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Chapter 22
,
{300}
Pergamus of Troy, May 10th, 1873.
In the palace of
Priam I further met with four marble and three bone idols, with the
owl’s head of the tutelar goddess of Troy: one of the bone idols is
painted with a{312} white colour. I likewise discovered there ten
marble idols, without the owl’s head; also the fragment of a sword, as
well as of a lance, a knife, and some copper implements; further, a
dozen long, thin copper nails, which must have served as hair or dress
pins; besides these, a packet of five dress pins, which have been
molten together in the heat of the conflagration: one of the pins has
two heads, one above the other, the lower head being perfectly round. I
also discovered here a perforated cylinder, 1¾ inch long, made of blue
felspar, and ornamented all round with extremely remarkable engraved
symbols. I there also discovered an extremely curious ivory article,
which must be part of a musical instrument;[268] six sling bullets of
loadstone and an arrow-head.
 No. 225. Five Copper Dress Pins, molten together by the conflagration. From the Palace (8 M.).
No. 226. Engraved Cylinder of blue Felspar. From the Palace (9 M.).
No. 227. Terra-cotta, engraved with ten rude Owls’ Faces. From the Palace (8 M.).[269]
Of
210 whorls found in the Palace adorned with Aryan religious symbols,
there are 60 with engravings that I have not hitherto met with, and
three terra-cotta balls with{313} symbolical signs. One of these is
especially remarkable[270]: it has ten roughly-engraved owls’ faces, so
coarsely drawn that I should not even know them to be owls’ faces, were
it not that I have occasionally found just as rude representations of
the owl’s head upon idols. I also discovered in the same house six
beautifully-polished axes of diorite; also one of those round
twice-perforated terra-cottas, arched on both sides and flattened on
the edge of one side, the whole of this flat side being filled with a
stamp bearing the impression of an eagle and a stag or an antelope;
further, four of those frequently-described large red goblets, round
below and with two large handles, which can only stand on the mouth.
These four goblets are, unfortunately, all broken, and I shall not be
able to have them repaired till I return to Athens.
I now
venture positively to maintain that these goblets, which, from my
former reports and drawings are known to be from 5 to nearly 16 inches
high, must necessarily be the Homeric “d?pa ?µf???pe??a,” and that the
usual interpretation of these words by “double cups, with a common
bottom in the centre,” is entirely erroneous. It really appears as if
this wrong translation arose solely through Aristotle; for, as is clear
from his Hist. Anim. (9, 40), there were in his time double cups with a
common bottom in the centre; and, in fact, many years ago it is said
that such a cup was discovered in Attica, and bought by the Museum in
Copenhagen. But in the Homeric Troy there were no such cups, otherwise
I should have found them. As already remarked in one of my previous
reports (p. 129), I found on the primary soil, at a depth of from 46 to
52½ feet, several fragments of brilliant black goblets, which I then
considered to be fragments of double cups, because there{314} was a
hollow upon both sides of the bottom; but the one hollow was in all
cases quite small in comparison with the other, and must, therefore,
have been in the foot of the cup. If d?pa? ?µf???pe???? means double
cup, then ?µf?f??e?? must mean double urn, which is not possible either
in the Iliad (XIII. 92), the Odyssey (XXIV. 74), or elsewhere in Homer;
moreover, it has never occurred to anyone to translate it otherwise
than “urn with two handles;” consequently, d?pa? ?µf???pe???? cannot be
translated otherwise than by “cup with two handles.” As an actual
double cup can, of course, only be filled on one side at a time, Homer
would certainly never have constantly described the filled cup as a
double cup, for there would have been no sense in the name. By the term
?µf???pe????, however, he wished to signify that the filled cup was
presented by one handle and accepted by the other handle. Interpreted
in this manner, there is a great deal of meaning in the name.[271]
The
palace of King Priam furnished me also with two large fragments of a
large brilliant yellow urn, adorned in the most beautiful manner with
engraved decorations. Among others, it has several rows of circles
running round it, in each of which there is a triple cross. The
elegance of the vessel is enhanced by the broad handles, which also
have circles with triple crosses. In the king’s palace I also
discovered the handle of a vessel, broken off; it is 4¼ inches long,
and in the form of a serpent.
In the upper and more recent
house, above the Scæan Gate, I found the vase here represented, which
is pointed below, has two handles and decorations in the form of
spectacles (No. 228); also the beautiful vase, with four handles and a
lid (No. 229); the large jug, with one large and two small handles (No.
230); and a number of other vases and{315} jugs which I shall not
describe, as they have already been frequently met with. Of idols with
owls’ faces I have found only one. There also I discovered many
fragments of those large red goblets with two handles, which I now
recognise to be the Homeric d?pa? ?µf???pe????.
No. 228. Terra-cotta Vase, with a curious Decoration. From the upper and later House above the Scæan Gate (6 M.).
No. 229. Terra-cotta Vase, with four Handles and a Lid. From the upper House above the Scæan Gate (6 M.).
