A third platform dug--Traces of former excavations by the
Turks--Block of triglyphs, with bas-relief of Apollo--Fall of an
earth-wall--Plan of a trench through the whole hill--Admirable
remains in the lowest stratum but one--The plain and engraved
whorls--Objects of gold, silver, copper, and ivory--Remarkable
terra-cottas--The pottery of the _lowest stratum_ quite distinct
from that of the next above--Its resemblance to the Etruscan, in
quality only--Curious funereal urns--Skeleton of a six months’
embryo--Other remains in the lowest stratum--Idols of fine marble,
the sole exception to the superior workmanship of this stratum--The
houses and palaces of the lowest stratum, of large stones joined
with earth--Disappearance of the first people with the destruction
of their town.
The _second settlers_, of a different civilization--Their buildings
of unburnt brick on stone foundations--These bricks burnt by the
great conflagration--Destruction of the walls of the former
settlers--Live toads coëval with Troy!--Long duration of the second
settlers--Their Aryan descent proved by Aryan symbols--Various
forms of their pottery--Vases in the form of animals--The whorls of
this stratum--Their interesting devices--Copper weapons and
implements, and moulds for casting--Terra-cotta seals--Bracelets
and ear-rings, of silver, gold, and electrum--Pins, &c., of ivory
and bone--Fragments of a lyre--Various objects.
_The third stratum_: the remains of an Aryan race--Hardly a trace
of metal--Structure of their houses--Their stone implements and
terra-cottas coarser--Various forms of pottery--Remarkable
_terra-cotta balls_ with astronomical and religious
symbols--Whorls--Stone weapons--Whetstones--Hammers and instruments
of diorite--A well belonging to this people--This third town
destroyed with its people.
The _fourth settlers_: comparatively savage, but still of Aryan
race--Whorls with like emblems, but of a degenerate form--Their
pottery inferior, but with some curious forms--Idols of
Athena--Articles of copper--Few stones--Charred remains indicating
wooden buildings--Stone weights, hand-mills, and knives and saws of
flint--With this people the pre-Hellenic ages end--The stone
buildings and painted and plain terra-cottas of _Greek
Ilium_--Date of the Greek colony--Signs that the old inhabitants
were not extirpated--The whorls of very coarse clay and
patterns--Well, and jars for water and wine--Proofs of the regular
succession of nations on the hill--Reply to the arguments of M.
Nikolaïdes for the site at Bunarbashi--The Simoïs, Thymbrius, and
Scamander--The tomb of Ajax at In-Tépé--Remains in it--Temple of
Ajax and town of Aianteum--Tomb of Achilles and town of
Achilleum--Tombs of Patroclus and Antilochus--The Greek camp--The
tomb of Batiea or Myrina--Further discussion of the site.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, June 18th, 1872.
Since my report of the 23rd of last month I have been excavating, with
the consent of my honoured friend, Mr. Frank Calvert, on that half of
the hill which belongs to him, on condition that I share with him the
objects I may find. Here, directly beside my large platform, and at a
perpendicular depth of 40 feet below the plateau, I have laid out a
third platform about 109 feet broad, with an upper terrace 112 feet
broad, and I have seventy men digging there. Immediately beside the edge
of the steep northern declivity I found a square depression in the
ground about 112 feet long and 76 feet broad, which can only have been
caused by excavations made by the Turks hundreds of years ago, when
searching for pillars or other kinds of marble blocks suitable for
tombstones: for all of the old Turkish cemeteries in the Plain of Troy
and its vicinity, nay even as far as beyond Alexandria Troas, possess
thousands of such marble blocks, taken from ancient buildings. The
innumerable pieces of marble, which cover the whole of Mr. Frank
Calvert’s part of the plateau, leave no doubt that the field, at least
that part of it with the square depression, has been ransacked by
marble-seeking Turks.
I had scarcely begun to extend this third platform horizontally into the
hill, when I found a block of triglyphs of Parian marble, about 6½
feet long, nearly 2 feet 10 inches high, and nearly 22 inches thick at
one end, and a little over 14 inches on the other. In the middle there
is a piece of sculpture in high relief, a little above 2 feet 10 inches
long and nearly the same height, which represents Phœbus Apollo, who, in
a long woman’s robe with a girdle, is riding on the four immortal horses
which pursue their career through the universe. Nothing is to be seen of
a chariot. Above the splendid, flowing, unparted, but not long hair on
the head of the god, there is seen about two-thirds of the sun’s disc
with ten rays 2-1/3 inches long, and ten others 3½ inches long. The
face of the god is very expressive, and the folds of his long robe are
so exquisitely sculptured that they vividly remind one of the
masterpieces in the temple of Νίκη ἄπτερος in the Acropolis of Athens.
But my admiration is especially excited by the four horses, which,
snorting and looking wildly forward, career through the universe with
infinite power. Their anatomy is so accurately rendered that I frankly
confess that I have never seen such a masterly work. On the right and
left of this metopé are Doric triglyphs; there is a third triglyph on
the left side of the marble block, which is nearly 22 inches thick,
whereas the right side (14 inches thick) contains no sculpture. Above
and below the block, iron clamps are fastened by means of lead; and from
the triglyphs on the left side I presume that this metopé, together with
another sculpture which has a Doric triglyph on the right side as well,
adorned the propylæa of the temple. (_See Plate IV._, p. 32.)
It is especially remarkable to find the sun-god here, for Homer knows
nothing of a temple to the Sun in Troy, and later history does not say a
word about the existence of such a temple. However, the image of Phœbus
Apollo does not prove that the sculpture must have belonged to a temple
of the Sun; in my opinion it may just as well have served as an ornament
to any other temple.
As early as my report of the 11th of May,[150] I ventured to express
the conjecture that the image of the Sun, which I find represented here
thousands and thousands of times upon the whorls of terra-cotta, must be
regarded as the name or the emblem of the town, that is Ἴλιος. I now
venture to express the opinion, that in like manner this Sun-god shone
in the form of a woman upon the Propylæa of the temple of the Ilian
Athena as a symbol of the Sun-city (τῆς Ἰλίου). I have heard a learned
friend express the opinion that this masterpiece belonged to the period
between Pericles and Alexander the Great, because the Sun-god’s
outstretched hand is very similar to that of Phœbus Apollo on the coins
of Rhodes of the same period. But, according to Strabo (XIII. I),
Alexander the Great, on his visit to Ilium, found there a little temple
(εὐτελῆ ναόν) of the Ilian Athena; and a little temple, of course,
cannot have possessed such excellent works of plastic art. Besides this,
the head of the Sun-god appears to me to have so much of the Alexandrian
style, that I must adhere to history and believe that this work of art
belongs to the time of Lysimachus, who, according to Strabo (XIII. I),
after the death of Alexander the Great, built here the new temple of the
Ilian Athena, which Alexander had promised to the town of Ilium after
the subjugation of the Persian Empire.[151]
The discovery of this work of art upon the steep declivity of the
hill--whereas it must necessarily have stood on the opposite side above
the entrance to the temple--can only be explained by the fact that the
Turks who came here in search of monumental pillars despised this
sculpture because it represented living creatures, the imitation of
which is strictly forbidden in the Koran.
