Smoking at work forbidden, and a mutiny suppressed--Progress of the
great platform--Traces of sacrifices--Colossal blocks of stone
belonging to great buildings--Funereal and other huge
urns--Supposed traces of Assyrian art--Ancient undisturbed
remains--Further discoveries of stone implements and owl-faced
idols--Meaning of the epithet “γλαυκῶπις"--Parallel of Ἥρα βοῶπις,
and expected discovery of ox-headed idols at Mycenæ--Vases of
remarkable forms--Dangers and engineering expedients--Georgios
Photidas--Extent of the Pergamus of Troy--Poisonous snakes, and the
snake-weed--The whorls with the central sun, stars, the _suastika_,
the _Sôma_, or Tree of Life, and sacrificial altars--The name of
Mount Ida, probably brought from Bactria.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, April 25th, 1872.
Since my report of the 5th of this month I have continued the
excavations most industriously with an average of 120 workmen.
Unfortunately, however, seven of these twenty days were lost through
rainy weather and festivals, one day also by a mutiny among my men. I
had observed that the smoking of cigarettes interrupted the work, and I
therefore forbad smoking during working hours, but I did not gain my
point immediately, for I found that the men smoked in secret. I was,
however, determined to carry my point, and caused it to be proclaimed
that transgressors would be forthwith dismissed and never taken on
again. Enraged at this, the workmen from the village of Renkoï--about 70
in number--declared that they would not work, if everyone were not
allowed to smoke as much as he pleased; they left the platform, and
deterred the men from the other villages from working by throwing
stones. The good people had imagined that I would give in to them at
once, as I could not do without them, and that now I could not obtain
workmen enough; that moreover during the beautiful weather it was not
likely that I would sit still a whole day. But they found themselves
mistaken, for I immediately sent my foreman to the other neighbouring
villages and succeeded (to the horror of the 70 Renkoïts, who had waited
the whole night at my door) in collecting 120 workmen for the next
morning without requiring their services. My energetic measures have at
last completely humbled the Renkoïts, from whose impudence I had very
much to put up with during my last year’s excavations, and have also had
a beneficial effect upon all of my present men. Since the mutiny I have
not only been able to prohibit smoking, but even to lengthen the day’s
work by one hour; for, instead of working as formerly from half-past
five in the morning to half-past five in the evening, I now always
commence at five and continue till six in the evening. But, as before, I
allow half an hour at nine and an hour and a half in the afternoon for
eating and smoking.
According to an exact calculation of the engineer, M. A. Laurent, in the
seventeen days since the 1st of the month I have removed about 8500
cubic meters (11,000 cubic yards) of _débris_; this is about 666 cubic
yards each day, and somewhat above 5-1/3 cubic yards each workman.
We have already advanced the platform 49 feet into the hill, but to my
extreme surprise I have not yet reached the primary soil. The opinion I
expressed in my report of the 24th of November of last year, that the
thickness of the hill on the north side had not increased since the
remotest times, I find confirmed as regards the whole western end of my
platform, to a breadth of 45 meters (147½ feet); for it is only upon
the eastern portion of it, to a breadth of 82 feet, that I found 6½
and even 10 feet of soil; below and behind it, as far as 16½ feet
above the platform, there is _débris_ as hard as stone, which appears to
consist only of ashes of wood and animals, the remains of the offerings
presented to the Ilian Athena. I therefore feel perfectly convinced that
by penetrating further into this part I shall come upon the site of the
very ancient temple of the goddess. The ashes of this stratum have such
a clayey appearance, that I should believe it to be the pure earth, were
it not that I find it frequently to contain bones, charcoal, and small
shells, occasionally also small pieces of brick. The shells are
uninjured, which sufficiently proves that they cannot have been exposed
to heat. In this very hard stratum of ash, at 11 feet above the
platform, and 46 feet from its edge, I found a channel made of green
sandstone nearly 8 inches broad and above 7 inches high, which probably
once served for carrying away the blood of the animals sacrificed, and
must necessarily at one time have discharged its contents down the
declivity of the hill. It therefore proves that the thickness of the
hill at this point has increased fully 46 feet since the destruction of
the temple to which it belonged.
[Illustration: No. 71. A Mould of Mica-schist for casting Ornaments (14
M.).]
[Illustration: No. 72. Fragment of a large Urn of Terra-cotta with
Assyrian (?) Decorations, from the Lowest Stratum (14 M.).]
