Discovery of a large house upon the Tower--Marks of a great
conflagration--Primitive Altar: its very remarkable position--Ruins
of the Temple of Athena--A small cellar--Skeletons of warriors with
copper helmets and a lance--Structure of the
helmet-crests--Terra-cottas--A crucible with copper still in
it--Other objects--Extreme fineness of the engravings on the
whorls--Pottery--Stone implements--Copper pins and other objects.
Pergamus of Troy, April 5th, 1873.
Amidst cold but glorious spring weather most favourable for the workmen,
who now number 150 on the average, I have this week continued the
excavations with the greatest energy and with good results.
The most interesting object that I have discovered here in these three
years is certainly a house which I brought to light this week, and of
which eight rooms have already been laid open; it stands upon the Great
Tower, at a depth of 7 and 8 meters (23 to 26 feet), directly below the
Greek Temple of Athena. Its walls consist of small stones cemented with
earth, and they appear to belong to different epochs; for, while some of
them rest directly upon the stones of the Tower, others were not built
till the Tower was covered with 8 inches, and in several cases even with
3¼ feet, of _débris_. These walls also show differences in thickness;
one of them is 4¼ feet, others are only 25½ inches, and others
again not more than 19-2/3 inches thick. Several of these walls are 10
feet high, and on some of them may be seen large remnants of the
coatings of clay, painted yellow or white. Only in one large room, the
dimensions of which, however, cannot be exactly ascertained, have I as
yet found an actual floor of unhewn slabs of limestone, the smooth sides
of which are turned outside. Black marks, the result of fire, upon the
lower portion of the walls of the other rooms which have as yet been
excavated, leave no doubt that their floors were of wood, and were
destroyed by fire. In one room there is a wall in the form of a
semicircle, which has been burnt as black as coal. All the rooms as yet
laid open, and not resting directly upon the Tower, have been excavated
down to the same level; and I find, without exception, that the _débris_
below them consists of red or yellow ashes and burnt ruins. Above these,
even in the rooms themselves, I found nothing but either red or yellow
wood-ashes, mixed with bricks that had been dried in the sun and
subsequently burnt by the conflagration, or black _débris_, the remains
of furniture, mixed with masses of small shells: in proof of this there
are the many remains which are still hanging on the walls. In several
rooms I found red jars (πίθοι) from 7 to 8 feet high, some of which I
leave _in situ_. Above the house, and as far as the foundations of the
temple, I found nothing but red and yellow wood-ashes. (See Plate X.,
opposite p. 287.)
To the east side of the house is a sacrificial Altar of a very primitive
description, which is turned to the north-west by west, and consists of
a slab of slate granite about 5¼ feet long, and 5½ feet broad. The
upper part of the stone is cut into the form of a crescent, probably for
killing upon it the animal which was intended for sacrifice. About 4
feet below the sacrificial altar I found a channel made of slabs of
green slate, which probably served to carry off the blood. Strangely
enough this Altar does not stand on the Tower itself, but 3¼ feet
above it, upon bricks or lumps of earth which had been dried in the sun,
and which have been actually burnt by the conflagration, but
nevertheless have no stability. The altar was surrounded by an enormous
quantity of the remains of bricks of this description, as well as by
red and yellow wood-ashes, to a height of 10 feet. Of course I leave the
altar _in situ_, so that visitors to the Troad may convince themselves
by the nature of its pedestal and of the _débris_ of the earthen wall,
beside which it stands, of the correctness of all these statements,
which might otherwise appear too incredible. The remarkable
sub-structure of this sacrificial altar, the curious _débris_ in which
it was buried, the preservation of the great house, which has evidently
been burnt, and the walls of which were built at different epochs, and
lastly, the fact that its spaces were filled with heterogeneous _débris_
and with colossal jars--all this is a puzzle to me. I confine myself,
therefore, to stating the facts merely, and refrain from expressing any
kind of conjecture.
[Illustration: No. 188. Great Altar for Sacrifices, found in the depths
of the Temple of Athena (1/23 of the real size).]
Above the house, in the south-western wall of this excavation, are the
ruins of the southern wall of the Temple of Athena. They are 5¼ feet
high, and consist of large white blocks of limestone. Their great
breadth gives them an imposing appearance, and this is further increased
by the great reservoir of the temple, the walls of which are directly to
the east of the altar, and 4¼ feet high. Above the very ancient
house, and below the southern wall of the temple, may be seen the ruins
of a small round cellar, 3½ feet in diameter and about 2½ feet
high, which stands below the foundations, and must, therefore, be older
than the temple. It is built of chalk and stones, but the inner side has
been painted over with a kind of varnish or glaze, and has a glossy
appearance. This small cellar was filled with fragments of Greek
terra-cottas, among which, however, I found six small vases, almost
uninjured.
