Museum of Antiquity Part 26

"This remarkable object lay at the top of the whole ma.s.s, and I suppose it to have formed a hasp to the lid of the wooden chest in which the Treasure was packed. The fourth article I brought out was a copper vase five and one-half inches high and four and one-third inches in diameter. Thereupon followed a globular bottle of the purest gold, weighing 6,220 grains, or above one pound troy; it is nearly six inches high and five and one-half inches in diameter, and has the commencement of a zigzag decoration on the neck, which, however, is not continued all round. Then came a cup, likewise of the purest gold, weighing seven and one-fourth oz. troy; it is three and one-half inches high and three inches broad. (See Nos. 4 and 12.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: PART OF MACHINE OF PRIAM.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: JEWELRY OF GOLD AND STONES.]

"Next came another cup of purest gold, weighing about one pound and six oz. troy; it is three and one-half inches high, seven and one-fourth inches long, and seven and one-fifth inches broad; it is in the form of a ship, with two large handles; on one side there is a mouth one and one-fifth inches broad, for drinking out of, and another at the other side two and three-fourths inches broad. Prof. Stephanos k.u.manudes, of Athens, remarks, the person who presented the filled cup may have first drank from the small mouth as a mark of respect, to let the guest drink from the larger mouth. (See No. 10.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOUND IN THE PALACE OF PRIAM.]

"The Treasure further contained a small cup of gold weighing two and one-fourth oz. troy; also six pieces of the purest silver in the form of large knife blades; they have all been wrought with a hammer.

"I also found in the Treasure three great silver vases, the largest of which is above eight and one-fourth inches high and nearly eight inches in diameter, and has a handle five and one-half inches in length and three and one-half in breadth; I found besides a number of silver goblets and cups. Upon and beside the gold and silver articles I found thirteen copper lances; also fourteen copper weapons, which are frequently met with here, and seven large double-edged copper daggers.

"As I found all these articles together, forming a rectangular ma.s.s, or packed into one another, it seems to be certain that they were placed on the city wall in a wooden chest, such as those mentioned by Homer as being in the Palace of King Priam. This appears to be the more certain, as close by the side of these articles I found a copper key above four inches long, the head of which (about two inches long and broad) greatly resembles a large safe-key of a bank. Curiously enough this key has had a wooden handle.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"That the Treasure was packed together at terrible risk of life, and in the greatest anxiety, is proved among other things also by the contents of a large silver vase, at the bottom of which I found two gold diadems, a fillet and four beautiful ear-rings of most exquisite workmanship; upon these lay fifty-six gold ear-rings of exceedingly curious form, and 8,750 small gold rings, perforated prisms and dice, gold b.u.t.tons and similar jewels; then followed six gold bracelets, and, on the top of all, the two small gold goblets. Some of these are mentioned by Homer:

"'Far off were flung the adornments of her head; The net, the fillet, and the woven band, The nuptial-veil by golden Venus given.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOLD NECKLACE OF TROY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOLD Ta.s.sELS OF TROY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LAMPS FOUND AT TROY.]

"The one diadem consists of a gold fillet, twenty-one and two-thirds inches long and nearly half an inch broad, from which there hang on either side seven little chains to cover the temples, each of which has eleven square leaves with a groove; these chains are joined to one another by four little cross chains, at the end of which hangs a glittering golden idol of the tutelar G.o.ddess of Troy, nearly an inch long. The entire length of each of these chains, with the idols, amounts to ten and one-quarter inches. Almost all these idols have something of the human form, but the owl's head with the two large eyes can not be mistaken; their breadth at the lower end is about nine-tenths of an inch. Between these ornaments for the temples there are forty-seven little pendant chains adorned with square leaves; at the end of each little chain is an idol of the tutelar G.o.ddess of Ilium, about three-quarters of an inch long; the length of these little chains with the idols is not quite four inches. The fillet is above eighteen inches long and two-fifths of an inch broad, and has three perforations at each end. Eight quadruple rows of dots divide it into nine compartments, in each of which there are two large dots, and an uninterrupted row of dots adorns the whole edge. (See Fig. 1.) Of the four ear-rings only two are exactly alike; from the upper part, which is almost in the shape of a basket, and is ornamented with two rows of decorations in the form of beads, there hang six small chains on which are three little cylinders; attached to the end of the chains are small idols of the tutelar G.o.ddess of Troy. The length of each ear-ring is three and one-half inches. The upper part of the other two ear-rings is larger and thicker, but likewise almost in the shape of a basket; from it are suspended five little chains entirely covered with small round leaves, on which are likewise fastened small but more imposing idols of the Ilian tutelar divinity; the length of one of these pendants is three and one-half inches, that of the other a little over three inches. (See Fig. 17.)