Beneath the ruins of this temple I hope to discover the remains of that
little temple which Alexander the Great found here. I do not, however,
think it likely that I shall discover in its depths the old Trojan
temple in which Hecuba caused the priestess Theano to lay her costly
robes on the knees of Athena.[152] To judge from the _débris_ of the
ashes of animal sacrifices, which is as hard as stone, and which gives
me such exceedingly great trouble along an extent of 82 feet at the
eastern end of my large platform, the area of the very ancient temple
cannot possibly be identical with the one built by Lysimachus; it must
certainly be somewhat more to the west, and must commence somewhere near
its western end.
After my report of the 23rd of last month, I began to loosen the lower
earthen wall, which is as hard as stone, by means of those immense iron
levers which I have already described. However, I was unfortunate; for,
after having worked for three hours with 40 men and with the huge levers
and windlasses in loosening an earthen wall 16 feet high, 16 broad and
10 thick, which had been already prepared by shafts and mines, only just
succeeded after the strongest chains had given way several times, when
the adjoining earth-wall fell of its own accord, and buried Georgios
Photidas and a workman who were engaged in the lower excavations,
believing that they were perfectly safe under thick logs of wood 23
inches high and 10 thick, which were covered with planks 3 inches thick.
All of us naturally thought that the two men must have been crushed
beneath the enormous mass of 100 cubic yards of stone and earth, which
had dashed the thick planks to pieces. Our fright was terrible, but
without losing a moment we set to work to rescue the unfortunate men. We
had scarcely begun when we heard them moaning beneath the weight of
earth, for the logs had only been upset, and, lying lengthwise, they
still partly supported the vault, so that the men had breathing space
left. But their release could not be effected without the greatest
danger, owing to several large gaps in the cracked earthen wall, and the
men had to be cut out. I myself cut out Georgios Photidas with my knife;
the other man was cut out by my men.
In consequence of this accident, I have decided in the first place to
cut a trench 98 feet broad at the top and 65 below, commencing at the
platform, which is to be carried along the primary soil through the
entire hill, and not to cut through the other portion of the great
platform until this is finished; for I shall then be in a position to
judge how we can best accomplish the former work. I am having the whole
length of this trench commenced at the same time on a breadth of 98
feet, and I hope thus to have it ready in two months. In digging this
trench I found that, at about 69 feet from the steep side of the hill,
the primary soil gradually rises about 2 meters (6½ feet), and as the
cutting must necessarily follow the primary soil, I have from this point
again had the _débris_ thrown upon the great platform, and have thus
formed an embankment 65½ feet broad and 6½ feet high, as far as
the steep slope.
[Illustration:
Objects of Metal from the Lowest Stratum (11-15 M.).
No. 83. A real Copper Nail.
Nos. 84, 85. Copper Dress-Pins (too long and thin for nails).
No. 86. A _gilt_ Copper Knife.
No. 87. A Silver Dress-Pin.
No. 88. A Copper Bracelet.
Nos. 89, 91. Copper Knives.
No. 90. A Silver Crescent.
]
[Illustration: Nos. 92-101. Ivory Pins, Needles, &c., from the Lowest
Stratum (11-15 M.).]
Were it not for the splendid terra-cottas which I find exclusively upon
the primary soil and as far as 6½ feet above it, I could swear that,
at a depth of from 8 meters down to exactly 10 meters (26 to 33 feet), I
am among the ruins of the Homeric Troy.[153] For at this depth I have
again found, as I found last year, a thousand wonderful objects; whereas
I find comparatively little in the lowest stratum, the removal of which
gives me such unspeakable trouble. We daily find some of the whorls of
very fine terra-cotta, and it is curious that those which have no
decorations at all, are always of the ordinary shape and size of small
tops or like the craters of volcanoes, while almost all those possessing
decorations are flat and in the form of a wheel.[154] Metals, at least
gold, silver and copper, were known to the Trojans, for I found a copper
knife highly gilded, a silver hair-pin, and a number of copper nails at
a depth of 14 meters (46 feet); and at a depth of 16 meters (52½
feet) several copper nails from 4 to 6¼ inches in length. There must
have been also copper weapons and tools for work, though I have as yet
not found any; but I found many small instruments for use as pins; also
a number of ivory needles, likewise a small ivory plate, almost the
shape of a playing-card, with six little stars or small suns, also a
curious piece of ivory covered with the same decorations, in the form of
a paper-knife, and a still more curious one in the form of an
exceedingly neat dagger.[155] The ornaments on both sides of this dagger
seem certainly to represent the Ilian Athena with the owl’s head. We
also discovered some ivory and copper rings, likewise a pair of
bracelets of copper. One-edged or double-edged knives of white silex in
the form of saws, from above 1¾ inch to nearly 2 inches in length,
were found in quantities; also many hand millstones of lava about 13
inches long, and 6-2/3 inches broad, in the form of an egg cut in half
longitudinally. All of the terra-cottas were brought out in a broken
condition; however, I have got all or almost all the pieces of a number
of vases and of several jars, so that I can restore them. I must
specially mention a large yellowish bowl 13-1/3 inches high and nearly
17 inches broad, which in addition to a handle has three large curled
ram’s horns; then a black vase with a round bottom, with two rings on
either side for hanging it up; a beautiful red vase with four handles;
also a very fine red cup: further, an exceedingly curious red vessel in
the form of two jugs with long perfectly upright beak-shaped mouths, the
two jugs being connected with each other at the bulge, as well as by a
handle; further, a brilliant black vase, 9½ inches high, with rings
on the sides for hanging it up, and a very wide neck in the form of a
chimney; the lower portion of the vase is ornamented with signs in the
form of lightning, the upper part with dots. Of a pair of brilliant
black Trojan deep plates I have so nearly all the pieces, as to be able
to put them together; these plates are very remarkable, for on two sides
at the edge they have long horizontal rings for suspension by strings;
the large dishes have such rings very large. I have the fragments of
several black double cups, but not enough of any one to restore it.
[Illustration: Nos. 102, 103. Hand Mill-stones of Lava from Lowest
Stratum (14-16 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 104. A splendid Vase with Suspension-rings, from the
Lowest Stratum (15 M.).]
[Illustration: No 105. Singular Double Vase from the lowest Stratum
(13-14 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 106. Black Vase of Terra-cotta from the lowest
Stratum (14 or 15 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 107. Funereal Urn of Stone, found on the Primary
Rock, with Human Ashes in it (15½ M.).]
