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Chapter 23 part A
{322}
Troy, June 17th, 1873.
SINCE
my report of the 10th of last month I have been especially anxious to
hasten the great excavation on the north-west side of the hill, and for
this purpose I have made a deep cutting on the west side also, in
which, unfortunately, I came obliquely upon the enclosing wall of
Lysimachus, which is 13 feet high and 10 feet thick. I was therefore
compelled to break out from this wall a double quantity of stones in
order to gain an entrance; but I again came upon the ruins of colossal
buildings of the Hellenic and pre-Hellenic periods, so that this
excavation can only proceed slowly. Here, at a distance of 69 feet from
the declivity of the hill, at a depth of 20 feet, I met with an ancient
enclosure 5 feet high, and with a projecting battlement. It is not
connected with the wall which runs out from the Scæan Gate in a
north-westerly direction, and, on account of its very different
structure and small height, it must belong to a post-Trojan period. In
any case, however, it is much older than the Greek colony, because it
is built of stones and earth, and because I found by the side of it
several marble idols of the tutelar goddess of Ilium. I am,
unfortunately, obliged to break down a portion of this wall to a length
of 17½ feet, in order to proceed further, but I have left standing
nearly 8 feet of the part I have excavated, so that the wall may be
examined. Behind it I found a level place paved partly with large flags
of stone, partly with stones more or less hewn, and after this a wall
of fortification 20 feet high and 5 feet thick, built of large stones
and earth; it runs below my wooden house, but 6½ feet above the Trojan
city wall which proceeds from the Scæan Gate.
In the new large
excavation on the north-west side, which is connected with the one I
have just been describing, I have convinced myself that the splendid
wall of large hewn stones, which I uncovered in April 1870, belongs
to{323} a tower, the lower projecting part of which must have been
built during the first period of the Greek colony, whereas its upper
portion seems to belong to the time of Lysimachus. (See Plate XIII.) To
this tower also belongs the wall that I mentioned in my last report as
9 feet high and 6 feet broad, and as continuous with the surrounding
wall of Lysimachus; and so does the wall of the same dimensions,
situated 49 feet from it, which I have likewise broken through. Behind
the latter, at a depth of from 26 to 30 feet, I uncovered the Trojan
city wall which runs out from the Scæan Gate.
In excavating this
wall further and directly by the side of the palace of King Priam,[275]
I came upon a large copper article of the most remarkable form, which
attracted my attention all the more as I thought I saw gold behind it.
On the top of this copper article lay a stratum of red and calcined
ruins, from 4¾ to 5¼ feet thick, as hard as stone, and above this again
lay the above-mentioned wall of fortification (6 feet broad and 20 feet
high) which was built of large stones and earth, and must have belonged
to an early date after the destruction of Troy. In order to withdraw
the Treasure from the greed of my workmen, and to save it for
archæology, I had to be most expeditious, and although it was not yet
time for breakfast, I immediately had “païdos” called. This is a word
of uncertain derivation, which has passed over into Turkish, and is
here employed in place of ???pa?s??, or time for rest. While the men
were eating and resting, I cut out the Treasure with a large knife,
which it was impossible to do without the very greatest exertion and
the most fearful risk of my life, for the great fortification-wall,
beneath which I had to dig, threatened every moment to fall down upon
me. But the sight of so many objects, every one of which is of
inestimable value to archæology, made me foolhardy, and I never thought
of any danger. It would, however, have been impossible{324} for me to
have removed the Treasure without the help of my dear wife, who stood
by me ready to pack the things which I cut out in her shawl and to
carry them away.[276]
The first thing I found was a large copper
shield (the ?sp?? ?µfa??essa of Homer) in the form of an oval salver,
in the middle of which is a knob or boss encircled by a small furrow
(a??a?). This shield is a little less than 20 inches in length; it is
quite flat, and surrounded by a rim (??t??) 1½ inch high; the boss
(?µfa???) is 2-1/3 inches high and 4-1/3 inches in diameter; the furrow
encircling it is 7 inches in diameter and 2/5 of an inch deep.[277]
 {325}
PLATE XIV.
