62^4. — 
 
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MYCEN/E; 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES 
 AT MYCENAE AND TIRYNS. 
 
 By DR. HENRY SCHLIEMANN, 
 
 CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : 
 AUTHOR OF 'TROY AND ITS REMAINS,' ' ITHAQUE, LB PELOPONNESE ET TROIE,' 
 AND 'LA CHINE ET LE JAPON.' 
 
 THE PREFACE 
 
 BY THE RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.R 
 
 MAPS, PLANS, AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 REPRESENTING MORE THAN 700 TYPES OF THE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE 
 ROYAL SEPULCHRES OF MYCENM AND ELSEWHERE 
 IN THE EXCA VA T/ONS. 
 
 N E W YORK: 
 SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & COMPANY. 
 
 1878. 
 
 [All Rights Reserved ] 
 
Copyright, 1877. 
 Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 
 
 Press of 
 Francis Hart & Co. 
 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
TO 
 
 HIS MAJESTY DOM PEDRO II., 
 
 EMPEROR OF BRAZIL, 
 WITH THE PROFOUND RESPECT OF 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
'Etti 8' iySovirriaav 'A9nvait) Te koi °Hp)) 
 Tiyuwirai fSaffiAva TcoAv%pvaoio WlvKr)vris. 
 
 Hom. 77. XI. 45, 46. 
 
 Upbs iifiwv 
 
 icairireo-ev, Ka.T8a.ve, ■h/x^Ts «al /caToeatf/o/iec 
 
 vEsch. Agam. 1552-1554. 
 
 ''fi toC <STparr\yr\aavros iv Tpola irort 
 ' Ayafitfivovos iraT, vvv iKeiv" l£e<TTi <roi 
 irapcWi \(v<r(T€iv, 3>v irp6@vfi.os ^(Tfl' aef. 
 Tb yap iraAatbv "Kpyos ovvoSets ro5e, 
 T7)? oi(7TpoTrA.ri70s aAtros 'lvaxo" Ko'prjs 1 
 auTTj S', 'OpeVra, tou AuKOKT<ij'OU 0eoC 
 'A70po Auiceios " <5£>| dpiirrepaj 8' oSc 
 "Upas 6 icAtivbs va6s ' oT 8' i/caeojitec, 
 4>ao-(C€iv Muktjvos Tas ttoAuxP^ctous 6poj/ ■ 
 iroAv(pdop({i' T6 Soi/ia neAoiriSaw T<i5e. 
 
 Sophocles, Electra, 1-10. 
 
PRHFACi:. 
 
 It has been with much reluctance that, at the persevering 
 request of Dr. Schliemann, I have undertaken to write 
 a Preface to his Mycenean volume. I have managed 
 perhaps, though with long intermissions of the pleasant 
 labour, to maintain a tolerable acquaintance with the text 
 of Homer; and the due establishment of the points of 
 contact between that text and the remains from Mycenae is 
 without question one of the essential aims, to which com- 
 ment on this work requires to be addressed. But I have 
 a horror of all specialism which travels beyond its proper 
 province ; and in this matter I am at best no more than a 
 specialist, probably, too, not one of very high pretensions. 
 I have not that practised skill, that comprehensive outlook 
 over the whole field of Hellenic, and other than Hellenic 
 archaeology, which has conferred upon Mr. Newton his 
 well-earned fame. The just conclusion from these premises 
 appears to be, that I ought to have declined a charge quod 
 jcrre rccuscnl humeri.* But there was, in ancient poetry, a 
 Destiny stronger than the will of gods. To me, on this 
 occasion, Dr. Schliemann is the vicegerent and organ of 
 that Destiny. In view of the splendid services which he has 
 conferred upon classical science, a power, that thrusts argu- 
 ment out of court, brings me to perceive, that I cannot but 
 accede to his desire. I have however given the reader 
 fair warning where and why he should be on his guard : 
 
 * Hor. A. P. 39. 
 
vi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and I shall make all the use I can of the landmarks laid 
 down in the report which Mr. Newton, after an ocular 
 inspection of these remains, published in the Times of 
 April 20, 1877; and of the valuable papers of Mr. 
 Gardner in the Academy (April 21 and 28). I believe that 
 the interest, excited by Dr. Schliemann's discoveries, has 
 been by no means confined to classical scholars. I shall 
 therefore endeavour to be as little technical as possible, and 
 to write, so far as may be, for a circle wider than that of 
 the persons among us who are acquainted with the Greek 
 tongue. 
 
 When the disclosures at Tiryns and Mycenae were an- 
 nounced in England, my own first impression was that of a 
 strangely bewildered admiration, combined with a prepon- 
 derance of sceptical against believing tendencies, in regard 
 to the capital and dominating subject of the Tombs in the 
 Agora. I am bound to say, that reflection and a fuller know- 
 ledge have nearly turned the scales the other way. There 
 are indeed, not only gaps to be supplied, but difficulties to be 
 confronted, and to be explained ; or to be left over for future 
 explanation. Yet the balance, I will not say of evidence, 
 but of rational presumption, seems as though it might 
 ultimately lean towards the belief that this eminent 
 explorer has exposed to the light of day, after 3000 years, 
 the memorials and remains of Agamemnon and his com- 
 panions in the Return from Troy. But let us endeavour 
 to feel our way by degrees up to this question, gradually 
 and with care, as a good general makes his approaches to a 
 formidable fortress. 
 
 I find, upon perusing the volume of Dr. Schliemann, 
 that the items of evidence, which connect his discoveries 
 generally with the Homeric Poems, are more nume- 
 rous, than I had surmised from the brief outline, with 
 which he favoured us upon his visit to England in the 
 spring. 
 
 i. He presents to us the rude figures of cows; and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 upon a signet ring (No. 531) and elsewhere, cow-heads 
 not to be mistaken. He then points to the traditional 
 worship, from the first, of Hera in Argolis ; and he 
 asks us to connect these facts with the use of Bobpis 
 (cow-eyed) as a staple epithet of this goddess in the 
 Poems ; and he might add, with her special guardianship 
 of Agamemnon in his interests and his personal safety 
 (//. I. 194-222). 
 
 This appears to me a reasonable demand. We know 
 that upon some of the Egyptian monuments the goddess 
 Isis, mated with Osiris, is represented in human figure with 
 the cow's head. This was a mode of exhibiting deity con- 
 genial to the spirit of an Egyptian immigration,* such 
 as might, compatibly with the text of Homer, have 
 taken place some generations before the Tro'ica. But 
 it was also a mode against which the whole spirit of 
 Hellenism, according to the authentic type of that 
 spirit supplied in the Poems, utterly revolted. We find 
 there a Hera, who wore, so to speak, the mantle of Isis, 
 besides carrying the spoils of one or more personages 
 enrolled in the Golden Book of the old Pelasgian dynasties. 
 Nothing could be more natural than a decapitation of the 
 Egyptian Isis, not penally but for her honour She might 
 consequently appear with the human head ; but, not to break 
 sharply with the traditions of the people, the cow-head, and 
 even the cow figure, might nevertheless be retained as 
 symbols of religion. And the great Poet, who invariably 
 keeps these symbols so to speak at arms' length, in order 
 that he may prevent their disparaging the creed of which he 
 was the great doctor, might nevertheless select from the 
 bovine features that one which was suited to his purpose, 
 and give to his Hera, who was never a very intellectual 
 
 • Since this Preface was put in type, the fragments of an ostrich 
 egg, originally mistaken for an alabaster vase, have been tested and 
 verified. This object seems to afford a new indication of prehistoric 
 relations between Mycence and Egypt. 
 
VUl 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 deity, the large tranquil eye of the cow. The use of the 
 epithet for Hera in Homei is not, indeed, exclusive, and I 
 admit that he may have inherited that use. But, though 
 not exclusive, it is very special , and this speciality is 
 enough to give a sensible support to the doctrine of our 
 famous explorer. 
 
 2. The buildings improperly called Cyclopean, and 
 still more improperly endowed with the alternative name 
 of Pelasgian, have long been known, more or less, to 
 exist in Ars;olis : but Dr. Schliemann has thrown some 
 light on what I may perhaps be allowed to call their 
 diversity of style. He admits three forms found in this 
 kind of building I have objected to the current names, 
 the first because it does not inform : the second because it 
 misleads, for these buildings have no true connection with 
 the Pelaso;ian tribes. What thev indicate is the handiwork 
 of the great constructing race or races, made up of several 
 elements, who migrated into Greece, and elsewhere on the 
 Mediterranean, from the south and east, and who exhibit 
 an usual, though perhaps not an invariable connection 
 with the Poseidon-worship , a worship, with which the 
 Cyclopean name is, through the Odyssey, perceptibly 
 associated, and which is one of the main keys, as I have 
 long been persuaded, wherewith in time to unlock, for 
 Hellenic and Homeric regions, the secrets of antiquity. 
 The walls of Troy were built by Poseidon ; that is, by a 
 race who practised the worship of the god How far those 
 walls conform to any of the minuter points of the descrip- 
 tions of ' Cyclopean ' architecture by Dr. Schliemann, 
 (pp. 42, 123), I cannot say. But if he is right, as seems 
 probable, in placing Troy at Hissarlik, it is important to 
 notice that this work of Poseidon had a solidity, which 
 bore it unharmed through the rage of fire, and kept it 
 well together amidst all the changes which have buried 
 it in a hill of rubbish and promiscuous remains. And 
 of course the modes, used by the very same race in the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ix 
 
 business of building, could not but vary much with the 
 circumstances of each case, and especially with the material 
 at hand. I am tempted, at least until a better name can be 
 found, to call this manner of building Posejdonian ; at any 
 rate, whatever it be called, to note it as a point of correspon- 
 dence between the Poems and the discoveries, admitting 
 at the same time that the matter is not sufficiently de- 
 veloped to warrant me in laying upon it any considerable 
 stress. 
 
 3. The beehive-like building, which is rather loosely 
 called the Treasury of Atreus, presents to us over the 
 doorway (p. 43) two enormous slabs, one of them 
 supposed to weigh from 130 to 135 tons. I only refer to 
 them for the sake of reminding the reader that, as I think, 
 we must be prepared, in this and other matters, freely to 
 recognise the hand of the foreigner at work ; who brought 
 with him into Greece attainments, not to be despised, of 
 material civilisation. More pointedly I wish to observe that 
 in the interior of the Treasury, from the fourth course 
 upwards, there are visible (p. 44) in each stone two bored 
 holes, and in many of them the remains of ' bronze' nails 
 still existing. Similar holes, it appears, are found (p. 45) 
 in the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos. The purpose 
 of these nails, says our author, could only be to attach 
 to the wall what in one place he calls the bronze, and in 
 another the brazen plates, with which the whole interior 
 was once decorated. On the secondary question, what was 
 the exact material employed, let me here observe that of 
 brass those ages knew nothing, and that bronze, particularly 
 in that stage of material development, was wholly unsuited 
 for sheeting. But, as to the structural point, we have here 
 a remarkable point of contact with the Homeric text. 
 For in the palace of Alkinoos, king of the Phaiakes, a 
 splendour as of sun or moon dazzled the eye, for the walls 
 were of chalkos {Od. VII. 86, cited p. 44). which I hope 
 
 1! 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I may now boldly translate copper : a metal unlike bronze 
 (a) in being readily malleable, (6) in being throughout the 
 Poems most usually lustrous, a character I do not suppose 
 we should assign to bronze. On the other hand, the 
 comparative softness of copper was not well suited for the 
 nails, so bronze might very well be employed. Nor does 
 this conjunction of the two metals, pure and mixed, in 
 the same work, carry us away from the text of Homer : 
 for his wall-sheets of copper in Scherie were crowned with 
 a cornice of his dark kuanos, which I take to be bronze. 
 This copper sheeting is a feature of the supreme Olym- 
 pian Palace (//. I. 426, Od. VIII. 321), built by Hephaistos 
 of the skilful mind. I think I could show that it also 
 adorned the palaces of Menelaos and Odysseus, and could 
 point out, moreover, why all this is in accordance with the 
 distinctly foreign and eastern character of the embellish- 
 ment : but an exhibition of the evidence would lead me 
 into too great length ; and I note only for the present 
 purpose the remarkable correspondence of the archaeology 
 with the Poems. 
 
 4. Passing from architectural to moveable objects, I 
 observe that Dr. Schliemann found both knives and keys 
 of iron in Mycenae, but that from their form he assigns 
 them to a later and strictly historic period. Old Mycenae, 
 therefore, in accordance with Hissarlik, has afforded us, up 
 to the present time, no remains of this metal. In the 
 Poems it is freely mentioned, but as a rare and valuable 
 substance, used where great hardness was required, and for 
 objects comparatively small and portable; except, indeed, 
 in the case of the Gates of Tartaros {II. VIII 15), where 
 the Poet could dispose of as much material as he pleased. 
 The aggregate quantity, then, was small ; and the instru- 
 ments were likely to be carried away on the abandonment or 
 destruction of a city. Its absence may therefore be 
 accounted for, in part by its value, but also, and more 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 especially, because it so readily corrodes.* Therefore, 
 although we cannot here establish a positive correspond- 
 ence, neither have we any occasion to admit a discrepancy. 
 
 5. Neither need we, I think, suppose any variance 
 between the chariot, as our author found it on the second 
 toi-ibstone of the Acropolis (p. 84), and the Homeric 
 picture. True, he finds a wheel of four spokes, and the 
 Olympian car of Hera had eight (//. V. 723); but this 
 diversity of structure is probably introduced, like the 
 diversity of material, by way of divine distinction, and to 
 show the superior elaboration and strength of the vehicle.* 
 
 6. We have at Mycenae the Agora, or place of 
 Assembly, in full agreement with the Poems on the two 
 points, first of its circular form (pp. 338, 339), and 
 secondly of the smoothed horizontal slabs, bounding the 
 circle, on which the Elders sate. I do not dilate upon 
 these, as they are fully noticed in the text : but I shall 
 return to the subject, in connection with the situation 
 chosen for the tombs, and the inferences which are to be 
 drawn from this important circumstance. 
 
 I will now hazard, before proceeding further with my 
 list, one or two general remarks on the works of art and 
 ornament, referring again to the reports of Mr. Newton 
 and Mr. Gardner, as the most trustworthy comment on 
 the text of our author concerning them. 
 
 First, I have to offer some reflections on the general 
 
 * In the remarkable Museum of the Royal Academy of Ireland are 
 two swords referred to the Danish period, which were taken out of a 
 bed of mud. After a repose of perhaps a thousand years, they do not 
 exhibit corrosion to the common eye. But the case is considered 
 exceptional, and probably due to some peculiar ingredient in the 
 moisture. 
 
 t I do not think it proved that, as Schliemann seems to convey 
 (p 84) the chariot-box was removed and fastened on each occasion of 
 usin- it. The passages in //. XXIV. 190 and 267 refer to the petrtns 
 of the waggon. In Od. XV. 131, it is simply mentioned as a portion of 
 the carriage, with no reference to detaching it. 
 
xii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 character of the discoveries, and on its relation to the state 
 of Art exhibited in the Poems. It seems reasonable 
 to believe, especially after what has been shown by 
 Mr. Gardner respecting the four tombstones, that they 
 constituted the contemporary seal of a great deposit. It 
 results, I think, from the evidence before us that it is 
 impossible to reduce to one school or style or stage of 
 art the whole of the objects exhumed. But on this I 
 would observe first that, although they were simulta- 
 neously deposited in honour of the dead, they might have 
 been the productions of more than one generation : 
 secondly, that not only are we not required, but, in so 
 far as we draw light from the Homeric Poems, we are 
 hardly permitted, to refer them collectively to a domestic 
 origin. 
 
 I gather from Mr. Gardner's report that the Art 
 exhibited on the Pottery is more uniformly backward, 
 than that exhibited by the works of metal. But this 
 pottery, which was, whether wheel- made or hand-made, of 
 an early stage in the manufacture, was far more likely to be 
 domestic ; while the works in the precious metals might be 
 imported. Or they might be the productions of foreign 
 artists, attracted to the Court of Agamemnon ; in the 
 same manner as we find that Daidalos, whose name, how- 
 ever mythical, represents a foreign influence, executed in 
 Crete, for Ariadne, the representation of a dance in 
 metal. 
 
 The discovery, or the inspection, of the works must 
 without doubt in the first instance suggest a reference of 
 them to a local school of goldsmiths. But, considering 
 the numerous points of contact between the discoveries 
 and the Homeric Poems, it is important to know whether, 
 and how far, they really favour such a supposition. This is 
 not the place for an examination in detail of all the works 
 of Art mentioned by Homer. I believe there is no one 
 of them, of which the purely Greek origin can be esta- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xiii 
 
 blished by proof from the text, while the manufacture 
 abroad and importation are frequently mentioned. At the 
 same time, there are some considerations which tend to 
 show that, if there were local workmen in Greece capable 
 of producing objects such as those now exhumed, it is at 
 Mycenae that we should expect to find them. First, on 
 account of the wealth of the city, and of its position as the 
 capital of the country. Secondly, on account of the 
 wealth of Agamemnon personally, and his acquisitiveness 
 if not his avarice, which made him eager to spoil those 
 whom his spear had slain, and which is the subject of 
 varied allusions in the Iliad. It must be remembered that 
 in those days works of art were not merely ornamental, 
 but were a favourite form, as their name (keimelia) shows, 
 of stored wealth : and of these, even in Troas, Aga- 
 memnon possessed many (//. IX. 330). Thirdly, an indi- 
 cation, perhaps, more significant, may be drawn from the 
 remarkable passage in the Eleventh Book (15-46), which 
 describes the arming of Agamemnon for the field. The 
 first portion of the armour, that attracts observation, is an 
 elaborately wrought breast-plate, which had come from 
 Cyprus, a seat of Phoenician settlement. We next come 
 to the sword, which I shall presently describe. This is 
 followed by the shield, adorned with many bosses of 
 metal, but also carrying a representation of the Gorgon 
 with the heads or figures of Fear and Panic. This shield 
 must be considered as a work of art 5 and the same may 
 be said of its band or strap, which carried the figure of a 
 three-headed snake. There is nothing said to connect 
 these works with foreign manufacture. The family ot 
 Agamemnon was of a foreign origin comparatively recent ; 
 but it may remain an open question, whether these arms 
 are presumptively referable, or not, to a domestic manu- 
 facture. 
 
 The deposits appear, again, to differ extremely in point of 
 merit. I set aside the objects directly symbolical, because, 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 where religion, or idolatry, is in question, excellence in 
 workmanship becomes secondary, or even ceases to be 
 desired. Among the other objects, I gather that none 
 exhibit a very high order of technical qualities. But, if 
 we may rely upon photographic representation, they surely 
 exhibit lively and forcible movement, as well as many 
 of the elements of nobleness, beauty, and fertility of 
 invention ; particularly in ornamentation, as distinguished 
 from the representation of life, either animal or vegetable. 
 Some of this diversity may be due to difference of date ; 
 some, perhaps much, to the superiority of the immigrant 
 hand, or of imported works. That there were foreigners 
 resident in Greece at the time of the Tro'ica, we have every 
 reason to infer from one conspicuous case, that of Eche- 
 polos, a son of Anchises, who was allowed to present the 
 mare Aithe to Agamemnon, as the price of his exemption 
 (//. XXIII. 296) from service against Troy. If there be 
 anywhere in the Poems an account of a work of art produced 
 in Greece or by a Greek, it is the bedstead of Odysseus,* 
 wrought by himself (Od. XXIII. 190-201); and to him, 
 after a good deal of consideration, I am inclined to ascribe 
 a close connection with the immigrant or Phoenician stock; 
 though this representation might also be due to his un- 
 equalled versatility and universality of accomplishment. 
 There was indeed a Chrusochoos or gold-plater at the Court 
 of Nestor {Od. III. 425) ; but the very same man goes by 
 the name of Chalkcus or coppersmith {Ibid. III. 43 2). And it 
 would even seem that working in metals cannot have been 
 a principal or prominent employment in an Achaian com- 
 munity, for no such person is named in the remarkable 
 
 * Ikmalios is mentioned in Od. XIX. 57 as the maker of a chair 
 inlaid with ivory and silver. I cannot doubt that this was foreign, since 
 it is marked as the work of a former age: ttotc tcktwv TroL-qa 'lK/xaA.ios, 
 "which erewhile lkmalion with cunning hand had made" (Norgate). 
 ' Erewhile ' will not be found in Todd or Latham : but it is in Shake- 
 speare, and the Dictionary of Worcester and Webster contains it. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 passage of the Odyssey (XVII. 384) which supplies 
 a sort of list, and where the wood-worker, or carpenter, 
 appears. 
 
 The list of these objects, and of their ornaments, is on the 
 whole richer and more diversified than the Pcems, with the 
 exception of the famous Shield of Achilles, would have led us 
 to expect. Possibly a knowledge of the Mycenean treasures 
 may have prompted or aided a vigorous imagination, in that 
 wonderful anticipation of excellences which had not been 
 realized in practice. The most remarkable feature, I think, 
 of all Homer's delineations of art is the force and reality 
 with which he confers animation on things inanimate. And 
 perhaps the eye may be struck, in examining Schliemann's 
 illustrations, with the vigour of life and motion which asserts 
 itself in many of the Mycenean works, where the delineation 
 is technically most imperfect. But we cannot compare the 
 text with these remains alone ; we are bound also to avail 
 ourselves of such light as can be had from Ilissarlik, what 
 ever its effect upon our prepossessions or our arguments. 
 Now I, for one, am struck with the wealth of Mycenae, and 
 the comparative poverty of what is probably Troy. I do not 
 mean merely as to the small number of valuable remains, 
 for this may be due to chance ; though, indeed, fortune, for 
 once renouncing her caprice, seems in both cases to have 
 obeyed the dictates of archaeological justice, and to have 
 treated Dr. and Mrs. Schliemann as her favourite children. 
 But I mean that there is far less of luxe in the ornamenta- 
 tion of the works at Hissarlik ; I might, perhaps, say no 
 representation at all of life, except in the rudest and most 
 barbarous form. There seem to be very good forms in the 
 gold and silver objects of Ilissarlik, but always associated 
 with plain work , no animal or even vegetable representation 
 calling for notice from the present point of view, none of 
 the repousse work, nothing resembling the (apparently) 
 beautiful cylinder (p. 287), or the elaborate rings photo- 
 graphed in this volume How are we to account for this ? 
 
XVI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 And does an argument hence arise, that the Hissarlik remains 
 belong to a period different from, and anterior to, that 
 which produced the works at Mycenae ? That the adverse 
 case may be made as strong as possible, let it be borne in 
 mind that while Homer indicates Orchomenos, and above 
 all Egyptian Thebes, as the wealthiest cities of his little 
 world, he seems designedly to assign the very same stage of 
 opulence to Troy, which he gives to Mycenae ; for he 
 describes by one and the same epithet, poluchrusos, which 
 means gold-abounding, these two cities and these two alone. 
 Troy has it in //. XVIII. 289. For Mycenae it was 
 almost a formula; see //.VII. 180, XI. 46; Od. III. 305. 
 
 We have now before us, as is not improbable, the 
 choicest samples of what the two cities had to boast of ; 
 and the question is, can we account for the difference in 
 opulence, and stage of art, between them ? I conceive that 
 we can, at least in a considerable degree ; but it is only by 
 that acknowledgment, which some are still indisposed to 
 make, of the broad vein of historic reality, that runs 
 through the delineations of the Iliad and Odyssey. 
 
 Three passages of the Iliad, in particular, convey to us 
 that the city of Troy was suffering great impoverishment 
 by the War. Indeed, if there be a grain of fact in the tale, 
 it could not be otherwise. For the means of resisting the 
 truly national attack of the Achaians, she was dependent 
 neither on a good cause, nor on a soldiery commensurate 
 with theirs. She had to seek strength from without ; first 
 from the grudging support of Dardania, secondly from the 
 neighbouring tribes both of Europe and of Asia. It might 
 even be inferred from the text that nine -tenths of the 
 fighting power (//. II. 12,3-33) were other than strictly 
 domestic. But this support from without could only 
 be got by paying for it. Accordingly Hector, in the 
 Seventeenth Book speaks with the authority (220-32) of 
 a general addressing allies, who are duly compensated for 
 their services. So also we know that the great Eurupulos 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xvii 
 
 and his Keteians,* or Hittites {Od. XI. 5 20), fall in numbers 
 on the plains of Troy, " serving for gifts." " I wear out 
 the Trojans," says Hector, " with presents and with 
 victualling for you." Again in the Twenty-fourth Book, 
 Achilles, compassionately addressing Priam, says, " We 
 hear that you once were prosperous, and exceeded in wealth, 
 as well as in the number of your sons, all the neighbouring 
 countries" (543-6). The inference is obvious; that at the 
 time, though the city had not been captured, it was becom- 
 ing comparatively poor. But the most express testimony 
 is that of //. XVIII. 288-92, when Hector stimulates his 
 countrymen to sally out, by reminding them that they are 
 already well-nigh ruined. Once, he says, all men were 
 wont to celebrate the wealth of Troy ; " but now the fine 
 valuables have utterly disappeared from our mansions." 
 
 vvv 8t 8r) i£air6\u>\e 86/xuiv K€t/xr;A.ia (caAa - 
 
 And, under the wrath of Zeus, multitudes of their possessions 
 had been sent in exchange to Phrygia and Maconia ; in 
 exchange, that is, as I presume, for necessaries. But the 
 great Mycenean deposit, if Schliemann be right in his view, 
 was made before the time of any sack or depopulation 
 of the city. Upon such an issue of life and death, as that 
 offered to the Trojans, the best objects would naturally be 
 parted with, as the most effective for their purpose (see 
 //. XXIV. 234-7); and accordingly, if we are comparing 
 Troy and Mycenae at all, we are comparing Troy in its 
 exhaustion with Mycenae in its prosperity. 
 
 We have among the remains in the precious metals 
 from Hissarlik, I believe, no representation of an animal, 
 either chased or in the round. But the Poems give us 
 several examples of such works in the possession of Greeks; 
 
 * 'Homeric Synchronism,' pp. 171 scq. I do not here enter on 
 the curious question what is the precise meaning of ywala Sd»pa. 
 
 c 
 
XV111 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 though commonly under presumptions of foreign produc- 
 tion, as it would not be difficult to show. 
 
 It is true, indeed, that Troy, in immediate contact with 
 the large fertile districts of Asia Minor, had means of 
 material growth by land-trade, which Greece, split by 
 her mountain chains into comparatively narrow tracts of 
 cultivable soil, did not possess. But it seems likely that 
 even in those days the maritime commerce, stimulated by 
 Phoenician ships and settlements, may have compensated, 
 or more than compensated, for this disadvantage. Of the 
 trade in metals and in corn, carried on by their race, we 
 have distinct information in the Poems (Od. I. 183-4, 
 XIV. 2,32,-$). They had, in all likelihood, already been 
 followed by the Greeks. The voyage of the ship Argo 
 seems to have been of a mixed character. The ships of 
 the armament against Troy could hardly have been supplied 
 by a people, who had not made a substantial beginning 
 in maritime trade. The navigation of the coasts, without 
 reference to purposes of war, is evidently a familiar idea in 
 the Odyssey. But, in the Iliad, the construction of the 
 ships of Paris is noted as the remarkable work of a remark- 
 able man (//. V. 59-64) ; nor do we, except in this one 
 ill-omened case, ever hear of Trojan navigation. 
 
 Once more. We are given to understand * that signs 
 of the art of writing have been discovered at Hissarlik ; 
 whereas the new volume supplies us with nothing of the 
 kind for Mycenae. But nothing, I apprehend, can be 
 affirmed of its existence either in Greece or Troas during 
 the Homeric age, except as the secret of a few ; in Greece 
 it was manifestly exotic, and perhaps it may have been 
 the same in Troas. As long as the evidence remains in 
 this state, we cannot infer from it with confidence any 
 important proposition as to comparative advancement. 
 
 I now resume the list of points of contact between the 
 
 * 'Troy and its Remains,' pp. 369, 371. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Mycenean discoveries and the Poems, by noticing such of 
 them as are found in movables. 
 
 i . As the first of these I take the free use of copper 
 for large utensils (pp. 274-277). We have also the analysis 
 supplied by Dr. Percy of a sword and a vase-handle of 
 bronze (pp. 372-5). In my judgment, we have no sign 
 whatever from the Poems of the fusion of metals together 
 as a domestic practice ; while we have abundant proof of the 
 importation and foreign production of works of art and 
 implements in bronze. This vase, then, may probably 
 have been foreign. The same is likely with respect to the 
 sword. We know that swords were exported and imported 
 between different countries. Thrace was a seat of manu- 
 facture both for fine works of art (//. XXIV. 234) and 
 for weapons (77. XXIII. 808) : and we find a sword, 
 " beautiful and long," from Thrace, in the possession of 
 the Trojan Prince Ilelenos (77. XIII. 577). Moreover, 
 copper was an abundant metal, tin a rare one. Bronze 
 weapons, therefore, must have been expensive. And the 
 swords of bronze found in the tombs, in conjunction with 
 all other costly objects, are just where we should have 
 expected them. Even so at Ilissarlik, two battle-axes 
 found in the Treasure, and presumably belonging therefore 
 to distinguished persons, were of bronze* But axes made 
 of pure copper may be seen in the Museum of the Irish 
 Academy ; and the great layer of copper-scoriae at His- 
 sarlik, without any tin, seems effectually to show that copper 
 was the staple metal of the heroic period, and that our 
 archaeologists will have to insert a copper age in their lists, 
 between their age of stone and their age of bronze. It 
 weapons of copper were to be discovered in the tombs at 
 Mycemr, no circumstance could more enhance the proofs 
 afforded by the Poems of the general use of copper; 
 
 * 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 361. One of these had only about 
 four per cent, of tin. Could this have been a native admixture ? 
 
XX 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 because the weapons in the tombs are weapons of the 
 persons most likely to be able to command the use of 
 bronze. I hope that the analysis, already begun, will be 
 applied to a much larger number of objects. In the mean- 
 time, as to large utensils, I find the discoveries already in 
 close correspondence with the Poems. 
 
 i. The most remarkable, perhaps, in themselves, of all 
 the objects discovered at Hissarlik, were the two elaborate 
 head-dresses of gold, which for the first time enabled us to 
 construe, with reasonable confidence, the entire passage in 
 the Iliad (XXII. 468-72), which describes the head-dress 
 cast away by Andromache in the agony of her grief. The 
 print will not have been forgotten, which exhibits the plekte 
 anadesme* It was a series of gold plaits, hanging down, 
 over the forehead and the ears, from the broad band 
 (ampftx) which ran round the head, and which constituted 
 as it were the base of the ornament. With these objects, 
 and with the Poems, Schliemann associates, incontestably as 
 it would appear, the ornament No. 357 (p. 248) ; a band or 
 frontlet adorned " with rosettes and crosses. It has two 
 perforations in the rim, a little way from either end, from 
 one of which is still hanging the -fragment of a very fine 
 chain." The only variation in the fashion of the thing 
 seems to be, that the plaits have not been continued over 
 the forehead. 
 
 0 . Hissarlik did nothing for us towards explaining the 
 kredcmnon; an article of head-dress worn by many or 
 some women of the heroic age, who could not add to it the 
 splendid decorations then reserved for princesses. But the 
 definitions of this commodity are supplied for us by the 
 Poems, piecemeal indeed, yet with adequate clearness. In 
 the first place, it crowned the head like the battlements 
 of a walled city ; for the destruction of the walls of Troy is 
 described as the ruin of its sacred kredemna (II. XVI. 100). 
 
 * ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 335. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXI 
 
 It was not, however, a metallic or solid object; for the 
 deified I no, to save Odysseus from the fury of the storm, 
 throws to him her own kredemnon and bids him bind it 
 round his chest (Od. V 346). It used to be made of 
 delicate and glossy material {Od. 1. 334), and was worthy 
 even to be a marriage gift from Aphrodite to the bride of 
 Hector (//. XXII. 470). But finally, it had a long wing, 
 tail, or lappet (I am not skilled or confident in this voca- 
 bulary), descending from behind, perhaps more than one. 
 This is shown indirectly, but I think conclusively, by the 
 information given us in Od. VI. 100, that the handmaidens 
 of Nausicaii, when about to play at ball, first put away their 
 /eredemna, evidently lest the free movement of their arms 
 should be embarrassed by the long lappets. Again, it is 
 evident that Pcnelojx\ when she used her kredemna to 
 cover her face, brought the lappets round and employed 
 them as a veil ; on any other ground the use of the plural 
 can hardly be explained (Od. I. 334). And now this part 
 of the prehistoric lady's toilette is as complete as I can 
 make it from the Poems. 
 
 I turn, then, to Dr. Schliemann's volume, and call 
 attention to the signet ring at p. 354, which, though 
 apparently not of a high order in art, combines so many 
 objects of interest. On the extreme left of the picture 
 stands a child, or small woman, who is picking fruit from 
 a tree. Behind her head appear to descend long tresses of 
 hair. What if these should prove on further examination 
 to be lappets from a head-dress which the head seems to 
 carry ? Passing to the right of the tree, first comes a tall 
 seated woman in a turban, which carries in front, says our 
 author, a diadem and behind a " tress of hair " from the 
 point into which the turban runs. I cannot but suppose 
 this " tress " to be a lappet of the kredemnon. She offers 
 poppies to another tall woman, again dressed in a turban 
 running out into a point (p. 356), "from which a long 
 ornament hangs down on the back ," a third time, in all 
 
XXII 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 likelihood, the lappet of the kredemnon. Below her out- 
 stretched light arm we have another small figure, probably 
 of a child, again in a turban, and with " a long tress of 
 hair, or some ornament, hanging down its back : " yet once 
 more, I conjecture, the lappet indicated by Homer. There 
 is also a fifth : we have still the figure to the right of the 
 picture (p. 357) ; and she, too, wears a turban terminating in 
 a point " from which a long band-like ornament hangs 
 down on her back." Now let us go aloft ; and we find a 
 small figure, towards the right of the picture. This figure 
 (P- 357) 1S described by Schliemann as female, from his 
 observing breasts upon it : and again, " from the back 
 project the long bands." Thus, in all the six cases, we 
 appear to have the same remarkable form described for the 
 main article of female head-dress, which is also given us by 
 Homer. 
 
 It may, however, be said that the female figures on 
 this ring are foreign, rather than Hellenic, in their 
 character and habiliments. But it happens that the 
 evidence of the Poems more copiously establishes the use 
 of the kredemnon among foreigners, than in Greece. We 
 hear indeed of the kredemna of Penelope ; and Hera, 
 when about to inveigle Zeus, assumes the kredemnon 
 {II. XIV. 184). But it is worn, as we have seen, by 
 Andromache in Troy ; by Ino, a deity of Phoenician 
 extraction ; and by the maidens attendant on Nausicaa in 
 Scherie. 
 
 4. In the upper region, or what we might call the sky 
 of the picture, are presented to us, apparently in very 
 rough outline, the sun and a thinly horned moon.* Below 
 
 * I wish here to call attention to the fact that, as always (I believe) 
 in the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, the moon is on this ring also 
 distinguished from the sun, not by its size, but by its being a crescent 
 moon. In truth, the distinction of size, to the common eye, is variable ; 
 and is sometimes against the sun. Two full-formed globes of equal 
 diameter would have presented a picture alike defective in composition 
 
PREFACE. xx [\i 
 
 them is an uneven band, forming rudely an arc of a circle. 
 This, I am led to suppose, is an indication of mother-earth, 
 with its uneven surface of land and its rippling sea, in 
 the proper place, beneath the sun and moon. If this be 
 so, it greatly confirms the conjecture of Mr. Newton re- 
 specting the six objects on the rim of the picture to the 
 right. He asks whether these can be the teirca {II. 
 XVIII. 485), the stars of heaven, which are described by 
 Homer as placed upon the Shield of Achilles, together 
 with the sun, moon, sky, earth, and sea. Schliemann 
 assigns to this sestctto heads and eyes : Mr. Newton says 
 they are thought to be heads of lions. That they should 
 be things animate is not, I imagine, in conflict with the 
 conjecture that they may be stars. The spirit of 
 Hellenism transmuted the older Nature-worship by imper- 
 sonations, of which we have an Homeric example in the 
 astral Orion (//. XVIII. 486, Od. XI. 572). Should 
 these conjectures be confirmed, the matter will be of 
 peculiar interest : for we shall then have before us, in 
 actual collocation, the very objects, which people the first 
 compartment of the god-wrought Shield of Achilles: the 
 earth (of land and sea), sun, moon, and all the stars of 
 heaven. The ouranos or heaven itself, which the Poet 
 also includes, is here in all likelihood represented by the 
 curvature of the picture. 
 
 5. The goblet (No. 346 of the volume) has on each of 
 its two handles, we are told, the carved figure of a dove in 
 gold. Schliemann observes on the correspondence with the 
 goblet of Nestor (//. XI. 632-635). We are not indeed 
 
 and in meaning : and ancient art, not content with this, seized, more 
 poetically as I think, upon the distinction of character in the two bodies 
 respectively. Homer, as I contend, has exactly followed this form of 
 representation in his atX.r'ivrjv re TrXrjOowdv : and I venture to hope that 
 the sense of growing, filling, waxing, or crescent moon will now be 
 allowed to prevail over the more customary rendering of ' full ' moon 
 (//. XVIII. 434). 
 
XXIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 told that this was of gold ; probably a different material is 
 to be supposed from the mention of gold as the material of 
 these parts or appendages. But it had four handles, and 
 on each handle were two doves. We are also told that he 
 did not get it in Troy, which may remind us of the argu- 
 ment already presented, but brought it from home. It 
 was probably a foreign work; for the Phoenician associa- 
 tions of Nestor are attested by his descent from Poseidon 
 (Od. XI. 254). This is fairly to be noted for an instance 
 of equable development in art, as between the discoveries 
 and the Poems. 
 
 6. We frequently hear in the Poems of the golden 
 studs or buttons which were used as ornamental adjuncts. 
 In many passages we have the silver-studded sword, xiphos 
 or phasganon arguroelon {II. II. 45, III. 334 et al.) This, 
 I say, is common. We have also studs, or bosses, of gold 
 upon the staff or sceptre of Achilles (//. I. 246), upon the 
 cup of Nestor XL 632-635 : and upon a sword, only once 
 it is true, but then that sword is the sword of Agamemnon, 
 king of gold-abourtding Mycenae (II. XI. 29). On this 
 sword, says the Poet, there were gilt, or golden, bosses ; and 
 the expression he uses about them (pamphainon) is worthy 
 of note. It is not easy to represent by any one English 
 word. It means not merely shining brightly, but shining 
 all over ; that is to say, apparently, all over the sheath to 
 which they were attached, so as to make it seem a shining 
 mass. Is not this precisely what must have been the effect 
 of the line of bosses found lying by the sword in p. 303, 
 which lie closely together, are broader than the blade, 
 and probably covered the whole available space along the 
 sheath of wood, now mouldered away ? And is it not now 
 startling, to descend into the tombs with Dr. Schliemann, 
 and to find there lying silently in rows these gold studs or 
 bosses, when the wooden sheaths they were attached to have 
 for the most part mouldered away, but by the very sides 
 of the very swords which they adorned like binding on a 
 
PREFACE. xxv 
 
 book, and of the slight remains of warriors by whom, there 
 need be little doubt, those swords were wielded ? 
 
 " Expende Annibalem ; quot libras in duce summo 
 Invenies ?" * 
 
 They also appear on the sword-handle knobs. The helos 
 of Homer is commonly rendered a nail or stud, which 
 has a head of small size ; but the word probably includes 
 the larger buttons or bosses, which lie in lines along some 
 of the swords. (See on this point pp. 281, 2 ; 303, 5, 6.) 
 
 I will not attempt to pursue further an enumeration 
 which, growing more and more minute, would be wearisome. 
 If porcelain and glass have been found, I should at once 
 assign them to foreign importation. The art of casting 
 and tooling in the precious metals, of which the examples 
 would appear, both from our author and from Mr. Newton, 
 to be few, are probably to be referred to a like source. 
 The hammer and the pincers are the only instruments for 
 metallic manipulation, of which Homer appears to be 
 aware (//. XVIII. 477, Od. Ill 434-5). As regards the 
 pottery mentioned by our author, if some of the goblets 
 were of light green (p. 285), we have a colour developed 
 in their manufacture of which Homer had certainly no 
 distinct conception, though it may still be true that, as in 
 nature, so in human art, objects bearing that colour may 
 have met his eye. Of the scales in the third sepulchre there 
 seems no reason to doubt that we may find the interpretation, 
 by referring them to the Egyptian scheme of doctrine with 
 regard to a future life (pp. 197, 8). In the Books of the 
 Dead, we have an elaborate representation of the judgment- 
 hall, to which the departed soul is summoned. Here the 
 scales form a very prominent object ;f and it seems very 
 possible that the Poet, who was Greek and not Egyptian in 
 
 ** Juvenal, Sat. X. 147. 
 
 t See, e.g., the print in Manning's 'Land of the Pharaohs,' p. 129. 
 
 i) 
 
xxvi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 his ideas of the future state, may have borrowed and trans- 
 posed, from this quarter, the image of the balances displayed 
 on high, which he employs with such fine effect in some 
 critical passages of the Iliad. As regards the emblem of the 
 double-headed or full-formed axe, I venture to dispense with 
 the cautious reserve of Schliemann. As the usual form of 
 a weapon familiar to the age, it seems to require no special 
 explanation (p. 252). But where we find it conjoined with 
 the ox- head (p, 218), or on the great signet ring in con- 
 junction with a figure evidently representing Deity, I can- 
 not hesitate to regard it as a sacrificial symbol. We have 
 only to remember the passage in the third Odyssey, where 
 the apparatus of sacrifice is detailed, and Thrasumedes, who 
 was to strike the blow, brought the axe (III. 442): — 
 
 o£vv €)(0)V iv X e /°°"' Trapicrraro, fiovv hriKoipuw. 
 
 The boar's teeth (p. 273) supply a minor, perhaps, but 
 a clear and significant point of correspondence to be added 
 to our list (//. X. 263-264). Another is to be noticed in 
 the manner of attaching, by wire, lids and covers. On 
 these subjects, I refer to the text of the volume. 
 
 By the foregoing detail I have sought to show that there 
 is no preliminary bar to our entertaining the capital question 
 whether the tombs now unearthed, and the remains exposed 
 to view, under masks for the faces, and plates of gold covering 
 one or more of the trunks, are the tombs and remains of 
 the great Agamemnon and his compeers, who have enjoyed, 
 through the agency of Homer, such a protracted longevity 
 of renown. For the general character of the Mycenean 
 treasures, I take my stand provisionally on the declaration 
 of Mr. Newton (supported by Mr. Gardnei), that, in his 
 judgment, they belong to the prehistoric or heroic age, the 
 age antecedent to his Greco -Phoenician period; and in im- 
 portant outlines of detail I have endeavoured to show that 
 they have many points of contact with the Homeric Poems, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xxv ii 
 
 and with the discoveries at Hissarlik. But this Preface 
 makes no pretension whatever to exhibit a complete cata- 
 logue of the objects, or to supply for each of them its inter- 
 pretation. We encounter, indeed, a certain number of 
 puzzling phenomena, such as the appearance of something 
 like visors, for which I could desire some other explanation, 
 but which Schliemann cites as auxiliaries to the masks of 
 the tombs, and even thinks to prove that such articles were 
 used by the living, as well as for the dead (p. 359). 
 
 Undoubtedly, in my view, these masks constitute a great 
 difficulty, when we come to handle the question who were 
 the occupants of the now opened sepulchres ? It may be, 
 that as Mr. Newton says, we must in the main rest content 
 with the " reasonable presumption " that the four tombs 
 contained Royal personages, and must leave in abeyance 
 the further question, whether they are the tombs indicated 
 to Pausanias by the local tradition ; at any rate, until the 
 ruins of Mycenae shall have been further explored, according 
 to the intention which the government of Greece is said 
 to have conceived. 
 
 At the same time this is a case where the question 
 before us, if hazardous to prosecute, is not easy to let 
 alone. 
 
 It is obviously difficult to find any simple, clear, con- 
 sistent interpretation of the extraordinary inhumation 
 disclosed to us by these researches. Such an interpretation 
 may be found hereafter : it does not seem to be forth- 
 coming at the present moment. But the way towards it 
 can only be opened up by a painstaking exhibition of the 
 facts, and by instituting a cautious comparison between 
 them and any indications, drawn from other times or 
 places, which may appear to throw light upon them. For 
 my own part, having approached the question with no 
 predisposition to believe, I need not scruple to say I am 
 brought or driven by the evidence to certain conclusions; 
 and also led on to certain conjectures suggested by those 
 
xxviii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 conclusions. The first conclusion is that we cannot refer 
 the five entombments in the Agora at Mycenas to any 
 period within the historic age. The second is that they 
 are entombments of great, and almost certainly in part of 
 royal, personages. The third, that they bear indisputable 
 marks of having been effected, not normally throughout, 
 but in connection with circumstances, which impressed 
 upon them an irregular and unusual character. The con- 
 jecture is, that these may very well be the tombs of 
 Agamemnon and his company. It is supported in part by 
 a number of presumptions, but in great part also by the 
 difficulty, not to say the impossibility, of offering any other 
 suggestion which could be deemed so much as colourable. 
 
 The principal facts which we have to notice appear to 
 be as follows : — 
 
 1. The situation chosen for the interments. 
 
 2. The numbers of persons simultaneously interred. 
 
 3. The dimensions and character of the graves. 
 
 4. The partial application of fire to the remains. 
 
 5. The use of masks, and likewise of metallic plates, to 
 adorn or shelter them, or both. 
 
 6. The copious deposit both of characteristic and of 
 valuable objects in conjunction with the bodies. 
 
 1. Upon the situation chosen for the interments, 
 Dr. Schliemann opines that they were not originally within 
 the Agora, but that it was subsequently constructed around 
 the tombs (p. 340). His reasons are that the supporting 
 wall, on which rest, in double line, the upright slabs, 
 formerly, and in six cases still, covered by horizontal slabs 
 as seats for the elders, is careless in execution, and inferior 
 to the circuit wall of the Acropolis. But, if it was built 
 as a mere stay, was there any reason for spending labour 
 to raise it to the point of strength necessary for a work of 
 military defence ? Further, he finds between the lines of 
 slabs, where they are uncovered, broken pottery of the pre- 
 historic period more recent than that of the tombs. But 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 such pottery would never have been placed there at the 
 time of the construction ; with other rubbish, it would onlv 
 have weakened and not strengthened the fabric of the 
 inclosure. Nor can we readily see how it could have come 
 there, until the work was dilapidated by the disappearance 
 of the upper slabs. If so, it would of course be later in 
 date than the slabs were. 
 
 It appears to me that the argument of improbability 
 tells powerfully against the supposition that the Agora was 
 constructed round the tombs, having previously been else- 
 where. The space within the Acropolis appears to be very 
 limited : close round the inclosures are ' Cyclopean ' houses 
 and cisterns. When works of this kind are once con- 
 structed, their removal would be a work of great difficulty : 
 and this is a case, where the earliest builders were followed 
 by men who aimed not at greater, but at less, solidity. 
 Besides which, the Agora was connected with the religion 
 of the place, and was, as will be shown, in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the palace. In addition to these material 
 attractions, every kind of moral association would grow up 
 around it. 
 
 It can be clearly shown that the ancient Agora was 
 bound down to its site by manifold ties, other than those 
 of mere solidity in its construction. It stands in Mycenae, 
 says our author (p. 341), on the most imposing and most 
 beautiful spot of the city, from whence the whole was over- 
 looked. It was on these high places that the men of the 
 prehistoric ages erected the simple structures, in many cases 
 perhaps uncovered, that, with the altars, served for the 
 worship of the gods. In Scherie, it was built round the 
 temple, so to call it, of Poseidon {Od VI. 266). In the 
 Greek camp before Troy the Agora was in the centre of 
 the line of ships (//. XI. 5-9, 806-8). There justice was 
 administered, and there " had been constructed the altars of 
 the gods." Further, it is clear, from a number of passages 
 in Homer, that the place of Assembly was always close to 
 
XXX 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the royal palace. In the case of Troy we are told expressly 
 that it was held by the doors of Priam (//. II. 788, VII. 
 345, 6) In Scherie, the palace of Alkinoos was close to 
 the grove of Athene {Od. VI. 291-3) ; and we can hardly 
 doubt that this grove was in the immediate vicinity of 
 the Poside'ion, which was itself within the Agora. In 
 Ithaca {Od. XXIV. 415 seqq.), the people gathered before 
 the Palace of Odysseus, and then went in a mass into the 
 Agora. While it was thus materially associated with 
 those points of the city which most possessed the character 
 of fixtures, it is not too much to say, considering the 
 politics of early Greece, that it must, in the natural course, 
 have become a centre around which would cling the fondest 
 moral and historical associations of the people. Into the 
 minor question whether the encircling slabs are the remains 
 of an original portion of the work or not, I do not think 
 it needful for me to enter. 
 
 But, while I believe that the Agora is where it was, the 
 honour paid to the dead by the presence of their tombs 
 within it is not affected by either alternative ; but only the 
 time of paying it. If this be the old Agora, they were 
 honoured by being laid in it ; if it is of later date, they 
 were honoured by its being removed in order to be built 
 around them ; if at least this was done knowingly, and 
 how could it be otherwise, when we observe that the five 
 tombs occupy more than a moiety of the whole available 
 space ? We know, from the evidence of the historic period, 
 that to be buried in the Agora was a note of public honour; 
 we cannot reasonably doubt, with the five graves before us, 
 that it was such likewise in the historic age. 
 
 It was a note of public honour, then, if these bodies 
 were originally buried in the Agora. If we adopt the less 
 probable supposition that the Agora was afterwards con- 
 structed around them by reason of their being there, the 
 honour may seem even greater still. 
 
 2. Next, the number of persons simultaneously interred, 
 
I 
 
 PREFACE. xxx i 
 
 when taken in conjunction with the other features of the 
 transaction, offers a new problem for consideration. An 
 argument in p. 337, to show that the burials were simul- 
 taneous, seems quite conclusive. They embraced (ibid.) 
 sixteen or seventeen persons. Among the bodies one 
 appears to be marked out by probable evidence as that of 
 the leading personage. Lying in the tomb marked as 
 No. 1, it has two companions. Now Agamemnon had 
 two marshals or heralds (//. I. 320), whose office partook 
 of a sacred character. There might, therefore, be nothing 
 strange in their being laid, if so it were, by their lord. The 
 most marked of the bodies lay to the north of the two 
 others, all three having the feet to the westward. It was 
 distinguished by better preservation, which may, at least not 
 improbably, have been due to some preservative process at 
 the time of interment. It carried, besides a golden mask 
 (p. 296), a large golden breastplate (15$ by in.), and 
 other leaves of gold at various points ; also a golden belt 
 across the loins, 4 ft. long and if in. broad. By the side 
 of the figure lay two swords, stated by Dr. Schliemann to 
 be of bronze (p. 302) , the ornamentation of one of them 
 particularly in striking accordance with the description in 
 the Iliad of the sword of Agamemnon {II. XI. 29-31). 
 Within a foot of the body, to the right, lay eleven other 
 swords (p. 304) , but this is not a distinctive mark, as the 
 body on the south side has fifteen, ten lying at the feet, 
 and a great heap of swords were found at the west end, 
 between this and the middle body. 
 
 The entire number of bodies in the five tombs (p. 337), 
 which is stated at sixteen or seventeen, seems to have 
 included three women and two 01 three children. The 
 local tradition recorded by Pausanias {inf. p. 59) takes 
 notice of a company of men with Agamemnon, and of 
 Cassandra, with two children whom she was reported to 
 have borne. This is only significant as testifying to the 
 ancient belief that children were buried in the tombs- 
 
XXX11 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 for Cassandra could only be taken captive at the time 
 when the city of Troy was sacked, and the assassination 
 immediately followed the arrival in Greece. But it is 
 likely enough that these children may have been the 
 offspring of another concubine, who may have taken the 
 place Briseis was meant to fill. This is of course mere 
 speculation ; but the meaning is that there is nothing in 
 these indications to impair the force of any presumptions, 
 which the discoveries may in other respects legitimately 
 raise. 
 
 3. Like the site in the Agora, so the character of the 
 tombstones, which is in strict correspondence with the 
 style of many of the ornaments,* and the depth of the 
 tombs, appear with one voice to signify honour to the 
 dead. As I understand the Plans, they show a maximum 
 depth of 25 feet (see, e.g., p. 155) below the surface, hol- 
 lowed for the most part out of the solid rock. But then 
 we are met with the staggering fact that the bodies of full- 
 grown, and apparently (p. 295) tall, men have been forced 
 into a space of only five feet six inches in length, so as to 
 require that sort of compression which amounts almost to 
 mutilation. 
 
 We seem thus to stand in the face of circumstances that 
 contradict one another. The place, the depth, the coverings 
 of the tombs, appear to lead us in one direction ; the forcing 
 and squeezing of the bodies in another. But further, and 
 stranger still, there seems to have been no necessity for 
 placing the bodies under this unbecoming, nay revolting, 
 pressure. The original dimensions of the tomb (p. 294) 
 were 21 ft. 6 in. by 1 1 ft. 6 in. These are reduced all round, 
 first by an inner wall two feet thick, and secondly by a 
 slanting projection one foot thick (at the bottom) to 5 ft. 
 6 in. and 15 ft. 6 in. Why, then, were the bodies not laid 
 along, instead of across, it ? Was not the act needless as 
 
 * Mr. Percy Gardner, in the Academy, April 21, 1877. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 well as barbarous ? And to what motive is a piece of 
 needless barbarism, apparently so unequivocal, to be 
 referred ? I hardly dare to mention, much less, so scanty is 
 the evidence, to dwell upon the fact that their bodies lie 
 towards the west, and that the Egyptian receptacle for the 
 dead lay in that quarter.* The conflict of appearances, at 
 which we have now arrived, appears to point to a double 
 motive in the original entombment ; or to an incomplete 
 and incoherent proceeding, which some attempt was subse- 
 quently made to correct ; or to both. But let us pay a 
 brief attention to the remaining particulars of the dis- 
 closures. 
 
 4. We have next to observe (a) that fire was applied to 
 these remains ; (6) that the application of it was only partial ; 
 (c ) that the metallic deposits are said to show marks f of the 
 action of it (pp. 1 58, 165, 188, 198, 201, 208, 215, 218, 260, 
 266, 321, 330) : so do the pebbles (p. 294). We see, there- 
 fore, that the deposition of the precious objects took place 
 either at the same moment with the fire, or, and more 
 probably I suppose, before it had entirely burned out. 
 
 The partial nature of the burning requires a more 
 detailed consideration. In the Homeric burials, burning is 
 universal. It must be regarded, according to the Poems, as 
 the established Achaian custom of the day, wherever inhu- 
 mation was normally conducted. And for burial there was 
 a distinct reason, namely, that without it the Shade of the 
 departed was not allowed to join the company of the other 
 Shades, so that the unburied Elpenor is the first to meet 
 Odysseus {Od. XI. 51) on his entrance into the Under- 
 world ; and the shade of Patroclos entreats Achilles to 
 bury him as rapidly as may be, that he may pass the gates 
 of Aides (//. XXIII. 71). I think the proof of the uni- 
 versal use of fire in regular burials at this period is con- 
 
 * * Homeric Synchronism,' p. 240. 
 
 t These marks, I now learn from Dr. S., are universal. 
 
 r. 
 
XXXIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 elusive. Not only do we find it in the great burials of the 
 Seventh Book (429-32), and in the funerals of Patroclos 
 (XXIII. 177) and Hector (XXIV. 785-800), but we have 
 it in the case of Elpenor (Od. XII. 11- [3), whom at first 
 his companions had left uninterred, and for whom therefore 
 we must suppose they only did what was needful under esta- 
 blished custom. Perhaps a yet clearer proof is to be found 
 in a simile. Achilles, we are told, wept while the funeral 
 pile he had erected was burning, all night long, the bones 
 of Patroclos, " as a father weeps when he burns the bones 
 of his youthful son " (XXIII. 222-5). This testifies to a 
 general practice. 
 
 In the case of notable persons, the combustion was not 
 complete. For not the ashes only, but the bones, were 
 carefully gathered. In the case of Patroclos, they are 
 wrapped in fat, and put in an open cup or bowl (pJiiale) 
 for temporary custody (XXIII. 239-44) until the funeral 
 of Achilles, when with those of Achilles himself, similarly 
 wrapped, and soaked in wine, they are deposited in a golden 
 urn (Od. XXIV. 73-7). In the case of Hector, the bones 
 are in like manner gathered and lodged in a golden box, 
 which is then placed in a trench and built over with a mass 
 of stones (//. XXIV. 793-8). Incomplete combustion, 
 then, is common to the Homeric and the Mycenean 
 instances. But in the case of the first tomb at Mycenae, 
 not only was there no collection of the bones for deposit in 
 an urn, but they had not been touched; except in the 
 instance of the middle body, where they had simply been 
 disturbed, and the valuables perhaps removed, as hardly 
 anything of the kind was found with it. In the case of the 
 body on the north side, the flesh of the face remained 
 unconsumed. 
 
 But though the use of fire was universal in honourable 
 burial, burial itself was not allowed to all. Enemies, as a 
 rule, were not buried. Hence the opening passage of the 
 Iliad tells us that many heroes became a prey to dogs and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 birds (//. I. 4). Such says Priam, before the conflict with 
 Hector, he would make Achilles if he could (XXII. 42); 
 and he anticipates a like distressing fate (66 scqq.) for him- 
 self. In the Odyssey, the bodies of the Suitors are left to 
 be removed by their friends (XXII. 448; XXIV. 417). 
 Achilles, indeed, buried Eetion, king of Asiatic Thebes, with 
 his arms, in the regular manner. " He did not simply spoil 
 him, for he had a scruple in his mind" {II. VI. 417) ; and 
 no wonder ; for Eetion, king of the Kilikes, was not an 
 enemy : that people does not appear among the allies of 
 Troy in the Catalogue. Thus there was a variance of use ; 
 and there may have been cases of irregular intermediate 
 treatment between the two extremes of honourable burial 
 and casting out to the dogs. 
 
 5. With regard to the use of masks of gold for the 
 dead, I hope that the Mycenean discoveries will lead to a 
 full collection of the evidence upon this rare and curious 
 practice. For the present, I limit myself to the following 
 observations : 
 
 (1.) If not less than seven of these golden masks 
 have been discovered at Mycenae by Dr. Schliemann, 
 then the use of them, on the occasion of these entomb- 
 ments, was not limited to royal persons, of whom it is 
 impossible to make out so large a number. 
 
 (2.) I am not aware of any proof at present before 
 us that the use of such masks for the dead of any rank 
 or class was a custom prevalent, or even known, in 
 Greece. There is much information, from Homer 
 downwards, supplied to us by the literature of that 
 country concerning burials ; and yet, in a course of 
 more than 1 200 years, there is not a single allusion to 
 the custom of using masks for the dead. It seems to 
 be agreed that the passage in the works of Lucian, 
 who is reckoned to have flourished in the second half 
 of the second century, does not refer to the use -of such 
 masks. This might lead us to the conjecture that, 
 
xxx t'i 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 where the practice has appeared, it was a remainder 
 of foreign usage, a survival from immigration. 
 
 (3.) Masks have been found in tombs, not in 
 Greece, but in the Crimea, Campania, and Mesopo- 
 tamia. Our latest information on the subject is, I 
 believe, the account mentioned in Dr Schliemann's 
 last report from Athens (pp xlvii, xlviii), of a gold 
 mask found on the Phoenician coast over against 
 Aradus, which is of the size suited for an infant only. 
 It is to be remembered that heroic Greece is full of 
 the marks of what I may term Phcenicianism, most of 
 which passed into the usages of the country, and con- 
 tributed to form the base of Hellenic life. Nor does 
 it seem improbable, that this use of the metallic 
 mask may have been a Phoenician adaptation from the 
 Egyptian custom of printing the likeness of the dead 
 on the mummy case. And, again, we are to bear in 
 mind that Mycenae had been the seat of repeated 
 foreign immigrations. 
 
 (4.) We have not to deal in this case only with 
 masks, but with the case of a breastplate in gold, 
 which, however, could not have been intended for use 
 in war ; together with other leaves or plates of gold, 
 found on, or apparently intended for, other portions of 
 the person. 
 
 6. Lastly, with regard to the deposit of objects which, 
 besides being characteristic, have unchangeable value, the 
 only point on which I have here to remark is, their extra- 
 ordinary amount. It is such, I conceive, as to give to 
 these objects, and particularly to those of the First Tomb, 
 an exceptional place among the sepulchral deposits of 
 antiquity. I understand that their weight is about one 
 hundred pounds troy, or nearly that of five thousand 
 British sovereigns It is difficult to suppose that this 
 deposit could have been usual, even with the remains of a 
 King ; and it is at this point that I, for one, am 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xxxvii 
 
 compelled to break finally and altogether with the sup- 
 position, that this great entombment, in the condition 
 in which Dr. Schliemann found it, was simply an entomb- 
 ment of Agamemnon and his company effected by 
 j^Egisthus and Clytemnestra, their murderers. 
 
 So far, with little argument, I have endeavoured fairly 
 to set out the facts. Let me now endeavour to draw to a 
 point the several threads of the subject, in order to deal 
 with the main question, namely, whether these half-wasted, 
 half-burned remains are the ashes of Agamemnon and his 
 company ? And truly this is a case, where it may be said 
 to the inquirer, in figure as well as in fact, 
 
 " et incedis per ignes 
 Suppositos cineri doloso."* 
 
 Let us place clearly before our eyes the account given 
 by the Shade of Agamemnon, in the Eleventh Odyssey 
 (405-434), of the manner of his death. No darker picture 
 could be drawn. It combined every circumstance of 
 cruelty with every circumstance of fraud. At the hospi- 
 table board, amid the flowing wine-cups, he was slain like 
 an ox at the stall, and his comrades like so many hogs foi 
 a rich man's banquet; with deaths more piteous than he 
 had ever known in single combat, or in the rush of armies. 
 Most piteous of all was the death of Cassandra, whom the 
 cruel Clytemnestra despatched with her own hand while 
 clinging to Agamemnon; nor did she vouchsafe to her 
 husband the last office of mercy and compassion, by 
 closing his mouth and eyes in death. Singularly enough, 
 Dr. Schliemann assures me that the right eye, which alone 
 could be seen with tolerable clearness, was not entirely 
 shut (see the engraving at p. 297); while the teeth of the 
 upper jawbone (see the same engraving) did not quite 
 join those of the lower. This condition, he thinks, may 
 
 Hor. Oil. H. 1. 8. 
 
XXXV111 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 be due to the superincumbent weight. But if the weight 
 had opened the jaw, would not the opening, in all likeli- 
 hood, have been much wider ? 
 
 Now, as we are told that yEgisthus reigned until 
 Orestes reached his manhood, we must assume that the 
 massacre was in all respects triumphant. Yet there could 
 hardly fail to be a party among the people favourable to 
 the returning King, who had covered his country with 
 unequalled glory. There might thus be found in the circum- 
 stances a certain dualism, a ground for compromise, such as 
 may go far to account for the discrepancies of intention, 
 which we seem to find in the entombments. There was this 
 division of sentiment among the people, in the only case 
 where we know the return of the prince from Troy to have 
 been accompanied with a crisis or conflict, I mean the case 
 of Ithaca. 
 
 The assassins proceeded in such a way, that the only 
 consistent accomplishment of their design would have been 
 found in casting forth the bodies of the slain like the 
 bodies of enemies. But this may have been forbidden by 
 policy. In the Julius Caesar of Shakespeare, Brutus says 
 (III. i.)- 
 
 " We are contented Caesar shall 
 Have all due rites and lawful ceremonies. 
 It shall advantage more than do us wrong." 
 
 .^Egisthus was not Brutus. Even fury was apparent in 
 the incidents of the slaughter. Yet there might be a desire 
 to keep up appearances afterwards, and to allow some sem- 
 blance of an honourable burial. There is one special 
 circumstance that favours the idea of a double process, 
 namely, that we readily find the agents for both parts of it; 
 the murderers for the first, with necessity and policy con- 
 trolling hatred ; Orestes on his return for the second, with 
 the double motive of piety and revenge. 
 