Unfortunately, the tremendous weights of stone in the lowest stratum
have broken or crushed to pieces all the terra-cottas; but all the
splendid earthen vessels that I have been able to save bear witness of
wealth and art, and it is easily seen at a first glance that they were
made by a people quite distinct from the one to which the next stratum
belongs (at the depth of from 7 to 10 meters, 23 to 33 feet). I must
draw especial attention to the great similarity in the quality of the
terra-cotta of the black Trojan vessels to that of the vessels found in
the Etruscan tombs; but their forms and decorations are wholly
different. In those found here the patterns have always been engraved
upon the clay when it was still in a soft state. Most of the Trojan
terra-cottas are indestructible by moisture; some of them, however, have
become limp by damp, and I found, for instance, upon the primary soil at
a depth of 15½ meters (51 feet), in a small private burial-ground,
formed and protected by three stones 25½ inches long and 18 inches
broad, two vessels of a very remarkable form with three long feet and
filled with human ashes. The vessels had suffered so from moisture that
in spite of every care and precaution I could not get them out without
breaking them completely. I have, however, collected all the pieces of
both vessels, and shall be able to restore them. In one of them I found
among the human ashes the bones of an embryo of six months, a fact which
I can only explain by the mother’s having died in pregnancy and having
been burnt, while the bones of the embryo, being surrounded by the
membrane which enclosed it, were protected and remained uninjured. Yet
it seems wonderful that these small bones should have been preserved,
for the bones of the mother are burnt to ashes and I found only small
fragments of them. I have most carefully collected the bones of the
Trojan embryo, and shall have the little skeleton restored by a skilful
surgeon. The celebrated Doctor Aretaios, of Athens, has just written to
me that the preservation of the bones of the embryo is only possible on
the supposition that the mother had brought forth the child and then
died, that her body was burnt and the unburnt embryo was put into the
funereal urn with her ashes, where I found it.
[Illustration: No. 108. _a_, Hand Millstone of Lava (15 M.). _b_,
Brilliant black Dish with side Rings for hanging it up (14 M.).
_c_,_c_,_c_,_c_, Small decorated Rings of Terra-cotta (10-14 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 109. Rude Terra-cotta Idol (14 M.).]
In the deepest strata we also meet with simple black cups, resembling
our drinking-glasses; likewise black cups (vase-covers) with a handle
below, so that they can only stand upon their mouth. I also find on the
primary soil weights made of granite, the exact specific weights of
which I shall state in a separate table;[156] hammers and axes, as well
as a number of large and small wedges of diorite, of splendid
workmanship; sometimes also small beautifully-cut instruments in the
form of wedges, made of very beautiful transparent green stone.[157]
Besides these, we come upon quantities of round black and red
terra-cotta discs, generally nearly 2 inches in diameter, with a hole in
the centre; and stone quoits (δίσκοι), about 6 inches in diameter, with
a hole in the centre for throwing them. Further, a number of idols of
very fine marble, which form the only exception to the rule that at an
increasing depth the objects are of much better workmanship than those
above. In fact, the idols met with in the Trojan [pre-Trojan] strata of
_débris_ from 2 to 4 meters (6½ to 13 feet) above the primary soil,
that is, at a depth of from 12 to 14 meters (39¼ to 46 feet), are so
coarsely wrought, as may be seen from the drawings (on page 36), that
one might be inclined to believe that they were the very first attempts
of an uncivilized people at making plastic representations of a deity.
There was only one mutilated idol of terra-cotta found among these
ruins, a drawing of which I give; all the others are of very fine
marble. I must also mention another Priapus, of fine marble, which was
discovered at a depth of 13 meters (42½ feet).
In these depths we likewise find many bones of animals, boars’ tusks,
small shells, horns of the buffalo, ram, and stag; as well as the
vertebræ of the shark.
The houses and palaces, in which the splendid terra-cottas were used,
were large and spacious, for to them belong all those mighty heaps of
large stones hewn and unhewn, which cover them to the height of from 13
to 20 feet. These houses and palaces were easily destroyed, for the
stones were only joined with earth, and when the walls fell everything
in the houses was crushed to pieces by the immense blocks of stone. The
primitive Trojan people disappeared simultaneously with the destruction
of their town, for in none of the succeeding layers of _débris_ do we
find the style of architecture to consist of large blocks of stone
joined with earth; in none do we find the terra-cottas--with the
exception of the round articles in the form of tops and volcanoes--to
possess any resemblance with the excellent and artistic earthenware of
the people of Priam.[158]
Upon the site of the destroyed city new settlers, of a different
civilization, manners and customs, built a new town; but only the
foundation of their houses consisted of stones joined with clay; all of
the house-walls were built of unburnt bricks. Many such walls may be
seen at a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) in the earthen
sides of my excavations; they have been preserved through the very fact
that the houses were burnt out, and the walls of unburnt bricks, through
the great heat, received a sort of brick-crust, or became actually burnt
bricks.
In my memoir of the 23rd of last month, I spoke of a stone wall, found
at a depth of 33 feet, which I hoped would extend down to the primary
soil. Unfortunately, however, it proved to be merely the foundation of a
house belonging to the immediate successors of the ancient Trojans, and
these foundations only extended to a depth of 1¾ foot.
The remains of the ruined walls belonging to ancient Troy had, of
course, to be levelled by the new settlers, whose mode of life and style
of architecture were entirely different. This explains how it is that,
with the exception of a small wall in the northern entrance of my large
trench, I have hitherto not been able to point out a single wall
belonging to ancient Troy; and that, until now, I have only been able to
present archæology with a few splendid urns, vases, pots, plates, and
dishes, and with but one bowl (_crater_). (See Cut, No. 41, p. 74.) Yet
I have found thousands of fragments of other excellent vessels, the sad
memorials of a people whose fame is immortal.
I cannot conclude the description of the lowest stratum without
mentioning that among the huge blocks of stone, at a depth of from 12 to
16 meters (39½ to 52½ feet), I found two toads; and at a depth of
39½ feet a small but very poisonous snake, with a scutiform head. The
snake may have found its way down from above; but this is an
impossibility in the case of the large toads--they must have spent 3000
years in these depths. It is very interesting to find in the ruins of
Troy living creatures from the time of Hector and Andromache, even
though these creatures are but toads.[159]
I must also draw attention to the fact that I have found the 卐 twice on
fragments of pottery, one of which was discovered at a depth of 16
meters (52½ feet), the other at 14 meters (46 feet). The primitive
Trojans, therefore, belonged to the Aryan race, which is further
sufficiently proved by the symbols on the round terra-cottas.
[Illustration: No. 110.
Fragment of Pottery, with the _Suastika_, from the lowest Stratum (14
M.).]
* * * * *
[Illustration: Nos. 111, 112. Double-handed Vases of Terra-cotta, from
the Trojan Stratum (9 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 113. A Trojan Vase in Terra-cotta of a very
remarkable form (8 M.).]
