Interruptions from Rain--Last works of the season, 1871--The
supposed ruins of Troy reached--Great blocks of stone--Engineering
contrivances--Excavations at the “Village of the Ilians:” no traces
of habitation, and none of hot springs--Results of the excavations
thus far--Review of the objects found at various depths--Structure
of the lowest houses yet reached--Difficulties of the
excavations--The object aimed at--Growth of the Hill of Hissarlik.
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, 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 [Illustration:
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 γράφειν 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 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 (Ἰλιέων κώμη), 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 Ἰλιέων
κώμη, 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 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 their own 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.
[Illustration: No. 56. No. 57.
No. 58. No. 59. No. 60. No. 61.
Stone Implements of the earliest Settlers (11 and 14 M.).
Nos. 56 and 57. An Axe and Hammer of Diorite. Nos. 58, 59, 60. Knives of
White Silex.
No. 61. Probably an Arrow-head.]
[Illustration: No. 62. Small Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta, with
Decorations (8 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 63. A Trojan Vase-cover of red Terra-cotta (7 M.).]
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. 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 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 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, 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; 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 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.
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 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.
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.
[Illustration: No. 64. A stone Implement of unknown use. Weight 472
grammes. (2 M.)]
[Illustration: No. 65. A strange Vessel of Terra-cotta (15 M.).]
WORK AT HISSARLIK IN 1872.