 We are now on the road not of history, but of reason- 
 able conjecture. I try to account for a burial, which 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xxxix 
 
 according to all reasonable presumption is of the heroic 
 age, and of royal and famous personages, but which 
 presents conflicting features of honour and of shame. That 
 there is no conflicting hypothesis, is not a good reason for 
 precipitate assent to the hypothesis which we may term 
 Agamemnonian. Conjecture, to be admissible, ought to 
 be consistent with itself, to meet the main demands of the 
 known facts, and to present no trait at actual variance with 
 any of them. In this view I present the hypothesis of a 
 double procedure, and a double agency: and I submit, that 
 there is nothing irrational in the following chain of suppo- 
 sitions for the First Tomb, while the others are probably in- 
 cluded in the argument. That the usurping assassins, from 
 the same policy, granted the honour of burial in the Agora ; 
 hewed the sepulchre deep and large in the rock ; and built 
 the encircling wall within it. That honour stopped with the 
 preparation of the tomb, and the rest, less visible to the 
 public eye, was left to spite or haste. That the bodies were 
 consecpaently placed in the seemingly strange and indecent 
 fashion, which the tomb has disclosed. That, as they were 
 protected by the rock, and by the depth from the surface, 
 their decomposition was slow. That Orestes, on his return, 
 could not but be aware of the circumstances, and, in the 
 fulfilment of his divinely ordered mission, determined upon 
 reparation to the dead. That he opened the tombs and 
 arranged the means of cremation. That, owing to the 
 depth, it was imperfect from want of ventilation ; we may 
 remember that in the case of Patroclos the winds were 
 specially summoned to expedite the process (//. XXIII. 
 192-218). In calling it imperfect, I mean that it stopped 
 short of the point at which the bones could be gathered ; 
 and they remained in situ. That the masks, breastplate, 
 and other leaves of gold were used, perhaps, in part with 
 reference to custom ; in part, especially as regards all 
 beside the masks, to replace in the wasted bodies the 
 seemliness and majesty of nature, and to shelter its dilapi- 
 
xl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 dation. That the profuse deposits of arms and valuables 
 were due to filial piety. That the same sentiment carried 
 the work through even to the careful sculpturing of the 
 four tomb-stones (others have been found (p. 100), but 
 without sculpture) ; and sought, by their means, to indicate 
 for renown and reverence, and to secure from greedy viola- 
 tion, the resting-place of the dead. 
 
 A complex solution, perhaps ; but one applicable to 
 very complex facts, and one of which the ground at least 
 is laid in those facts ; one also, which I offer as a contribu- 
 tion to a most interesting scrutiny, but with no claim or 
 pretension to uphold it against any other, that may seem 
 better entitled to fill the vacant place. 
 
 W. E. G. 
 
 Hawarden, November, 1877. 
 
DR. SCHLIKM ANN'S ACCOUNT OF A TOMB 
 AT SPAT A, IN ATTICA. 
 
 Athens, 1st Oct., 1877. 
 
 For some months past it has repeatedly been asserted in 
 the Press by travellers that there exists a very great 
 similarity between the Mycenean antiquities and those 
 recently discovered in a tomb at Spata. Having now 
 visited the latter, in company with my esteemed friend 
 Professor E. Castorches, of the University of Athens, and 
 his daughter Helen, and having carefully examined the 
 objects found in it, I think it in the interest of science to 
 offer the following remarks on the subject. The village of 
 Spata, which is exclusively inhabited by Albanians, lies 
 about nine miles to the east of Athens, on the further side 
 of Mount Hymettus, on the road to Marathon. Close to 
 that village is a small mount, whose circular summit has 
 evidently been artificially levelled ; it is covered to a 
 depth of about three feet with debris, in which we see now 
 and then fragments of archaic vases with painted parallel 
 horizontal bands. The villagers assert that until very 
 recently the summit was surrounded by the ruins of 
 fortress walls, which have now altogether disappeared, the 
 stones having been used for the building of the new village. 
 The name of the settlement which existed here in antiquity 
 is altogether uncertain. Colonel Leake* recognises in the 
 present name, Spata, a corruption of the ancient demos of 
 
 • ' Demi of Attica,' p. 125. 
 
 F 
 
xlii 
 
 THE TOMB AT SPATA. 
 
 Sphettus (S^tto? or S^tto?), which is mentioned by 
 Aristophanes,* Strabo,f Pausanias,| Stephanus Byzantinus,§ 
 and others. 
 
 In the south-west side of the mount, which slopes at an 
 angle of 52 degrees, there occurred last winter in one place 
 a sudden breaking down of the ground, and in the hollow 
 thus formed there was discovered a sepulchre cut out 
 in the sandstone rock. The Archaeological Society had 
 the place explored, and it was found that an inclined road, 
 cut in the rock, 74 feet long, led into the tomb. The 
 road is 8j feet broad up to the entrance, which is 10 feet 
 long and 3^ feet broad. The sepulchre consists of three 
 quadrangular chambers, which are united by two passages 
 6h feet long and 3^ feet broad ; and the ceilings of these 
 chambers are cut out in the rock in the form of roofs with 
 two slanting sides. The primitive architect had evidently 
 intended to give to each of these three chambers exactly the 
 shape of a house, because the slanting sides of the roof-like 
 ceiling do not converge directly from the vertical walls, but 
 hang over by 8 inches like the eaves of a house. The 
 height of the first chamber is i6i feet, its breadth 15, and 
 its length 20 feet; the two other chambers are 125 feet 
 high, 12 feet long, and iiifeet broad. Of the existence 
 of wooden doors there are no traces, except in the passage 
 from the first to the second chamber. Seen from the 
 extremity of the " dromos " this tomb reminds us of the 
 Egyptian sepulchres. || 
 
 In each of the three chambers was found a human skele- 
 ton, with a quantity of ashes and charcoal, which seems to 
 prove that each body had been burnt on the pyre in the very 
 spot where it lay, but so superficially that the bones were 
 preserved. In this respect, as well regarding the burning 
 of the bodies in the tombs, we find a resemblance to the 
 
 * Plutus, 720. t IX., p. 397. % II., 30, 8. § P. 627. 
 || " Si parva licet componere magnis." 
 
THE TOMB AT SPAT A. 
 
 xliii 
 
 mode of burial of the bodies in the five royal sepulchres at 
 Mycerur. But here the bones crumbled away on being 
 exposed to the air. This tomb had evidently been already 
 rifled in ancient times, for but a few objects were found 
 with the bodies ; nearly all of them lay dispersed in the 
 debris, in and before the entrance. They consisted of bone 
 or ivory, glass, bronze, stone, and terra-cotta. Only a few 
 flowers of very thin gold-leaf having been found, whose 
 aggregate weight cannot exceed the eighth part of a pound, 
 it appears that the tomb-robbers only aimed at the golden 
 ornaments, and that they threw away all the rest. 
 
 The few terra-cotta vessels found here are all wheel- 
 made ; among the number there is one which perfectly 
 resembles the vase represented under No. 25, p. 64 ; it is 
 ornamented with red and black circular bands, and is in 
 the shape of a globe with a flat foot ; it terminates above 
 in a very pretty narrow neck, without an opening, the top 
 of which is joined on each side by a beautifully shaped 
 handle to the upper part of the body. The real mouth of 
 the vase is in the shape of a funnel, and near to the closed 
 neck. There was also found the upper part of a similar 
 vase. I remind the reader that forty-three vases of exactly 
 the same form were found in a sepulchre at Ialysus in 
 Rhodes, and are now in the British Museum ; that they 
 sometimes, though but seldom, occur in Attica, and that 
 some specimens of them have also been found in the 
 Egyptian tombs and in Cyprus. 
 
 Another vase found in the tomb of Spata is orna- 
 mented with black spirals. 
 
 I also mention among the findings at Spata the large 
 quantity of small ornaments which Professor Landerer's 
 analysis has proved to consist of glass alloyed with much 
 protoxide of lead, the latter having the property of 
 breaking the rays of light; these ornaments present a 
 silvery mirror-like glimmer. Landerer observes that it is 
 soda-glass (in German, Natrum-Glas), and that it has the 
 
xliv 
 
 THE TOMB AT SPAT A. 
 
 property of dividing into small leaves or splinters. It is 
 very remarkable that all these ornaments of glass have 
 evidently been cast in moulds, and that many of them 
 resemble more or less the types which we see in the 
 Mycenean moulds represented under No. 162 and No. 
 163, p. 107 and p. 109. On the reverse side of most of 
 these objects are one, two, or three small holes, or tubular 
 rings, for fastening them on other objects, probably on 
 clothes. A most frequent object here is that which we 
 recognise in the type on the lower side of the mould, No. 
 162, p. 107. There also occur small cones of a much 
 weather-beaten glass, which have the very greatest simi- 
 larity to the type which we see in that side of the mould, 
 No. 163, which is represented on page 109 in the upper 
 row to the right of the spectator ; it also resembles very 
 much the small cone, No. 164, p. 109, of which a large 
 number were found at Mycenae ; the only difference is 
 that the cones of Spata have an impressed spiral line, 
 whereas the cones of Mycenae show impressed concentric 
 circles. However, it deserves attention that the mould, 
 No. 163, represents the type of such a cone with a spiral 
 line. But then, again, there is the greatest difference in 
 the substance, for whilst at Spata all these small orna- 
 ments are of glass, the Mycenean cones and other objects, 
 such as Nos. 164, 165, 166 and 167, are of a hard-baked 
 clay, which has been varnished with a lead glaze ; no trace 
 of glass having been found at Mycenae except some small 
 glass beads, the small object, No. 177, and the almost 
 microscopical tubes of cobalt glass described at pages 157 
 and 158. As, on the other hand, there have been found a 
 large quantity of small ornaments of hard-baked clay 
 varnished with a lead-glaze, we cannot reasonably doubt 
 that the manufacture of glass at Mycenae was only in its 
 first beginning, that until the capture of the city (468 B.C.) 
 it made no progress there, and that all the types contained 
 in the Mycenean moulds served merely for the casting of 
 
THE TOMB AT SPATA x lv 
 
 similar ornaments of baked clay varnished with a lead- 
 glaze. 
 
 But there also occur in the tomb at Spata objects of 
 blue cobalt glass, some of which are identical in shape with 
 the object of stone represented under No. 172, p. m. 
 
 All these objects of glass lead us to the conclusion that 
 the sepulchre of Spata belongs to a much later time than 
 the royal tombs of Mycenae. But we find a much stronger 
 proof of this in the carved works discovered in the Spata 
 sepulchre, which are generally thought to consist of ivory, 
 but which by the investigation of Professor Landerer are 
 proved to consist of common bone. All these carved 
 works appear to belong to a late period of Assyrian art ; 
 perhaps the most remarkable object among them is a 
 beardless man's head covered with a very high Assyrian 
 mitre, the lower part of which is ornamented all round with 
 a diadem, whilst the upper part is divided by three double 
 bands into four compartments. As usual in the Assyrian 
 hair-dress, the hair hangs down on the neck in three tresses, 
 lying the one on the other. I also mention a comb 5*8 in. 
 long, 3*4 in. broad, the upper part of which is divided by 
 narrow borders into two horizontal compartments; the 
 upper one containing in the midst a flower and on either 
 side a female sphinx ; the lower one containing three 
 female sphinxes. There are also two bone plates with 
 female sphinxes. All these sphinxes have very large and 
 broad wings and exhibit a most excellent Assyrian style of 
 art. In comparison with them the golden sphinxes of the 
 Mycenean tombs, of which I have represented one under 
 No. 277, on p. 183, show a most ancient and very primitive 
 style of art. 
 
 Among the carved works found in the tomb at Spata 
 particular attention is due to a plate of bone, on which is 
 represented a lion devouring an ox ; the whole body of the 
 former is represented as hovering in the air, and his long 
 outstretched hind-legs vividly remind us of the represen- 
 
xlvi 
 
 THE TOMB AT SPATA. 
 
 tation of the lions on the Mycenean goblets and plates 
 of gold. On the other hand the lion's head and the ox 
 which he devours most decidedly show an Assyrian style 
 of art. 
 
 I repeat here that no trace of Assyrian art was found at 
 Mycenae. 
 
 Another of the carved works from Spata which 
 deserves attention is a disk of bone of 4/6 in. in diameter, 
 with a border formed by two double lines, the whole 
 interior space being in the form of a net, divided by treble 
 wavelike lines into small triangles. 
 
 Professor Landerer asserts that these large plates and 
 disks of bone prove beyond any doubt that the art of 
 softening bone in water, and pressing it, and thus preparing 
 very large pieces of bone, was known in Attica at a remote 
 antiquity. 
 
 I still call attention, among the objects found at Spata, 
 to the small disks of stone, which have on one side in the 
 centre a small tube, and may have been used as ornaments 
 on the house doors. They are mostly similar to objects 
 which I found at Mycenae ; * but they were also found in 
 the sepulchre at Ialysus, and may be seen in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 Of bronze arrow-heads several specimens were found 
 in the sepulchre at Spata, but no trace of them occurred 
 in the Mycenean tombs. On the other hand there were 
 found in one of the latter the thirty-five arrow-heads of 
 obsidian represented under No. 435, p. 272, and arrow- 
 heads of the same stone also occurred in the debris above 
 the tombs ; it was only in the upper layers of debris at 
 Mycenae that I found some arrow-heads of bronze.f 
 
 Among the objects found at Spata I further mention 
 the fragment of a vase of black granite, with two holes for 
 
 * See No. 126, in the upper row to the right and left, p. 76. 
 Pages 76, 123. 
 
THE TOMB AT SPAT A. 
 
 xlvii 
 
 suspension ; fragments of similar vases occurred also at 
 Mycenae. 
 
 Close to this tomb was discovered another, consisting 
 of but one small chamber, approached by a dromos which 
 has but half the length of that which leads to the large 
 tomb. In the small tomb was found the skeleton of a 
 man which had evidently likewise been burned on a pyre 
 on the very spot where it lay; there was also found the 
 skeleton of a stag, but nothing more. 
 
 Colonel Leake is in all probability right in proclaiming 
 the identity of Spata with the ancient demos of Sphettus 
 (S</)^tto9 or !<l>r)TTo<;), and as, according to Plutarch,* the 
 fifty Pallantides, sons of Pallas, the brother of v^geus, 
 marched from Sphettus against Athens ; and as Colonel 
 Leake, guided by an inscription published by Finlay, 
 identifies the site of the demos of Pallenae, which the 
 Pallantides inhabited, with a spur of mount Hymettus, 
 which bars the road to Probalinthus and Marathon, and 
 is thus in the immediate neighbourhood of Sphettus 
 — for all these reasons it has been supposed that the tombs 
 of Spata might possibly belong to the Pallantides killed 
 by Theseus. But this opinion is contradicted by the 
 objects discovered, which make it impossible for us to 
 attribute the large tomb to an earlier period than the 
 eighth century, B.C., whilst the royalty at Athens belongs 
 to a very remote antiquity, and must be contemporaneous 
 with royalty at Mycenae. 
 
 The use of masks in antiquity being a question very 
 important for Archaeology, I cannot conclude without 
 mentioning that my esteemed friend Professor A. Rhouso- 
 poulos, of the University of Athens, reminds me of a very 
 small golden mask found last spring in a sepulchre on the 
 coast of ancient Phoenicia, just opposite to the island of 
 Aradus. It had been bought there by a trader in antiqui- 
 
 * Theseus, 13. 
 
xlviii 
 
 FALL OF MYCENAE. 
 
 ties, who brought it first to Athens, and showed it to me 
 at Boulogne-sur-Mer, on his way to London, where he 
 intended to sell it. It is of thin gold plate, and so small 
 that it could apparently only fit on the face of a new-born 
 child. It represents a human face with shut eyes, in very 
 rude repousse work. 
 
 THE FALL OF MYCENAE AS DESCRIBED 
 BY DIODORUS SICULUS. 
 
 I give, at my worthy friend Professor F. A. Paley's 
 suggestion, a literal translation of the account which 
 Diodorus Siculus (xi. 65) gives us of Mycenae's tragic 
 end : 
 
 "In the seventy-eighth Olympiad (b.c 468) a war was 
 set on foot between the Argives and the people of 
 Mycenas, on the following grounds. The Myceneans, 
 proud of the high renown which their own country had 
 formerly enjoyed, refused to obey the Argives as the other 
 cities in that territory had done, but took up an indepen- 
 dent position and paid no regard to the Argives. They 
 had disputes with them also about the worship of the 
 goddess Hera, and put in a claim to have the sole con- 
 duct and management of the Nemean games. And still 
 further they were at variance with them because, when the 
 Argives had passed a resolution not to aid the Spartans at 
 Thermopylae, unless they should be allowed a share in the 
 command, the Myceneans alone of all the inhabitants of 
 Argolis joined the ranks of the Lacedaemonians. The 
 Argives had besides a general suspicion that some day their 
 rivals might become too powerful and dispute with them 
 the sovereignty, from the former greatness of their city. 
 Such being the motives for hostility, they had long been 
 watching an opportunity to raze Mycenas to the ground ; 
 
FALL OF MYCENAE. 
 
 xlix 
 
 and they thought the fitting time had now arrived, as they 
 saw the Lacedaemonians had been defeated and were unable 
 to bring any aid to the Myceneans. Accordingly they 
 collected a strong force from Argos and the other states in 
 alliance, and led them to the attack. The Myceneans were 
 beaten, driven into the walls of their city, and besieged. 
 For some time they defended themselves with spirit against 
 the besieging hosts ; but at length, partly because they had 
 been worsted in the war, partly because the Lacedae- 
 monians were unable to aid them, from having wars of 
 their own on hand, as well as through the disastious effects 
 of the earthquakes, and having no one now to help them, 
 through mere deficiency of aid from without they were 
 taken by assault. The Myceneans were thus made slaves 
 by the Argives, a tithe of their property was consecrated 
 to the service of religion, and their city was razed to the 
 ground. Thus a state that had been great and wealthy 
 in times of old, had numbered many illustrious men and 
 performed many glorious actions, met with its final 
 overthrow, and it has remained desolate up to our times " 
 (i.e., to the time of Augustus). 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE, by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone Page v 
 
 Dr. Schliemann's Account of a Tomb at Spata, in Attica .. .. „ xli 
 
 The Fall of Mycena?, as described by Diodorus Siculus „ xlviii 
 
 Table of French and English Measures „ l v i i i 
 
 List of Illustrations lix 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Excavations at Tiryns. 
 
 Situation of the City — Description by Pausanias — Cyclopean Walls : 
 meaning of the epithet — The Quarry — The rock of Tiryns and its 
 bordering Wall — Oalleries, Gate, and Tower — Walls and Terraces of 
 the Acropolis — Mythical traditions and History of Tiryns — Its destruction 
 by the Argives — Its connection with the myth of Hercules — Morasses in 
 the Plain of Argos — The Walls of Tiryns the most ancient monument in 
 Greece — Pottery a test of antiquity — Beginning of the Excavations — 
 Cyclopean house-walls and conduits — Objects discovered — Terra-cotta 
 cows, and female idols with cow's-horns — Both represent the goddess 
 Hkka Boiipis — A bird-headed idol — A bronze figure, the only piece of 
 metal at Tiryns, except lead — No stone implements found — Pottery — 
 Hellenic remains outside the citadel, which was the primitive city — 
 Proofs of different periods of habitation — The later city of Tiryns — The 
 archaic pottery of Tiryns like that of Mycena? — Its forms and decoration 
 denote higher civilisation than the rude walls would lead us to expect — 
 Older pottery on the virgin soil, but no cows or idols — Probable date of 
 the second nation at Tiryns, about 1000 to 800 B.C. ; of the Cyclopean 
 walls, about 1800 to 1600 B.C. — No resemblance to any of the pottery in 
 the strata of Hissarlik, except the goblets — A human skeleton found — 
 Whorls — Estimate of soil to be moved at Tiryns — Greater importance 
 of MYCEN>E Page 1 
 
 Note A.—" Hera Boopis " 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Topography of Mycenae. 
 
 gate of the lions and treasury of atreus. 
 
 The road from Argos to Mycenae — The Plain of Argos : its rivers and hills, 
 horses and vegetation — Myth regarding its arid nature — Swamps in the 
 southern part ; and fable of the Lcrniean hydra — Early social develop- 
 
Ill 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ment here — Legend of Phoroneus — The Pelasgian Argos — The Achaean 
 states of Argos and Mycenae — Situation of Mycenae — The Citadel and 
 its Cyclopean walls — The term denned — "Gate of the Lions" — The 
 postern gate — Cisterns — Poetical confusion of Argos and Mycenae. 
 The Lower City : its house-walls, bridge, treasuries, and pottery — Its 
 partially enclosing wall — The undefended suburb, and its large buildings 
 
 — Its extent — The only two wells in Mycenae — Three Treasuries in the 
 suburb — Treasuries in the Lower City — Description of the " Treasury of 
 Atreus" — Dodwell's Argument for regarding the building as a Treasury 
 
 — Uniqueness of these structures — Excavation of the Treasury by Veli 
 Pasha Page 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 History of Mycen/e and the Family of Pelops. 
 
 the sepulchres of agamemnon and his companions. 
 
 Traditional foundation of Mycenae by Perseus — -His dynasty succeeded by 
 the Pelopids — The legend of their crimes unknown to Homer and Hesiod — 
 The Homeric story of Agamemnon's murder by ^Egisthus and Clytemnestra, 
 avenged by Orestes — Cycle of crimes devised by the later bards — 
 Dominion of Agamemnon — End of the Dynasty at Mycenae with 
 jEgisthus — Orestes and his sons — The Dorian invasion — Part taken by 
 Mycenae in the Persian wars — The Argives besiege and take Mycenae — 
 The walls of the citadel preserved from religious reverence — Homeric 
 epithets of Mycenae — Its " abundance of gold" confirmed by Thucydides 
 
 — The Treasuries of the Pelopids mentioned by Pausanias — Treasury 
 at the Heraeum, near Mycenae — Probable existence of another Treasury at 
 Mycenae. 
 
 The Royal Sepulchres described by Pausanias — General misinterpretation 
 of the passage — Experimental shafts sunk there in February, 1874 — 
 Excavations begun, August 7, 1876 — Porter's lodge at the Lions' Gate — 
 The later habitation of the city after 468 B.C. — No coins of Mycenae 
 known — Remains below this first stratum — Painted archaic vases, like 
 those at Tiryns — The vases almost all made on the Potter's wheel — 
 Female idols and cows of terra-cotta — Other idols and animals- — Iron 
 knives and curious keys of a later period — Bronze knives and arrowheads 
 ■ — Stone implements and other objects — A little gold and much lead 
 found — Fragments of a lyre and flute — Plates of ornamented terra-cotta 
 for lining walls — Cyclopean house-walls — A remarkable water-conduit 
 
 — Twelve tomblike reservoirs — Two tombstones with bas-reliefs, probably 
 of the same epoch as that over the Lions' Gate 52 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Excavations in the Citadel of Mycen/e — continued. 
 
 Wages and worth of labour at Mycenae — The double circle of slabs — Two 
 more sculptured stela — Unsculptured s;t>la — Ashes and bones, probably 
 of sacrifices — Fragments of other sculptured tombstones — The style of 
 these stela unique — Their probable age about 1 500 B.C. — A Cyclopean 
 house filled with ashes, bones, &c. — Objects found there and in the 
 twelve reservoirs — Great significance of the tombstones found in the 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 liii 
 
 Acropolis — They mark the Royal Tombs, mentioned by Pausanias 
 from tradition only — Excavation of the Treasury close to the Lions' 
 Gate : about as large as that of Atrcus — Antiquity of the covering-up 
 proved by the ancient vases, idols, &c. in the ddbris above — Hera- 
 idols, and others, found in the dromos, and in the Acropolis — Their vast 
 abundance — Cow-heads on handles of vases, as at Troy — Moulds for 
 earrings and other ornaments of gold and silver, and curious clay cones 
 — Other ornaments of glazed clay, potstone, &c. — Numerous objects 
 of bronze — Curious wheels — Necklace beads of various stones, with 
 intaglios of animals, and similar objects of other shapes — Two-handled 
 goblets ; the fi<'rr«r <in<l>iKun(\\oi> of Homer — Depth of the debris — -Breach 
 
 in the great Cyclopean wall, repaired by an ancient wall of small stones 
 
 The quarry of Mycenae Page 86 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Excavations in and near the Acropolis — continued. 
 
 THE LIONS' OATE AND THE AGORA. 
 
 The Treasury excavated by Mrs. Schlieinann — Older and less sumptuous 
 than that of Atreus — The entrance, its ornaments — Archaic pottery 
 found in the passage — Necklace beads — Fragment of a marble frieze - - 
 Threshold of the Lions' Gate — The great double row of parallel slabs, 
 probably not of a remote antiquity — The Acropolis only partly accessible 
 to chariots — The gateway double, like the Scaean Gate at Troy — Cor- 
 ridors of Cyclopean house-walls — Hera-idols and arrow-heads of bronze 
 and iron — Door-keeper's lodge — Retaining walls — Tower of the Acro- 
 polis resting on a massive wall — The double circle of slabs formed the 
 enclosure of the royal tombs and the Agora — Arguments in proof of this 
 view — Objects of interest found there — A vast Cyclopean house with 
 cisterns and water conduit, probably the ancient Royal Palace — The 
 spring Persei.i — No windows in the house — Objects of art and luxury 
 found there — An onyx seal-ring — Vase-paintings of mail-clad warriors 
 — Hand-made pottery in the Acropolis [18 
 
 Note 138 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Second Great Treasury ; Acropolis ; and Cyclopean 
 Remains in the Neighbourhood ok Mycen.*:. 
 
 Further excavations of Mrs. Schliemann's Treasury The dromos, doorway, 
 and threshold — Objects found there — Hera-idols — Cyclopean water- 
 conduits and cisterns in the Acropolis — Bronze rings — Pottery with 
 marks like letters - Earrings like those found at Troy — Hand-made 
 painted pottery — New forms of Hera-idols — Terra-cotta tripods and 
 cradles, probably votive offerings — A comb, stilettos of opal, beads and 
 buttons — A bronze sword Iron tongs of late date — State of the dt'bris 
 left at the Lions' Gate — The excavations visited by the Emperor of Brazil 
 — Ascent of Mount Eubcea — The Cyclopean enclosure on its summit ; 
 was probably a very ancient sanctuary — Other Cyclopean remains near 
 Myccnaj — State of the excavations '39 
 
 Note .. .. '. '49 
 
liv 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The First, Second, and Third Tombs in the Acropolis. 
 
 Discovery of the Tomb indicated by the three sculptured stt'lce — Curious 
 gold-covered buttons, objects of ivory, baked clay, gold, glass, bronze, &c. 
 
 — Pottery, both wheel and hand-made — Second Tomb below the un- 
 sculptured stela — Discovery of three human bodies, which had been 
 partially burnt where they lay — Fifteen diadems of thin gold plate found 
 on the bodies — Also crosses of golden laurel-leaves — Other curious 
 objects, proving a knowledge of the art of glass-working and colouring — 
 Knives of obsidian — A silver vase with a bronze mouth plated with gold, 
 and other objects — Terra-cotta vases — The horned Hera-idols found in 
 the tomb, a proof of that symbolic worship in the earliest times at Mycenae 
 ■ — Its duration to the last age of the city — Primitive painted wheel-made 
 vases of terra-cotta — Further discovery of sepulchral slabs — Various 
 objects found with them — The Third Tomb — Several skeletons of men, 
 not burnt, and objects found with them — A curious double-bladed bronze 
 dagger — Narrow escape from a falling rock — Internal walls of the tomb 
 
 — Three skeletons of women in it, evidently burnt where they lay — 
 Laden with jewels of gold — Layers of round plates of gold with orna- 
 mentation of repousse work under and over the bodies — Description of 
 their many types — The other jewels described — Other chased and em- 
 bossed beads — Golden griffins — Legend of the griffins of Indian origin 
 
 — Heart-shaped and lion-draped gold ornaments — Curious brooches 
 formed of palm-trees, stags, and lions — Women with pigeons — Golden 
 cuttle-fish, butterflies, swans, hippocampi, eagles, sphinxes, trees, and 
 birds — The splendid gold crown on the head of one of the bodies — 
 Signs upon it — The second gold crown — Five more diadems of gold — 
 Crosses of double leaves of gold — Golden stars — -A gold brooch, and 
 other ornaments — Necklaces and bracelets — Two pairs of golden scales 
 
 — Golden plates — A child's mask of gold ■ — Other ornaments — Balls, 
 &c. of rock crystal, silver, and bronze, probably the handles of sceptres — 
 Lentoid gems of agate, sardonyx, &c, with intaglios — A lentoid gem of 
 amethyst engraved with a cow suckling her calf, as on the old coins of 
 Corcyra ■ — Gold wheels — A gold comb with bone teeth, &c. — Amber 
 beads — Other ornaments — Pieces of gold-leaf strewn below and about 
 the bodies — A gold goblet — A curious gold box, and gold vases with 
 lids fastened on by wires — A silver vase and golden sceptre-handle — 
 Boxes of copper-plate filled with wood, perhaps pillows for the dead 
 bodies — Other objects found in the third sepulchre — Hand-made and 
 very ancient wheel-made pottery Page 1 50 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Fourth Tomb in the Acropolis of Mycenae. 
 
 Further search within the Agora, without the guide of tombstones — 
 Discovery of an altar of Cyclopean masonry, over the centre of the great 
 Fourth Tomb, containing the bodies of five men, burnt where they lay, 
 laden with jewels, and covered with a layer of white clay — Objects found 
 
 — Copper caldrons, one containing 100 gold-plated buttons with intaglio 
 work- — Homeric mention of caldrons — A silver cow's head with gold 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Iv 
 
 horns and a gold sun on its forehead : it represents Hera — Cow-heads 
 with axes — Swords and lances of bronze — Gold-plated wooden sword- 
 sheaths and hilts with gold pins — Three masks of gold covering the faces 
 of the bodies — A fourth mask, representing a lion's head — Two seal- 
 rings and a bracelet, with ornaments — The state of art corresponds with 
 that described in Homer — Golden breastplates on two of the bodies — 
 Golden crown by the head of another — Golden ornament of the greaves 
 
 — Borax used then, as now, for soldering gold — More than one fifVny 
 (ifjL<j)iKV7rt\\ov, and other vessels of gold and silver — ■ The large gold goblet, 
 with doves on the two handles, like Nestor's cup in the Iliad — Two- 
 handled terra-cotta vases, hand-made, like those at Troy — Ornaments of 
 alabaster — Gold shoulder-belts (t* \n\iu>v( t) — Other objects found in the 
 tomb, of rock crystal, amber, alabaster — Golden diadems, some seem- 
 ingly for children ; also a child's belt and frontlet, or " belle Hdlene," and 
 other ornaments of gold — ■ Double edged battle-axes — Their use by the 
 Greeks as a symbol, especially at Tenedos — A funeral fork of copper — 
 Vase-lids of bone — Vessel of silver and lead in shape of an animal — 
 Buttons of wood, plated with gold, splendidly ornamented — Their patterns 
 and workmanship- Hundreds of gold flowers, plain buttons, and other 
 ornaments of gold — Larger gold buttons, splendidly ornamented — Leaves 
 of gold strewn under, over, and around the bodies — Wooden comb with 
 gold handle — Gold models of temples — Many golden cuttle-fish — Gold 
 knobs for sword hilts, highly ornamented — Arrow-heads of obsidian — 
 Boars' teeth — Large copper vessels — Custom of placing such vessels in 
 tombs — A copper tripod — Uses of tripods in Homer — Bronze swords, 
 lances, and knives — Some swords with parts of their wooden sheaths, 
 alabaster handle-knobs, golden studs, &c. — Remnants of linen sheaths — 
 Oyster-shells and unopened oysters — Broken pottery, indicative of a still 
 existing funeral custom — The bones of the deceased — Alabaster vases 
 
 — Hand-made and very ancient wheel-made pottery — Fragments of a 
 characteristic form of goblet, both of terra-cotta and of gold — Another 
 type of goblets — Two whetstones — A handle of unique work, gold en- 
 crusted with rock crystal, " davfia ItiaBm." Page 211 
 
 Note on thk Royal Palace 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Thk Fifth Sepulchre, and the First again. 
 
 At length again a guard and watchfire on the Acropolis of Mycenae — 
 Exploration of the Fifth Tomb— lis sepulchral stela: — The tomb 
 described ; containing only one body — Golden diadem and other objects 
 found in the tomb — Hand-made vases of terra-cotta; one with female 
 breasts, like the prehistoric vases at Santorin and Troy — Wheel- made 
 pottery — Excavation of the First Tomb completed — Its position and • 
 construction. Three bodies in it : the middle one has been disturbed and 
 rifled of its ornaments - Large size of the bodies— Golden mask and 
 state of the first — Wonderful preservation of the third— Its ponderous 
 gold mask, face, and teeth — Description of the body — its remarkable 
 compression— Golden breast-plate, and leaves of gold on the forehead, 
 eyes, and breast — Excitement caused by the discovery — Measures taken 
 to preserve and remove the body— Its shoulder belt and bronze sword 
 
Ivi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 with crystal ornament, and disks of gold for the sheath : all special funeral 
 ornaments, and not for ordinary use — Description of the golden breast- 
 covers of this and the first body — Highly-decorated bronze swords and 
 other objects found with the third body — Ornamented golden leaves, 
 a wooden comb, and bronze swords, with the second body — ■ A large 
 heap of broken bronze swords, with knives and lances — Other 
 weapons, chiefly in fragments — Amber and gold beads, and various 
 objects of gold and silver — An alabaster vase — Wonderful plates of gold 
 — The two massive golden masks of the first tomb — The skilled work 
 argues a long-trained school of artists — Several large goblets of gold and 
 silver — Objects in this sepulchre — A silver vase, with copper and gold 
 plating — A drinking-cup of alabaster — Plates of gold, in form of double 
 eagles, &c. — Fragments of silver vases ; one with a gold mouthpiece and 
 handle — A splendidly ornamented plate of gold, covering a cylinder of 
 charred wood — Hundreds of gold-button-plates, large and small, with 
 various ornamentation — The new types shown — Gold plates, ribbons, 
 and ornaments for greaves — Tubes and buttons of bone ; their probable 
 use — An ivory plate, and a curious object of glazed Egyptian porcelain — 
 Hand-made and wheel-made pottery — Seven large copper vessels, 
 caldrons and cans — A quadrangular wooden box, with most interesting 
 reliefs Page 289 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Connection of the Five Tombs with the Royal House of 
 Pelops ; and Date of the Agora. 
 
 Discussion of the identity of the five tombs with those mentioned by 
 Pausanias as the tombs of Agamemnon and his companions — Opinions 
 of scholars about the Trojan War — The ancients unanimous for its 
 reality — The author's faith in the traditions led to his discovery of Troy 
 and of the five Royal Tombs at Mycenae — The civilisation of Mycenae 
 higher than that of Troy — The pottery of both very primitive — Alphabetic 
 writing known at Troy, but not at Mycenae — The different civilisations 
 may have been contemporaneous — The appearances in the tombs prove 
 the simultaneous death of those interred, certainly in each tomb, and 
 probably in all the five — Tiaditional veneration for the sepulchres — 
 Monuments repeatedly placed over them — No tombs between the two 
 circular rows of slanting slabs which formed the enclosure of the Agora 
 and its benches — Agora probably erected when the tombstones were 
 renewed, and the altar built over the fourth tomb, under the influence of 
 the enthusiasm created by the Rhapsodists — These monuments buried in 
 the course of time, but the memory of the site was fresh by tradition long 
 after the destruction of the new city of Mycenae — Testimony of Pausanias 
 
 — The enormous treasures prove the sepulchres to be royal, but royalty 
 at Mycenae ended with the Dorian invasion — This must have been much 
 earlier than the received date, 1104 B.C. — An objection answered — 
 Honours paid to the remains of murdered princes even by their murderers 
 
 — Custom of burying the dead with their treasures — The sepulchral 
 treasure of Palestrina — The sepulchre of Nitocris at Babylon — Case 
 of Pyrrhus and the royal sepulchres at ^Egea5 — The sepulchre at 
 Corneto 333 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Ivii 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Treasure of the Tomb South of the Agora. 
 
 Discovery and description of another tomb in the Acropolis outside the 
 Agora — Its Cyclopean masonry like that of the five sepulchres — The 
 golden trinkets of this tomb — Double-handled goblets — A plain gold cup 
 (<f>id\r)) — Spirals and. rings of gold and silver wire, like those of the 
 Egyptian tombs — A golden seal-ring covered with intaglio-work — -Its 
 full description — The face-covers of the female figures prove the use of 
 masks during life — A figure meant for a Palladium — Six other rude 
 figures resembling the Trojan idols : their likeness to the " Corinthian 
 helmet" of Athena — The work of this ring calls to mind Homer's 
 description of the shield of Achilles — A smaller golden signet-ring, with 
 four Palladia and three Hera-idols — A beautiful lion of massive gold — 
 Gold necklace beads — Bones of animals found in this tomb — The human 
 remains probably removed when the water conduit was built, but the 
 small jewel-recess escaped being rifled — Three curious lentoid gems of 
 necklaces, one found on the site of Phcenice", the others near the ancient 
 Hera:um — The first represents Phoenician figures-- Description of the 
 other two — The Cyclopean foundations of the ancient Herx'um, probably 
 as old as the walls of Tiryns and Mycena; — It was destroyed by fire in 
 423 B.C., and its site deserted 
 
 • Telegrams to and from the King of Greece — Conclusion .. .. Page 350 
 
 Analysis of Mycenean Metals 3 6 7 
 
 • Index 377 
 
 Note to Page 145. 
 
 With reference to the visit paid to the excavations at Mycena; by the 
 Emperor of Brazil, I feel bound to mention the renewed mark of his 
 Majesty's interest in the discoveries, when he did me the signal honour of 
 visiting my lodgings in London on June 22, 1877. His Majesty spent two 
 hours in examining with great attention my large Album of Mycenean 
 photographs, and repeatedly congratulated me on the results of my 
 excavations. 
 
 H. S. 
 
 11 
 
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH 
 MEASURES, EXACT AND APPROXIMATE. 
 
 Metric. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Inch. 
 
 
 
 Approximate. 
 
 Millimetre . 
 
 0-0393708 
 
 ;> 
 
 
 *°3937 
 
 ' 04 Or of inch. 
 
 Centimetre . 
 
 °'3937°8 
 
 >! 
 
 
 '3937 1 
 
 . 2 
 
 4 )> 5 »> 
 
 Decimetre . 
 
 3'937°8 
 
 5) 
 
 3 
 
 " 93 7 1 
 
 4 inches. 
 
 Metre . 
 
 39*3708 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3700 
 
 3s feet - 
 
 2 
 
 78-7416 
 
 6 
 
 A 
 
 u 
 
 7410 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 18 ' 1 1 24 
 
 9 
 
 I 0 
 
 I I 24 
 
 10 „ 
 
 4 
 
 iS7"483 2 
 
 13 
 
 
 4°3^ 
 
 13 „ 
 
 5 
 
 196-8540 
 
 ID 
 
 4 
 
 0540 
 
 l6 i » 
 
 6 
 
 236 ' 2248 
 
 x 9 
 
 2 
 0 
 
 2 248 
 
 J 9f „ 
 
 7 
 
 2 75'595 6 
 
 22 
 
 1 1 
 
 •5956 
 
 23 „ 
 
 o 
 
 314-9664 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 ■ 9664 
 
 
 9 
 
 354'3372 
 
 29 
 
 6 
 
 '3372 
 
 29^ „ 
 
 IO 
 
 393 '7089 
 
 3 2 
 
 9 
 
 7080 
 
 33 „ 
 
 1 1 
 
 AX X • 0788 
 
 36 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 0788 
 
 36 (12 yds.) 
 39 1 feet. 
 
 12 
 
 472-4496 
 
 39 
 
 4 
 
 4496 
 
 l 3 
 
 511 -8204 
 
 42 
 
 7 
 
 8204 
 
 42f „ 
 
 14 
 
 55*' *9" 
 
 45 
 
 1 1 
 
 I912 
 
 46 „ 
 
 49? „ 
 
 15 
 
 590-5620 
 
 49 
 
 2 
 
 5620 
 
 16 
 
 620-9328 
 
 52 
 
 5 
 
 9328 
 
 5 2 ^ „ 
 
 17 
 
 669*3036 
 
 55 
 
 9 
 
 3°3 6 
 
 55? » 
 
 18 
 
 708-6744 
 
 59 
 
 0 
 
 6744 
 
 59 » 
 
 19 
 
 748-0452 
 
 62 
 
 4 
 
 0452 
 
 62^ „ 
 
 20 
 
 787-416 
 
 65 
 
 7 
 
 4160 
 
 6Sf » 
 
 3° 
 
 1 i8r ' 124 
 
 98 
 
 5 
 
 124 
 
 98^ „ 
 i3?i „ 
 
 40 
 
 I574'832 
 
 
 2 
 
 832 
 
 5o 
 
 1968-54 
 
 164 
 
 0 
 
 54 
 
 l6 4 „ 
 
 100 
 
 3937 '08 
 
 328 
 
 1 
 
 08 
 
 328 (109yds.) 
 
 N.B. — The following is a convenient approximate rule : — "To turn 
 Metres into Yards, add i-nth to the number of Metres." 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Plate I. The Acropolis of Tiryns .. .. .. To face i 
 
 Plate II. The West Side of the Acropolis of Mycenae „ 23 
 Plate III. The Gate of the Lions .. .. .. „ 32 
 
 Plate IV. The Treasury of Atreus .. .. ,, 43 
 
 Plate V. The Treasury near the Lions' Gate, excavated 
 
 by Mrs. Schliemann .. .. .. .. Frontispiece 
 
 Plate VI. Ichnography of the Royal Tombs within the 
 
 Circle of the Agora .. .. .. .. To face 124 
 
 Plate VII. Panoramic View of Dr. Schliemann's Excavations 
 
 in the Acropolis of Mycenae .. .. .. .. To face 148 
 
 Chapter I — Tiryns. 
 
 Vignette. — No. 1. Map of Argolis 
 No. 2. Terra-cotta Cow, Tiryns .. 
 
 Nos. 3-7. Terra-cotta Cows, „ 
 Nos. 8-1 1. Terra-cotta Idols, „ 
 No. 12. Bronze Figure, „ 
 Nos. 13, 14. Terra-cotta Vessels, „ 
 No. 15. Stone Whorl, found at Mycenae .. 
 
 Chapter II. — Mycenje. 
 Vignette. — No. 16. Ruins of the Cyclopean Bridge at Mycenae 23 
 
 No 17. Walls of the First Period 29 
 
 No. 18. Walls of the Second Period 3° 
 
 No. 19. Walls of the Third Period 3° 
 
 No. 20. Entrance to the ogive-like Gallery in the Walls of the 
 
 Citadel of Mycenae •• 3 2 
 
 No. 21. Gate of the Lions •• •• 3 2 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 11 
 1 2 
 
 17 
 18 
 
Ix 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 No. 22. Plan of the Gate of the Lions .. .. .. .. 34 
 
 No. 22a. Right and Left Door-posts of the Gate of Lions .. 35 
 
 No. 23. Elevation and Plan of the Postern Gate .. .. 35 
 
 No. 23a. Terra-cotta Vase .. .. .. .. .. 51 
 
 Chapter III. — Mycenae. 
 
 Vignette. — No. 24. First of the Tombstones found above the 
 
 Sepulchres in the Acropolis .. .. .. .. .. 52 
 
 No. 25. Terra-cotta Vase .. .. .. .. .. .. 64 
 
 No. 26. Terra-cotta Jug .. .. .. .. .. .. 65 
 
 No. 27. Vase of Yellow Ware, with black and yellow lines .. 66 
 
 No. 28. Vase of Black and Yellow Ware .. .. .. 67 
 
 No. 29. Terra-cotta vase. The bands yellow and reddish, the 
 
 lines black .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 67 
 
 Plate VIII. — Nos. 30-34. Fragments of Painted Vases. End of Volume 
 Plate IX.— Nos. 35-39. 
 
 Plate X. — Nos. 40-47. „ „ „ 
 
 Plate XI. — Nos. 48-54. „ „ „ 
 
 Plate XII. — Nos. 55-61. „ „ „ 
 
 Plate XIII. — Nos. 62-67. „ „ „ 
 Plate XIV— Nos. 68-72. „ 
 
 Plate XV. — Nos. 73-78. „ „ „ 
 
 No. 80. Painted Vase 68 
 
 No. 81. Human Head on the Mouth of a Jug .. .. .. 69 
 
 No. 82. Human Head on a Potsherd .. .. .. • 69 
 
 No. 83. Go'blet of Terra-cotta .. .. .. .. . 70 
 
 Nos. 84-89. Fragments of Painted Pottery .. .. .. 71 
 
 Plate XVI. — Nos. 90-93. Terra-cotta Idols .. End of Volume 
 
 Plate XVII.— Nos. 94-98. „ 
 
 Plate XVIII. — Nos. 99-102. „ .. .. „ 
 
 Plate XIX. — Nos. 103-110. „ .. .. „ 
 
 No. in. Terra-cotta Idol .. .. .. .. .. .. 72 
 
 Nos. 112, 113. Terra-cotta Figures .. .. .. .. 73 
 
 Nos. 114-119. Terra-cotta Figures of Animals .. .. .. 74 
 
 No. 120. Objects in Bronze, Lead, and Iron .. .. .. 74 
 
 Nos. 121-125. Bronze Knives .. .. .. .. .. 75 
 
 No. 126. Arrow-heads, Hatchets, and other objects of stone .. 76 
 
 No. 127. Fragment of a Lyre of Bone .. .. .. .. 78 
 
 Nos. 128, 129. Lower and Upper Ends of a Flute .. .. 78 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 No. 130a. Another part of the same Flute 
 
 Nos. 130-136. Combs and Needles of Terra-cotta 
 
 Nos. 137-139. Terra-cotta Ornaments 
 
 No. 140. Second Tombstone, found above the Sepulchres in the 
 Acropolis 
 
 No. 140a. Pattern of straight and spiral frets 
 
 Chapter IV. — Mycen>e. 
 
 Vignette. — No. 141. Third Tombstone, found above the Sepul- 
 chres in the Acropolis .. .. .. .. .. 86 
 
 No. 142. Fourth Tombstone, found above the Sepulchres in the 
 
 Acropolis .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 91 
 
 No. 143. Piece of a Tombstone .. .. .. .. .. 92 
 
 No. 144. „ 93 
 
 No. 145. „ 94 
 
 Nos. 146-148. Three Pieces of Tombstones .. .. .. 95 
 
 Nos. 149-150. Fragments of Tombstones .. .. .. 96 
 
 No. 151. Piece of a quadrangular Column of Red Porphyry .. 97 
 
 Nos. 152-154. Fragments of Friezes .. .. .. .. 98 
 
 No. 155. Jasper Weight, with a hole for suspension .. .. 100 
 
 No. 156. Fragment of a perforated Terra-cotta Vase .. .. iot 
 
 No. 157. Piece of a Painted Vase, from the " dromos " of the 
 
 Treasury near the Lions' Gate .. .. .. .. 103 
 
 No. 158. Fragment of the same Pottery from the " dromos" .. 103 
 No. 159. Idol of Terra-cotta, with a Cow's Head, on the handle 
 
 of a Vase .. .. .. .. .. .. 104 
 
 No. 160. Idol of Terra-cotta with a Cow's Head .. .. 105 
 
 No. 161. Cow-headed Idols of Hera .. .. .. .. 106 
 
 No. 162. Two faces of a Granite Mould for casting various 
 
 ornaments .. .. .. .. .. .. 107 
 
 No. 163. Four faces of a six-sided Mould of Basalt .. .. 109 
 
 Nos. 164-166. Ornaments of Glazed Clay .. .. .. 109 
 
 Nos. 167-169. „ , •• •• 1 10 
 
 Nos. 170-172. „ „ •• •• •• "> 
 
 No. 173. Double-edged Hatchet of Bronze .. .. .. in 
 
 Nos. 174-181. Lentoid Gems .. .. .. .. .. 112 
 
 Nos. 182-189. Lentoid Gems, Cylinder, and Beads .. .. 113 
 
 No. 190. A Disk of Terra-cotta, with the appearance of an 
 
 Inscription .. .. •• •• •■ •• •• ll 5 
 
 No. 190a. Pattern of the Slabs forming the Double Parallel 
 
 Circle enclosing the Agora .. .. .. .. •• "7 
 
 ki 
 
 ['AGE 
 
 79 
 79 
 79 
 
 81 
 
 83 
 
Ixii 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Chapter V. — Mycenae. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Vignette. — No. 191. The Village of Charvati, with the ancient 
 
 Quarry of Mycenas .. .. .. .. .. .. 118 
 
 •n w vt (Fragments of Painted Pottery from 
 
 Plate XX. — Nos. 102-197. , & A , m 3 
 
 „ _____ XT „ { the Approach to the Treasury 
 Plate XXI. — Nos. 198-204 .f T ■ , ^ . ^ j J ir 7 
 
 \ near the Lions Gate hna of Volume 
 
 Nos. 205-209. Beads of Glass and Fluor-spar .. .. .. 121 
 
 No. 210. Threshold of the Gate of Lions .. .. .. 121 
 
 No. 210a. Slanting Bench of the Agora .. .. .. .. 125 
 
 No. 211. A Fish of Wood . . .. .. .. .. .. 129 
 
 No. 212. A curious Idol .. .. .. .. .. .. 129 
 
 No. 213. Fragments of a Painted Vase representing armed 
 
 Warriors .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 133 
 
 No. 213 a, b. A very frequent type of Mycenean Painted Pottery 138 
 
 Chapter VI. — Mycenae. 
 
 Vignette. — No. 214. Other Fragments of the Vase (No. 213) 139 
 Nos. 215, 216. Fragments of Friezes of blue and white marble, 
 
 found in the Treasury near the Lions' Gate .. .. .. 140 
 
 Nos. 217-220. Bronze Rings (two with intaglio engravings), and 
 
 a twisted Gold Wire .. .. .. .. .. 142 
 
 No. 221. Bronze Sword .. .. .. .. .. .. 144 
 
 Chapter VII. — Sepulchres I. II. III.* 
 
 Vignette. — No. 222. Fragment of a Wooden Box .. .. 150 
 
 No. 223. Plan of Tombstones in the First Tomb .. .. 151 
 Nos. 224-229. Objects of ivory, bone, or metallic composition. 
 
 Sepulchre I. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 153 
 
 No. 230. Foot of a black hand-made Goblet. Sepulchre I. .. 154 
 
 No. 231. Cross of Golden Laurel Leaves. Sepulchre II. .. 157 
 Nos. 232, 233. Fragments of a very ancient wheel-made Vase. 
 
 Sepulchre II. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 
 
 No. 234. Plan of Tombstones above the Third Tomb .. .. 161 
 
 No. 235. Piece of Ornamented Ivory .. .. .. .. 162 
 
 Nos. 236, 237. Hand-made Vases of Terra-cotta .. .. 163 
 
 * All the objects figured in the Illustrations to this Chapter, from and after No. 239, 
 belong to the Third Sepulchre. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Ixiii 
 
 No. 238. Large Bronze Dagger, with two blades soldered 
 
 together in the middle .. .. ti l64 
 
 No. 239. Plate of Gold .. .. .. 
 
 No. 240. „ „ A Cuttlefish : 66 
 
 No. 241. „ „ A Flower T 6 7 
 
 No. 242. „ , l6; 
 
 No. 243. „ „ A Butterfly l6 g 
 
 No. 244. „ „ l68 
 
 No. 245. „ , l69 
 
 No. 246. „ „ l69 
 
 No. 247. Leaf in Gold Plate .. .. .. .. „ X j 0 
 
 No. 248. Leaf Pattern in Gold Plate .. .. .. .. j-j 0 
 
 No. 249. „ „ 1?I 
 
 No. 250. „ „ I?I 
 
 No. 251. Star in Gold Plate .. .. .. .. .. X y 2 
 
 No. 252. Plate of Gold .. .. .. .. .. i-j 2 
 
 Nos. 253-255. Perforated Ornaments of Gold, with Engravings 
 
 in Intaglio .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 
 
 Nos. 256-260. Golden Ornaments .. .. .. .. 176 
 
 No. 261. Golden Ornament. A Griffin .. .. .. .. 177 
 
 Nos. 262, 263. Golden Ornaments. Heart and Lion .. .. 178 
 
 Nos. 264, 265. Golden Ornaments .. .. .. .. 179 
 
 No. 266. Golden Ornament .. .. .. .. .. 180 
 
 Nos. 267, 268. Golden Ornaments. Women with Doves 180 
 
 No. 269. Golden Ornament .. .. .. .. .. 181 
 
 Nos. 270, 271. Two Golden Cuttle Fish .. .. .. 181 
 
 No. 272. Flying Griffin of Gold .. .. .. .. .. 182 
 
 No. 273. Golden Ornament .. .. .. .. .. 182 
 
 Nos. 274-280. Golden Ornaments .. .. .. .. 183 
 
 No. 28 r. Splendid Crown of Gold, found on the head of one of 
 
 the three persons interred in the Third Sepulchre .. .. 185 
 No. 282. Golden Diadem, found on the head of another body in 
 
 the Third Sepulchre 186 
 
 Nos. 283,284. Diadems of Gold 188 
 
 No. 285. Cross in Gold Plate 189 
 
 Nos. 286-288. Ornaments of Gold 19° 
 
 Nos. 289,290. Golden Crosses .. .. .. .. 19 1 
 
 No. 291. Cross of Gold .. .. .. .. .. •• 19 2 
 
 No. 292. Golden Brooch .. .. .. .. .. •• 193 
 
 No. 293. Golden Ornament from the Third Sepulchre .. .. 194 
 
Ixiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 No. 294. Golden Cross .. .. .. .. .. .. 194 
 
 Nos. 295-300. Golden Hair-holders, Bracelets, and Ornaments 
 
 of Necklaces .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 196 
 
 Nos. 301, 302. Golden Balances .. .. .. .. .. 197 
 
 Nos. 303-306. Golden Ornaments .. .. .. .. 199 
 
 Nos. 307, 308. Objects of Rock Crystal .. .. .. .. 200 
 
 Nos. 30*9, 310. Sceptres of Silver plated with Gold, with Handles 
 
 of Rock Crystal .. . .. .. .. .. 201 
 
 Nos. 3 1 1-3 1 5. Beads of Agate and Lentoid Gems of Sardonyx 
 
 and Amethyst .. .. .. .. .. .. 202 
 
 No. 316. Golden Wheel .. .. .. .. .. .. 203 
 
 Nos. 317, 318. Goblet and Box of Gold .. .. .. .. 205 
 
 No. 319. Golden Vase, with lid attached by a golden wire .. 206 
 
 Nos. 320-322. Three Golden Vessels .. .. .. .. 207 
 
 No. 323. Box of Copper Plate, filled with wood . . .. .. 208 
 
 No. 324. Vessel of Terra-Cotta .. .. .. .. .. 209 
 
 No. 325. Object of Alabaster .. .. .. .. .. 209 
 
 Chapter VIII. — Sepulchre IV. 
 
 Vignette. — No. 326. Golden Mask in the form of a Lion's 
 
 Head .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 211 
 
 No. 327. Cow's Head of Silver, with Horns of Gold .. .. 216 
 
 No. 328. Another View of the Cow's Head .. .. .. 217 
 
 Nos. 329, 330. Two Golden Cow-Heads, with double axes .. 218 
 
 No. 331. Mask of Gold, found on the face of a body .. ..• 220 
 
 No. 332. Gold Mask .. .. .. .. .. 221 
 
 No. 333 b. Two Gold Signet Rings .. .. .. .. 223 
 
 Nos. 334, 335. Intaglios on the Signet Rings .. .. .. 223 
 
 No. 336. Bracelet of Gold .. .. .. .. .. .. 227 
 
 No. 337. Splendid Crown of Gold found close to the head of 
 
 one of the bodies in the Fourth Sepulchre .. .. .. 229 
 
 No. 338. Human Thigh-bone, with a Gold Ornament of the 
 
 greaves still attached to it .. .. .. .. .. 230 
 
 No. 339. Golden Goblet with two handles .. .. .. 231 
 
 No. 340. Golden Goblet with one handle .. .. .. 232 
 
 No. 341. Golden Wine-Flagon .. .. .. .. .. 232 
 
 No. 342. Golden Cup .. .. .. .. .. .. 233 
 
 No. 343. Plain Massive Cup of Gold .. .. .. .. 233 
 
 No. 344. Large Massive Gold Goblet with two handles .. 234 
 
 No. 345. Gold Cup with one handle .. .. .. .. 236 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ] Xx 
 Dblet w; 
 
 No. 347. Large Gold Cup 
 
 No. 346. Golden Goblet with two doves on the handles 
 
 J 3/ 
 
 No. 348. Large Silver Goblet, richly plated with gold " ^ 
 No. 349. Hand-made Vase of Terra-cotta 
 
 XT *'•••« 24O 
 
 Nos. 350, 351. Objects of Egyptian Porcelain, of unknown use 241 
 
 No. 352. Alabaster Model of a sort of Scarf tied in a noose .. 242 
 
 No. 353. Silver Flagon 
 
 No. 354. Gold Model of a Shoulder Belt 
 No. 355. Amber Necklace-beads .. 
 
 No. 356. Large three-handled Vase of Alabaster, recomposed ^ 
 
 from the Fragments .. 2 6 
 
 5*8* 357, 358- Belt and « Belle Helene" of Gold .. '. 248 
 
 Nos. 559-365. Various Ornaments of Gold .. 2So 
 No. 366. Highly-decorated Golden Cylinder, probably the 
 
 handle of a sword or sceptre .. .. 2 -, 
 
 Nos. 367-370. Golden Ornaments .. 2 _ 3 
 
 Nos. 371, 372. Objects of Copper 255 
 
 Nos. 373-375- Two Bone Lids of Jars and a piece of an 
 
 Alabaster Vase .. .. 
 
 No. 376. Stag, of an alloy of silver and lead 2 j 7 
 Nos. 377-386. Buttons of Wood, covered with plates of gold, 
 
 highly ornamented 2s8) 2J9 
 
 Nos. 387-401. Plates of Gold ' z63 
 
 Nos. 402-413. Gold Buttons .. .. .. 2() , 
 
 Nos. 414-422*7. „ „ 2(55 
 
 No. 423. Model of a Temple in Gold 267 
 
 No. 424. A Cuttlefish in Gold .. .. .. .. 2 68 
 
 Nos. 425, 426. Two halves of a whorl-shaped object of thick 
 
 Gold Plate .. .. .. .. .. ># 20 g 
 
 Nos. 427-434. Gold Covers of the Knobs of Sword-handles 269-27 1 
 
 No. 435. Arrow-heads of Obsidian .. .. .. 272 
 
 No. 436. Large Copper Vessel .. .. .. .. .. 274 
 
 No. 437. Two large Copper Vessels stuck together .. .. 275 
 
 No. 438. Large Copper Vessel with three handles .. .. 275 
 
 No. 439. Large two-handled Vessel of Copper .. .. .. 276 
 
 No. 440. Copper Tripod .. .. .. .. .. 2 78 
 
 No. 441. Lance-head of Bronze .. .. .. .. .. 279 
 
 Nos. 442, 442^. Small One-edged Bronze Swords .. .. 2 79 
 
 Nos. 443, 444. Fragment of a Two-edged Bronze Sword, and 
 
 another weapon, probably a Dagger .. .. .. 280 
 
 1 
 
Ixvi 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 No. 445 a, b, c. Two-edged Bronze Swords, and an Alabaster 
 
 Sword Knob .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 281 
 
 No. 446. Two-edged Bronze Sword .. .. .. .. 282 
 
 Nos. 447-449. Two-edged Bronze Swords, and an Alabaster 
 
 Sword Knob .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 283 
 
 No. 450. Human Jawbone .. .. .. .. 285 
 
 Nos. 451, 452. Golden Tube, and Golden Dragon with scales of 
 
 rock crystal, both being probably pieces of a sceptre-handle 287 
 
 Chapter IX. — Sepulchre I.* 
 
 Vignette. — No. 474. Massive Golden Mask of the body at the 
 
 south end of the First Sepulchre .. .. .. .. 289 
 
 No. 453. Richly ornamented Cup of Gold. Sepulchre V. .. 292 
 No. 454. The upper part of a body found in the First Tomb. 
 
 From an Oil Painting made directly after its discovery .. 297 
 No. 455. Golden Shoulder-belt, with a fragment of the two- 
 edged Sword .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 299 
 
 No. 456. Small Jar of Rock Crystal .. .. .. .. 300 
 
 No. 457. Funnel-shaped object, of Rock Crystal .. .. 300 
 
 No. 458. Ornamented Breast-cover of Massive Gold .. .. 301 
 
 No. 459. Small Bone, with the fragment of a splendidly orna- 
 mented Gold Ribbon .. .. .. .. .. .. 302 
 
 No. 460. Two Bronze Swords with golden handles ; Golden 
 Buttons belonging to the destroyed Wooden Sheaths ; two 
 
 gold plates, &c. ; found lying beside a body in Sepulchre I. 303 
 
 No. 461. Gold Sword-tassel .. .. .. .. .. 304 
 
 No. 462. Golden Covers of Sword-handles, with intaglio orna- 
 mentation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 305 
 
 Nos. 463-466. Bronze Battle-axe and Swords .. .. .. 306 
 
 No. 467. Sword-handle, plated with gold, richly ornamented 307 
 
 Nos. 468, 469. Curious object of Gold, and Silver Tongs .. 308 
 
 No. 470. Gold Plate, with Intaglio of a Lion chasing a Stag .. 309 
 
 No. 471. Gold Plate, with Intaglio of a Lion catching a Stag .. 309 
 
 No. 472. Gold Plate, with a spiral ornamentation in Intaglio .. 311 
 
 No. 473. See Vignette to Chapter X. .. .. .. .. 333 
 
 No. 474. See Vignette to Chapter IX. .. .. .. .. 289 
 
 No. 475. Large Gold Cup .. .. .. .. .. 313 
 
 * No. 453 only belongs to Sepulchre V. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Ixvii 
 
 No. 476. Large Gold Cup .. .. .. t> 
 
 No. 477. Golden Goblet .. .. .. .. t< ^15 
 
 No. 478. Top and lower part of a large Silver Vase, from the 
 
 First Sepulchre .. .. .. .. mt -jg 
 
 No. 479. Large Goblet of Alabaster .. .. .. 3,- 
 
 No. 480. Double Eagles in Gold Plate .. .. .. .. 
 
 No. 481. Gold Plate, with a pattern in repousse work .. .. 319 
 
 No. 482. Golden Mouthpiece of a Vase .. .. .. .. 320 
 
 No. 483. Golden Vase-handle .. .. .. .. .. 320 
 
 No. 484. Cylinder of Gold Plate .. .. .. .. .. 321 
 
 Nos. 485-506. Ornamented Gold Buttons .. .. 322-324 
 
 Nos. 507-512. „ || 326 
 
 Nos. 513-518. Ornamented Gold Ribbons .. .. .. 326 
 
 No. 519. Golden Ornament of the Greaves .. .. .. 328 
 
 Nos. 520-524. Bone Tubes and Buttons .. .. .. .. 328 
 
 No. 525. Piece of Ivory; perhaps the Handle of a Dagger .. 329 
 
 No. 526. Object of Egyptian Porcelain .. .. .. .. 330 
 
 No. 527. Wheel-made Vase of Terra-cotta .. .. .. 331 
 
 Chapter X. — The Royal Tombs. 
 
 Vignette. — No. 473. Massive Golden Mask of the body at the 
 
 north end of the First Sepulchre .. .. .. .. 333 
 
 Chapter XI. — Tomb South of the Agora.* 
 
 Vignette. — No. 528. Golden Goblet, with Dog's Head Handles 350 
 No. 529. Gold Rings, Gold Wire (round and quadrangular) in 
 
 spirals, and one Silver Ring .. .. .. .. .. 353 
 
 No. 530. Gold Signet-ring .. .. .. .. .. .. 354 
 
 No. 531. Second Gold Signet-ring .. .. .. .. 360 
 
 No. 532. Golden Lion .. .. .. .. .. .. .561 
 
 Nos. 533-538. Gold Beads of a Necklace .. .. .. 361 
 
 Nos. 539-541. Three Lentoid Gems of Serpentine and Agate 
 with intaglio-work, found on the site of Phuenice and 
 
 of the Heraeum .. .. .. .. •• •• 362 
 
 * Only Nos. 539-541 are not from this Tomb. 
 
lxviii 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 Analysis of Metals. From Sepulchre IV. 
 
 No. 542. Piece of Argentiferous Gold Foil .. .. .. 368 
 
 No. 543. Piece of Sheet Gold .. .. .. .. .. 369 
 
 Nos. 544, 545. Fragments of a Silver Vase .. .. .. 370 
 
 No. 546. Piece of a Bronze Sword .. .. .. .. 372 
 
 Nos. 547-549. Plan, side elevation, and end elevation, of a 
 
 Bronze Handle of a Vase. .. .. .. .. .. 375 
 
 COLOURED PLATES OF TERRA-COTTA FIGURES. 
 (To follow Index.') 
 Plate A. Figs, a, b. Terra-cotta Cows and Idols from Tiryns. 
 
 „ „ c, d. Terra-cotta Idols from Tiryns. 
 Plate B. Figs, e, f, g. Terra-cotta Idols from Mycenae. 
 
 „ ,, h. A piece of Terra-cotta, with characters resembling 
 letters. 
 
 Plate C. Fig. i. The Head of an Idol from Mycenae. 
 
 „ „ k. A Cow from Mycenae. 
 
 „ „ 1, rn. Idols from Mycenae. Actual size. 
 Plate D. Figs, n, o, p. Fragments of Terra-cotta Cow-headed Idols 
 from Mycenae. 
 
 PLANS. 
 (At End of Volume.) 
 Plan A. The Acropolis of Tiryns. 
 