Upon the other 147½ feet of the platform I find everywhere, as far as
to about 16½ feet high, colossal masses of large blocks of shelly
limestone, often more or less hewn, but generally unhewn, which
frequently lie so close one upon another that they have the appearance
of actual walls. But I soon found that all of these masses of stone must
of necessity belong to grand buildings which once have stood there and
were destroyed by a fearful catastrophe. The buildings cannot possibly
have been built of these stones without some uniting substance, and I
presume that this was done with mere earth, for I find no trace of lime
or cement. Between the immense masses of stone there are intermediate
spaces, more or less large, consisting of very firm _débris_, often as
hard as stone, in which we meet with very many bones, shells, and
quantities of other remains of habitation. No traces of any kind of
interesting articles were found in the whole length of the wall of
_débris_, 229½ feet in length and 16¼ feet in height, except a
small splendidly worked hair-or dress-pin of silver, but destroyed by
rust. To-day, however, at a perpendicular depth of 14 meters (46 feet) I
found a beautiful polished piece of mica-schist, with moulds for casting
two breast-pins, and two other ornaments which are quite unknown to
me--all of the most fanciful description. I also found a funereal or
water urn, unfortunately completely broken, with decorations in the form
of two flat wreaths which run right round it. The urn must have been 5
feet high, and at least 27½ inches in breadth. In both of the wreaths
there is an uninterrupted row of cuneiform impressions, which at first
sight seem to be Assyrian inscriptions; but on closer examination it is
found that they are mere ornaments. The fragments of this vase show a
thickness of about ¾ of an inch. Two other enormous urns, but
completely broken, either for water, wine, or funereal ashes, with
decorations in the form of several wreaths, forming perfect circles,
were found on the 22nd and 23rd of this month, at from 19½ to 23 feet
above the platform, and therefore, at a perpendicular depth of from 26
to 33 feet. Both must have been more than 6½ feet high, and more than
3¼ feet in diameter, for the fragments show a thickness of nearly 2
inches. The wreaths are likewise in bas-relief, and show either double
triangles fitting into one another with circles, or flowers, or three
rows or sometimes one row of circles. The last decoration was also found
upon the frieze of green stone which Lord Elgin discovered in the year
1810 in the treasury of Agamemnon in Mycenæ, and which is now in the
British Museum. Both this frieze, and the above-mentioned urns
discovered by me in the depths of Ilium, distinctly point to Assyrian
art, and I cannot look at them without a feeling of sadness when I think
with what tears of joy and with what delight the ever-memorable German
scholar, Julius Braun, who unfortunately succumbed three years ago to
his excessive exertions, would have welcomed their discovery; for he was
not only the great advocate of the theory that the Homeric Troy must be
only looked for below the ruins of Ilium, but he was also the able
defender of the doctrine, that the plastic arts and a portion of the
Egyptian and Assyrian mythology had migrated to Asia Minor and Greece,
and he has shown this by thousands of irrefutable proofs in his profound
and excellent work, _Geschichte der Kunst in ihrem Entwickelungsgange_,
which I most urgently recommend to all who are interested in art and
archæology.
Both the urns found at a depth of 46 feet and those at from 26 to 33
feet, as well as all the funereal urns and large wine or water vessels
which I formerly discovered, were standing upright, which sufficiently
proves that the colossal masses of _débris_ and ruins were gradually
formed on the spot, and could not have been brought there from another
place in order to increase the height of the hill. This is, moreover, a
pure impossibility in regard to the immense numbers of gigantic blocks
of stone, hewn and unhewn, which frequently weigh from 1 to 2 tons.
In the strata at a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet), I found
two lumps of lead of a round and concave form, each weighing about two
pounds; a great number of rusted copper nails, also some knives and a
copper lance; further very many smaller and larger knives of white and
brown silex in the form of single and double-edged saws; a number of
whet-stones of green and black slate with a hole at one end, as well as
various small objects of ivory.[109] In all the strata from 4 to 10
meters (13 to 33 feet) deep I found a number of hammers, axes and wedges
of diorite, which, however, are decidedly of much better workmanship in
the strata below the depth of 7 meters (23 feet) than in the upper ones.