No. 235.—Great Copper Caldron (??ß??).
No. 234.—A Copper Shield with a boss (?sp?? ?µfa??essa).
THE TREASURE OF PRIAM.
Page 324.
PLATE XV.
No. 236.—Curious Plate of Copper (perhaps a Hasp
of the Chest), with Discs fixed on one end, and a Silver Vase welded to
the other by the conflagration.
No. 237.—Bottle of pure Gold, weighing about 1 lb. Troy.
No. 238. Cup of pure Gold, panelled, weighing 7½ oz. Troy.
THE TREASURE OF PRIAM.
Page 325.
The
second object which I got out was a copper caldron with two horizontal
handles, which certainly gives us an idea of the Homeric ??ß??; it is
16½ inches in diameter and 5½ inches high; the bottom is flat, and is
nearly 8 inches in diameter.[278]
The third object was a copper
plate 2/5 of an inch thick, 6-1/3 inches broad, and 17-1/3 inches long;
it has a rim about 1/12 of an inch high; at one end of it there are two
immovable wheels with an axle-tree. This plate is very much bent in two
places, but I believe that these curvatures have been produced by the
heat to which the article was exposed in the conflagration; a silver
vase 4¾ inches high and broad has been fused to it; I suppose, however,
that this also happened by accident in the heat of the fire.[279] The
fourth article I brought out was a copper vase 5½ inches high and 4-1/3
inches in diameter. Thereupon followed a globular bottle of the purest
gold, weighing 403 grammes (6220 grains, or above 1 lb. troy); it is
nearly 6 inches high and 5½ 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 226 grammes (7¼ oz. troy); it is 3½ inches high and 3 inches
broad.[280]
{326}
PLATE XVI.
No. 239.—Outside View of the Two-handled Gold Cup.
No. 240.—Inside View of the Two-handled Gold Cup.
REMARKABLE TWO-HANDLED CUP OF PURE GOLD (d?pa? ?µf???pe????).
Weighing about 1 lb. 6 oz. Troy.
THE TREASURE OF PRIAM.
Page 326.
Next
came another cup of the purest gold, weighing exactly 600 grammes
(about 1 lb. 6 oz. troy);[281] it is 3½ inches high, 7¼ inches long,
and 7-1/5 inches broad; it is in the form of a ship with two large
handles; on one side there is a mouth, 1-1/5 inch broad, for drinking
out of, and another at the other side, which is 2¾ inches broad, and,
as my esteemed friend Professor Stephanos Kumanudes, of Athens,
remarks, the person who presented the filled cup may have first drunk
from the small mouth, as a mark of respect, to let the guest drink from
the larger mouth.[282] This vessel has a foot which projects about 1/12
of an inch, and is 1-1/3 inch long, and 4/5 of an inch broad. It is
assuredly the Homeric d?pa? ?µf???pe????. But I adhere to my
supposition that all of those tall and brilliant red goblets of
terra-cotta, in the form of champagne-glasses with two enormous
handles, are also d?pa ?µf???pe??a, and that this form probably existed
in gold also. I must further make an observation which is very
important for the history of art, that the above-mentioned gold d?pa?
?µf???pe???? is of cast gold, and{327} that the large handles, which
are not solid, have been fused on to it. On the other hand the gold
bottle and the gold cup mentioned above have been wrought with the
hammer.
No. 241. Bronze Cup used in China for Libations and Drinking.
The
Treasure further contained a small cup of gold alloyed with 20 per
cent. of silver, that is, the mixed metal called electrum.[283] It
weighs 70 grammes (2¼ oz. troy), and is above 3 inches high, and above
2½ inches broad. Its foot is only 4/5 of an inch high and nearly an
inch broad, and is{328} moreover not quite straight, so that the cup
appears to be meant only to stand upon its mouth.