 Plan B. The Circular Agora, with the Five Royal Sepulchres, in the 
 
 Acropolis of Mycenae. 
 Plan B B. Vertical Sections of the Hill of the Acropolis of Mycenae 
 
 and the Depths of the Five Tombs. 
 Plan C. Plan of the Acropolis of Mycenae, with Dr. Schliemann's 
 
 excavations. 
 Plan D. Plan of the whole City of Mycenae. 
 
 Plan E. Facade, Plan, and Section of the Treasury near the Lions' Gate. 
 Plan F. Plan and Section of the Fourth Sepulchre, with the Funeral 
 Altar above it. 
 
 Plan G. Plan and Section of the Tomb South of the Agora, in the 
 Acropolis of Mycenae. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Excavations at Tiryns. 
 
 Situation of the City— Description by Pausanias —Cyclopean Walls: 
 meaning of the epithet — The Quarry — The rock o'f Tiryns and its 
 bordering Wall Galleries, Gate, and Tower- -Walls and Terraces of 
 the Acropolis Mythical traditions and History of Tiryns — Its 
 destruction by the Argives — Its connection with the' myth of 
 Hercules Morasses in the Plain of Argos — The Walls of Tiryns 
 the most ancient monument in Greece — Pottery a test of antiquity 
 — Beginning of the Excavations — Cyclopean house-walls and con- 
 duits — Objects discovered — Terra-cotta cows, and female idols 
 with cow's-horns — Both represent the goddess Hera Boopis — 
 A bird-headed idol A bronze figure, the only piece of metal at 
 Tiryns, except lead — No stone implements found — Pottery- 
 Hellenic remains outside the citadel, which was the primitive 
 city — -Proofs of different periods of habitation — The later city of 
 Tiryns— The archaic pottery of Tiryns like that of Mvcena; — Its 
 forms and decoration denote higher civilisation than the rude walls 
 
 i 
 
2 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 would lead us to expect — -Older pottery on the virgin soil, but no 
 cows or idols — Probable date of the second nation at Tiryns, about 
 iooo to 800 B.C. ; of the Cyclopean walls, about 1800 to 1600 B.C. — 
 No resemblance feo any of the pottery in the strata of Hissarhk, 
 except the goblets — A human skeleton found — Whorls — Estimate of 
 soil to be moved at Tiryns — Greater importance of Mycenae. 
 
 Tiryns, August 6, 1876. 
 
 In the south-east corner of the Plain of Argos, on the 
 lowest and flattest of a group of rocky hills, which rise 
 like islands out of the marshy lowlands, only eight stadia or 
 one mile from the Gulf of Argos, was situated the ancient 
 citadel of Tiryns, now called Paltfocastron* It was cele- 
 brated as the birthplace of Hercules and was famous for its 
 gigantic Cyclopean walls, of which Pausanias says, " The 
 circuit wall, which is the only remaining ruin (of Tiryns) 
 was built by the Cyclopes. It is composed of unwrought 
 stones, each of which is so large that a team of mules 
 
 * See Plan A. and Plate E The etymology of the name Tiryns 
 (probably a Pelasgic word) is difficult to explain. It is very probable 
 that the city was originally called Licymnia, for Strabo (VIII. p. 373) 
 says that a citadel with that name is twelve stadia from Nauplia, and 
 this distance perfectly agrees with that of Tiryns from the latter city. 
 He does not distinctly say that he alludes to Tiryns ; but this is very 
 probable, because Pindar says (Olymp. 7, v. 47) : 
 
 KaL yap ' A\K/j.rivas Kaalyvr)Tov v60ov aKairrif 6iv<av, 
 
 GK\7]pas e\aias eKTav' ii> Tf- 
 
 pvvQt hiKvjxuiov, i\&il>^ , e/c flaKd/xov MiSe'as, 
 
 Tas S€ irore oiKiarrip ^oAwSei'y. 
 
 ' Because he (Tlepolemus) killed in wrath with a stick of the hard olive- 
 tree Alcmena's bastard brother Licymnms, who descended from Midea's 
 nuptial chamber and was the builder of the city.' Apollodorus (II. 8, 2) 
 confirms this, but says that he killed him accidentally : TA^-n-oAe/xos ow, 
 KT€iWs ot'X hcorv KiKVft.vwv Trj /3uKTrjpta yap avrov OepaTrevovra TrKrjaarovTOs 
 {nre8pap.e, ' Tlepolemus involuntarily killed Licymnios, who approached 
 him when he was chastising his servant with a stick.' 
 
 Eustathius {ad loc.) says that the first name of Tiryns was Haliis or 
 Haleis, fishermen having been the first settlers on the rock ; this is also 
 confirmed by Stephanus Byzantinus (s.v. Tcpvvs). Pausanias (II. 25, 8) 
 says that the city received its name from the hero Tiryns, a son of 
 Argos. 
 
1876.] THE CYCLOPEAN WALLS. 3 
 
 cannot even shake the smallest one : small stones have been 
 interposed in order to consolidate the large blocks."* 
 
 The usual size of the stones is 7 feet long and 3 feet 
 thick, but I measured several which were 10 feet long and 
 4 feet thick. Judging by the masses of fallen stones, I think 
 it probable that the walls, when entire, were not less than 
 60 feet high. Had the circuit wall consisted of wrought 
 stones it would doubtless have disappeared ages ago, be- 
 cause its stones would have been used for the buildings in 
 the neighbouring cities of Nauplia and Argos. But the 
 wall was preserved on account of the enormous size of the 
 blocks, for the later builders found it much more easy and 
 convenient to cut the material they needed at the foot of 
 the rocks than to destroy the wall and break up the blocks. 
 
 I may here mention that the name " Cyclopean walls " 
 is founded on an error, being derived from the mythic 
 legend that the Cyclopes were distinguished architects. 
 According to Strabo (VIII. 6), the Cyclopes, seven in 
 number, came from Lvcia and erected in the Argolid 
 walls and other buildings, which were known under 
 the denomination " Cyclopean walls." According to 
 Apollodorus (II. a, 1) and Pausanias (II. 16, 4) they built 
 the walls of Tiryns ami Mycenae. Probably in consequence 
 of this the whole of Argolis is called "Cyclopean land."f 
 There is of course no historical foundation for calling walls 
 of huge blocks u Cyclopean," after the mythical giant race 
 of the Cyclopes. But as the word has come into general 
 use, I cannot avoid employing it. 
 
 It must be distinctly understood that not every wall 
 built of stones, without any binding material, may be called 
 
 • P;iUS. II. 25, 8. To 8r/ Tti\o<;, o 8r/ ixovov tw iptlWUOV KuTTtTUt, 
 (cukAoWoji/ fiiv Amv Ipyov, rreireitjrai 8e <l/>yJii' Xfflwv, p-tytdci ( X wv tK<uTTo<> 
 M0O« u>S air avrwv /xr;8' av apxn v Kivr)6^vai w ixixpinaTov xmt> £ujov<; r)fii- 
 <W • MOia ft ivy'jpfuxTTai TroAai u>? p.d\urra avrdv Ikwjtov ipfMvlav ro'ts 
 p.tyd\(>L<; At#ois eirat. 
 
 t yd KVK\wma (Euripides, Orestes, 965). 
 
4 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 " Cyclopean ;" and that under that denomination are only 
 comprised, firstly, the walls of large unwrought blocks, the 
 interstices of which are filled in with smaller stones ; 
 secondly, the walls composed of large polygonal stones 
 well fitted together; and, thirdly, the very ancient walls 
 (such as we see in the Lions' Gate at Mycenae) where im- 
 mense quadrangular blocks, rudely wrought, are roughly 
 put together in horizontal layers, but the joints not being 
 quite straight, there remain small interstices between the 
 stones. House or fortress walls of well-cut quadrangular 
 slabs, which are closely joined without mortar, can never 
 be called " Cyclopean ;" and thus, even the large subter- 
 ranean Treasuries at Mycenae and Orchomenus can in no 
 way claim this denomination, though they may belong to 
 the remotest antiquity.* 
 
 The quarry from which these walls were built can 
 easily be distinguished at the foot of a rock one mile 
 distant, which is crowned by a chapel of the prophet Elias. 
 But this quarry does Jiot form a pit, such as we see at 
 Syracuse, Baalbec, or Corinth. At Tiryns, as at Mycenae, 
 the Cyclopean builders have contented themselves with 
 cutting away the blocks from the rocky surface. 
 
 The flat rock of Tiryns, which is 900 feet long, from 
 200 to 250 feet broad, and from 30 to 50 feet high, 
 extends in a straight line from north to south, and its 
 margin is lined by the aforesaid Cyclopean circuit wall, 
 which is from 25 to 50 feet thick, and in a pretty good 
 state of preservation ; but it is not always massive, being 
 
 * Cf. Ch. II. p. 28. It should also be observed that these forms of 
 construction do not invariably denote successive steps of antiquity and 
 the art of building. Unhewn boulders, rough quarried stones, and those 
 which had a polygonal cleavage due to their nature, were often used for 
 convenience by builders who were quite able to work quadrangular blocks, 
 as is proved by walls in which the former kinds are placed above the last. 
 See Mr. E. H. Bunbury's " Cyclopean Remains in Central Italy," in the 
 'Classical Museum,' 1845, vo '- n - PP- J 47> se( !1-> an< ^ tne article Murus 
 in Dr. Smith's ' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.' 
 
1876.J THE CITADEL OF TIRYNS. 5 
 
 traversed by interior passages or galleries with ogival 
 vaults, of which four can easily be discerned. One of 
 these galleries, which is 90 feet long and 7 feet 10 inches 
 broad and high and free from debris, has in its external 
 wall six gate-like recesses or window openings, which 
 reach down to the bottom. Their pointed arches are 
 formed like the angle in the passage, merely by over- 
 lapping the ends of the courses of the masonry.* 
 
 These niches were most probably intended for archers, 
 whilst the galleries themselves must have served for 
 covered communications leading to armouries, guard- 
 chambers, or towers. Of the other three galleries, two 
 are in the south-eastern corner and run parallel to each 
 other ; the third, which traverses the western wall, seems 
 to have served as a sally-port, and was probably concealed 
 in some way or other.f 
 
 On the eastern side is the only gate, which is 
 15 feet broad. It is approached by a ramp 20 feet wide, 
 which is supported by a wall of Cyclopean masonry.J 
 The right flank of the gate is defended by a tower 43 
 feet high and 33 feet broad, which may have procured 
 for the Tirynthians the credit of having been the first 
 to build towers. § In this place the walls are better 
 preserved than anywhere else, and they rise considerably 
 
 * See the margin of Plan A. 
 
 f Dodwell (' A Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece') 
 and Prof. Ernst Curtius (Pelqponnes) consider this gallery to be a 
 second gate, which I think impossible, as it leads straight out into the 
 plain. • 
 
 % Colonel Leake states (' Travels in the Morea,' Vol. II. p. 351) that 
 the principal entrance of Tiryns is on the south side, adjacent to the south- 
 east angle. He is right if he speaks of the present day, for there has 
 indeed been made at that point in modern times a zigzag roadway, 
 leading up the steep slope ; but there was most decidedly no gate or 
 entrance whatever here in ancient times. 
 
 § Aristotle and Theophrastus, ap. Plin. H. N. VII. 56. Pliny says 
 that the former of these authors attributes the building of towers to the 
 Cyclopes, the latter to the Tirynthians. 
 
6 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 above the flat summit of the mount within the Acropolis 
 or citadel. 
 
 This citadel consists of an upper enclosure on the 
 south, and a lower one on the north side ; both are of 
 about equal size, and are divided by an abrupt slope, 14 
 feet high, which was fortified by a Cyclopean wall of minor 
 proportions. In this wall I perceive some stones shaped 
 by art, and some even rectangular, which leads me to 
 think that it belongs to a later time than the Cyclopean 
 circuit walls. In the upper enclosure are a number of 
 terraces supported by Cyclopean walls. 
 
 Through all antiquity the Greeks themselves looked 
 upon the walls of Tiryns as a work of the demons. 
 Pausanias * regards them as a structure more stupendous 
 than the Pyramids of Egypt ; and Homer manifests 
 his admiration of them by the epithet " ret^tdecrcra," 
 which he applies to Tiryns. f 
 
 According to ancient tradition, Tiryns was founded 
 (about 1400 b c.) by Proetus, who was its first king, and 
 whose son Megapenthes ceded the town to Perseus, the 
 builder of Mycenae. Perseus gave it to Electryon, whose 
 daughter Alcmena, the mother of Hercules, married 
 Amphitryon, who was expelled by Sthenelus, the king of 
 Mycenae and Argos. Hercules conquered Tiryns and in- 
 habited it for a long time, in consequence of which he is 
 often called the Tirynthian.J On the return of the 
 Heraclidae (80 years after the Trojan war) Mycenae itself, 
 as well as Tiryns, Hysiae, Mideia, and other cities, were 
 forced to increase the power of Argos, and were reduced 
 to the condition of dependent towns. Tiryns remained 
 nevertheless in the hands of its Achaean population, and, 
 together with Mycenae, took part in the battle of Plataeae 
 
 * Paus. IX. 36. 
 
 + Iliad, II. 559 • — 'Apyos T ' e1x ov T'lpwOi. re retx^^ccay- 
 
 $ Pind. 01. XI. 40; Ovid, Met. VII. 410 ; Virgil, jEn. VII. 662. 
 
1876.] HISTORY OF TIRYNS. j 
 
 with 400 men.* In consequence of this event the name 
 of Tiryns was engraved, among those of the other Greek 
 cities which had fought there, on the bronze column with 
 the golden tripod-stand, which the Spartans dedicated as the 
 tithe of the booty to the Pythian Apollo at Delphi. The 
 glory which Tiryns thus acquired excited the envy of the 
 Argives, who had taken no part in the Persian war, and 
 who also began to consider that city as a very dangerous 
 neighbour ; particularly when it had fallen into the hands 
 of their insurgent slaves (Vvfivrjo-iOL), who maintained them- 
 selves for a long time behind its Cyclopean walls and 
 dominated the country .f The insurgents were finally sub- 
 dued, but soon afterwards (Ol. 78, 1 ; 468 b.c.) the Argives 
 destroyed the city, demolished part of its Cyclopean walls, 
 and forced the Tirynthians to emigrate to Argos.J But 
 according to Strabo ^ they fled to Epidaurus. Pausa- 
 nias || mentions that between Tiryns and the gulf are the 
 u ddkafiot," of the insane daughters of Proetus, of which 
 no vestige is to be seen now; they cannot have been 
 underground buildings on account of the morass. Theo- 
 phrastus^l speaks .of the laughing propensities of the Tiryn- 
 thians, which rendered them incapable of serious work.** 
 
 The myth of the birth of Hercules at Tiryns and the 
 twelve labours he performed for Eurystheus, the king of 
 
 • Herodot. IX. 28. t Herodot. VI. 83. 
 
 I Paus. II. 17, 5 ; VIII. 27, 1. § VIII. p. 373. 
 
 || 11. 15,9. f Apud Athenaeum, VI. 261. 
 
 *'* Theophrastus adds that, desirous to get rid of their propensity 
 to laugh, the Tirynthians consulted the oracle at Delphi, and got the 
 god's answer that, if they could sacrifice an ox to Poseidon and throw 
 it into die sea, without laughing, the evil would at once cease. The 
 Tirynthians, who feared to fail in the execution of the god's command, 
 forbad the children to be present at the sacrifice. But one of them 
 having heard this, and having mixed in the crowd, they cried out at 
 him to drive him away, on which he exclaimed, " How, are you afraid 
 that I shall upset your sacrifice ?" This excited universal laughter, and 
 they became convinced that the god intended to show them by ex- 
 perience that an inveterate evil custom cannot be remedied. 
 
8 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 the neighbouring Mycenae, may, I think, be easily explained 
 by his double nature as hero and as sun-god.* As the 
 most powerful of all heroes, it is but natural that he should 
 be fabled to have been born within the most powerful 
 walls in the world, which were considered as the work of 
 supernatural giants. As sun-god he must have had nume- 
 rous sanctuaries in the plain of Argos and a celebrated 
 cultus at Tiryns, because the marshy lowlands by which it 
 is surrounded, and which even at present are nearly unpro- 
 ductive from want of drainage, were in remote antiquity 
 nothing but deep swamps and morasses, which extending 
 far up the plain engendered pestilential fevers, and could 
 only be made to disappear gradually by incessant human 
 labour and by the beneficent influence of the sun. 
 
 For the existence of the immense morasses in the plain 
 of Argos we have no less an authority than Aristotle, who 
 says,f " At the time of the Trojan war, the land of Argos 
 being swampy, it could only feed a scanty population, 
 whilst the land of Mycenae was good and was therefore 
 highly prized. But now the contrary is the case, for the 
 latter has become too dry and lies untitled, whilst the land 
 of Argos, which was a morass and therefore lay un- 
 tilled, has now become good arable land." Thus it will 
 appear but natural that Hercules, as sun-god, should be 
 fabled to have performed for Eurystheus, the king of 
 Mycenae, who possessed the whole plain of Argos, the 
 twelve labours which have been long known to mean 
 nothing else than the twelve signs of the zodiac, through 
 which the sun appears to pass in the annual revolution of 
 our globe. 
 
 The topography of the plain south of Tiryns appears 
 not to have changed since the time of Aristotle, for the 
 northern shore of the gulf consists of deep swamps, 
 which even now extend for nearly a mile inland. 
 
 t Aristot. Mcteorol. I. 14. 
 
1876.J BEGINNING OF WORK AT TIRYNS. 9 
 
 I perfectly agree with the common opinion that the 
 Cyclopean walls of Tiryns are the most ancient monument 
 in Greece ; but, having the conviction that no city or 
 fortress wall can be more ancient than the most ancient 
 pottery of the site it surrounds, I was very anxious to in- 
 vestigate the chronology of the Tirynthian walls by syste- 
 matic excavations. I therefore proceeded to Tiryns on the 
 31st ultimo, in company with Mrs. Schliemann and my 
 esteemed friends, Castorches, Phendikles and Pappadakes, 
 Professors of Archaeology in the University of Athens. 
 
 There I engaged fifty-one workmen, and dug a long 
 broad and deep trench in the highest part of the citadel, 
 and sank besides this thirteen shafts 6 feet in diameter.* 
 I further sank three shafts in the lower part of the fortress, 
 and four more at a distance of 100 feet outside the walls. 
 In the higher citadel I struck the natural rock at a depth 
 of from 1 1 i to [64 feet: in the lower citadel, at from 5 to 
 8 feet : and outside the citadel I reached the virgin soil 
 at from 3 to 4 teet. 
 
 In seven or eight of the shafts sunk in the upper citadel 
 I brought to light Cyclopean house-walls built on the natural 
 rock, and in three shafts I found Cyclopean water-conduits 
 of a primitive sort, being composed of unwrought stones, 
 laid without any binding material. Though these water- 
 conduits rest on the rock, yet 1 cannot conceive how water 
 can ever have run along them without getting lost through 
 the interstices between the stones. 
 
 Neither in the long trench nor in the deep twelve or 
 thirteen shafts did I find any stones at all. I conclude from 
 this that the majority of the houses consisted of unburnt 
 bricks, which still form the building material of most of 
 the villages in the Argolid. The houses can hardly have 
 been of wood, for, if so. I should have found large quan- 
 
 * The exact depths are indicated by the proportional numbers 
 appended to the sectional plans of the excavations in the margin ot 
 Plan A. 
 
IO 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 tities of ashes. All my excavations in Tiryns remain of 
 course open, and visitors are invited to inspect them. 
 
 Among the objects discovered I must first mention the 
 ^mall terra-cotta cows, of which I collected eleven,* for they 
 
 seem to solve a great problem, and are, at all events, of 
 capital importance to science. Nearly all of them are 
 covered with painted ornaments of red colour ; one only 
 has a black ornamentation. 
 
 At the same time I found nine female idols, seven of 
 which are painted with red and two with black or dark 
 yellow ornaments.f They have a very compressed face, 
 no mouth, and a " polos" on the head; of the idol No. 8 
 the head is missing, and the idol, No. 10, has a broader 
 face and an uncovered head. The breasts of all these 
 idols are in high relief, and below them on each side 
 protrudes a long horn, in such a way that both horns 
 together must either be intended to represent the moons 
 crescent or the two horns of the cow, or both the one 
 and the other at the same time. I found cows and idols 
 
 * See Nos. 2-7, and the coloured Plate A, figs, a, b. 
 
 t See Nos. 8-1 1 on p. 12, and the coloured Plate A, fig. d. 
 
Nos. 3-7. Terra-Cotta Cows, from Tiryns. Actual size. 
 
EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. t. 
 
 perfectly similar, three vears ago, in the thirty-four shafts 
 I sank in the Acropolis of Mycenae, which city was close 
 to the great Heraeum and was celebrated for its cultus of 
 Hera, whose cow-character and identity with the Pelasgic 
 moon and cow-goddess Io, with the Boeotian goddess 
 Demeter Mycalessia, and with the Egyptian moon-goddess 
 Isis,* I have already sufficiently proved.^ My opinion is 
 
 * To these may be added the Syrian and Phoenician Ashtoreth. 
 
 " Astarte, queen of heaven, with c rese en t horns, 
 To whose bright image nightly, by the moon, 
 Phoenician virgins paid their vows and songs.'' — 
 
 Milton, Par. Lost, Bk. I. vv. 439-441. 
 
 t See note A. — " Hera Boons," at the end of this chapter. 
 
1876.J IDOLS OF HERA. 
 
 also sliared by the high authority of the Right Honour- 
 able W. E. Gladstone, who says in his celebrated work, 
 'Homeric Synchronism,' p. 249: "The goddess Isis, mated 
 with Osiris, is represented with the cow's head on some of 
 the Egyptian monuments* She is identified by Herodotus 
 with Demeter : but Dcmeter and Here are very near, and 
 Here' seems in Homer to be the Hellenic form which had 
 in a great degree extruded Demeter from many of her 
 traditions, and relegated her into the insignificance which 
 belongs to her in the poems. The epithet Boopis seems 
 therefore possibly to indicate a mode of representing Here 
 which had been derived from Egypt, and which Hellenism 
 refined. 
 
 " It must, however, be borne in mind that the Egyptian 
 representation was not with the eyes, but with the full 
 countenance and head, of the ox or cow ; and further, that 
 the Homeric epithet is not confined to Here, but is applied 
 to Klumene\ one of the attendants of Helen,f and to Philo- 
 medousa, wife of Areithoos.| It is likewise given to Ilalie, 
 one of the Nereid Nymphs. § The inference, probable 
 though not demonstrative, would seem to be that in Homer's 
 time the epithet had come to bear its later and generalised 
 sense, and that the recollection of the cow had worn away." 
 
 I therefore do not hesitate to declare that both the 
 cows and the horned female figures found at Mycenae 
 and Tiryns must needs be idols of Hera, who was the 
 tutelar deity of both cities. 
 
 All the above idols, in the form of a cow and of a 
 horned female, were found at a depth of from 3 to ii£ 
 feet below the surface, and none at a greater depth. 
 
 Several terra-cotta idols of a different form were found ; 
 one of them at a depth of 8 feet.j| This also seems to be a 
 
 * See Bun sen's ' Egypt,' Vol. I. p. 420 (Transl.). 
 
 t //. III. 144. % II. VII. 10. § //. XVIII. 4°- 
 
 || See the coloured Plate A, fig. c. 
 
1 4 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. [Chap. I. 
 
 female idol ; its two hands are joined on the breast, as if 
 in the attitude of prayer ; the head, which is uncovered, 
 exactly resembles a bird's head, and at the first glance 
 one is involuntarily struck by the resemblance of this idol 
 to those on one of the many painted figures of the Attic 
 vases with geometrical patterns which are preserved in the 
 small collection of antiquities in the Ministry of Public 
 Instruction at Athens,* and which have been 
 until now considered to be the most ancient 
 pottery in Greece. But I hope to prove in 
 the subsequent pages that this is a great 
 mistake, and that they must belong to a 
 later period. 
 
 Of the idol No. 1 1 there remain only 
 the neck and the head, which very much 
 resembles an owl's head. 
 
 Except lead, the only piece of metal 
 found was a beautiful archaic male figure of 
 bronze, wearing a Phrygian cap, and seem- 
 ingly in the attitude of throwing a lance 
 (see No. 12). But copper or bronze at 
 least, if not iron, must have been extensively 
 used at Tiryns, for I did not find there a 
 single implement of stone. 
 
 The surface of the citadel is scantily 
 strewn with potsherds of the Middle Ages, 
 and probably of the time of the Frank 
 from Tiryns. ( 3 m.) dominion, for that period seems to be indi- 
 
 Actual size. ' 1 
 
 cated by the chalk floors of a villa and its 
 dependencies. These potsherds, as well as entire vases of the 
 same fabric, are sometimes found as far down as 3 feet, but 
 immediately below them follow archaic potsherds, which are 
 usuallv met with at as little as a few inches under the surface : 
 
 * Published by Dr. G. Hirschfeld (' Vasi Arcaici Ateniesi, estratto 
 dagli Annali dell' Institute) di Corr. Archeol.,' 1872. Roma). 
 
1876.] POTTERY AND COINS FOUND AT TIRYNS. 15 
 
 and thus it is evident that the site of the citadel of Tiryns 
 was never inhabited from the time of the capture of the 
 city by the Argives (468 b.c.) to about 1200 a.d. 
 
 But in the four shafts which I sank outside the citadel I 
 found nothing but remains of Hellenic household vessels, 
 which, judging by the potsherds, I am inclined to attribute 
 to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries b.c. I am confirmed 
 in this conjecture by quite a treasure of small Tirynthian 
 copper coins, discovered some years ago at the foot of the 
 citadel, and evidently of the Macedonian time. These 
 medals, which are of splendid workmanship, show on one 
 side the head of Apollo with a diadem, on the other a palm- 
 tree witli the legend TIPTN2. Thus there can be no 
 doubt that the most ancient city of Tiryns was confined to 
 the small space within the walls of the citadel, and that a 
 new city, with the same name, was built outside of it some 
 time after the capture by the Argives, and probably in the 
 beginning of the 4th century b.c This city seems to have 
 extended especially to the east and still more to the north 
 side of the citadel, where a number of its house-walls may 
 be seen on the road to Mycenae. From the absence of 
 pottery of a later period I conclude that the new town 
 was already abandoned before the Roman rule in Greece. 
 It seems to have been quite insignificant, for it is not 
 mentioned by any ancient author. 
 
 The Tirynthian archaic pottery is of precisely the same 
 fabric, and has the same painted ornamentation, as the 
 pottery of Mvcenae. There are the same tripods, with from 
 one to five perforations in each foot ; the same large vases, 
 with perforated handles and holes in the rim of the bottom 
 for suspension by a string; the same fantastically-shaped 
 small vases, jugs, pots, dishes, and cups — all made on the 
 potter's wheel, and usually presenting, on a light red dead 
 ground, the most varied painted ornamentation of a lively 
 red colour, which seems to be quite indestructible ; for the 
 thousands of potsherds with which the site of Mycenae is 
 covered have lost nothing of their freshness of colour, 
 
i6 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. L 
 
 though they have been exposed for more than 2300 years 
 to the sun and rain. 
 
 I dug up at Tiryns a large quantity of fragments of 
 terra-cotta goblets, which, like those found at Mycenas, 
 are of white clay, and without any painted ornaments;* 
 but they are not found beyond a depth of 8 feet below 
 the surface. At a depth of from 8 to 10 feet I found only 
 goblets of a greenish or dark red colour. All of them 
 have the form of the large modern Bordeaux wine-glasses. 
 
 All this splendid pottery denotes a high civilisation, such 
 as the men who built the Cyclopean city walls can hardly 
 have reached. Hence, all this beautiful pottery was either 
 imported, or (and this appears more likely) it has been 
 manufactured by the nation which succeeded the Cyclopean 
 wall-builders, and to these latter must belong all the hand- 
 made monochromatic pottery which I found in Tiryns on 
 and near the virgin soil. The colour of this pottery is that 
 of the clay itself, which on the vast majority of the smaller 
 vases has been wrought by hand-polishing to a lustrous 
 surface ; nearly all the black vases have been hand-polished 
 both on the inside and outside, and are very pretty. All 
 the larger jars are bulky, as well as many of the other large 
 vases ; and many of them have on each side a very short 
 handle placed horizontally, with a broad hole, which may 
 have been used for suspension by a string. In this stratum 
 I found neither cows nor female idols. Of this hand made 
 pottery I have been fortunate enough to take out, besides 
 hundreds of fragments, two entire vases, of which I give 
 the drawings annexed (Nos. 13 and i4).f 
 
 With regard to the chronology of the Tirynthian pottery, 
 
 * Such as the goblet represented on p. 70, No. 83. 
 
 t To each object is attached a number denoting the exact depth in meters 
 at which it was found ; so e.g. 3$ M. means 3^ meters ; each meter has 
 about z\f eei - I call particular attention to this. In order to retain the 
 precision of these numbers, and to avoid the labour and chance of 
 error in converting them into feet and inches, a comparative table of 
 French and English measures is prefixed to the book. 
 
1876.] PROBABLE DATE OF THE POTTERY. 17 
 
 if the date of about 1400-1200 B.C., generally attributed 
 to the most ancient Attic vases, were correct, we might 
 
 No. 13. Tcrra-Cotta Vessel, from Tiryns. (3 M.) About half-size. 
 
 perhaps assign a like date to the establishment in Tiryns of 
 the second nation ; for to the same period must be ascribed 
 the bird-headed idol described above,* and a quantity of 
 
 No. 14. Tcrra-Cotta Vessel, from Tiryns. (3! M.) Size 2 : 3 about. 
 
 fragments of very ancient painted vases with similar patterns. 
 But for several reasons, which will hereafter be explained, 
 
 See p. 13, and the coloured Plate A, fig. c. 
 
 3 
 
i8 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 I am unable to attribute these vases to a remoter age than 
 from iooo to 800 B.C., and I cannot therefore admit the 
 settlement of the second nation at Tiryns to have taken 
 place at an earlier epoch. It will probably for ever remain 
 mere guesswork to what date belongs the stratum of hand- 
 made pottery on and near the virgin soil ; but if we suppose 
 that the most ancient examples of this pottery are older, 
 by 800 years, than the most ancient painted vases of the 
 second nation, and that, consequently, the building of the 
 Cyclopean walls of Tiryns was from 1800 to 1600 B.C., I 
 think we shall be very near the right date. I have vainly 
 endeavoured to recognise an affinity between the primitive 
 Tirynthian pottery and- that of any one of the four pre- 
 historic cities of Troy. After mature consideration, I find 
 that there is no resemblance whatever, except in the goblets 
 whose form is also found in the oldest prehistoric city on 
 Mount Hissarlik. 
 
 Not the least interesting object I discovered at Tiryns 
 was the skeleton of a man at a depth of i6h feet. The 
 bones are partly petrified, but I attribute this merely to the 
 nature of the soil in which the skeleton has been imbedded. 
 Some of the bones had swollen considerably owing to the 
 damp, and this may also be the case with the lower jaw- 
 bone, which is enormously thick. Unfortunately I have 
 been able to save only part of the skull. 
 
 I have still to mention that in all the prehistoric strata I 
 found very srnall knives of obsidian ; but, as before stated, 
 no weapon or implement of stone. Many small conical 
 whorls of blue or green stone * were found in the strata 
 
 * These are exactly like the whorls found at Mycenae. See No. 15. 
 
 No. 15. Stone Whorl, found at Mycena;. (5 m.) Actual size. 
 
1876.] NOTE ON HERA BOOPIS. 1 9 
 
 of the nation second in succession, but only two very rude 
 ones of baked clay. 
 
 Taking the average depth of the virgin soil in the upper 
 and lower citadels, as ascertained by my shafts, to be 1 r66 
 feet, I find by accurate calculation, that the quantity of 
 ddbris to be removed at Tiryns does not fall short of 
 36,000 cubic metres. From this, however, are to be deducted 
 the cubic contents of the Cyclopean house-walls, of the 
 curious water-conduits and of a couple of cisterns (only one 
 of which, however, I have been able to find), on the south 
 side. I hope to accomplish this work some day, but first 
 of all I must finish the much more important excavation 
 in the Acropolis of Mycenae, and of the Treasury close to 
 the Lions' Gate, which I intend to commence forthwith. I 
 know that, after Troy, I could not possibly render a greater 
 service to science than by excavating at Mycenae ; because 
 if, as is probable, the Cyclopean walls of its Acropolis 
 belong to the same remote antiquity as the walls of Tiryns, 
 the architecture of its Treasuries is at all events more 
 modern, and there can be no doubt whatever that such 
 was in general use in the time of Homer, who describes 
 it by the phrase dakafxoL ^eaTolo \C9oio (" chambers of 
 polished stone "). 
 
 My esteemed friends, Professors Castorches, Phendikles, 
 and Pappadakes return to-day to Athens. 
 
 Note A. — " Hera Boons." 
 
 I extract the following from my Paper on Troy, read on the 24th of 
 June 1875, before the Society of Antiquaries in London. 
 
 It has been said by a great scholar, 1 that, whatever else the 
 Homeric epithet yXavKwTri^ may mean, it cannot mean owl-headed, 
 unless we suppose that *H/oij /?oo)7ris was represented as a cow-headed 
 monster. I found in my excavations at Troy three splendid cow- 
 heads with long horns of terra-cotta, 2 and I believe them to be derived 
 from Hera- idols, but I cannot prove it. But it is not difficult to 
 
 1 Professor Max Muller, in the 'Academy,' January io, 1874. 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 294. 
 
20 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 prove that this goddess had originally a cow's face, from which her 
 Homeric epithet (Sow-xis was derived. When in the battle between the 
 gods and the giants, the former took the shape of animals, Hera took 
 the form of a white cow, " nivea Saturnia vacca." 1 We find a cow's 
 head on the coins of the island of Samos, which had the most ancient 
 temple of Hera, and was celebrated for its worship of this goddess. 2 
 We further find the cow's head on the coins of Messene, a Samian 
 colony in Sicily. 3 The relation of Hera to the cow is further proved by 
 the name E{>/3oia, which was at once her epithet, 4 the name of one 
 of her nurses, 5 the name of the island in which she was brought up, 6 
 and the name of the mountain at the foot of which her most celebrated 
 temple (the Herseon) was situated. 7 But in the name Evf3oia is contained 
 the word /?oSs. Hera had in Corinth the epithet (3owma, 8 in which the word 
 f3ov<; is likewise contained. White cows were sacrificed to Hera. 9 The 
 priestess rode in a car drawn by white bulls to the temple of the 
 Argive Hera. 10 16, the daughter of Inachus, the first king of Argos, 
 was changed by Hera into a cow. 11 16 was priestess of Hera, 12 and she 
 is represented as the cow-goddess Hera. 13 Id's cow-form is further 
 confirmed by ^Eschylus. 14 The Egyptian goddess Isis was born in 
 Argos, and was identified with the cow-shaped I6. 15 Isis was repre- 
 sented in Egypt as a female with cow-horns, like 16 in Greece. 16 
 
 The cow-shaped 16 was guarded in Hera's sacred grove at Mycente by 
 the hundred-eyed Argus, who was killed by Hermes, by order of Zeus ; 
 and Hera next persecuted 16 by a gad fly, which forced her to wander 
 from place to place. 17 Thus Prometheus says : " How should I not hear 
 the daughter of Inachus, who is chased around by the gad fly?" But 
 the wandering of 16 is nothing else than the symbol of the moon, which 
 restlessly moves in its orbit. This is also shown by the very name of 16 
 ('Iw), which is derived from the root I (in et/u, I go). Even in classical 
 antiquity 16 was still frequently represented as a cow ; as at Amyclae. 18 
 16 continued to be the old name of the moon in the religious mysteries 
 
 I Ovid, Metani. V. 330. 2 Mionnet, ' Descr. des Med. Ant.' pi. lxi. 6. 
 
 3 Millingen, ' Anc. Coins of Greek Cities,' tab. ii. 12. 
 
 4 Pausanias, II. 22, I, 2. 
 
 5 Plut. Qucest. Conviv. III. 9, 2 ; Etym. Mag. 388, 56. 
 
 6 Plut. Fr. Dadal. 3. 7 Paus. II. 17, I. 8 Paus. II. 4, 7. 
 9 Paus. IX. 3, 4 ; Hesych. s. v. ayav xaAKelos. 10 Herod. I. 31. 
 
 II Lucian, &euv AiaA. 3 ; Diod. Sic. I. 24, 25 ; Herod. II. 41. 
 
 12 JEsch. Suppl. 299 ; Apollod. II. 1, 3 — 
 
 K\r}Sovxov "Hpas <fiacrl SwfxotTwv Tvori 
 'Iai ytveffdai TpS tv 'Apyeia X® ov h — 1 
 
 13 Creuzer, 'Symbolik,' II. 576. 
 
 14 Prom. 573, seq. and Hygin. Fab. 145. 
 
 15 Diod. Sic. I. 24, 25 ; Apollod. II. I, 3 ; Hygin. 145. 16 Herod. II. 41. 
 17 Apollod. II. I, 3 ; ^ischyl. Prom., 585 : irais 8'oii k\vo> rrjs olffrpoZivrirov 
 
 icSpris rrjs 'Icaxeias. 18 Paus. III. 18, 13. 
 
1876.] 
 
 NOTE ON HERA BOOPIS. 
 
 at Argos. 1 Apis, king of the Argive realm, was the son of Phoroneus, 
 and thus the grandson of Inachus, and the nephew of 16. From Apis, 
 the Peloponnesus and also Argos were called Apia ; after his death he 
 was worshipped under the name Serapis. 2 According to another 
 tradition, Apis ceded his dominion in Greece to his brother, and 
 became king of Egypt, 3 where, as Serapis, he was worshipped in the 
 shape of a bull. /Kschylus makes the wanderings of 16 end in Egypt, 
 where Jove restores her to her shape, and she bears Epaphus, another 
 name for the bull-god Apis. The cow-horns of the Pelasgian moon- 
 goddess 16, who became later the Argive Hera and is perfectly 
 identical with her, as well as the cow-horns of Isis, were derived from 
 the symbolic horns of the crescent representing the moon. 4 No doubt 
 16, the later Hera, had at an earlier age, besides her cow-horns, a cow's 
 face. Hera, under her old moon-name 16, had a celebrated temple on 
 the site of Byzantium, which city was said to have been founded by her 
 daughter Keroessa — i.e., "the horned." 5 The crescent, which was in all 
 antiquity and throughout the Middle Ages the symbol of Byzantium, 
 and which is now the symbol of the Turkish empire, is a direct inherit- 
 ance from Byzantium's mythical foundress, Keroessa, the daughter of 
 the moon-goddess 16 (Hera) ; for it is certain that the Turks did not bring 
 it with them from Asia, but found it already an emblem of Byzantium. 
 Hera, 16, and Isis, must at all events be identical also with Demeter 
 Mycalessia, who derived ljer epithet " the lowing," from her cow-shape, 
 and had her temple at Mycalessus in Buiotia. She had as door- 
 keeper Hercules, whose office it was to shut her sanctuary in the 
 evening, and to open it again in the morning. 6 Thus his service is 
 identical with that of Argus, who in the morning unfastens the cow- 
 shaped 16, and fastens her again in the evening to the olive tree, 7 which 
 was in the sacred grove of Mycenae, close to the 'Hpaiov* The Argive 
 Hera had, as the symbol of fertility, a pomegranate, which, as well 
 as the flowers with which her crown was ornamented, gave her a telluric 
 character. 9 
 
 1 Eustath. ap. Dionys. Pericg. 92, 94, 'li> yap rj <rt\vvi) Kara tV rwv 'Apyetoiv 
 $td\*KTov, on which Ileyne, ad Apollod. p. 100, says : " fuisse suspicor nomeh hoc 
 caputque feminx- cornutum symbolum Lunx apud Argivos antiquissimum." See also 
 Jablonsky, Panlh. II. p. 4 flf. 
 
 'Apollod. II. 1, 1; Schol. Lykophr. 177; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. IV. 263 ; 
 Steph. Hyz. 
 
 ' Euseb. Chron. Pars L pp. 96, 127, 130, cd. Aucher ; Augustin. de Civil. Dei, 
 XVIII. 5. 
 
 4 Diod. Sic. L II j Pint, de Is. et Os. 52, compare c. 39 ; Macrob. Sat. I. 19 ; 
 >Elian, Hist. Anim. X. 27. 
 
 4 O. Miiller, Doner, I. 121 ; Steph. Byz. s.v. Sv(dfTiov. 
 
 * Paus. IX. 19, 4. r Ovid. Afetam. I. 630. ' Apollod. II. I, 3. 
 
 • Panofka, ' Argos Panoptes,' tab. ii. 4 ; Cadalvene, ' Rccueil de Med. Gr.' PI. 
 III. I; Miiller, ' Denkmaler,' XXX. 132 ; Due de Luynes, 'Etudes Numismat.' 
 pp. 22-25. 
 
22 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT TIRYNS. 
 
 [Ch. I. 1876. 
 
 In the same way that in Bceotia the epithet Mycalessia, " the lowing," 
 a derivation from fi.vKaa-OaL, was given to Demeter, on account of her 
 cow-form, so in the plain of Argos the name of Mviajvai, a derivative 
 from the same verb, was given to the city most celebrated for the cultus 
 of Hera, and this can only be explained by her cow-form. I may here 
 mention that MvKdXr] was the name of the mount and promontory 
 directly opposite to and in the immediate neighbourhood of the island 
 of Samos, which was celebrated for the worship of Hera. 
 
 In consideration of this long series of proofs, certainly no one will 
 for a moment doubt that Hera's Homeric epithet /?oa>7ris shows her to 
 have been at one time represented with a cow's face, in the same way as 
 Athena's Homeric epithet yXavKunris shows this goddess to have once 
 been represented with an owl's face. But in the history of these two 
 epithets there are evidently three stages, in which they had different 
 significations. In the first stage the ideal conception and the naming of 
 the goddesses took place, and in that naming, as my esteemed friend 
 Professor Max Muller rightly observed to me, the epithets were figurative 
 or ideal, that is, natural. Hera (16), as deity of the moon, would 
 receive her epithet /?oa>7ris from the symbolic horns of the crescent 
 moon and its dark spots, which resemble a face with large eyes ; whilst 
 Athena, as goddess of the dawn, doubtless received the epithet -yA.auKa>7n.s 
 to indicate the light of the opening day. 
 
 In the second stage of these epithets the deities were represented by 
 idols, in which the former figurative intention was forgotten, and the 
 epithets were materialised into a cow-face for Hera, and into an owl- 
 face for Athena ; and I make bold to assert that it is not possible to 
 describe such cow-faced or owl-faced female figures by any other 
 epithets than by /?o£>7n,s and yXavKwrns. The word 7rpoo-<o7rov for ' face,' 
 which is so often used in Homer, and is probably thousands of years 
 older than the poet, is never found in compounds, whilst words with the 
 suffix -eiS?7s refer to expression or likeness in general. Thus, if Hera 
 had had the epithet of /JooeiS^s, and Athena that of ykavKoeiSys, we 
 should have understood nothing else but that the former had the shape 
 and form of a cow, and the lacter that of an owl. 
 
 To this second stage belong all the prehistoric ruins at Hissarlik, 
 Tiryns, and Mycenae. 
 
 The third stage in the history of the two epithets is when, after Hera 
 and Athena had lost their cow and owl faces, and received the faces of 
 women, and after the cow and the owl had become the attributes of 
 these deities, and had, as such, been placed at their side, /3ou>7ris and 
 yXavKwiris continued to be used as epithets consecrated by the use of 
 ages, and probably with the meaning " large-eyed/' and " owl-eyed." 
 To this third stage belong the Homeric rhapsodies. 
 
PLATE. II 
 
 lojact page 2j. 
 
the Cyclopean Bridge at Mycenae * 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Topography of Mycenae, 
 gate of the lions and treasury of atreus. 
 
 The road from Argos to Mycenae — The Plain of Argos : its rivers and 
 hills, horses and vegetation — Myth regarding its arid nature — Swamps 
 in the southern part; and fable of the Perm-can hydra — Early social 
 development here — Legend of Phoroneus — The Pelasgiao Argos — 
 The Achaean states of Argos and Mycenae — Situation of Mycenae — 
 The Ci/at/c/ and its Cyclopean walls — The term defined — "Gate of 
 the Lions " — The postern gate — Cisterns — Poetical confusion of 
 Argos and Mycenae. 
 
 The Lower City : its house-walls, bridge, treasuries, and pottery — Its 
 partially enclosing wall — The undefended suburb, and its large 
 
 * In the background is the second peak of Mount Eubcea, 2000 
 feet high, which rises immediately south of the Acropolis of Mycenae. 
 
2 4 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCENAE. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 buildings — Its extent — The only two wells in Mycenae — Three 
 Treasuries in the suburb — Treasuries in the Lower City — Description 
 of the " Treasury of Atreus " — Dodwell's Argument for regarding the 
 building as a Treasury — Uniqueness of these structures— Excavation 
 of the Treasury by Veli Pasha. 
 
 Mycenae, August 19, 1876. 
 I arrived here on the 7th inst. by the same road which 
 Pausanias * describes. The distance from Argos is only 
 50 stadia, or 5-8 English miles. Pausanias saw, on that 
 side of Argos which looked toward Mycenae, the temple of 
 Lucina (ElXeCdvia), and next an altar of the Sun, which 
 appears to have been on the bank of the Inachus. After 
 having passed this river he saw, to his right, the temple 
 of the Mysian Demeter, and further on to his left the 
 mausoleum of Thyestes, the brother of Atreus and uncle 
 of Agamemnon. This monument was crowned with a ram 
 of stone, in commemoration of the adultery of Thyestes 
 with his brother's wife. Still further on he saw, to his right, 
 the temple (rjpcpov) of Perseus, the founder of Mycenae. 
 But of all these monuments not a vestige now remains. 
 
 The first river I passed, in coming from Argos, was the 
 ancient XapaSpo?, now called Rema, an affluent of the 
 Inachus, on the banks of which, as Thucydides f informs 
 us, the Argives were in the habit of holding a military 
 court on the return of their armies from abroad, before 
 allowing them to enter the city. Soon afterwards I passed 
 the very wide bed of the famous river Inachus, now called 
 Bonitza, which traverses the plain of Argos in its entire 
 length. The beds of both these rivers are dry except when 
 heavy rain falls in the mountains ; and this appears to have 
 been the case also in the time of Pausanias, who says J 
 that he found the sources of the Inachus on Mount Arte- 
 misium, but that the quantity of water was very insigni- 
 ficant and it only ran for a short distance. This seems to 
 
 * II. 18. See the Sketch Map on p. 1. 
 t V. 60. % II. 25, 3. 
 
1876.] ROAD FROM ARGOS TO MYCENyE. 25 
 
 prove beyond any doubt that the Arcadian mountains were 
 then already as bare of trees as they are now. 
 
 But as the Inachus plays so important a part in the 
 mythic legends of the Argolid, which make him the 
 husband of Meleia and father of Phoroneus, the first king 
 of Argos, and of the moon-goddess Io (the later Hera), 
 there can be no doubt that in prehistoric times the Inachus 
 was a river of some consequence. This, however, seems to 
 be only possible if we suppose the Arcadian mountains 
 to have been at that time overgrown with forests. That 
 the Inachus was once, and for ages, an abundant river, is 
 proved also by the fact that the whole plain of Argos has 
 been formed by the alluvia of its rivers, but principally by 
 those of the Inachus. 
 
 Further upon the road from Argos to Mycenae I 
 passed another smaller river-bed, which seems to be the 
 Cephisus mentioned by Pausanias. * In speaking of the 
 rivers of the plain of Argos, I must further mention the 
 two streams Eleuthcrion and Asterion, between which was 
 situated the celebrated Heracum on the lower slope of 
 Mount Euboea. Both are now dry and have no water 
 except in heavy and long-continued rains, but they seem 
 still in classical antiquity to have had an abundance of 
 water all the year round, for the Eleutherion was the 
 sacred water used in the religious ceremonies at the 
 temple, whilst the water of the Asterion fed the asterion- 
 plant (a kind of aster), sacred to Hera, from the leaves of 
 which wreaths and festoons were made for the goddess. 
 The very name also of Mount Eubcea seems to indicate 
 that it was once a rich pasture ground, whilst now it is as 
 completely barren of all vegetation as are the beds and 
 banks of the two rivers. 
 
 The plain of Argos is enclosed on the west and north 
 
 * Kr}<f>ur6i. II. 15, 5; the lesser streams are not shown on the 
 Sketch Map, p. 1. 
 
 4 
 
26 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^:. [Chap. II. 
 
 by the highlands of Artemisium, on the east by those of 
 Arachnaeon. From the former several parallel ridges of 
 hills advance for some distance into the plain ; the most 
 northerly of them is Mount Lycone, which terminates in 
 Mount Larissa, 900 feet high, with the Acropolis of Argos, 
 the city itself being situated at the foot of the mount, in 
 the plain. The second ridge is the Chaon, at the foot of 
 which the river Erasinus issues in a copious stream and 
 falls into the Argolic Gulf, turning many mills. This river 
 was in all antiquity considered to be identical with the 
 Stymphalus, which disappears by two subterranean chan- 
 nels under Mount Apelauron in Arcadia. The third 
 parallel ridge is the Pontinus. On the east side much 
 smaller and more detached hills slope gently into the plain. 
 To the north the mountains are very rough and abrupt. 
 On the north and south-east of the Acropolis of Mycenae 
 are the two highest peaks of Mount Euboea;* the northern 
 one, which is crowned with an open chapel of the pro- 
 phet Elias, is 2500 feet high. 
 
 In all antiquity the plain of Argos was celebrated for 
 the breeding of horses, and Homer, f seven times in the 
 Iliad, praises its splendid horse-pasture grounds by the 
 epithet " t7T7rd/3oTos." 
 
 Owing to the great dryness of the land, wine and cotton 
 can now be grown only in the fertile lower plain, and a 
 little corn and tobacco is all that can be produced in the 
 highlands. Even as late as the Greek war of indepen- 
 dence (1821) there must have been much more moisture 
 here, because at that time the whole plain, and even a large 
 portion of the highlands, were thickly planted with mul- 
 
 * The accuracy of this name is confirmed by Pausanias, II. 17, § 2. 
 t //. II. 287, III. 75 and 258, VI. 152, IX. 246, XV. 30, and 
 XIX. 329. Comp. Horat. Carm. I. 7, 8, 9: — 
 
 " Plurimus in Junonis honorem 
 Aptum dicet equis Argos, ditesque Mycenas." 
 
1876.] THE PLAIN OF ARGOS. 27 
 
 berry, orange, and olive trees, which have now altogether 
 disappeared. 
 
 The epithet 7ro\uSu|/toi/, " very thirsty," which Homer 
 gives to the plain of Argos, agrees perfectly with its present 
 condition, and also with the myth told by Pausanias : * 
 " Poseidon and Hera disputed about the possession of the 
 land (the plain of Argos), and Phoroneus, son of the river 
 Inachus, Cephisus, Asterion, and Inachus himself, had to 
 decide ; they adjudged the plain to Hera, whereupon 
 Poseidon made the waters disappear. Hence neither 
 Inachus nor any other of the aforesaid rivers have any 
 water, except when Jove sends rain (Zeus vet) ; in summer 
 all the rivers are dry except the (springs of) Lerna." The 
 epithet TrokvhiijjLov, however, does not agree with the 
 passage already cited from Aristotle,t which asserts that 
 at the time of the war of Troy the land of Argos was 
 swampy, whilst that of Mycenae was good. 
 
 The most southern part of the plain of Argos has at all 
 times had a great abundance of water, but with little or no 
 profit to agriculture ; for the sea-shore is lined with vast 
 and almost impassable swamps, and the river Erasinus, 
 which pours down from Mount Chaon, soon empties itself 
 into the Gulf of Nauplia. Further, the springs at the foot 
 of Mount Pontinus form the famous swamps of Lerna, 
 where Hercules is fabled to have killed the Hydra. Pro- 
 bably this myth is the symbolic account of an attempt 
 once made to drain the swamps and to convert them into 
 arable land. 
 
 Owing to its exuberant fertility and exceptional situa- 
 tion on the splendid gulf, this plain has been the natural 
 centre and the point of departure for the whole political 
 and social development of the country, and for this reason 
 it deserves the appellation " ancient Argos." \ Here Pho- 
 roneus, son of the river Inachus and the nymph Meleia, 
 
 • II. 15- 
 
 t Mrtcorol. i. 14- 
 
 + Soph. Elcctra, 4. 
 
28 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCENAE. [Chap. II. 
 
 was said, with his wife Niobe, to have first united the in- 
 habitants, who till then had lived dispersed, into one 
 community, and to have founded a city which he called 
 v A(ttv <$>op(oviKov* which was renamed by his grandson 
 Argos, and became the centre of a powerful Pelasgic state. f 
 Indisputable proofs of this Pelasgic settlement are found in 
 both the names Argos and Larissa, which are Pelasgic, 
 the former meaning " plain," the latter " fortress " ; further, 
 in the myth of the ancient Pelasgic moon and cow-goddess 
 16, who, as has been said above, was fabled to have been 
 born here, her father being the river Inachus. The 
 Pelasgic state comes afterwards under the dominion of the 
 Pelopids, under whom the country is divided into two 
 states, as we find it still in the Iliad; the northern part, 
 with the capital Mycenae, being under the sceptre of 
 Agamemnon ; the southern, with Argos as its capital, 
 under the dominion of Diomedes, who was, however, only 
 a vassal of the former. At all events, at the time of the 
 invasion of the Peloponnesus by the Dorians, Argos was 
 the mightiest state in the peninsula, and thus tradition 
 allots it to the Heraclid Temenus, the firstborn son of 
 Aristomachus. 
 
 The situation of Mycenae is beautifully described by 
 Homer,;}; " In the depth of the horse-feeding Argos," 
 because it lies in the north corner of the plain of Argos, 
 in a recess between the two majestic peaks of Mount 
 Eubcea, whence it commanded the upper part of the great 
 plain and the important narrow pass, by which the roads 
 lead to Phlius, Cleonas, and Corinth. The Acropolis 
 occupied a strong rocky height, which projects from the 
 foot of the mountain behind it in the form of an irregular 
 triangle sloping to the west.§ This cliff overhangs a 
 
 * Paus. II. 15,5; comp. Plato, Timaus. 
 t Comp. yEschyl. Supftl. 250. 
 
 % Od. III. 263: — " /Xtl^(2 ' Apycos l7T7ro/?OTOtO." 
 
 § See the large Plate II. and Plan B of the Acropolis. 
 
1876.J SITUATION OF MYCENAE. 29 
 
 deep gorge, which protects the whole south flank of the 
 citadel. Through the abyss below winds the bed of a torrent 
 usually almost dry, because it has no other water than that 
 of the copious fountain Perseia, which is about half a mile 
 to the north-east of the fortress. This gorge extends first 
 from east to west, and afterwards in a south-westerly direc- 
 tion. The cliff also falls off precipitously on the north side 
 into a glen, which stretches in a straight line from east to 
 west. Between these two gorges extended the lower city. 
 The cliff of the citadel is also more or less steep on the 
 east and west side, where it forms six natural or artificial 
 terraces. 
 
 The Acropolis is surrounded by Cyclopean walls, from 
 13 to 35 feet high, and on an average 16 feet thick. 
 Their entire circuit still exists, but they have evidently been 
 much higher. They are of beautiful hard breccia, with which 
 the neighbouring mountains abound. They follow the 
 sinuosities of the rock, and show three different kinds of 
 architecture. By far the greater portion of them is built 
 exactly like the walls of Tiryns, although not so massively ; 
 and as this kind of architecture is generally thought to be the 
 most ancient, I have marked it on the adjoining cut (No. 1 y) 
 
 No. 17. Walls of the First Period. 
 
 with the words, " Walls of the first period." A large piece 
 of the western wall I have marked on the accompanying cut 
 (No. 1 8) as " Walls of the second period," because it consists 
 of polygons, fitted together with great art, so that, in spite 
 of the infinite variety of the joints, they formed as it were 
 one solidly united and neat wall, as if of rock; and this 
 sort of building, which can be seen in so many places in 
 
30 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 Greece and Southern Italy, is universally acknowledged to 
 be generally of a later period than the former. I have 
 
 No. 18. Walls of the Second Period. 
 
 marked here (No. 19) as "Walls of the third period" those 
 walls to the right and left of the great gate, which consist 
 of almost quadrangular blocks arranged in horizontal layers ; 
 but their joints are not always vertical and they present 
 lines more or less oblique. 
 
 No. 19. Walls ot the Third Period. 
 
 I have made this division into three periods merely to 
 point out the different architecture of the walls, and with 
 no intention of maintaining that the one must be more 
 ancient than the other. On the contrary, after mature 
 consideration, I cannot think that the one kind of wall 
 should be considered older than the other, for, after the 
 circuit walls had once been built of rough stones of enor- 
 mous size, it is hardly possible that in after times part of 
 them should have been destroyed in order to replace them 
 by walls of another type. Or if part of the primitive walls 
 had been razed by an enemy, there could have been no 
 reason why they should not be restored in the same style, 
 
1876.] THREE KINDS OF PRIMITIVE WALLS. 31 
 
 which was quite as solid as the other, and was besides much 
 cheaper and easier, because only the wall could have 
 been destroyed, but not the stones, which lay ready to be 
 put up again. It appears also to have been the custom of 
 the primitive builders to pay a little more attention to sym- 
 metry and regularity in the more monumental portions of 
 their work. I conclude, therefore, that the three kinds 
 of architecture existed simultaneously in that remote age 
 of antiquity when the walls of Mycenae; were built, but 
 that in later times the style of architecture marked as of 
 the "first period" went out of fashion, and the two other 
 modes of building alone remained in use. Walls of poly- 
 gonal blocks continued in use in Greece until the time 
 of the Macedonian dominion ; a proof of which is seen, 
 for instance, in the masonry of the sepulchres at the Hagia 
 Trias in Athens, as well as the fortifications on the island 
 of Salamis, of which we know with certainty that they 
 were erected in the fourth or fifth century, B.C.* Within 
 the last sixteen years walls of polygonal blocks have come 
 extensively into use in Sweden and Norway, particularly 
 for the substructions of railway bridges. 
 
 The first western terrace is bordered on its east side, for 
 a distance of 166 feet, by a Cyclopean wall 30 feet high, 
 which is crowned by the ruins of a tower, and runs parallel 
 with the great circuit wall ; it is no doubt part of a second 
 enclosure.f Remnants of other enclosures are visible a little 
 higher up the mount to the left, as well as on the eastern 
 side. A second interior tower appears to have stood at the 
 south-western corner of the summit. 
 
 Near the north-western corner the circuit wall is tra- 
 versed by an ogive-like passage i6h feet long, like those 
 of Tiryns (see No. 20). Traces of Cyclopean house-walls 
 
 * See Emile Burnouf, ' La Ville et l'Acropole d'Athenes.' 
 
 t A good view of this wonderful wall is seen in the background of 
 Plate VI, which represents the Ichnography of the tombs discovered 
 in the Acropolis. (See Chap. V.) 
 
32 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCENLE. [Chap. II. 
 
 and foundations can be seen on all but the first eastern 
 and western terraces. 
 
 No. 20. Entrance to the ogive-like Gallery in the 
 Walls of the Citadel of Mycense. 
 
 Notwithstanding the remote antiquity of Mycenae, 
 its ruins are in a far better state of preservation than 
 those of any of the Greek cities which Pausanias saw in a 
 flourishing condition, and whose sumptuous monuments 
 he describes (about 170 a.d.) ; and, owing to its distant 
 and secluded position, and to the rudeness, magnitude, and 
 solidity of the ruins, it is hardly possible to think that any 
 change can have taken place in the general aspect of 
 Mycenas since it was seen by Pausanias. 
 
 No. 21. Gate of the Lions. 
 
 In the north-western corner of the circuit-wall is the 
 great " Lions' Gate," of beautiful hard breccia.* The open- 
 ing, which widens from the top downwards, is 10 ft. 8 in. 
 
 See Plan B., Plate III., and Nos. 21, 22 (p. 34) 
 
1876.] GATE OF THE LIONS. 33 
 
 high, and its width is 9 ft. 6 in. at the top, and 10 ft. 
 3 in. below. In the lintel (15 feet long and 8 feet broad) 
 are round holes, 6 inches deep, for the hinges, and in the 
 two uprights, which it roofs over, are four quadrangular 
 holes for the bolts. Over the lintel of the gate is a trian- 
 gular gap in the masonry of the wall, formed by an oblique 
 approximation of the side courses of stone. The object of 
 this was to keep off the pressure of the superincumbent 
 wall from the flat lintel. 
 
 This niche is filled up by a triangular slab of the same 
 beautiful breccia of which the gateway and the walls con- 
 sist : it is 10 feet high, 12 feet long at the base, and 2 feet 
 thick. On the face of the slab are represented in relief two 
 lions, standing opposite to each other on their long out- 
 stretched hind-legs, and resting with their fore-paws on 
 either side of the top of an altar, on the midst of which 
 stands a column with a capital formed of four circles 
 enclosed between two horizontal fillets. The general belief 
 that the heads of the lions are broken off is wrong, for 
 on close examination I find that they were not cut out 
 of the same stone together with the animals, but that 
 they were made separately and fastened on the bodies 
 with bolts. The straight cuts and the borings in the 
 necks of the animals can leave no doubt as to this fact. 
 Owing to the narrowness of the space, the heads could 
 only have been very small, and they must have been 
 protruding and facing the spectator. I feel inclined to 
 believe that they were of bronze and gilded. The tails 
 of the lions are not broad and bushy, but narrow, like 
 those which are seen in the most ancient sculptures of 
 Egypt. 
 
 It is universally believed that this sculpture represents 
 some symbol, but many different conjectures have been made 
 as to its meaning. One thinks that the column alludes to 
 the solar worship of the Persians ; another believes that it is 
 the symbol of the holy fire, and a pyrathcion or fire altar, of 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCENvE. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 which the lions are the guardians ; a third conjectures that 
 it represents Apollo Agyieus, that is, the "guardian of the 
 gateway." I am of this last opinion, and firmly believe 
 that it is this very same symbol of that god which Sopho- 
 cles makes Orestes and Electra invoke when they enter 
 their father's house.* As to the two lions, the expla- 
 nation is still more simple. Pelops, son of the Phrygian 
 king Tantalus,f migrated hither from Phrygia, where the 
 mother of the gods, Rhea, whose sacred animal is the lion, 
 had a celebrated worship. Most probably, therefore, Pelops 
 
 No. 22. Plan of the Gate of Lions. 
 
 (a) Wall of Acropolis on E. side, (b) Face of projecting masonry on W. side. 
 (0 Gateway and Cill. {d) Inner Gateway. 
 
 brought with him the cultus of the patron deity of his 
 mother-country, and made her sacred animal the symbol of 
 the Pelopids. iEschylus compares Agamemnon himself 
 to a lion ; J he also compares Agamemnon with iEgisthus 
 as a lion with a wolf.^ Thus here above the gate the two 
 lions, either as the sacred animals of Rhea or as the symbol 
 
 * Soph. Electra, 1374. 
 
 t Schol. Eurip. Orest. 5 ; Apollod. iii. 5,6; Soph. Antig. 818. 
 I Again. 1259: \£ovto<; evyevovs vnrov<TLa. § Again. 1258. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 THE POSTERN GATE. 
 
 35 
 
 r 
 
 ■ 
 
 • 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 • 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 No. 22<z. The Right and Left Door Posts of 
 the Gate of Lions. 
 
 of the powerful dynasty of the Pelopids, have been united 
 to the symbol of Apollo Agyieus, the guardian of the gate- 
 way. To the left of the 
 sculpture of the lions is a 
 large quadrangular window 
 in the wall. 
 
 The great gate stands at 
 right angles to the adjoining 
 wall of the citadel, and is 
 approached by a passage, 
 50 feet long and 30 feet 
 wide, formed by that wall 
 
 and by another exterior wall, which runs nearly parallel to 
 it, and which forms part of a large quadrangular tower 
 erected for the defence of the 
 entrance.* Within these walls the 
 enemy could advance only with a 
 small front of perhaps seven men, 
 exposed on three sides to the arrows 
 and stones of the defenders. A 
 zigzag road on immense Cyclopean 
 substructions, now covered with 
 large blocks which have fallen 
 from the wall, led up to the 
 entrance of the gateway. Leake 
 rightly says that the early citadel 
 builders bestowed greater labour 
 than their successors on the ap- 
 proaches to the gates, and de- 
 vised various modes of protract- 
 ing the defence of the interior by 
 
 numerous enclosures and by intricacy of communication. 
 The postern-gate f consists likewise of three large slabs, 
 
 [3 
 
 L 
 
 No. 23. Elevation and Plan of the 
 Postern Gate. 
 
 * For an account of the discovery of the ground plan of the Lions' 
 Gate and its enormous threshold, see Chapter V. 
 t See Plan C, and the cut No. 23. 
 
