from 23 to 33 feet—which have the exact shape of a bell and a coronet beneath, so that they can only stand upon their mouth, and which I have hitherto described as cups, must necessarily, and perhaps even exclusively, have been used aslidsto the numerous terra-cotta vases with a smooth neck and on either side two ear-shaped decorations, between which are two mighty wings, which, as they are hollowed and taper away to a point, can never have served as handles, the more so as between the ear-shaped decorations there is a small handle on either side. Now, as the latter resembles an owl’s beak, and especially as this is seen between the ear-shaped ornaments, it was doubtless intended to represent the image of the owl with upraised wings on each side of the vases, which image received a noble appearance from the splendid lid with a coronet. I give a drawing of the largest vase of this type, whichwas found a few days ago in the royal palace at a depth of from 28 to 29½ feet; on the top of it I have placed the bell-shaped lid with a coronet, which was discovered close by and appears to have belonged to it.
My friend M. Landerer, Professor of Chemistry in Athens, who has carefully examined the colours of the Trojan antiquities, writes to me as follows:—“In the first place, as to the vessels themselves, some have been turned upon a potter’s wheel, some have been moulded by the hand. Theirground-colourvaries according to the nature of theclay. I find some of them made of black, deep-brown, red, yellowish, and ashy-grey clay. All of these kinds of clay, which the Trojan potters used for their ware, consist of clay containing oxide of iron and silica (argile silicieuse ferrugineuse), and, according to the stronger or weaker mode of burning, the oxide of iron in the clay became more or less oxidised: thus the black, brown, red, yellow, or grey colour is explained by the oxidation of the iron. The beautiful black gloss of the vessels found upon the native soil, at a depth of 46 feet, does not contain any oxide of lead, but consists ofcoal-black(Kohlenschwarz),[69]which was melted together with the clay and penetrated into its pores. This can be explained by the clay vessels having been placed in slow furnaces in which resinous wood was burnt, and where there was consequently dense smoke, which descended upon the earthenware in the form of the finest powder and was likewise burnt into the clay. It is also possible, but by no means probable, that they used a black pitch or asphalt, which was dissolved in oil of turpentine; perhaps they used liquid pitch, and painted the vessels with it. The burning of these would likewise produce coal-black, which in later times was called theAtramentum indelibileof Apelles. This is the manner in which colour and gloss were given to Hellenic terra-cottas.
No. 33. Inscribed Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta (8½ M.).No. 33. Inscribed Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta (8½ M.).