No. 230. A great Jug, with Handle and two Ears. From the upper House above the Scæan Gate (6 M.).
As
the excavation above the Scæan Gate is finished, I am now again
vigorously at work on the great platform on the north side, which I
have lately had worked whenever I had workmen{316} to spare. We now
come upon several houses there at a depth of from 33 to 20 feet; also,
as it seems, upon a great wall of fortification in the lower strata.
As
it is extremely important to know what were the fortifications on the
west and north-west of the Pergamus at the time of the Trojan war, and
as I see another wall, 11½ feet thick, running in a north-western
direction from the Scæan Gate, which however it is impossible to follow
from this side,—during the last eight days I have been making a
cutting, 33 feet broad and 141 long, on the north-west side of the
hill, at the point where, in April 1870, I made the first cutting,
which therefore my men call ? µ?µµ? t?? ??as?af?? ("the grandmother of
the excavations”). I am having the débris removed simultaneously by a
small platform, made at a depth of 34¼ feet on the declivity of the
hill, and by three galleries. The distance is not great, and the
wheel-barrows proceed across level ground, and moreover the débris here
is very light, and only requires to be thrown down the declivity; so
the work advances very rapidly. Upon the lower platform I came upon the
surrounding wall built by Lysimachus, which is 13 feet high and 10 feet
thick, and is composed of large hewn blocks of limestone laid upon one
another without any kind of cement. I have just finished breaking
through this wall. Directly behind it I came upon an older wall, 8¾
feet high and 6 feet thick, which is composed of large hewn stones
joined with earth, and which of course I am also having broken through.
This second wall is immediately followed by that wall of large hewn
stones which I laid bare three years ago, and which I have hitherto
regarded as a bastion; it is, however, probable that it will prove to
be something else, and I shall describe it in detail in my next report.
This
part of the Pergamus was evidently much lower in ancient times; as
seems to be proved not only by the surrounding wall, which must at one
time have risen{317} to a considerable height above the surface of the
hill, whereas it is now covered with 16½ feet of débris, but also by
the remains of the Hellenic period, which here extend down to a great
depth. It appears, in fact, as if the rubbish and refuse of habitations
had been thrown down here for centuries, in order to increase the
height of the place. This also explains how it is that I find here a
quantity of small but interesting objects from the Greek period. Among
others are 24 heads of terra-cotta figures, 17 of which are of great
beauty; also a great number of other fragments of statuettes of the
same description, which display skilful workmanship; a terra-cotta slab
5½ inches in length, upon which is a representation of a woman; also
eight small terra-cotta slabs, nearly 2 inches in length, upon which I
find very curious and to me utterly unknown objects in high
relief.[272] I also found here the fragments of some vessels of
exquisite workmanship; two beautifully decorated lamps; and a leaden
plate, 2¾ inches long and broad, with a pig’s head in bas-relief,
which, as I conjecture, may have been a coin. We also discovered here a
vessel 28¾ inches long, of an extremely fanciful shape, with a long and
very thin foot, a long thin neck, and two enormous handles.
No. 231. A remarkable Terra-cotta Cup (4 M.).
Upon
the great platform, at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), we found a very
remarkable cup, which has a handle, and in its hollow foot four oval
holes, pierced opposite to one another. Last year I repeatedly found
the feet of cups of this sort at a depth of from 46 to 52½ feet, but
hitherto I have never met with an entire goblet of this form.{318}
As
I no longer require the surface of the Tower for removing the débris, I
have had it quite cleared, and I find in the centre of it a depression,
45¼ feet long, from 8¼ to 14¾ feet broad, and barely 3 feet deep, which
may have been used for the archers.[273] It has now become evident to
me that what I last year considered to be the ruins of a second storey
of the Great Tower are only benches made of stones joined with earth,
three of which may be seen rising behind one another like steps.[274]
From this, as well as from the walls of the Tower and those of the
Scæan Gate, I perceive that the Tower never can have been higher than
it now is.
The excavations of the north side of the field
belonging to Mr. Calvert, which I opened to discover other sculptures,
have been stopped for some time, as I can no longer come to terms with
him. At present, I have only two foremen, for I was obliged to dismiss
Georgios Photidas, three weeks ago, for urgent reasons.
In
conclusion, I have to mention that, during the Greek Easter festival,
accompanied by my esteemed friend, Judge Schells of Ratisbon, and my
wife, I visited Bunarbashi and the neighbouring heights. In their
presence, I made some small excavations, and I have proved that even in
the village the accumulation of débris amounts only to 1¾ foot in the
court-yards of the buildings, and that upon and beside the street there
is nothing but the virgin earth; further, that upon the small site of
Gergis, at the end of the heights, which was formerly regarded as
identical with Troy, the naked rock projects everywhere; and besides,
in the accumulation of débris, which nowhere amounts to 1¾ foot in the
town itself, and to only a little more in the Acropolis, I found
nothing but fragments of pottery from the Hellenic period, that is,
from the third and fifth centuries {319}B.C.