36 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^. [Chap. II. 
 
 namely, two uprights and the lintel by which these are 
 roofed. The opening of this gateway likewise widens from 
 the top downward ; at the top it is 5 ft. 4 in. wide and 
 5 ft. 11 in. at the bottom. On the lintel stands a triangular 
 slab, inclusive of which the gate is 14 feet high. The 
 grooves for the bolts in the jambs of the door are square 
 and of large dimensions. The situation of this gate is not 
 very favourable, because the enemies who attacked it would 
 have their left arm, which was guarded by the shield, on 
 the side of the Acropolis. On the slope on the west side 
 are several subterranean cisterns. 
 
 According to Plutarch, the first name of the mount of 
 the citadel was Argion.* It is significant that it is never men- 
 tioned by ancient authors under the appellation of " acro- 
 polis." Sophocles {Electro) calls it Sco/xa HeXo-rriScjv or ' resi- 
 dence of the Pelopids,' also ovpdvia relyr), ' heavenly walls.' 
 Euripides | also calls it, " stone Cyclopean heavenly walls," 
 and further ^ " Cyclopean heavenly walls," and this must 
 refer to the hugeness of the walls and towers. Strabo § 
 justly observes that, on account of the close vicinity 
 of Argos and Mycenae, the tragic poets have made a 
 confusion regarding their names, continually substituting 
 the one for the other. But this is to be excused, because 
 in antiquity travelling was both difficult and very unsafe. 
 Besides, people were not archaeologists, and though every 
 one took the very deepest interest in the ancient history of 
 Greece, no one cared to submit to the trouble and hardship, 
 or to incur the danger, of visiting even the places which 
 had been the scene of his country's most glorious actions. 
 This could not possibly be better proved than by the fact 
 that no ancient author mentions the reconstruction of 
 Mycenae after its capture and destruction in 468 B.C. 
 
 * To'Apyiov opos. De Fluv. 18, 7. 
 
 t Troad. 1088, rei^r) \diva KUKAanna ovpdvia. 
 
 X Electra, 1158, kvkXwttuol ovpdvia tcix?). § VIII. p. 377. 
 
1876.] MYCENAE AND ARGOS. 37 
 
 Homer himself is seemingly guilty of making a con- 
 fusion regarding the names of Argos and Mycenae, because 
 he puts into the mouth of Agamemnon the words concerning 
 Chryseis : 
 
 " Her I release not, till her youth be fled ; 
 Within my walls, in Argos, far from home, 
 Her lot is cast, domestic cares to ply, 
 And share a master's bed . . ." — Lord Derby.* 
 
 But by the name Argos Homer understands here the 
 Argolid territory and perhaps the whole Peloponnesus ; a 
 sense of which another passage can leave no doubt : f 
 
 " O'er all the Argive coast and neighbouring isles to reign." 
 
 The same may be the case, more or less, with the later 
 tragic poets, and at all events it must be so with Euripides, 
 because he knew Mycenae too well to mistake it for Argos. 
 Thus he calls MycemrJ "the altars of the Cyclopes;" 
 " the Cyclopean Mycenae and "the handiwork of the 
 Cyclopes " : — || 
 
 " Do you call the city of Perseus the handiwork of the Cyclopes ? " 
 
 In other passages he says, " O Cyclopean houses, O 
 my country, () my dear Mycenae!"^ Again, "Standing 
 
 * Iliad, I. 29-31 : 
 
 T7)C 8' lyt» oi) \vffu irpiv fiiv Kal yripas (irticriv 
 rin(T(p<f> tv\ oIku; ty"Apy('i, rt}\66i iraTptjs, 
 i<nhv iiroixoixivriv koi 4/j.bv Af'xos avTt6a(Tav. 
 
 t Iliad, II. I08: iroKKyaiv vr\aotai Ka\*hpy*i Travi-X avaao-tiv. 
 
 \ Iphigoiia in Aulidc, 152 : kvkXuttidv dvpekai. 
 § Ibid. 265 : Mvxrjvai KvtcXwmai. 
 || Ibid. 1 500-1 50 1 : 
 
 KaAm v6\io-pia Ueprrews, 
 KuKAawtai/ ttivov x ( P^ v ■' 
 
 IT Iphig. Taur. 845 : 
 
 KVK\aiirl5(S iariat, & irOTpu, 
 MvKr)va <pf\a. 
 
3« 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 on (or at) the stone steps, the herald calls aloud ' To the 
 Agora, to the Agora, ye people of Mycenae, to see the 
 portents and the terrific signs of the blessed kings.'"* 
 Again, " O mother-country, O Pelasgia, O my home, 
 Mycenae."| Again, " Dear ladies of Mycenae, first in 
 rank in the Pelasgic settlement of the Argives."J Again, 
 " I will go to Mycenae ; crow-bars and pickaxes will I 
 take to destroy with twisted-iron the town, the foun- 
 dations of the Cyclopes, which are well fitted together 
 with the chisel and the purple rule."§ 
 
 This description can only refer to Cyclopean walls 
 composed of well-fitted polygons, such as we see in the 
 western part of the great circuit walls. || Besides Euripides 
 knew accurately that the Agora, with the Royal sepulchres, 
 was in the Acropolis ; and thus it appears certain that 
 Euripides visited Mycenae, and that the grand Cyclopean 
 walls of the Acropolis, as well as the sacred enclosure of the 
 circular Agora, with the mysterious tombs of the most 
 glorious heroes of antiquity, made a profound impression 
 upon him, for otherwise we cannot explain his so often 
 
 * Electra, 710: 
 
 irerpi'eois t' (Triaras 
 
 Kapv£ iax 6 ' PdBpois, 
 
 dyopdv, dyopdv, Mvkt)vcuoi 
 
 aTei'x€T6, fxaKapioiv 6ip6fJ.evot Tvpdvvwv 
 
 (pafffxara, Sei'juoTo. 
 
 f Iphigejiia in Aulide, 1498-1499: 
 
 lid ya fiarep S> Tl£\ao~y'ia, 
 MuKTj^aiai' r' efxai depdirvai. 
 
 % Orestes, 1 246-1 247 ■ 
 
 MuK?;i//8es Si (p'lXai, 
 to. Trpwra Kara rieAc- 
 ayhv e'Sos ' Apyeluiv. 
 
 § Hercules Furens, 974-944 : 
 
 ■jrphs rds NlvK-rivas elp.i Kd£v<r9at xP f ^> v 
 fiox^ous SiKtAKas 8', iis rd kvkKwituv (SdBpa 
 (po'iviKi Kav6vi KOI tvkois 7i p jxo <t fie v a 
 GTptinifi (riS-ripc/) avvrpiaiviaaui it6\iv. 
 
 || See Plate II. 
 
1876.] THE LOWER CITY. 39 
 
 speaking of the gigantic Cyclopean walls, describing also 
 their structure and mentioning even the Agora situated 
 in the Acropolis (see Chapter V.). 
 
 Seneca says of the walls of Mycenae : 
 
 " majus mihi 
 Bellum Mycenis restat, ut cyclopea 
 Eversa manibus saxa nostra concidant. 
 
 and again — 
 
 " cerno Cyclopum sacras 
 Turres, labore majus humano decus." 
 
 and in another passage * 
 
 " Ulixes ad Ithaca? suae saxa sic properat, quemadmodum 
 Agamemnon ad Mycenarum nobiles muros." 
 
 Over the space of about a square mile to the west- 
 south-west and south of this Acropolis, and exactly between 
 the aforesaid deep ravines, extended the Lower City,| the 
 site of which is distinctly marked by the remnants of 
 numerous Cyclopean substructions of houses, by a Cy- 
 clopean bridge, by five Treasuries, and finally by the frag- 
 ments of beautifully painted archaic pottery with which 
 the ground is strewn. The site of the lower town is tra- 
 versed in its whole length by a ridge, which to the right falls 
 off gradually into the plain, and to the left more steeply into 
 the deep ravine, which issues from between the south end 
 of the citadel-cliff and the second peak of Mount Euboea. 
 The summit of this ridge has evidently been artificially 
 levelled for two purposes; firstly, for the principal street of 
 the town, which commenced at the Lions' Gate and ended 
 at the Cyclopean bridge, an engraving of which forms 
 the vignette to this chapter;^ and secondly, for the city 
 wall, which ran to the right of the street as far as the 
 same bridge, and undoubtedly united it with the Acropolis 
 at its north-west corner, near the Lions' Gate. 
 
 * Epistul. Mor. 66, 26. f See Plan D. 
 
 % See No. 16, p. 23. 
 
4° 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^. [Chap. II. 
 
 Another branch of this wall extended all along the 
 western bank of the torrent which the bridge spanned, 
 and doubtless connected the latter with the south-western 
 corner of the Acropolis. Of both branches of this wall 
 very numerous traces remain, though with difficulty per- 
 ceptible. Thus a part of the lower town, but scarcely one- 
 third of it, was enclosed by a circuit wall. This was very 
 insignificant, because its thickness on the ridge is only 
 6 feet, and it is still less on the bank of the torrent ; so 
 that it cannot have been high, and it was probably intended 
 only to impart greater strength to the great Cyclopean 
 walls of the Acropolis, and to prevent the Lions' Gate 
 leading directly into the open country. After carefully 
 examining the remnants of this city wall in numerous 
 places, I see, in consideration of its weakness, no reasonable 
 ground to object to regarding it as of later date than the 
 walls of the citadel. 
 
 The remaining part of the town has been, as the rem- 
 nants of the house-walls show, a vast and well-built suburb, 
 whence, when attacked by the enemy against whom their 
 own means of defence were insufficient, the inhabitants 
 could retire into the fortified part of the city and into the 
 citadel. Some of the buildings of this suburb are very 
 large, and show a most splendid Cyclopean masonry. I 
 call particular attention to the vast building on the very 
 bank of the deep glen in a westerly direction from the 
 Lions' Gate, of which all the four walls are still visible. It 
 is 93 feet long and 6o feet broad, and may have been a 
 temple. I call attention also to the foundations of a large 
 Cyclopean building, perhaps a temple, on the crest of a 
 hill S.S.W. of the Acropolis and north of the village of 
 Charvati. This hill appears to have been at the extremity 
 of the suburb in this direction, for the Mycenean pot- 
 sherds cease beyond it. I found there two well-polished 
 axes of diorite. 
 
 In two glens in the immediate vicinity of this hill are 
 
1876.J TREASURIES IN THE SUBURB. 4a 
 
 the only two wells of Mycenae. The ruins of Cyclopean 
 buildings close to them, and the Mycenean potsherds which 
 extend beyond them, can leave no doubt that both wells 
 were within the suburb. Strange to say, Professor E. 
 Curtius has thought the ancient quarry of Charvati to be 
 ruins of the city wall, and he has therefore put this village 
 on his map still within the site of Mvcenae ; but this is a 
 great mistake ; the city never extended so far. 
 
 But not all the Cyclopean walls in the suburb are 
 house-walls, for many of them are only intended for the 
 support of the terraces. 
 
 Much more interesting than all the other buildings in 
 the suburb are the " Treasuries," which, owing to their 
 great resemblance to ovens, are now called <f>ovpvoi by the 
 country people. One of them is just without the line of 
 the town wall, on die slope of the hill near the Gate of the 
 Lions. The doorway is visible, but it is nearly buried ; the 
 entrance is roofed with three large thick slabs ; and the 
 length of the passage is 18 feet, its width 7 ft. 9 in. Only 
 a small part of the lower circular wall of the dome-shaped 
 building can now be seen, the upper part having fallen in, 
 probably ages ago.* 
 
 Descending the slope in a south-westerly direction, we 
 come to a smaller Treasury, the entrance passage of which 
 is 1 5 ^ feet long, and likewise roofed with three large 
 slabs. The width of the door is jh feet ; part of the lower 
 circular wall of the dome-like building is here also above 
 ground, and shows at the height of the top of the entrance 
 a diameter of 25 feet ; so that the diameter on the ground 
 floor may be 32 feet. Turning thence to the south, and 
 ascending the slope, we come, near the crest of the ridge, 
 to a third Treasury, of which only the entrance passage 
 remains. This is 20 feet long, and only 5 ft. 3 in. broad; 
 and is roofed by five large slabs. 
 
 * AH these Treasuries are indicated on Plan D. 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCENvE. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 The whole site of the vast suburb being on slopes, and 
 having been but scantily inhabited, on account of its 
 vast extent, the accumulation of debris is everywhere small, 
 and seldom exceeds a foot and a half in depth. A much 
 greater accumulation is found only on the terraces imme- 
 diately to the west and north-west of the Lions' Gate. 
 
 Though the site of the enclosed city is also on slopes, 
 yet, as it is but small and must at all times have been more 
 densely inhabited, the accumulation of dibris is in general 
 more considerable there, and particularly on the western 
 and south-western side of the Acropolis. But at points 
 more distant from the Acropolis, and particularly on the 
 steeper slopes whence the remains of houses have been 
 washed away by the rains, the accumulation does not exceed 
 the quantity general in the suburb. It deserves particular 
 attention that, except close to the western circuit-wall of 
 the citadel, the site of the enclosed city shows far less of 
 Cyclopean substructions or remnants of house-walls than 
 the suburb ; but immediately beyond the Cyclopean bridge 
 on the opposite bank of the ravine are the ruins of two 
 vast buildings which may have been forts and may have 
 served for the defence of the bridge. I may here mention 
 that traces of the ancient Cyclopean highway from Mycenae 
 to Tiryns are still visible for some distance beyond the 
 bridge. 
 
 On the site of the enclosed city are the two largest 
 Treasuries. One of these is the famous Treasury which 
 tradition attributes to Atreus. The other, which is close to 
 the Lions' Gate, appears to have been entirely under ground, 
 and was therefore unknown in historical times ; the upper 
 part of its dome has fallen in, but I have not been able to 
 ascertain whether, as some of the inhabitants of the Argolid 
 affirm, this has occurred accidentally, or whether, as others 
 maintain, it is the sacrilegious work of Veli Pasha, the son 
 of the notorious Ali Pasha, who towards the end of 1820 
 attempted to force an entrance this way, but was pre- 
 
1876.] THE TREASURY OF ATREUS. 43 
 
 vented by the outbreak, of the Greek revolution from pro- 
 ceeding much further. 
 
 The " Treasury of Atreus," which is about 400 yards 
 further south, was entirely subterranean, being constructed 
 under the eastern slope of the ridge which traverses the 
 city, and towards the ravine of the same torrent which 
 passes the south side of the cliff of the citadel. On the 
 slope below the Treasury is a large platform of Cyclopean 
 masonry, from which the dromos, or approach — 20 ft. 7 in. 
 broad, and lined with walls of wrought stones- — leads to the 
 doorway of the building, which is 8 ft. 6 in. wide at the 
 top and 9 ft. 2 in. at the bottom. Its height is 18 feet; it 
 is roofed by two enormous slabs, beautifully cut and polished, 
 of which the inner one measures 3 ft. 9 in. in thickness, and 
 27^ feet in length on its lower and 29 feet on its upper 
 surface; its breadth is 17 feet, and it is computed that it 
 weighs approximately 300,000 English pounds.* 
 
 The great chamber, which resembles a dome or a vast 
 bee-hive, is 50 feet high and 50 feet in diameter. It is 
 built of well-wrought blocks of hard breccia, placed in 
 regular layers, and joined with the greatest precision without 
 any binding material. The stones, which on the inside are 
 smooth and well-fitted, are on the outside very irregular, 
 and, contrary to the general belief, they are not immediately 
 covered with earth, but with enormous masses of stone, which, 
 by their ponderous weight, keep all the stones of the circular 
 layers of masonry in 'their position. Thus the principle of 
 this construction is, as Colonel Leake justly remarks, that 
 of an arch-shaped wall resisting a great superincumbent 
 weight, and deriving its strength and coherence from the 
 weight itself. The same idea, which suggested the circular 
 shape to the Cyclopean architect, induced him also to curve 
 the sides vertically, as they derived from that form an addi- 
 tional power of resistance to the lateral pressure. 
 
 * See Plate IV., "Treasury of Atreus.' 
 
44 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^:. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 The blocks of the lower courses are i ft. 10 in. high 
 and from 4 to 7 ft. long ; but towards the top of the dome 
 the courses become gradually narrower. The floor of the 
 vast chamber, which is entirely excavated, is the natural 
 rock. A number of large stones, -which have remained in 
 the Treasury, make on travellers the erroneous impression 
 that there is still a great deal of debris left. 
 
 From the fourth course of stones upwards there are 
 visible in each stone two bored holes, and in many of these 
 can still be seen remnants of bronze nails which, according 
 to SirW. Gell ("Argolis"), contain 88 per cent, of copper 
 and 12 per cent, of tin. These nails, of which several have 
 been found entire, had broad flat heads, and they can have 
 had no other purpose than to retain the bronze plates, 
 with which the whole interior was once decorated. We 
 know by the testimony of the ancient authors that the 
 Greeks in a remote antiquity ornamented their buildings 
 in this manner, because in no other way can we explain 
 the bronze houses and chambers which they mention.* 
 
 * Thus we read in Homer (Od. VII. 84-87) : 
 
 "fliTTe •yap TjeAi'ou afyA?/ irtKtv 7)6 a'c-ATjfTjs, 
 Awua KaS' v\f/epe<p(S /xeyaAriTopos ' AXkivooio, 
 \d.\K(OL [lev yap roix 01 epripfSar' tvOa (col evda, 
 Es fivx<>v «'£ ovSov' 7repl 5e BptyKbs Kvdvoio. 
 
 " Like the sun or the moon beam in bright splendour, so beamed the high palace of 
 the magnanimous Alcinoiis ; for the brazen walls extended from the threshold of the 
 gate to the innermost part of the building ; their entablature was of blue steel." 
 
 Further the palaces of the immortal gods on Olympus must have 
 been thought to be also ornamented with brazen plates, because Homer 
 says {Iliad, I. 426) : Aios 7totI ^aA/co/Jares Sa>, " To the brazen house 
 of Jove." 
 
 We also read in Pausanias (II. 23) : 
 
 "AAAa Se Zvtiv 'Apyeiois fleas a|ia ' xardyaiov olKo56jn)fia, eV avrb St f/v 6 x a ^ K °vs 
 daKafios, 'of 'Anpicrids irorf (ppovpav rrjs Bvyarpbs siro'n)<J£V. TltplKaos 8c KaBeikeu avrhv 
 Tvpavvij<ras ' tovtS tc oZv to oiKo56/j.r]/j.d iart. " In Argos there are still other 
 remarkable objects : a subterranean vault, over which was the brazen chamber which 
 Acrisius made for his daughter (Danae's) prison ; it was destroyed under the 
 dominion of Perilaiis, but the building still exists." 
 
1876.] TREASURY AT ORCHOMENUS. 45 
 
 The only other example extant of walls which had once 
 this kind of decoration is presented by the Treasury of 
 Minyas in Orchomenus, which is built of beautiful white 
 marble, but shows in other respects the very greatest 
 resemblance to the Treasury of Atreus. It is constructed 
 on the same principle, and appears to be of the same age 
 and to have been erected for the same purpose. Each 
 stone of this treasury likewise shows two or more holes, 
 with frequent remnants of the bronze nails which once 
 retained the brazen plates that decorated the inner walls of 
 the edifice.* Thus it is certain that in a remote antiquity, 
 before sculpture or painting came into use for wall 
 
 Further in Horace {Carm. III. 16) : 
 
 " Inclusam Danacn turris ahenea 
 Robusta;que fores ct vigilum canum 
 Tristcs excubix niunicrant satis 
 Noctumis al) adulteris." 
 
 " A bronze tower, solid doors, and the severe watch of the dogs, had been for the 
 imprisoned Danae a sufficiently strong protection against nocturnal lovers." 
 
 Another case is the temple of Athena Chalciaccus at Sparta, where 
 King Pausanias was put to death. The name of this sanctuary can of 
 course refer to nothing else than to the brazen plates with which the 
 walls were decorated. 
 
 My esteemed friend, Mr. Chas. T. Newton, of the British Museum, 
 calls my attention to Colonel Mure's article in the Rheinisches Museum, 
 VIII. 272, in which the author states that General Gordon told him he 
 had in his collection in Scotland fragments not only of the bronze nails, 
 but also of the brazen plates of the Treasury of Atreus. At the same time 
 Colonel Mure quotes the passage of Sophocles (Antigone, 944-947) : 
 
 UrAa KaX Aavdas ovpdviov <pu>s 
 oAAa{ui Sepas iv xa\KoStrois av\a7s ' 
 KpvTTTOfifva 8' iv Tujuj8>jp€i BaKdfiif KartfruxOy- 
 
 ("The body also of Danae endured to exchange the heavenly light against the dark- 
 ness in the halls covered with brazen plates ; hidden in a sepulchral chamber, she 
 was fettered "). 
 
 * Pausanias (ix. 38) says of this Treasury: "The Treasury of 
 Minyas is the most wonderful edifice in Greece, and is second to no 
 work of art abroad ; it is built in the following manner : it consists 
 of stone and has -a circular form ; the summit is not very pointed ; it is 
 said that the topmost stone holds together the whole building." 
 
46 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEISLE. [Chap. II. 
 
 decoration, polished metal plates were employed to give 
 both splendour and dignity to the houses of the rich. 
 
 In the Treasury of Atreus, the exterior of the door- 
 lintel is decorated with two parallel mouldings, which are 
 also carried down the jambs of the door. Above the lintel 
 numerous holes can be discerned, to which bronze orna- 
 ments must have been attached. There are more such 
 holes in the fiat wall above the entrance, and all testify to 
 the elaborate exterior ornamentation of the edifice. Above 
 the entrance is an equilateral triangular niche, each side of 
 which measures 10 feet. It is constructed like the triangular 
 niche over the Lions' Gate ; namely, the courses of masonry 
 are shaped to the form of the niche, and it can have had 
 no other purpose than to bear up the weight which would 
 otherwise have pressed on the lintel. 
 
 On the outside, before each door-post, there stood for- 
 merly a semi-column, having a base and capital with 
 fantastical sculptures in the Persepolitan style. In the 
 middle of the doorway can be seen the holes for the bolts 
 and hinges of the doors, and in the same line are a number 
 of round holes, i inches in diameter and half an inch 
 deep ; in these are two small holes for bronze nails, of which 
 fragments still exist, to fasten on ornaments of a circular 
 form. 
 
 To the right of the great circular hall, a doorway, gh ft. 
 high and 4 ft. 7 in. broad, leads to a second dark chamber, 
 which is nearly square, being 27 feet long and broad, and 
 19 feet high. It is entirely cut out in the rock. Over the 
 door is a triangular niche, which is likewise intended to 
 bear up the weight of the masonry from the lintel. In this 
 chamber is an accumulation of rubbish, from 3^ to 4 feet 
 deep, mostly consisting of the detritus of bats' dung. By 
 means of the two trenches, which I dug three years ago in 
 this chamber, I found in the centre a circular depression, in 
 the form of a large wash-bowl, 1 ft. 9 in. deep, and 3 ft. 4 in. 
 in diameter. Near this I found some large wrought cal- 
 
1876.] PURPOSE OF THE TREASURY. 47 
 
 careous stones, which seem to indicate that some monument 
 once existed in this chamber, for otherwise their presence 
 is inexplicable. 
 
 This Treasury is the most important and the only com- 
 plete monument of prehistoric times in Greece, and the 
 interest attached to it is so much the greater, as tradition 
 assigns it to Atreus, the father of Agamemnon, king of men. 
 
 Dodwell,* in speaking of this treasury and the smaller 
 ones, says: — "There is moreover complete evidence that 
 these structures were called drjcravpoL, and belong to ages 
 prior to the origin of that architecture of which the Doric 
 temple in Europe and the Ionic in Asia are the crowning 
 invention. As this latter architecture advanced, temples 
 served for treasuries, or, when buildings were erected solely 
 for treasuries, they had the ordinary forms of that later 
 style of architecture, as we learn from the description which 
 Pausanias has given of the treasuries at Olympia and 
 Delphi.! Nevertheless subterranean buildings, similar in 
 construction to the treasuries of the heroic ages, continued 
 to serve for containing oil or corn or water, and when 
 attached to private houses might often be employed for 
 depositing property of any kind. These are very numerous 
 in Greece, but in no instance are they entered at the side. 
 The largest I know of is in the Acropolis of Pharsala. 
 But the strongest reason for designating the constructions 
 at Mycenae as treasuries is the evidence of Pausanias,J 
 unless it be denied that he intended those buildings by the 
 words vjroycua 0lK0S0p.-qp.aTa, which can hardly be alleged, 
 as the ruins agree too well with his words to render such 
 a supposition reasonable. Seventeen hundred years ago, 
 therefore, those buildings were believed to be the Treasuries 
 of Atreus and his sons. Nothing had then occurred to 
 
 * ' A Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece.' 
 t Paus. VI. 19, t f X. ii, 1. 
 
 + II. 16, 6. See the passage fully quoted in the next chapter, p. 59. 
 
4 8 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 interfere with the course of the mythology or history of 
 Greece, as transmitted to the Greeks by their ancestors ; 
 and although on many occasions the reports received by 
 Pausanias from the i&jyrjTai may have been inventions of 
 a date comparatively recent, no such suspicion can well 
 attach to the principal traditions of Mycenae, which accord 
 with all that has reached us concerning that city in poetry 
 or prose. The extant edifice was the largest of the trea- 
 suries, and bears proofs of having been a costly building, 
 highly decorated at the entrance and lined within with 
 metallic plates. To Atreus himself, therefore, the most 
 opulent and powerful of the kings of the iroXvxpvcros 
 MvKTjvy), and not to either of his sons, this greatest of extant 
 treasuries may, with a high degree of probability, be attri- 
 buted. Agamemnon dissipated the wealth of Atreus in the 
 expedition to Asia, passed the greater part of his reign 
 abroad, and returned home poor and powerless, leaving 
 MvKrjvat to be, after his time, no more than a secondary 
 town of Argolis. Nor is it likely, under these circum- 
 stances, that the sepulchre of Agamemnon was a monument 
 of any great magnificence. Pausanias, who saw it, does 
 not mention it as such, but gives us clearly to understand 
 that the Treasury and the Gate of the Citadel were the 
 most remarkable antiquities at Mycenae." 
 
 I think that nothing could better prove the remote 
 antiquity of this majestic underground Treasury and its 
 companions, than their very singularity and dissimilarity to 
 other ancient buildings in Greece and Asia Minor ; besides, 
 the barbarian method of securing treasures by burying 
 them argues a very early state of society. 
 
 As a further proof of these underground buildings 
 having been used as treasuries, I may mention that My- 
 cenae and Orchomenus are the only cities which can boast 
 of such edifices, and also the only cities to which Homer 
 gives the epithet 7ro\uyj3ucro5, or to which he attributes 
 great wealth. 
 
1876.] EXCAVATION BY VELI PASHA. 49 
 
 The Professor of Medicine in Athens, Johannes P. 
 Pyrlas, has kindly called my attention to an article he pub- 
 lished in the Tripolis newspaper, " BeAricuo-is," of the 19th 
 November, 1857, on tne ^ rst excavation of the Treasury 
 of Atreus (commonly called in the Argolid the " Tomb of 
 Agamemnon "), of which I give here the translation with 
 all reserve. 
 
 "The Tomb of Agamemnon in Mycenae. 
 
 "In 1808, as old people relate, in the month of April, 
 a Mahomedan of Nauplia presented himself before Veli 
 Pasha, who was at that time governor of the Peloponnesus, 
 and told him that he knew there were several statues 
 hidden in the ' Tomb of Agamemnon.' Veli Pasha, who 
 was energetic and ambitious, at once began to excavate 
 the space in front of the tomb with forced labour. When 
 he had dug down to a depth of three fathoms, the work- 
 men descended by means of a ladder into the interior 
 of the dome, and found there a great many ancient tombs, 
 and having opened these they found in them bones covered 
 with gold, which was no doubt derived from the gold 
 embroidered drapery. They found there also other gold- 
 and silver- ornaments, also precious stones in the form 
 of those called '•antiques' (gems), but without any incised 
 work. Outside of the tombs they found about twenty- 
 five colossal statues and a marble table, all of which Veli 
 Pasha transported to the Lake of Lerna (the Mills), and 
 having got them washed and cleaned and wrapped up in 
 mats, he sent them on to Tripolis, where he sold them to 
 travellers and obtained for them about 80,000 gros (then 
 worth about 20,000 francs). Having gathered the bones 
 and all the debris contained in the tombs, he got these 
 also transported to Tripolis, and entrusted them there to 
 the most notable goldsmiths, D. Contonicolacos and P. 
 Scouras, who, after having cleaned the debris and scraped 
 off the gold from the bones, collected about 4 okes (4800 
 
 7 
 
5o 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY OF MYCEN^. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 grammes) of gold and silver. The stones in form of an- 
 tiques as well as the bones were thrown away. I had this 
 account from the mouth of the two goldsmiths when 
 they were still alive, and from my own father, who saw 
 the statues at the Mills." 
 
 Now not to speak of the improbability that statues of 
 the heroic age should have been found, the above account 
 is in no way confirmed by the old men of Charvati, the 
 village nearest to the site of Mycenae, nor by those of the 
 other villages of the plain of Argos, all of whom agree 
 that the excavation took place in 1810, and that the sole 
 objects found in the Treasury were some half-columns 
 and friezes, a marble table, and a long bronze chain sus- 
 pended from the top of the dome, at the end of which was 
 hanging a bronze candelabrum.* I have heard this account 
 repeated so many hundred times by the old people of the 
 Argolid that I believe it to be perfectly correct, except, of 
 course, as to the candelabrum ; because, not to speak of 
 candles, even lamps were totally unknown to Homer, and 
 I never found them either at Troy, or at Tiryns or 
 Mycenae, in the strata of prehistoric house remains. Nay,, 
 lamps appear not to have existed at Tiryns or Mycenae 
 before their capture by the Argives in 468 b.c, because I 
 only found them in the latter place in the ddbris of the 
 more modern city, and none were found at Tiryns. Thus 
 the object which the villagers had regarded as a candela- 
 brum must necessarily have been something else. 
 
 According to Professor E. Curtius,j" the following frag- 
 ments of ancient ornaments were found before the entrance 
 of the Treasury :- — " The basis of a semi-column of greenish 
 marble with wreathed stripes in relief ; further, the fragment 
 of a half round column with a zigzag decoration ; stone 
 
 * The reader is warned not to confound this with Veli Pasha's 
 attempt to rifle the other Treasury, mentioned on p. 42. 
 t ' Peloponnes,' II. p. 408. 
 
1876.] OBJECTS FOUND AT THE ENTRANCE. 51 
 
 tables, the one of greenish, the other of lustrous red colour, 
 a third of white marble, all with a relief ornamentation in 
 the form of muscles, fans or spiral lines, which are dis- 
 tinguished by sharply and neatly chiselled outlines ; finally, 
 a red marble slab, which Gell found in a neighbouring 
 chapel." 
 
 No. 23a. A Tcrra-cotta Vase. (3 M.) Actual size. 
 
No. 24. The first of the Tombstones found above the Sepulchres in the Acropolis. Size 8 : 100. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 History of Mycenae and the Family of Pelops. 
 the sepulchres of agamemnon and his companions. 
 
 Traditional foundation of Mycenae by Perseus — His dynasty succeeded 
 by the Pelopids — The legend of their crimes unknown to Homer 
 and Hesiod — The Homeric story of Agamemnon's murder by yEgis- 
 thus and Clytemnestra, avenged by Orestes — Cycle of crimes 
 devised by the later bards — Dominion of Agamemnon — End of 
 the dynasty at Mycenae with yEgisthus — Orestes and his sons — 
 The Dorian invasion — Part taken by Mycenae in the Persian wars 
 — The Argives besiege and take Mycenae • — -The walls of the citadel 
 preserved from religious reverence ■ — Homeric epithets of Mycenae 
 — Its "abundance of gold" confirmed by Thucydides — The Trea- 
 suries of the Pelopids mentioned by Pausanias — Treasury at the 
 
Ch. III. 1876.] THE PERSEID/E AND ATREIDyE. 
 
 53 
 
 Heraeum, near Mycenae — Probable existence of another Treasury at 
 Mycenae. 
 
 The Royal Sepulchres described by Pausanias — General misinterpreta- 
 tion of the passage — Experimental shafts sunk there in February 
 1874 — Excavations begun, August 7, 1876 — Porter's lodge at the 
 Lions' Gate — The later habitation of the city after 468 B.C. — 
 No coins of Mycenae known — Remains below this first stratum 
 — Painted archaic vases, like those at Tiryns — The vases almost 
 all made on the potter's wheel — Female idols and cows of terra- 
 cotta — Other idols and animals — Iron knives and curious keys 
 of a later period — Bronze knives and arrowheads — Stone im- 
 plements and other objects — A little gold and much lead found — 
 Fragments of a lyre and flute — Plates of ornamented terra-cotta 
 for lining walls — Cyclopean house-walls — A remarkable water- 
 conduit — Twelve tomblike reservoirs — Two tombstones with bas- 
 reliefs, probably of the same epoch as that over the Lions' Gate. 
 
 Mycenae, August 19, 1876. 
 Tradition attributes the foundation of Mycenae to 
 Perseus, son of Danae and Jove, who had by Andromeda 
 a son Sthenelus, to whom lie left the kingdom. Sthenelus 
 married Nicippe, the daughter of Pelops, by whom he 
 had a son Eurystheus, who succeeded him. The dynasty 
 of Perseus ended with Eurystheus, who was succeeded by 
 his uncle Atreus, the son of Pelops. The latter left the 
 kingdom to his brother Thyestes, who left it to his 
 nephew Agamemnon, son of Atreus. 
 
 According to tradition, Atreus and his brother Thyestes 
 contended for the dominion of Mycenae. Atreus was 
 married to Aerope, who was seduced by his brother Thy- 
 estes. Atreus, in revengeful fury at this, butchered the 
 two (or three) sons of Thyestes, and served them up at a 
 banquet to their father. When Thyestes learnt the fact, 
 in his horror he overturned the table, vomited the dreadful 
 meal, and ran off, cursing the whole race of the Pelopids.* 
 Aerope is thrown into the sea. Thyestes consults the 
 oracle how he can revenge himself on his brother, and 
 
 * Horace, Epod. V. 86. 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF MYCENtE. 
 
 [Chap. III. 
 
 gets the answer that, if he begets a son by his own 
 daughter, Pelopia, this son will avenge him. To avoid 
 the incest, he intended to leave for Lydia ; but when he was 
 sacrificing in the night to Athena at Sicyon, his daughter 
 joined him there, and unwittingly he begat by her the 
 future avenger, iEgisthus, who, exposed by his mother 
 immediately after his birth, was found by shepherds, and 
 was nursed by a goat, whence his name.* He was after- 
 wards sought for by Atreus, who brought him up as his 
 son, for Atreus had married Pelopia in the very beginning 
 of her pregnancy and thought the child belonged to him. 
 But ^Egisthus killed Atreus when he was sacrificing on the 
 seashore, because Atreus, thinking him to be his own son, 
 had ordered him to kill his brother Thyestes. ^Egisthus 
 then, with Thyestes, took possession of the realm. 
 
 But Homer knows nothing at all of the bloody brawl 
 in the house of the Pelopids, for according to him | Jove 
 sent the royal sceptre to Pelops, by Hermes, as a symbol 
 of dominion ; Pelops gave it to Atreus, who dying left 
 it to Thyestes ; Thyestes left it to Agamemnon, and there 
 is not even an allusion to dispute or violence. Hesiod 
 speaks of the proverbial wealth and the royal majesty of 
 the Atridae, but he knows nothing of their crimes. Homer 
 knows only the outrage of ^Egisthus and Clytemnestra. 
 During Agamemnon's absence in Troy, yEgisthus had 
 succeeded in seducing Clytemnestra, and he was insolent 
 enough to make thank-offerings to the gods for having 
 succeeded.^ To avoid- being taken unawares by Aga- 
 memnon, he stationed a watchman on the shore, and 
 when at length he heard of the king's arrival, he invited 
 him to a meal and, in concert with Clytemnestra, killed 
 him at table.§ T^Lgisthus then reigned seven years over 
 
 * From alt (root aiy), a goat. t //. II. 101. 
 
 % Homer, Od. III. 263-275. 
 
 § Od. IV. 524-535; compare I. 35; III. 234; IV. 91; IX. 
 387 ; XXIV 20, 97. 
 
1876.] AGAMEMNON'S DOMINION. 55 
 
 Mycerun, until in the eighth, as the gods had foretold to 
 him,* Orestes appeared and avenged his father by killing 
 iEgisthus and his own mother Clytemnestra.f 
 
 The later Homeric bards, who were followed by the 
 tragic poets, seem to have formed the myths of the horrid 
 deeds of Atreus and Thyestes by carrying back the outrages 
 in the house of Agamemnon into the former generation ; 
 and, by the help of other traditions, and particularly from 
 the history of the kings of Thebes, they devised a con- 
 catenation of crimes and mischief, which had its first origin 
 in the murder of Myrtilus or in that of Chrysippus.J 
 
 It appears from IIomer§ that Agamemnon had 
 brought under his sceptre nearly all the Peloponnesus. But 
 according to another passage || it would appear that he 
 reigned only over its whole northern part. The dynasty of 
 the Pelopids appears to have ceased in Mycenae with the 
 death of iEgisthus, for tradition says that Agamemnon's 
 son Orestes reigned in Arcadia and Sparta, but not that 
 he succeeded his father. According to Strabo,^[ he died 
 in Arcadia. Pausanias ** states that his tomb was at first 
 on the roadside between Sparta and Tegea ; at a later time 
 his bones were buried in Sparta.ff Neither of the two sons 
 of Orestes, Penthilus and Tisamenus, seems to have reigned 
 at Mycenae. Strabo^| says that they remained in the 
 v^olian colonies in Asia Minor, which had been founded 
 by their father. According to Pausanias,§§ the invasion of 
 the Dorians had already occurred in the time of Orestes ; 
 according to Thucydides,|||| it took place eighty years after 
 the Trojan war. 
 
 Pausanias seems probably to be in the right, because 
 
 * Od. I. 36. IT XIII. p. 582. 
 
 + Od. III. 305-310. ** III. 3, 6. 
 
 % Welcker, Gr. Trag. I. s. 358. tt Paus. III. 11, 10. 
 
 § //. IX. 149-154- ++ IX - P- 401. 
 
 || //. II. 569. §§ VIII. 5, 1. 
 
 Illl 1. 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF MYCEN.E. [Chap. III. 
 
 only a fearful political revolution and catastrophe can have 
 prevented Orestes from becoming king in Mycenae, which 
 was the richest and most powerful state of Greece, and 
 which belonged to him as only son to the glorious and 
 universally lamented Agamemnon. 
 
 Strabo* confirms the statement that the decline of 
 Mycenae began with the death of Agamemnon and particu- 
 larly from the return of the Heracleidae. But, though the 
 city had decayed in power and population and had sunk to 
 the rank of a small provincial town, yet it kept up a certain 
 independence ; and, inspired by the reminiscences of its 
 glorious past, it equipped eighty men as its contingent at 
 Thermopylae,! and a year later, in conjunction with Tiryns, 
 it sent 400 men to Platasae.J The name of Mycenas was 
 engraved, together with those of the other cities which had 
 participated in this glorious campaign, on the brazen 
 column representing three serpents sustaining a golden 
 tripod, which the Spartans dedicated to the Delphian Apollo 
 as a tithe of the booty taken from the Persians. This 
 brazen column stands now on the old hippodrome (the 
 present Maidan) in Constantinople, whither it was pro- 
 bably brought by Constantine the Great. The Argives, 
 who had remained neutral, envied the Myceneans the 
 honour of having participated in these battles, and they 
 feared besides, considering the city's ancient glory, that 
 Mycenae might usurp the dominion of the whole Argolid. 
 
 For these reasons, in league with the Cleoneans and 
 the Tegeatans, they besieged Mycena?, in Ol. LXXVIII. 
 (468 b.c). The powerful walls of the citadel, behind 
 which the inhabitants had retired, withstood all assaults of 
 the enemy, but at last the Myceneans were forced to sur- 
 render for want of food. It appears that, in consideration 
 of the past glory of the city, the victors treated the Myce- 
 neans with clemency, for they allowed them to emigrate 
 
 * VIII. p. 372. 
 
 t Herod. VII. 202. 
 
 + Herod. IX. 28. 
 
1876.] HOMERIC EPITHETS OF MYCENAE. 57 
 
 whither they pleased ; and they settled partly at Cleonae, 
 partly in Cerynia in Achaea, but principally in Macedonia.* 
 But this account is not quite confirmed by Diodorus 
 Siculus,f who says that on the surrender of Mycenae the 
 Argives enslaved all the inhabitants. If this is correct, then 
 it is to be supposed that the Argives forced the Myceneans 
 to settle at Argos, because it was very material to them 
 at that time to increase the population of their city. At 
 all events, as Dodwell says, a religious fear seems to have 
 prevented the Argives from destroying the huge Cyclopean 
 walls of the citadels of Mycenae and Tiryns, because these 
 were considered as sacred enclosures, and were revered as 
 sanctuaries of Hera, who was worshipped with equal adora- 
 tion by all the inhabitants of the Argolid. The Argives 
 therefore contented themselves with dismantling only a very 
 small part of the walls of the citadel, whilst they razed 
 those of the lower city completely to the ground. 
 
 Homer gives to Mycenae the epithets of the "well- 
 built city," I' " with broad streets," § and " rich in gold." || 
 The second of these epithets can only apply to the wide 
 street which led from the Lions' Gate, along the ridge, 
 through the enclosed town, to the bridge over the torrent of 
 the ravine ; for all the remaining part of the town as well as 
 the suburb being on slopes, the other streets must have 
 been more or less steep, and cannot have been alluded to 
 by the epithet evpvdyvia. Regarding the third epithet 
 Trokvxpvo-os, we have the great authority of Thucydides ^| 
 that Mycenae had immense wealth under the dominion of 
 the Pelopids, for he says : " Pelops, having brought from 
 Asia large treasures to the indigent people (of the penin- 
 sula), soon acquired great power, and, though a foreigner, 
 
 * Paus. VII. 25, 6. t XI. 65. 
 
 % II. II. 569 : iVKTifievov -mokitvpav. 
 § //. IV. 52 : tlpvayvia MvKr/vr]. 
 
 || //. VII. 180: Od. III. 305 : iroXvxpvaoio Mvkt/^s. 
 IT I. 9- 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF MYCEN^l. 
 
 [Chap. III. 
 
 he nevertheless gave his name to the country, and his de- 
 scendants (the Pelopids, Atreus and Agamemnon) became 
 still much more powerful." Thucydides adds that it appears 
 to him " that the other Greeks joined Agamemnon's 
 expedition to Troy less out of good will than from fear 
 of his power ; for not only did he himself bring the greatest 
 contingent of ships, but he also gave ships to the Arcadians, 
 as Homer says, if he can be considered a trustworthy wit- 
 ness. But in speaking of Agamemnon's inheritance of the 
 sceptre, he says that he (Agamemnon) reigned over many 
 islands and over the whole Argolid (iroWfjo-iv vqcrotcri kclI 
 "Apye'C ttclvtI avacrcreiv) ; but as he lived on the continent, he 
 could not have reigned over islands, except those in the 
 immediate neighbourhood (but of these there could not be 
 many) if he had not had a fleet. From this expedition (to 
 Troy) we must therefore forfn an opinion of the nature of 
 those which preceded it. If Mycenae was small, and if 
 several other cities of that age do not appear to us now to 
 be considerable, we could not cite this as a valid reason 
 to doubt that the expedition was as great as the poets 
 have represented it and as tradition confirms it to have 
 been." 
 
 The port of Mycenae was not Nauplia, but E'iones 
 (Kiova), which was likewise situated on the Gulf of Argos, 
 to the south-east of Nauplia. It seems to have been de- 
 stroyed as far back as the Dorian invasion. Strabo * men- 
 tions that it was entirely destroyed, and was no longer a 
 port in his time. According to Homer,f 'Moves took part 
 in the Trojan war, and belonged to Diomedcs, the king of 
 Argos and vassal of Agamemnon. 
 
 Of the power and riches of the Pelopids we see 
 the most substantial and unmistakable proofs in the many 
 vast subterranean buildings which Pausanias,J following 
 the tradition, calls their Treasuries, and which cannot have 
 
 * VIII. p. 373. 
 
 t //. II. 561. 
 
 t II. 16, 6. 
 
1876.] PAUSANIAS ON THE ROYAL SEPULCHRES. 59 
 
 served for any other purpose than to hoard up the royal 
 wealth. 
 
 I must here mention that, besides the Treasuries before 
 described in Mycenae proper and in its suburb, there is still 
 another Treasury close to the great Heraeum, which is, ac- 
 cording to Strabo,* 10 stadia, but according to Pausanias,f 
 15 stadia from Mycenae. Besides, the conformation of the 
 slopes between the Treasury of Atreus and the Lions' Gate 
 leads me to think that there is still one more large treasury 
 hidden about halfway between these two points. 
 
 Pausanias J writes : " Amongst other remains of the 
 wall is the gate, on which stand lions. They (the walls and 
 the gate) are said to be the work of the Cyclopes, who built 
 the wall for Proteus at Tiryns. In the ruins of Mycenae is 
 the fountain called Perseia and the subterranean buildings of 
 Atreus and his children, in which they stored their treasures. 
 There is the sepulchre of Atreus, and the tombs of the 
 companions of Agamemnon, who on their return from 
 Ilium were killed at a banquet by vEgisthus. The identity 
 of the tomb of Cassandra is called in question by the Lace- 
 daemonians of Amyclac. There is the tomb of Agamemnon 
 and that of his charioteer Eurymedon, and of Electra. 
 Teledamus and Pclops were buried in the same sepulchre, 
 for it is said that Cassandra bore these twins, and that, while 
 as yet infants, they were slaughtered by iEgisthus together 
 
 * VIII. p. 368. II 11. 17. 
 
 + II. 16, 6 : Affireral Si 5pws ?t< ko! SUo toD irtpifi6\ov Ka\ rj iru\ij ' \(ovres 
 Si i<t>f<TTTiKa<nv atirfi '• kvkKwitwv Si zeal raura tpya elvat \iyovaiv, oi npohc,! to Tet X os 
 iiroir\aav iv TlpvvOi. y\.vnr\vi)v Si iv to?s iptixtots xpyvri ri ia-ri xaKovnivi) TlepVtla <co! 
 'Arpt'ws koI twv 7rai'5a>y Myata oiko8o/xV« t «. «" 0a oi 9n<ravpoi <r<pitrt twv xpn^Twv 
 1,aav. Td<pos Si tart piv 'Arpiats ■ «M Si <cal Haovs <rvv 'Ayap.ip.vovi. iiruvriKOVTas <•'{ 
 'Wiov SetTri/iVos K aT«t>6v(VO-(V Atyio-eos. ToO piv 5i) K.a<radvSpas fwilpMTOS a M <p«r0>J- 
 rodo-i AaKtSai/xoviuv oi irepl 'ApixXas obcovfTM 1 'inpov Si iariv ' Aya^vovos, to Si 
 EbpvpiSovTos too T)vi6xov koX T(\(Sdfxov to avrb «a! Tli\oiros, roirovs yap rtKuv 
 SiSujUour Kao-ffdvSpav (pafft, vriviovs Si tri 6vras <hriKaTfV<pa£<? roTs yovtvaiv AI-fio-Bos, 
 koI 'HKtKTpas ■ Uv\dSr, yap oovyKWtv 'OpiaTov Sivros. 'EWdviKos 5i /col TaS( typatyc, 
 MeoWa (tal Zrpfytov ywiffOtU UvKdSr, Traces ff 'HAeVrpas. KKuTaifivrio-Tpa Si ird<pr) 
 koI Aiyio-Qos o\iyov airwripa, toO rd X ovs ivrbs Si a*t)tt<i9n(rav, *v9a 'Aya/xiuvwv re 
 avrbs (Kfiro Kal oi aiiv iictivy <povev6(VT(S. 
 
6o 
 
 HISTORY OF MYCE1SLE. 
 
 [Chap. III. 
 
 with their parents. Hellanicus (495-411 b.c.) writes that 
 Pylades, who was married to Electra with the consent of 
 Orestes, had by her two sons, Medon and Strophius. 
 Clytemnestra and ^Egisthus were buried at a little distance 
 from the wall, because they were thought unworthy to 
 have their tombs inside of it, where Agamemnon reposed 
 and those who were killed together with him." 
 
 Strange to say, Colonel Leake,* Dodwell,f Prokesch,J 
 Ernest Curtius,^ and all others who have written on the 
 Peloponnesus, have interpreted this passage of Pausanias 
 erroneously ; for they thought that, in speaking of the wall, 
 he meant the wall of the city, and not the great wall of the 
 Acropolis ; and they therefore understood that he fixed the 
 site of the five sepulchres in the lower city, and the site of 
 the tombs of Clytemnestra and iEgisthus outside of it. 
 But that such was not his intention, and that he had solely 
 in view the walls of the citadel, he shows by saying that in the 
 wall is the Lions' Gate. It is true that he afterwards speaks 
 of the ruins of Mycenae, in which he saw the fountain 
 Perseia and the treasuries of Atreus and his sons, by which 
 latter he can only mean the large treasury described above, 
 which is indeed in the lower city, and perhaps some of the 
 smaller treasuries in the suburb. But as he again says 
 further on that the graves of Clytemnestra and ^Egisthus 
 are at a little distance outside the wall, because they were 
 thought unworthy to be buried inside of it, where Aga- 
 memnon and his companions reposed, there cannot be any 
 doubt that he had solely in view the huge Cyclopean walls 
 of the citadel. Besides, Pausanias could only speak of such 
 wall's as he saw, and not of those which he did not see. He 
 saw the huge walls of the citadel, because they were at his 
 
 * ' Peloponnesiaca,' vol. ii. p. 365. 
 
 + ' A Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece,' vol. ii. 
 p. 236. 
 
 % ' Denkwiirdigkeiten und Erinnerungen,' vol. ii. p. 276. 
 § ' Peloponnes,' vol. ii. pp. 41 1-4 13. 
 
1876.] MEANING OF PAUSANIAS. 6l 
 
 time exactly as they are now ; but he could not see the 
 wall of the lower city, because it had been originally only 
 very thin, and it had been demolished 638 years before his 
 time ; nor was he an archaeologist, to search for its traces 
 or still less to make excavations to find them. 
 
 The site of Mycenae presented in the time of Pausanias 
 just the same bare wilderness of rugged pasture land, inter- 
 spersed with slopes and precipitous cliffs, as at the present 
 day. No change can have taken place there, and the 
 remnants of the lower city wall were undoubtedly in his 
 time as trifling as they are now. Nay, such is their insig- 
 nificance, that only the traces of the wall on the ridge 
 seem to have been remarked by travellers, and nobody 
 before me appears to have ever noticed the traces of 
 the wall on the opposite side, which runs along the bank 
 of the ravine torrent. 
 
 For these decisive reasons, I have always interpreted 
 the famous passage in Pausanias in the sense that the five 
 tombs were in the Acropolis. I proved this in my work 
 ' Ithaque, le Peloponnese et Troie,' which I published 
 in the beginning of 1869, page 97. In February, 1874, 
 therefore, I sank there thirty-four shafts in different places, in 
 order to sound the ground and to find out the place where I 
 should have to dig for them. The six shafts which I sank 
 on the first western and south-western terrace gave very 
 encouraging results, and particularly the two which I dug 
 within 100 yards south of the Lions' Gate ; for not only did 
 I strike two Cyclopean house-walls, but I also found an 
 unsculptured slab resembling a tombstone, and a number 
 of female idols and small cows of terra-cotta. I therefore 
 resolved at once on making extensive excavations at this 
 spot, but I was prevented by various circumstances which 
 I need not explain here, and it is only now that I have 
 found it possible to carry out my plan. 
 
 I began the great work on the 7th August, 1876, with 
 
62 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCEN^. [Chap. III. 
 
 sixty-three workmen, whom I divided into three parties. I 
 put twelve men at the Lions' Gate, to open the passage 
 into the Acropolis ; I set forty-three to dig, at a distance 
 of 40 feet from that gate, a trench 113 feet long and 113 
 feet broad ; and the remaining eight men I ordered to dig a 
 trench on the south side of the Treasury in the lower city, 
 near the Lions' Gate, in search of the entrance. But the 
 soil at the Treasury was as hard as stone, and so full of 
 large blocks, that it took me two weeks to dig only as far 
 down as the upper part of the open triangular space above 
 the door, from which I could calculate that the threshold 
 would be 33 feet lower. 
 
 I had also very hard work at the Lions' Gate, owing to 
 the huge blocks by which the passage was obstructed, and 
 which seem to have been hurled from the adjoining walls 
 at the assailants, when the Acropolis was captured by the 
 Argives in 468 B.C. The obstruction of the entrance must 
 date from that time, for the debris in which the boulders 
 are imbedded has not been formed by a series of successive 
 habitations, but it has evidently been gradually washed 
 down by the rain water from the upper terraces. 
 
 Immediately to the left, on entering the gate, I brought 
 to light a small chamber, undoubtedly the ancient door- 
 keeper's habitation, the ceiling of which is formed by 
 one huge slab. The chamber is only \\ feet high, and it 
 would not be to the taste of our present doorkeepers ; but 
 in the heroic age comfort was unknown, particularly to 
 slaves, and being unknown it was unmissed. 
 
 No ancient writer mentions the fact that Mycenae was 
 reinhabited after its capture by the Argives and the expul- 
 sion of its inhabitants. On the contrary, Diodorus Siculus, 
 who lived at the time of Julius Cassar and Augustus, after 
 having described the tragic fate of Mycenae, adds : " This 
 city, which was in ancient times blessed with wealth and 
 power, which produced such great men and accomplished 
 
1876.] REOCCUPATION OF MYCEN^. 63 
 
 such important actions, was thus destroyed and remained 
 uninhabited till the present time? * That Mycenae was 
 uninhabited at the time of Strabo (that is, under Augustus), 
 we must conclude from his remark, " So that of the city of 
 the Myceneans not even a vestige can now be found? \ It 
 was certainly also uninhabited at the time of Pausanias 
 (a.d. 170), who describes its ruins. 
 
 But I have brought to light most positive proofs that 
 it had been again inhabited, and that the new town must 
 have existed for a long period, probably for more than two 
 centuries ; because there is at the surface of the Acropolis 
 a layer of debris of the Hellenic time, which goes to an 
 average depth of three feet. Though I cannot fix by the 
 fragments of pottery the precise period of the reoccupation of 
 the town, yet as painted pottery of the best Hellenic period 
 is missing, and as the numerous terra-cotta figures and 
 fluted vases which I find are evidently of the Macedonian 
 age down to the second century b.c, I presume that the 
 new colony may have been founded in the beginning of the 
 fourth, and may have been abandoned in the beginning of 
 the second century b.c. These two limits seem to be 
 confirmed by the bronze medals found, nearly all of which 
 show on one side a Ilera head with a crown, on the other a 
 column, having to its left a helmet and to its right a 0 . 
 This character is generally thought to be a 0, and thus 
 the coin is attributed to the Argolic city of Thyrea. But, 
 in the opinion of my worthy friends A. Postolaccas and P. 
 Lampros, which I accept, the B is the spiritus aspcr, and 
 belongs to the still unknown word which records the value 
 of the coin. This coin belongs to the city of Argos, and 
 is of the Macedonian age, which makes it utterly impossible 
 that the sign should be a e, the B with this meaning 
 having only come into use at the time of the Roman con- 
 
 * XI. 65 : koX hilfiuvtv aoiKrjTos fie\f>L tSw nad' 7//u.us xpo'tw. 
 
 t Strabo, VIII. p. 372 : wort VW fJ.y&' i^yos tv/ai'o Ktatiai ri/s Mwi/miuii' 
 
 7To'A.£(i>S. 
 
6 4 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENAE. [Chap. III. 
 
 quest. There was an entire absence of Roman or Byzan- 
 tine coins. I may here remark that Mycena? proper appears 
 to have struck no coins ; at least none has ever been found. 
 
 Below the comparatively modern Hellenic city I find 
 by thousands the fragments of those splendidly-painted 
 archaic vases, which I have already mentioned when speak- 
 
 No. 25. Terra-cotta Vase. (3 m.) Size, 3 : 4, about 
 
 ing of Tiryns. The type of vase which I most frequently 
 find here is in the shape of a globe with a flat foot, and 
 terminating above in a very pretty narrow neck, without an 
 opening, the top of which is joined on each side by a beau- 
 tifully-shaped handle to the upper part of the body. The 
 real mouth of the vase is in the shape of a funnel, and 
 always near to the closed neck.* These vases always show 
 
 * In the engraving, No. 25, the spout is partly hidden by one of the 
 handles. 
 
1876.] ARCHAIC PAINTED VASES. 65 
 
 the most variegated painted ornamentation of horizontal 
 circular bands, spiral lines, or other fanciful decorations, 
 which vary on each vase. In the centre of the flat top of 
 the closed neck is usually a white point, surrounded by 
 three, four, six or more red circles ; but sometimes there is 
 a cross painted in the middle of the circles. 
 
 Vases of the same form sometimes occur in Attica ; 
 some specimens of them have also been found in Cyprus 
 
 No. 26. Tcrra-Cotta Jug. Ground yellow : lines black. (3 M.) Size, 7 : 9, about. 
 
 as well as in Egyptian tombs. Mr. Charles T. Newton 
 has called my attention to forty-three vases of exactly the 
 same form, which have been found in a tomb at Ialysus on 
 the island of Rhodes, together with other objects which 
 also occur in Mycemr j but in the same tomb was also 
 found an Egyptian scarabans with the cartouche of 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCEN/E. [Chap. III. 
 
 Amunoph III., who is thought by Egyptologists to have 
 reigned not later than B.C. 1400. 
 
 As there are almost as many varieties of painted orna- 
 mentation as there are vases, and as in most instances this 
 ornamentation is most complicated and has never been 
 found before, it would be a vain attempt on my part 
 to describe it, and I therefore simply refer to the engrav- 
 ings.* But generally speaking, I may remark that the 
 decoration with spiral lines prevails ; that fragments like 
 the so-called Attic vases with geometrical patterns are 
 
 No. 27. Vase of Yellow Ware, with black and yellow lines. (3 M.) Actual size. 
 
 numerous ; that flowers, branches, and leaves occasionally 
 occur; and that bands of wedge-shaped signs, resembling 
 fish-spines, are frequent, as well as zigzag lines and 
 circular bands. The cross with the marks of four 
 nails may often be seen ; as well as the which is 
 
 usually also represented with four points indicating the 
 
 * See the Plates of Mycenean Pottery, Nos. 30-78. A Vase (No. 
 23a) is placed, for the sake of convenience, as a tail-piece to Chapter II. 
 
No. a8. A Vase of Black and Yellow Ware. (6 M.J Size 4 : 5, about. 
 
 four nails, thus These signs cannot but represent 
 
 the suastika, formed by two pieces of wood, which were 
 laid across and fixed with four nails, and in the joint of 
 
 No. ao.. A Terra-Cotla Vase. The bands yellow and reddish, the lines black. (1:5 M.) Actual size. 
 
68 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCEN^. [Chap. III. 
 
 which the holy fire was produced by friction by a third 
 piece of wood.* But both the cross and the occur for 
 the most part only on the vases with geometrical patterns. 
 
 Representations of birds and quadrupeds sometimes 
 occur on vases ; all are very archaic, particularly the 
 quadrupeds, of which it is sometimes difficult to find 
 out what the artist intended to represent.! Thus there 
 often occur animals with very long legs, a body re- 
 sembling that of a horse and the head like the beak of a 
 stork, but with two horns like those of a gazelle. J Usually 
 these animals have a uniform red colour ; but sometimes 
 they have an ornamentation of spiral lines. In a few 
 
 instances animals are repre- 
 sented which perfectly resemble 
 gazelles or he-goats.§ The 
 bird, in the representation of 
 which the Mycenean artist has 
 succeeded best is the swan.|| 
 Of the other birds the species 
 is difficult to discern.^" In 
 the representation of men also 
 the artist may be said to have 
 succeeded : but the vases are 
 
 No. 80. Painted Vase. Ground yellow, 
 
 lines black, shields reddish. broken into so many fragments 
 
 (2 M.) Actual size. 
 
 that there are but few entire 
 painted human figures. The small vase (No. 80) shows 
 warriors with large round shields ; and on a fragment 
 (No. 47) is represented a man with a helmet on his head, 
 leading with his right hand a horse, and holding in his left 
 a lance. On other fragments are only the bodies of men 
 without heads. No. 8 1 is the mouth-piece of a jug, on which 
 
 * See ' Troy and its Remains,' chap. vi. pp. 103-4. 
 t See Nos. 31, 35, 41, 46, 50 and 52. § See Nos. 41 and 48. 
 X See Nos. 31, 35, 50 and 52. || See Nos. 33, 40, 42, 45. 
 
 f See Nos. 30, 43, 44- 
 
1876.] PAINTED POTTERY OF MYCENAE. 69 
 
 a human head is modelled. There is also a human head 
 painted on a fragment of pottery (No. 82); it has a very 
 large eye, and a head-dress in the form of a Phrygian 
 cap. All these representations are very archaic. 
 
 The greater number of the vases with a large opening 
 are painted both outside and inside; and in many instances 
 the internal paintings by far exceed those on the outside 
 in originality and profusion of colours. Thus, for example, 
 I found the fragment of a vase decorated outside with 
 representations of deer, and inside with those of men and 
 women. 
 
 I often find fragments of tripods of terra-cotta with 
 two large handles, of which the three feet as well as the 
 handles have two, three, four, or even five perforations, 
 which can only have served for suspension with a string. 
 On many vases without feet, the rim of the base is per- 
 forated on either side as many times as the handles. 
 
 No perforated lids were found, but I have no doubt that 
 they existed, and that, as with nearly all those found in 
 Troy, the perforations in the vases served not only for 
 hanging them up, but also for fastening the lids, so as to 
 secure the contents. 
 
 All the painted vases hitherto found have been made 
 on the potter's wheel, except the very small ones, which are 
 evidently hand-made. It is true that I found two fragments 
 of coarse hand-made pottery, which can only be compared 
 
70 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCEN^. [Chap. III. 
 
 to the rudest pottery of the Danish " kitchen-middens" 
 {Kjbkkenmdddinge) ; but they had evidently been tran- 
 sported hither from another place. 
 
 As at Tiryns, the goblets are for the most part of white 
 clay, and in the shape of large Bordeaux wine-glasses ; 
 nearly all have one handle (see No. 83). But there are a 
 great many other goblets of the same form which have a 
 uniform bright red colour, and others which, on a light red 
 dead ground, have an ornamentation of numerous parallel 
 dark red circular bands (see Nos. 84, 88). 
 
 No. 83. A Goblet of Terra-cotta. (3 M.) Size 5 : 8, about. 
 
 It deserves very particular attention that goblets of 
 perfectly the same form were found by me in Troy at a 
 depth of 50 feet (see my 'Atlas des Antiquites Troyennes,' 
 Plate 105, No. 23 11); further, that fourteen goblets of 
 exactly the same form were found in the tomb at Ialysus in 
 Rhodes, already mentioned, and are now in the British 
 Museum. Only the painted ornamentation of these latter 
 goblets is different, for it represents mostly the cuttlefish 
 (sepia), but also spirals, or that curious sea-animal which 
 
1876.] HERA-IDOLS IN TERRA-COTTA. J 1 
 
 so frequently occurs on the pottery of Mycenae (see No. 
 213, a, b, p. 138), but never on the Mycenean goblets. 
 
 Since the 7th inst. I have been able to gather here more 
 than 200 terra-cotta idols of Hera, more or less broken, in 
 the form of a woman or in that of a cow.* Most of the 
 
 Nos. 84-89. Fragments of Tainted Pottery. Half-sire. 
 
 former have ornaments painted in bright red on a dead 
 ground of light red, two breasts in relief, below which pro- 
 trudes on each side a long horn, so that both horns together 
 form a half-circle 5 and, as I have said regarding the idols in 
 
 * See the coloured and plain Plates of Idols ; the latter containing 
 the figures Nos. 90-110. 
 
72 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENAE. [Chap. III. 
 
 Tiryns, they must either be intended to represent cow-horns, 
 or the symbolic horns of the crescent moon, or both at once. 
 The head of those idols is of a very compressed shape, and 
 usually covered by a large " polos." The lower part is in 
 the form of a gradually widening tube. It deserves par- 
 ticular attention that a terra-cotta idol of exactly the same 
 form was found in the aforesaid tomb in Ialysus, and is 
 now in the British Museum. 
 
 But there were also found idols of this sort with a very 
 
 No. in. Terra-cotta Idol. (4 H.) Actual size. 
 
 low polos (No. 111), and perhaps a dozen idols without 
 any horns ; the whole upper part of the body, as far as 
 the neck, being in the form of a disk (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 
 93, 112*); the head is uncovered, and the hair is often 
 indicated by a long tress on the back. There have also 
 been found some idols with a bird's head, covered or 
 uncovered, large eyes, no horns, but two well-indicated 
 hands joined on the breast (Nos. 99, 100, 101 |). I also 
 
 * See also the coloured Plate C, fig. m. 
 t See also the coloured Plate C, fig. 1. 
 