This very ancient house, with its small rooms, as it stands, is very
like a Pompeian house; it cannot, indeed, be at all compared with the
houses of Pompeii in regard to architecture or decoration, but it
surpasses them in peculiarity.
[Illustration: No. 189. Copper Lance of a Trojan Warrior, found beside
his Skeleton (7 M.).]
By the side of the house, as well as in its larger apartments, I have
found great quantities of human bones, but as yet only _two entire
skeletons_, which must be those of _warriors_, for they were found at a
depth of 7 meters (23 feet), with _copper helmets upon their heads_.
Beside one of the skeletons I found a _large lance_, a drawing of which
I give. The one skull is uninjured, and I add a faithful drawing of it;
the other is somewhat broken, but I hope soon to have the pieces joined
with cement. Both of the skulls are large, but remarkably narrow.
Unfortunately both helmets were broken; however, I hope to be able to
put one of the two together when I return to Athens.
[Illustration: No. 190. Skull of a Trojan Warrior, belonging to one of
the two Skeletons found in the House on the Tower (7 M.). It is long,
but narrow.]
[Illustration: No. 191. (_a_) The upper and (_b_) lower pieces of a
Trojan Helmet-crest (φάλος) placed together. (_c_.) A small piece of the
Helmet remains adhering to the lower part of the Crest (7 M.). A pin,
fastened to the front of the part (_b_), goes into the hollow base of
(_a_), and supports it. (See the figures on p. 334.)]
The upper portions of both helmets have, however, been well preserved;
and these parts form the “φάλος,” or ridge, in which the “λόφος
ἵππουρις,” or horse-hair plume, so frequently mentioned in the Iliad,
was fixed.”[244] In both cases the φάλος consists of two pieces. The
large copper ring found beside the helmet had been attached to it, in
what manner I do not know. Two days later, when I found the second
helmet, I perceived from the manner in which the lower portion was fixed
to the helmet that the pieces must be put together as shown in the
drawing. Through the lower portion of each helmet runs a copper nail,
which has a round head and its other end simply bent round. As to the
place into which the λόφος ἵππουρις was inserted and fixed there can be
no doubt, for the opening at the top of the ridge can have served no
other purpose. By the side of the second helmet also, I found the
fragment of a copper ring similar to that found beside the first
helmet.[245]
[Illustration: No. 192. Great Copper Ring, found near the Helmet-crest
(7 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 193. An elegant bright-red Vase of Terra-cotta,
decorated with branches and signs of lightning, with holes in the
handles and lips, for cords to hang it up by. Found on the Tower (8
M.).]
[Illustration: No. 194. Terra-cotta Vase. Found on the Tower (8 M.).]
In some of the rooms I found no terra-cottas at all, but in others
enormous quantities of splendid black, red, and brown vases, pots, and
jars of all sizes, and of most fanciful shapes; but unfortunately in
hewing down the hard _débris_ most of them were broken, and I shall not
be able to have them repaired till I return to Athens. I wish to draw
attention to the elegance of the red jars with necks bent back, two
ears, and three breasts; as well as to the black or red vases ornamented
with engraved branches of trees, with three feet and two small and two
large upraised handles as arms; also to the terra-cotta goblets, which
are occasionally the form of champagne-glasses, sometimes also in the
shape of a soup-tureen with two handles.
The most interesting of the terra-cottas found this week, and the most
important to archæology, are these:--the beautiful red vase-cover with
the owl’s face and helmet of the Ilian Athena, which was found in a
large red urn at a depth of 8 meters (27 feet):--then two vases,
likewise adorned with the owl’s head of the tutelary goddess of Troy,
but also with two breasts, a large navel, and two upraised arms. One of
these vases was found upon the Tower, the other above it, at a depth of
4 meters (13 feet).
[Illustration: No. 195. Profile of a Vase-cover, with the Owl’s Face and
Helmet of Athena, in brilliant red Terra-cotta. Found in an urn on the
Tower (8 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 196. An Earthenware Crucible on four feet, _still
containing some copper_. Found on the Tower (7 M.).]