I also found
in the Treasure six pieces of the purest silver in the form of large
knife-blades, having one end rounded, and the other cut into the form
of a crescent; they have all been wrought with the hammer.[284] The two
larger blades are nearly 8½ inches long and 2 inches broad, and weigh
respectively 190 and 183 grammes. The next two pieces are about 7¼
inches long and 1½ broad, and weigh respectively 174 and 173 grammes.
The two other pieces are nearly 7 inches long and 1-1/5 inch broad, and
weigh respectively 173 and 171 grammes.[285] It is extremely probable
that these are the Homeric talents (t??a?ta), which could only have
been small, as, for instance, when Achilles offers for the first prize
a woman, for the second a horse, for the third a caldron, and for the
fourth two gold talents.[286]
{329}
PLATE XVII.
No. 242.—Six Blades of Silver (Homeric Talents?).
Nos. 243 & 244.—Two Silver Vases, with caps, and rings for suspending cords.
No. 245.—A Silver Dish (f????), with a boss in the centre.
No. 246.—A Silver Cup, 3-1/3 in. high and nearly 4 in. wide.
THE TREASURE OF PRIAM.
Page 328.
PLATE XVIII.
Noo. 247.—A small Silver Cover.
No. 248.—A small Cup of Electrum, (i.e. 4 parts of Gold to 1 of Silver).
No. 249.—Large Silver Jug, with handle, in which the small Ornaments were found.
No. 250.—Has part of another Silver Vase welded to it by the fire.
No. 251.—Silver Vase with a quantity of copper fixed to its bottom by the fire.
VESSELS OF SILVER AND ELECTRUM.
THE TREASURE OF PRIAM.
Page 329.
{330}
I
also found in the Treasure three great silver vases, the largest of
which is above 8¼ inches high and nearly 8 inches in diameter, and has
a handle 5½ inches in length and 3½ in breadth.[287] The second vase is
6·9 inches high and nearly 6 inches in diameter; another silver vase is
welded to the upper part of it, of which, however, only portions have
been preserved.[288] The third vase is above 7 inches high and above 6
inches in diameter; the foot of the vase has a great deal of copper
fused onto it, which must have dripped from the copper objects
contained in the Treasure during the conflagration.[289] All of the
three vases are perfectly round below, and therefore cannot stand
upright without resting against something.
I found, further, a
silver goblet above 3-1/3 inches high, the mouth of which is nearly 4
inches in diameter; also a silver flat cup or dish (f????) 5½ 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 it up by strings, is nearly 8 inches high with its hat-shaped
lid, and 3½ inches in diameter across the bulge. The smaller silver
vase, with a ring on either side for suspension by a string, is about
6¾ inches high, with its lid, and above 3 inches broad.[290]
No.
252. No. 253. No.
254. No. 255. No. 256.
Trojan Lance-Heads of Copper.—TR.
No. 256. Copper Lance and Battle-Axe welded together by the Conflagration. The Pin-hole of the Lance is visible.—TR.
No. 257. No. 258. No. 259. No. 260.
Trojan Battle-Axes of Copper—TR.
Nos. 258 and 260 have pieces of other weapons welded onto them by the fire.
Upon
and beside the gold and silver articles, I found thirteen copper
lances, from nearly 7 to above 12½ inches in length, and from above 1½
to 2-1/3 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{331} has welded to a
battle-axe. The Trojan lances were therefore quite different from those
of the Greeks and Romans, for the latter stuck the shaft into the
lance-head, the former fastened the head into the shaft.
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 6 to above 12 inches in length, from
nearly ½ to above ¾ of an inch thick, and from above 1 to nearly 3
inches broad; the largest of them weighs 1365 grammes (about 3 lbs.
avoirdupois). The following cut shows an axe more like those of later
ages.
Footnotes:
[149]
Some
[Continue to Chapter 23, part B]
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