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Chapter 2
On the Hill of Hissarlik, October 26th, 1871.
Figs. 37-39:. Stamped Terra-cottas (1½—2m depth).
Fig.40: Stamped Terra-cotta (2m depth.)
.Since
my report of the 18th I have continued the excavations with the utmost
energy, with, on an average, 80 workmen, and I have to-day reached an
average depth of 4 meters (13 feet). At a depth of 6½ feet I discovered
a well, covered with a very large stone, and filled with rubbish. Its
depth I have not been able to ascertain; it belongs to the Roman
period, as is proved by the cement with which the stones are joined
together.
Ruins of buildings, consisting of hewn stones joined or not
joined by cement, I only find at about a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet).
In the layers of débris between 2 and 4 meters deep (6½ to 13 feet), I
find scarcely any stones, and to my delight the huge blocks of stone no
longer occur at all. Medals belonging to Ilium and to the first and
second centuries before Christ, and the first two centuries after
Christ, as well as coins of Alexandria Troas and Sigeum, the age of
which I do not know, were found almost immediately below the surface,
and only in some few cases as deep as 1 meter (3¼ feet).
By far the
greater number of the Ilian coins bear the image of Minerva, of
Faustina the elder, of Marcus Aurelius, of Faustina the younger, of{65}
Commodus or of Crispina, and I found one with the following
inscription: F??S???? ???O? ????O?. As far down as 2 meters (6½ feet) I
found, as during my last year’s excavations in this hill, an immense
number of round articles of terra-cotta, red, yellow, grey and black,
with two holes, without inscriptions, but frequently with a kind of
potter’s stamp upon them. I cannot find in the holes of any one of
these articles the slightest trace of wear by their having been used
for domestic purposes, and therefore I presume that they have served as
Ex votos for hanging up in the temples. Upon most of those bearing a
stamp I perceive in it an altar, and above the latter a bee or fly with
outspread wings; upon others there is a bull, a swan, a child, or two
horses.
Curiously enough these articles vanish all at once at a depth
of a 2 meters (6½ feet), and from this depth downwards I find, in their
stead, pieces that are sometimes as round as a ball, exactly the shape
of a German humming-top, sometimes in the form of hemispheres, others
again in the form of cones, tops (carrouselen), or volcanoes. They are
from ¾ of an inch to 2¼ inches high and broad, and all the different
forms have a hole right through the centre; almost all of them have on
one side the most{66} various kinds of decorations encircling the
central hole.[83] With the exception of a few of these objects made of
blue stone, from ¾ of an inch to 1½ inch broad, and found at a depth of
3 meters (10 feet), they are all made of terra-cotta, and it is quite
evident that the decorations were engraved when the clay was still in a
soft state. All are of such excellent clay, and burnt so hard, that I
at first believed them to be of stone, and only perceived my mistake
after having carefully examined them.
In the depth we have now arrived
at I also find very many of those elegant round vertebræ which form the
backbone of the shark, and of which walking-sticks are often made. The
existence of these vertebræ seems to prove that in remote antiquity
this sea contained sharks, which are now no longer met with here.
To-day I also found upon a fragment of rough pottery the representation
of a man’s head with large protruding eyes, a long nose, and a very
small mouth, which seems clearly to be of Phœnician workmanship.
I
also constantly come upon immense quantities of mussel-shells, and it
seems as if the old inhabitants of Ilium had been very fond of this
shell-fish. Oyster-shells are also found, but only seldom; on the other
hand, I find very many fragments of pottery. As far as the depth yet
reached, all the buildings which have stood upon this hill in the
course of thousands of years seem to have been destroyed by fire; every
one of them is distinctly indicated by a layer of calcined ruins. This
is at all events the reason why I do not also find other objects, and
especially why I no longer find earthen vessels. Those I have hitherto
found uninjured are very small pots of coarse workmanship; however, the
fragments of the pottery prove that even in the time to which the ruins
belong, at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), there already existed good
kitchen utensils.{67}
In the quadrangular building already
mentioned I found, at a depth of about 5 feet, a slab of marble 25·6
inches in length, the upper part of which is 13·6 inches in breadth,
and the lower part 15·36 inches. It contains the following inscription:—
?pe?d?
??af???? ??????? ??µ??t??, d?at??ß?? pa?? t? ßas??e?, f???? ?? ?a?
e????? d?ate?e? t? d?µ?, ??e?a? pa?e??µe??? p????µ?? e?? ? ?? t?? a?t??
pa?a?a??, ded???a? t? ß???? ?a? t? d?µ? ?pa???sa? µ?? a?t?? ?p?
t??t???, pa?a?a?e?? d? ?a? e?? t? ???p?? e??a? f???t?µ?? e?? t? t??
d?µ?? s?µf????ta, ded?s?a? d? a?t? p???te?a?, p???e??a?, ???t?s??,
?t??e?a? ?? ?a? ?? p???ta? ?te?e?? e?s? ?a? ?f?d?? ?p? t?? ß????? p??t?