The existence of the nation which succeeded the Trojans was likewise of
a long duration, for all the layers of _débris_ at the depth of from 10
to 7 meters (33 to 23 feet) belong to it. They also were of Aryan
descent, for they possessed innumerable Aryan religious symbols. I think
I have proved that several of the symbols were common to our ancestors
at a time when Germans, Pelasgians, Hindoos, Persians, Celts, and Greeks
still formed one nation. I found no trace of a double cup among this
people, but instead of it, those curious cups (vase-covers) which have a
coronet below in place of a handle; then those brilliant red fanciful
goblets, in the form of immense champagne-glasses, with two mighty
handles on the sides: they are round below, so that they also can only
stand on their mouths. Further, those small covers, from about 4 to
4¾ inches high, with owls’ faces, with a kind of helmet on the lower
end, furnished with a high button or tuft, which is, no doubt, intended
to represent the crest of a helmet and served as a handle. This cup
likewise can only stand on its mouth.[160] Further, all those splendid
vessels of burnt earthenware--as, for instance, funereal, water, or wine
urns, 5 feet high and from 1¾ to 3¼ feet in diameter; also
smaller funereal urns, plates, dishes, and vases, of exceedingly
fanciful forms, and from about 8 to 10 inches in height, with the owl’s
face of the tutelary goddess of Troy, two female breasts, and a navel,
besides the two upraised arms on each side of the head, which served as
handles; further, all of those vessels with a beak-shaped mouth, bent
back, and either short or long. Most of these vessels are round below,
so that they cannot stand; others have three feet; others, again, are
flat-bottomed. The neck of many is so much bent backwards that it
resembles a swan or a goose. To this class also belong all of those
globular and egg-shaped vessels, small and large, with or without a neck
like a chimney, which have a short ring on either side, and a hole in
the same direction in the lip, through which was passed the string for
suspending them; many have in addition three little feet. All are of
uniform colour, either brown, yellow, red, or black; some have rows of
leaves or twigs as decorations. I also meet with very curious vases, in
the shape of animals, with three feet. The mouth of the vessel is in the
tail, which is upright and very thick, and which is connected with the
back by a handle. Upon one of these last-mentioned vases there are
decorations, consisting of three engraved stripes of three lines each. I
formerly found the Priapus only at a depth of 7 meters (23 feet); but a
short time ago I found one at a depth of 13 meters (42½ feet). I now
find it again at 8 meters (26 feet) that is, among the ruins of the
nation of which I am at present speaking. In these strata we also meet
with an immense quantity of those round terra-cottas (the whorls),
which, it is true, deviate from the wheel-shape of the articles found on
the primary soil owing to their greater thickness, and are also not of
such excellently-burnt clay as those; but, as anyone may convince
himself by examining the drawings, they are embellished with uncommonly
beautiful and ingenious symbolical signs. Among these the Sun-god always
occupies the most prominent position; but the fire-machine of our
primeval ancestors, the holy sacrificial altar with blazing flames, the
holy sôma-tree or tree of life, and the _rosa mystica_, are also very
frequently met with here. This mystic rose, which occurs very often in
the Byzantine sculptures, and the name of which, as is well known, is
employed to designate the Holy Virgin in the Roman Catholic Litanies, is
a very ancient Aryan religious symbol, as yet, unfortunately,
unexplained.[161] It is very ancient, because I find it at a depth of
from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) in the strata of the successors to
the Trojans, which must belong to a period about 1200 years before
Christ.[162]
[Illustration: No. 114. Engraved Terra-cotta Vessel in the form of a Pig
(or Hedgehog?). 7 M.]
[Illustration: No. 115. Inscribed Whorl (7 M.).]
The sign which resembles the Phœnician letter “Nun” I found represented
sixteen times[163] upon one of those round terra-cottas from a depth of
8 meters (26 feet); for these signs stand in groups of four, and by
their position form a cross round the sun, or, if my present supposition
is right, round the nave of the wheel representing the chariot of the
sun. I also find the symbol of lightning in all the higher strata up to
10 feet below the surface. In all the strata, from a depth of 33 feet up
to 1¾ feet below the surface, I find engravings of the sun with its
rays innumerable times upon the round terra-cottas, exactly as it is
represented on the head of the Sun-god on the metopé which I discovered
when excavating the temple; but more frequently still in circles of
three, four, five, six or eight double, treble or quadruple rising suns,
and in by far the greater number of cases it stands in the centre of
four treble rising suns, which form a cross round it. Hundreds of times
I find the sun surrounded by stars in the centre of a double or treble
cross, which has a large dot on every one of the four ends. These dots
probably denote the four nails which fixed the wooden frame by which the
holy fire was prepared. At the depth of from 10 to 7 meters (33 to 23
feet) I also found although more rarely, five mystic roses in a circle
round the sun. One with signs, which may probably prove to be not merely
symbols, but actual letters, I found at a depth of 7 meters (23
feet).[164] I have still to mention those round articles from the same
depth, which have three mystic roses and two sheaves of sun-rays in the
circle round the sun. Further, from a depth of 9 meters (29½ feet) I
have several round pieces, upon which there are 14 crooked sheaves of
three sun-rays each, resembling the sails of a windmill, which radiate
in all directions from the sun, while the compartments between the
sheaves of rays are filled with stars. This representation must indicate
the rotation of the wheel in the course of the sun’s chariot in the
heavens, that is, if the supposition I before ventured to make, that the
round objects represent the wheel, is correct. Another, found at the
same depth, has on one side three holy sacrificial altars covered with
flames, and a group of stars; on the other side three similar altars,
and a suastika forming a cross round the sun.[165] There also occur some
with only four curved sheaves of rays, or two 卐 and two flaming altars
in a cross round the sun; there is again another upon which two crosses
stand opposite each other, and all the rest of the space round the sun
(or round the nave of the wheel) is filled with stars. All the whorls
met with at a depth of from 10 to 7 meters (33 to 23 feet) are made of
clay, for the most part of black or red clay, and as hard as stone,
which, in comparison with that of the whorls in the higher strata, is
distinguished by its fineness. We also find in these strata some whorls
made of lead or fine marble, but they have no decorations.
[Illustration: No. 116. Terra-cotta Seal (1 _M._).]
In the strata of the same nation I found also copper battle-axes,
lances, arrows, knives, and implements of different kinds, as well as a
number of moulds of schist and chlorite slate for casting these and many
other objects, some being of forms quite unknown to me. Seals of
terra-cotta, with crosses and other ornaments, are not peculiar to these
strata, but occur also at a depth of from 33 feet as far up as 1¾
feet below the surface. We have also brought to light hand mill-stones
of lava, which are oval on one side and flat on the other, and some also
of granite; large and small hammers, axes, and balls with a hole through
the centre; further, mortars and pestles of diorite, and weights of
granite; quoits made of granite and other kinds of stone, with a hole
through the centre for throwing them. Sling-bullets made of loadstone,
and great quantities of knives made of white or yellow silex in the form
of saws, sometimes also knives of volcanic glass and lances of diorite
are met with among the ruins of this people, but all these instruments
are much better finished than in the strata above a depth of 7 meters
(23 feet).
[Illustration: No. 117. A Trojan Hand Mill-stone of Lava (10 _M._).]
[Illustration: No. 118. A Piece of Granite, perhaps used, by means of a
wooden Handle, as an upper Mill-stone (10 _M._).]
[Illustration: No. 119. A massive Hammer of Diorite (10 _M._).]
[Illustration: No. 120. Piece of Granite, probably used as a Pestle.
From the lowest Stratum (11-16 _M._).]
I likewise find in these strata numerous idols of very fine marble, and
upon a number of them are engraved the owl’s face of the Ilian Athena
and her girdle. At a depth of 8 meters (26 feet) we discovered a
terra-cotta idol of the same tutelary goddess; four horizontal strokes
on the neck seem to denote her armour; only one of the arms has been
preserved, which is in an upright position; two lines proceeding from
the arms and crossing each other over the body give her a warlike
appearance; her breasts are indicated by two points; her long hair is
distinctly marked at the back of the head.
[Illustration: No. 121. Idol of Athena (8 M.). _a._ Front; _b._ Back.]