"Homer, in the Iliad, sings of 'beautifully twined ta.s.sels of solid gold' which adorned Athene:

"'All around A hundred ta.s.sels hung, rare works of art, All gold, each one a hundred oxen's price.'

"Again, when Hera adorns herself to captivate Jove, her zone is fringed with a hundred ta.s.sels, and her ear-rings are described in terms corresponding exactly to the triple leaves above described:

"'Her zone, from which a hundred ta.s.sels hung, She girt above her; and, in three bright drops, Her glittering gems suspended from her ears, And all around her grace and beauty shone.'

"Of the six gold bracelets two are quite simple, and closed, but consist of an ornamented band one-twenty-fifth of an inch thick and one-fourth of an inch broad. The other three are double, and the ends are turned round and furnished with a head. The princess who wore these bracelets must have had unusually small hands, for they are so small that a girl of ten would have difficulty in putting them on.

"The fifty-six other gold ear-rings are of various sizes, and three of them appear to have also been used by the princesses of the royal family as finger-rings. Also gold b.u.t.tons were found, or studs, one-sixth of an inch high, in the cavity of which is a ring above one-tenth of an inch broad for sewing them on; gold double b.u.t.tons, exactly like our shirt studs, three-tenths of an inch long, which, however, are not soldered, but simply stuck together, for from the cavity of the b.u.t.ton there projects a tube, nearly one-fourth of an inch long, and from the other a pin of the same length, and the pin is merely stuck into the tube to form a double stud. (See Fig. No. 16.) These double b.u.t.tons or studs can only have been used, probably, as ornament upon leather articles, for instance upon the handle-straps of swords, shields, or knives. I found in the vase also two gold cylinders above one-tenth of an inch long; also a small peg above four-fifths of an inch in length, and from six one-hundreths to eight one-hundreths of an inch thick; it has at one end a perforated hole for hanging it up, and on the other side six encircling incisions, which give the article the appearance of a screw; it is only by means of a magnifying gla.s.s that it is found not to be really a screw. I also found in the same vase two pieces of gold, one of which is one-seventh of an inch, the other above two inches long; each of them has twenty-one perforations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIX GOLDEN BRACELETS WELDED TOGETHER BY THE CONFLAGRATION.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOLD PINS WITH SET GEMS.]

"The persons who endeavored to save the Treasure had fortunately the presence of mind to stand the silver vase, containing the valuable articles described above, upright in the chest, so that not so much as a bead could fall out, and everything has been preserved uninjured.

"M. Landerer, of Athens, a chemist well known through his discoveries and writings, who has most carefully examined all the copper articles of the Treasure, and a.n.a.lyzed the fragments, finds that all of them consist of pure copper without any admixture of tin or zinc, and that, in order to make them more durable, they have been wrought with the hammer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOLD EAR-RINGS OF TROY.]