1876.] HERA-IDOLS IN TERRA-COTTA. 73 
 
 found the terra-cotta figure (six inches high) of an old 
 and ugly woman, probably a priestess (No. 113); the 
 features are certainly neither Assyrian nor Egyptian ; the 
 hands are broken off, but they have evidently been pro- 
 truding ; the figure has a very rude ornamentation of 
 black lines on a dead ground of strong red ; the waist is 
 ornamented with a number of zigzag lines, which may 
 
 No. 112. Tcrra-cotta Idol. No. 113. Terra-cotta Figure. 
 
 Actual size. (' M > Sizc 5 ! 6. 
 
 possibly represent fire. The fragment (No. no) seems, 
 from its attitude, to have represented a rider on horseback. 
 
 Of idols in the form of a cow hundreds were found, but 
 all are more or less broken. It is very remarkable that in 
 the sepulchre at Ialysus there were also found two such 
 cow-idols, which are now in the British Museum ; they are 
 
74 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENyE. [Chap. III. 
 
 very well preserved, and have the same painted ornamenta- 
 tion as the cow-idols from Mycenae. 
 
 No. 117. (7 M.) No. 118. (si m.) No. 119. (6 M.) 
 
 No. 114-119. Terra-cotta Figures of Animals. 
 
 Iron was already known to the Myceneans, for I found 
 some knives of this metal ; also some curious keys, one of 
 
 No. 120. Objects in Bronze, Lead, and Iron. Size, 1 : 3. 
 
1876.] IMPLEMENTS OF BRONZE AND STONE. he 
 
 which is very thick, is 5-6 inches long, has four teeth, 
 eacli r6 inch long, and has a ring at the other end 
 (see No. 120). But judging by the form of these 
 knives and keys, I make bold to express the opinion that 
 they belong to a late period in the history of Mycena?, 
 
 No. 191. No. 123. No. 123. No. 124. No. 125. 
 
 (4M.) (3 M.) (3* m.) ( 7 M.) 
 
 Nos. 121-125. Bronze Knives. Actual size. 
 
 and that they date even from the beginning of the 
 5th century b.c. 
 
 I also found a large number of button- like objects 
 which seem to have served as ornaments in the house- 
 
76 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENAE. [Chap. III. 
 
 doors or elsewhere.* They have a lustrous blackish 
 colour, and according to the analysis of my esteemed friend 
 Mr. Xavier Landerer, Professor of Chemistry at Athens, 
 they consist of a strongly-burnt clay varnished with a lead 
 glazing. Of bronze T discovered several well-preserved 
 knives, one of which (No. 125) still has part of its bone 
 handle ; further, two arrow-heads of a pyramidal form 
 without barbs (yXw^t^e?), like the Carthaginian arrow- 
 heads, which I gathered last year in my excavations at 
 Motye, in Sicily. 
 
 No. 126. Arrow-heads, hatchets, and other objects of stone. (3 M.) Actual size. 
 
 Of stone implements, I found two beautifully-polished 
 hatchets of serpentine (see No. 126, in the lower row); 
 
 * They are like those figured under Nos. 137, 139, p. 79, and 
 No. 165, p. 109. 
 
i S76.] MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. jy 
 
 further, a number of weights of (Horite and a number of 
 hand millstones of trachyte, 8 inches long and 53 inches 
 broad, in the form of an egg which has been cut lengthwise. 
 The grain was bruised between the flat sides of two of these 
 millstones ; but only a kind of groats can have been pro- 
 duced in this way, not flour ; the bruised grain could not 
 have been used for making bread. In Homer,* we find it 
 used for porridge, and also for strewing on the roasted 
 meat.f Of gold only a small particle has been found: of 
 silver none as yet ; of lead a large quantity. 
 
 I also found a small and thick terra-cotta disk, with a 
 furrow all round for suspension by a string ; on one side, 
 which is well polished, and seems to have been covered 
 with wax, are engraved a number of j-J^'s, the sign which 
 occurs so frequently in the ruins of Troy. Whorls are 
 found here by hundreds; nearly all are of a beautiful blue 
 stone without any ornaments (see No. 15, p. 17). Whorls 
 of exactly the same kind were also found in the tomb at 
 Ialysus. As yet only five whorls of terra-cotta have been 
 found, and without any ornaments. 
 
 The Myceneans seem to have been musicians, for I 
 found the beautifully ornamented fragments of a lyre of 
 bone (No. 127), and a flute, of which we have the three 
 pieces (Nos. 128, 129, 130), which were found at the same 
 place, though at different depths, and evidently belong to 
 
 • //. XVIII. 558-560 :— 
 
 Kr}f}VKf$ 5* anavivOtv virb $pvt SaiVa wwOVT0 t 
 f)ouv 8' (uM&TCHTfS ixiyav &fi<pfirui', at 8f yvvatKts 
 5(7trpov tpitimatv, Aei'i/c' &.K<pna iroKh'a -naXvvov. 
 ' A little way removed, the heralds slew 
 A sturdy ox, and now beneath an oak 
 Prepared the feast ; while women mixed, hard by, 
 White barley porridge for the labourers' meal." 
 
 Lord Derby. 
 
 t Od. XIV. 76-77 :— 
 
 uwT-qaas 5' &pa iravra (pipcuv -rrapt8r}K' 'OSuaati'i 
 8tpfj.' aurois 60tKo7<Tiv • d S &\<t>ira Atuxa ■na.K'JVfV. 
 And when he had roasted all, he brought it and put it before Ulysses, still warm 
 on the spits, strewn over with white (lour. 
 
78 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCEN.E. [Chap. III. 
 
 the very same instrument. No. 129, which is the upper 
 piece of the flute, consists, according to Professor Landerer, 
 of bone; No. 128, which is the lower piece, consists of 
 very hard-baked clay: both have a very symmetrical intaglio 
 
 No. 127. Fragment of a Lyre of Bone. (.3^ M.) Size, 7 : 8, about. 
 
 ornamentation. The fragment of the tube of the flute 
 (No. 130a) consists of potstone, the lapis ollaris of Pliny, 
 and we therefore have here a marvellous Mycenean flute 
 consisting of bone, baked clay, and stone. But potstone 
 
 No. 128. (3 M.) No. 129. (6 M.) 
 
 Nos. 128, 129. Lower and Upper Ends of a Flute. Actual size. 
 
 seems to have been frequently used for flutes in antiquity, 
 for I myself possess a flute of lapis ollaris found in a 
 tomb in Ithaca : it bears the inscription iepcod* and seems 
 
 H/ A . k /» to belong to the 6th or 7th 
 
 f L\ 1/ I y j century b.c. Also a frag- 
 
 1 ment of a crystal vase was 
 
 found; and a comb (No. 130), which, by the analysis of 
 Professor Landerer, consists of very hard white baked clay. 
 
 * See my ' Ithaque, le Pe'loponnese, Troie.' 
 
1876.] VARIOUS OBJECTS FOUND. 79 
 
 It was found at a depth of 1 2 feet ; it has in the middle a 
 hole for suspension with a string. I frequently find here flat 
 
 130. (36M.) 130a. (2M.) 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 
 
 (4M.) (3 M.) (7 M.) ( 3 M.) ( S M.) (3 M.) 
 
 Nos. 130-136. Comb and Needles of Terra-cotta. Size 5: 8. 
 Note. — No. 130^1 is part of the Flute to which Nos. 128 and isq also belong. 
 
 pieces of terra-cotta with painted or impressed ornaments, 
 which must have served for coating the interior walls of the 
 houses (Nos. 137 and 139). At a depth of from 10 to 
 
 No. 137. (5 m.) No. 138. No. 139. (3 M.) 
 
 Nos. 137, 139. Terra-cotta Ornaments. Actual size. No. 138 is a Gold Button. 
 
 u feet, and sometimes of only 6h feet, below the surface, I 
 am bringing to light Cyclopean house-walls, built of un- 
 
8o 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENAE. [Chap. [II. 
 
 wrought stones, joined without clay or cement, and 
 founded on the natural rock, from 20 to 24 feet below the 
 surface. The corner-stones of these mansions are remark- 
 able for their massiveness. 
 
 At the north end of my trench I have brought to light 
 part of a Cyclopean water-conduit, which is still more re- 
 markable than those of Tiryns, for there at least the water- 
 conduit rests on the natural rock, while here it is imbedded 
 in the debris, and, as the uncut stones are joined without 
 any binding material, it is really wonderful how a current 
 of water could have passed along them without being- 
 lost through the interstices. Close to the Cyclopean water- 
 conduit are twelve recesses, consisting of large slabs of 
 calcareous stone and covered by smaller ones ; in my 
 opinion they cannot possibly be anything else than small 
 cisterns. A few yards south of these reservoirs I have 
 brought to light two tombstones, which stand in a 
 direct line from north to south, and are ornamented 
 with bas-reliefs of the highest interest. Unfortunately 
 the tombstone to the north consists of a soft calcareous 
 stone, in consequence of which it is broken in several 
 places, and its upper part has not been preserved. It is 
 6 inches thick, 4 feet high, 4 ft. 2 in. broad below, and 
 3 ft. 8i in. above ; it shows one undivided picture, 
 encompassed below as well as on both sides by a broad 
 border, which is formed in the simplest way into rows, 
 and it represents a hunting scene.* On a chariot, drawn 
 by one horse, stands the hunter, who holds in his left 
 hand the reins, in his right a long broad sword. Owing 
 to fractures in the stone the upper part of the chariot 
 is not distinctly visible, but the wheel can be well seen, 
 with its four spokes forming a cross. The outstretched 
 fore and hind legs of the horse appear to indicate his 
 great speed. Below to the left is a tolerably well-formed 
 
 See the Vignette to this Chapter, No. 24, p. 52. 
 
1876.] 
 
 SCULPTURED TOMBSTONES. 
 
 81 
 
 dog, with a curved tail, chasing a flying deer, probably 
 a roe, whose tail however is by far too long. Just above 
 
 No. 140. The Second Tombstone, found above the Sepulchre in the Acropolis (4 M . ) 
 About one-twelfth of the actual size. 
 
 1 I 
 
82 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENAE. [Chap. III. 
 
 the roe's back, and between the horse's feet, lies an object 
 which cannot be recognised ; it may equally well repre- 
 sent a man lying prostrate, or a cart with two wheels. 
 On either side, in the broad border formed by two vertical 
 parallel fillets, are three ovals or cartoiichcs, containing a 
 very curious ornamentation, which at first sight seems to 
 have a symbolic signification ; but on close examination 
 one finds that it is nothing more than a beautiful orna- 
 mentation of spiral lines. At the base are three horizontal 
 fillets. Behind the chariot is a row of signs resembling 
 letters, but this also is probably nothing more than orna- 
 mentation. 
 
 At a distance of one foot from this sepulchral steli 
 and in the same line with it is the other (No. 140), which 
 is of much harder calcareous stone, and has been therefore 
 much better preserved. It is only damaged at the top, 
 where a piece 6 to 8 inches high may be missing ; its 
 breadth at bottom is 3 ft. 10 in., and at top 3 ft. 7 in. ; its 
 height is 6 feet. It is divided into an upper and a lower 
 compartment, which are separated by a horizontal fillet, 
 and enclosed on three sides by two parallel bands. The 
 upper compartment shows four horizontal parallel rows, 
 each of six spirals, two complete and two imperfect ; making 
 in all twenty-four spirals united with each other and re- 
 presenting a band in relief, which covers the whole field 
 with a network, and which, as my friend the well-known 
 archaeologist, Dr. Fr. Schlie, rightly observes, is in principle 
 the same as the filling up with straight lines, horizontally 
 and vertically combined, into what is called a fret or key- 
 pattern (see p. 83). 
 
 The lower part of the sculpture represents a warrior 
 in a chariot, rather in a sitting than in a standing posture, 
 for the lower part of his body is not visible ; and whilst, 
 in a very primitive manner, his head is represented in 
 profile, the front side of his breast is given almost without 
 any perspective diminution. He holds in his left hand 
 
1876.] MYCENEAN AND HOMERIC CHARIOTS. 83 
 
 a sword which is still in the sheath, its handle ending 
 in a large knob. In his right he holds a long object, 
 which ends at the horse's mouth, and which, being at 
 first thick and becoming gradually thinner, resembles 
 much more a lance than the reins ; and it is difficult 
 to say which of the two the artist intended to represent. 
 The chariot is drawn by a stallion, whose outstretched 
 legs seem to indicate that he is running at great speed * 
 The tail of the animal stands upright, and its end only 
 forms a curve. The legs and the tail are so thick in 
 
 No. i4ort. Pattern of straight and spiral Frets. 
 
 proportion to the body that, were it not for the head, 
 one would think that the sculptor intended to repre- 
 sent a lion ; the stallion's ears also appear more like horns 
 than like real horse-ears. Just before the horse is standing 
 a warrior, apparently naked, who grasps the animal's head 
 with his right hand, and holds in his uplifted left hand a 
 
 * As we never hear of heroic chariots with one horse, this may be 
 an imperfect representation of two. The same remark applies to the 
 next tombstone. See p. 86. 
 
84 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT MYCENAE. 
 
 [Chap. III. 
 
 double-edged sword ; he seems to be full of anguish ; his 
 head is represented in profile, while the rest of his body is 
 shown without the slightest perspective reduction. 
 
 To fill up the vacant space, there is represented below 
 this figure and below the horse a pattern of volutes, whose 
 second, third, and fourth spirals are much larger, in pro- 
 portion to the space, than the other five spirals. Mr. 
 Postolaccas calls to my notice that the curious relief-band 
 above the horse resembles the pelta hinata of the Amazons 
 on the ancient vases ; this relief-band consists of two 
 horizontal spirals opposite to each other. The chariot gives 
 us a unique and most precious specimen of the Homeric 
 chariot, of which we had before but a confused idea. The 
 body of the chariot (ireipivs) does not form a semicircle, as 
 we were wont to imagine from the sculptures of classical 
 antiquity and from the ancient chariot preserved in the 
 museum at Munich, but it is quadrangular ; according to 
 the Iliad,* the chariot-box was fastened on the chariot every 
 time it was used. We see on three sides of the chariot-box 
 a band or fillet, which is what Homer f doubtless means by 
 the word avrvij, translated by the Earl of Derby ' rail.' 
 
 Unlike Homer's chariot of the gods, the wheels of which 
 (kvkXol) had eight spokes, the wheels of the chariot before 
 us have only four spokes, which form a cross around the 
 axle {a^ovi a^i's).* J ust behind the warrior in the chariot 
 
 * XXIV. 190 and 267. Homer also uses irdpivBa (the word only 
 occurs in the accusative) for the wicker-basket which held the load 
 fastened on to a cart (afia^a) ; and this, its original sense, may be a 
 guide to its form in the chariot also (comp. Od. xv. 131). 
 
 + //. V. 727-728 :— 
 
 Si<ppos Si Xf n " T60 " ri Kat a-pyvpeOHriv Ifiaatv 
 fVTfTarai ' Soial 5i ■jrfpiSpofj.ot Hvrvyts elaiv. 
 
 " The chariot-board on gold and silver bands 
 Was hung, and round it ran a double rail." 
 
 X My friend, Mr. W. S. W. Vaux, calls my attention to the fact that 
 this four-spoked chariot wheel, seen also in the cut No. 120 (p. 74) and 
 on the Mycenean intaglios hereinafter described, is characteristic of the 
 
1876.] CHARACTER OF THE SCULPTURE. 85 
 
 there is a very curious sign, the lower part of which forms 
 a long hook, the upper part a spiral line. M. Postolaccas 
 reminds me that this same sign very frequently occurs 
 on the medals of Roman families, as, for example, on those 
 of Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, and so forth, and in his 
 opinion it is nothing else than the augur-staff, in Latin 
 " litnus" 
 
 On carefully examining the sculpture of the tombstones, 
 I find such a marvellous accuracy and symmetry in all the 
 spiral ornamentation, that I feel almost tempted to think 
 such work can only have been produced by a school of 
 sculptors which had worked for ages in a similar style. On 
 the other hand, the men and the animals are made as rudely 
 and in as puerile a manner as if they were the primitive 
 artist's first essay to represent living beings. But still there 
 is a great resemblance between the bodies of the animals 
 and those of the two lions on the gate ; there is the same 
 style of art, and much of the coarseness in the animals 
 on the tombstones may be clue to the inferiority of the 
 calcareous stone; probably the primitive sculptor who 
 chiselled them would have produced something better if he 
 had had to work on the beautiful hard breccia of which 
 the sculpture above the Lions' Gate consists. I have 
 therefore not the slightest objection to admit that the 
 sculptured sepulchral slabs may be of nearly the same epoch 
 as the lions over the gate. 
 
 earliest Greek coins. The early Egyptian and Ethiopian and Assyrian 
 wheels have six spokes. The Persian Achaemenid sculptures show 
 chariots with eight-spoked wheels. 
 
No. 141. The Third Tombstone, found above the Sepulchres in the Acropolis. (4 M ) 
 About one-tenth of the actual size. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Excavations in the Citadel of Mycen.e — continued. 
 
 Wages and worth of labour at Mycenae — The double circle of slabs — ■ 
 Two more sculptured stela. — Unsculptured stela — Ashes and bones, 
 probably of sacrifices — Fragments of other sculptured tombstones — 
 The style of these stela unique — Their probable age about 1500 
 B.C. — A Cyclopean house filled with ashes, bones, &c. — Objects 
 found there and in the twelve reservoirs — Great significance 
 of the tombstones found in the Acropolis — They mark the Royal 
 
Ch. IV. 1876.J WORK AND WAGES AT MYCENjE. 
 
 87 
 
 Tombs, mentioned by Pauganias from tradition only — Excavation 
 of the Treasury close to the Lions' Gate : about as large as that of 
 Atreus — Antiquity of the covering-up proved by the ancient 
 vases, idols, &c. in the debris above — Hera-idols, and others, 
 found in the dromos, and in the Acropolis — Their vast abundance — 
 Cow-heads on handles of vases, as at Troy — Moulds for earrings 
 and other ornaments of gold and silver, and curious clay cones — 
 Other ornaments of glazed clay, potstone, &c. — Numerous 
 objects of bronze — Curious wheels — Necklace beads of various 
 stones, with intaglios of animals, and similar objects of other 
 shapes — Two-handled goblets ; the Sca-os a^iKx-TnXkw of Homer — 
 Depth of the debris — Breach in the great Cyclopean wall, repaired 
 by an ancient wall of small stones — The (marry of Mycenae. 
 
 Mycenae, Sept. 9, 1876. 
 Since the 19th of August I have continued the excavations 
 with an average number of 125 workmen and 4 horse- 
 carts, and have made good progress. As it may interest 
 the reader to know what wages are paid here, I mention 
 that the daily wages of a common labourer are i\ 
 drachmas,* the wages of my overseers 5 to 6 drachmas, and 
 the cost of each cart 8 drachmas, but the labourers here 
 work much better and are much more honest than those 
 in the Troad. 
 
 In the trench close to the Lions' Gate I have been 
 obliged to stop the work for a time, the Archaeological 
 Society of Athens having promised to send an engineer to 
 repair the Cyclopean wall above and beside the gate, and to 
 fasten the sculpture of the two lions with cramp-irons, so 
 as to secure it against the shock of an earthquake. 
 
 In the large second trench I have brought to light a 
 second wall of smaller stones, 12 feet high, which runs 
 parallel with the great circuit wall, and thus forms a curve 
 of about the third part of a circle. It enters the adjoining 
 field, which is now being excavated, and its direction parallel 
 with the great circuit wall seems to have been unintentional. 
 It is not, however, vertical, but its western face slopes at an 
 
 * The Greek drachma is worth about &±d. English. 
 
88 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. 
 
 [Chap. IV. 
 
 angle of 75 degrees with the horizon, like the great tower 
 of Ilium. It deserves attention that here and there we see in 
 this wall wrought flat slabs, which give the impression that 
 the wall belongs to a later period than the Cyclopean circuit 
 wall. On this wall are two parallel rows of large, closely- 
 joined slabs of a calcareous stone, which show the same 
 inclination as the wall, and appear to form, with the part in 
 the adjoining field, a full circle. If so, the wall, on which 
 these rows of slabs stand, can only have been built for the 
 purpose of supporting them in this lower part of the Acro- 
 polis, and of raising them to the level of their prolongation 
 on the much higher neighbouring ground. It deserves 
 particular attention that on the inner side of the supposed 
 circle, namely, on the side towards which the parallel rows of 
 slabs incline, the vacant space has evidently been filled up 
 with debris to the very top of the wall immediately after 
 its completion.* 
 
 I frequently found here, at a depth of from three to four 
 feet, ashes of burnt animal matter, also masses of bones of 
 animals, but no bones which I can identify as human, for 
 no skull has turned up. The space between the two 
 slanting parallel rows of slabs was filled with debris, mixed 
 with innumerable fragments of beautiful archaic pottery, 
 and a great many Hera-idols, but no bones were found 
 there. Within the curve, and very near to the two parallel 
 rows of slabs, I brought to light two more sculptured 
 tombstones of a hard calcareous stone (see Nos. 141, 142), 
 one of which is in the same line with the two sculptured 
 slabs which I have already described, and only 1 ft. 5 in. 
 south of them. It is 3 ft. 8f in. broad at the base, and 
 3 ft. yh in. at top; 6 in. thick, and 4 ft. 1 in. long; and 
 thus the line of the three tombstones together is 13 ft. 8 in. 
 long. This newly discovered third tombstone (No. 141) 
 
 * This most curious enclosure will be more fully described, and the 
 important question of its use discussed, in the following Chapter. 
 
1876.] THE THIRD SCULPTURED TOMBSTONE. 89 
 
 shows, like the two others, on its western side, a sculpture 
 in bas-relief, which is divided by a horizontal fillet into 
 two compartments, and is encompassed on all sides by two 
 parallel fillets. Of the upper part of the stone a piece, 
 apparently about one foot high, is missing. In the upper 
 compartment is represented a warrior, whose head and neck 
 are not now visible on account of the breaking of the 
 stone. He is represented standing on a chariot drawn 
 apparently by only one horse*, the outstretched hind and 
 fore legs and the uplifted tail of which seem to indicate that 
 he is running with great velocity, just as on the two tomb- 
 stones already described ; the fore and hind legs of the horse 
 are not separated, but appear as one broad leg. In this case 
 the reins with which the warrior guides the horse are well 
 indicated by one broad band : also the horse's tail is less 
 bushy and better proportioned, but the rest of the animal's 
 body is a perfect copy of that of the horse on the preceding 
 bas-relief. The chariot-box is here exceedingly low, and 
 Very small when compared with that of the chariot on the 
 other tombstone, but it is not less remarkable, because it 
 is surrounded by a band or fillet (<xi>tv£), which is double 
 on the lower part, .lust behind this chariot-box is repre- 
 sented an enormously broad two-edged knife, the handle 
 of which terminates 111 a very thick knob. As such a 
 knife can never have existed, I presume that the artist 
 intended to represent here a two-edged sword with a 
 thick knob at the end of the handle, but that for want of 
 space he made it very short, without however diminishing 
 its breadth, for which there was room enough. The one 
 wheel which is visible is much like that of the chariots 
 on the other tombstones, for it has also only four spokes, 
 forming a cross round the axle. The adversary on toot, 
 who is visible on the right side, and whose upper part is 
 likewise missing owing to the breaking of the stone, does 
 
 * See note on p. 83. 
 
 1 2 
 
9° 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. 
 
 [Chap. IV. 
 
 not stand on the same level as the horse and the chariot, 
 but he appears as if hovering in the air, on a level with 
 the warrior in the chariot. He assaults the latter with a 
 long lance, on which can be seen an object of a peculiar 
 form, which much resembles one of the plain Trojan idols,* 
 and must have served to attach the lance to the shoulder. 
 
 In the lower compartment we see two large circles, 
 forming a figure of eight, lying horizontally, and in each 
 of the two circles six spirals, of which the adjacent parts 
 are linked together alternately, on the inside and outside, 
 by curved bands in relief. Below the sculpture at the 
 foot of the tombstone we see two spiral ornaments im- 
 perfectly scratched in the stone, as if the artist had made 
 a trial sketch of what he was going to carve on the tablet. 
 Our present artists make their sketches on paper, but the 
 early Mycenean sculptor had neither paper and pencil nor 
 pen and ink at his disposal, and so he made his trial sketch 
 on the stone itself, but on its lower part, which was to be 
 sunk into the ground and was therefore hidden from the 
 eye. 
 
 At a distance of only 10 feet south of the sculptured 
 tombstone last described, and almost in a straight line 
 with the three slabs, is the fourth tombstone (No. 142), 
 carved with a bas-relief which likewise faces the west. 
 This stele is also a trapezium, 6 in. thick, 6 ft. high, 4 ft. 
 broad at the lower end, and 3 ft. \o\ in. at the upper 
 end. Of the upper end a piece, probably about a foot 
 long, is missing. That side of the stele which faces the 
 west has a broad border to the right and left, and the 
 remaining space is divided into three vertical compart- 
 ments of equal breadth, which reach down to more than 
 half the height of the stone. With the exception of two 
 vertical lines, which form a border to the right and left, 
 the middle compartment is left unsculptured, and was 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 36, fig. 30. 
 
The Fourth Tombstone, found above ihc Sepulchres in the Acropolis. (4 H.J 
 About one-ninth of the actual size. 
 
9 2 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 probably intended to represent a column. The two side 
 compartments contain a broad wave-pattern, which repre- 
 sents the coils of a serpent, and descends vertically from 
 the top to the bottom, following the direc- 
 tion of the fillets. Though it is only in 
 low-relief, it appears to be vigorously carved. 
 If, as Dr. Fr. Schlie observes to me, we had 
 to show this pattern (a) by broken straight 
 lines, we should do it in the manner shown 
 by the pattern (b). 
 Immediately to the south of this tombstone, in the 
 same line with it, and separated from it by only one foot, 
 is another tombstone, unsculptured. Two more unsculp- 
 
 tured sepulchral slabs 
 stand close to each 
 other, 23 feet to the 
 east of the first three 
 sculptured tomb- 
 stones ; and at a 
 distance of 40 feet 
 directly to the south 
 of the former, stand 
 two more unsculp- 
 tured tombstones, 4 
 feet apart. All the un- 
 sculptured slabs like- 
 wise stand vertically 
 and face the west. 
 
 At the foot of the 
 sculptured tombstone 
 first described I 
 found a handful of 
 black ashes, and among them a large button of wood, 
 covered with a thick leaf of gold, on which is engraved 
 a circle, and within it a triangle containing the repre- 
 sentations of three long broad knives, the handles of 
 
 No. 143. 
 
 Piece of a Tombstone. (4M.) Size 1 : 5, about. 
 
1876.] ASH KS OF SACRIFICES. 93 
 
 which are formed by beautiful spiral lines. I also found 
 at the feet of most of the tombstones grey ashes of burnt 
 animal matter, which I at first thought was from human 
 bodies ; but as I found together with them bones which on 
 closer investigation turn out to be those of animals, I 
 now think the ashes must be from sacrifices. There 
 
 No. 144. Piece of a Tombstone. (4 II.) Size 1 : 7, about. 
 
 certainly appear to have been some more sculptured tomb- 
 stones here, for I find in this and in the adjoining field, 
 at a depth of 10 to 13 feet below the surface, a number 
 of fragments of sepulchral stehc. 
 
 Of these the most interesting (No. 143) consists of 
 hard calcareous stone, and is 15 in. long, 1 1 in. broad, and 
 6V in. thick. It represents a boy, apparently naked, who 
 
94 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 had no doubt been made standing on a chariot, for he 
 holds in his left hand the reins, indicated by a broad band : 
 his right hand is also stretched out, but not holding any- 
 thing: his head-dress is indicated by two curved lines on 
 the head : the two vertical lines to the left were part of the 
 border of the stele. A second fragment is 22 in. long, 
 
 No. 145. Piece of a Tombstone. (3I m.) Size 1 : 5, about. 
 
 17 in. broad, and 6 in. thick, and consists of a soft cal- 
 careous stone, in consequence of which the sculpture is 
 much defaced and quite indistinct. 
 
 The third fragment (No. 144), 2 ft. 6 in. long, 2 ft. 
 broad, and 6 in. thick, is evidently the upper right-hand 
 part of a stele". This also consists of a soft calcareous 
 stone, and the sculpture is consequently much defaced. It 
 
1876.] FRAGMENTS OF STEL./E. 95 
 
 is divided by broad fillets into three compartments, of 
 which the upper one as well as that to the right contain 
 spirals, whilst we see the fore-part of two horses in that 
 to the left below. 
 
 Another fragment (No. 145) is apparently the left 
 upper part of a stili: it is 1 ft. 8 in. broad, 2 ft. 2 in. 
 
 Nos. 146, 147, 148. Three pieces of Tombstones. (3 4 M.) Siie 1 : 6, about. 
 
 high, and 4 in. thick, and likewise consists of a soft 
 calcareous stone. Ir has to the left a border of two 
 fillets, at the top the slight remnant of one fillet, and is 
 divided by a horizontal fillet into two compartments, of 
 which the upper one has beautiful spirals, forming the same 
 pattern as on No. 140, whilst of the lower compartment 
 
9 6 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 only a small part remains, the sculpture of which is 
 effaced. 
 
 I also show three fragments of tombstones, all of a 
 harder calcareous stone, and therefore better preserved. 
 The upper one (No. 146), which is 1 ft. high, io| in. 
 broad, and 4f in. thick, has a border of two broad and 
 three narrower bands, above which only the foot of a horse 
 is visible. The two lower fragments (Nos. 147, 148) show 
 spirals; the former is iof in. long and broad, and 4! in. 
 thick; the latter is 10J in. long, 10 in. broad, and 4J in. 
 thick. Of two more fragments of stelce of a soft calca- 
 
 ■ •-!««..• ■MiTHii""*T*"' 
 
 i t '' 4 
 
 Nos. 149, 150. fragments of Tombstones, (j-4 m.) Size 1 : 12, about. 
 
 reous stone (Nos. 149, 150), the first represents to 
 the left spirals, to the right a horse ; the second, which 
 has only spirals, is 1 ft. 6 in. high, 16 in. broad, and 4 in. 
 thick. 
 
 I have also been fortunate enough to discover, only 
 3 ft. below the surface, a piece of a quadrangular column 
 of red porphyry, i2| in. long, iof in. broad, and 8 in. 
 thick, ornamented with a splendid low relief of palmettos 
 lying horizontally (No. 151)- Two of these stand opposite 
 to each other, and are united by a rectangular middle piece, 
 which, within an upper and a lower horizontal border, is 
 divided on both sides, to the right and left, by three ver- 
 tical band-like cuts into seven upright rectangular fields, of 
 
1876] COLUMNS OF PORPHYRY. 97 
 
 which the middle one is as broad as the three on either side. 
 This middle piece reminds one of the Doric triglyphs. To 
 the right and left of the palmettos we see the fragments of 
 other ornaments of a similar kind, and it seems that the 
 whole column has been decorated in this way. Above the 
 palmettos there is a row of denticles, and there has no doubt 
 been a similar row below. The two middle palmettos re- 
 semble a saloon furnished with seats all round. I further 
 found at a depth of about 11 ft. 6 in. the fragment of 
 another column or frieze of red porphyry, 8J in. long, 10 in. 
 
 No. is:. Piece of a quadrangular Column of Red Porphyry, (i M.) Size i : 4, about. 
 
 broad, and 4i in. thick, carved with a beautiful spiral (see 
 No. 1 52). 
 
 Although, as Dr. Fr. Schlie thinks, the technical 
 treatment of the low-relief of all these stelae may not 
 be vastly different from a whole series of archaic reliefs 
 of ancient Greek art, yet such figures and such an orna- 
 mentation have never been found yet on Greek sculp- 
 tures. The stelae of Mycenae are, therefore, unique in 
 their kind. It is true that the manner of filling up with 
 manifold beautiful spiral ornaments the space not covered 
 by the forms of men and animals reminds us of the prin- 
 ciples of the painting on the so-called orientalizing va:es. 
 
 13 
 
9 8 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 But nowhere do we see on the sculptures of Mycenae the 
 ornamentation of plants, which is so characteristic of this 
 class of ancient Greek representations. The whole style is 
 rather a linear ornamentation with forms in powerful low- 
 relief, and herein we obtain an interesting guide to that 
 epoch in the development of Greek art, which preceded the 
 so-called Gracco-Phenician period, that is the time when 
 
 Nos. 152, 153, 154. Fragments of Friezes. Size 1 : 5, about.* 
 
 its course was determined by oriental influences. The 
 beginning of this latter period Mr. Newton fixes with 
 certainty not later than B.C. 800. But these Mycenean 
 representations, which are decorated exclusively with linear 
 ornamentation in relief, are again remarkable because we 
 see in them living beings such as man, the horse, the dog, 
 
 * The frieze, No. 153, is described, and its broad face shown on 
 p. 140, No. 216 ; the fragment No. 154 is described on p. 121. 
 
1876.] STYLE OF THE SCULPTURES. 99 
 
 and the deer, which are not reduced to a more or less 
 linear design, such as those on the Trojan whorls,* but 
 which are given, though rudely, and in a puerile way, in 
 full bodily form, precisely as the nature of the relief 
 requires. 
 
 These reflections lead us to the conviction that the 
 Mycenean reliefs must be brought into relation with the 
 ancient architecture of Mycenae. Let us compare with 
 them only the preserved remnants of the ornamentation of 
 the gateway of the "Treasury of Atreus" and its semi- 
 column, as restored by Professor Donaldson.f Therefore if 
 cannot appear an unfounded assumption, if we claim for 
 these ancient monuments the middle of the second millen- 
 nium B.C., and if we insert them for the future as an 
 important link into the history of art. As Mr. A. S. 
 Murray, of the British Museum, justly observed to me, 
 the spiral ornamentation is no proof whatever of an orien- 
 talizing influence, because every wire must have given to 
 the early artist the idea of the spiral ornamentation ; nay, 
 we find the spiral ornamentation even on the ancient 
 Mexican and Peruvian monuments. 
 
 Close to the twelve small reservoirs on the north side 
 of my second trench, is a Cyclopean house without 
 a roof, which even now is on its south side 24 ft. high. 
 It contains only one chamber, 17 ft. long and 94 ft. 
 broad ; its east wall is 3 ft. 4 in., and its west wall 3 ft., 
 thick. On the south side it has two walls, the inner one 
 3 ft. 4 in., the outer one 3 ft. 8 in., thick ; against its north 
 wall, which is 3 ft. thick, leans another, 6\ ft. thick; and 
 thus the passage of the door, which is on this side, is not 
 less than ft- long. I excavated in this house, and found 
 it filled with ashes both of wood and of animal matter, 
 intermixed with bones, particularly of swine, and with 
 
 * See ' Troy and its Remains,' Plates xxvii-xxxi. 
 t See supplementary volume to Stuart's ' Athens.' 
 
IOO 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. 
 
 [Chap. IV. 
 
 millions of fragments of painted archaic vases. But I found 
 nothing worth mentioning, except a certain quantity of 
 baked wheat and vetches, a weight of jasper with a perfo- 
 rated handle for suspension (No. 155), some well-preserved 
 archaic vases, the fragment (No. 156) of a vase with sieve- 
 like perforations, and a certain number of whorls of blue 
 stone. One of these vases is particularly interesting for its 
 painted ornamentation, showing two swans, which hold 
 their heads together, much like the two eagles in the 
 Russian arms. 
 
 No. 155. A Jasper Weight, with a hole for suspension, (si M.} Actual size. 
 
 I have not been more lucky with the twelve small 
 reservoirs formed of four large slabs, for they contain 
 nothing else than the remnants of household utensils, and 
 particularly fragments of archaic vases. 
 
 The four sculptured and five unsculptured sepulchral 
 slabs undoubtedly mark the sites of tombs cut deep in the 
 rock, the exploration of which, however, I must needs delay 
 until I have terminated all my excavations in the northern 
 part of the Acropolis. 
 
 The presence of these numerous sepulchres near the 
 
1876.] TOMBS IN THE ACROPOLIS. IOl 
 
 Lions' Gate, and thus in the most prominent part of the 
 citadel, in a place where one would have expected to 
 find the king's palace, is very significant ; the more so, as 
 the slabs of the two parallel rows perfectly resemble the 
 five unsculptured tombstones and the slabs of the twelve 
 small reservoirs, and all these monuments appear to have 
 been erected simultaneously. 
 
 I know of no example in history of an acropolis having 
 ever served as a burial place, except the small building of 
 the Caryatides in the Acropolis of Athens, which was called 
 
 No. 156. Fragment of a perforated Tcrra-cotta Vase, (it M.| Actual size. 
 
 the Sepulchre of Cecrops, the first king of Athens. But 
 we now know with certainty that Cecrops is nothing else 
 than Kacyapa or Cacyapa, who was a sun-god, and thus 
 the story of Cecrops having been buried in the Acropolis is 
 a pure myth. But here in the Acropolis of Mycenae the 
 tombs are no myth, they are a tangible reality. But who 
 have the great personages been, and what immense services 
 did they render to Mycenae, to have received the signal 
 honour of such a burial place ? 
 
 I do not for a moment hesitate to proclaim that I have 
 
102 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 found here the sepulchres which Pausanias, following the 
 tradition, attributes to Atreus, to the " king of men " Aga- 
 memnon, to his charioteer Eurymedon, to Cassandra, and 
 to their companions. But it is utterly impossible that 
 Pausanias should have seen these tombstones, because, 
 when he visited Mycenae, about 170 a.d., all the 
 sepulchral monuments had for ages been covered by 
 a layer of pre-historic debris, from 8 to 10 ft. thick, 
 on which an Hellenic city had been built and had again 
 been abandoned about four centuries before his time, 
 after having added a layer of Hellenic ruins, 3 ft. thick, 
 to the deep stratum of prehistoric remains. Thus he 
 could only have known of the existence of these sepulchres 
 by tradition. 
 
 In the Treasury close to the Lions' Gate the work ad- 
 vances but very slowly, the soil being as hard as stone, and 
 only to-day has my trench reached a sufficient depth to 
 enable me to begin the excavation of the triangular space 
 above the door. My supposition that this Treasury would 
 turn out to be nearly of the same size as the Treasury of 
 Atreus seems to be confirmed by the width of the 
 approach (" dromos "), which is in the latter 20 ft. 7 in., in 
 the former 19 ft. 8 in., broad. 
 
 These conical buildings, 50 ft. high, were constructed 
 under the slope of a hill, and were destined to remain subter- 
 ranean: for, as before stated, the outside surface of the stones 
 is quite irregular, and the whole building is covered all 
 round with a thick layer of stones, the weight of which 
 holds the masonry fast together. I feel certain that the 
 tradition is correct which says that these mysterious build- 
 ings served as the store-houses of the wealth of the early 
 kings ; but there can be no doubt that as long as they 
 served as treasuries the " dromos " and the entrance gate 
 were unobstructed, and the great question, therefore, arises, 
 why and when were the " dromos " and the gate hidden 
 under the tremendous masses of debris f 
 
1876.] 
 
 GEOMETRICALLY PAINTED POTTERY. 
 
 103 
 
 It has been asserted that they were buried at the time of 
 the Dorian invasion ; but did the excavation of the Treasury 
 of Atreus in 1810 by Veli Pasha, the son of Ali Pasha, 
 produce anything else 
 than a stone table, a 
 few sculptured slabs, 
 and fragments of 
 brazen plates ? and 
 was it worth while to 
 bury empty treasuries? 
 But it is a fact that 
 they were buried, and, 
 as to the chronology 
 of the event, the 
 pottery in the layer of 
 debris, which covers 
 the "dromos" of each, 
 gives us fortunately 
 some clue, for I find 
 there continually very 
 ancient painted pottery 
 with geometrical patterns, resembling the Attic vases which 
 until now have been considered as the most ancient terra- 
 cottas in Greece ; as well as 
 very rude terra-cotta idols 
 of Hera in the female and 
 cow forms. The style of the 
 pottery is seen in the an- 
 nexed piece (No. 15 7), which 
 shows to the right oi the 
 handle a Pj-J of which only 
 part is visible, and then 
 follows a row of the fre- 
 quently recurring animal in 
 
 form of a crane, but which may have been intended to 
 represent a horse, and after that follows a beautiful band 
 
 No. 157. Piece of a Painted Vue, from the "dromos" of 
 the Treasury near the Lions' Gate, (a r M.) Half-size. 
 
 No. is8. 
 the ' 
 
 Fragment of the same Pottery from 
 
 dromos." (5 M.) Half-size. 
 
104 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 of key- patterns. On another fragment (No. 158) is 
 only a row of the same birds or horses between two 
 bands, each of three parallel circular lines ; also a small 
 can, ornamented with vertical lines, was found there. Of 
 course it is perfectly certain that the dibris which covers 
 the entrance has been brought there from other places, 
 but as it contains solely fragments of very ancient painted 
 terra-cottas nearly all of them with geometrical patterns, 
 
 No. 159. Idol of Terra-cotta. with a Cow's head, on the handle of a Vase. (4 M.) Actual size. 
 
 the filling-up of the entrance must have been already 
 effected in a remote antiquity, and the Treasury itself 
 is doubtless more ancient than the Treasury of Atreus. 
 
 Of the idols found in the " dronios" before the Treasury 
 now in question the most ancient Hera-idols, in the shape 
 
1876.] 
 
 HERA-IDOLS COMMON IN ACROPOLIS. 
 
 I05 
 
 of a woman, are very rudely made, sometimes without painted 
 ornaments, and they have a head either oblong or round, with 
 or without a diadem, and large eyes. Some are with breasts, 
 others without ; the hands are either protruding or folded 
 on the breast. To the same epoch no doubt belong the 
 female idols with a very 
 compressed bare head, 
 large eyes, out-stretched 
 hands, and no breasts ; or 
 with two breasts, below 
 which a horn protrudes 
 on each side, so that both 
 horns together form a 
 semicircle ;* also the male 
 idol, with its head orna- 
 mented in front with a 
 diadem, bearing a star, a 
 long aquiline nose, large 
 eyes, and a long protrud- 
 ing beard ;| and some 
 very archaic cow idols, 
 with painted red or black 
 ornamentation (see No. 
 1 18, p. 74) ; also the 
 fragment of a vase of 
 granite, and a small female 
 figure in silver with long 
 hair. 
 
 In the Acropolis the most common idols are those 
 of Hera as a woman with horns or in the shape of a 
 cow. In fact, they are so abundant that up to this time I 
 have been able to gather more than (say) 700 of them, but 
 all are more or less mutilated. Among the forms of the idols 
 found abundantly in the Acropolis I must further mention 
 
 No. 160. Idol of Tcrra-cotta with a Cow's head, 
 (a M.) Actual size. 
 
 * See No. 94. 
 
 + See No. 106. 
 
106 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 that with a round uncovered bird's head,* and that with 
 a very compressed head, with large eyes, and a. polos in the 
 form of a bowl, on which is often painted a cross ; both 
 these idols hold their hands on the breasts, and have no 
 characteristic of the cow.| I may further mention the 
 very frequently occurring idol, the whole middle part of 
 which is in the form, or nearly so, of a disk,J and which 
 
 No. 161. Cow-headed Idols of Hera. (1-5M,] Half-size. 
 
 may have been intended primitively to represent the full 
 moon, because Hera was originally the moon-goddess, and 
 her cow-horns, and subsequently her whole cow-character, 
 cannot but be derived from the symbolic horns of the 
 crescent moon. Lastly, I have to mention the less frequent 
 female idol with a perfectly modelled cow-head; but 
 
 * See No. 100. 
 
 t See No. 101. 
 
 % See Nos. 90-93. 
 
1876.] COW-HEADS ON VASE-HANDLES. 107 
 
 this type is only found on the handles of vases, and the 
 body of the woman is always incomplete, never reaching 
 further down than the breast, and frequently finishing 
 
 No. 162. The two faces of a Granite Mould for casting various Ornaments. (4 M.) Actual size. 
 
 with the neck, on which the necklace is never forgotten.* 
 By a strange coincidence the three or four terra-cotta 
 
 * See Nos. 159, 160, and the coloured Plate D, figs, n, o, p. 
 
io8 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 cow-heads found in Troy were likewise on the handles of 
 vases.* One headless Hera-idol was found, with two well 
 preserved horns and two breasts. The head is not broken 
 off, for it was never intended to have a head. I may also 
 mention that many perfectly flat idols were found, showing 
 on each side a head with a long muzzle and large eyes in 
 profile, but no indication of horns. (See No. i6i.f) 
 
 Except the button with a gold plate, already mentioned, 
 no objects of gold or silver have been found yet ; but that 
 these metals were in extensive use cannot be doubted. I 
 found a mould consisting, according to Professor Xavier 
 Landerer, of very fine dark red granite ; it shows on both 
 sides together fourteen different fanciful types of earrings 
 and other ornaments, all of which were probably cast in 
 gold or silver (see No. 162). I found also a smaller 
 mould, which consists, according to the same Professor, of 
 basalt, and is in form of a cube (see No. 163): it has on 
 all the six sides moulds for casting ornaments, of which 
 the types may be seen in the engravings ; amongst others, 
 it has a type for casting small cones with parallel horizontal 
 circles, of which I find here a large number. (See No. 164.) 
 They consist of a lustrous blackish mass, which Professor 
 Landerer has analysed and found to consist of a hard- 
 baked clay which has been varnished with a lead glaze. 
 Mr. Newton also kindly showed me, among the objects 
 found in the tomb at Ialysus, very small cones with parallel 
 horizontal circles of the very same composition as these 
 Mycenean cones. I also very frequently find here small 
 disks of the same composition, with impressed flowers or 
 other ornamentation, which must have served as ornaments 
 
 * See ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 294. 
 
 t I call particular attention to the Egyptian sepulchral paintings 
 published by Mr. G. A. Hoskins in his ' Travels in Ethiopia and Upper 
 Egypt,' where we see among the offerings some vases from which 
 similar heads look out. 
 
1876.] ORNAMENTS OF GLAZED CLAY. 109 
 
 on the doors or elsewhere (No. 165), and these also figure 
 in the British Museum among the objects from the tomb 
 
 No. 163. Four faces of a six-sided Mould of Basalt. (5 M.) Actual size. 
 
 of ialysus. The quadrangular piece (No. 166), on which 
 may be seen a very well-represented cuttle-fish between two 
 
 Nos. 164, 165, 166. Ornaments of Glazed Clay. (3-4 M.) Actual size. 
 
 vertical borders with teeth-like cuts, has four perforations 
 for attaching it with pins. As I have already mentioned, 
 
HO EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 the object No. 167, which has the form of a mushroom, 
 but a perforation in its whole length, is of the same 
 material ; this also must have served as an ornament, 
 while the whole tube-like lower part was sunk into the 
 object which was to be ornamented, so that the head 
 alone protruded, and may have served to put in a flower 
 or something else. Of the same baked clay with a var- 
 nished lead glaze there was further found a large perforated 
 bead (No. 168). 
 
 Nos. 167, 168, 169. Ornaments of Glazed Clay. (3-4 M.) Actual size. 
 
 I also very often find small objects in the form of a 
 cone or with points more obtuse, and in this case perforated ; 
 they are turned from a mineral, which, according to Professor 
 Landerer, is the Siphnian stone {lapis ollaris), commonly 
 called potstone. The same scholar calls my attention to a 
 passage of Pliny, who says : " On the island of Siphnos there 
 is a stone which is hollowed out and turned for vases ; these 
 latter are very useful for cooking victuals or for the pre- 
 servation of eatables, which, as we know, is the case with 
 the Comnes stone in Italy. The Siphnian stone has the 
 peculiarity that, being heated, it becomes black by the 
 contact of oil and much harder, it being naturally soft. It 
 can be turned and used for ornaments." The small cones 
 of this stone have in the lower border two small holes on 
 either side, which must have been made for the pins by 
 which the object was fastened. A likeness of such a 
 cone is No. 172; of another object of the same material, 
 No. 169. The curious object, No. 171, which has almost 
 the form of a Trojan idol, is of decomposed glass, but its 
 use is inexplicable to me ; it has on its lower side a tubular 
 
1876.] VARIOUS ORNAMENTS. nr 
 
 hole for fastening it to something else, and may have 
 served as an ornament. The little ball, No. 170, on which 
 
 Nos. 170, 171, 17a. Ornaments of Glazed Clay, &c. (3-4 m.) Actual size. 
 
 we see curious incised drawings, is of very hard baked 
 clay. I also find very frequently button-like objects, like 
 those already shown under No. 126,* which, according 
 to Professor Landerer, have been turned oui of a stone 
 called "lapis serpentinus." I cannot explain the use of 
 them otherwise than that they have served as ornaments 
 in the doors and on the walls, like No. 167. There was 
 also found a large perforated bead of white glass, and 
 further a large block of diorite, with circular moulds for 
 casting various objects. 
 
 A treasure of bronze objects was found at a depth of 
 13 feet. It consists of five knives (like Nos. 121-125),! 
 two small wheels and an inexplicable object with a ring,| 
 two lances, two double-edged hatchets (No. 173), hair- 
 
1 11 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 pins, two vases, and remnants of four others, and a tripod. 
 It is incomprehensible to me for what purpose the wheels 
 may have served ; they can never have been intended for 
 rotation, for, as may be seen by the engraving,* there is 
 attached to them a quadrangular handle, which proves that 
 they can never have been turned round. From one of the 
 wheels f this handle is broken off ; as for the rest, the 
 wheels perfectly resemble those represented on the chariots 
 in the sculptures, for there are four spokes, which form a 
 cross round the axle. Also two very small and exceedingly 
 curious wheels of lead were found, the one at the depth of 
 ii ft. 8 in., the other at i6i ft. J 
 
 There were also found a certain number of lentoid gems 
 of steatite, onyx, or agate, polished, nearly round, and 
 
 Nos. 174-181. Lentoid Gems. (4-7 M.) Actual size. 
 
 somewhat convex, with intaglios of animals, which are very 
 archaic, but show in several instances an advanced art ; all 
 of these have evidently belonged to necklaces. No. 176 
 is of steatite {lapis ollaris) ; it gives us a very rude and 
 primitive representation of an animal with a very long tail, 
 
 * See under No. 120, p. 74. t Ibid. 
 
 % Also engraved under No. 120. I here again call particular atten- 
 tion to the fact, that the depth in which each object has been found is 
 always marked in metres below each object in the engravings. 
 
1 8 7 6.] 
 
 LENTOID GEMS. 
 
 "3 
 
 long legs, and a pointed head, which is turned backward, 
 and on which we see a horn standing vertically: probably 
 we must understand that this horn covers the second horn : 
 the body of the animal resembles the body of a horse, the 
 head that of an antelope. No. 178 is of red agate, and 
 this also gives a rude representation of an animal with its 
 head turned backward ; above its hinder part is a trident, 
 and it is difficult to distinguish whether the primitive 
 artist intended to represent by this 
 the animal's uplifted tail or some- 
 thing else. The most beautiful of 
 all the intaglios is of red onyx 
 (No. 174), showing an antelope 
 perfectly true to nature. Both 
 horns are well represented, and the 
 head and body are beautiful ; the 
 animal seems to kneel on its two 
 fore-legs ; the tail is lifted sideways 
 above the back. I call particular attention to the object 
 above the back of this animal ; it looks like an overturned 
 flower-pot, with a long plant lying horizontally. The object 
 on the lentoid gem (No. 183) cannot be recognised; this 
 gem consists of serpentine. On No. 184, which is of black 
 agate, we again see a very rudely-engraved animal with the 
 head turned back, but without horns. No. 185 is a bead. 
 
 185 
 
 No. 182-185. Lentoid Gems and 1 
 bead. (3-6 m.) Size 3 : 4. 
 
 Q 
 
 .8) 
 
 Nos. 18C-189. Lentoid Gem, cylinder and beads. (3-6 M.) Size 3:4. 
 
 Another beautiful intaglio (No. 1 86), on black serpen- 
 tine, represents an animal with the head turned back and 
 very large eyes ; it seems to run with great speed. The 
 
 '5 
 
ii4 
 
 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 object No. 189 is also of black serpentine, and has no 
 intaglio. Similar lentoid gems, with rudely-incised animals, 
 found in the Greek islands, are in the gold room of 
 the British Museum, and I call particular attention to 
 them, as well as to the lentoid gem of rock crystal, repre- 
 senting in intaglio a goat, which turns her head. This 
 gem, again, was found in the repeatedly-mentioned 
 sepulchre of Ialysus, and is also in the British Museum. 
 Very pretty is the small parallelopiped (No. 182), likewise 
 of serpentine, ornamented on two sides with fourteen 
 lines which cross each other, and on the other two sides 
 with two incised squares, in each of which we see a small 
 circle with a point in the centre. No. 187 represents 
 a light green cylinder of opal, on which a human head 
 is rudely carved, with closed eyes, a very broad nose, a 
 large mouth, and a necklace, and very much in the ancient 
 Egyptian style of art. It is cylindrical, and has no hole, 
 and it seems therefore not to have served as a stick-handle. 
 No. 188 is a bead of white glass ; No. 180 is an object of 
 blue glass cast in the form of a long but narrow mussel- 
 shell, surrounded by horizontal parallel cuts ; it is coloured 
 with cobalt; No. 179 is a small bead of blue glass twice 
 perforated. There is also a well-polished brown onyx, 
 without any intaglio, and it deserves attention that a 
 similar one was found in the tomb of Ialysus. No. 181 is 
 of an artificial glass paste. I repeat that, with the exception 
 of Nos. 175, 180, 187, all these objects are perforated and 
 are beads or lentoid gems of necklaces. 
 
 Of combinations of signs resembling inscriptions, I 
 have hitherto only found three or four ; one of them is on 
 both sides of a mutilated Hera-idol in the form of a woman 
 (see No. 102) ; another inscription is on a mutilated cow- 
 idol * ; and a third is on a disk (No. 190). Of all of them 
 I have sent copies to Professor Max Miiller, who considers 
 
 * See the Coloured Plate B, fig. g. 
 
1876.] INSCRIPTIONS AT MYCENyE. 115 
 
 them too indistinct and fragmentary to warrant any expres- 
 sion of opinion for the present. 
 
 No. 190. A Disc of Terra- Cotta, with an uncertain appearance of an Inscription. (5 M.) Actual size. 
 
 I found at a depth of 6 feet a short Greek inscription : 
 
 T° B E l?° ° | jEM 
 
 for which, however, I cannot claim a higher antiquity than 
 the 6th century b.c. ; in fact, the fragment of a vase on 
 which it is scratched is of the usual black Hellenic pot- 
 tery, which is so widely different from the archaic pottery 
 of Mycenae that I could not venture to attribute it to a 
 remoter epoch than the 5th century, were it not for the 
 archaic characters which are decidedly of the 6th century. 
 But this fragment of black pottery again gives us an idea 
 of the age of the ancient Mycenean pottery. I suppose 
 that the first O stands for OY, the second O for n, and 
 that the sign J is merely a comma. I read it thus : tov 
 r)pu)6<; eZ/x(i), " I am sprung from the hero." 
 
 Besides the goblets already mentioned in the form of large 
 Bordeaux wine-glasses with one handle,* which continue to 
 be found in enormous quantities, there are also frequently 
 found goblets of the same form with two handles. Although 
 these goblets have not the slightest resemblance to the 
 
 * See Nos. 83, 84, 88, pp. 70, 71. 
 
Il6 EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL. [Chap. IV. 
 
 splendid Trojan goblets,* yet, like the latter, those with two 
 handles can fully claim to represent the Homeric SeVas 
 afi(f)LKVTTeX\ov. I think Aristotle f is wrong in his theory 
 that the djx^iKVTreWov had the shape of a bee's cell. The 
 best judge, nay, the highest authority, for the form of the 
 Homeric SeVas afj.(f>LKVTreWov must necessarily be Homer 
 himself ; and according to him the SeVas d/x^LKvireWou is 
 always synonymous with aktLcrov a^ij)0)TovX which latter 
 cannot possibly mean anything else than a simple goblet 
 with a large handle on each side. In speaking of the shape 
 of the Homeric SeVa? afx^LKvireXkov, Athenasus ^ does not 
 even mention the opinion of Aristotle, but he cites the 
 opinion of Asclepiades of Myrlea, who says that a/A<£i- 
 KvireWov does not mean anything else than that the goblet 
 is dficjiLKvpToi'. But the following phrase leaves no doubt 
 that the latter word signifies " with two handles," and this is 
 confirmed by Passow's Greek Lexicon (ed. Rost and Palm). 
 
 As far as my excavations have proceeded, I nowhere find 
 an accumulation of debris exceeding 2,6 ft. ; and even this 
 depth is only found near the great circuit wall. Thence 
 the rock rises rapidly, and further on the depth of the 
 dibris is not more than from 13 to 20 ft. On the west 
 side the Cyclopean wall has been nearly demolished for 
 a distance of 46 ft., and on its interior side a wall of 
 small stones joined with earth has been built to sustain its 
 ruins. It must remain mere guesswork when the Cyclo- 
 pean wall was destroyed and the small wall built, but at all 
 events this must have occurred long before the capture of 
 Mycenas by the Argives in 468 b.c, because the small wall 
 was buried deep in the prehistoric dSbris. 
 
 The great quarry, whence all the stones for the Cyclo- 
 pean walls, the Treasuries, and other buildings, were cut, is 
 on the site of and around the village of Charvati, a little 
 
 * See ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 158. 
 + Hist. Ani?tial. IX. 40. 
 
 % See Od. III. 41, 46, 50 and 63, and XXII. 9, 10, 86. 
 
 § A.(Lirvocro(f)i(TTai, 783. 
 
1876.] 
 
 THE QUARRY AT CHARVATI. 
 
 M 7 
 
 over a mile from this place ; but the rock has in no instance 
 been cut away deeper than the surface. I give a view of 
 this village, in which the greater part of the ancient 
 quarry is visible.* The name Charvati is no doubt derived 
 from the Arabic word ^__>^ (ruins), which has passed over 
 into the Turkish language. 
 
 Mrs. Schliemann and I superintend the excavations 
 from morning tili dusk, and we suffer severely from the 
 scorching sun and incessant tempest, which blows the 
 dust into the eyes and inflames them ; but in spite of these 
 annoyances, nothing more interesting can be imagined than 
 the excavation of a prehistoric city of immortal glory, 
 where nearly every object, even to the fragments of pottery, 
 reveals a new page of history. 
 
 it a 
 
 A It 
 
 No. 190.1. Pattern of the Slaus, FORMING the Double Pakallki Circle enclosing 
 
 the Agora. 
 
 A. One of the Vertical inner and outer slabs, both being inclined inwards, towards the enclosed 
 space of the Agora, at an angle of 75 0 . 
 
 IJ. One of the cross slabs, with the tenons, b, b, to drop into the notches a, <t. 
 
 N.H. — The slabs are not all of the dimensions here shown, but vary in size in different parts of the 
 circle. (See p. 124.) 
 
 The slabs of the double circle, which serves both as the enclosure of the Agora and for its benches, 
 are in a slanting position from the entrance on the north side all along the east side until a few yards 
 before the point tut the south side where tlie double circle passes from the rock on to the wall which 
 supports it in the lower part of the Acropolis. At this point the slabs have the maximum size, which 
 seems to have been maintained by all the slabs which stood on the supporting wall, and winch have 
 now nearly all fallen ; but their inclination can be recognize I by observing UlOM still standing on the 
 north-west side of the circle. On the north, on both sidvs of the entrance, where the Agora isbordcrcd 
 by those tomb-like recesses in which we have recognized small reservoirs, the slabs of these recesses are 
 of necessity all perpendicular, because, had they been slanting, they would not have sustained the 
 pressure of the water. 
 
 * See Vignette to Chapter V. p, 118. 
 
No. igi. The Village of Charvati, with the ancient Quarry ol Mycenae. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Excavations in and near the Acropolis — continued. 
 
 THE LIONS' GATE AND THE AGORA. 
 
 The Treasury excavated by Mrs. Schliemann — Older and less sumptuous 
 than that of Atreus — The entrance, its ornaments — Archaic 
 pottery found in the passage — Necklace beads — Fragment of a 
 marble frieze — Threshold of the Lions' Gate — The great double 
 row of parallel slabs, probably not of a remote antiquity — The 
 Acropolis only partly accessible to chariots — The gateway double, 
 like the Scaean Gate at Troy — Corridors of Cyclopean house- 
 walls — Hera-idols and arrow-heads of bronze and iron — Door- 
 keeper's lodge — Retaining walls — Tower of the Acropolis resting 
 on a massive wall — The double circle of slabs formed the enclosure 
 of the royal tombs and the Agora — Arguments in proof of this view 
 — Objects of interest found there— A vast Cyclopean house with 
 cisterns and water conduit, probably the ancient Royal Palace — 
 The spring Perseia — No windows in the house — Objects of art and 
 luxury found there— An onyx seal-ring— Vase-paintings of mail-clad 
 warriors — Hand-made pottery in the Acropolis. 
 
 Mycenas, Sept. 30, 1876. 
 
 Since the 9th inst. I have continued the excavations with 
 the greatest energy, employing constantly 125 workmen 
 
Ch. V. 1876.] MRS. SCHLIEMANN'S TREASURY. 119 
 
 and five horse-carts, and the weather being beautiful I 
 have made excellent progress. In the Treasury, in which 
 Mrs. Schliemann is excavating, we work, with thirty 
 labourers and two horse-carts, and find the very greatest 
 difficulty in removing the hundreds of huge wrought stones 
 which have fallen from the vault. 
 
 The interior walls of this Treasury have never been 
 covered with brazen plates like the Treasury of Atreus here 
 and the Treasury of Minyas in Orchomcnus ; at least, I 
 see nowhere in the stones the holes of the bronze nails by 
 which the metal plates were fastened ; but I cannot avoid 
 mentioning that on the inner east side of the Treasury, 
 there protrudes from between the stones the fragment 
 of a bronze plate, which sticks so fast that it cannot be 
 drawn out ; I therefore suppose that it was fastened there 
 when the Treasury was built. It appears hardly possible 
 that this could have happened merely by accident, but on 
 the other hand I find it difficult to believe that this bronze 
 plate could be a remnant of an ancient wall-coating of 
 bronze plates, which were not fastened to the stones with 
 nails but were attached in the joints between them, because 
 in this case, I presume, we ought to find remnants of those 
 plates in many places. 
 
 This Treasury is less sumptuous, and appears to be 
 more ancient, than the Treasury of Atreus here, or the 
 Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenus. 
 
 The entrance, which is 13 ft. long and 8 ft. broad, is 
 roofed with four slabs i8£ ft. in length; the holes for the 
 upper door-hinges are 5 in. deep. From certain traces in the 
 walls it appears that the entrance has been ornamented on 
 the right and left with two semi-columns, which we hope to 
 find by digging deeper. A remnant of an ornamentation 
 with semicircles is visible on the slab above the entrance, 
 and the same can easily be distinguished in the engraving 
 of the Treasury.* After having been buried for ages in 
 
 * See the Frontispiece, Plate V. 
 
1 20 
 
 THE LIONS' GATE AND AGORA 
 
 [Chap. V. 
 
 the damp debris, the large wrought stones of the walls of 
 the approach {dromos) and of the facade of this Treasury 
 have contracted by exposure to the sun, and, as may be 
 seen from the engraving, a great number of them have 
 crevices. 
 
 As in the Treasury of Atreus and in the Lions' Gate, 
 the triangular space above the entrance is formed by an 
 oblique approximation of the ends of the courses of stone. 
 On all three sides of this triangle can be seen cuttings, 
 which make it highly probable that it has once been filled 
 up by a triangular piece of sculpture similar to that above 
 the Lions' Gate.* 
 
 Among the archaic pottery found in the "dromos" 
 before the Treasury, the very rudely modelled men on 
 horseback holding the horse's neck with both hands, of 
 which also several were found in the tomb at Ialysus, 
 deserve particular attention ; further, the fragments of 
 large painted vases profusely covered with an ornamenta- 
 tion of key patterns, zigzag lines, stripes of ornaments like 
 fish-spines, bands with very primitive representations of 
 cranes or swans, or circles with flowers, and occasionally 
 with the sign j-jj-t Vases with such geometrical patterns 
 are sometimes found in Athens, and have hitherto been 
 universally considered to be the most ancient pottery of 
 Attica, but I perfectly share my learned friend Mr. Chas. 
 T. Newton's opinion, that the vases with geometrical 
 patterns are later than all the different sorts of terra- 
 cottas found in the five Royal tombs, and hereafter to be 
 described. Of vases with other patterns I have found but 
 very few fragments. Together with these fragments of 
 pottery there was found part of a necklace with a large 
 bead of white glass (No. 205), two beads of fluor-spar of 
 a transparent bluish, and three of a red-bluish colour, all 
 perforated and strung on a thin copper wire (Nos. 206, 
 
 * See Plan E, which shows the Plan and Sections of this Treasury. 
 + See the examples grouped on the two Plates, Nos. 192-204. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 THRESHOLD OF THE LIONS' GATE. 
 
 I 2 I 
 
 207, 208, 209) ; also the fragment of a white marble frieze 
 with an ornamentation.* Just above the lower part of 
 
 Nos. 205-209. Beads of Glass and Fluor-spar. (4 H.j Actual size. 
 
 the " dromos " are the foundations of an Hellenic house, 
 apparently of the Macedonian period. 
 