At a depth of 9½ meters (30½ feet) among the yellow ashes of a house
which was destroyed by fire, I found a large lump of thick wire, which I
believed to be copper wire, and therefore laid carelessly upon my table;
but when the lump was knocked down accidentally, a silver wire, which
held the packet together, broke, and out fell three bracelets, one of
which is simple, the second double, and the third treble: within the
last is a very artistic ornament and an ear-ring formed of six wires,
and these things must have been welded to the bracelet by the heat of
the conflagration, for it cannot possibly have been worn on the arm as
it is now.[166] The packet further contained a very pretty gold
ear-ring, which has three rows of little stars on both sides; then two
bunches of ear-rings of various forms, most of which are of silver and
terminate in five leaves. But the packet also contained several
ear-rings of the same form made of electrum (ἤλεκτρον): three of the
ear-rings I know positively to be of electrum; there are, however,
probably several others of electrum among the two bunches which I dare
not attempt to loosen for fear of breaking the silver ear-rings which
have suffered very much from rust.
According to Pliny (_H.N._ XXXIII. 23), and Pausanias (V. 12, §6)
electrum was an artificial compound of metals, four parts of gold and
one of silver. The most ancient Lydian coins are likewise made of
electrum.
[Illustration: Nos. 122, 123, 124. Balls of fine red Agate; from the
Trojan Stratum (9 _M._).]
At the same depth I not unfrequently find balls of serpentine or
porphyry of nearly 2 inches in diameter, and with a hole through the
centre. Besides these we find spoons made of bone or terra-cotta, and
great quantities of instruments of ivory and bone for use as pins. I
also found a very artistically carved piece of ebony, which is certainly
part of a musical stringed instrument. I must also mention having found,
not only in these depths, but also up to 6 meters (20 feet) below the
surface, round pieces of terra-cotta with a hole running longitudinally
through them, 2¾ inches long and 2-1/3 inches broad; and also pieces
of terra-cotta from 2¾ to nearly 4 inches broad, flat below and
rounded off at the top, with two holes at the edge of the broad surface,
or with only one hole above running through from the side. All of these
articles have probably served as weights. In all of the strata we
discovered a number of the vertebræ of sharks, boars’ tusks, antlers,
and great quantities of the shells of small sea-mussels, of which the
Trojans and their successors at all times must have been very fond.
[Illustration: No. 125. A curious Terra-cotta Cup (4 _M._).]
[Illustration: No. 126. Terra-cotta Pitcher of a frequent form (6
_M._).]
I now come to the strata of _débris_ at a depth of from 7 to 4 meters
(23 to 13 feet), which are evidently also the remains of a people of the
Aryan race, who took possession of the town built upon the ruins of
Troy, and who destroyed it and extirpated the inhabitants; for in these
strata of 10 feet thick I find no trace of metal beyond two nails and a
small piece of silver wire, and the structure of the houses is entirely
different. All the house-walls consist of small stones joined with clay;
in the larger buildings the stones are more or less hewn, but in the
smaller they are altogether rough. Visitors to the Plain of Troy can see
in the earthen walls of my excavations, at these depths, a number of
larger or smaller house-walls of this description. Among others are the
remains of those huge walls 6¼ feet thick, of which I spoke in my
report of the 23rd of last month. The foundations lie at a depth of 20
feet, and they extend to within 10 feet below the present surface;[167]
for as, with the exception of excavating the temple, I only intend to
make the trench through the hill 98 feet broad above, it has not been
necessary to pull down the building entirely.
[Illustration: No. 127. A small Terra-cotta Vase, with two Handles and
three feet (6 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 128. Terra-cotta Vase of a frequent form (6 _M._).]
In these strata (at a depth of from 23 to 13 feet) not only are all the
stone implements much rougher, but all the terra-cottas also are of a
coarser quality. Still it cannot be denied that with all their
simplicity they possess a certain elegance, and I must especially
mention the very pretty black or red vases in the form of hour-glasses
with two large handles, the red ones being nearly 4 inches high, the
black ones 5½ inches high; the small jars in the form of cups with
large handles, the larger jars with one or two handles; but above all
the frequently occurring covers with the owl’s face of the tutelary
goddess of Troy, which are, it is true, almost like those from a depth
of from 30 to 23 feet in size, but considerably inferior in quality.
The terra-cotta balls found in these strata are especially remarkable,
owing to their most varied symbols. I will describe two of these, found
at a depth of 5 meters (16½ feet). The surface of the one is divided
by lines into eight equal parts;[168] in one of these is a sun with ten
rays, of which only four are straight, all of the others seem to
represent religious symbols. One ray has the form of the Phœnician
letter “Nun,” and must denote lightning; another ray has the form of a
serpent; another again the form of the numeral III.; a fourth is the
shape of a sign-post; and the remaining two in the form of
fishing-hooks; beside the sun is a star. In the next division is a tree
with eight branches, a quadrangle with two stars, and a triangle with
four stars. The third field contains a tree with twelve branches; a
circle with a star; and, beside and above a stroke, twelve stars, one of
which has a dot in the centre. The twelve little stars may possibly
denote the twelve signs of the zodiac, which, being the twelve stations
of the sun, are personified in the Rigvêda by the twelve Adityas, sons
of Aditi, the indivisible and infinite space. The fourth field contains
a tree with only six branches, a triangle with three compartments, in
one of which is a stroke, and also two squares. The fifth field has
again a sun with six crooked rays and one straight ray. The sixth field
has five divisions: in the first there are five, in the second four, and
in the third seven little stars; the fourth division contains a sign
resembling the numeral II., together with three stars; in the fifth
division there is a simple cross. In the seventh field is a tree with
ten branches. In the eighth field there is a figure like a serpent, and
a star.
Upon the second terra-cotta ball there is a sun with thirteen straight
rays; further there are, between two 卐, three groups of three stars
each, and four straight lines; lastly, below the sun three similar lines
and three stars.[169] We also frequently find in these strata
terra-cotta balls completely covered with stars; likewise an immense
number of the round terra-cottas in the form of tops and volcanoes, more
than half of which are adorned with the most various symbolical signs.
We have also discovered here many weapons of diorite and hard green
stone, as well as a number of whetstones of black and green slate with
a hole at one end.[170] The use of these whetstones is not very clear to
me, for, as I have already said, in the depths of from 7 to 4 meters (23
to 13 feet) I have found no trace of any metal beyond the two nails and
the piece of silver wire. However, we came upon a few fragments of
moulds for casting instruments, and hence it is probable that copper was
known. In any case, however, it was rare and costly, for otherwise I
should not have found such colossal masses of stone instruments.
I found in these depths a large number of curious large vases, and among
them several beautiful urns with the owl’s head of the Ilian Athena, her
two female breasts, navel, and the two upraised arms beside the head.
Upon one of the navels is a cross and four holes, which are doubtless
intended to represent the four nails employed by our Aryan ancestors to
fasten the two pieces of wood which were laid crosswise for producing
the holy fire.[171] In these strata I also discovered a number of those
cups in the form of champagne-glasses with two handles, which however,
as may be seen from the drawings, become clumsier, smaller, and inferior
in quality at every yard the higher we ascend. Cups with coronets below
(vase-covers) also occur, likewise many small red jars with three feet
and two handles, and several hundreds of uncoloured jars, with a handle
from nearly 4 to 4¾ inches high. There are also enormous masses of
large clumsy hammers and other instruments of diorite; I also found a
Priapus of diorite, which is above 12½ inches high and 7¾ inches
thick.