Likewise at all depths from 3 meters (10 feet) below the surface we find
a number of flat idols of very fine marble; upon many of them is the
owl’s face and a female girdle with dots; upon one there are in addition
two female breasts.[110] The striking resemblance of these owls’ faces
to those upon many of the vases and covers, with a kind of helmet on the
owl’s head, makes me firmly convinced that all of the idols, and all of
the helmeted owls’ heads represent a goddess, and indeed must represent
one and the same goddess, all the more so as, in fact, all the owl-faced
vases with female breasts and a navel have also generally two upraised
arms: in one case the navel is represented by a cross with four
nails.[111] The cups (covers) with owls’ heads, on the other hand,
never have breasts or a navel, yet upon some of them I find long female
hair represented at the back.[112]
The important question now presents itself:--_What_ goddess is it who is
here found so repeatedly, and is, moreover, the only one to be found,
upon the idols, drinking-cups and vases? The answer is:--She must
necessarily be _the tutelary goddess of Troy_, she must be _the Ilian
Athena_, and this indeed perfectly agrees with the statement of Homer,
who continually calls her θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη, “the goddess Athena with
the owl’s face.” For the epithet “γλαυκῶπις” has been wrongly translated
by the scholars of all ages, because they could not imagine that Athena
should have been represented with an owl’s face. The epithet, however,
consists of the two words γλαῦξ and ὠπή, and, as I can show by an
immense number of proofs, the only possible literal translation is “with
an owl’s face”; and the usual translation “with blue, fiery or sparkling
eyes” is utterly wrong. The natural conclusion is that owing to
progressive civilization Athena received a human face, and her former
owl’s head was transformed into her favourite bird, the owl, which as
such is unknown to Homer. The next conclusion is that the worship of
Athena as the tutelary goddess of Troy was well known to Homer; hence
that a Troy existed, and that it was situated on the sacred spot, the
depths of which I am investigating.
In like manner, when excavations shall be made in the Heræum between
Argos and Mycenæ, and on the site of the very ancient temple of Hera on
the island of Samos, the image of this goddess with a cow’s head will
doubtless be found upon idols, cups and vases; for “βοῶπις” the usual
epithet of Hera in Homer, can originally have signified nothing else
than “with the face of an ox.” But as Homer also sometimes applies the
epithet βοῶπις to mortal women, it is probable that even at his time it
was considered to be bad taste to represent Hera, the wife of the
mightiest of all the gods, with the face of an ox, and that therefore
men even at that time began to represent her with a woman’s face, but
with the eyes of an ox, that is, with very large eyes; consequently the
common epithet of βοῶπις, which had formerly been only applied to Hera
with the meaning of “with the face of an ox,” now merely signified with
large eyes.
[Illustration: No. 73. Trojan Plates found on the Tower (8 M.).]
Of pottery we have found a great deal during the last weeks, but
unfortunately more than half of it in a broken condition. Of painting
upon terra-cotta there is still no trace; most of the vessels are of a
simple brilliant black, yellow, or brown colour; the very large vases on
the other hand are generally colourless. Plates of ordinary manufacture
I have as yet found only at a depth of from 8 to 10 meters (26 to 33
feet), and, as can be distinctly seen, they have been turned upon a
potter’s wheel. All the other vessels hitherto found seem, however, to
have been formed by the hand alone; yet they possess a certain elegance,
and excite the admiration of beholders by their strange and very curious
forms. The vases with a long neck bent back, a beak-shaped mouth turned
upwards, and a round protruding body[113]--two of which are in the
British Museum, several of those found in Cyprus in the Museum in
Constantinople, and several of those discovered beneath three layers of
volcanic ashes in Thera and Therassia in the French school in
Athens--are almost certainly intended to represent women, for I find the
same here at a depth of from 26 to 33 feet, with two or even with three
breasts, and hence I believe that those found here represent the
tutelary goddess of Ilium. We also find some vases and covers with men’s
faces, which, however, are never without some indications of the owl;
moreover, the vases with such faces always have two female breasts and a
navel. I must draw especial attention to the fact that almost all of the
vases with owls’ faces, or with human faces and the indications of the
owl, have two uplifted arms, which serve as handles, and this leads me
to conjecture that they are imitations of the large idol which was
placed in the very ancient temple of the Ilian divinity, which therefore
must have had an owl’s face, but a female figure, and two arms beside
the head. It is very remarkable that most of the vessels which I find
have been suspended by cords, as is proved by the two holes in the
mouth, and the two little tubes, or holes in the handles, at the side of
the vessels.
[Illustration: No. 74. Vase Cover with a human face. From the Trojan
Stratum (8 M.).]