I must also add
that I now positively retract my former opinion, that Ilium was
inhabited up to the ninth century after Christ, and I must distinctly
maintain that its site has been desolate and uninhabited since the end
of the fourth century. I had allowed myself to be deceived by the
statements of my esteemed friend, Mr. Frank Calvert, of the
Dardanelles, who maintained that there were documents to prove that the
place had been inhabited up to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
after Christ. Such documents, if they really do exist, must necessarily
refer to Alexandria Troas, which is always, as for instance in the New
Testament, simply called Troas; for on its site quantities of Byzantine
antiquities are found even on the surface, which seem to prove that the
city was inhabited up to the fourteenth century, or still longer. Here
in Ilium, on the other hand, there is no trace of Byzantine
architecture, of Byzantine sculpture, of Byzantine pottery, or of
Byzantine coins. Altogether I found only two copper medals of Byzantine
monasteries, which may have been lost by shepherds. I found hundreds of
coins belonging to the time of Constantine the Great, Constans II., but
no medals whatever of the later emperors.
As hitherto it was in
the Pergamus alone that I found no trace of the Byzantine period, I
thought that it was only the fortress that was uninhabited during that
period, but that the region of the city had been occupied. But my
fifteen shafts, which I am having made on the most various points of
the site of Ilium, as well as the two shafts made upon the primary
soil, prove, as anyone may convince himself, that below the surface
there is no trace of the Byzantine period, nay that, beyond a very thin
layer of earth, which however only exists in some parts, the ruins of
the Greek period extend up to the very surface, and that in several of
the shafts I came upon the walls of Greek houses even on the
surface.{320}
It is impossible that a Byzantine town or a
Byzantine village, nay, that even a single Byzantine house, can have
stood upon this hilly and stone-hard ground, which covers the ruins of
a primeval city, without leaving the most distinct traces of its
existence, for here, where for nine or ten months of the year it never
rains, except during rare thunderstorms, the productions of human
industry do not become weather-beaten and destroyed, as in other
countries where there is frequent rain. The very fragments of
sculptures and inscriptions, which I find here in the Pergamus and in
the other districts of the city, upon the surface, and which have lain
exposed to the open air for at least 1500 years, are still almost as
fresh as if they had been made yesterday.
Trusting to the
statements of Mr. Frank Calvert, and under the impression that Ilium
had been inhabited for a long time under the Byzantine dominion, I
described the wall, composed of Corinthian pillars and cement, 10 feet
thick, and which gave me so much trouble to break through at the
south-east corner of the Pergamus, as of Byzantine architecture. (Pp.
230, 250.) I am now, however, forced to believe that the Temple of
Athena, to which these pillars belong, was destroyed by the religious
zeal of the first Christians as early as the reign of Constantine the
Great, or at latest during that of Constantine II., and that this wall
was built of its ruins about the same time.
No. 232 (8 M.). No. 233 (7 M.).
Curious
Terra-cottas from the Trojan Stratum. Dr. Schliemann takes No. 232 for
a pair of pegs for hanging up clothes. No. 233 is a strange animal
figure, solid, except for a tube passing through the body and open at
both ends, so that it cannot have been a vessel. Dr. Schliemann thinks
it may represent the chimæra (Iliad, VI. 179, foll., “In front a lion,
behind a serpent, and in the middle a chimæra”). In one sense,
certainly, the name seems appropriate.
{321}
PLATE XIII.
Samothrace.
Imbros. Dr. Schliemann’s Houses. Plain of Troy, seen through the great
Trench. Later but Pre-Hellenic Buildings, partly over the Ruins of
Priam’s Palace. TOWER OF ILIUM. Paved Road. Wall of Troy, Scæan Gate,
and Paved Road to the Plain. a Place where the Treasure was found.
Greek Tower (where the man stands). Scamander. Plain of Troy.
Hellespont.
Page 321.
THE SCÆAN GATE AND PAVED ROAD, THE TOWER OF ILIUM, CITY WALL, PALACE OF PRIAM, AND THE WALLS OF A TOWER OF THE GREEK AGE.
From the South-East.
Footnotes:
[268] See the illustration, No. 7, p. 25.
[269] This looks very much like the signet-cylinders of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings.—[Ed.]
[270]
This is drawn as a whorl, and is so called by Dr. Schliemann in a
letter, informing us that it is found to bear an Inscription. It is not
described in the letter-press to the Photographs.—[Ed.]
[271]
Thus Hephæstus places a d?pa? ?µf???pe???? in the hand of his mother,
Hera, and she takes it from his hand (Homer’s Iliad, I. 584-5,
596).—[Ed.]
[272] See the Cuts placed as headings to the “Table of Contents,” and “List of Illustrations.”
[273] See Plan II., and Plan III. on p. 306, at the mark b.
[274] See Plan II., and c on Plan III., p. 306. Compare p. 213.
[Continue to Chapter 23]
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