[Illustration: No. 129.
Terra-cotta Vase of a form frequent at the depth of 3-5 M.]
There is a well belonging to this nation, built of good hewn stones
cemented with clay; its opening is at a depth of 13 feet. I have had it
cleared out almost as far as the primary soil; one wall of this well is
still to be seen on the left side of the northern entrance of my great
cutting. Hand mill-stones of lava are also found in immense numbers in
these strata.
* * * * *
[Illustration: No. 130. Terra-cotta Vessel (4 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 131. A small Terra-cotta Vase with two Rings for
suspension (2 M.).]
[Illustration: Nos. 132, 133. Owl-faced Vase-covers (3 M.). The second
is of an unusual form.]
[Illustration: Nos. 134, 135. Two-handled Cups from the upper Stratum (2
M.).]
[Illustration: No. 136. Terra-cotta Vase (2 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 137. Perforated Terra-cotta (2 M.).]
A new epoch in the history of Ilium commenced when the accumulation of
_débris_ on this hill had reached a height of 4 meters (13 feet) below
its present surface; for the town was again destroyed, and the
inhabitants killed or driven out by a wretched tribe, which certainly
must likewise have belonged to the Aryan race, for upon the round
terra-cottas I still very frequently find the tree of life and the
simple and double cross with the four nails. In these depths, however,
the form of the whorls degenerates; they become more elongated and
pointed; I also find many in the form of cones about 1-1/5 inch to 1½
inch in height, which never occur in the lower strata; most of them are
without decorations. Of pottery much less is found, and all of it is
much more inartistic than that in the preceding strata. However, an
exceedingly fanciful goblet, found at a depth of 13 feet, deserves to be
specially mentioned; its body, which rests upon three little feet, is a
tube, out of which three small cups stand up. We still frequently meet
with cups (vase-covers) bearing the owl’s face of the Ilian Athena, and
a kind of helmet, but they continue to become more and more rude.[172]
In like manner the cups in the form of champagne-glasses continue to be
inferior in quality, they are always smaller and coarser, and are now
only about 5 inches high, whereas at a depth of 33 feet they were 12-2/3
inches high. Several vases with female breasts, navel, and upraised
arms, occur at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), one at a depth of 2½
meters (about 8 feet). Small red vases in the form of hour-glasses with
a handle are still frequently met with; two were found at as small a
depth as 2 meters (6½ feet). A very great number of small ordinary
jars were found at a depth of 4 and 3 meters (13 to 9¾ feet), but
they almost entirely cease to be found at 2 meters (6½ feet) below
the surface. At the depths of 4, 3, and even 2½ meters (13, 9¾,
and 8 feet) I also found very many idols of the Ilian Athena, made of
fine marble; upon several there are engravings of her owl’s head and
girdle.
[Illustration: Nos. 138, 139. Deep Plates (_pateræ_) with Rings for
suspension, placed (_a_) vertically or (_b_) horizontally (1 and 2 M.).]
[Illustration:
No. 140. _a._ Front. No. 140. _b._ Back. No. 141.
Idols of the Ilian Athena (3 M.).]
At a depth of 3 meters (10 feet) I also found a terra-cotta idol, which
represents this same goddess with the owl’s face and two enormous eyes;
she has two female breasts and long hair hanging down behind. Three
horizontal lines on the neck seem to denote armour. At the same depth I
also found a small and splendid sacrificial basin of terra-cotta, with
three feet; in the basin there are engraved a suastika, a tree with
twenty-four branches, and a caterpillar.[173]
Copper was known to this people, for I discovered here knives, lances,
and nails made of this metal. The form of the nails is often curious,
for occasionally I find them with two heads, one beside the other,
sometimes with no head at all, but merely two pointed ends, so that a
kind of head had to be made by bending over about 2/5 of an inch at one
of the ends. Another proof of their knowledge of metals is furnished by
the moulds in mica-schist.
We find scarcely any stones in these strata, and the masses of charred
ruins and wood-ashes leave no doubt that all the buildings of this tribe
were made of wood. I find in these strata of 6½ feet thick some few
stone weights, also a couple of hand-mills of lava, but otherwise no
implements of stone except knives of silex in the form of saws, which
seem often to have been made with great care. Thus, for instance, at a
depth of 6½ feet I found a saw made of silex 4¾ inches in length
and 1·3 in breadth, which was so exquisitely made that I at first
thought it must be a comb. The upper portion of the saw bore the
clearest marks of having been encased in wood.
[Illustration: No. 142. Mould in Mica-schist for casting some unknown
object (2½ M.).]
* * * * *
With the people to whom these strata belonged--from 4 to 2 meters (13 to
6½ feet) below the surface--the pre-Hellenic ages end, for
henceforward we see many ruined walls of Greek buildings, of beautifully
hewn stones laid together without cement, and in the uppermost layer of
all even the ruins of house-walls, in which the stones are joined with
lime or cement. Moreover, the painted and unpainted terra-cottas,
occasionally found at a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet), leave no doubt
that a Greek colony took possession of Ilium when the surface of this
hill was still that much lower than it is now. It is impossible to
determine exactly when this new colonization took place, but it must
certainly have been much earlier than the visit of Xerxes reported by
Herodotus (VII. 43), which took place 480 years before Christ. According
to Strabo (XIII. 1. 42) the town was built under Lydian dominion, and
hence this event may have taken place about 700 B.C., for the
commencement of the Lydian dominion is assigned to the year 797 B.C.
Fluted jars, which archæologists believe to belong to a period 200 years
anterior to Christ, are found immediately below the surface, at a depth
of from 1¾ to 3¼ feet. The Greek colony does not appear by any
means to have at all extirpated the inhabitants of Ilium, for I still
find a great deal of pre-Hellenic pottery at a depth of 6½ and even
of 5 feet. At all events those round lamp-shaped terra-cottas with a
potter’s stamp and two holes at the edge, found as far down as 6½
feet, seem to me to be of Greek manufacture. The round articles with one
hole through the centre, without or with decorations representing the
sun and its rays, or the sun with stars, or four double or treble rising
suns forming a cross, or even the sun in the centre of a simple or
double cross, occur in numbers as far up as a depth of 3¼ feet; but
in these uppermost strata the quality of the clay of which these
articles are made is very bad, and the symbolical signs are very
coarsely and inartistically engraved. My wife, who is enthusiastic about
the discovery of Ilium, and who helps me assiduously in the excavations,
found, in a cutting which she and her maid had opened close to our
house, the same round terra-cottas, with or without decorations, even
quite close to the surface. How these exceedingly remarkable objects,
which are adorned with the most ancient religious symbols of the Aryan
race, can have continued to be used for more than 1000 years by the
four tribes which successively held possession of Ilium, and even by the
civilized Greek colony, is to me a problem as inexplicable as the
purpose for which they were used. If, as I now conjecture, they
represent the wheel, which in the Rigvêda is the symbol of the sun’s
chariot, they were probably used as _Ex votos_, or they were worshipped
as idols of the sun-god, Phœbus Apollo. But why are there such enormous
numbers of them?