Unfortunately, many of the terra-cottas get broken when the _débris_ is
being loosened and falls down, for there is only one way in which I can
save my men and myself from being crushed and maimed by the falling
stones: this is, by keeping the lowest part of the mighty earthen wall
on the perpendicular up to 16 feet (not 7 feet, as on the first five
days), and the whole of the upper part at an angle of 50 degrees, by
always loosening the perpendicular portion, by making shafts, and
working with large iron levers in pieces of from 15 to 30 cubic metres
(20 to 40 cubic yards). By thus causing the _débris_ and the stones of
the upper portion to be loosened with the pickaxe, the stones fall in
almost a direct line over the lower perpendicular wall of 16 feet;
therefore they roll at most a few paces, and there is less danger that
anyone will be hurt. By this means I also have the advantage that the
greatest portion of the _débris_ falls down of its own accord, and what
remains can be shovelled down with little trouble, whereas at first I
spent half of my time in getting it down. As, however, in making shafts
and in bringing down the colossal lumps of earth a certain amount of
skill and caution is necessary, I have engaged a third foreman at 7
francs a day, Georgios Photidos, of Paxos, who has for seven years
worked as a miner in Australia, and was there occupied principally in
making tunnels. Home-sickness led him back to his native country, where,
without having sufficient means of earning his daily bread, he, in
youthful thoughtlessness and out of patriotism, married a poor girl of
his own people who was but fifteen years old. It was only after his
marriage, and in consequence of domestic cares, that he recovered his
senses. He heard that I was making excavations here, and came on
speculation to offer me his services. As he had assured me, when I first
saw him, that my accepting his services was a question of life and death
to him and his wife, I engaged him at once, the more so because I was
very much in want of a miner, tunnel-maker, and pitman, such as he is.
Besides acting in these capacities, he is of great use to me on Sundays
and on other festivals, for he can write Greek, and he is thus able to
copy my Greek reports for the newspapers and learned societies in the
East; for I had hitherto found nothing more intolerable than to have to
write out in Greek three times over my long reports about one and the
same subject, especially as I had to take the time from my sleep. To my
great regret, the excellent engineer Adolphe Laurent leaves me
to-morrow, for his month is up, and he has now to commence the
construction of the railroad from the Piræus to Lamia. He has, however,
made me a good plan of this hill. I must add that the Pergamus of Priam
cannot have been limited to this hill, which is, for the most part,
artificial; but that, as I endeavoured to explain four years ago,[114]
it must necessarily have extended a good way further south, beyond the
high plateau. But even if the Pergamus should have been confined to this
hill, it was, nevertheless, larger than the Acropolis of Athens; for the
latter covers only 50,126 square meters (about 60,000 square yards),
whereas the plateau of this hill amounts to 64,500 square meters (about
77,400 square yards). I must further mention that, according to
Laurent’s calculation, the plateau rises 46 feet above my platform, and
that his measurements of its height (about 38 feet on the north and 39
feet on the south) applies to those points where the steep precipice
commences. I have just built a house with three rooms, as well as a
magazine and kitchen, which altogether cost only 1000 francs (40_l._),
including the covering of waterproof felt; for wood is cheap here, and a
plank of about 10 feet in length, 10 inches in breadth, and 1 inch
thick, may be got for 2 piasters, or 40 centimes. (_These houses are
seen in Plates X. and XI._)
We still find poisonous snakes among the stones as far down as from 33
to 36 feet, and I had hitherto been astonished to see my workmen take
hold of the reptiles with their hands and play with them; nay, yesterday
I saw one of the men bitten twice by a viper, without seeming to trouble
himself about it. When I expressed my horror, he laughed, and said that
he and all his comrades knew that there were a great many snakes in this
hill, and they had therefore all drunk a decoction of the snake-weed
which grows in the district, and which renders the bite harmless. Of
course I ordered a decoction to be brought to me, so that I also may be
safe from their bites. I should, however, like to know whether this
decoction would be a safeguard against the fatal effects of the bite of
the hooded cobra, of which in India I have seen a man die within half an
hour; if it were so, it would be a good speculation to cultivate
snake-weed in India.
