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Chapter 5:
On the Hill of Hissarlik, November 24th, 1871.
SINCE my last report, of the 18th and 21st instant, I have had three days’ work in spite of the continual wet
weather; but unfortunately I find myself now compelled to cease the
excavations for the winter, intending to begin again on the 1st of
April, 1872. It is not likely that winter will set in before the middle
of December, and I should gladly have continued my work till then, in
spite of the rain, especially as I now most firmly believe that I am
already among the ruins of Troy. Since the day before yesterday, I find
on the whole extent of my excavations scarcely anything but large
stones—sometimes hewn, sometimes unhewn—and some of them are enormous
blocks. This morning, for instance, I worked for three hours with 65
workmen in removing a single threshold by means of ropes and rollers.
I
have been obliged to abandon the two large side-passages, when already
at a depth of 23 feet, and I have since caused all the rubbish and
small stones to be brought in baskets and wheel-barrows through the
large exit-channel, and thrown down at its end upon the sides of the
steep declivity. This channel—the walls of which have a slope of 67½
degrees—is now, at the present depth of 33 feet,{91} no longer wide
enough for carrying away such enormous blocks of stone, and it must
first of all be made at least 13 feet wider. This is, however, a
gigantic piece of work, which, owing to the daily rain, I dare not
venture to begin with winter close upon me.
On account of the
many huge stones, no terra-cottas were found either yesterday or on the
preceding day. To day, however, during the last hour’s work, I found a
small pot, only about 2 inches high, with three feet; the whole of the
upper portion is in the form of a globe, and is divided into five large
and five small fields, changing alternately in regular succession. All
of the large fields are filled with imprinted little stars. The mouth
or opening is only about 1/3 of an inch in diameter. I presume that
this small and wonderful Trojan vessel was used by ladies for holding
scented oil, which we know was applied after the bath. It cannot have
been used as a lamp, for Homer, who lived 200 years after the
destruction of Troy, does not as yet know of lamps. I also found this
morning two copper arrow-heads, and one of those small terra-cotta
“volcanoes,” which for some days have been less frequently met with.
Further, a small leaden plate, nearly an inch and a half in length as
well as in breadth, with the character cane-like in the centre and a
hole in one corner, which leaves no doubt that the small piece used to
be hung up.
Although the word ???fe?? only occurs twice in
Homer, and both times only signifies “to scratch into,” yet I am firmly
convinced that an alphabetical language was known in ancient Troy, and
I cherish the hope of being able next spring to discover inscriptions
and other monuments, which will leave no doubt, that, since yesterday,
at the depth of 33 feet,[100] I have begun to uncover the ruins of the
city of Troy, so long looked for theoretically and{92} now at last
practically. All the objects that I find, I shall, of course, describe
in the most faithful and careful manner.
My excavations at the
village of the Ilians (?????? ??µ?), as was to be expected, have
decidedly turned out unfavourable for Strabo and Demetrius of Scepsis;
for the steep continuous elevation contains no trace of walls, and
consists of coarse sand without the slightest admixture of débris.
Neither do I believe, contrary to the assertion of the proprietor of
Thymbria, my worthy friend Mr. Frederick Calvert, in the existence of a
hot spring at the foot of the hill of the ?????? ??µ?, for I have now
searched the whole marsh, with a thermometer in my hand, and I nowhere
find, either in the stagnant or the running water, the faintest
difference in temperature. Of cold springs there are certainly more
than one, but it will be impossible to state how many till the marsh
has been thoroughly drained; it consists at present of floating islands.
Now
when I collect the result of my excavations:—I found close to the
surface only, and in rare cases as far as a depth of 1 meter (3¼ feet),
copper medals of Sigeum, Alexandria Troas, and Ilium—the latter
belonging to the first centuries before and after Christ; then small
solid round articles of terra-cotta, like lamps, with two holes, which
occur in great numbers, as far as a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet). These,
however, have no ornaments except the potter’s stamp, in which there is
sometimes an altar with a bee or fly above it, sometimes a child with
its hands stretched forth, sometimes two horses, sometimes a bull or a
swan.
Below this depth they cease all at once.[101] In place
of them I found, at depths of from 2 to 10 meters (6½ to 33 feet), the
often described terra-cottas in the form of small volcanoes,
humming-tops or whorls, which, at a depth{93} of 3 meters only (nearly
10 feet), were frequently met with in blue stone, but were in all other
cases of terra-cotta, and almost all of them with decorations. At 6½
feet below the surface I found a Roman well, which I dug out to a depth
of more than 36 feet, but which seems to be sunk down as far as the
Plain. At all depths we met with many mussel-shells, boars’ tusks, and
fish-bones; but the bones of sharks only at the depth of from 11 to 13
feet below the surface.
The ruins of houses built of hewn
stone, joined with cement or lime, seldom extend lower than 3¼ feet,
and the ruins of buildings built of large hewn stones not joined by any
kind of cement, never below 6½ feet: visitors to the Plain of Troy can
convince themselves of this with theirown eyes, by looking at the
walls of my cuttings. From a depth of 3 to 4 meters (6½ to 13 feet)
downwards, we met with few or no stones; and the calcined ruins of
innumerable layers of débris seem to prove that all of the buildings
which existed there during the course of centuries were built of wood,
and were destroyed by fire. Consequently in these depths I have
hitherto only found fragments of good earthenware; the only things
brought out in an uninjured condition were small pots of the coarsest
description.
Figs. 56-57:
Stone Implements of the earliest Settlers (11m and 14m depth.). An Axe and Hammer of Diorite.
At a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), I found a
fragment of pottery with a drawing of a bust, of Phœnician workmanship.