The well, which I last year discovered at a depth of 6½ feet, built
of hewn stones with cement, belongs of course to the Greek colony; so
also do all those enormous water and wine urns (πίθοι), which I met with
in the uppermost strata. I find all of these colossal urns, as well as
all those met with in the deeper strata, standing upright, which is the
best proof, if indeed any were needed, that the mighty masses of
_débris_ cannot have been brought here from another place, but that they
were formed gradually in the course of thousands of years, and that the
conquerors and destroyers of Ilium, or at least the new settlers after
its conquest and destruction, never had the same manners and customs as
their predecessors. Consequently, for many centuries, houses with walls
built of unburnt bricks stood upon the mighty heaps of stone, from 13 to
20 feet thick, belonging to the enormous buildings of the primitive
Trojans; again, for centuries, houses built of stones joined with clay
were erected upon the ruins of houses of brick; for another long period,
upon the ruins of these stone houses, wooden houses were erected; and
lastly, upon the charred ruins of the latter were established the
buildings of the Greek colony, which at first consisted of large hewn
stones joined with clay or cement. It can thus no longer seem
astonishing that these masses of ruins, covering the primary soil, have
a thickness of from 14 to 16 meters (46 to 52½ feet) at the least.
I take this opportunity of giving a translation of the answer I made to
an article published by M. G. Nikolaïdes in No. 181 of the Greek
newspaper ‘Ἐφημερὶς Συζητήσεων,’ in which the author endeavours to prove
that I am giving myself unnecessary trouble, and that the site of Troy
is not to be found here, but on the heights of Bunarbashi.[174]
“M. Nikolaïdes maintains that the site of Troy cannot be discovered by
means of excavations or other proofs, but solely from the Iliad. He is
right, if he supposes that Ilium is only a picture of Homer’s
imagination, as the City of the Birds was but a fancy of Aristophanes.
If, however, he believes that a Troy actually existed, then his
assertion appears most strange. He thereupon says that Troy was situated
on the heights of Bunarbashi, for that at the foot of them are the two
springs beside which Hector was killed. This is, however, a great
mistake, for the number of springs there is forty, and not two, which is
sufficiently clear from the Turkish name of the district of the springs,
‘Kirkgiös’ (40 eyes or springs). My excavations in 1868, on the heights
of Bunarbashi, which I everywhere opened down to the primary soil, also
suffice to prove that no village, much less a town, has ever stood
there. This is further shown by the shape of the rocks, sometimes
pointed, sometimes steep, and in all cases very irregular. At the end of
the heights, at a distance of 11½ miles from the Hellespont, there
are, it is true, the ruins of a small town, but its area is so very
insignificant, that it cannot possibly have possessed more than 2000
inhabitants, whereas, according to the indications of the Iliad, the
Homeric Ilium must have had over 50,000. In addition to this, the small
town is four hours distant, and the 40 springs are 3½ hours distant,
from the Hellespont; and such distances entirely contradict the
statements of the Iliad, according to which the Greeks forced their way
fighting, four times in one day, across the land which lay between the
naval camp and the walls of Troy.
“M. Nikolaïdes’s map of the Plain of Troy may give rise to errors; for
he applies the name of Simoïs to the river which flows through the
south-eastern portion of the Plain, whereas this river is the Thymbrius,
as Mr. Frank Calvert has proved. In his excavations on the banks of that
river, Mr. Calvert found the ruins of the temple of the Thymbrian
Apollo, about which there cannot be the slightest doubt, owing to the
long inscription which contains the inventory of the temple. Then on the
map of M. Nikolaïdes I find no indication whatever of the much larger
river Doumbrek-Su, which flows through the north-eastern portion of the
Plain of Troy, and passed close by the ancient town of Ophrynium, near
which was Hector’s tomb and a grove dedicated to him.[175] Throughout
all antiquity, this river was called the Simoïs, as is also proved by
Virgil (_Æn._ III. 302, 305). The map of M. Nikolaïdes equally ignores
the river which flows from south to north through the Plain, the
Kalifatli-Asmak, with its enormously broad bed, which must certainly at
one time have been occupied by the Scamander, and into which the Simoïs
still flows to the north of Ilium. The Scamander has altered its course
several times, as is proved by the three large river-beds between it and
the bed of the Kalifatli-Asmak. But even these three ancient river-beds
are not given in the map of M. Nikolaïdes.
“In complete opposition to all the traditions of antiquity, the map
recognises the tomb of Achilles in the conical sepulchral mound of
In-Tépé, which stands on a hill at the foot of the promontory of
Rhœteum, and which, from time immemorial, has been regarded as the tomb
of Ajax. During an excavation of this hill, in 1788, an arched passage
was found, about 3¾ feet high, and built of bricks; as well as the
ruins of a small temple. According to Strabo (XIII. 1. p. 103), the
temple contained the statue of Ajax, which Mark Antony took away and
presented to Cleopatra. Augustus gave it back to the inhabitants of the
town of Rhœteum, which was situated near the tomb. According to
Philostratus (_Heroica_, I.), the temple, which stood over the grave,
was repaired by the Emperor Hadrian, and according to Pliny (_H. N._, V.
33), the town of Aianteum was at one time situated close to the tomb. On
the other hand, throughout antiquity, the tomb of Achilles was believed
to be the sepulchral mound on an elevation at the foot of the promontory
of Sigeum, close to the Hellespont, and its position corresponds
perfectly with Homer’s description.[176]
[Illustration:
PLATE VII.
A.--MOUND OF IN-TÉPÉ,
The traditional Tomb of Ajax, with the Ruins of his Temple.
B.--MOUND CALLED THE TOMB OF ACHILLES.
_Page 178._
]
“The field situated directly south of this tomb, and which is covered
with fragments of pottery, is doubtless the site of the ancient town of
Achilleum, which, according to Strabo (XIII. 1. p. 110), was built by
the Mitylenæans, who were for many years at war with the Athenians,
while the latter held Sigeum, and which was destroyed simultaneously
with Sigeum by the people of Ilium. Pliny (_H. N._, V. 33) confirms the
disappearance of Achilleum. The Ilians here brought offerings to the
dead, not only on the tomb of Achilles, but also upon the neighbouring
tombs of Patroclus and Antilochus.[177] Alexander the Great offered
sacrifices here in the temple of Achilles.[178] Caracalla also,
accompanied by his army, offered sacrifices to the manes of Achilles,
and held games around the tomb.[179] Homer never says anything about a
river in the Greek camp, which probably extended along the whole shore
between Cape Sigeum and the Scamander, which at that time occupied the
ancient bed of the Kalifatli-Asmak. But the latter, below the village of
Kumköi, is at all events identical with the large bed of the small
stream In-tépé-Asmak, which flows into the Hellespont near Cape Rhœteum.
“M. Nikolaïdes further quotes the following lines from the Iliad (II.
811-815):--
Ἔστι δέ τις προπάροιθε πόλιος αἰπεῖα κολώνη,
Ἐν πεδίῳ ἀπάνευθε, περίδρομος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,
Τὴν ἤτοι ἄνδρες Βατίειαν κικλήσκουσιν,
Ἀθάνατοι δέ τε σῆμα πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίνης.
Ἔνθα τότε Τρῶές τε διέκριθεν ἠδ’ ἐπίκουροι.
‘Before the city stands a lofty mound,
Each way encircled by the open plain;
Men call it Batiea; but the Gods
The tomb of swift Myrina; mustered there
The Trojans and Allies their troops arrayed.’