 The Archaeological Society in Athens has not yet sent 
 an engineer to consolidate the sculpture above the Lions' 
 Gate, and to repair the Cyclopean wall close to it ; but 
 they intend still to do so. Meanwhile they have allowed 
 me to continue the excava- 
 tions at the Lions' Gate 
 on the condition that I leave 
 to the right and left of it 
 a considerable portion of the 
 debris in si hi in order to 
 facilitate the raising of the 
 blocks which are necessary 
 for the repairs. Therefore 
 I have been able to resume 
 the excavations at the Lions' 
 Gate, and I have brought to 
 
 light its enormous threshold. Two exact drawings of this 
 are appended. It consists of a very hard block of breccia 
 
 7 
 
 No. aio. Threshold of the Gate of Lions. 
 
 See No. 154, p. 98. 
 
 16 
 
122 EXCAVATIONS IN THE ACROPOLIS. [Chap. V. 
 
 1 5 ft. long and 8 ft. broad. The ruts caused by the chariot- 
 wheels, of which all guide books speak, exist only in the 
 imagination of enthusiastic travellers, but not in reality. 
 The immense double parallel row of closely joined slabs, 
 which I have brought to light in close proximity to the 
 Lions' Gate, would now altogether bar the access of 
 chariots to the Acropolis. But as I cannot ascribe a very 
 remote antiquity to the wall which sustains the double row 
 of slabs in the lower part of the Acropolis, so neither can I 
 claim a high antiquity for the circle of slabs itself, and before 
 its erection chariots could certainly have had access to the 
 Acropolis. But on account of the precipitous slopes of 
 the cliff, it is impossible that chariots should ever have 
 penetrated further than the first or lowest of the six natural 
 or artificial terraces. Thus it is obvious that chariots were 
 but little in use here, and that beasts of burden, horses, 
 mules, or asses, were employed in their stead. No doubt 
 the fifteen small straight parallel furrows, which are cut 
 all along the surface of the threshold to prevent the beasts 
 of burden from slipping, might have been mistaken for ruts 
 of chariot-wheels. But again, the threshold having been 
 deeply buried in the debris for ages, and at all events since 
 the capture of the Acropolis by the Argives (468 B.C.), no 
 mortal eye can have seen it for more than 2300 years. 
 
 There is a quadrangular hole, 1 ft. 3 in. long and 1 ft. 
 broad, in the middle of the threshold, where the two doors 
 of the gate met. The threshold further shows on its 
 east side a straight furrow, artistically cut, 1 ft. broad, and 
 on its west side another which forms a curve. Both these 
 seem to have served as channels for rain water, the rush of 
 which must ha\e been great, the threshold being lower than 
 the natural rock forming the floor of the passage, which rises 
 gradually. In the side of the threshold which faces the 
 north is a long artificial hole of a peculiar form, which 
 must have been connected with the gate in some way or 
 other, for a cutting of exactly the same form exists in the 
 
1876.] A CYCLOPEAN HOUSE. 
 
 large flat stone in the middle of the gate at Troy. At 
 a distance of iii ft. from the threshold on either side 
 of the passage there is, as at Troy,* a quadrangular mass 
 of Cyclopean masonry, 2 ft. broad and high, and 3 ft. 
 long, which marks the site of a second gate of wood. 
 
 Further on to the right I have brought to light, below 
 the foundations of an Hellenic house, quite a labyrinth of 
 Cyclopean house-walls, forming a number of parallel cor- 
 ridors from 4 ft. to 6h ft. broad, filled with stones and 
 debris, which I am now clearing out. One of the cor- 
 ridors leads straight into the Cyclopean house already 
 described.f In several places the walls retain traces of 
 their clay-coating. I found here many Ilera-idols, also 
 three arrow-heads, all of bronze; two have barbs (yXw^e?) ; 
 the third has the form of a pyramid, like the Carthaginian 
 arrows which I found last year in my excavations in 
 Motye in Sicily. 
 
 To the left of the entrance is, first, the small chamber 
 of the door-keeper, and then follows a wall of huge stones, 
 intended merely to sustain the masses of debris (24 ft. 
 to 26 ft. high) which have been washed down from the 
 mount in the course of ages. Further on, in the same 
 line, is a Cyclopean wall (166 ft. long and 30 ft. high) 
 of enormous stones joined together with small ones, which, 
 as already mentioned, is crowned by the ruins of a tower, 
 and gives the Acropolis a peculiarly grand aspect.;}; This 
 wall was imbedded from 10 ft. to 12 ft. deep in the debris, 
 and has now been brought to light down to the rock on 
 which it is founded. 
 
 My supposition that the double parallel row of large 
 slabs would be found to form a complete circle has been 
 proved correct. One-half of it rests on the wall which was 
 
 * See the Plan of the Lions' Gate, No. 22, p. 34. Comp. 'Troy 
 and its Remains,' pp. 303, 321. 
 
 + Chapter IV. p. 99. % See Plates VI. and VII. 
 
THE AGORA IN THE ACROPOLIS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 intended to support it in the lower part of the Acropolis, the 
 other half is founded on the higher flat rock, and touches 
 the foot of the Cyclopean wall before mentioned; the 
 entrance to it is from the north side.* 
 
 At first I thought that the space between the two rows 
 might have served for libations or for offerings of flowers in 
 honour of the illustrious dead. But I now find this to be 
 impossible, because the double row of slabs was originally 
 covered with cross-slabs, of which six are still in situ ; they 
 are firmly fitted in and consolidated by means of notches, 
 \\ to 3^ in. deep, and 4 in. broad, in the upper edges of 
 the aslant standing slabs of the two parallel rows, which 
 received similar projections on the cross stones, forming a 
 mortice and tenon joint.f As these latter exist on all 
 the slabs, there can be no doubt that the whole circle was 
 originally covered in the same way. The vertical slabs 
 are from 4 ft. 2 in. to 8 ft. 2 in. long and 1 ft. 8 in. 
 to 4 ft. broad, and the largest are in the two places 
 where the double row descends from the rock to the 
 supporting wall. Inside, there is first a layer of stones 
 1 ft. 4 in. thick, for the purpose of holding the slabs in 
 their place ; the remaining space is filled up with pure earth 
 mixed with long thin cockle shells in the places where the 
 original covering remains in its position, or with household 
 remains, mixed with innumerable fragments of archaic 
 pottery wherever the covering is missing. This circum- 
 stance can leave no doubt that the cross slabs were only 
 removed after the city had been captured and deserted, 
 because all the fragments of archaic pottery must necessarily 
 have been washed down by the rain from the five natural 
 or artificial upper terraces of the Acropolis, and this can 
 of course only have taken place after Mycenae had been 
 abandoned by its inhabitants. 
 
 It must be particularly observed that the whole arrange- 
 
 * See Plan C and Plates VI., VII. t See the cut No. 190a, p. 117. 
 
Chap. V.] CIRCULAR BENCH OF THE AGORA. 125 
 
 ment of slabs slopes inwards at an angle of 75 0 ; so that, 
 the ground within the circle being raised, as just described, 
 the horizontal slabs formed a 
 continuous bench, on which 
 people could sit, looking to- 
 wards the enclosure, the in- 
 clination leaving convenient 
 room for the feet, as is the 
 case also with the stone seats 
 for the priests in the theatre 
 of Dionysus at Athens. 
 
 My esteemed friend, Pro- 
 fessor F. A. Pale)-, has been 
 the first to advance the 
 opinion, accepted by Mr. Charles T.Newton and by myself, 
 that the double parallel circle of slabs, having been in the 
 most solid way covered with cross slabs, must necessarily 
 have served as a bench to sit upon and as the enclosure 
 of the Agora of Mycenae. He thinks that the first idea 
 for the form of an Agora was given by the circular-dances 
 (kvkKlol x°P ol ) ant ^ tne recitation of the dithyrambs.* 
 The assembled people sat in a circle, and the orator stood 
 in the centre, as we see in Homer,f and in Sophocles J; 
 and just in the centre of this enclosure at Mycenae I found 
 a rock forming a slight elevation, which might well have 
 
 * The Dithyramb was an ancient Bacchanalian performance, as 
 early at least as Archilochus, who says "he knows how to lead off the 
 dithyramb, the beautiful song of Dionysus, when his mind is inflamed 
 with wine" (Frag. ap. Athen. XIV. p. 628). It seems to have been a 
 hymn sung by one or more members of a *u>/*os, or irregular band of 
 revellers, to the music of the flute. Arion, at Corinth, first gave a regular 
 choral or antistrophic form to the dithyramb (Herodot. I. 24 ; Pindar, 
 Olymp. XIII. 18-25). The choruses, which ordinarily consisted of 
 fifty men or youths, danced in a ring round the altar of Dionysus. 
 Hence they were termed cyclic choruses {kvkXwi. \opol), and dithyrambic 
 poets were understood by the term KUKAio8i6ao-»caA.oi. 
 
 t //. I. 58, 68, 101 ; II. 53, 96, 99. 
 
 + Ocd. 'lyr. l6l : "Aprf/uii' & kvk\iUvt' ayopas 6p6vov t!>K\ia Baaau. 
 " Artemis who sits on the Agora's glorious circular seat." 
 
126 
 
 THE AGORA IN THE ACROPOLIS. 
 
 [Chap. V. 
 
 served as the platform (yS^a), from which the speakers 
 addressed those sitting on the circular bench.* 
 
 We therefore know with certainty, in the first place, 
 that the Agora was round, and, secondly, that people used 
 to sit there. The circular form of the Agora is also proved 
 by Euripides,| who speaks of the "circle of the Agora" 
 (ayopas kvkKov). Professor Paley infers from the passage 
 of Euripides already cited (Electra, 710), that the poet 
 had known this Agora in the Acropolis of Mycenae 
 from personal inspection, and that by irerpiva fidOpa he 
 means the enormous circular stone bench by which the 
 Agora is enclosed, and that consequently on this bench he 
 makes the herald stand, when in a loud voice he calls the 
 people of Mycenae to the Agora ; he also believes that 
 Euripides had perhaps in mind the firj[xa in the Athenian 
 Pnyx. I should not hesitate to accept Professor Paley's 
 opinion, had I not found the Agora deeply buried in the 
 pre-historic dtbris. But it may very well be that at the 
 time of Euripides the Agora was not yet entirely covered, 
 and that the greater part of the prehistoric debris, with 
 which I found it covered, was only after his time washed 
 down by the heavy winter rains from the five upper natural 
 or artificial terraces of the Acropolis. At all events it ap- 
 pears from the pottery of the later Hellenic city that the 
 latter was not built till after the time of Euripides. 
 
 Mr. Charles T. Newton calls my attention to the 
 passage in Thucydides, who says of Corcyra, " the houses 
 which lie in a circle around the Agora."! Also to the fol- 
 lowing passages in Pausanias, which prove that the heroic 
 tombs were in the Agora of Megara. " Here they built the 
 place for council in order that they might have the tomb 
 of the heroes within the place for council for there can 
 
 * This rock has now partially fallen, in consequence of the excava- 
 tion of the third and fourth tombs, which it overhangs. 
 
 + Orest. 919. + TllUCyd. III. 74 : tcis o'lKias tos iv kvk\o> rrjs ayopat. 
 
 § PaUS. I. 43, § 4 : (SovAevrripiov IvravOa <fKoZ6ixr)aav, 1V0 <r<pl<rtv 6 rd.<pos 
 ti>v T)pd>(t>v ivrbs too &ov\tvTi]piov •yiirr\T<u. 
 
Chap. V.] ROYAL TOMBS IN THE AGORA AT CYRENE. 127 
 
 be no doubt that this (3ov\evTrjpiov was in the Agora. (It 
 must be borne in mind that this was done at Megara by 
 the advice of the Delphic oracle.) Further: "also the 
 tomb of Coroebus is in the Agora of the Megarians.' * 
 
 Another esteemed friend also calls my attention to the 
 passage in Pausanias : "Here is the tomb of Opheltes, 
 with an enclosure of stones and altars in the walls ; (here) 
 is also the tumulus, the sepulchre of Lycurgus, the father 
 of Opheltes."f But Opheltes was a son of the Nemean 
 King Lycurgus and Eurydice, and he was killed by a 
 serpent whilst his nurse, Hypsipyle, showed a spring to the 
 seven heroes when on their expedition to Thebes. Owing 
 to this event the people of Nemea founded in his honour 
 the Nemean games, and he, as well as his father, was 
 interred in the sacred grove of the Nemean Jove, where 
 their tombs were seen by Pausanias, who mentions nothing 
 of an Agora. J 
 
 Professor Paley reminds me of Pindar's Pythian Ode 
 (V. 69-98), in which we read : § "(Apollo) caused the 
 valorous descendants of Hercules and Aegimius to dwell 
 in Lacedaemon, and at Argos, and at sacred Pylos. 
 Now thev say that from Sparta came my own much 
 cherished race. Sprung from thence the heroes called 
 Aegidae came to Thera, even my ancestors, — not indeed 
 without the guidance of the god, but a certain destiny 
 brought thither a festive rite attended with much sacrific- 
 ing ; and from thence receiving thy Carnea, Apollo, we 
 honour at the banquet the grandly built city of Cyrene, 
 possessed as it is by the brass-loving strangers, Trojan 
 descendants of Antenor. For they came thither with 
 
 * PailS. I. 43, § 8 : Kopoi&w Si itrrt rapot (v t»; Mtyapiuiv ayopa. 
 
 + PaUS. II. 15, § 4: ivraiOa lari fiii/ 'O<pi\T0u Ttlpoj, ntpi Si aurb* 
 0pi'7Kos Klduiv, ko! ivrbs roii irepifSuKov /3u>uot ■ tart Si \w,ua y?is \vKovpyov nvTifia tou 
 'OtpiKrou TrarpSs. 
 
 X Paus. II. 15, § 2 ; Apollod. I. 9, § 14; III. 6, § 4 ; Hyg. Fab. 74; 
 Stat. Theb. V. 296. 
 
 § Translation of the Odes of Pindar by F. A. Paley, M.A. 
 
128 
 
 ROYAL TOMBS IN THE AGORA. 
 
 [Chap. V. 
 
 Helen, after they had seen their native city become a 
 smoking ruin in the war. And the horse-driving race is 
 religiously received with sacrifices, and propitiated by 
 offerings (at their tombs), by the men whom Aristoteles 
 (Battas) brought, when he opened the deep highway of the 
 sea for his swift vessels. He founded also larger groves of 
 the gods, and laid down a paved road, cut straight through 
 the plain, to be smitten with the feet of horses in processions 
 to Apollo for averting evil from mortals ; and there he lies 
 in death, apart from the rest, at the furthermost end of the 
 Agora. Happy did he live while among men, and after- 
 wards he was blessed as a hero worshipped by the people. 
 And away from him, in front of their palaces [but of 
 course also in the Agora], lie other consecrated kings that 
 have their lot with Hades." 
 
 From this passage in Pindar we see that Battas, also 
 called Aristoteles, the founder of Cyrene, 640 B.C., and its 
 first king, descended from Hercules, and that his ancestors, 
 the Heracleids or Dorians, had emigrated from Sparta to 
 Thera. As Pindar saw his tomb, as well as those of other 
 consecrated kings (probably the successors of Battas), in 
 the Agora of Cyrene, Professor Paley thinks that it was an 
 ancient Doric and not an Achaean custom to bury the 
 kings in the Agora. But this is in contradiction with the 
 above statement of Pausanias (I. 43, §fy 4, 8), that the 
 Megarians had the sepulchres of Coroebus and other 
 heroes in their Agora, because Coroebus was an Elian 
 Olympic victor in the stadium (Ol. I.), and, according to 
 tradition, he killed TloLvij, sent by Apollo to the Argives.* 
 Besides the Megarians had nothing whatever to do with 
 Doric customs. 
 
 In like manner as at Megara and Cyrene, so in the 
 Acropolis of Mycenae, in honour of the illustrious person- 
 ages who lie buried here, the Agora was erected in a circle 
 
 * Paus. V. 8, § 3 ; VIII. 26, § 2 ; Strabo, VIII. 355. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 CURIOUS IDOLS. 
 
 129 
 
 around their tombs. Had the circle of slabs served only as 
 an enclosure for the five royal tombs there would have 
 been no necessity either to make it double and slanting and 
 to cover it horizontally, or to build a huge wall for the 
 sole purpose of sustaining it in the lower part of the Acro- 
 polis, and of raising it to the level of that part which rested 
 on the rock in the higher part of the Acropolis ; nay, one 
 single circular enclosure, following the sinuosities of the 
 rock, would in my opinion have done just as much honour 
 to the five royal sepulchres as the artificially levelled and 
 covered double row. 
 
 It deserves particular notice that between and on both 
 sides of the double circular row of slabs, there were found 
 many objects of interest, such 
 as a fish of wood (No. 211), 
 and a large number of Hera- 
 idols of the various forms already 
 described ; also some in the 
 shape of a standing or a sitting 
 
 cow without horns, but with a female head-dress,* or 
 with the neck perforated for suspension with a string,f 
 which seems to indicate that they were worn 
 as amulets. Also a female idol having two feet 
 instead of a tube as usual ; it has an uncovered 
 bird's head, no mouth, very large eyes, pro- 
 truding hands, and a necklace ; the hair is 
 well represented on the back ; the dress is 
 marked with a red colour.^ There was also 
 found an unpainted male figure of clav, with 
 
 _ ._. _ ' A curious Idol. 
 
 large eyes, an aquiline nose, and no mouth; i 4 m.) Actuauue. 
 the head is covered with a cap in form of a 
 turban. I doubt if this is an idol. There was also found 
 a very primitive idol, with an uncovered bird's head and 
 
 No. A Mil) of Wood. ( 3 i M.) 
 
 Actual size. 
 
 * See the coloured Plate C, fig. k. 
 t See No. 115. J See No. 107. 
 
 '7 
 
130 EXCAVATIONS ABOUT THE AGORA. [Chap. V. 
 
 two ears ; the hands are on the breast, but not joined ; the 
 head is turned towards heaven (No. 212). I here call 
 attention to the large number of idols of Aphrodite in 
 the British Museum, which are represented touching both 
 breasts with the hands, probably as symbols of fecundity. 
 
 There were also found two knives of lever-opal and 
 three arrows of obsidian,* which are of rare occurrence 
 here ; further, a number of small perforated glass necklace 
 beads, and three whorls of terra-cotta. 
 
 I frequently find here, in the prehistoric dSrts, frag- 
 ments of a wall-coating of chalk with painted archaic orna- 
 mentations of red, blue, green, or yellow spiral lines. As 
 no trace of chalk is found in any of the Cyclopean houses, 
 I cannot claim for these wall-coatings a remote antiquity ; 
 and I fancy they are derived from frame houses of the last 
 century before the capture of the city by the Argives. 
 
 To the south ot the circular double row of slabs my 
 excavations have brought to light a vast Cyclopean 
 house, which, so far as it has been uncovered, contains 
 seven chambers intersected by four corridors of four feet 
 in breadth (see Plans B and C). Here and there the walls 
 still retain their clay coating, which, however, nowhere 
 shows a trace of painting. The walls are from 2 to 4^ ft. 
 thick, and the same wall is in some places 6 to 8 in. 
 thicker than in others. The largest room is i8i ft. long 
 by 13^ ft. broad, and its east side is cut out in the rock 
 to a depth of 16 in. 
 
 Below this and the adjoining room is a deep cistern cut 
 out in the rock. Into it runs a Cyclopean water-conduit, 
 which comes down the hill, and probably brought water 
 from the spring Perseia, half a mile east of the Acropolis, 
 which has a well-deserved celebrity in the plain of Argos for 
 its purity and its salubrious properties. Pausanias (II. 16) 
 saw this spring in the ruins of Mycenae ; but the city never 
 
 * See No. 126, p. 76. 
 
1876.] PROBABLE ROYAL PALACE. 131 
 
 extended so far east. I suppose, therefore, that what he 
 saw of the water of the Perseia was nothing but the dis- 
 charge of an artificial conduit from the natural source 
 above the citadel. This would also perfectly agree with 
 the word Kpijurj, which he constantly employs with that 
 meaning, in opposition to Trrj-y-q, a natural spring. 
 
 Although there are no windows in the Cyclopean 
 house — and although the scanty daylight through the 
 doors must have been still further diminished by the 
 Cyclopean circuit-wall, which is only separated from the 
 west side of the house by a corridor 4 ft. broad — yet there 
 can be no doubt that it served as a dwelling-house, and 
 further as the dwelling house of the most prominent family 
 of Mycenae, for it is only such a house that we can imagine 
 close to the Agora in the most imposing part of the 
 Acropolis, within which the space was very scanty and there- 
 fore precious. Professor Paley thinks that the passage so 
 often cited from Euripides (Elcctra, 710) proves beyond 
 any doubt that it must be the Royal Palace, because the 
 people of Mycenjr; are there called to the Agora to sec the 
 wonderful lamb with the golden Jlcccc. But this lamb 
 (which was a portent symbolical of the monarchy) had 
 been conveyed to the palace by Aerope, wife of Atreus. 
 Thyestes then and there told the people that he had it in 
 his house koto. Scofxa), consequently the palace was 
 
 close to the Agora. 
 
 If at the time of Euripides the Agora was still partly 
 visible above the dSris, such must have been still much 
 more the case with the ruins of that Cyclopean house, and 
 it is more than probable that tradition pointed to it as the 
 Palace of the Atrichr, in which Agamemnon and his com- 
 panions had been murdered, and that it was shown under this 
 denomination to Euripides. The objects discovered in this 
 house prove that its inmates had pretensions even to luxury ; 
 for in one of the chambers, at a depth of 20 feet below 
 the surface, was found a finger-ring cut out of a splendid 
 
132 THE PROBABLE ROYAL PALACE. [Chap. V. 
 
 white onyx, with a seal, on which are represented in intaglio 
 two animals without horns. At first sight they certainly 
 appear to be hinds, but on attentive examination we see that 
 the artist's intention has been to represent cows ; both have 
 their heads turned round looking at their calves, which 
 suck the milk from their udders.* Though in a very 
 archaic style, the intaglio is nevertheless well wrought ; the 
 anatomy of the animal is tolerably observed, and one feels 
 astonished how it could have been possible to do the work 
 without a magnifying glass. On seeing this intaglio, and 
 reflecting that it belongs to an antiquity preceding Homer 
 by centuries, we are ready to believe that all the works of 
 art mentioned by Homer, such as the wonderful shield of 
 Achilles,f the dog and the deer in the mantle-brooch of 
 Ulysses,J Nestor's goblet,^ and others, all existed in his 
 time, and that he merely describes what he saw with his 
 own eyes. Mr. Achilles Postolaccas calls my attention to 
 the most ancient didrachms of Corcyra, of the 7th century 
 b c, on which a cow is giving milk to her calf, this repre- 
 sentation being similar in style to the cows and calves on 
 the onyx ring. 
 
 There were further found in the Cyclopean house some 
 beautiful axes of diorite or serpentine, || and many whorls 
 of blue stone, and a great many painted terra-cottas, among 
 which the fragments of a large vase, with two or three 
 handles, the ends of which have been modelled into the 
 shape of cowheads, deserve particular attention. Some of 
 the fragments which I have been able to readjust represent 
 six full-armed warriors, painted with a dark red colour on 
 a light yellow dead ground ; they are evidently setting out 
 on a military expedition, and all wear coats of mail which 
 reach from the neck down to below the hips. (See 
 
 * See No. 175, p. 112. f Iliad, XVIII. 478-608. 
 
 x od. xix. 224-231. § //. xi. 632-635. 
 
 II Like those shown under No. 126, p. 76. 
 
1876.] A PAINTED VASE. 133 
 
 No. 213). These coats of mail consist of two distinct 
 parts, which are fastened round the waist by a girdle, 
 
i34 
 
 THE PROBABLE ROYAL PALACE. 
 
 [Chap. V. 
 
 and their lower edge is fringed with long tassels. Each 
 warrior's back is covered with a large round shield, which 
 seems to be fastened on the left shoulder, for, though 
 the shield protrudes far on both sides, it does so much 
 more on the left than on the right. Its lower end is cut 
 out in the form of a crescent. In their right hands the 
 warriors hold long lances, to each of which is attached that 
 curious object resembling a Trojan idol, which I have 
 already mentioned in describing one of the bas-reliefs. 
 Though it certainly appears to us that this curious object 
 can have served for no other purpose than for fixing the 
 lances on the right shoulder, yet it deserves particular 
 attention that the primitive Mycenean artist has taken care 
 to represent it a little above the shoulder, in order that it 
 might be seen separately, for had he represented it leaning 
 on the shoulder, it would have been confounded with, and 
 partly covered by, the shield, and it would have been im- 
 possible to recognise its shape. For the rest, the shape of 
 the lances is such as we were led to expect from the Homeric 
 " So\lx6(tklov eyx°s> f° r they are very long. We further 
 see that the spear-head has a tube in which the shaft is 
 fixed, and this appears also to have been the case with the 
 Homeric lances.f 
 
 Very peculiar are the greaves (/c^jLuSes) which appear 
 to be of cloth, and reach from a little above the knee down 
 nearly as far as the ankles ; their upper end is attached by 
 means of a string, which is turned three times round the 
 lower part of the thigh. In my opinion this string is in 
 itself a proof that the greaves are of cloth. All the warriors 
 wear sandals fastened on by straps reaching as far up as 
 the greaves. Of the highest interest are the helmets, dotted 
 all over with a large number of points, which may be 
 
 * Literally, ' a spear casting a very long shadow.' 
 t See for example, //. XVII. 297 : — 
 
 (yice<l>a\os 8e Traf)' av\bv aveSpafifv e£ wTeiArjs. 
 " And the brain ran out from the wound on the tube of the lance." 
 
1876.] THE HOMERIC HELMET. 1 35 
 
 intended to represent the lustre of the bronze. The lower 
 part of the helmets is nearly in the form of a crescent, 
 and protrudes both in front and behind ; the upper part of 
 the helmet is no doubt the Homeric <£a\o<?.* On the top 
 of this (f>dXo<; was the \d^>09 or tube, in which the horse- 
 tail crest (iWovpis) was fastened.f But unfortunately no 
 space was left for this k6<f>oq, and thus the artist has been 
 obliged to leave it out and to represent the crest as fastened 
 on the <f>d\o<; itself. What this crest consists of is not 
 clear, but as it is here shewn in the form of a long leaf, it 
 is highly probable that the artist meant to represent it as a 
 horsetail. 
 
 From the fore part of the helmet rises a long and 
 very curious object, which forms a curve, and is much 
 like a horn. It is altogether inexplicable to me what it 
 can have been used for, and there is no word in Homer 
 which might be interpreted so as to indicate its existence 
 on the Homeric helmet. 
 
 Now, with regard to the physiognomy of the six war- 
 riors, it is most decidedly not Assyrian or Egyptian. All 
 have exactly the same type — very long noses, large eyes, 
 small ears, and a long well-dressed beard, which ends in a 
 
 * 77. III. 361-362 :— 
 
 'Arpei'STjs Si Ipvtrodfitvos tftpus apyvp6r\\ov, 
 ■n\r\£(v avaaxd^tvos xSpvBoi <pd\ov. 
 " Drawing his silver-studded sword and lifting up his arm, Atreides struck the 
 <pd\os off the helmet." 
 
 f The following passage of the Iliad, XIX. 379-383, can leave 
 no doubt on this point : — 
 
 lis air' 'AxiAArjos irdtctus (TfKas alBip' fawi 
 «a\ov, SaiSuAtuV irtpt Si Tpu<pd\(tav atipas 
 Kparl Biro f}piapi)i> 1 5) 8', 0(TT7)p 4is, dir»Aa^irf v 
 'lirnovpis Tpv<t>d\(ta' ir(pia<T(iovTo 8' (Bttpat 
 Xpvatat, &s "Hc^aifTTOj Yfi \6ipov afi<pl faunas. 
 
 "So shone up to the sky the glance of the beautiful artistic shield of Achilles, 
 Lifting then up the powerful helmet, he put it on his head, a.id the plumed helmet 
 glanced like a star, and the hairs of gold waved, which Hephaestus had ihickly set 
 round the cone (Korpov)." 
 
 See the description of these parts of the Homeric helmets in ' Troy 
 and its Remains,' pp. 279-281, and 334. 
 
136 THE PROBABLE ROYAL PALACE. [Chap. V. 
 
 point. Thus, except the beard, there is nothing Asiatic 
 about them. Five of the warriors are followed by a 
 woman, seemingly a priestess, who is dressed in a long gown 
 fastened at the waist by a girdle ; her forehead is orna- 
 mented with a diadem, and she seems to wear some kind 
 of a head-dress. Only her right arm remains, which is 
 uplifted, and by the curve it forms it appears that the woman 
 has lifted her joined hands and is praying to the gods to 
 be propitious to the departing warriors, and to grant them 
 a safe return. This custom of lifting both hands when 
 praying is continually found in Homer.* 
 
 On other fragments of the same vase (No. 214!) are 
 represented two warriors, who cover their left side with 
 their shields and hold in their uplifted right hand a lance, 
 which they thrust at their enemies, of whom, however, the 
 figure of only one is partly preserved. The armour of the 
 two warriors and that of the opponent is perfectly identical 
 with that of the six warriors described before, except the 
 head-dress, which, instead of bronze helmets, consists here 
 seemingly of a low helmet of boarskin, with the bristles out- 
 side. In fact, these helmets vividly remind us of the low 
 helm of oxskin which Ulysses put on his head when he 
 and Diomed went in the night as spies to the Trojan 
 cam p. J I may here remark that the word Kvvdrj means 
 dogskin, and that consequently the low helmets must origi- 
 nally have been made of dogskin. But at the epoch of 
 
 * For example, 77. I. 450 : — 
 
 Toidiv 5e Xpv<rris ficyd\' evxero x^'pas a.va.<x-)(_iiiv. 
 " Loud prayed for them Chryses lifting up his hands." 
 
 t See Vignette to Chapter VI. 
 % II. X. 257-259. 
 
 . ifxipl Se oi Kvvir\v Ke(pa\ij(piv e07jK6i' 
 Tavpfirjv, &(pa\6v T6 Kal aKKocpov, H)tz KaraiTv^ 
 KeK\r)Tat, f>v(Tai 5e Kapf] daXtpuiv alQqaiv. 
 
 " On his brows he placed 
 A helmet, wrought of bull's hide, without crest 
 Or cone, and commonly cataityx called, 
 
 Such as defends the head of blooming youths." — I. Ch. Wright. 
 
 ) 
 
1876.] HAND-MADE POTTERY. 1 37 
 
 Homer the original conception of the word had long dis- 
 appeared, and he not only uses Kvverj for a low helm, but 
 also for a large bronze helmet. Behind the warrior to the 
 left is seen part of the coat of mail and the shield of another 
 man, and behind the other warrior is seen a shield ; thus 
 it seems that many warriors were here represented fighting 
 together. Below the first handle is represented a flying 
 bird. On the two cow-heads, in which the handles termi- 
 nate, only the place of the horns is marked, because the 
 artist knew that, if he made them, they would at once break 
 when the vase was to be used. The clay of this vase, which 
 has been made on the potter's wheel, is unusually bad and 
 mixed with coarse sand ; the fabric also is extremely rude ; 
 inside it is painted red. 
 
 There were further found in the Cyclopean house other 
 vases of excellent fabric, and ornamented with rows of 
 circles, containing numerous signs which at first sight 
 appear to be written characters, but from the continual 
 repetition of the same signs one soon sees the mistake. 
 There were also found in the Cyclopean house two copper 
 vessels, one of which is a tripod of very large size. 
 
 I now find here in the Acropolis numerous fragments 
 of hand-made pottery, but not in distinct layers as at Tiryns. 
 It is evident that the layer of prehistoric hand-made pot- 
 tery (for there must have been such a layer) has been 
 disturbed ; and I think it probable that it was disturbed 
 when the huge wall was built, which sustains the circular 
 double parallel enclosure of the Agora in the lower part 
 of the Acropolis, because this wall is at all events later than 
 the hand-made pottery. What I find of this pottery has 
 usually an ornamentation of black horizontal bands or 
 spiral lines on a light green dead ground j but fragments of 
 monochromatic lustrous black vases also occur. 
 
 I have explained on pp. 3 and 4 that the name " Cyclo- 
 pean walls " is founded on an error, being derived from the 
 mythic legend that the Cyclopes were distinguished archi- 
 
 18 
 
138 MYCENEAN POTTERY. [Ch. V. 1876. 
 
 tects, but that the name having come into use, we cannot 
 help employing it for the different kinds of walls of huge 
 blocks which I have specified. But in Tiryns as well as 
 here in Mycenae, where I am surrounded by the grandest 
 Cyclopean walls in the world, I am, for brevity's sake and 
 in order to avoid misunderstandings, bound to use the 
 name " Cyclopean " even for the smallest walls of houses 
 or water conduits which show the same kind of masonry. 
 But it must be distinctly understood that I should of 
 course not think of calling them so if I found them in 
 places where there are no huge walls of that kind, for the 
 name " Cyclopean " can only be applied to the gigantic. 
 
 No. 213 a, b. A very frequent type of Mycenean painted Pottery. Half-size 
 
 Note. — The pattern on the two fragments here shown, evidently 
 representing a sea animal, a sort of cockle, is the most common pattern at 
 Mycence ; but it never occurs either in the five royal tombs, or in the 
 dromos before the Treasury, which circumstance leads me to conclude 
 that it came into use at Mycenae both after the epoch of the tombs and 
 after the covering up of the dromos of the Treasury. The pottery with 
 this pattern has nearly always a light yellow dead ground, only in a few 
 instances a light red dead ground, and the pattern itself is always of 
 a black (or dark red) colour. Now it is a remarkable fact that this 
 pattern, which has never been found yet elsewhere, is to be seen, of 
 exactly the same form, on nearly all the terra-cotta goblets, and on 
 some of the terra-cotta vases from the sepulchre of ialysus, which are 
 now in the British Museum. At the same time I remind the reader 
 that these Ialysus goblets have exactly the same shape as all the terra- 
 cotta goblets of Mycenae, and that this form has never yet been found 
 elsewhere, except in the first and most ancient of the four prehistoric 
 cities at Hissarlik. But then again it deserves particular notice that 
 this pattern never and in no instance occurs on the Mycenean goblets, 
 and solely on the Mycenean vases. 
 
No. 314. Other Fragments of the Vase (No. 213). (5 M.) Size 1 : 6. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Second Great Treasury ; Acropolis; and Cyclo- 
 pean Remains in the Neighbourhood of Myckn.l. 
 
 Further excavations of Mrs. Schliemann's Treasury — The dromos, 
 doorway, and threshold — Objects found there — Hera-idols — 
 Cyclopean water-conduits and cisterns in the Acropolis — Bronze 
 rings — Pottery with marks like letters — Earrings like those found 
 at Troy — Hand-made painted pottery- — New forms of Hera-idols — 
 Terra-cotta tripods and cradles, probably votive offerings — A comb, 
 stilettos of opal, beads and buttons — A bronze sword — Iron tongs 
 of late date — State of the debris left at the Lions' Gate — The 
 excavations visited by the Emperor of Brazil — Ascent of Mount 
 Eubcea — The Cyclopean enclosure on its summit : was probably a 
 very ancient sanctuary — Other Cyclopean remains near Mycenae — 
 State of the excavations. 
 
 Mycenae, October 30, 1876. 
 Since the 30th of September I have continued the excava- 
 tions witli the utmost vigour, employing constantly 125 
 labourers and 5 horse-carts. In the Treasury the difficulties 
 were far greater than I had anticipated, particularly as the 
 delegate of the Greek. Government opposed the removal of 
 the foundations of the Hellenic house just above the lower 
 part of the " dromos," which I have mentioned before. 
 Thus we have been unable to clear the latter of the dibris, 
 9 ft. deep, which still covers its pavement, and have only 
 
140 
 
 THE SECOND GREAT TREASURY. 
 
 [Chap. VI. 
 
 succeeded in clearing out the entrance passage, which is 
 13 ft. long and 8 ft. broad, and the central part of the Trea- 
 sury ; but we have left a border of huge stones and rubbish, 
 7 ft. to 9 ft. high, and 10 ft. to 15 ft. broad. 
 
 The two semi -columns to the right and left of the 
 entrance were fluted ; one of them (4 ft. 3 in. high and 
 1 ft. 4 in. broad) was found in the passage near the door. 
 At ft. before the latter the " dromos " is shut up by a 
 wall of square blocks of calcareous stones, 5 ft. high. The 
 door of the Treasury has the enormous height of 18 ft. 
 5 in., and is 8 ft. 4 in. broad. On the threshold, which con- 
 sists of a very hard breccia, and is 2 ft. 5 in. broad, we found 
 a very thin round leaf of gold. The floor of the Treasury 
 is the levelled rock covered with a coating of sand and 
 chalk, traces of which are visible in many places ; it slopes 
 towards the centre, which is 1 ft. lower than the threshold. 
 
 There was found in the 
 Treasury a large fragment of 
 a frieze of blue marble, carved 
 with a circle and two rows of 
 a wedge-like ornamentation 
 in the form of fish-spines; 
 it is 9 in. high, 10 in. broad, 
 and 2 in. thick (No. 215). 
 
 Nos. 215, 316. Fragments of Frieres of blue and white marble, found in the Treasury near the 
 Lions' Gate Size i • 4 about. 
 
1876.] WATER-CONDUITS AND CISTERNS. 141 
 
 There was further found the fragment of a beautiful frieze 
 of white marble, which is 1 ft. 4 in. long, 8 in. broad, and 
 3^ in. thick. The engraving here given (No. 216) represents 
 the broad side of the frieze with an ornamentation of spirals 
 between two small borders. We have already given the 
 small face, on which we see, between two fillets on each side, 
 an ornamentation of the same kind of spirals, which are, 
 however, deeper cut and better preserved.* There were 
 further found five unornamented blades of copper or 
 bronze, 5i to 6£ in. long, and a Hera-idol of the usual 
 form, with two horns. 
 
 Treasure may be hidden in the large border of stones 
 and debris which I have been forced to leave behind, but I 
 scarcely believe it. Considering that very ancient frag- 
 ments of pottery with geometrical patterns were found ex- 
 clusively in the " dromos," and, on the other hand, a 
 variety of potsherds of different ages in the Treasury itself, 
 I am convinced that only the " dromos " and the entrance 
 were covered up in remote antiquity, that the Treasury 
 remained empty, and that the fragments of vases now found 
 in it were contained in the thick layer of rubbish which 
 covered the upper vault when, fifty-six years ago, Veli 
 Pasha tried to force an entrance by this way. 
 
 In the Acropolis I brought to light, at a few yards from 
 the second gate, a very curious Cyclopean water-conduit 
 leading into one of the long narrow corridors. I 
 therefore suppose that at least one, and perhaps two, of 
 these are nothing else than cisterns. There is another 
 Cyclopean water-conduit and another cistern immediately 
 south of them ; and the latter seems to be connected with the 
 twelve recesses, in which I also recognize nothing but six 
 small cisterns. These water-conduits, like that which runs 
 into the two cisterns below the Cyclopean house, have 
 doubtless brought the water from the copious spring 
 
 See No. 153, p. 98. 
 
142 
 
 THE SECOND GREAT TREASURY. [Chap. VI. 
 
 " Perseia," whose name seems to be derived from Perseus, 
 the founder of Mycenae. 
 
 In clearing out the masses of debris, 13 ft. to 20 ft. 
 deep, which obstructed the passage of the gate, I found 
 three bronze rings. Two of these (Nos. 217 and 219), 
 which were found close to the surface, may be of the 
 Hellenic time, but it is impossible to say this with 
 certainty. The former (No. 217), as shown by the 
 hollow, has had a stone, which is now missing. The third 
 ring is a seal-ring, and the intaglio is too archaic not to be 
 derived from a period preceding the conquest of the city 
 (468 b.c). On it we see a young woman in a sitting 
 posture, with extended arms ; her head, which is turned 
 
 217. 218. 219. 220. 
 
 (* M.) (4 M.) (I M.) (2 M.) 
 
 Nos. 217-220. Bronze Rings (two with intaglio engravings), and a twisted Gold Wire. Actual size. 
 
 aside, has luxuriant hair ; to the right, a little further down, 
 is a male figure, with a broad chest and extended arms. 
 
 There were also found many Hera-idols in the form of 
 a cow or a horned female, and among the former a fragment 
 showing on a light yellow dead ground a number of dark 
 red signs, which may be letters, like those shown on the 
 coloured plate B, fig. h ; also large quantities of melted 
 lead ; further a very primitive golden earring (see No. 220), 
 consisting of a quadrangular golden wire turned twice 
 round. Mr. Chas. T. Newton concludes from the sharp 
 angles of this and all the other quadrangular gold wires 
 which I shall hereafter describe, that they have been a 
 strip or riband cut out of a plate. But it is altogether 
 inexplicable to me how the primitive goldsmith can have 
 performed this operation, particularly as his knives must 
 
1876.] OBJECTS FOUND IN THE PALACE. 143 
 
 necessarily have been of bronze. The same form of 
 earrings occurs also in the second of the four prehistoric 
 cities at Troy,* with the sole difference that the wire there 
 is round. 
 
 There were also found here, in a hollow of the rock, a 
 great many fragments of hand-made vases, coloured either 
 of a plain black or red, both inside and outside, or, on the 
 outside only, of a light green, with black spiral ornamen- 
 tation. At only 6 ft. behind the Cyclopean wall, on the 
 east side of the passage, I have brought to light the rem- 
 nants of an evidently much more ancient wall of huge 
 blocks. 
 
 In the large Cyclopean house, which tradition seems to 
 have indicated as the palace of the Atrid;c, immediately 
 to the south of the circular Agora, were found Ilera- 
 idols of new forms : for example, a perfectly Hat cow 
 with only one big hind-leg and two fore-legs ; j a female 
 idol, with a very compressed bird's face, and with a 
 Phrygian cap, instead of the usual " polos ;" and a head- 
 less idol, with two protruding breasts, but with two long 
 cow-horns. There was likewise found a terra-cot ta cow- 
 horn, 3^ in. long, which shows that there must have 
 been much larger idols than those hitherto found. I 
 further collected there a number of small terra-cotta 
 tripods in the form of arm-chairs and cradles, in one or 
 two instances even cradles containing children : all are gay- 
 coloured and may have served as offerings. Among the 
 other objects found there I may mention two perforated 
 parallelopipeds of variegated colours, 4 in. long, the use 
 of which I cannot explain ; — a comb, which, according 
 to Professor Landerer, consists of a very hard white clay 
 paste ; — several pointed sticks (stilettos) for female needle- 
 work,! which the same scholar recognises to consist of 
 
 * See 'Atlas des Antiquitcs Troyennes, PI. 98, No. 207.}. 
 t See No. 161, p. 106. J Nos. 131-136, p. 79. 
 
144 
 
 THE LIONS' GATE. 
 
 [Chap. VI. 
 
 opal ; — six small perforated round flat transparent beads 
 of white stone, belonging to a necklace ; and a large 
 button of alabaster, which seems to have been 
 on the handle of a sword. There was also found 
 the bronze sword (No. 221). A pair of tongs of 
 iron was found near the Lions' Gate close to the 
 surface, and may be of the Macedonian period. 
 
 To my very greatest annoyance and dis- 
 pleasure, but by the most urgent demand of the 
 Greek Archaeological Society in Athens, I have 
 been forced to leave in the Acropolis, on either 
 side of the Lions' Gate, a large block of debris 
 untouched in situ, because this Institution has 
 not yet sent, as it intended to do, an engineer 
 to consolidate the sculpture of the two lions with 
 cramp-irons, and to repair the Cyclopean walls to 
 the right and left of it. But they still intend 
 to do this work sooner or later, and they believe 
 that the two masses of debris will facilitate the 
 raising of the blocks and their insertion in the 
 walls. I hope that this work will be done 
 promptly, so that the two blocks of debris may 
 not have long to wait for their removal, for they 
 give the excavations a miserable aspect, and 
 particularly the mass of debris to the right on 
 
 No. 221. 1 . 3 . to 
 
 Bron/e sword, entering, because this latter consists of loose 
 ashes, and, should it be left for a few years more 
 as it is, it will be washed away by the rains and spread 
 over my excavations. I call particular attention to this, 
 because every visitor will naturally attribute the leaving 
 behind of these two blocks of debris to my negligence. 
 
 Yesterday and to-day my excavations have had the 
 honour of being visited by his Majesty Dom Pedro II., 
 Emperor of Brazil. Coming from Corinth, his Majesty rode 
 direct up to the Acropolis, and remained for two hours in my 
 excavations, which he attentively examined and re-examined. 
 
1876.] VISIT OF THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL. 145 
 
 The immense double parallel circle of slanting slabs, within 
 which are the three lines of tombstones, and particularly the 
 four sculptured ones, seemed to be of paramount interest to 
 him, and he requested me to send him photographs of 
 them to Cairo. The great Lions' Gate, through which the 
 king of men (ava£ av&pcov) passed when he left for the 
 most glorious expedition of the heroic age, the wonderful 
 threshold of this gate, the large Cyclopean house, the three 
 Cyclopean water-conduits, the immense Cyclopean circuit 
 walls and all the other monuments of prehistoric times, 
 seemed also to be of very great interest to his Majesty, 
 who went thence to the Treasury which we have excavated, 
 and afterwards to the Treasury of Atreus, where dinner 
 was served. This meal, in the midst of the mysterious, 
 dome- like underground building nearly forty centuries old, 
 seemed to please his Majesty exceedingly. He after- 
 wards examined with the deepest interest, in the village 
 of Charvati, the large collection of prehistoric Mycenean 
 antiquities produced by my excavations, and he particularly 
 admired the enormous mass of differently-shaped Hera- 
 idols, the intaglios, the marvellous Mycenean pottery, and 
 the archaic sculptures. I lis Majesty also examined atten- 
 tively, in and around Charvati, the ancient quarry whence 
 all the stones for the Cyclopean walls, the Treasuries, and 
 other buildings, have been extracted, and went thence to 
 Argosand Nauplia. His Majesty called here again to-day, 
 to see once more the Mycenean museum and the excava- 
 tions, and returned hence by Corinth and Calamaki to 
 Athens. 
 
 After the departure of his Majesty, Mrs. Schliemann and 
 I ascended, not without the very greatest difficulty, the very 
 steep northern peak of Mount Eubcea, now called Hagios 
 Elias, which is situated immediately north of the Acropolis, 
 and is crowned by an open chapel of the prophet Elias 
 (see Plate II.). The summit forms a very small triangle, 
 the eastern side of which is 35 ft., the two other sides, 
 
146 
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT EUBCEA. 
 
 [Chap. VI. 
 
 which converge due west, each 100 ft. long. It is full of 
 rugged and pointed rocks, between which it is difficult even 
 to move, and it can therefore never have been inhabited by 
 men, the more so as there is no water. The only even and 
 level place on the summit is in the south-east corner ; it is 
 but 10 ft. broad and 23 ft. long, and is occupied by a very 
 small open shrine, dedicated to the prophet Elias. But in 
 spite of its small dimensions, the summit is surrounded by 
 Cyclopean walls, which are on an average 4 ft. 2 in. thick, 
 and from 3 ft. to 6\ ft. high ; but the masses of stones which 
 lie beside them can leave no doubt that they were once 
 much higher. 
 
 The entrance, which is on the eastern side, leads to 
 a short passage. In the large stone which forms the 
 threshold of the door is still visible the hole in which the 
 lower hinge turned. At a distance varying from 16 ft. to 
 53 ft. lower are, on all the three sides by which the summit 
 is accessible, Cyclopean walls, varying from 133 ft. to 266 ft. 
 in length, and 5 ft. thick, which are still now on an 
 average 10 ft. high, and appear to have once been much 
 higher. From between the stones of all these walls I have 
 been able to collect a large number of fragments of hand- 
 made light green vases with black ornaments, which I con- 
 sider as old as the walls of Tiryns and Mycenae, because 
 in the former place I found them in situ on and near the 
 virgin soil, in the latter in sihc only on the natural rock in 
 the recesses of the gate-passage, and in the tombs. I con- 
 clude from this that the Cyclopean fortifications on Mount 
 Euboea (Hagios Elias) must be contemporaneous with the 
 walls of both cities, and may perhaps claim even a still 
 higher antiquity. 
 
 The question now naturally arises, for what purpose all 
 these fortifications have been built. The mountain being so 
 high and steep, and the summit so exceedingly small and 
 encumbered by protruding rocks, it can never have served 
 as a fortress. Therefore the only explanation I venture to 
 
1876.] SANCTUARY OF THE SUN-GOD. 147 
 
 give of the origin of these Cyclopean walls is that there 
 must have existed on the summit a small temple of great 
 sanctity and immense importance, and by a curious co- 
 incidence we may even find in the present cultus on the 
 summit the name of the deity who was worshipped there 
 in antiquity. In times of great drought the inhabitants of 
 the surrounding villages are in the habit of going thither 
 on a pilgrimage in large crowds, the priests leading, to 
 invoke the prophet Elias to give rain. And it appears 
 likely that the very site of the present open shrine of the 
 prophet Elias was in ancient times occupied by a sanctuary 
 of the Sun-god, who had a celebrated cultus there, and who 
 has given way to the prophet Elias, with hardly anv change 
 in the orthography or pronunciation of the name, the Sun- 
 god having been originally called 'He'Xios, pronounced Eelios. 
 This is a wonderful coincidence, because, as the name of 
 the prophet is purely Hebrew (n^N or inJjK, meaning 
 "Jehovah is God") it can have no affinity with the 
 Homeric name of the Sun-god, 'Ht'A.105, which is probably 
 derived from the primitive name of the moon's husband 
 (perhaps ^eipto?) and is at all events purely Greek. 
 
 Only half an hour's walk in a westerly direction from 
 the Lions' Gate, and close to the village of Phichtia, are 
 the ruins of a small Cyclopean building, in the same style 
 of architecture as the walls to the right and left of that 
 gate, and probably belonging to the same epoch. This 
 also appears to have been a temple. We likewise see, 
 at an hour's distance in a north-westerly direction from the 
 Lions' (kite, in a secluded valley, on the border of a deep 
 glen, the well-preserved ruins of a quadrangular Cyclopean 
 tower, of which every side measures 40 ft. in length ; the 
 walls are 10 ft. to 1 1 ft. high. At the south-westerly 
 corner is the door, which leads into a small corridor and 
 two chambers. On the outer walls are seen two gutters. 
 The architecture is also very similar to that of the walls 
 close to the Lions' Gate. Most likely this tower served 
 
1 48 
 
 STATE OF THE EXCAVATIONS. 
 
 [Chap. VI. 
 
 the Myceneans for dominating the narrow pass by which 
 the road leads from Argos to Corinth. 
 
 The present state of the excavations is represented by 
 the engraved Plate VII. First we see, to the left of the 
 spectator, the inner side of the great Cyclopean circuit wall, 
 which is terminated in the background by the Lions' Gate, 
 of which, however, there is only visible the reverse side 
 of the great triangular slab, on the exterior side of 
 which is the famous bas-relief of the two lions. The 
 Cyclopean wall seen in the background to the right was 
 part of an interior enclosure. 
 
 Further down, just behind the last man, is a Cyclopean 
 wall, of which, however, only the small portion close to the 
 Lions' Gate, with the chamber of the ancient door-keeper, 
 can claim the age of the circuit walls ; the remainder is 
 much later, but anterior to the capture of the city by the 
 Argives (468 B.C.). Before this wall is the labyrinth of 
 corridors, two of which, at all events, are cisterns. To the 
 left, close to the circuit wall, is the small Cyclopean house 
 so often referred to, containing only one chamber. 
 
 In the foreground, below the feet of the workmen who 
 stand upon it, can be seen the great double parallel circular 
 row of slanting slabs, inclined inwards, which were covered 
 with cross slabs, and served as benches of the Agora and as 
 its enclosure. In the same line with this double circular 
 row of slabs are the twelve small tomb-like water-reservoirs 
 which we see in the direction of the Lions' Gate, and between 
 which is the entrance to the Agora, 7 feet broad. Thence 
 the circle of slabs slopes to the left of the spectator, from 
 the rock to the Cyclopean wall (12 feet high), which 
 has been built with no other intention than to sustain it, 
 and to raise it almost to the level of its continuation on 
 the rock ; but as will be seen, nearly all the slabs in this 
 part have tumbled down, and only a few have remained in 
 situ. The wall which supports the parallel double row 
 can be well seen, slanting down at an angle of 15 0 from 
 
1876.] PANORAMIC VIEW. 149 
 
 the perpendicular, to the left of the spectator. The four 
 sculptured stelcc are hidden behind the large standing slab 
 just in front ; of the unsculptured tombstones, two can be 
 seen to the right, on the side of the entrance to the Agora, 
 and two more on the side of the two horses. Therefore 
 the ancient Agora of Mycenae comprises the whole space 
 which we see enclosed by the great circle of slabs. 
 
 In the middle is seen, in the background to the left, 
 part of the steep slope of Mount Eubcea, on whose 
 summit is the open chapel of the prophet Elias. In front, 
 more to the right, is the great interior Cyclopean wall, 
 crowned by the ruins of a tower, which gives to the 
 Acropolis a particularly grand aspect. It forms part of a 
 second enclosure. To the right there is a good view of 
 the Mount of the Acropolis, on the slope of which 
 remnants of inner enclosures can be seen in many places. 
 All the walls which are seen lower down are those of 
 Cyclopean houses, except the large supporting wall of the 
 double parallel row of slabs, of which a small part may be 
 seen in the lower left-hand corner. Below, to the right, 
 are the ruins of the vast Cyclopean house, to which I 
 have repeatedly referred, and which, though we cannot 
 of course form a definite opinion, may well represent to 
 an imagination enlightened by the vivid descriptions of 
 Homer and the tragedians, the Royal Palace of Agamemnon 
 and his forefathers. 
 
 Note. — I call the reader's particular attention to the Section il Plan, 
 B B, which shows the depths of the Five Royal Sepulchres, which are 
 described fully in the two following chapters, beneath the surface of the 
 soil, as it was before my excavations. 
 
No. 222. Fragment of a wooden Box [va.pBy\£). (5 m.) Size 6 : 7. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The First, Second, and Third Tombs in the Acropolis. 
 
 Discovery of the Tomb indicated by the three sculptured stelce — Curious 
 gold-covered buttons, objects of ivory, baked clay, gold, glass, 
 bronze, &c. — Pottery, both wheel and hand-made — Second Tomb 
 below the unsculptured stelce — Discovery of three human bodies, 
 which had been partially burnt where they lay — - Fifteen diadems 
 of thin gold plate found on the bodies — Also crosses of golden 
 laurel-leaves — Other curious objects, proving a knowledge of the art 
 of glass-working and colouring — Knives of obsidian ■ — A silver vase 
 with a bronze mouth plated with gold, and other objects — Terra- 
 cotta vases — The horned Hera-idols found in the tomb, a proof 
 of that symbolic worship in the earliest times at Mycenae — Its 
 duration to the last age of the city — Primitive painted wheel- 
 made vases of terra-cotta — Further discovery of sepulchral slabs — ■ 
 Various objects found with them — The Third Tomb — Several 
 skeletons of men, not burnt, and objects found with them — A 
 curious double-bladed bronze dagger — Narrow escape from a 
 falling rock — Internal walls of the tomb — Three skeletons of 
 women in it, evidently burnt where they lay — Laden with jewels of 
 gold — Layers of round plates of gold with ornamentation of repousse 
 work under and over the bodies — Description of their many types 
 — The other jewels described — -Other chased and embossed beads 
 — Golden griffins — Legend of the griffins of Indian origin — 
 Heart-shaped and lion-draped gold ornaments — Curious brooches 
 formed of palm-trees, stags, and lions — Women with pigeons — 
 Golden cuttle-fish, butterflies, swans, hippocampi, eagles, sphinxes, 
 trees, and birds — The splendid gold crown on the head of one of 
 the bodies — Signs upon it — The second gold crown — Five 
 
Ch. VII. 1876.] 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 more diadems of gold — Crosses of double leaves of gold — Golden 
 stars — A gold brooch, and other ornaments — Necklaces and 
 bracelets — Two pairs of golden scales — Golden plates — A child's 
 mask of gold — Other ornaments — Balls, &c. of rock crystal, silver, 
 and bronze, probably the handles of sceptres — Lentoid gems of agate, 
 sardonyx, &c, with intaglios — A lentoid gem of amethyst engraved 
 with a cow suckling her calf, as on the old coins of Corcyra — Gold 
 wheels — A gold comb with bone teeth, &c. — Amber beads — 
 Other ornaments — Pieces of gold-leaf strewn below and about the 
 bodies — A gold goblet — A curious gold box, and gold vases with 
 lids fastened on by wires — A silver vase and golden sceptre-handle — 
 Boxes of copper plate filled with wood, perhaps pillows for the dead 
 bodies — Other objects found in the third sepulchre — Hand-made 
 and very ancient wheel-made pottery. 
 
 Mycenae, December 6, 1876. 
 
 The four sculptured tombstones having been removed to 
 the village of Charvati, in order to be sent to Athens, I 
 excavated on the site of the three with the bas-reliefs repre- 
 senting the warriors and the hunting scene,* and found 
 a quadrangular tomb, 21 ft. 5 in. long and 10 ft. 4 in. 
 broad, cut out in the slope of the rock. The earth in this 
 tomb consisted of the detritus of house remains mixed 
 with natural soil, which latter had been brought here from 
 
 No. 223. Plan of Tombstones in the first Tomb 
 
 another place. At a depth of 3 ft. 3 in. below the place 
 where the tombstones had stood I found a curious sort ot 
 
 * See Chapters III. and IV., pp. 80-85, 88-90. 
 
THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 monument, consisting of two long and narrow slabs 
 5 ft. long, 7 in. thick, and 12 in. broad, lying the one 
 upon the other, and at their south end a smaller slab 
 2,4 ft. long in an oblique position, as if to serve for a 
 pillow to the corpse laid down on the upper slab. (See 
 No. 223.) The latter stone had a border, and belongs 
 evidently to another monument, of which the other two 
 slabs may likewise have formed part. Most probably there 
 was once on this tomb a large monument, ornamented 
 with the three sculptured tombstones which now marked 
 its site. 
 
 In digging lower down I found from time to time a very 
 small quantity of black ashes, and in this very frequently 
 some curious objects ; such as a bone button covered 
 with a golden plate, with a beautiful intaglio ornamentation, 
 or an imitation of a ram's horn cut out of ivory, having one 
 flat side with two holes, by which the object must have 
 been attached to something else, or other ornaments of 
 bone or small plates of gold. I collected in this way twelve 
 gold buttons covered with gold plates ornamented with 
 intaglio work, one of which is as large as a five-franc piece. 
 The ornamentation of the gold plates consists either of 
 spiral lines or that curious cross pfr 1 with the marks of four 
 nails, which so frequently occurs on the whorls in Ilium, 
 and which I believe to be the symbol of the holy fire.* All 
 the buttons are in the form of our shirt-buttons, but larger, 
 and similar to those shown in a later part of this work. 
 I collected there, besides the buttons, two objects of ivory 
 in the form of ram's-horns, like No. 225 ; and four pieces 
 of ivory in the form of a crescent, one side being convex, 
 the other flat, in which are four holes for fixing it to 
 something else (see No. 224) ; six long and narrow pieces 
 of ivory, like 227, having for ornamentation five vertical 
 incisions, and in the reverse side two deep vertical cuts for 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' pp. 103-106. 
 
1876.] OBJECTS OF IVORY, BONE, ETC. 1 53 
 
 attaching them on another object. Very probably all these 
 objects have served as ornaments on horse-trappings. 
 There was found besides the ivory needle, No. 229 ; 
 further, six buttons of hard white stone with a circular 
 hole in the centre, into which is stuck a small blue stone 
 (No. 226). The round hole in the centre as well as the 
 presence of the small stones in it are inexplicable to me. 
 There were also found a small button of the same sort, the 
 gold-plated head of a bronze nail, eight long thin pieces 
 and four large disks of thin gold plate, two small tube-like 
 
 Nos. 224-239. Objects of ivory, bone, or metallic composition. Sepulchre I. Size 7 : 9. 
 
 pieces of a glassy substance, containing in the interior a 
 small tube of real blue glass, of which I shall have occasion 
 to speak hereafter. I also found there the green object 
 (No. 228), which has small horizontal flutings all round : 
 according to Professor Landerer it consists of an artificial 
 substance containing oxide of copper, which has been 
 pressed into its present form. The earth was intermixed 
 with numerous fragments of very ancient wheel-made 
 pottery, with a variegated painted ornamentation, and others 
 
 JO 
 
154 THE FIRST AND SECOND SEPULCHRES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 of hand-made monochromatic lustrous black or red or 
 light green pottery with black spiral ornamentation ; but 
 to my astonishment I found also from time to time some 
 fragments of painted vases made on the potter's wheel, of 
 those sorts which are found even in the upper prehistoric 
 strata, and which most decidedly belong to a much later 
 period. 
 
 Among the most interesting of the hand-made pottery 
 are the large lustrous black goblets, with a hollow foot and 
 
 horizontal fiutings in 
 the middle (No. 230), 
 which are frequent in 
 the first prehistoric 
 city of Troy ; also the 
 light green or yellow 
 ones, with a most 
 fantastical black orna- 
 mentation ; and the 
 larger vases of a light 
 red dead colour, with 
 dark red circles, or 
 with two protruding 
 female breasts sur- 
 rounded by circles of 
 small black strokes. 
 
 Having dug down 
 to a depth of ioi ft., 
 I was stopped by heavy rain, which turned the soft earth 
 in the tomb to mud, and I therefore took out the two 
 unsculptured tombstones of the second line, which stood 
 due east of the three sculptured ones, and at a distance 
 of 20 ft. from them. One of these tombstones was 5 ft., 
 the other 5 ft. 4 in., long. In excavating around them I 
 found another tomb cut in the rock, 1 1 ft. 8 in. broad, and 
 in length 21 ft. 3 in. on one side, and 19 ft. 8 in. on the 
 other. It was entirely filled with unmixed natural earth. 
 
 No. 230. Foot of a black hand-made Goblet. 
 Sepulchre I. Size 6 : 7. 
 
1876.] THREE BODIES IN THE SECOND TOMB. 155 
 
 which had been brought from another place. At from 
 2 to i\ ft. below the two tombstones I found the fragments 
 of two other tombstones, also unsculptured, which appeared 
 to be older. 
 
 At a depth of 15 ft. below the level of the rock, or of 
 25 ft. below the former surface of the ground, as I found 
 it when I began the excavations, I reached a layer of 
 pebbles, below which I found, at a distance of three feet 
 from each other, the remains of three human bodies, all 
 with the head turned to the east and the feet to the west. 
 They were only separated from the surface of the levelled 
 rock by another layer of small stones on which they were 
 lying, and they had evidently been burned simultaneously in 
 the very same place where they lay. The masses of ashes of 
 the clothes which had covered them, and of the wood which 
 had partially or entirely consumed their flesh, as well as the 
 colour of the lower layer of stones and the marks of the 
 fire and the smoke on the stone wall, which at the bottom 
 of the sepulchre lined all the four sides — can leave no 
 doubt whatever on this point ; nay more, there were the 
 most unmistakable marks of three distinct funeral piles. 
 The wall, which at the bottom of the tomb lined its four 
 sides, consisted of pretty large stones joined without any 
 binding material; it was 5 ft. high and 1 ft. 8 in. thick. 
 The small stones with which the bottom of the sepulchre 
 was strewn can, in my opinion, have had no other object 
 than to procure ventilation to the funeral pyres. These 
 could not have been large, and had evidently been intended 
 to consume merely the clothes and partly or entirely the 
 flesh of the deceased ; but no more, because the bones and 
 even the skulls had been preserved j but these latter had 
 suffered so much from the moisture, that none of them 
 could be taken out entire. 
 
 On every one of the three bodies I found five diadems 
 of thin gold-plate, like those to be presently described,* 
 
 * See Nos. 282-284, PP- 186, 188. 
 
156 THE SECOND SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 each 195 in. long, and 4 in. broad in the middle, from 
 which it gradually diminishes to a point at both ends. The 
 pointed ends have been broken off, but, as several of the 
 other diadems have such points, there can be no doubt that 
 all had been fashioned in the same way. All the diadems 
 were piped with copper wires in order to give them more 
 solidity, and a great many fragments of those copper wires 
 were found. All the fifteen diadems show the very same or- 
 namentation of repoussS work, consisting of a border of two 
 lines on either side, between which we see a row of treble 
 concentric circles, which increase or diminish in size ac- 
 cording to the breadth of the diadem, the largest circle being 
 in the middle. Between these treble circles is on either 
 side a row of smaller double concentric circles, which like- 
 wise increase or diminish in size in proportion to the breadth 
 of the diadems. As well in the larger treble as in the 
 smaller double circles, the central or innermost circle is 
 always hammered so as to protrude, which gives to the 
 diadems a splendid aspect. The diadems had at one end a 
 pin (e/i/3oXo^), and at the other a tube (cuiAicr/cos) by means 
 of which they were fixed round the head ; of course in 
 such a way that the largest treble circle was just -in the 
 middle of the forehead. 
 