µet? t? ?e?? ?a? ?f???? ?a? ?µ p???µ? ?a? ?? e????? ?s??e? ?a?
?sp??de?? ??a????a? d? t? ded?µ??a a?t? ta?ta e?? st???? ?a?
(??a)?e??a? e(??....
The king spoken of in this inscription must
have been one of the kings of Pergamus, and from the character of the
writing I believe that it must be assigned to the third century before
Christ.
At about the same depth, and by the side of the
building, I found a second marble slab 16·5 inches in length and 13·4
inches in breadth. The inscription runs as follows:—
???e??
?d?sa? ?e?e??? ???aßa??? ????a?? e?e???t? ?e??µ??? a?t?? ?a? pe?? t??
??e??e??a? ??d?? ??a?? ?e??µ??? p???e??a? ?a? e?e??es?a?.
This
second inscription, to judge from the form of the letters, appears to
belong to the first century B.C. “???aßa???” here occurs for the first
time as an Attic name.
At the same depth, and likewise by the
side of the foundations of the same building, I found a third marble
slab, nearly 15 inches long and about 14 broad. Its inscription is:—{68}
????f????
G?a????? e?pe?? ?pe?d? p?e???e? t?? p???t?? ?pe????te? ?p? t?? ß?????
fas?? ?a???a? t?? teta?µ???? ?p’ ?ß?d?? e????? te e??a? t? p??e? ?a?
?????? p?esße??µ????? ?p? t?? d?µ?? p??? a?t?? ß????µe??? t? p??e?
?a???es?a? t?? p?sa? sp??d?? ?a? p?????a? p?e?s?a? ?a? t??? s??a?t?s??
a?t? t?? p???t?? f??a????p?? p??sf??es?a?, ??a ??? ?a? ? d?µ?? fa???ta?
t?? ?a?????sa? ????? ?p?d?d??? t??? p??sa????µ????? t?? p?(???).......
ded???a?.
This third inscription also appears to belong to the first century B.C.
It
is probable that the building in and around which I discovered these
three inscriptions was the Town-hall of Ilium; at all events, it does
not appear to have been a temple.
The view from the hill of
Hissarlik is extremely magnificent (plates IV and V).[84] Before me lies the glorious
Plain of Troy, which, since the recent rain, is again covered with
grass and yellow buttercups; on the north-north-west, at about an
hour’s distance, it is bounded by the Hellespont. The peninsula of
Gallipoli here runs out to a point, upon which stands a lighthouse. To
the left of it is the island of Imbros, above which rises Mount Ida of
the island of Samothrace, at present covered with snow; a little more
to the west, on the Macedonian peninsula, lies the celebrated Mount
Athos, or Monte Santo, with its monasteries, at the north-western side
of which there are still to be seen traces of that great canal which,
according to Herodotus (VII. 22-23), was made by Xerxes, in order to
avoid sailing round the stormy Cape Athos.
Plate IV: View of the northern part of the Plain of Troy, from the hill of Hissarlik.
Returning to the
Plain of Troy, we see to the right of it, upon a spur of the promontory
of Rhœteum, the sepulchral mound of Ajax; at the foot of the opposite
Cape of Sigeum that of Patroclus, and upon a spur of the same cape the
sepulchre of Achilles; to the left of{69} the latter, on the promontory
itself, is the village of Yenishehr. The Plain, which is about two
hours’ journey in breadth, is thence bounded on the west by the shores
of the Ægean, which are, on an average, about 131 feet high, and upon
which we see first the sepulchral mound of Festus, the confidential
friend of Caracalla, whom the Emperor (according to Herodian, IV.)
caused to be poisoned on his visit to Ilium, that he might be able to
imitate the funeral rites which Achilles celebrated in honour of his
friend Patroclus, as described by Homer (Iliad, XXIII.).
Then upon the
same coast there is another sepulchral mound, called Udjek-Tépé, rather
more than 78½ feet in height, which most archæologists consider to be
that of the old man Æsyetes, from which Polites, trusting to the
swiftness of his feet, watched to see when the Greek army would set
forth from the ships.[85] The distance of this mound from the Greek
camp on the Hellespont is, however, fully 3½ hours, whereas at a
distance of a quarter of an hour a man cannot be seen. Polites,
moreover, would not have required to have been very swift-footed to
have escaped at a distance of 3½ hours.