The frequently-discussed terra-cottas in the form of the volcano and top
(_carrousel_) are continually found in immense numbers, as far as a
depth of from 33 to 36 feet, and most of them have decorations, of which
I always make an accurate drawing.[115] On comparing these drawings, I
now find that all, without exception, represent the sun in the centre,
and that almost the half of the other carvings show either only simple
rays or rays with stars between, or round the edge; or again, three,
four, six, or eight simple, double, treble, and quadruple rising suns in
a circle round the edge.[116] Sometimes the sun is in the centre of the
cross with four nails, which, according to the explanations in my sixth
memoir, can evidently, and in all cases, represent only the instrument
which our Aryan forefathers used for producing the holy fire (Agni), and
which some Sanscrit scholars call “Arani” and others “Suastika.” The
rising sun must have been the most sacred object to our Aryan ancestors;
for, according to Max Müller ('Essays'), out of it--that is, out of its
struggle with the clouds--arose a very large portion of the gods who
afterwards peopled Olympus. Upon some pieces the sun is surrounded by 40
or 50 little stars. I also found one upon which it is represented in
the centre, surrounded by 32 little stars and three 卐; another where one
entire half of the circle is filled by the rays of the sun, which, as in
all cases, occupies the central point; on the other half are two 卐 and
18 little stars, of which twice three (like the sword of Orion) stand in
a row; and another where even four are seen in a row. As M. Émile
Burnouf tells me, three dots in a row, in the Persian cuneiform
inscriptions, denote “royal majesty.” I do not venture to decide whether
the three dots here admit of a similar interpretation. Perhaps they
point to the majesty of the sun-god and of Agni, who was produced out of
the 卐. Upon some of these terra-cottas the sun is even surrounded by
four 卐, which again form a cross by their position round it. Upon
others, again, I find the sun in the centre of a cross formed by four
trees, and each one of these trees has three or four large leaves.[117]
Indian scholars will, perhaps, find these tree-crosses to represent the
framework upon which our ancestors used to produce the holy fire, and
the repeatedly-recurring fifth tree to be the “Pramantha.” I find
representations of this same tree several times, either surrounded by
circles or standing alone, upon small terra-cotta cones of from 1½ to
2-1/3 inches in diameter, which, in addition, have the most various
kinds of symbols and a number of suns and stars. Upon a ball, found at
the depth of 8 meters (26 feet), there is a tree of this kind,
surrounded by stars, opposite a 卐, beside which there is a group of nine
little stars.[118] I therefore venture to express the conjecture that
this tree is the tree of life, which is so frequently met with in the
Assyrian sculptures, and that it is identical with the holy Sôma-tree,
which, according to the Vêdas (see Émile Burnouf, Max Müller, Adalbert
Kuhn, and Fr. Windischmann), grows in heaven, and is there guarded by
the Gandharvas, who belong to the primeval Aryan period, and
subsequently became the Centaurs of the Greeks. Indra, the sun-god, in
the form of a falcon,[119] stole from heaven this Sôma-tree, from which
trickled the Amrita (ambrosia) which conferred immortality. Fr.
Windischmann[120] has pointed out the existence of the Sôma-tree worship
as common to the tribes of Aryans before their separation, and he
therefore justly designates it an inheritance from their most ancient
traditions.[121] Julius Braun[122] says, in regard to this Sôma-tree:
“Hermes, the rare visitor, is regaled with nectar and ambrosia. This is
the food which the gods require in order to preserve their immortality.
It has come to the West from Central Asia, with the whole company of the
Olympian gods; for the root of this conception is the tree of life in
the ancient system of Zoroaster. The fruit and sap of this tree of life
bestows immortality, and the future Messiah (_Sosiosh_, in the Zend
writings) will give some of it to all the faithful and make them all
immortal. This hope we have seen fully expressed in the Assyrian
sculptures, where the winged genii stand before the holy tree with a
vessel containing the juice and fruit.”
Just now two of those curious little terra-cottas, in the form of a
volcano, were brought to me, upon one of which three animals with
antlers are engraved in a circle round the sun;[123] upon another there
are four signs (which I have hitherto not met with) in the shape of
large combs with long teeth, forming a cross round the sun.[124] I
conjecture that these extremely remarkable hieroglyphics, which at first
sight might be imagined to be actual letters, can by no means represent
anything else than the sacrificial altar with the flames blazing upon
it. I do not doubt moreover, that in the continuation of the excavations
I shall find this comb-shaped sign together with other symbols, which
will confirm my conjectures.
[Illustration: No. 75. A Whorl, with three animals (3 M.).]
I must also add that the good old Trojans may perhaps have brought with
them from Bactria the name of Ida, which they gave to the mountain which
I see before me to the south-east, covered with snow, upon which Jove
and Hera held dalliance,[125] and from which Jove looked down upon Ilium
and upon the battles in the Plain of Troy, for, according to Max
Müller,[126] Ida was the wife of Dyaus (Zeus), and their son was Eros.
The parents whom Sappho ascribes to Eros--Heaven and Earth--are
identical with his Vedic parents. Heracles is called Ἰδαῖος, from his
being identical with the Sun, and he has this name in common with Apollo
and Jove.
To-morrow the Greek Easter festival commences, during which
unfortunately there are six days on which no work is done. Thus I shall
not be able to continue the excavations until the 1st of May.