"As I hoped to find other treasures here, and also wished to bring to light the wall surrounding Troy, the erection of which Homer ascribes to Poseidon and Apollo, as far as the Scaean Gate, I have entirely cut away the upper wall, which rested partly upon the gate, to an extent of fifty-six feet. Visitors to the Troad can, however, still see part of it in the northwest earth-wall opposite the Scaean Gate. I have also broken down the enormous block of earth which separated my western and northwestern cutting from the Great Tower. The result of this new excavation is very important to archaeology, for I have been able to uncover several walls, and also a room of the Royal Palace, twenty feet in length and breadth, upon which no buildings of a later period rest.

"Of the objects discovered there I have only to mention an excellently engraved inscription found upon a square piece of red slate, which has two holes not bored through it and an encircling incision, but neither can my learned friend Emile Burnouf nor I tell in what language the inscription is written. Further, there were some interesting terra-cottas, among which is a vessel, quite the form of a modern cask, and with a tube in the centre for pouring in and drawing off the liquid. There were also found upon the walls of Troy, one and three-fourths feet below the place where the Treasure was discovered, three silver dishes, two of which were broken to pieces in digging down the _debris_, they can, however, be repaired, as I have all the pieces. These dishes seem to have belonged to the Treasure, and the fact of the latter having otherwise escaped our pickaxes is due to the above mentioned large copper vessels which projected, so that I could cut everything out of the hard _debris_ with a knife.

"I found, further, a silver goblet above three and one-third inches high, the mouth of which is nearly four inches in diameter; also a silver flat cup or dish five and one-half inches in diameter, and two beautiful small silver vases of most exquisite workmanship. The larger one, which has two rings on either side for hanging up by strings, is nearly eight inches high with its hat-shaped lid, and three and one-half inches in diameter across the bulge. The smaller silver vase, with a ring on either side for suspension by a string, is about six and three-fourths inches high, with its lid, and above three inches broad.

"I now perceive that the cutting which I made in April was exactly at the proper point, and that if I had only continued it I should in a few weeks have uncovered the most remarkable buildings in Troy, namely, the Palace of King Priam, the Scaean Gate, the Great Surrounding Wall, and the Great Tower of Ilium; whereas, in consequence of abandoning this cutting, I had to make colossal excavations from east to west and from north to south through the entire hill in order to find those most interesting buildings.

"In the upper strata of the north western and western excavations we came upon another great quant.i.ty of heads of beautiful terra-cotta figures of the best h.e.l.lenic period, and at a depth of twenty-three feet upon some idols, as well as the upper portion of a vase with the owl's face and a lid in the form of a helmet. Lids of this kind, upon the edge of which female hair is indicated by incisions, are frequently found in all the strata between thirteen and thirty-three feet deep, and as they belong to vases with owls' faces, the number of lids gives us an idea of the number of the vases with the figure of the owl-headed Athene, which existed here in Troy.

"Homer rarely mentions temples, and, although he speaks of the Temple of Athene, yet, considering the smallness of the city, it is very doubtful whether it actually existed. It is probable that the tutelar G.o.ddess at that time possessed only the sacrificial altar which I discovered, and the crescent form of which greatly resembles the upper portion of the ivory idol found in the lowest strata as well as the one end of the six talents contained among the Treasure.

"Valuable stones, such as those large flags which cover the road leading from the Scaean Gate to the Plain, as well as the stones of the enclosing wall and of the Great Tower, have been left untouched, and not a single stone of the Scaean Gate is wanting. Nay, with the exception of the houses which I myself destroyed, it would be quite possible to uncover the 'carca.s.ses' of all the houses, as in the case of Pompeii. The houses must have been very high, and a great deal of wood must have been used in their construction, for otherwise the conflagration could not have produced such an enormous quant.i.ty of ashes and rubbish.

"Upon and beside the gold and silver articles, I found thirteen copper lances, from nearly seven to above twelve and one-half inches in length, and from above one and one-half to two and one-third inches broad at the broadest point; at the lower end of each is a hole, in which, in most cases, the nail or peg which fastened the lance to the wooden handle is still sticking. The pin-hole is clearly visible in a lance-head which the conflagration has welded to a battle-ax. The Trojan lances were therefore quite different from those of the Greeks and Romans.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPEARS, LANCES, AX AND CHAIN.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHEARS, KNIVES AND SPEARS.]