 I further found with two of the bodies ten very thin 
 golden crosses (five with each body), formed of laurel leaves 
 (No. 231); with the third body there were only four of 
 them. Each of these crosses is J% in. long ; the breadth 
 of the leaves is if in. The leaves of all the fourteen crosses 
 have also been piped with thin copper wire, to give them 
 more firmness. The ornamentation of the leaves is likewise 
 of repoussd work. It presents all round the leaves a small 
 border formed by a line, on which lies an uninterrupted 
 row of double concentric ovals in a slanting position, which 
 are probably also meant to represent leaves. In this way 
 the whole leaf is encircled by a broad band of such double 
 ovals or leaves, and the space left is filled up with three 
 double concentric circles. 
 
1876.] 
 
 TUBES OF CO HALT GLASS. 
 
 '57 
 
 I also found with the bodies many curious objects ; for 
 example, small cylinders with a small tube throughout their 
 length, as well as square pieces composed of four such 
 cylinders, of which however only those at the two extre- 
 mities have perforations. All these things have a greyish- 
 white colour, and consist of a very soft matter, which falls 
 into dust when pressed but softly with the hand. In the 
 interior of each cylinder there is a hard, blue transparent 
 tube, which Professor Landerer has analysed and found to 
 
 No. .'ii. A cross of golden laurel leatcs. Sepulchre II. Size 4 : 5, about. 
 
 consist of cobalt glass. Within the blue tube again is a 
 small thin white tube, which shines like silver, and Professor 
 Landerer has found it to consist of a glassy substance con- 
 taining lead [bleihalHg). According to Professor Landerer, 
 this discovery proves that the ancient Myceneans knew the 
 colouring of glass as well as the art of encompassing a 
 tube of glass with a second and a third one.* lie assures 
 me that the analysis of Egyptian glass has given the same 
 
 • Called in German the ' Unifangsmethode.' 
 
i 5 8 
 
 THE SECOND SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 result, and he supposes that the cobalt- glasses were derived 
 from Egypt. He further mentions that all present blue- 
 coloured glasses are of such cobalt-glass. All these cylinders 
 and square pieces of four cylinders must have served as 
 ornaments of the corpses. 
 
 The fabrication of glass was evidently in its very 
 beginning at the time the tombs were constructed; but it 
 seems to have made no progress here, for, except a few white 
 glass pearls and some small ornaments of a glass paste, 
 nothing was found of this article even in the upper strata, 
 and it appears certain that at the capture of Mycenae by 
 the Argives (468 b.c.) even the small glass bottles, often 
 found elsewhere, were still entirely unknown. 
 
 I further found a number of small knives of obsidian, 
 many fragments of a large silver vase with a mouth of 
 copper, which is thickly plated with gold and splendidly 
 ornamented with intaglio work ; unfortunately it has 
 suffered too much from the funeral fire to be photographed. 
 It appears that the Mycenean goldsmiths found it much 
 easier to plate on copper than on silver ; hence they made 
 the mouth of this silver vase of copper. I also found a 
 long and a short rusted bronze knife ; a silver cup (^laX/ry) 
 with one handle, much damaged by the fire ; four long 
 perforated necklace-beads (two of agate and two of a 
 glassy composition) ; a bronze vase handle ; two horned 
 Hera-idols of terra-cotta, of the usual form ; and finally, 
 many fragments of beautiful hand-made and of very ancient 
 wheel-made pottery, among which was part of a vase with 
 two tubular holes on either side for suspension with a 
 string, like the vases in the lowest prehistoric city of Ilium.* 
 There are also fragments of terra-cotta tripods, of which I 
 found such an enormous quantity at Troy,| but which are 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 310, No. 222, where "rings" 
 should rather have been " tubes " or " tubular rings." 
 t Ibid. p. 285, No. 199. 
 
1876.J ANTIQUITY OF HORNED FEMALE IDOLS. 159 
 
 less frequent at Mycenae, nearly all the vases having a flat 
 bottom. In this tomb was also found the fragment of 
 a vase, ornamented with a sign which is nothing else than a 
 pM, the four arms of which have merely been converted 
 into a spiral form. 
 
 The most important objects found in this tomb are no 
 doubt the two two-horned Hera-idols previously mentioned, 
 because they prove to us that the goddess was already wor- 
 shipped, in this shape, in that remote antiquity to which the 
 sepulchre belongs. As the very same type of the idol is 
 found in all the strata of prehistoric ruins, and even in the 
 ddbris of the houses which just preceded the later Hellenic- 
 city, it appears certain that it was still in use at the time of 
 the capture of Mycenae by the Argives (468 B.C.), and 
 consequently it remained here unchanged for more than a 
 thousand years. It is true that in all the prehistoric strata 
 of dibris above the tombs there are also found female 
 idols of a different shape, which we cannot but assign to 
 Hera; but, as their number is only very small as com- 
 pared to the mass of horned idols, we may take it tor 
 granted that the horned idol was the most ancient, and 
 that therefore the Myceneans clung with tenacity to that 
 form. 
 
 The most remarkable wheel-made terra-cottas found 
 in this tomb represent the lower parts of birds, in black 
 colour on a light yellow dead ground. I also found two 
 fragments of a hand-made vase belonging to the upper part 
 of the bulge, with two female breasts ; a large fragment 
 of a most ancient wheel-made vase, presenting on a light 
 yellow dead ground a beautiful and fantastic ornamentation 
 of plants, circles or wave-like lines, painted in a very dark 
 red colour (see Nos. 232, 233). These two fragments give 
 a good illustration of Mr. Chas. T. Newton's remarks on 
 the 9th June in the Royal Institution of London: "The 
 floral ornaments of the Mycenean vases have a certain 
 vague freedom and straggling lawless luxuriance, which 
 
i6o 
 
 THE SECOND SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 seems to imply the facility of hand which long practice 
 gives. The animal forms are ungainly and constrained in 
 action, and the anatomy is for the most part entirely 
 ignored or most feebly rendered. The floral and animal 
 patterns seem to be the result of impressions from nature 
 sufficiently vivid to awaken the mimetic faculty in an 
 uncultivated mind, but which the untrained hand was 
 unable to render in art." 
 
 Nos. 232, 233. Fragments of a very ancient wheel-made Vase. Sepulchre II. Size 1 : 3, about. 
 
 I also found here five fragments of very ancient 
 wheel-made vases, having an ornamentation, in similar 
 colours, of network, waving lines, plants, lines of points, 
 &c. ; and finally some fragments of very ancient wheel- 
 made vases. Six of these fragments, which evidently 
 belong to the same vase, have, on a light red dead ground, 
 an ornamentation of crosses with four points. One has 
 in its pointed bottom a perforation, and may have served 
 
1876.] THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. l6l 
 
 as a sort of funnel. Another has the most curious orna- 
 mentation of all ; it shews above what appears to be intended 
 for the head of a serpent ; to the right is a circle sur- 
 rounded by points, and in its centre a crescent and six 
 points ; to the left of this is another circle, filled with and 
 surrounded by points. 
 
 Encouraged by the success obtained in the second tomb, 
 I took out the two large unsculptured tombstones of the 
 third line, which stood almost due south of the former. 
 One of them is 6 ft. 4 in. long, and 4 ft. broad ; the other 
 is 4 ft. 10 in. long and 4 ft. 4 in. broad. They were ex- 
 tremely well fastened by square blocks, so that they could 
 not be got out without great efforts. These tombstones 
 stood precisely 13 ft. 4 in. below the surface, as I found it 
 when I began the excavations,, Two feet below them, and 
 thus 1 5 ft. 4 in. below the former surface, I found two 
 large slabs in the form of sepulchral monuments, lying 
 horizontally. At a depth of 5 ft. lower I brought to light 
 three more slabs, the one lying, the other two standing, as 
 follows : — 
 
 No. 234. Plan of Tombstones above the Third Tomb. 
 
 The soil consisted of black earth, intermixed with 
 fragments of hand-made and very ancient wheel-made 
 pottery, and masses of small knives of obsidian. Besides a 
 small number of Hera-idols, I found there a solid piece of 
 ivory, one inch high and broad, in the form of a beehive, 
 having in the lower flat side a tubular hole for suspension 
 
 21 
 
162 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 with a thread ; while on the convex or globular side is an 
 engraved cross, embellished with five gold pins with flat 
 heads, each of which has a small hole in the 
 centre of its head (see No. 235) ; also apiece 
 of wood, 4 in. long and 2 in. broad, with 
 beautifully carved spiral lines (No. 222),* 
 Piece of ornamented which seems to belong to a box (vdpdr)^) ; 
 
 3 4 also two well-polished pieces of wood with 
 sharp points, but otherwise almost in the form of long 
 thin cones. 
 
 In digging deeper I found that, at a distance of 33 ft. 
 from the east side of the circular double parallel row of 
 large slabs which encloses the Agora, the rock suddenly 
 slopes, for a space of 30 ft. in length and width, at an 
 angle of 30 degrees, the perpendicular height of the 
 slope being i6i ft. Further to the west the rock forms 
 a platform 30 ft. long and broad, with two sepulchres, 
 of which I shall first describe the smaller one, because 
 the aforesaid two tombstones stood at a height of 
 i6i ft. above its mouth. This sepulchre, which in the 
 Plan B I call the Third Tomb, is 16 ft. 8 in. long, 
 and 10 ft. 2 in. broad, and it is cut into the rock, on 
 the west side 2 ft. 4 in., on the south side 3 ft. 4 in., 
 on the east side 7 ft., and on the north 5 ft. deep.f 
 These different depths find their explanations in the 
 slope and in the unevenness of the rock, because the 
 bottom of the tomb is of course perfectly horizontal. At 
 about 9 ft. above the mouth of this tomb I discovered 
 close to it, on the slope of the rock, at a depth of 21 ft. 
 below the former surface, a number of skeletons of men, 
 which had evidently not been on the funeral pyre, but were 
 so much destroyed by the moisture that none of the skulls 
 could be taken out entire. The only objects I found with 
 them were knives of obsidian and five very pretty hand- 
 
 * See Vignette to this chapter. 
 
 t See Plan B B. 
 
1876.] ROCK IN CENTRE OF THE AGORA. 163 
 
 made vases, two of which are of plain light yellow, the 
 three others of a light green colour, with a rude black 
 ornamentation (see Nos. 236, 237). 
 
 Immediately to the north of the tomb in question, and 
 thus in the centre of the Agora, I brought to light the 
 before-mentioned rock which protrudes from the plateau, 
 and has, in my opinion, served as the platform or pulpit 
 (jS-rjfjia) for the orators. It had been split and was over- 
 hanging the great hollow in which are the two tombs 
 just referred to. Below this rock, at a depth of 22 ft. 
 below the surface, many Hera-idols, whorls, and other 
 
 Nos. 236, 337. Hand-made Vases uf Terra cotta. Depth ao ft. Half-size. 
 
 objects were found ; also a very curious sort of bronze 
 dagger (No. 238), consisting of two separate two-edged 
 blades, which had been soldered together in the middle, 
 so that the four edges are separated from each other by a 
 quarter of an inch; both blades are 10 in. long, the whole 
 dagger being 13 inches long. The handle has evidently 
 been inlaid with wood or bone, fastened by three small 
 nails of bronze, which are preserved. As I considered 
 one of the overhanging rocks particularly dangerous, I did 
 all I could to keep my workmen back from it ; however, 
 as, in order to stimulate the workmen to be very attentive, 
 I am in the habit of giving them a drink-penny for all 
 objects, even the most trifling, which have any interest for 
 
164 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 science, and as so many small objects were found just 
 below the dangerous rock, two of my workmen always 
 returned to the spot. But seeing that the rock had a 
 crack which widened, I literally dragged the two men 
 from their perilous position, when all at 
 once the rock fell with a thundering crash, 
 and we were all three knocked down by 
 its splinters, but none of us was injured. 
 
 The four walls of the tomb which now 
 occupies us were lined with pieces of 
 schist of irregular size, which were joined 
 with clay, and formed a slanting wall 5 ft. 
 high and 2 ft. 3 in. broad. 
 
 I found in this sepulchre the mortal 
 remains of three persons who, to judge 
 by the smallness of the bones and par- 
 ticularly of the teeth, and by the masses 
 of female ornaments found here, must 
 have been women. As the teeth of one 
 of these bodies, though all preserved, were 
 evidently much used and were very ir- 
 regular, they appear to belong to a very 
 old woman. All had the head turned to 
 the east and the feet to the west. As 
 in the former tomb, the bodies lay at a 
 distance of 3 ft. from each other ; they 
 were covered with a layer of pebbles and 
 reposed on another layer of similar stones, 
 on which the funeral piles had been 
 raised ; this last stratum lay on the 
 bottom of the tomb, which, as is shown 
 on Plan B B, was 29 ft. 8 in. deep below 
 the former surface of the mount. 
 Precisely as in the former tomb, all the three bodies 
 had been burnt simultaneously, but separately and at 
 equal distances from each other, nay, in the very place 
 
 No. 238. 
 A large bronze dagger, 
 with two blades soldered 
 together in the middle. 
 (6iM.) Size 7 : 20. 
 
1876.] SEVEN HUNDRED GOLD PLATES. 165 
 
 where they now lay. This was proved by the evident 
 marks of the fire on the pebbles below and around every 
 one of the bodies, as well as by the marks of the fire and 
 the smoke on the walls to the right and left, and by the 
 masses of wood ashes which lay on and around the bodies. 
 The bodies were literally laden with jewels, all of which 
 bore evident signs of the fire and smoke to which they had 
 been exposed on the funeral piles. 
 
 The ornaments of which the greatest number was 
 found were the large, thick, round plates of gold, with 
 a very pretty decoration of repousst work, of which I 
 collected 701. I found them as well below as above and 
 around the bodies, and there can consequently be no 
 doubt that part of them were strewn all over the bottom 
 of the sepulchre before the funeral pyres were dressed, 
 and that the rest were laid on the bodies before the fire 
 was kindled. In the following engravings * I give all the 
 different types of these wonderful plates. It is difficult to 
 say how the Mycenean goldsmiths executed the rcpousst 
 work. Professor Landerer thinks they laid the gold-plate 
 on a block of lead, and hammered and pressed the 
 ornamentation into it. No. 239 contains broad round 
 waving bands much resembling those on the fourth 
 sculptured tombstone.']' The curious ornamentation in 
 the centre, which so often recurs here, seems to me to be 
 derived from the p^, the more so as the points whic h 
 are thought to be the marks of the nails, are seldom 
 missing; the artist has only added two more arms and 
 curved all of them. No. 240 represents an octopus or 
 cuttle-fish (sepia), whose eight arms have been converted 
 into spirals, the head with the two eyes being distinctly 
 visible. No. 241 represents a flower; No. 242 a splendid 
 spiral ornamentation ; No. 243, a beautiful butterfly ; this 
 
 * All these are engraved in their actual size, 
 t See No. 142, p. 91. 
 
THE THIRD SEPULCHRE 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 No. 239. Plate of Gold. Sepulchre III. 
 
 type is exceedingly frequent. Whether, as in the later 
 Greek art, the butterfly is here the symbol of immortality, as 
 
 No. 240. Plate of Gold : a Cuttle-fish. Sepulchre III. 
 
1 8 7 6.] 
 
 PLATES OF GOLD. 
 
 167 
 
 No. 242. A Plate of Gold. Sepulchre III 
 
i68 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 No. 243. Plate of Gold : a Butterfly. Sepulchre III. 
 
 form of six serpents, round a central circle. In No. 245 
 we at once recognise again the ornamentation of the 
 
 No. 244. Plate of Gold. Sepulchre III. 
 
PLATES OF GOLD. 
 
 169 
 
 No. 345. A Plate of Gold. Sepulchre 111. 
 
 sepulchral stcld (No. 142), as in No. 239, which this one 
 very much resembles. No. 246 has a most curious pattern, 
 
 No. 246. A Plate of Gold. Sepulchre III. 
 
 22 
 
THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 No. 248. 
 
 A leaf-pattern in Gold Plate. Sepulchre III. 
 
1876.] 
 
 No. 34). A leaf-pattern 111 (Juki Plate, Sepulchre III 
 
 seven concentric circles, and all united around an ornament 
 likewise of seven concentric circles, which the artist seems 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^ 
 
 
 No. 250. A leaf-pattern in Gold Plate. Sepulchre III 
 
THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII 
 
 No. 251. A Star in Gold Plate. Sepulchre 111. 
 
 to have vainly tried to unite at the upper part. Each of 
 the spirals separately very much resembles the hair-springs 
 
 No. 252. A Plate of Gold. Sepulchre III. 
 
1876.] HERCULES AND THE NEMEAN LION. 173 
 
 of our watches, at least at the first glance, but on closer 
 examination we rind that all the interior lines form separate 
 circles. Nos. 247-250 represent beautiful leaves, all of 
 a kindred pattern. No. 251 represents a beautiful star- 
 flower; No. 252 shows within a border of three circles a 
 splendid ornamentation of spirals and concentric circles, 
 such as we have not seen yet on the Mycenean antiquities. 
 
 I suppose that all these golden leaves are miniature 
 copies of shields, for though there were shields with a 
 central boss,* yet the majority of them were smooth 
 (Ifeny)f: further most shields were round (evKVKko<;),l 
 and many of them, if not all, were works of art and beauti- 
 fully ornamented. § We further find around the Homeric 
 shields a border (dprvt;), which may have been sometimes 
 single, but which certainly was usually treble, J| and such a 
 border we also find represented on several of these golden 
 plates. 
 
 In proceeding to describe the masses of other jewels 
 which had covered the bodies on the pyres and which still 
 lay partly on them and partly around them, I begin with 
 three perforated massive ornaments of gold, belonging to 
 necklaces, of which the first (No. 253) appears to represent, 
 in intaglio, Hercules killing the Nemean lion. The hero is 
 represented here with long hair (KaprjKOfjLoajv) and with a 
 long beard ; his dress appears to reach only from the 
 waist to the middle of the loins, and the rest of the body 
 seems to be naked. Having stepped forward with his left 
 
 * See Iliad, XXII. 111, «o-7ris o/xffxAotaaa ; comp. 'Troy and its 
 Remains,' p. 324. 
 
 + See Iliad, III. 357 ; VII. 250; and in many other passages. 
 J See Iliad, XIII. 715 ; XIV. 428; and in other passages. 
 § See for example //. XI. 32 : — 
 
 an 5' H\(t' an<pifip6Tr)i/ , iro\vSalSa\ov arrirlSa 6ovpiv. 
 " Then he took the man-covering, artistically ma<!e, powerful shield." 
 
 See also all the wonders which Hephaestus wrought on the shield 
 of Achilles. //. XVIII. 468-608. 
 
 || See, for example, //. XX. 275, and XVIII. 480. 
 
i74 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII 
 
 foot, he leans the whole weight of his body on it to deal 
 a deadly blow at the lion with a sword which he holds 
 in his uplifted right hand, whilst with his left he seizes the 
 lion's throat. The animal stands before him on his hind- 
 legs, and has pounced with his fore-feet on the left leg of the 
 hero, whom he is going to bite in the breast when he 
 receives the deadly blow. The body of the lion appears 
 to me to be faithful to nature, but not the head, which 
 resembles more a bear's head ; the mane is engraved with 
 true art. I call particular attention to the large round 
 knob at the end of the handle of the sword, because many 
 such, all of alabaster or wood with golden nails, and fre- 
 quently plated with gold, were found in the tombs suc- 
 cessively discovered. 
 
 Nos. 253, 254, 255. Perforated Ornaments of Gold, with engravings in intaglio. Sepulchre III. 
 
 Actual size. 
 
 The intaglio on the following smaller ornament (No. 254) 
 represents two warriors fighting a deadly duel. The one to 
 the left of the spectator is a tall, powerful beardless young 
 man with an uncovered head, whose loins only are covered, 
 the rest of the body being naked. He leans with all the 
 weight of his body on his advanced left leg, and with his 
 uplifted right hand he has just plunged his double-edged 
 sword into the throat of his antagonist, who falls mortally 
 wounded. This latter is represented with a long beard. 
 His head is covered with a helmet, over which we see a 
 half-circle, which appears to be fastened into the fore-part of 
 the helmet and to represent the long curved horn which 
 we see protruding from the fore-part of the helmets of the 
 five warriors (No. 213).* The horn seems here to be 
 
 * See p. 133. 
 
1876.] ACHILLES AND HECTOR? I 73 
 
 nothing else than a \6(f>o<;, into which the crest was sunk, 
 for this appears also to be visible. But should this conjec- 
 ture not be correct, then we can only explain the half- 
 circle above the warrior's helmet by supposing that the 
 middle part of the crest was fastened on the top of the <f>d\o<; 
 of the helmet, so that there were properly two crests waving. 
 On the wounded man's body we see a round shield with a 
 circle of small points, probably meant to represent the glitter 
 of the brass. The shield being divided into an upper and 
 a lower compartment, it may be that the artist intended to 
 represent two shields, of which the lower one belonged to 
 the wounded man, who had just let it fall, and that the 
 upper shield belonged to the victor, whose left hand still 
 holds it. The anatomy of the two warriors is represented 
 clearly, though rudely, and we wonder how this was at all 
 possible without the aid of magnifying glasses. I ask 
 whether we do not see here in the young, powerful, 
 handsome man, Achilles, the most beautiful man in the 
 Greek army ; and in his antagonist, " Hector of the 
 dancing helmet-crest;"* for, just as we see represented on 
 this bead, Hector was slain by Achilles by a stab in the 
 throat. It is true that the fatal stab was given, according 
 to IIomer,f with a lance, but the artist may have substi- 
 tuted a sword for want of space. 
 
 The third ornament (No. 255) represents, in good 
 intaglio, a lion kneeling with his fore-feet on an uneven 
 rocky slope, and turning his head round to the right ; 
 though, like the two other ornaments, this intaglio is vt r\ 
 archaic and rude, it is, like them, tolerably executed, and 
 the anatomy of the animal is carefully observed. Mr. 
 Achilles Postolaccas calls my attention to the fact that 
 this lion in its style perfectly resembles the tore-part of 
 the lion which we see on the gold staters of Sardis in 
 Lydia, which Borrel attributes to Croesus (560 B.C.). 
 
 * Kopv$aio\os "EKTiop. Comp. 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 281. 
 t //. XXII. 326. 
 
1 76 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Of the other golden ornaments here shown, No. 
 256 represents a butterfly of gold, which has, no doubt, 
 served as an ornament on the dress ; but, as it has no 
 perforation, it is not clear to me how it may have been 
 fastened ; probably it has been glued or pasted on the 
 drapery. Further, ten golden grasshoppers* with chains, of 
 which Nos. 2,59 and 260 represent two; they appear to 
 have been used as ornaments of the breast or hair. I 
 collected also eleven very curious large globular ornaments, 
 
 256 257 258 259 260 
 
 Nos. 256-260. Golden Ornaments. Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 of which Nos. 257 and 258 give the engravings of two; all 
 have a tubular hole at the top, and are evidently from neck- 
 laces. These ornaments, as well as the crickets, are of repousse- 
 
 * More properly the tree cricket (t£tti£, Lat. cicada, It. cigaia, Fr. 
 cigale), of which the Athenians wore golden images in their hair, to 
 denote their autochthonic origin. Hence it was probably the common 
 badge of the cognate Achaean and old Ionian races. 
 
1876.J GOLDEN GRIFFINS. 177 
 
 work, and consist of two halves, which were soldered 
 together. 
 
 I further collected there three griffins of gold, of which 
 I represent one (No. 261); the upper part of their 
 bodies is that of an eagle, the lower 
 that of a lion ; the wing is orna- 
 mented with spirals. Each of these 
 objects has three perforations, which 
 can leave no doubt that they have 
 been sewn on the clothes as orna- 
 ments. The griffins are mythic n„. Golden Onmmeat. 
 
 • 111 ' t 1* 1 A Griffin. Sepulchre III 
 
 animals belonging to India, whence usual ibe. 
 
 they came over to the West. We 
 
 rind the griffin on the most ancient fictile vases of a 
 rude Egyptianising style, in company with sphinxes and 
 winged lions. This fantastical animal has become the 
 central point of a curious legendary cycle, for we rind ir 
 already mentioned in Hesiod and Herodotus as watcher 
 of the gold in the far north of Europe.* Pliny describes 
 the gryphi as fcrarnm value rc genus, which mira cupidi- 
 tatc dig up the gold ex CUrticulis and watch it, like- 
 wise in the north of Europe, that is, in the land of the 
 Scythians. f Damis Olearj maintains that the griffins have 
 been derived from India, and gives the following description 
 of them: "The gold which the griffins dig up consists of 
 stones incrusted with golden drops like fiery points, which 
 they beat off by the power of their hard beak. These 
 animals are found in India, where they are sacred to the 
 
 1 lerodotus, III. 13, 1 4. 
 Milton alludes to this legend (Par. lost. l!k. II.): — 
 " As when a gryphon through the wilderness 
 
 With winged course o'er hill or moory dale 
 Pursues the Ariniaspian, who l>v stealth 
 Had from his wakeful custody puiloined 
 The guarded gold.'* 
 
 t //. N. VII. 2 ; XXXIII. 4, a 1. 
 
 % Apud Philostrat. / //. Apoll. Txan. III. 4.X. p. 134. 
 
 »3 
 
[78 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 sun, whence the Indian painters represent Helios riding on 
 teams of four griffins. The griffin has the size and strength 
 of the lion, but is superior to the latter by its wings, and 
 vanquishes even elephants and large serpents. But he 
 cannot overpower the tiger, who excels by his rapid 
 motion." Bottiger* explains these monsters as simple 
 productions of the Indian carpet-manufacture, because 
 from a remote antiquity the Indians delight in com- 
 pounding their sacred animals. It appears certain that the 
 griffin came in the retinue of Dionysus from India to 
 Greece, and that it therefore became here the symbol of 
 wisdom and enlightenment. 
 
 I further found with the three bodies of the third tomb 
 three ornaments in the shape of hearts, of which I give the 
 
 engraving of one (No. 
 262). As they have no 
 perforations, they must 
 have been glued on to 
 the drapery. There 
 were also found four 
 
 Nos. 262, 263. Golden Ornaments. Heart and Lion. P'olden OmamentS ( SCC 
 
 Sepulchre III. Actual size. O ^ 
 
 No. 263) representing 
 crouching lions, with four or five perforations in the 
 margin for sewing them on the clothes or drapery. 
 Though rather roughly made, the body of the animal is 
 true to nature, and particularly the head. The passion of 
 the Mycenean artist for spirals is shown in the form of the 
 lion's tail. As Mr. A. S. Murray, of the British Museum, 
 justly observed to me, the spiral is no proof whatever of 
 oriental influence, because it is a form which every curling 
 wire would naturally suggest, and its general existence and 
 independent use is attested by the spiral ornamentations of 
 the ancient Mexicans, Peruvians, and Egyptians. 
 
 I further found on the three bodies of the third 
 
 Vasengemalde.' 
 
1876.] 
 
 GOLDEN BROOCHES WITH STAGS. 
 
 I 79 
 
 sepulchre twelve ornaments of gold, each representing 
 two stags lying down, with long three-branched horns, 
 leaning with the necks against each other and turning 
 the head in opposite directions, but so that the horns of 
 both touch each other and seem intended to form a 
 sort of a crown. The two stags repose on the top of a 
 date-palm tree with three fronds, of which the two to the 
 right and left extend below the bodies of the animals, 
 whilst the third stands upright. Two of these ornaments, 
 with double stags, were soldered together, and in the hollow 
 thus formed at the lower end was stuck a thick silver pin, 
 with circular horizontal fiutings, which represented the 
 stem of the palm-tree, and which was fastened by a pin. 
 The hole through which this pin was stuck is seen at the 
 
 Nos. 364, 265. Gulden Ornaments. Sepulchre 1 1 1. Actual size. 
 
 bottom of No. 264, and part of the silver pin in No. 265, 
 where we also recognise the horizontal fiutings, which seem 
 to have been intended to imitate the rough bark of the 
 palm-tree. Thus we see before us a beautiful brooch, 
 presenting on either side two stags lying on a palm-tree. 
 But, the brooch being rather heavy, the silver pin was 
 perforated, as we see at the lower end of No. 265, to be 
 fastened with a thread or otherwise. Two of these orna- 
 ments had besides two perforations. Reckoning two such 
 
i8o 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIE 
 
 ornaments as one brooch, there were found in this sepul- 
 chre in all six brooches with a pair of stags on either side. 
 
 There were alsofound two golden 
 ornaments (see No. 266), repre- 
 senting a similar date-tree with 
 three larger fronds, on which 
 two lion-cubs sit opposite each 
 other and are holding their 
 muzzles together ; the tails of 
 the four cubs form spirals, just 
 as the ornaments with the double 
 stags. These two ornaments with 
 the cubs were also stuck together, 
 either by soldering or by pins, through the two perfora- 
 tions which we see in each of them ; and in the hollow 
 below was fixed a silver brooch, and thus this ornament, 
 like the former, served as a breast-pin (iropTrrj). 
 
 I further found with the three bodies of the third tomb 
 two golden ornaments, representing two women, each 
 
 No. 266. Golden Ornament. 
 Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 Nos. 267, 268. Golden Ornaments. Women with Doves. Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 having a pigeon on her head. One of them (No. 268) 
 has also a pigeon attached to each arm. Both women 
 are of the same type and have a long pointed nose, which 
 protrudes in a straight line from the forehead, and large 
 
Chap. VII.] GOLDEN' WOMEN WITH PIGEONS. 
 
 181 
 
 eyes. The heads of both are crowned with a diadem. 
 Each has a hollow in the left cheek, which is alone visible ; 
 both touch their breasts with the hands, and this must be 
 a symbol of fertility or abundance. I call attention to the 
 resemblance in the attitude of these women to that of the 
 numerous terra-cotta idols of Aphrodite from Cyprus, as 
 well as to the so-called statue of Niobe on the rock of 
 Sipylos, which also touch jheir breasts with both hands. 
 The four pigeons are represented with spread wings, as if they 
 were flying. The first woman (No. 267) has four perfora- 
 tions and her bird has two, by which this ornament was 
 sewn on the clothes or drapery. On the other hand, the 
 woman with the three pigeons has evidently been fixed to 
 something else with two small gold 
 pins, the broad heads of which we 
 see, the one between the knees of the 
 woman, the other on her belly. 
 
 I further found in the same tomb 
 golden ornaments like No. 269, but 
 I find it difficult to explain whether 
 
 I . . * , No. 369. Gulden Ornament 
 
 the artist intended to represent a sepulchre 111. AchoIkm 
 horse, a hippocampus, or a dog. 
 
 Of golden ornaments in the form of cuttle-fish, or sepias, 
 I found not less than twenty-seven of the shape of 1 
 
 370,271. Two Golden Cuttle Fish. Sepulchre 111 Actual lise, 
 
 those represented under Nos.' 270 and 271. All of them 
 are double, that is to say, two sepias are always soldered 
 together, so that the ornament represents a sepia on either 
 
1 82 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 side. The Mycenean goldsmith, always eager to convert 
 everything into spirals, has done so here with all the feet of 
 the sepias, every one of which forms a beautiful spiral. 
 Some of the sepias, like No. 270, have in addition four 
 perforations for fixing them with thread. How these orna- 
 ments may have been used is altogether a riddle to me. 
 
 No. 272. A Flying Griffin of Gold. Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 No. 272 represents a flying griffin of gold. Like No. 261, it 
 has the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, 
 and is ornamented with spirals. As it has no perforations, 
 it must have been fastened with glue on the drapery. 
 
 Of the highest interest are two little golden figures, one 
 of which is given under No. 273, each having four per- 
 forations in exactly the same places ; they 
 appear, therefore, to have been attached to 
 each other, so that the same figure appeared 
 on either side. They exactly resemble 
 each other. Regarding the type of the 
 features nothing can be said with certainty, 
 for it may as well be Hellenic as Asiatic. 
 Nor is there any indication whether the 
 figures represent men or women, though 
 their rich female dress leads us to suppose 
 the latter to be the case. Both have the 
 hands joined on the breast like Aphrodite, but below 
 them we see an object in the form of a disk, which seems 
 to be suspended from the neck. On each side of the 
 breast, as well as on the lower part of the gowns, we see 
 a number of straps, which probably represent ribbons or 
 
 No. 273. Golden 
 Ornament. 
 Sepulchre III. 
 Actual size. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 VARIOUS GOLDEN ORNAMENTS. 
 
 gold lace ; also two rows of twelve small circles in each, 
 which are no doubt intended to represent gold buttons 
 with intaglio work, like those of which such large quantities 
 were found, as we shall see, in two of the tombs. 
 
 I further gathered in the same tomb eight golden 
 ornaments in the form of butterflies, of which I represent 
 one under No. 275. Some of them have two, others have 
 
 Nos. 374-280. Golden Ornaments. Sepulchre III. Actual >i«. 
 
 four, perforations; and, as all are exactly of the same size 
 and shape, I presume that these also have been fastened 
 together in pairs with pins, so that there was a butterfly on 
 each side. This supposition seems to be warranted by the 
 reverse side, which is hollow. I think the same must 
 have been the case with the other objects here engraved, 
 of which duplicates were found, but not with No. i~x, 
 which represents two eagles. Very curious are the orna- 
 ments represented by No. 279, of which four were found ; 
 
THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 two of them have two perforations each, the other two have 
 none. All of them represent two swans standing opposite each 
 other with the heads joined. There is something between 
 the feet of the two swans which has the shape of a table, 
 but I cannot say what it may be. There were found seven 
 golden ornaments like No. 280, representing hippocampi ; 
 all have the head turned backward, and the tail is curved ; 
 all have perforations. 
 
 The golden ornament (No. 274) has also perforations 
 for attachment to another object ; it represents, as before 
 mentioned, two eagles, which stand opposite each other 
 with the heads turned round. There were found in the 
 same tomb six sphinxes, like No. 277. They are winged 
 lions, with beardless human heads, covered with a Phrygian 
 cap, from which a long crest seems to stretch out ; but it 
 cannot be distinguished here whether the artist intended to 
 represent a female or a male sphinx. I may here observe 
 that, according to Hesiod, Apollodorus, and Euripides, the 
 Sphinx is a daughter of Typhon and the Echidna or the 
 Chimasra, or of Orthos and the Chimaera, and that it has, 
 at all events, been imported from Egypt into Greece. But 
 the Egyptian Sphinx is male, being the symbol of a king, 
 while the sphinx in the Theban legend of CEdipus is 
 female. The golden ornament (No. 278), of which four 
 were found, seems to represent a tree ; all of these have 
 two perforations. Of the small golden jewels of this 
 tomb, I may mention No. 276, representing two birds, 
 the species of which cannot be distinguished. They stand 
 against each other, their heads leaning over in opposite 
 directions, the two being joined by spirals. 
 
 On the head of one of the three bodies was found the 
 splendid crown of gold (crre^ct, No. 281), which is one of the 
 most interesting and most precious objects that I collected 
 at Mycenae. It is 2 ft. 1 in. long, and profusely covered 
 with shield-like ornaments. The work being rcpousst, all 
 the ornaments protrude and appear in low relief, giving to 
 
24 
 
i86 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 No. 282. Golden Diadem found on the head of 
 another body in the Third Sepulchre. 
 Size 1 : 5, about. 
 
 and so I found it on the head 
 four other signs resemble the 
 herald's staff of Hermes. 
 
 the crown an indescrib- 
 ably magnificent aspect, 
 which is still further aug- 
 mented by the thirty-six 
 large leaves, ornamented 
 in a like manner, which 
 are attached to it. It 
 deserves particular atten- 
 tion that the crown was 
 bound round the head so 
 that its broadest part was 
 lust in the middle of the 
 forehead, and of course 
 the leaves were standing 
 upright around the upper 
 part of the head, for had 
 it been otherwise it would 
 have shaded the eyes and 
 the greater part of the 
 face. Near each extremity 
 can be seen two small 
 holes, through which the 
 crown was fastened by 
 means of a thin golden 
 wire. I call particular 
 attention to the curious 
 signs between the shield- 
 like ornaments of the 
 lowest row ; five of these 
 signs resemble beautiful 
 flowers, the heads of which 
 give an additional proof 
 that the crown was worn 
 with the leaves upwards, 
 of one of the bodies. The 
 Kf]pvK€Lov, or caduceus, the 
 
1876.] GOLDEN DIADEM. 1 87 
 
 Around the head of another of the three bodies was 
 found the magnificent golden diadem (No. 282), to which 
 was still attached part of the skull ; it is finely worked. 
 It has a border, formed by parallel lines and a line of 
 protruding points, which is broadest in the middle and 
 gradually diminishes towards both ends. This border is 
 ornamented with spiral signs, accompanied by small lines 
 of deep or protruding points. The space between the two 
 borders is filled up with a row of shield-like ornaments, 
 the size of which varies according to the breadth of the 
 diadem, containing a number of concentric circles around 
 a central boss. The space between the circles is filled up, 
 in the five larger ones, with a circular row of small leaves 
 or of protruding points. We also see between the shield- 
 like ornaments all along the border two rows of small 
 bosses encircled by protruding points. At each end of the 
 diadem is a perforation, which, must have served to fasten it 
 round the head by means of a thin wire of gold or copper. 
 This diadem being of thick gold plate, it was not piped. 
 
 I further found with the three bodies five diadems of 
 gold, of which I represent two under Nos. 283 and 284. 
 Two of them (see No. 283) have an ornamentation similar 
 to the foregoing, but less rich. Both are piped with copper 
 wire, and have no border ; and both consist of two halves, 
 which seem not to have been soldered together, but 
 merely joined by the piping wire. As neither of them 
 has perforations in the extremities, there must have 
 been attached to them thin wires of copper or gold, 
 now broken off, by which they were fastened around the 
 head. Both these diadems have suffered much from the 
 funeral fire, which has blackened them so that the photo- 
 graphs could not take well. The diadem (No. 284), 
 though not piped, has no border ; it is also ornamented 
 with shield-like circles representing beautiful flowers. We 
 see an ornamentation in the form of a star at each end, and 
 small shield-like bosses on both sides between the circles. 
 At the right extremity is still preserved part of the gold wire 
 
i88 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 with which the diadem was fastened round the head. On 
 
 Nos. 383, 284. Diadems of Gold. Sepulchre III. Size 2 : 9, about. 
 
 funeral pyre sticking to the gold. I may here mention that 
 we find round shields with an ornamentation of crescents 
 
1876.] APHRODITE IDOLS WITH DIADEMS. 189 
 
 and stars represented on Macedonian coins ; but these can, 
 of course, have no relation whatever to the Mycenean 
 diadems, which may be twelve centuries older. Although 
 similar diadems with an ornamentation of rosettes have 
 never been found before, yet there can be no doubt that 
 they were in extensive use in a remote antiquity, for the 
 British Museum contains six idols of Aphrodite from Cyprus, 
 two of terra-cotta and four of marble — all of which have 
 the head ornamented with similar diadems. I see further 
 
 No. 285. A Cross in Gold Plate. Sepulchre 111. Aclu.il ni/c 
 
 in the Assyrian collection of the same museum four 
 figurettes of ivory representing Hercules, whose head is 
 likewise ornamented with such diadems. 
 
 There are two other diadems with a still simpler shield- 
 like ornamentation, and having in the middle two vertical 
 rows of spirals. Both these diadems consist of halves, 
 which were seeminglv joined only by the copper wire 
 with which they are piped. The thin wires at the ex- 
 tremities are here also broken- off. 
 
190 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 I found further with the three bodies of the third tomb 
 six crosses formed of double golden leaves, of which I 
 give engravings of four. The richest ornamentation is on 
 
 those represented by No. 285 ; the leaves resemble laurel 
 leaves, ornamented with beautiful flowers in repousse work ; 
 and there is an ornamentation of spirals at both ends of 
 
1876.] GOLDEN CROSSES. 191 
 
 each leaf. In the centre of each of these crosses is fixed 
 a cross of small unornamented gold-plate. The cross 
 (No. 286) shows a similar pattern, and I suppose it has 
 been fixed in the centre of the star-like golden ornament 
 (No. 288) ; but, not being quite certain in this respect, I 
 
 give separate engravings of both. No. 287 represents a 
 small golden ornament with three flowers. Very curious 
 is the small golden cross (No. 289), whose leaves show a 
 magnificent ornamentation of circles and spirals, and in 
 
192. 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 the centre of which is attached another cross of small 
 richly-ornamented gold leaves. The large gold cross (No. 
 290) shows a shield-like ornamentation, and also at the 
 end of each leaf three small circles containing two inner 
 ones. 
 
 In several places we see in the leaves of this latter cross 
 very small holes, which seem to prove that another 
 
 No. 291. A Cross of Gold. Sepulchre III. Size 4 : 7, about. 
 
 ornament was attached in the centre, probably a cross, as 
 we see in No. 285, or a star, such as No. 288. I also 
 found in this tomb the two large and beautiful golden 
 stars, of which I represent one (No. 291). They consist 
 of two differently-shaped crosses, with a magnificent or- 
 namentation in repousse work ; both crosses are fastened 
 together with a golden pin with a large round flat head, 
 
1876.] GIGANTIC GOLD BROOCH. 1 93 
 
 which is still preserved on the one shown in the engraving. 
 In the centre of the other star there is only the impres- 
 sion which the pinhead, now lost, has made on the gold 
 plate. It is perfectly impossible for me to say how these 
 crosses served as ornaments of the dead, for I found none 
 of them in situ. 
 
 On one of the bodies I found a gold brooch (nopirr)), 
 with a very thick silver pin, 8 in. long (see No. 292), 
 
 No. 292. A Gulden Brooch (iropmj). Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 which, having seemingly been in contact with saline 
 matter, has been turned into chloride of silver, and has, 
 therefore, broken in two. Thus only the upper part of 
 the pin is seen in the engraving. In the brooch we 
 see a woman with extended arms, turning her face to the 
 left of the spectator; her features are decidedly Greek. 
 She has a long nose, which protrudes straight from the 
 
 25 
 
194 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 forehead, and large eyes ; her hair only reaches down to 
 the neck, which is ornamented with a necklace ; her large 
 breasts are well shown On her head we see a spiral 
 ornamentation, from the middle of which rises a beautiful 
 palm-tree, and from this there hang down to the right and 
 left long tresses with tassels in the shape of flowers. 
 
 No. 293. Golden Ornament from the Third Sepulchre. Size five-sixths. 
 
 I also found in this tomb the two very curious golden 
 ornaments (see No. 2,93), which are too large and heavy 
 to have been worn as pendants of earrings 
 and have probably been used as breast or- 
 naments. Each consists of two pieces of 
 repoussi work, which are soldered together, 
 and thus these objects present the same 
 ornamentation on either side. 
 
 There was also found a small golden 
 cross, represented under No. 294, having 
 an ornamentation of spirals on either side. It deserves 
 particular mention that the last-named ornaments (Nos. 
 291-294), as well as some of the smaller ornaments of 
 
 No. 294. 
 A Gulden Cross. 
 Sepulchre III. 
 Actual size. 
 
1876. 1 GOLDEN HAIR-HOLDERS. 195 
 
 this sepulchre,* though of gold, have a reddish bronze- 
 like colour, so that, if I had found them alone, I should 
 decidedly not have claimed for them a very remote 
 antiquity ; but the conditions under which they lay in 
 the sepulchre make it impossible to suppose that the 
 objects found there were of different ages. 
 
 There were also found on each of the three bodies two 
 golden ornaments (six in all) almost in the form of ear- 
 rings, of which two are represented in the engravings Nos. 
 295 and 296. But as the two ends of each of these objects 
 are in the form of spirals turned round four or five times, 
 they can, of course, not have been used for the ears ; besides 
 they would be by far too heavy for that use, because they 
 are of solid gold. The only use which, in my opinion, can 
 have been made of them is to hold together the locks, and 
 I think they perfectly explain the passage in Homer :f — 
 
 " Those locks, that with the Graces' hair might vie. 
 Those tresses bright, with gold and silver bound. 
 Were dabbled all with blood." 
 
 Lord Dkrhy. 
 
 I also collected on the three bodies eleven verv curious 
 golden ornaments, of which I give three engravings (Nos. 
 297, 298, and 299). All of them have in the middle a 
 narrow tube, by which they appear to have been strung on 
 a cord, for they can, in my opinion, only have been used 
 for necklaces. They were made in the following way : to 
 both ends of a small tube, which, as we see in the engra- 
 vings, is ornamented with circular incisions, was soldered a 
 thin golden wire, which was on either side turned eleven 
 times round, and these spirals were soldered together, the 
 outside turn of each also being soldered to the tube. Ot 
 
 ■ Like Nos. 262, 264, 265, 266, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 279. 
 
 28°, 3°3. 3°5» 3 o6 » an(1 3 l6 - 
 t Iliad, XVII. 51 and 52 :— 
 
 e.YuUT i Ot htVOVTO KO^iai x a P tTftT(Ttl ' dfAOtat, 
 
196 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 the same pattern were found six bracelets like No. 300, 
 each of which consists of twelve spirals made of the same 
 fine gold wire ; they were fastened round the arm by the 
 
 Nos. 295-300. Golden Hair-holders, Bracelets, and Ornaments of Necklaces. Size 5 : 6, about. 
 
 small golden staff at the right, and by the spiral at the left 
 extremity, which latter served as a clasp. 
 
 There were further found two pairs of golden scales, 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 GOLDEN BALANCES. 
 
 I 97 
 
 one pair, the other beam being too much compressed and 
 out of shape. Both beams consist of tubes of thin gold- 
 
i 9 8 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VII. 
 
 plate, througli which was undoubtedly stuck a wooden stick 
 to give them more solidity ; debris of charred wood were even 
 found in some pieces of the golden tubes. The beams 
 were attached to the scales by long and very thin straps of 
 gold. Two of the scales are ornamented with flowers, the 
 others with beautifully-represented butterflies. Of course 
 these scales can never have been used ; they were evi- 
 dently made expressly to accompany the bodies of the 
 three princesses into the grave, and they have, therefore, un- 
 doubtedly a symbolic signification. I may here call attention 
 to the scales in the wall-paintings of the Egyptian sepulchres, 
 in which are weighed the good and bad deeds of the 
 deceased. At all events these scales vividly recal to our 
 remembrance the beautiful passage of Homer,* where Jove 
 takes golden scales and weighs the " lots of doom " of 
 Hector and Achilles. 
 
 " But when the fourth time in their rapid course 
 The founts were reached, the Eternal father hung 
 His golden scales aloft, and placed in each 
 The lots of doom, for great Achilles one, 
 For Hector one, and held them by the midst : 
 Down sank the scale, weighted with Hector's death, 
 Down to the shades, and Phoebus left his side." 
 
 Lord Derby. 
 
 There were further found with the three bodies the 
 golden ornaments here represented. The golden plate 
 (No. 303) must have been glued on something else, be- 
 cause otherwise its use is inexplicable. It has a beautiful 
 ornamentation of rcpousst work, such as we have not seen 
 before in Mycenae. The child's mask (No. 304) consists 
 of verv thin gold plate ; the places for the eyes are 
 
 ;: //. XXI 1. 209-213: — 
 
 ClAA , UT€ Si) TO TCTapTOV €TTl KpOXIVOVS a&iKOVTO. 
 
 Kat ToVe Sri xpuo-6ia irarrip 4rna.iv* TaAacro • 
 
 iv 8' 671061 Svo KTipt ravriAtyios Qavaroio, 
 
 riju fiiu 'Ax<AA7jus, r^v 5"'E/cTopos imroSafnoio • 
 
 t'AKf Se fietraa Aa&wV {>tire 5""E/<Topos aXaifiov i)fiap, 
 
 ifXeTo S' 6is 'A'/Sao ' Se' 6 4>o?/3os 'Air6\Au<v. 
 
1876.J CHILD'S MASK AND GOLD PLATES. 199 
 
 cut out, and even in the present crumpled condition of 
 the mask the nose is slightly protruding. It appears, 
 therefore, very probable that, together with the bodies of 
 the three women, a child was burnt and buried in this 
 tomb, and this would perfectly agree with the tradition cited 
 by Pausanias.* 
 
 1 also found thirteen splendidly-ornamented objects of 
 gold plate, of which one is represented under No. 305 ; 
 
 w 304 
 
 30s 300 
 
 Nos. 303-306. Golden Ornament-. Sepulchre III. Half-size. 
 
 their style of ornamentation has never been seen by me 
 here before. At the upper extremity we see a perforation, 
 which makes it probable that these objects have served as 
 pendants of earrings The gold plate (No. 306) must also 
 have been cemented on some other object, for it shows no 
 
 * II. 16, § 6. Sec the passage fully quoted in Chapter III. p. 59. 
 
200 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 perforations. It represents in defective repousst work two 
 men, of whom the one, who is winged and has horse's-feet 
 and appears to play the flute, stands with his right foot on 
 the head of the other, whose arms are extended and whose 
 feet are wide apart. Both men have two horns on the 
 head, and those of the lower figure are particularly conspi- 
 cuous. To the right of the two men, and thus to the left 
 of the spectator, is a very strange ornament, which at first 
 sight appears to consist of written characters, but, on closer 
 examination, we find that it is mere ornamentation. 
 
 There was further found here the perforated ball of 
 beautifully-polished rock crystal (No. 307), which has 
 
 teas 
 
 Nos. 307, 308. Objects of Rock Crystal. Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 evidently formed part of the handle of a sceptre or some 
 weapon, for we see in the perforation a long piece of metal 
 which appears to be gold, but which is probably only gold- 
 plated bronze or silver. 
 
 The object, No. 308, is also of well-polished rock 
 crystal ; it has a large mouth, and a perforation on the 
 opposite side ; the interior has a lively ornamentation 
 painted in red and white. The use of this object is alto- 
 gether a riddle to me. 
 
 There were also found two objects of bronze, of which 
 the one appears to be a fragment and the other the handle 
 of some weapon. 
 
1876.] 
 
 CURIOUS SCEPTRES. 
 
 20 i 
 
 I also picked up there the two objects, Nos. 309 and 
 310, which appear to be sceptres. The silver staff of 
 each has been plated with gold, 
 as we see on that part of it 
 which sticks in the beautifully- 
 turned knobs of rock crystal. 
 The crystal ball of No. 309 is 
 ornamented with small vertical 
 furrows and quite perforated, 
 and there are evident signs that 
 another object, probably of gold, 
 has been attached to its lower 
 end ; and such a piece of gold 
 was found lying separately and 
 is added in the engraving (a), 
 the more so as its upper end 
 had evidently been broken off; 
 it is ornamented on both sides 
 with repoitsst work representing 
 lions. 
 
 I call the reader's attention 
 to the size of these presumed 
 sceptres, which is here only 
 about one-third of the actual 
 size. I beg further to observe 
 that the enormous gold plated 
 silver rods were doubtless stuck 
 in wooden staves covered with gold plate. For the 
 abundance here of such staves with gold covers we can 
 have no better testimony than the numerous tubes of 
 gold plate found in these tombs, many of them still con- 
 taining charred remnants of the wood which they once 
 covered; a few even contained remnants of the wood pretty 
 well preserved. 
 
 Further I found fifteen perforated beads of brown 
 agate, like No. 311, which evidently belong to a necklace; 
 
 Nw. 309, 310. 
 Sceptres of silver plated with gold, with 
 handles of rock-crystal. 
 Sepulchre III. Sire t : 3, about, 
 'i. A ball of yold found separately, but 
 belonging to the handle. 
 
 26 
 
202 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 also a number of beads like No. 312: further the magni- 
 ficent lentoid gem of sardonyx (No. 313), on which is 
 represented in intaglio a woman in a costly dress, open on 
 the breast and ornamented with an upper and a lower 
 circle of large points, which are, no doubt, intended to 
 represent gold buttons. Her head is ornamented with a 
 large crown ; her features are unfortunately too indistinct 
 for us to determine their type ; on her robe between her 
 knees we see a flower, head downwards. To her left is 
 sitting a man apparently in full armour, and wearing on 
 his head a helmet with a long crest. Very characteristic 
 is his long aquiline nose, which he seems to touch with his 
 
 3" 3'3 3 J 4 
 
 Nos. 311-315. Beads of Agate and lentoid gems of Sardonyx and Amethyst. 
 Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 uplifted left hand. The feet of both persons are well 
 indicated, but the artist appears to have forgotten to give 
 the woman arms. No. 314 is a whorl-like ornament of 
 black agate, with a spiral ornamentation on its lower side ; 
 it has no perforation. 
 
 Very curious is the lentoid gem of amethyst, No. 315, 
 which is of a transparent violet-blue colour, with an 
 intaglio, representing an animal turning round its head to 
 look at its calf, which is sucking the milk from its 
 udders. The body and legs of the animal, and even its 
 head and horns, are decidedly those of a stag ; but I 
 may remind the reader that the most ancient didrachms 
 of Corcyra represent in a similar style a cow turning her 
 head and looking at her calf, which sucks the milk from 
 her udders. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 ORNAMENTED GOLDEN WHEELS. 
 
 203 
 
 I also found there six golden ornaments in the form 
 of wheels, of one of which I give the engraving (No. 316). 
 Like the wheels of 
 bronze which we 
 have passed in re- 
 view, these six 
 
 A Golden Wheel. Sepulchre III. Actual size. 
 
 wheels have only 
 four spokes, form- 
 ing a cross around 
 the closed axle, 
 which is merely 
 indicated ; but the 
 spokes are here 
 curved, so as to 
 form four semicir- 
 cles. All of them 
 are ornamented with 
 horizontal incisions; the felloes are very broad, and have 
 a spiral ornament all round. 
 
 I also found in this sepulchre a lady's comb of gold, 
 with teeth of bone ; but the latter are so much damaged 
 that I cannot give an engraving of them ; further, a large 
 silver seal-ring, which, having been in contact with saline 
 matter, has become chloride of silver, so that the engraving 
 on it has disappeared. Also, twelve tubes of gold plate, 
 which had evidently once been filled with wood to give them 
 solidity ; in some of the tubes there were still remains of 
 charred wood. The use of these tubes is difficult to explain ; 
 they may have belonged either to sceptres or to distaffs. 
 Further, a large quantity of small or larger gold beads 
 of necklaces, and an enormous quantity of amber beads, 
 likewise from necklaces. These beads have grown dark- 
 brown, probably owing to their great antiquity, so that we 
 at first mistook them for resin, but the analysis of Professor 
 Landerer has shown that they consist of the purest amber. 
 It will, of course, for ever remain a secret to us whether 
 this amber is derived from the coast of the Baltic or from 
 
204 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Italy, where it is found in several places, but particularly on 
 the east coast of Sicily ; but it is highly probable that it 
 was brought to Greece by the Phoenicians, its name in Greek 
 being electrum (-r/Xe/a-poi^and elek signifying resin in Arabic, 
 and probably also in Phoenician. Amber was well known 
 to Homer, who mentions it three times in the Odyssey, as 
 fitted, in lieu of precious stones, in gold ornaments.* 
 
 Amongst other objects found with the three bodies of 
 the third tomb, were a square leaf ornament, two golden 
 breast-pins, a golden flower on a silver stalk, many very 
 small golden ornaments, a large number of beads of a trans- 
 parent red stone from a necklace, a gold-plated brooch of 
 bronze ; seven ornaments of gold representing lions, of 
 which, however, only two are with heads ; also, a golden 
 ornament representing an ox attacked by two lions. I 
 collected there a large quantity of small pieces of very thin 
 beaten gold, with which the whole tomb, below and above 
 the bodies, was strewn. 
 
 With the three bodies of the third sepulchre were 
 also found the gold gohlet (No. 317) and the gold box 
 (No. 318). The goblet has only one handle, and its out- 
 side is divided, by a band in relief of three stripes, into an 
 upper and a lower compartment, and both are ornamented 
 with repousse work of fish, which are very faithful to 
 
 * Odyss. XV. 460 :— 
 
 Xpvaeov '6pnov «x""'j /xfra 5'. r)KtKTpoicnv eepro. 
 " Bringing a golden necklace set with amber." 
 And XVIII. 296 :— 
 
 'dpfiov 5' ¥.vpvfiax<? iroAuSoi'SoAoi' auTtV eveiKfv 
 Xpvaeov, f)A€/cTpoi<ne (ipfifvov, r\e\iov Sis. 
 " He brought immediately to Eurymachus an artistic golden necklace, set with 
 amber like the sun." 
 
 In both cases the plural agrees exactly with the sense of amber- 
 beads set in a gold mounting. 
 
 The third passage, Odyss. IV. 73 — 
 
 Xpv&ov r i]K(KTpov re xa'i apyvpov 7)5' 4\4(pavros — 
 
 occurs in the description of the palace of Menelaus ; and here the yellow 
 gold and amber seem placed in poetic parallelism with the white silver 
 and ivory. 
 
1876.] GOLD GOJ3LET AND BOX WITH LIU. 205 
 
 nature. Very curious is the gold box (No. 318), with 
 a well-fitting lid, which was fastened on it with two gold 
 wires, by means of four perforations, one wire being on 
 either side of the lid, and one on either side of the rim 
 of the box. A similar contrivance is found in the box 
 
 Nos. 317, 318. A Goblet and a Hox of ' - ■( Sepulchre HI. Size 3 : 8, about 
 
 which Arete, wife of King Alcinoiis, fills with presents for 
 Ulysses, for she recommends to him : — 
 
 " Look now thyself to the lid and tie quickly a knot on it, lest any 
 one should rob thee on the way, when thou reposest again in sweet 
 slumber, going in the black ship."* 
 
 Homer says in the verses immediately following : — 
 
 " But as soon as the much-enduring, divine Ulysses heard this, he 
 forthwith fitted on the lid, and quickly put upon it a manifold knot, 
 which venerable Circe had once prudently taught him."t 
 
 Odyss. VIII. 443-445 •— 
 
 Airii vvv lit nuifia, 8ovi 5' (irl StVfthy fr/Ao»\ 
 ^T)Tit tui Kat) ASoy $j)AT)(rfToi, favor 1 tiv aJnt 
 fv^ijdda yAuKvv vwvuv, Iwv iv vi)t ptKalvT). 
 
 f lb. 446-448 : — 
 
 AuTap int\ Toy &xov<rt jroAi'iTAq* Siui 'OSvcat if, 
 aurfx' {nT)prvt nuifia, dows 8' ^ir! htttfihv li)A*v 
 TromiKov, I'm no-ri fiiv BtSat <ppta\ ir&Tvia K.,-, 
 
 In Od. II. 354, Telemachus, preparing for his voyage to Sparta, bids 
 his nurse Euryclea to fill twelve amphora; with wine and fit them all 
 with lids, but these would need to be very close-fitting for liquids (cf. 
 p. 256) : 
 
 AwJfxa 0" iy.irKr\aov, Kai iruuaaiv dprrov iirairai. 
 
206 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 These passages can leave no doubt that chests and 
 boxes with a similar contrivance were in general use in the 
 time of Homer. They were also in general use at Troy, 
 for I collected there hundreds of terra-cotta vases, and 
 also a box, which shows the same principle.* Similar 
 terra-cotta vases are also to be seen in the small collection 
 of prehistoric pottery in the French school at Athens. 
 They were found in a prehistoric city on the island of 
 Thera, below a layer of pumice-stone and volcanic ashes, 
 60 ft. deep, thrown out by that great central volcano, 
 which, in the opinion of competent geologists, must have 
 sunk into the sea and disappeared about 1 700-1 800 b.c 
 
 Chests and boxes 
 fashioned in the same 
 way, namely, with per- 
 forations in the rim 
 and in the lid through 
 which they were fas- 
 tened by means of 
 a string, must have 
 been in general use in 
 Mycenae, because all 
 the gold vessels with 
 lids found here show 
 exactly the same con- 
 trivance. The box 
 before us has no orna- 
 mentation. 
 
 The beautiful glo- 
 bular gold vase (No. 
 319) has a handle on 
 each side and one on the lid, in which latter can be seen the 
 golden wire by which it was attached to the vase through 
 
 * See my ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 286, No. 200, p. 310, Nos. 222 
 and 223, and Plate XVII. Nos. 243 and 244. 
 
 No. 319. 
 
 Golden Vase, with lid attached by a golden wire. 
 Sepulchre III. Size 7 : 10. 
 
1876.] GOLD VESSELS WITH LIDS. 207 
 
 the perforation in the rim. The only ornaments of this 
 vase are the two rope-like bands in relief, with which its 
 upper part is encircled. I also found with the three 
 bodies of the third sepulchre the three gold vessels here 
 engraved, all of which have holes in the rim and in the 
 lid, for tying them together with a gold wire. No. 320 
 has a small handle on either side, and a large one on the 
 lid ; it is decorated with curved lines in relief. The hand- 
 some box (No. 321) has only a small handle on the lid, 
 and no ornamentation. The beautiful vase (No. 322) has 
 a handle on each side, and a very large one on the lid. It 
 has no ornamentation. There can be seen protruding 
 
 Nos. 320, 321, 322. Three Golden Vessels. Sepulchre III. Size 2 : 3, about. 
 
 from it the long golden wire, by which the lid was bound 
 to the rim of the vessel. All these and the former golden 
 vases and boxes are of reponssd work. I likewise found 
 in this tomb a plain silver vase with one handle. 
 
 There were found on the eastern side of this sepulchre 
 four boxes of copper-plate (see No. 323) all filled with 
 wood, which is pretty well preserved, only the upper part 
 of it being partly charred by the funeral fire. Each of 
 these boxes is 10 in. long, 5 in. high, and 4^ in. wide. 
 The side plates of the boxes are soldered together, and 
 nowhere are nails visible except in the rim of the upper 
 side, which is open, where ~we see twenty long copper nails 
 
ao8 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VII. 
 
 beaten in from the outside and projecting far on the 
 inside ; and the question naturally arises why they are 
 there. I cannot explain their presence in any other way 
 than by supposing that there has been on this side a 
 thick wooden plate, which was fastened by the twenty nails, 
 and which has been burned in the funeral fire. I con- 
 jecture that these copper cases, filled with wood, served 
 probably as head-pillows for the dead, and perhaps also for 
 the living, because they are, at all events, not harder, and 
 
 No. 323. A Box of Copper Plate, rilled with wood. Sepulchre III. Size 3 : 10, about. 
 
 even a little softer, than the pillows of alabaster or marble 
 found in the Egyptian tombs, of which several are in the 
 British Museum. I at first supposed that the wood in the 
 boxes might be sandal-wood, which might have served 
 to perfume the sepulchre whilst the funeral pile was burning, 
 but I have given up this idea, considering that there would 
 have been no use in preserving the odoriferous wood in 
 the boxes and shutting it up in them with long nails ; 
 besides that, for such a purpose more of it would have 
 burned. But again, it may be that the sandal-wood has 
 been imported from India in these small boxes. In the 
 
1876.J HAND-MADE VASE OF TERRA-COTTA. 209 
 
 present deteriorated state of the wood it is utterly im- 
 possible to recognise the species of tree that it belongs to. 
 
 No. 324. Vessel of Tcrra-cotta. Sepulchre III. Size 7 : 10. 
 
 All these boxes were lying near the heads of the dead, but 
 none under any of them. 
 
 There were also found 
 with the three bodies of 
 the third sepulchre the 
 small hand-made vessel of 
 terra -cotta (No. 324), 
 which shows, on a light 
 yellow dead colour, the 
 following ornamentation of 
 a dark red colour : three 
 circular bands and a spiral 
 line interlacing eight circles, 
 each of which contains a 
 palm-leaf ; every two circles 
 are further intersected by 
 two large round spots. 
 
 No. 325 is of alabaster, 
 but looks as if it were of 
 
 shell ; it represents two hands joined together in juxta- 
 position and forming a hollow ; all the fingers are dis- 
 
 No. An object o! Alabaster. Sepulchre III. 
 
 Size 7 : 10. 
 
 27 
 
2IO 
 
 THE THIRD SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Ch. VII. 1876 
 
 tinctly visible. The use of this object is difficult to 
 explain, it being too heavy to have served as a spoon or 
 trowel. 
 
 In the same tomb I found a second piece of splendidly 
 polished rock-crystal ; its form is more than a hemisphere ; 
 it has a perforation in the middle of the bottom, and 
 another on each side. Its interior has paintings of a 
 lively red colour. Its use is altogether inexplicable to me ; 
 were it not for the paintings I should believe it to be the 
 handle of a sceptre ; but as it is, it can never have served 
 as such. 
 
 There were found in the same sepulchre an entire but 
 quite plain silver vase, with one handle ; a broken silver 
 vessel with a spiral ornamentation, and a broken plain silver 
 goblet ; also a silver vase ornamented with a horizontal row 
 of twelve golden stars of repousse work, but unfortunately 
 so much broken that it cannot be photographed. I may 
 further mention a large bronze knife with a wooden handle. 
 
 I also found in this third tomb the copper-plated 
 mouthpiece of a large vase, which consists, according to 
 Professor Landerer, of a composition of silver and lead -, 
 the mouthpiece has probably only been plated with copper 
 in order to plate this latter again with gold. Further, an 
 alabaster cup, a fragmentary bronze vase, two very large 
 copper vases with two handles, a large copper caldron 
 (\ej817s), with two handles, and two others with three 
 handles. All these objects are similar to those found in the 
 fourth tomb, of which the engravings will be given in 
 the next chapter. 
 