Among the other very remarkable terra-cottas found in one of the rooms
of the subterranean house, at a depth of 7 meters (23 feet), there is a
crucible with four feet, in which some copper is still to be seen; also
a small brilliant black funnel. I also found in the house, at the depth
of 7 and 8 meters (23 to 26 feet), several idols of ordinary stone or of
marble; one also of bone, upon which are seen the two arms of the
goddess; it is only upon one of the marble idols, and upon one of those
of stone, that I find the two eyes. This week we met with only one idol
of ordinary stone with a rude engraving of the owl’s face; it was
discovered at a depth of 4 meters (13 feet). I must remark that the
idols of common stone are always very roughly made.
Of the small terra-cotta whorls, both with and without symbolical
engravings, we this week again met with 251 pieces; of these, however,
only 31 had symbolical figures which I have not yet found. Several of
the engraved decorations on these articles have been executed with a
fineness which is truly astonishing, and more especially those which are
engraved upon brilliantly black wheel-shaped pieces: they are so fine
that I could only distinguish them through a magnifying glass.
[Illustration: No. 197. Flower Saucer; the flat bottom ornamented. Found
on the Tower (8 M.).]
At a depth of 6 and 8 meters (20 to 26 feet) we again met with very many
ordinary plates, which had been turned on a potter’s wheel. At the same
depth, and in the above-mentioned house, we found a curious vessel,
exactly in the shape of a saucer to a flower-pot, ornamented with four
triangles and two large crosses, one of which is formed by large dots,
the other by lines. Several curious moulds were also found this week,
one of which is of coarse terra-cotta for casting eight copper bars; the
other moulds are made of mica-schist, and one was for casting an object
in the form of a leaf with three long thorns on either side; the other
mould shows three uniform furrows for casting oblong rings. This week we
found only fragments of stone moulds for casting weapons and
instruments. At a depth of from 10 to 26 feet we also discovered 27
small silex knives like saws, and six very pretty knife-blades made of
black obsidian, which are sharp enough to serve as razors. We have found
no copper knives this week, but, on the other hand, four copper dress or
hair pins, from 2-1/3 to above 5 inches long; also thirteen needles for
knitting or embroidering; likewise sixteen large bodkins made of
staghorn, and a number of pointed boars’ tusks. Among the stone
implements found during the week, there are two very pretty hammers of
diorite and a very neat perforated prop of mica-schist with a small
furrow at the top, for turning a spit, and other such things. (See No.
177, p. 261.)
[Illustration: No. 198. A piece of Terra-cotta, with two holes slightly
sunk in front like eyes, and a hole perforated from side to side (8
M.).]
[Illustration: No. 199. A remarkable Terra-cotta Vessel on three long
feet, with a handle and two small ears (7 M.).]
In returning to the terra-cottas I must mention a square article, the
upper part of which gradually becomes narrower and thinner: on the front
side there are two small depressions in the form of eyes, and on one
side it is perforated. I add a drawing of this curious article, the use
of which is quite unknown to me. I may mention further a curious pot
found in the house, at a depth of 7 meters (23 feet), with three feet,
two small ears, and one handle; also those neat cups with one handle and
three feet, which are repeatedly met with in the same house. At a depth
of 3 meters (10 feet) we discovered a bright red polished little box,
from the under side of which two small perforated rings project. The
pattern on the bottom represents the sun with its rays; in the centre of
the sun’s disc is a cross, which ends in four small circles, and these
are probably intended to represent the heads of the nails which fastened
the two crossed staves employed to produce the holy fire. In every one
of the four spaces formed by the cross there is a 卐, one of which is
represented by dots.
[Illustration: No. 200. A beautiful bright-red Terra-cotta Box (or
Vase-cover?), decorated with a [+] four 卐, and a halo of solar rays (3
M.).]
We also again met with one of those small perforated terra-cottas,
consisting of two connected balls, and which somewhat resemble our
shirt-studs; the upper part of the article in question shows three
simple rising suns and six stars; the lower part represents three triple
rising suns, and three stars in the circle round the central point.
During the week we have met with only one terra-cotta ball; it shows an
encircling jagged streak and five small streaks, which may denote suns
or moons.
[Illustration: Nos. 201, 202. Little Decorated Whorls, of a remarkable
shape (6 M.).]7
[Illustration:
Dr. Schliemann’s Houses and Magazine.
Plain of Troy and Hellespont.
PLATE X.
Upper
House.
Palace
of
Priam.
Scæan
Gate.
Tower of Ilium.
_Page 287._
THE TOWER OF ILIUM, SCÆAN GATE, AND PALACE OF PRIAM.
Looking North along the cutting through the whole Hill.]