"I also found fourteen of those copper weapons, which are frequently met with here, but which have never been discovered elsewhere; at one end they are pointed but blunt, and at the other they end in a broad edge. I formerly considered them to be a species of lance, but now, after mature consideration, I am convinced that they could have been used only as battle-axes. They are from above six to above twelve inches in length, from nearly one-half to above three-fourths of an inch thick, and from above one to nearly three inches broad; the largest of them weighs about three pounds avoirdupois.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LANCES FOUND AT PALACE OF PRIAM, TROY.]

"There were also seven large double-edged copper daggers, with a handle from about two to two and three-fourths inches long, the end of which is bent round at a right angle. These handles must at one time have been encased in wood, for if the cases had been made of bone they would still have been wholly or partially preserved. The pointed handle was inserted into a piece of wood, so that the end projected about half an inch beyond it, and this end was simply bent round. The largest of these daggers is ten and two-thirds inches in length and above two inches broad at the broadest part; a second dagger, which is above one and three-fourths inches broad, has the point broken off, and is now less than nine inches long, but appears to have been eleven inches; a third dagger is eight and two-thirds inches long, and measures above one and one-fourth inches at the broadest point.

"On the north side of the hill I have now also uncovered several house-walls at a depth of forty-two and one-half feet, and also the beginning of a remarkable wall of fortification, the continuation of which may be seen in the labyrinth of the house-walls in the depths of the Temple of Athene. On the north side, above the primary soil, I have also brought to light a portion of the pavement already mentioned, composed of small, round, white sea-pebbles, below which are the calcined ruins of a building which formerly stood there.

"Among some very remarkable terra-cottas discovered since my last report I must mention two jugs found on the north side, at a depth of from twenty-three to twenty-six feet, each of which has two upright necks standing side by side, but their handles are united. One of them has also beside the mouths two small elevations, which may probably indicate eyes. Of a third jug of this kind I only found the upper portion. I must also mention an exceedingly curious cup, discovered at a depth of thirteen feet, which consists of a tube resting upon three feet and ending in one large and two small goblets; the larger goblet is connected with the opposite side of the tube by a handle. At the same depth I met with a large vase, from which projects a separate small vase; it is ornamented with incisions, and has three feet and two very pretty handles and rings for hanging it up. I found likewise, at the depth of thirteen feet, a vase with two female b.r.e.a.s.t.s, two large handles and engravings resembling letters. Among other extremely curious terra-cottas I must also mention three pots with three rows of perforations; they have the usual handle on one side and three feet on the other; also three large vases with perforations right round, on all sides, from the bottom to the top; their use is a riddle to me; can they have served as bee-hives? Also a vessel in the form of a pig, with four feet, which are, however, shorter than the belly, so that the vessel can not stand upon them; the neck of the vessel, which is attached to the back of the pig, is connected with the hinder part by a handle. I further found a pot in the form of a basket with a handle crossing the mouth, and a tube in the bulge for drawing off the liquid. Also two terra-cotta funnels, at a depth of ten feet, with a letter which I have repeatedly met with on some of the terra-cottas.

At a depth of five feet I found one of those round twice-perforated terra-cottas with a stamp, in which there are Egyptian hieroglyphics; also a dozen of the same articles in the stamps of which are a crowned head, a bird, a dog's head, a flying man or an eagle and a stag. At a depth of sixteen and one-half feet I found the handle of a cup with the beautifully modeled head of a bull.