In short, from the passage in
the Iliad this tomb cannot possibly be identified with that of Æsyetes,
whether the site of ancient Troy be assigned to the heights of
Bunarbashi or to Ilium, where I am digging. Between the last-named
mounds we see projecting above the high shores of the Ægean Sea the
island of Tenedos.{70} To the south, we see the Plain of Troy,
extending again to a distance of two hours, as far as the heights of
Bunarbashi, above which rises majestically the snow-capped Gargarus of
Mount Ida, from which Jupiter witnessed the battles between the Trojans
and the Greeks.[86]
At half-an-hour’s distance to the left of
Bunarbashi is the beautiful estate of 5000 acres, whose name of Batak
is now changed into Thymbria, belonging to my friend Mr. Frederick
Calvert. It deserves the change of name for more than one reason; for
not only does the river Thymbrius (now Kemer) flow through it, but it
comprises the whole site of the ancient town of Thymbria, with its
temple of Apollo, among the ruins of which the proprietor’s brother,
Mr. Frank Calvert—known for his archæological investigations—is making
excavations, and has found several valuable inscriptions; among others,
an inventory of the temple.
This estate further comprises the site of
an ancient town, which is apparently encompassed in some places by
ramparts; it is covered with fragments of pottery, and in regard to
position, distance, &c., corresponds so closely with the statements
of Strabo that it must certainly be his “?????? ??µ?,” where, agreeing
with the theory of Demetrius of Scepsis, he places the Homeric Troy.
At
the foot of the hill containing the site, there are, curiously enough,
two springs, one of hot the other of cold water.[87] These
springs—probably owing to their natural channels having been stopped up
for centuries by a fallen bridge—have formed a large marsh of 240
acres, the evaporations of which greatly contribute to the malaria of
the glorious Plain. The marvellous circumstance that these springs
are{71} situated directly before the site of “?????? ??µ?” and that
their position corresponds so exactly with the two springs of hot and
cold water which existed in front of ancient Troy, and in which the
Trojan women used to wash their clothes, convinces Mr. Frederick
Calvert that Demetrius of Scepsis and Strabo were right, and that he
possesses the actual site of ancient Troy.
In order to gain 240 acres
of rich land and to make the district more healthy, but especially also
in the interest of science, Mr. Calvert has now caused the channels to
be opened, and he believes, as the incline is considerable, amounting
at least to 53 feet, and the distance from the Hellespont is three
hours, that by next summer the whole marsh will be dried up, and the
two springs, which are now 5 feet under water, will be brought to
light.[88]
I have in vain endeavoured to make Mr. Calvert change his
opinion, by seeking to convince him that, according to the Iliad (II.
123-30),[89] Troy must at least have had 50,000 inhabitants, whereas
the site he possesses is scarcely large enough for 10,000; further,
that the distance from the ?????? ??µ? to the Hellespont directly
contradicts the statements of Homer, for we are told that the Greek
troops in one day twice forced their way fighting from the camp to the
town, and returned twice, fighting. The distance of the town from the
ships, therefore, in my opinion, can at most have been that of one hour
(about 3 miles). Mr. Calvert replies that the whole Plain of Troy is
alluvial land, and that at the time of the Trojan war its site must
have been nearer the Hellespont; but, three years ago, in my work,
‘Ithaca, the Peloponnesus, and Troy,’ I endeavoured to prove that the
Plain of Troy is decidedly not alluvial land.
{72} Another
curiosity of this estate is, that close to the temple of Apollo there
exists a round hill, called “Chanaï Tépé,” about 32¾ feet in height,
and 216½ feet in diameter at its base. It used to be considered a
natural hill, till Mr. Frank Calvert, in the year 1856, made a cutting
in it, and found upon a flat rock, 16 feet high, a circular space,
enclosed by a wall 6½ feet in height. The whole of the inner space, as
far as the edge of the surrounding wall, was filled with calcined
bones, which the surgeons of the English fleet pronounced to be human
bones. In the centre Mr. Calvert found the skeleton of a human being.
The whole was covered with about 10 feet of earth.
The Plain of
Troy is traversed from the south-east to the north-west by the
Scamander, which is distant from Hissarlik 35 minutes’ walk, and the
bed of which I can recognise from here by the uninterrupted row of
trees growing upon its banks. Between the Scamander and Hissarlik, at a
distance of only 15 minutes from the latter, the Plain is again
intersected by the river Kalifatli-Asmak, which rises in the marshes of
Batak (Thymbria), and is filled with running water only in late autumn,
winter, and spring; but during the hot summer months, till the end of
October, it consists of an uninterrupted series of deep pools.