M. Nikolaïdes gathers from this, that in front of Ilium there was a very
high hill, upon which the Trojan army of 50,000 men were marshalled in
battle-array. I, however, do not interpret the above lines by supposing
that the mound of Batiea was large and spacious, nor that 50,000 were
marshalled upon it in battle-array. On the contrary, when Homer uses the
word ‘αἰπύς’ for height, he always means ‘steep and lofty,’ and upon a
steep and lofty height 50,000 Trojans could not possibly have been
marshalled. Moreover, the poet expressly says that the steep hill is
called by the gods the tomb of the nimble-limbed Myrina, while
‘Batiea,’ the name which men gave the hill, can signify only ‘the tomb
of Batiea.’ For, according to Apollodorus (iii. 12), Batiea was the
daughter of the Trojan King Teucer, and married Dardanus, who had
immigrated from Samothrace, and who eventually became the founder of
Troy.[180] Myrina was one of the Amazons who had undertaken the campaign
against Troy.[181] Homer can never have wished us to believe that 50,000
warriors were marshalled upon a steep and lofty tumulus, upon whose
summit scarcely ten men could stand; he only wished to indicate the
locality where the Trojan army was assembled; they were therefore
marshalled round or beside the tumulus.
“M. Nikolaïdes goes on to say, that such a hill still exists in front of
Bunarbashi, whereas there is no hill whatever, not even a mound, before
Ilium Novum. My answer to this is that in front of the heights of
Bunarbashi there are none of those conical tumuli called ‘σήματα’ by
Homer, that however there must have been one in front of Hissarlik,
where I am digging, but it has disappeared, as do all earthen mounds
when they are brought under the plough.[182] Thus, for instance, M.
Nikolaïdes, during his one day’s residence in the Plain of Troy in the
year 1867, still found the tumulus of Antilochus near the Scamander, for
he speaks of it in his work published in the same year. I, too, saw the
same tumulus in August, 1868, but even then it had considerably
decreased in size, for it had just begun to be ploughed over, and now it
has long since disappeared.
“M. Nikolaïdes says that I am excavating in New Ilium. My answer is that
the city, whose depths I am investigating, was throughout antiquity, nay
from the time of its foundation to that of its destruction, always
simply called Ilium, and that no one ever called it New Ilium, for
everyone believed that the city stood on the site of the Homeric Ilium,
and that it was identical with it. The only person who ever doubted its
identity with Ilium, the city of Priam, was Demetrius of Scepsis, who
maintained that the famous old city had stood on the site of the village
of the Ilians (Ἰλιέων κώμη), which lies 30 stadia (3 geog. miles) to the
south-east. This opinion was afterwards shared by Strabo, who however,
as he himself admits, had never visited the Plain of Troy; hence he too
calls the town ‘τὸ σημερινὸν Ἴλιον,’ to distinguish it from the Homeric
Ilium. My last year’s excavations on the site of the Ἰλιέων κώμη have,
however, proved that the continuous elevation on one side of it, which
appeared to contain the ruins of great town walls, contains in reality
nothing but mere earth. Wherever I investigated the site of the ancient
village, I always found the primary soil at a very inconsiderable depth,
and nowhere the slightest trace of a town ever having stood there. Hence
Demetrius of Scepsis and Strabo, who adopted his theory, were greatly
mistaken. The town of Ilium was only named Ilium Novum about 1000 years
after its complete destruction; in fact this name was only given to it
in the year 1788 by Lechevalier, the author of the theory that the
Homeric Ilium stood on the heights of Bunarbashi. Unfortunately,
however, as his work and map of the Plain of Troy prove, Lechevalier
only knew of the town from hearsay; he had never taken the trouble to
come here himself, and hence he has committed the exceedingly ludicrous
mistake, in his map, of placing his New Ilium 4¼ miles from
Hissarlik, on the other side of the Scamander, near Kum-kaleh.
“I wonder where M. Nikolaïdes obtained the information that the city
which he calls Ilium Novum was founded by Astypalæus in the sixth
century B.C. It seems that he simply read in Strabo (XIII. 602), that
the Astypalæans, living in Rhœteum, built on the Simoïs the town of
Polion (which name passed over into Polisma), which, as it had no
natural fortifications, was soon destroyed, and that he has changed this
statement of Strabo’s by making the Astypalæans build Ilium Novum in the
sixth century B.C. In the following sentence Strabo says that the town
(Ilium) arose under the dominion of the Lydians, which began in 797 B.C.
Whence can M. Nikolaïdes have obtained the information that the
foundation of the town was made in the sixth century?
“M. Nikolaïdes further says that Homer certainly saw the successors of
Æneas ruling in Troy, else he could not have put the prophecy of that
dynasty into the mouth of Poseidon.[183] I also entertained the same
opinion, until my excavations proved it to be erroneous, and showed
undoubtedly that Troy was completely destroyed, and rebuilt by another
people.
“As a further proof that the site of the Homeric Ilium was on the
heights of Bunarbashi, M. Nikolaïdes says that the Trojans placed a
scout on the tumulus of Æsyetes, to watch when the Achæans would march
forth from their ships, and he thinks that, on account of the short
distance from the Hellespont, this watching would have been superfluous
and unreasonable if, as I say, Troy had stood on the site of Ilium,
which M. Nikolaïdes calls Ilium Novum. I am astonished at this remark of
M. Nikolaïdes, for, as he can see from his own map of the Plain of Troy,
the distance from hence to the Hellespont is nearly four miles, or 1½
hour’s walk, whereas no human eye can recognise men at a distance of 1
mile, much less at a distance of four. M. Nikolaïdes, however, believes
the tumulus of Æsyetes to be the mound called Udjek-Tépé, which is 8
miles or 3½ hours’ journey from the Hellespont. But at such a
distance the human eye could scarcely see the largest ships, and could
in no case recognise men.
“In like manner, the assertion of M. Nikolaïdes, that there is no spring
whatever near Hissarlik, is utterly wrong. It would be unfortunate for
me if this were true, for I have constantly to provide my 130 workmen
with fresh water to drink; but, thank God, close to my excavations,
immediately below the ruins of the town-wall, there are two beautiful
springs, one of which is even a double one. M. Nikolaïdes is also wrong
in his assertion that the Scamander does not flow, and never has flowed,
between Hissarlik and the Hellespont; for, as already stated, the
Scamander must at one time have occupied the large and splendid bed of
the Kalifatli-Asmak, which runs into the Hellespont near Cape Rhœteum,
and which is not given in the map of M. Nikolaïdes.
“Lastly, he is completely wrong in his statement that the hill of
Hissarlik, where I am digging, lies at the extreme north-eastern end of
the Plain of Troy; for, as everyone may see by a glance at the map, the
Plain extends still further to the north-east an hour and a half in
length and half an hour in breadth, and only ends at the foot of the
heights of Renkoï and the ancient city of Ophrynium.
“It will be easily understood that, being engaged with my superhuman
works, I have not a moment to spare, and therefore I cannot waste my
precious time with idle talk. I beg M. Nikolaïdes to come to Troy, and
to convince himself with his own eyes that, in refuting his erroneous
statements, I have described all I see here before me with the most
perfect truth.”