"Neither can I prove that the terra-cottas here frequently met with, in the form of horses' heads, represent the mother of Hera, Cybele or Rhea, but it is very likely, for, as it is well known, in Phrygia she was represented with a horse's head. Terra-cotta idols of the Ilian Athene are rarely met with, but we daily find marble idols of this G.o.ddess, most of which have almost a human form. We also frequently come upon oblong flat pieces of rough marble upon which the owl's face of the G.o.ddess is more or less deeply engraved. It is often so finely scratched that the aid of a magnifying gla.s.s is required to convince one that it actually exists; we found several such pieces of marble where the owl's head was painted in a black color. Since I have come to the conclusion that they are idols of the tutelar divinity of Troy I have carefully collected them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COINS OR METALS.]

"In excavating the ground upon which my wooden house had stood we found, at a depth of from nine to nineteen inches, eighteen copper and two silver medals; one of the latter is of Marcus Aurelius. The other is a tetra-drachm of the island of Tenedos; on the obverse, to the right, is the head of Jupiter, to the left that of Juno, both having one neck in common, like the heads of Ja.n.u.s. The head of Jupiter is crowned with laurels, that of Juno has a wreath or crown. Upon the reverse of the coin there is a laurel wreath round the edge, and in the centre a large double ax, above which stands the word Teneelion, below and to the right of the handle of the double ax there is a winged Eros, who is holding up an object which it is difficult to distinguish, to the left is a bunch of grapes and a monogram, which looks like the letter A.

"Of the copper coins five are of Alexandria Troas, two of Ophrynium, one of Tenedos, two of Abydos, and one of Dardania.

"When I uncovered the road paved with large flags of stone, which leads from the Scaean Gate to the Plain, the stones looked as new as if they had just been hewn. But since then, under the influence of the burning sun, the flags of the upper portion of the road, which have specially suffered from the conflagration that destroyed the city, are rapidly crumbling away, and will probably have quite disappeared in a few years. However, the flags of stone on the northwestern half of the road, which have been less exposed to the heat, may still last many centuries.

"In this day, closing the excavations at Ilium forever, I can not but fervently thank G.o.d for His great mercy, in that, notwithstanding the terrible danger to which we have been exposed owing to the continual hurricanes, during the last three years' gigantic excavations, no misfortune has happened, no one has been killed, and no one has been seriously hurt.

"In my last report I did not state the exact number of springs in front of the Ilium. I have now visited all the springs myself, and measured their distance from my excavations, and I can give the following account of them. The first spring, which is situated directly below the ruins of the ancient town-wall, is exactly 399 yards from my excavations; its water has a temperature of 60.8 Fahrenheit. It is enclosed to a height of six and-one-half feet by a wall of large stones joined with cement, nine and one-quarter feet in breadth, and in front of it there are two stone troughs for watering cattle. The second spring, which is likewise still below the ruins of the ancient town-wall, is exactly 793 yards distant from my excavations. It has a similar enclosure of large stones, seven feet high and five feet broad, and has the same temperature. But it is out of repair, and the water no longer runs through the stone pipe in the enclosure, but along the ground before it reaches the pipe. The double spring spoken of in my last report is exactly 1,033 yards from my excavations. It consists of two distinct springs, which run out through two stone pipes lying beside each other in the enclosure composed of large stones joined with earth, which rises to a height of seven feet and is twenty-three feet broad; its temperature is 62.6 Fahrenheit. In front of these two springs there are six stone troughs, which are placed in such a manner that the superfluous water always runs from the first trough through all the others. It is extremely probable that these are the two springs mentioned by Homer, beside which Hector was killed.

"'They (Hector and Achilles) in flight and pursuit, They by the watch-tower, and beneath the wall Where stood the wind-beat fig-tree, raced amain Along the public road, until they reached The fairly-flowing founts, whence issued forth, From double source, Scamander's eddying streams.

One with hot current flows, and from beneath, As from a furnace, clouds of steam arise; 'Mid Summer's heat the other rises cold As hail, or snow, or water crystallized; Beside the fountains stood the washing-troughs Of well-wrought stone, where erst the wives of Troy And daughters fair their choicest garments washed, In peaceful times, ere came the sons of Greece.'