Directly upon it were an immense quantity of stone implements and
weapons of hard black stone, which continued to a depth of 7 meters (23
feet). Simultaneously with these, but extending to a depth of 10 meters
(33 feet), I found elegant pottery of one colour and without any kind
of ornament beyond the owl’s face; small pots and vases of a larger
size with three little feet; then, but only as far as a depth of 23
feet, the Priapus of terra-cotta in its natural form, and also in the
form of a pillar rounded off at the top.
Figs.58-61: Stone Implements of the earliest Settlers (11m and 14m depth) Figs.58, 59, 60: Knives of White
Silex. Fig.61: Probably an Arrow-head.
From 4 to 7 meters
(13 to 23 feet) deep, there were a great many flint knives, the
majority of which have the shape of saws, or{94} consist only of sharp
pieces, rarely in the form of blades; needles and little spoons made of
bone, as well as an enormous number of terra-cotta discs with a hole
through the centre; and two copper nails. As is proved by the numerous
house-walls which I have cut through in these depths, many of which are
in the earth-wall of my excavations, the houses were built of small
stones joined with earth. From 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet), I found
a great many copper nails, frequently 5 inches in length, and a few
lances and{95} battle-axes of elegant workmanship.
At every
foot of earth that we dig down, after a depth of 23 feet, we find the
traces of a much higher civilization; stone weapons are still
occasionally met with, but they are of splendid workmanship. I found
many copper knives, but also immense numbers of flint knives (figs.58-61), which,
however, are incomparably better made than those of the preceding
strata. We also found, although not often, very sharp double-edged
knife-blades of obsidian, 2¾ inches in length.
The pots and
vases continue to be more elegant (figs.62-63); there were also bright red
vase-covers in the form of a bell with a coronet above, or like
gigantic champagne glasses with two large handles; very many elegant
vessels with or without three little feet, but with little rings on the
sides and holes in the mouth in the same direction, so that they could
not only stand, but also be carried on a cord; likewise a number of
very small vases with three little feet. All the terra-cottas are of a
brilliant red, yellow, green, or black colour; only the very large urns
are colourless. From 2 to 10 meters deep (6½-33 feet) we note the
complete absence of painting. At a depth{96} of 7½ meters (24¾ feet)
was a small terra-cotta disc with five letters, which I consider to be
Phœnician; at 28 feet one of those frequently mentioned terra-cottas in
the form of a top with six written characters. At the same depth, upon
a stone, one letter, which to all appearance belongs to a different
language; and lastly, at a depth of 10 meters, or 33 English feet, a
leaden plate with one letter.
Fig.62 (left): Small Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta, with Decorations (8m depth).
Fig.63 (right): A Trojan Vase-cover of red
Terra-cotta (7m depth).
Now as regards the construction of
the houses belonging to the strata at a depth of from 7 to 10 meters
(23 to 33 feet), only the foundations and thresholds were composed of
large stones—as anyone may convince himself by a glance at the earthen
walls of my excavations. The house-walls, on the other hand, were
composed of unburnt sun-dried bricks. At a depth of 10 meters (33
feet), I again found the buildings to be of stone, but of colossal
proportions. Most of the stones are very large, many of them hewn, and
we meet with a great many massive blocks. It appears to me that I have
already brought to light several walls at this depth; but I have
unfortunately not yet succeeded in arriving at an opinion as to how
they were actually built and what their thickness was. The stones of
the walls seem to me to have been separated from one another by a
violent earthquake. I have hitherto seen no trace of any kind of cement
between them, either of clay or lime.
Of the terrible
difficulties of the excavations, where such large pieces of stone are
met with, only those can have any idea who have been present at the
work and have seen how much time and trouble it takes, especially
during the present rainy weather—first to get out the small stones
round one of the many immense blocks, then to dig out the block itself,
to get the lever under it, to heave it up and roll it through the mud
of the channel to the steep declivity.
But these difficulties
only increase my desire, after so many disappointments, to reach the
great goal which is at{97} last lying before me, to prove that the
Iliad is founded on facts, and that the great Greek nation must not be
deprived of this crown of her glory. I shall spare no trouble and shun
no expense to attain this result.
Fig.64 (left): A stone Implement of unknown use. Wt. 472 grams. (2m depth).
Fig.65 (right): A strange Vessel of
Terra-cotta (15m depth).
I must still draw attention to
the remarkable growth of this hill. The huge square stones of the
foundations of the house on the summit of the hill (where I found the
inscription which appears to belong to the third century B.C.), which
in its day must have been on the surface, are now in some places only
13 inches, in others only 3¼ feet below the earth. But as the colossal
ruins, which I positively maintain to be those of ancient Troy, lie at
a depth of 33 feet, the accumulation of débris on this part must have
amounted to more than 30 feet during the first 1000 years, and only
from 1 to 3 feet during the last 2000 years.
But, strange to
say, on the north side of the hill, with its steep declivity, at the
place where I am digging, the thickness of the hill has not increased
in the slightest degree. For not only do the ruins of the innumerable
habitations in all cases extend to the extreme edge of the declivity,
but I also find up to this point the same objects that I find on the
same horizontal line as far as the opposite end of my excavations.
Hence it is interesting to know that the declivity of the hill on the
north side was exactly as steep at the time of the Trojan war as it is
now, namely, that even at that time it rose at an angle of 40 degrees.
Footnotes:
[100] This refers to the lowest of the strata, which Dr. Schliemann long took for the ruins of the Homeric Troy.—{Ed.}
[101] A few, however, were afterwards found in lower strata, at 6 and even 8 meters. (See p. 295.)—{Ed.}
[Continue to Chapter 6]
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