This
stream, even during the continual heavy winter rains, and in comparison
with its splendid and immensely broad channel, has but a very scanty
supply of water—in fact, never so much as to cover even the tenth part
of the breadth of its bed. I therefore believe that its huge bed must
at one time have been the bed of the Scamander; I believe this all the
more, as the Simoïs still flows into the Kalifatli-Asmak at a quarter
of an hour’s distance north of Ilium, where I am digging.[90]
By
identifying the channel of this river, which may be traced to the
Hellespont near Cape Rhœteum, with the most ancient{73} bed of the
Scamander, we may settle the otherwise insurmountable difficulties of
the Homeric topography of the Plain of Troy; for, had the Scamander
occupied its present bed at the time of the Trojan war, it would have
flowed through the Greek camp, and Homer would have had abundant
opportunity of speaking of this important circumstance. But as he never
mentions a river in the camp, there can, of course, have been none
there.
Moreover, the Simoïs is now half-an-hour’s distance from the
Scamander; whereas Homer frequently mentions the confluence of these
two streams before Ilium, and most of the battles took place in the
fields between Troy, the Scamander, and the Simoïs. At its confluence
with the Kalifatli-Asmak, whose enormous bed must, at one time, have
belonged to the Scamander, the Simoïs has an especially large and deep
bed, which is doubtless still the same that this stream occupied at the
time of the Trojan war.
The Kalifatli-Asmak, after its
confluence with the Scamander near the village of Kum-köi, turns to the
north-west, and flows into the sea by three arms, not very far from the
present bed of the Scamander; below the village, however, it has quite
a narrow bed, which is obviously of recent formation. Its old channel,
on the other hand, which was the ancient bed of the Scamander and is of
an immense breadth, proceeds direct northwards from Kum-köi: it is now
occupied by the water of the small rivulet called In-tépé-Asmak, which
I shall afterwards describe minutely, and empties itself, as before
said, into the Hellespont close to Cape Rhœteum.
The Scamander
did not take possession of its present bed suddenly, but very
gradually, probably in the course of many centuries; for between its
present channel and its ancient one there are three enormous
river-beds, likewise leading to the Hellespont, which possess no water
and must necessarily have been successively formed by the{74}
Scamander, as there is no other river here that could have formed them.
To
the north-north-east, I overlook another plain, called Chalil-Owasi,
half an hour in breadth and 1½ hour in length, which is traversed by
the Simoïs and extends to the hill upon which are the mighty ruins of
the ancient city of Ophrynium. The coins which have been found there
leave no doubt about this. There, close to the Simoïs, was Hector’s
(so-called) tomb, and a grove sacred to his memory.[91]
Fig.41: A great mixing Vessel (??at??), of Terra-cotta, with 4 Handles,
about 1 ft. 5 in. high, and nearly 1 ft. 9 in. in diameter (7 M.). (See
see p. 157, 262). {75}
Footnotes:
[83] The various forms of the whorls are shown in the lithographed plates at the end of the volume.
[84] See Plate IV. View of the Northern part of the Plain of Troy.
[85] Homer, Iliad, II. 790-794:—
Ἀγχοῦ δ’ ἱσταμένη προσέφη πόδας ὠκέα Ἶρις·
Εἴσατο δὲ φθογγὴν υἷϊ Πριάμοιο Πολίτῃ,
Ὃς Τρώων σκοπὸς ἵζε, ποδωκείῃσι πεποιθὼς,
Τύμβῳ ἐπ’ ἀκροτάτῳ Αἰσυήταο γέροντος,
Δέγμενος ὁππότε ναῦφιν ἀφορμηθεῖεν Ἀχαιοί—
“Swift Iris stood amidst them, and the voice
Assuming of Polites, Priam’s son,
The Trojan scout, who, trusting to his speed,
Was posted on the summit of the mound
Of ancient Æsyetes, there to watch
Till from their ships the Grecian troops should march—”
[86]
See Plate V., View of the South-eastern part of the Plain of Troy. The
word “perpetual” (ewigem) in reference to the snow on Ida is omitted at
the desire of the Author, who has ascertained that the summit is clear
of snow in July and August.—[Ed.]
[87] The difference of temperature in the springs seems to have been disproved afterwards. (See Chapter V., p. 92.)—[Ed.]
[88] This work has now been done. See ‘Introduction,’ p. 51.
[89]
The ‘Introduction’ has already shown how Dr. Schliemann changed his
opinion as to the magnitude of Troy. Compare also Chapter XXIII. It is
hard to see how the vague poetic language of the passage cited
furnishes any data for the computation in the text.—[Ed.]
[90] See the Map.
[91] Lycophron’s Cassandra; Virgil’s Æneid, III., 302-305; Strabo, XIII., 1.
[Continue to Chapter 3]
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