 • There were also found here a large mass of fragments 
 of hand-made or very ancient wheel-made terra-cotta vases ; 
 and lastly, a long well-polished stone of nearly oval form, 
 which, in the opinion of Mr. Eustratiades, may have served 
 as a weight to draw to a door. 
 
Nu. 326. Golden Mask in tlic form of .1 Lion's Mead Sepulchre IV. Size fa about 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Thk Fourth Tomb in the Acropolis of Mycenae. 
 
 Further search within the Agora, without the guide of tombstones — 
 Discovery of an altar of Cyclopean masonry, over the centre of the 
 great Fourth Tomb, containing the bodies of five men, burnt where 
 they lay, laden with jewels, and covered with a layer of white clay — 
 Objects found — Copper caldrons, -one containing 100 gold-plated 
 buttons with intaglio work- Homeric mention of caldrons — A silver 
 cow's head with gold horns and a gold sun on its forehead : it repre- 
 sents Hera — Cow-heads with axes — Swords and lances of bronze- 
 (iold-plated wooden sword-sheaths and hilts with gold pins — Three 
 masks of gold covering the faces of the bodies — A fourth mask, repre- 
 senting a lion's head — Two seal-rings and a bracelet, with ornaments 
 — The state of art corresponds with that described in Homer- 
 Golden breastplates on two of the bodies — Golden crown by the 
 head of another — Golden ornament of the greaves — Borax used 
 then, as now, for soldering gold — More than one 8cVa<; if^ucvn tXXov, 
 and other vessels of gold and silver — The large gold goblet, with 
 doves on the two handles, like Nestor's cup in the Iliad — Two- 
 
212 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 handled terra-cotta vases, hand-made, like those at Troy — Orna- 
 ments of alabaster — Gold shoulder-belts (TeXa^wves) — Other objects 
 found in the tomb, of rock crystal, amber, alabaster — Golden 
 diadems, some seemingly for children ; also a child's belt and 
 frontlet, or " belle Helene," and other ornaments of gold — Double 
 edged battle-axes — their use by the Greeks as a symbol, especially 
 at Tenedos — A funeral fork of copper — Vase-lids of bone 
 — Vessel of silver and lead in shape of an animal — Buttons of 
 wood, plated with gold, splendidly ornamented — Their patterns and 
 workmanship — Hundreds of gold flowers, plain buttons, and other 
 ornaments of gold — Larger gold buttons splendidly ornamented — 
 Leaves of gold strewn under, over, and around the bodies — Wooden 
 comb with gold handle — Gold models of temples — Many golden 
 cuttle-fish — Gold knobs for sword-hilts, highly ornamented — Arrow- 
 heads of obsidian — Boars' teeth — Large copper vessels — Custom 
 of placing such vessels in tombs — A copper tripod — Uses of 
 tripods in Homer— Bronze swords, lances, and knives — Some 
 swords with parts of their wooden sheaths, alabaster handle-knobs, 
 golden studs, &c. — Remnants of linen sheaths — Oyster-shells and 
 unopened oysters — Broken pottery, indicative of a still existing 
 funeral custom — The bones of the deceased — Alabaster vases — 
 Hand-made and very ancient wheel-made pottery — Fragments of 
 a characteristic form of goblet, both of terra-cotta and of gold — 
 Another type of goblets — Two whetstones — A handle of unique 
 work, gold encrusted with rock crystal, " Oav/ia ISarOcu.' 
 
 Mycenae, December 6, 1876. 
 
 Encouraged by my success, I resolved upon excavating 
 the whole remaining space within the great parallel circle 
 of slabs by which the Agora is enclosed, and my attention 
 was particularly directed to the spot immediately west of 
 the sepulchre last excavated, although the site was marked 
 by no tombstone. But, at marked variance with the colour 
 of the soil elsewhere, I found here only black earth, which, 
 at a depth of 15 ft., was already intermixed with nothing 
 else than hand-made and most ancient wheel-made pottery, 
 showing that the site had not been disturbed since a 
 remote antiquity; and this increased my hopes of making 
 an interesting discovery. 
 
 At a depth of 20 ft. below the former surface of the 
 mount I struck an almost circular mass of Cyclopean 
 
1876.] AN ALTAR UPON A TOMB. 213 
 
 masonry, with a large round opening in the form of a 
 well ; it was 4 ft. high and measured 7 ft. from north to 
 south, and 5I ft. from east to west.* I at once recognised 
 in this curious monument a primitive altar for funeral rites, 
 and was strengthened in this belief by two slabs, in the 
 form of tombstones, 2 ft. 9 in. long, and 1 ft. 6 in. broad, 
 and a short column, which lay in a horizontal position 
 below the altar, and which, in my opinion, must have once 
 been erected on the spot to mark the site of a sepulchre. 
 Fragments of beautiful hand-made or very archaic wheel- 
 made pottery and knives of obsidian continued to be the 
 only objects of human industry I met with. 
 
 At last, at a depth of 26k ft., and at a distance of only 
 4 ft. 7 in. from the tomb last described, I found a sepulchre, 
 24 ft. long, and i8£ ft. broad, which had been cut into 
 the rock to the depth of 6 ft. on its west side, 10 ft. on the 
 north side, 8 ft. on the south side, and on the east side 
 6i ft. deep, its bottom being 33 ft. below the former 
 surtace of the mount. f 
 
 It deserves particular notice that the funeral altar 
 marked precisely the centre of this tomb, and thus there 
 can be no doubt that it had been erected in honour of 
 those whose mortal remains reposed therein. All round the 
 four sides of the bottom of this tomb was, on a foundation 
 of large common stones, a slanting wall, 7 ft. 8 in. high, of 
 large pieces of schist, of irregular form, which had been 
 joined with clay. This wall projected 4 ft., and thus 
 considerably diminished the size of the sepulchre. As in 
 all the other tombs, the bottom was covered with a layer 
 of pebbles, on which, at about equal distances from each 
 other, lay the bodies of five men; three of them were 
 lying with the head to the east, and the feet to the west ; 
 
 * See Plan F for a ground plan, and view of this altar, and a section 
 of the ground, the altar itself, and the fourth sepulchre, 
 t See Plans B, BB, C, and Plate VI. 
 
2 14 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 the other two were lying with the head to the north and 
 the feet to the south. The bodies had evidently been 
 burned on the very spot on which each lay ; this was 
 shown, as well by the abundance of ashes on and around 
 each corpse, as by the marks of the fire on the pebbles 
 and on the wall of schist. The cremation of all the 
 bodies on the layer of pebbles on the very bottom of 
 this, as well as of all the other tombs, has been officially 
 authenticated by the three government clerks, whom 
 the Director-General of Antiquities at Athens, Professor 
 Panagiotes Eustratiades, has sent here to assist me in 
 guarding the treasures, as well as by the Professor of 
 Archaeology, Phendikles, who remained here two weeks 
 with me, and by the thousands of people who flock hither 
 from all parts of the Argolid to see these wonders ; and, 
 therefore, any one who doubts the exactness of my state- 
 ments as to the cremation is requested to apply to the 
 said Director-General or to the Ministry of Public Instruc- 
 tion at Athens. 
 
 The five bodies of this Fourth Tomb were literally 
 smothered in jewels, all of which — as in the other tombs — 
 show unequivocal marks of the funeral fires. 
 
 Here, as well as in the first and third tombs, I have 
 noticed that, for a reason unknown to me, the burned 
 bodies, with their golden ornaments, had been covered, 
 after the cremation, with a layer (3 in. to 4 in. thick) of 
 the same white clay which has been employed to join the 
 pieces of schist of the slanting internal wall. On this 
 layer of clay was put the second layer of pebbles. Down 
 to about one foot above the upper layer of pebbles, the 
 work of excavation is not difficult, for we have merely 
 to direct our labourers to dig here or there. But from 
 that point we have to do the work ourselves ; the task 
 is exceedingly difficult and painful to us, particularly in the 
 present rainy weather, for we cannot dig otherwise than on 
 our knees, and by cutting the earth and stones carefully 
 
1876] COPPER VESSELS : NO SOLDERING. 215 
 
 away with our knives, so as not to injure or lose any of the 
 gold ornaments. 
 
 Beginning the excavation of the lower strata of this 
 tomb from the south side, I at once struck on five large 
 copper vessels (Xerxes, ' caldrons'), in one of which were 
 exactly one hundred very large and smaller buttons of 
 wood, covered with plates of gold, with a splendid intaglio 
 work of spirals and other ornamentation. Three of the 
 copper vessels measure 14 to 20 in. in diameter each, and 
 have two upright handles ; the fourth is of the same form, 
 but has three handles; the fifth is a can, 1 ft. 9 in. high, 
 with two handles, of which the one is nailed to the mouth- 
 piece and the upper part of the body of the vessel, and the 
 other to its lower part. These five copper vessels stood 
 all upright, close to the southern interior wall. 
 
 We find copper vessels (Xefi-qTes) continually referred 
 to in the Iliad, together with tripods, as prizes in the games 
 or as presents.* But they are generally referred to in the 
 Odyssey as basins, in which the hands were washed at the 
 sacrifice or before dinner.f They were also used for the 
 foot-bath.J It deserves particular attention that three of 
 the five copper vessels, and particularly the large can, show 
 unequivocal marks of long use on the fire. It deserves 
 particular attention that there is no soldering in any one 
 of the large copper vessels found in this or any other of 
 the Mycenean tombs ; these large vessels consist merely 
 of copper plates, solidly joined together with innumerable 
 small pins. All the handles are likewise attached with 
 broadheaded nails. 
 
 Close to the copper vessel with the gold buttons, I 
 found a cow's head of silver, with two long golden horns, 
 which I represent in the engravings Nos. 327 and 328. 
 
 * See for example //. IX. 123, 265, XXIII. 259 and 267, XXIV. 
 233 ; Odyss. XIII. 13. 
 
 t See Od. L 137, UL 440. % Od. XIX. 386, 469. 
 
2l6 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
ai8 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 It has a splendidly ornamented golden sun, of 2^ in. in 
 diameter, on its forehead ; in the middle of the head is a 
 round hole, which may have served for flowers. I here 
 remind the reader that the Egyptian Apis is represented 
 with a sun between its horns. 
 
 The Mycenean goldsmith evidently did not understand 
 the art of plating silver with gold, for, whenever he had to 
 do it, he first plated the silver with copper, and then plated 
 the copper with gold. He has done so with this silver cow- 
 head, whose mouth, eyes and ears he had to plate, and, 
 therefore, he first plated them with copper and then plated 
 the copper with gold. On the mouth the gold plating 
 is very well preserved, but from the eyes and ears it has 
 almost entirely disappeared. There can be no doubt that 
 this cow-head was intended to represent the goddess Hera, 
 the patron deity of Mycenae. 
 
 There were also found here the two cowheads of very 
 thin gold plate, Nos. 329 and 330, which have a double 
 
 Nos. 329, 330. Two Golden Cow-heads with double axes. Actual size. 
 
 axe between the horns. I shall discuss hereafter the 
 symbol of the double axe, which occurs repeatedly in these 
 tombs. I would here call particular attention to the three 
 cowheads with long horns, two of which are of gold, and 
 one seemingly of silver, which figure among the offerings 
 in the wall paintings of an Egyptian tomb in Thebes, con- 
 
1876.] HEAP OF SWORDS AND LANCES. 219 
 
 served in the British Museum ; the two of gold are 
 brought by Asiatics on golden vases, whilst the silver cow- 
 head is offered by Egyptians. I further call attention to 
 Mr. G. A. Hoskins's 'Travels in /Ethiopia,' p. 330, where 
 a copy is given of a wall painting of a tomb in Thebes, 
 representing a grand procession, in which, among other 
 presents, are rings and four cow heads with long horns, 
 seemingly all of gold. 
 
 In further excavating from east to west I struck a 
 heap of more than twenty bronze swords and many lances. 
 Most of the former had had wooden sheaths and handles 
 inlaid with wood, of which numerous remnants could be 
 seen. Lying all along and in the heap of swords I found a 
 large quantity of round plates of gold with beautiful in- 
 taglio work, and remnants of flat round pieces of wood, 
 which had once, in unbroken series, adorned both sides of 
 the sword-sheaths. The largest plate was at the broad end 
 of the sheath, the smallest at the opposite extremity. The 
 wooden handles of the swords had likewise been orna- 
 mented with large round plates, covered with rich intaglio 
 work. The remaining space has been studded with gold 
 pins, and gold nails can be seen in the large alabaster or 
 wooden hilt-knobs of the swords. On and around the 
 swords and the remnants of the sheaths could be seen a 
 great quantity of fine gold-dust, which can leave no doubt 
 that the handles and sheaths had also been gilded. 
 
 Some of the lance-shafts seemed to be well preserved, 
 but they crumbled away when exposed to the air. Unfor- 
 tunately the skulls of the five bodies were in such a state 
 of decomposition that none of them could be saved ; the 
 two bodies with the head to the north had the face covered 
 with large masks of gold-plate in rude repoussi work, one 
 of which, unfortunately, has been so much injured in the 
 funeral fire and by the heavy weight of the stones and 
 debris, and, besides, the ashes stick so firmly to it, that 
 it was impossible to get a good photograph of it. How 
 
2'20 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 ever, by looking at it for some minutes, one gets a 
 tolerable idea of the features. It represents a large oval 
 youthful face with a high forehead, a long Grecian nose, 
 and a small mouth with thin lips ; the eyes are shut, and 
 the hairs of both eyelashes and eyebrows are well marked. 
 
 Quite a different physiognomy is represented by the 
 second mask (No. 331), which shews a round face, with 
 
 No. 331. Mask of Gold, found on the face of a body. Sepulchre IV. Size I : 3, about. 
 
 full cheeks and a small forehead, with which the nose does 
 not range in a straight line, as on the other mask; the 
 mouth is but small, and has thick lips; the eyes are 
 shut, and the eyelashes, as well as the eyebrows, which 
 are joined, are tolerably represented. 
 
 A third mask of much thicker gold-plate was found 
 covering the face of one of the three bodies which lay 
 with the head to the east. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 GOLDEN PORTRAIT MASKS. 
 
 221 
 
 This mask, of which I give the engraving (No. 332), 
 exhibits again a totally different physiognomy: the wrinkles 
 to the right and left above the mouth, and the expression 
 of the very large mouth with thin lips, can leave no doubt 
 
 No. 332. ' ("LI Ma k Scpulcnrc IV. Size 3 : 8, about. 
 
 that we have here the portrait of a man of more advanced 
 age. The forehead is very large and so are the eyes, which 
 are open and have neither lashes nor brows marked : 
 the nose has been much pressed by the stones and is 
 
222 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 out of shape. In this mask is preserved part of the skull 
 of the man whose face it covered. 
 
 The physiognomies represented by these three masks 
 are so widely different from each other, and so altogether 
 different from the ideal types of the statues of gods and 
 heroes, that there cannot be the slightest doubt that every 
 one of them represents the likeness of the deceased whose 
 face it covered. Had it not been so, all the masks would 
 have represented the same ideal type. 
 
 A fourth heavy golden mask was found at the head of 
 another of the three bodies which had their heads turned to 
 the east. This object was bent double, and looked so little 
 like a mask that I took it for a helmet, and described 
 it as such in my letter published in the Times of the 27th 
 December last ; but, having unbent it, I see that it has 
 nothing of the shape of a cap and can only have been 
 intended for a mask to cover the face of the body : it 
 had probably been accidentally removed in the process of 
 cremation. At first sight its engraving (No. 326, p. 211) 
 resembles more a jacket than anything else ; but, on closer 
 examination, we find that it represents a lion's head, whose 
 ears and eyes are distinctly seen. Being of the purest 
 gold, it is so soft that several pieces have been broken away, 
 as, for example, one from the vertex of the head, another 
 from the nose, a third from the jaws, and a fourth from 
 the mane, to the left of the spectator ; but they are 
 preserved, and can easily be added by an able goldsmith. 
 But still, even in its present defective condition, the nose 
 and the large upper jaws of the lion are distinctly seen. 
 To the right of the spectator we see in the rim two small 
 round perforations, and there are similar perforations in 
 the missing piece of the left side. They must certainly 
 have been used to fasten the mask on another object. I 
 call particular attention to the disproportionately small and 
 but very rudely represented eyes and ears of the lion's head. 
 
 Neither in Homer nor in any of the later classics 
 
1876.] ARCHAIC SEAL-RINGS. 223 
 
 do we find any allusion to the custom of burying the dead 
 with masks representing their portrait, or with any masks at 
 all. Masks of wood, which however represent but an 
 ideal type and no portrait, are sometimes found in Egyptian 
 tombs.* In a tomb near Kertch there was also found the 
 mask of a woman, which may represent a portrait.] - A 
 bronze mask was found at Nola.J 
 
 A H 
 
 Nos. 333, A, B. Two Oold Signet Rings. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 I further found, with the three bodies whose heads were 
 laid towards the east, the two large golden signet rings 
 (Nos. 334 and 335) and the large golden bracelet (No. 
 
 M"s- 3J4. JJ5- Intaglios on the Signet Rings. Sepulclirc IV. Actual size. 
 
 336). Nos. 333 a and b show the inverse side of the 
 rings. The surfaces of both signets are slightly convex ; 
 the one (No. 334) represents in very archaic intaglio a 
 hunter with his charioteer in a chariot drawn by two 
 
 * See Caylus, ' Recueil d'Antiquites,' I. 41, pL XI. 
 
 t ' Antiquitc's du Bosphore Cimmerien,' Blanche L ; where also 
 mention is made of a gold mask found at Olbia. 
 
 X Tischbein, ' Recueil de (Iravures,' IL I j where also mention is made 
 of an iron mask from a sepulchre at Santa Agata dei ( ioti. 
 
224 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 stallions, whose eight feet are in the air and in a line 
 parallel with the ground, to indicate the great speed with 
 which they are dashing forward. Their bushy tails are 
 uplifted, and are very natural, as are also their bodies, 
 except the heads, which are more like camels' than horses' 
 heads. There are no straps visible to attach the horses to 
 the chariot, which is of a different shape from the chariots 
 which we see on the Mycenean sculptures, for here the 
 sides are cut out in the form of a crescent and are consoli- 
 dated by three projecting headings, which probably go 
 round the chariot, at least on three sides. But the wheel 
 is exactly like those on the sculptures, for it has only 
 four spokes, which form a cross round the axle. 
 
 The two men are naked, and wear merely a belt round 
 the loins ; their uncovered heads show thick but not long 
 hair ; both wear earrings ; their faces are much protruding, 
 and are very archaic, particularly that of the charioteer, 
 of whose body we see the full front view, though his 
 head is turned to the right : his shoulders are too 
 broad and angular, and are disproportionate to the rest 
 of the body. The hunter, who appears to be much 
 younger than his companion, leans over the chariot, 
 holding in his left hand a bow ; with his right he has 
 drawn the cord, and is just in the act of shooting an 
 arrow at a stag with long horns, which is running before 
 the chariot, and seems to turn its head back, full of 
 anguish. It deserves particular attention that the stag is 
 represented in the air, and that its hind-feet are on the 
 same level with the men in the chariot, while its fore-feet 
 are much higher still. Otherwise the body of the stag 
 is made true to nature. The object just before the horses' 
 feet is meant to represent the flat ground, though it looks 
 rather like a tree on account of the curve of the ring. 
 The object above the stag and above the archer is a mere 
 ornament, and is perhaps intended to represent the clouds ; 
 Mr. Newton thinks it represents mountains. 
 
 Still more interesting is the battle-scene on the other 
 
1876.] BATTLE SCENE ON A RING. 225 
 
 signet-ring (No. 335) ; where we see four warriors, of 
 whom the one has evidently vanquished the other three. 
 One of the latter, who is wounded, sits on the ground to 
 the right of the victor, supporting himself with his hands. 
 He has only a short helmet (Kvvd-q) on his head, and is 
 otherwise completely naked. His beard is well shown, and 
 the Mycenean engraver has taken great pains to represent 
 the anatomy of the body ; though he is sitting and with 
 his feet stretched sideways to the spectator, yet we see 
 the full upper part of his body in front without any per- 
 spective diminution. 
 
 The second vanquished warrior seems also to be 
 wounded, for he is kneeling on one knee before the victor, 
 whilst his other foot is stretched on the ground ; but still he 
 is fighting against his antagonist, whose breast he has seized 
 with his left hand, endeavouring to stab him with the long 
 sword which he holds in his right hand. I call particular 
 attention to the large knob at the end of the sword-handle. 
 
 The wounded man is not quite naked, because we 
 distinctly see on him a pair of trousers, which, however, 
 reach only down to the middle of the thighs. I lis head 
 would, no doubt, have been quite well proportioned had 
 not the artist forgotten to remove a small particle of gold ; 
 by this a small white line is produced in the photograph, 
 which makes it appear as if there were only a helmet and 
 no head. If we imagine this small white line removed, we 
 at once recognise the true proportions of the head, with its 
 small helmet, which has an upper part (<f>d\o<;), but no 
 \<k/>05 or crest. Though this man is also kneeling sideways 
 to the spectator, still we see his whole body in front without 
 any perspective diminution. 
 
 The third warrior seems to have taken to flight ; we 
 see only his head and his feet, the rest of his body 
 being hidden by an enormous shield, of a peculiar form, 
 which, if the man were standing upright, would cover his 
 whole body from head to foot. We see a border all 
 
 29 
 
226 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 around this shield, and there appears to be also some 
 ornament on it, which, however, is difficult to distinguish. 
 It is only owing to the curve of the ring that he is not 
 shown standing upright. This shield represents to us, no 
 doubt, one of the large Homeric shields, which were so 
 enormous that the poet compares them to towers : * 
 
 " Ajax approached ; before him, as a tower, 
 His mighty shield he bore, seven-fold, brass-bound, 
 The work of Tychius, best artificer 
 That wrought in leather ; he in Hyla dwelt." 
 
 Lord Derby. 
 
 This warrior's head is covered with a helmet, having a 
 broad border and a large (jydXoq and attached to it the 
 \6cf>o<;, from which a long and well-represented crest 
 (IWovpis) is waving. He appears to have stopped in his 
 flight, and, having turned his head, he is trying to thrust 
 his long lance at the victor. This latter is of gigantic 
 proportions, and has on his head a helmet similar to that 
 of the other man with the tower-like shield ; only the 
 crest is different, consisting here of three straps which 
 may represent ostrich feathers. He appears to wear a 
 broad belt, because four long straps are hanging down 
 from his loins : his body is the best proportioned of all. 
 He seizes with his left hand the vanquished man before him, 
 whilst with his uplifted right hand he deals him a deadly 
 blow with a broad two-edged sword, on the handle of which 
 we again see one of those very large knobs, of which we 
 find here so many of alabaster or wood. The posture of 
 the victor is perfectly faithful to nature ; he is stepping with 
 his left foot forward and leaning on it the whole weight of 
 his body, in order to strike a more powerful blow. Above 
 the four warriors is an ornament in which Mr. Newton 
 
 * See //. VII. 219:— 
 
 Pitas 5' eyyv0€v %\0€, (ptpwv ctokos t)i5t6 nvpyov, 
 ■%6.AKeov, tirrafiSetov, '6 oi Tux'°s Kafit Tfvxwv, 
 <tkvtot6h<»v &x &pwros, "TAtj ivi oIk'io. va'twv. 
 
 also XI. 485 ; XVII. 128. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 MASSIVE GOLDEN BRACELET. 
 
 227 
 
 may be right in seeing a rude representation of mountains. 
 I may here add that both signet-rings are but very small, 
 and could only fit on ladies' fingers. 
 
 When I brought to light these wonderful signets, I 
 involuntarily exclaimed: "The author of the ' Iliad ' and 
 the ' Odyssey ' cannot but have been born and educated 
 amidst a civilisation which was able to produce such works 
 as these. Only a poet who had objects of art like these con- 
 tinually before his eyes could compose those divine poems." 
 Mr. Gladstone has already proved beyond any doubt in 
 his celebrated 'Homeric Synchronism' that Homer was 
 
 No. 336. A Bracelet of Gold. Sepulchre IV. Actual »i/c. 
 
 an Acluran, and I am constantly bringing to light in the 
 depths of Mycenae thousands of additional proofs that he 
 is perfectly right. 
 
 Highly interesting is also the very heavy, massive, 
 golden bracelet, which I represent under No. 336. In 
 remarkable contrast with the size of the signet-rings, it is 
 so enormously large that it would fit on the loins of 
 an ordinary man. It is ornamented with vertical strokes 
 between two margins formed by two circular bands ; and 
 further with a beautiful flower of gold, which is not 
 soldered directly on the bracelet, but is fastened with a 
 silver pin to a plate of the same metal, and this latter is 
 soldered on the ring. The silver plate, part of which is 
 
228 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 broken off all round, appears to have represented four 
 flowers, and there are signs of its having been plated with 
 copper, which has no doubt been plated with gold ; 
 because, as I have before stated, the Mycenean goldsmiths 
 did not know the art of plating silver with gold. 
 
 The two bodies which are turned with the head to the 
 east, whose faces were covered with gold masks, had also 
 the breasts covered with large golden breast-plates. The 
 one is of massive gold, but without any ornamentation ; 
 the other is of a much thinner gold plate, and decorated 
 with a repousst work of two borders of small circles, within 
 which are five rows of shield-like ornaments with concen- 
 tric circles. This latter breast-cover has, at each of its 
 extremities, a hole for fastening it to the body. Close to 
 the head of another body, I found the beautiful golden 
 crown (are)u/m, No. 337), but it must be distinctly under- 
 stood that it is represented here head downward, because to 
 that side which is shown here as the lower, were attached, 
 with very small pins, of which six can be seen, a number of 
 leaves, a few of which still remain ; and if, therefore, the 
 crown had been put round the head as it is shown here, 
 the leaves would have hung over the eyes, which can never 
 have been the case.* Thus, this crown had on its upper 
 side the leaves, and on its lower a small border with small 
 oblique strokes, the intervening space being filled up in the 
 middle with three rosettes, intersected by vertical rows of 
 very small shield-like circles, and at both ends with similar 
 circles or with larger ones. At each extremity, there is 
 a very small perforation, through which the crown was 
 fastened by means of a thin gold wire. This crown resem- 
 bles the one already shown (see No. 281), but its orna- 
 mentation is much less sumptuous. 
 
 * This explanation is rendered necessary by the way in which the 
 photograph was taken. To invert the position would require complete 
 recomposition of the light and shadows ; and this has been done by our 
 artist in the case of No. 281, on account of the importance of the object. 
 
i8 7 6.| 
 
 SPLENDID GOLDEN CROWN. 
 
 22c) 
 
2 3 0 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 No. 338 represents 
 the thigh-bone of one 
 of the bodies of this se- 
 pulchre, around which 
 was still attached the 
 golden band, which 
 served both for fasten- 
 ing and ornamenting 
 the greave (kz^/us). 
 The band consists of 
 
 two 
 
 parts, 
 
 the lower 
 
 horizontal and the up- 
 per vertical; the for- 
 mer being attached by 
 a fine gold wire, the 
 latter by means of the 
 ring which we see at its 
 extremity and which 
 must have been fastened 
 to a button fixed to the 
 short trousers, of which 
 we have seen a speci- 
 men on the ring (No. 
 335). We have already 
 seen* that the greaves 
 were attached above 
 the knee, and the exist- 
 ence of this greave- 
 holder on the thigh- 
 bone can leave no 
 doubt that such was 
 the general custom. 
 The lower band is decorated all round with an imitation 
 of leaves, and in front with two rosettes. On the upper 
 
 No. 338. 
 
 A Human Thigh-bone, with a gold ornament of the 
 greaves still attached to it. 
 Sepulchre IV. Size 1 : 4, about. 
 
 * See No. 213, p. 133- 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 GOLD SOLDERED WITH BORAX. 
 
 band we see soldered a smaller and thicker one, with the 
 unmistakeable intention to give it more substance. 
 
 While speaking of soldering, I may mention that Pro- 
 fessor Landerer informs me that the Mycenean goldsmiths 
 soldered gold with the help of borax (borate of soda), which 
 is still used at the present day for the same purpose. Ik- 
 adds that he was lucky enough to discover this salt on the 
 border of an ancient false medal from yEgina j that it was 
 called in antiquity xpvcroKokka. (" gold cement "), and that 
 it was imported from Persia and India under the name 
 of Baurac-Pounxa-Tin/cal. In the Middle Ages, it was 
 imported by the Venetians from Persia to Venice, where 
 it was purified and exported under the denomination of 
 Borax Venetus. 
 
 There were further found with the five bodies of this 
 sepulchre nine vessels of gold ; the first (No. 339) being a 
 
 No. 339. A Golden Goblet with two handles . - ^ ap^txvfrcAAor/. Sepulchre IV 
 Size 5 : 8 about. 
 
 large massive golden goblet with two handles, and, there- 
 fore, an Homeric SeVai afifjuKvuekKov ; it has no ornamenta- 
 
232 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 tion. The two golden goblets, one of which is shown 
 (No. 340), are, as Professor A. Rousopoulos observed to 
 
 No. 340. Golden Goblet with one handle. Sepulchre IV. Si/.e 5 : 6, about. 
 
 me, of the pattern called in Greek avXaKcord ("furrowed"), 
 each of them being encircled by nine parallel furrows ; 
 
 each has only one handle. 
 Another gold vessel (No. 
 341) found in this sepul- 
 chre, is a beautiful cenocho'e, 
 with a large handle, and 
 decorated in repoussi work, 
 with three parallel horizon- 
 tal rows of spirals, united 
 with each other and form- 
 ing an interwoven orna- 
 mentation, which fills the 
 whole body of the flagon 
 with a net-work, and which, 
 as Dr. Schlie remarked to 
 me regarding the perfectly 
 similar spiral net-work on 
 the sepulchral stele (No. 
 
 A Golden Wine-Flagon (oii/oxor)). Sepulchre IV. I zLO^* is in DnnCiple the 
 Size 7 : 10. 1 / r r 
 
 * See p. 81. 
 
1876.] CURIOUS GOLDEN GOBLETS. 233 
 
 same as the filling up with frets or spirals combined 
 horizontally and vertically. The foot of the oenocho'e 
 
 No. 342. A Golden Cup. Sepulchre IV. Size 4 : 5. 
 
 is ornamented with small slanting strokes. I also found 
 a gold goblet with one handle (No. 342), the body 
 
 No. 343. A plain massive Cup of Cold, bepukhrc IV. Size a : 5, about. 
 
 of which is encircled with a broad band of a plain orna- 
 mentation in repoussi work, resembling blades of knives. 
 
 30 
 
234 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 Further, a plain massive golden goblet of a new shape 
 (No. 343) having one handle, which, like all the other 
 handles, is fastened to the vessel with gold nails with broad 
 convex heads, which can be seen on the inner side of 
 the rim. If we take away the handle, this goblet resem- 
 bles our present water-glasses, but its cup is larger and its 
 foot smaller. 
 
 I would here call very particular attention to the fact that 
 this golden goblet more or less exactly represents the form 
 of all the goblets of terra-cotta found at Mycenae (see No. 
 83, p. 70, and Nos. 84 and 88 on p. 71). It further deserves 
 special notice that, as before stated, the British Museum 
 contains, of perfectly the same shape, fourteen terra-cotta 
 
 No. 344. A large massive Gold Goblet with two handles (Senas aix<t>tKvn<i\Kvi>), weighing 4 lbs. 
 troy. Sepulchre IV. Half-size. 
 
 goblets found in the tomb of Ialysus. It is also worthy of 
 particular notice that exactly the same form of goblet was 
 found by me at Troy (Hissarlik), in a depth of 50 feet, in 
 the most ancient of the four prehistoric cities.* 
 
 * See my 'Atlas des Antiquites Troyennes,' Plate 105, No. 231 1. 
 
1 876.J WONDERFUL DEl'AS AMPH I KYPELLON. 
 
 2 35 
 
 But the most remarkable of the vessels deposited in this 
 sepulchre is an enormous massive golden goblet with two 
 handles — SeVas afx^LKv-rrekkov — weighing four pounds troy 
 (No. 344).* It is one of the most splendid jewels of 
 the Mycenean treasure j but, unfortunately, it has been 
 crumpled up by the ponderous weight of the stones 
 and debris, and its body has been compressed upon the 
 foot, so that the spectator cannot fully realise from the 
 engraving the magnificence of this royal cup. Any gold- 
 smith might easily restore it to its former shape, but I 
 think it would be far better to leave it as it is, because 
 it has thus a far higher value to science; and, as a general 
 rule, I may remark that the less ancient jewels of gold 
 are touched and handled, the better, because their great 
 value lies in the tarnish of antiquity — the "patina" — 
 which no human hand can imitate, and which, when once 
 lost, can never be restored. 
 
 The body of this costly goblet is encircled by a row of 
 fourteen splendid rosettes, between an upper band of three 
 lines, and a lower one of two ; the foot, by a band of large 
 protruding globular points. Not only the flat sides of the 
 handles, but even their edges, are ornamented. Here also 
 may be seen the heads of the golden pins with which the 
 handles are attached to the rim and body. 
 
 No. 345 (p. 236) represents a plain, large, massive golden 
 goblet, with one handle, of which the side turned to the 
 spectator is much crumpled and compressed ; it has no 
 other ornament than a thick, protruding band, by which 
 the body is encircled. 
 
 The splendid massive golden goblet (No. 346, p. 237) 
 is also defaced, having been pressed over to the left side of 
 the spectator. It has two horizontal handles, each formed 
 by thick plates, which are joined by a small cylinder. The 
 
 * The photograph was unfortunately taken in sucli a position as to 
 show only one of the two handles. 
 
236 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 lower plate of each of these handles is attached to the large 
 round foot by a long broad thick gold band, whose upper 
 part is embellished with a long opening, the upper end 
 of which is pointed, the lower being round. The lower part 
 of the band is, for a like purpose, cut out into three straps, 
 which join again on the foot of the goblet, where the band 
 is fastened with two golden pins, with broad flat round 
 heads, which can be seen in the engraving. On each upper 
 plate of the two handles is soldered a beautiful little golden 
 
 No. 345. Gold Cup with one handle. Sepulchre IV. Size 11 : 12, about. 
 
 pigeon, apparently of cast-work, with the beak turned 
 towards the goblet, so that the two pigeons are looking at 
 each other. This goblet vividly reminds us of Nestor s 
 cup.* 
 
 * //. XI. 632-635 :— 
 
 Trap St SeVaS irepi/caAAts, t olnoBev 7)7' 6 yepcuds, 
 Xpwfiois fiAoiffi Treirapfiei/oy ' ovara S'avrov 
 riacrap Hcrav, Soial St ir€\(td5€s a.fj.<p\s ixaoTov 
 Xpvattat vtfitdovTo' Svui 5' virb irvdjieves rfaav. 
 
 "She placed beside them a splendid goblet, which the old man had brought with 
 him from home ; it was studded with golden pins ; it had four handles, on each 
 of which pecked two golden pigeons ; the goblet had two bottoms." 
 
1876.] THE NESTORIAN GOBLET. 237 
 
 Homer's description of this Nestorian goblet fully 
 answers to the vase before us, except that the former is 
 much larger and has four handles, each with two pigeons, 
 instead of only two handles, each with but one pigeon, 
 as our engraving shows. The Nestorian goblet had two 
 bottoms, and so has our goblet, because it is impossible 
 to understand by " two bottoms " anything else than the 
 bottom of the goblet and the bottom of its foot. The 
 usual explanation of the Nestorian goblet, as having an 
 
 Mo. 346. A Golden Goblet { &inat ap^invirtAAoi') with two doves on the handles. Sepulchre IV 
 
 Size 3 : 8. 
 
 upper and a lower cup (the form also attributed to all 
 the Homeric SeVa a/if/nKwe\\a), is altogether erroneous. 
 A goblet of such a shape woidd have only one bottom 
 common to its two cups, and it could not, therefore, answer 
 the requirements of the Homeric description. Further, a. 
 such a double goblet could at all events be filled only on 
 one side at a time, there would be no raison d'etre for 
 the two cups in opposite directions. Besides, whenever a 
 goblet with wine is presented by one person to another, 
 Homer clearly always means it to be understood that it 
 
238 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 is a SeVas ajx^iKvireWov, namely, that it is double-handled, 
 and that, being presented with the one handle, it is received 
 by the other. I may mention, besides, that no goblet with 
 an upper and a lower cup has ever yet been found, while 
 I found twenty differently-shaped goblets with two handles 
 at Troy, and a large number of double-handled goblets at 
 Mycenae, all of which can be nothing else than SeVa 
 dfX(f)LKVTTekXa. 
 
 Athenaeus* lays great weight on the explanation of 
 the Nestorian goblet, as given by a certain Apelles, who 
 maintained that it was nothing else than a goblet with 
 a foot, on two sides of which latter were soldered two 
 bands (of metal), which had a common base, and stood 
 vertically not far from each other. These bands reached to 
 above the mouth of the goblet, and were bent over and 
 joined again in one sole piece, which was soldered to the rim. 
 Apelles maintained that by the four handles of the Nes- 
 torian goblet, Homer could mean nothing else than these 
 handles, which were properly but two, but were called four, 
 in consequence of being divided. Thus, as there were only 
 two pigeons at the juncture of each of those two metal 
 bands, the Nestorian goblet had in all only four pigeons. 
 This explanation of Apelles very nearly answers to the 
 shape of the goblet before us. 
 
 I would also suggest that the shape of the Nestorian 
 goblet may be imagined as perfectly similar to the goblet 
 before us, because this really has four handles ; namely, 
 the two horizontal ones, on which the pigeons lie, and the 
 two lower ones which are produced by the thick vertical 
 straps, which join them at the foot. If so, the only 
 difference would be that Nestor's goblet had one more 
 pigeon on each of these double handles. But the question 
 is what that goblet was made of. Probably it was of wood 
 and studded with gold nails ; because, if it had been of gold 
 
 ' Deipnosophistas,' XL 77. 
 
1876.] SPLENDIDLY ORNAMENTED CUP. 239 
 
 or some other metal, it is difficult to suppose that it could 
 have been studded with gold nails. 
 
 I further picked up in this tomb the beautiful large 
 golden goblet represented by No. 347. It has a broad 
 
 No. 347. A large Gold Cup. Sepulchre IV. Size 4 : 5. 
 
 handle, which is attached to the rim and body by three 
 pins with large flat heads. The outside of the goblet 
 is divided by vertical lines into seven compartments, in 
 each of which is represented, in magnificent repoussi 
 work, a flower which fills the whole space between the rim 
 and the bottom. I found in this tomb still another large 
 golden goblet with splendid repoussi ornamentation, but, by 
 a mistake quite inexplicable, it has not been photographed. 
 With the five bodies of the fourth tomb was further 
 
240 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 found the beautiful heavy massive silver goblet (No. 348) 
 which, is exceedingly well preserved, and has only one 
 
 No. 348. Large Silver Goblet, richly plated with gold. Sepulchre IV. Size 4 : 7. 
 
 handle, in the form of the golden handle of the cup 
 No. 346. This handle is fastened to the rim and body of 
 
 No. 349. Hand-made Vase of Terra-cotta. Sepulchre IV. About half-size. 
 
 the goblet by four gold nails having large round flat heads. 
 The piece of metal, which we see on the body of the vessel, 
 
1876. 1 OBJECTS OF EGYPTIAN PORCELAIN. 241 
 
 was accidentally soldered to it by the fire of the funeral 
 pile, and does not belong to it. The whole body was 
 plated with copper, and this plating was again plated with 
 gold, and the gold was covered with a splendid ornamenta- 
 tion of intaglio work, which seems to be very well pre- 
 served, but only very little of it can be seen, on account 
 of the dirt with which the goblet is covered. Mr. A. 
 Postolaccas reminds me that the spiral band, of which a 
 small part is visible in the engraving, is also found on the 
 medals of Tarentum, and represents there the waves ot 
 the sea. 
 
 Nos. 350, 351. Objects of Lgyptian Porcelain, of unknown use. Sepulchre IV. Size 3 : 5 
 
 There were further found in the same tomb three hand- 
 made terra-cotta vases with two handles, one of which is 
 represented (No. 349) ; this form is very common in Troy, 
 but it is very often set on three small feet.* 
 
 • See ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 87, No. 53, and p. 169, No. 192. 
 
 3 1 
 
242 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 I also found the two objects (Nos. 350 and 351) which 
 Mr. Newton holds to be of Egyptian porcelain ; their use 
 is altogether unknown to me. The smaller piece has an 
 ornamentation of white and black parallel lines ; the other 
 has, on a dead green ground, parallel bands of four white 
 lines, which cross each other so as to form a number of 
 small squares. The lower part of No. 351 has an impressed 
 ornamentation, representing tassels painted black, in each of 
 which we see a noose perfectly similar in form to the two 
 
 No. 352. Alabaster model of a sort of scarf tied in a noose. Sepulchre IV. Size 2 : 3, about. 
 
 objects of alabaster (see No. 352), which, as the three 
 perforations in each of them show, have been nailed on 
 something else. These latter also have, on a light-green 
 dead ground, an ornamentation, now nearly obliterated, of 
 parallel bands of two white lines, which cross each other at 
 
1876.] SILVER WINE-FLAGON. 243 
 
 right angles and form small squares. At the lower end of 
 the front piece of both are represented tassels in very low 
 relief, which are painted black. Both these objects can be 
 nothing else than ornaments, but the question is how they 
 have been used as such. 
 
 No. j5j. A Silver Flagon (otfoxoig). Sepulchre IV. Nearly h«lf riffl 
 
 The silver flagon, or (vnocho'c (No. 353), has a long 
 vertical handle and a beautiful form, but no ornamenta- 
 tion, at least none that is visible ; but there may be some 
 in repoussS below the dirt with which the vessel is covered. 
 There were further found three shoulder-belts (Teka[xu>ve<;) 
 of gold, of which I represent one. Of the other two, the 
 one is a broad but thin band, without any ornamentation, 
 and it appears to have been expressly made for the funeral, 
 
244 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 for it is not solid enough to have been used by living men ; 
 its length is 42 ft., its breadth is 2 in. to i\ in. 
 
 The golden shoulder-belt here shown (No. 354) is 
 much thicker and more solid ; it is 4 ft. \\ in. long and 
 \\ in. broad, and has on either side a small border pro- 
 duced by the turning down of the gold plate, and is orna- 
 mented with an uninterrupted row of rosettes. At one 
 extremity are two apertures in the form of keyholes, which 
 served to fasten the clasp which was attached to the other 
 
 No. 354. Gold Model of a shoulder belt (Ttkn^mv). Sepulchre IV. Size 3 : 16, about. 
 
 extremity, as is shown by two small cuts and a small hole. 
 The third golden shoulder-belt presents exactly the same 
 model and ornamentation, as well as the same keyhole-like 
 apertures at one end, and cuts where the clasps were 
 fastened at the other extremity ; only this one has suffered 
 much from the fire, and therefore the ornamentation is less 
 distinct. There were further found in the same tomb 
 fourteen objects of very pure rock crystal, but their use is 
 unknown ; also a thin disc of alabaster, which must have 
 been the bottom of a vase. 
 
1876.] 
 
 AMBER BEADS. 
 
 245 
 
 At the left side of the head of the middle body of the 
 three which lay with the heads turned to the east, I found 
 a heap of more than 400 large and small beads of amber, 
 of which I represent eight (No. 355). About the same 
 number of similar amber beads were found with one of the 
 bodies the head of which lay to the north. All these amber 
 beads had, no doubt, been strung on thread in the form of 
 necklaces, and their presence in the tombs among such 
 
 No. 355. Amber Nccklacc-bcad;.. Sepulchre IV. Actual *uc. 
 
 large treasures of golden ornaments seems to prove that 
 amber was very precious and was considered as a mag- 
 nificent ornament in the time of the early Mycenean kings. 
 
 Among the finest objects found in this tomb were a vase 
 and three handles of alabaster, which are put together in 
 the engraving (No. 356). Each of the handles has two or 
 three perforations by which they were attached to the vase, 
 on which similar perforations are found. But, judging by 
 the smallness of the perforations, which are only large 
 
246 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 enough for slight pins, the fragility of the elaborate handles, 
 and the heaviness of the vase itself, we become convinced 
 that it can never have been used for anything else than an 
 ornament, and that it can never even have been lifted up 
 by the handles. 
 
 There were further found four golden diadems, two 
 
 No. 356. A large three-handled Vase of Alabaster. Re-composed from the Fragments 
 Sepulchre IV. Hall-size. 
 
 large and two small ones, similar to those already repre- 
 sented.* The larger one is 1 ft. 8i in. long and 4 in. 
 broad in the middle. Between two borders of zigzag lines 
 it has an ornamentation of shield-like double circles in 
 repoussd work, the space between them being on either 
 
 * See Nos. 282, 283, 284, pp. 186, 188. 
 
1 876. J CURIOUS GOLDEN DIADEMS. 247 
 
 side filled up by small circles of the same pattern, whilst 
 both extremities are covered with a beautiful spiral orna- 
 mentation. At the one end is a pin (infiokov) and at the 
 other a small tube (avAicr/cos), by which the diadem was 
 fastened round the head. The smaller diadems are only 
 1 ft. 5^ in. long, and 2 J in. broad in the middle, and appear 
 to have adorned a child's forehead. Their ornamentation 
 in repoussd work is most varied and curious. Between two 
 borders, each of two lines, we see in the middle a circle 
 surrounded by thirteen small ones, on either side of which 
 follow two vertical bands filled with small horizontal 
 strokes j next a vertical row of three circles, and again two 
 vertical bands filled with horizontal strokes; after that a 
 vertical band of spirals, and two concentric circles, sur- 
 rounded by smaller ones of the same shape ; then again 
 a vertical band filled with horizontal strokes ; and, lastly, 
 two vertical bands of concentric circles, between which a 
 horizontal band with oblique strokes goes to the extremity. 
 Only one end, with a perforation, is preserved. The other 
 end, probably, was similarly fashioned, and the diadem 
 was fastened with a fine gold wire round the child's head. 
 No body of a child was found, but the number of small 
 ornaments which would only fit a child lead me to think 
 that there has been one, or even more than one, in this 
 sepulchre. None of these diadems were piped. 
 
 There were further found two golden diadems which, 
 like the former, are of thin gold plate, but neither of 
 them is piped. Both are so small that they could onlv 
 fit round the heads of children; one is 1 ft. 4^ in., the 
 other 1 ft. \ in., long. The former is ornamented, between 
 two borders of points, with five shield-like circles in the 
 middle, of which three represent rosettes, the other two a 
 wheel in motion. The remaining space to the right and 
 left is filled up with small shield-like circles, together with 
 two larger ones representing again a wheel in motion, and 
 with spirals. The other diadem has, between two borders 
 of concentric circles, in the middle a shield-like circle 
 
248 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 Nos. 357, 358. 
 A Belt and "belle Helene" of gold. 
 Srpulchre IV. Size J {one-third size). 
 
 representing a wheel in mo- 
 tion, and to the right and 
 left a similar circle repre- 
 senting rosettes. Above the 
 second circle from the middle 
 one, to the right of the spec- 
 tator, is represented a bird. 
 The remaining space is filled 
 up with a beautiful and very 
 symmetrical ornamentation 
 of spirals, with two shield-like 
 circles representing wheels 
 in motion, and again with 
 spirals or concentric circles. 
 Both these diadems have at 
 each end a fine wire for 
 fastening them round the 
 head. 
 
 Nos. 357 and 358 repre- 
 sent from the same sepulchre 
 a small beautifully - orna- 
 mented golden belt and a 
 golden " belle Helene," that, 
 is, a fillet or frontlet. Both 
 are of strong plate, but so 
 short that they also seem to 
 have been used as ornaments 
 for a child. The belt is orna- 
 mented with seven shield- 
 like circles, representing 
 wheels in motion ; it has at 
 either end a perforation for 
 fastening it with fine wires. 
 
 The " belle Helene " is 
 ornamented with rosettes 
 and crosses of repoussi 
 work ; it has two perforations 
 
1876. ORNAMENTED GOLD RIBBON, ETC. 249 
 
 in the rim, a little way from either end, from one of which 
 is still hanging the fragment of a very fine chain (a), 
 and a similar one has, no doubt, been suspended to the 
 other perforation.* Both the chains must have been much 
 longer, and ornaments must have been attached to them, 
 as to the Trojan diadems, f which Mr. Gladstone is right 
 in identifying with the Homeric "7r\e/cTai dfaSeoyicu." 
 Attached to each extremity of this frontlet is a fine golden 
 wire for fastening it round the head. I also picked up in 
 this tomb a small golden belt-ornament, a golden greave- 
 ornament, two golden ribbons, and two golden leaves, all 
 with an ornamentation in rcpoussf work, such as we have 
 repeatedly passed in review, and therefore 1 do not give 
 the engravings of them here. 
 
 There were further found with the five bodies of the 
 fourth sepulchre the following objects of gold : the 
 richly-ornamented ribbon (No. 359), having at either ex- 
 tremity five perforations for nailing or sewing it to some 
 other object. The decoration forms two compartments, 
 one of which is divided by a multitude of vertical lines 
 into a number of smaller and larger fields. Three of these 
 show a waving line, having on either side small strokes which 
 give it the appearance of a feather. In the other com- 
 partment, between two borders, each composed of three or 
 four horizontal lines, are two rows of beautiful spirals and 
 two straps ornamented with small oblique strokes. The 
 two objects, Nos. 360 and 361, are heavy massive golden 
 pins, which may equally well have served as breast-pins or 
 as hair-pins, because Homer's countrymen, the Axhseans, 
 wore very long hair, and were therefore called KaprjKo- 
 fjuoovTes *A\aiot by the poet. The heads of both these 
 brooches have almost the shape of helmets, and each of 
 
 * The Cut has to be viewed with the outer edge of the page 
 downwards. 
 
 t See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 335, Plate XIX. 
 
 3 2 
 
250 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 them has a vertical perforation, which may have been used 
 for putting in an additional ornament, or perhaps a 
 flower. Both these brooches appear to be much worn. 
 Much thinner is the third golden pin (No. 362), which 
 
 361 
 
 iNios. 359-305 \ arious ornaments of Gold. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 is ornamented with an admirably-represented ram with 
 long horns. 
 
 The rings (Nos. 363 and 364) are also of gold ; the 
 former, which is massive and has no ornamentation, seems 
 to have been a finger-ring ; the latter is a small ornamented 
 
1876.J ORNAMENTED GOLD CYLINDER. 25 1 
 
 ribbon, which was turned round and fastened in the form 
 of a ring, and may have been used as an earring, similar to 
 which there were found two. 
 
 No. 365 is a lion's cub ; it is of massive gold, very 
 heavy, and I share Mr. Newton's opinion that it is cast and 
 tooled. 
 
 The golden cylinder (No. 366) belonged no doubt, 
 to the wooden handle of a sword or sceptre, because we see 
 all along its middle part the row of pin-holes, and even 
 
 No. 366. Highly decorated Golden Cylinder, probably the handle ol a sword or sceptre. 
 Sepulchre IV. Size 4 : 5. 
 
 four flat heads of pins, and in the centre the head or a 
 very large pin, by which it was attached. It is ornamented 
 at both ends with a broad border of wave-lines, and the 
 whole remaining space is filled with interwoven spirals, all 
 in magnificent intaglio work. 
 
 There was also found an ornament consisting of three 
 double leaves of gold, which are soldered together in the 
 middle, representing a magnificent star, ornamented all 
 over with shield-like concentric circles of repoussd work. 
 
1$1 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 The primitive artist has not forgotten to ornament the 
 borders with small strokes, no doubt with the intention 
 of making the leaves still more conspicuous. There were 
 found two other stars, each of two double leaves of gold, 
 which are soldered together in the middle, and, as the 
 perforation shows, were fastened by a pin on some other 
 object. The leaves of both stars are ornamented with 
 a reponssi work of shield-like concentric circles, inter- 
 spersed with pear -like designs ; the borders of the leaves 
 are also ornamented with small strokes. In what manner 
 all these stars have been used as ornaments, it is difficult 
 to say. 
 
 I further found with the five bodies of this tomb two 
 small rings (see No. 367), which have an impressed ornamen- 
 tation of small circles. There were further found two small 
 double-headed battle-axes, of thin gold plate (No. 368). 
 Of the handle of the one shown, only part remains ; that of 
 the other is almost entirely gone. Double-headed battle- 
 axes of precisely the same form are seen on all the medals 
 of the island of Tenedos ; we see them also on some of 
 the gold ornaments from Mycenae, on a lentoid gem from 
 the great Herasum, which will be passed in review in the 
 subsequent pages, and between the horns of the two small 
 cow-heads on gold-leaf found in this sepulchre.* Mr. 
 Postolaccas calls my attention to the passage in Plutarch : \ 
 " But the Tenedians have taken the axe from the crabs, 
 which are with them abundant about the so-called 
 Asterion, because it appears that the crabs alone have the 
 figure of the axe in their shell." The same friend reminds 
 me, besides, that the double battle-axe is the symbol of the 
 Labrandian Jove, who was worshipped in Labranda, and it 
 is represented on the medals of the ancient kings of Caria, 
 as on those of Maussollus^ (353 B.C.), Idrieus (344 B.C.), 
 
 * See Nos. 329-330, p. 218. 
 
 t De Pythice Oraculis ; Op. Moral, ed. Didot, vol. L p. 488. 
 % This name is always MauWoAAos on the coins. 
 
1876] SYMBOL OF THE DOUBLE AXE. 2,53 
 
 Pixodarus (336 b.c.) and Othomtopatos (334 b.c.) I also 
 find in Plutarch* that the axe, 7reXe/cu5, was called in the 
 Lydian language kdfipvs. 
 
 367 36q 
 
 Nos. 3O7-370. Golden Ornament;.. Sepulchre IV. Siie a : 3. 
 
 Professor A. Rhousopoulos writes to me on this sub- 
 ject : " I suppose the double-edged axe on the coins ot 
 " Tenedos to be a sacrificial or a warlike symbol. I believe 
 " this from analogy with other coins of a superior class. 
 
 * Quasi. Grcec. p. 45. 
 
254 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 " There was a proverb in ancient Greece, Tei/e'Sios treXeKvs, 
 " ' Tenedian axe,' for those who resolve questions in a 
 " harsh or in a rather short way. The Tenedian Apollo 
 " held in his hand the double axe, namely, that which is 
 " represented on the coins of Tenedos ; but the interpreta- 
 " tion of this symbol in antiquity was twofold. Some 
 " regarded it as the symbol of Tennes, others (and so 
 ' Aristotle) maintained that a certain king of Tenedos 
 " made a law, that he who surprised an adulterer and adul- 
 " teress had to kill both with an axe. Now, it happened 
 " that his own son was surprised as an adulterer, and the 
 " father decreed that the boy should be punished according 
 " to the common law. In consequence of this event, the 
 " double axe was put on the medals of Tenedos, in memory 
 " of the prince's tragic fate." However, as to the significa- 
 tion of this symbol in the remote antiquity to which the 
 Mycenean tombs belong, I do not venture to express an 
 opinion. 
 
 The magnificent golden object (No. 369) resembles very 
 much the usual ornaments for fastening the greaves round 
 the thigh, just above the knee ; but it cannot have served 
 as such, the gold plate being by far too thick for that 
 purpose; besides, this ornament is perfectly straight, and 
 has evidently never been bent. It must, therefore, be 
 something else. As we see the object before us, it resem- 
 bles a man such as children draw ; the ring above the head 
 may represent a crown. The splendid ornament in repousse 
 work on the body we have seen, though less beautiful, in 
 the border of the sepulchral stele (No. 24).* The legs 
 show, between two narrow borders, rows of small signs 
 resembling the letter koppa, which we see on all the 
 Corinthian medals. 
 
 There were further found three golden objects, of 
 which I represent one under No. 370. I do not venture 
 
 * See the Vignette to Chapter III., p. 52. 
 
1876.] FUNERAL FORK. 255 
 
 to give an explanation of them ; they cannot have served 
 as brooches, the pin at the foot being too short and fragile 
 for that use. All three have a border all round, and in 
 the middle a rosette formed by points. 
 
 There were further found the two objects of copper 
 here represented. For what purpose the first (No. 371) 
 may have been used, it is difficult to say j it has a quad- 
 rangular hole, which cannot, however, have served to put 
 
 Nos. 371, 37;. Objects of Copper. Sepulchre IV. Siie i : 3, about. 
 
 in a handle, because the copper-plate is not thick enough. 
 The second object is a large fork, with three curved 
 prongs, and a tube into which the wooden handle was 
 stuck ; this fork has evidently served to rake the fire of the 
 funeral piles. 
 
 There were also found in this tomb the objects shown 
 in the following cut. Nos. 373 and 374 are of bone and 
 have the same shape. Both have on one side a carved 
 ornamentation of spirals, a border, and two or three con- 
 
256 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 centric circles, and two perforations ; in the centre there 
 seems to have been a knob, which is broken off. On the 
 reverse side, in the border, are three protruding cones in 
 the form of feet. I represent in the engraving the upper 
 end of one of these objects, and the reverse side of the 
 other. The use of them would be almost impossible to 
 
 Nos. 373-375. Two Bone Lids of Jars and a piece of an Alabaster Vase. Sepulchre IV. Size 5 : 6. 
 
 explain had I not found similar ones, but of terra-cotta, and 
 with four feet of conical shape, in Troy, and one of them 
 still in situ, as a lid on the mouth of a large can or jar. 
 The two perforations served to fasten the lid with a string 
 to the jars.* Four such vase-lids of bone were found in 
 this tomb. 
 
 * See 'Atlas des Antiquites Troyennes,' Plate 21, Nos. 583 and 
 584. This explains how the nurse Euryclea fastened on the lids of the 
 amphorae for Telemachus. (Horn. Odyss. ii. 354) : — 
 
 AwSiKa 5' iixnX-qoov, Kal irdifiafftu &p<Joi> airavras. 
 
I876.J STAG OF SILVER AND LEAD. 257 
 
 No. 375 represents a fragment of an alabaster vase, 
 on which a beautiful ornamentation is carved, displaying, 
 between two parallel stripes, a row of spirals, and, below, 
 a row of vertical flutings. 
 
 In a copper vessel in the south-eastern corner of this 
 sepulchre was found the animal represented under No. 
 376, which Professor Landerer has found to consist of a 
 
 No. 376. A Stag, of an alloy oi silver and lead. Sepulchre IV. Size 3 : 7, about. 
 
 mixture of two-thirds silver and one-third lead. It is 
 hollow, and seems to have served as a vase, the mouth- 
 piece, in the form of a funnel, being on the back. The 
 whole body of the animal is very coarse and heavy, parti- 
 cularly the feet, which resemble the feet of a buffalo, but 
 the head resembles a cow's-head. As, however, the head is 
 crowned with two stag-horns, of which one is preserved, 
 there can be no doubt that the artist intended to represent 
 a stag. He may be excused for having made the animal 
 so coarse, because had he given exactly the form of a 
 stag, the vase he intended to make would have been too 
 
 33 
 
N ° s - 377-381. 
 
 Buttons of Wood, covered with plates of gold, highly ornamented. Sepulchre IV. 
 Actual size. 
 
Nos. 382.38c . Buttons of Wood, covered with plates of gold, highly ornamented. Sepulchre IV. 
 
 Actual size. 
 
i6o 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 fragile. Vases of terra-cotta in the form of animals were 
 frequent at Troy.* 
 
 There were further found with the five bodies of the 
 fourth sepulchre twelve buttons of wood, in the form of 
 crosses, plated with gold, which present a most magnifi- 
 cent ornamentation of intaglio and repousse" work (see Nos. 
 3 7 7-3 8 6). f,. The largest of them (No. 377) is a little 
 more than 3^ in. in length and is 2-^ in. broad. The most 
 curious thing is, that all the wooden buttons present exactly 
 the same beautiful ornamentation as the gold plate which 
 covers them, as can be seen on the aforesaid large button 
 in the place where part of the gold plate is missing. The 
 question, therefore, naturally arises, in what manner this 
 effect can have been produced. On mature reflection, we 
 arrive at the conviction that it cannot possibly have been 
 done in any other way than the following. The pieces 
 of wood were first shaped, and on them was carefully and 
 artistically carved in low-relief all the ornamentation which 
 we now see on the gold plate in repousse" work. After 
 that, the wooden buttons were covered with the gold plate, 
 which, having been well attached on the reverse side, was 
 hammered on the buttons, and in this manner the low- 
 relief ornamentation of the wood was reproduced in the 
 gold plate. When this had been done, the intaglio work 
 was made in the gold plate, which being very thin, all 
 the cuts were at once impressed as deeply into the wood 
 as into the gold. 1 think this is the only way to explain 
 this wonderful work. 
 
 The form of all these cross buttons is that of a lozenge ; 
 nine of them being ornamented at each acute, as well as 
 at each obtuse angle, with two protruding globular pieces, 
 each of which has four concentric circles in intaglio. 
 Only two of the cross buttons (Nos. 382 and 384) have 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' pp. 160, 208, 209, 214, 352. 
 t The two remaining buttons have similar patterns. 
 
WONDERFUL CROSS BUTTONS. 
 
 261 
 
 on each acute angle three such protruding globular pieces, 
 and one (No. 380) has three of them at all four corners. 
 The button (No. 378) has, in its interior lozenge, a broad 
 border, adorned with thirty-two beautiful little crosses, each 
 of which has a point in the centre, and within this bor- 
 der, two spirals in the form of an Omega, which stand 
 opposite each other, and are crowned with branches, 
 apparently, of a date tree ; to the right and left are small 
 rosettes. On the large button (No. 377), the border of 
 the interior lozenge is filled all round with small circles 
 in intaglio, and within we see in the middle a double circle, 
 filled with a spiral ornamentation, likewise in intaglio, and 
 on each side of the circle a spiral, in the form of an Omega, 
 and some smaller spirals and signs, all in repoussi work. 
 No. 379 has simply a border of two lines, within which is 
 a circle with a spiral ornamentation, and in each acute 
 angle a spiral in the form of an Omega. On this button 
 only the last-named spiral is repousse", the rest is intaglio. 
 Still more simple is the ornamentation of No. 381, in 
 which the border consists also of two lines, and the 
 internal space is filled by two signs in form of Omegas, 
 and by four small flowers, which latter alone appear to be 
 repousst, the rest intaglio work. The button (No. 380) 
 has no border; the whole space is filled by concentric 
 circles in intaglio, with only two or three small orna- 
 ments in repoussi. 
 
 On the other hand, on the button (No. 382) all the 
 ornamentation is produced by repoussi work : even to the 
 border line of the interior lozenge, within which we see 
 a circle filled with small ones, and above and below it a 
 curious sign, which is very frequent on the Trojan whorls. 
 On the large button (No. 383) we again see a border filled 
 with twenty-eight crosses, and in the interior lozenge, in 
 the middle, a double circle, a frfr 1 with curved arms, in each 
 of which, as well as in the centre, is a point to mark the 
 nails by which the two pieces of wood for the production 
 
262 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 of the sacred fire were fastened. The two acute angles are 
 here again filled up with the same sign which we noticed 
 on the preceding figure. The border with the crosses is of 
 repousst work ; the circle, with the j^, of intaglio. 
 
 In the figure No. 384, the border of the interior lozenge 
 is ornamented with horizontal strokes ; in the interior we 
 see, in the middle, two spirals like Omegas, standing opposite 
 each other, and in each acute angle a small ornament, 
 perhaps a flower ; the latter and the border are here the only 
 work in repoussd, the remainder being intaglio. The button 
 (No. 386) has an identical ornamentation of two spirals which 
 stand opposite each other, and resemble Omegas. Finally, 
 the large button (No. 385) has a broad border filled with 
 twenty-eight small circles in repoussd work, and of the same 
 work is also the small encircled cross *in each acute angle, 
 whilst the large circle with the j^J in the centre is of 
 intaglio work. On the reverse side, the wood of all these 
 twelve cross-like buttons is carved much like our shirt- 
 studs, with the sole difference that the lower side is here 
 of an oval form. Thus, there can be no doubt that all 
 of them were used as ornaments on the clothes, but, of 
 course, they can never have served as real buttons. All 
 these buttons show unmistakeable marks of the funeral 
 fire, but as the wood has been preserved, there can be no 
 doubt that the fire was not intended to reduce the bodies 
 to ashes, or to destroy the ornaments with which they 
 were laden. 
 
 There were further found with the five bodies of the 
 fourth tomb 110 small golden flowers, in the shape of 
 the four represented under Nos. 387-390, and 68 gold 
 buttons without any ornamentation like Nos. 391 and 
 392 ; 134 round pieces of gold plate with a border, 
 like Nos. 395 and 396 ; and 98 large shield-like pieces of 
 gold plate in repoussd work, with two rope-like borders, 
 like No. 402 (p. 264). Not one of these 410 round pieces 
 of gold plate shows any sign of having been fastened on 
 
1876.] CURIOUS GOLD BUTTONS. 263 
 
 wooden buttons, and we conclude from this that they 
 must have been merely attached with glue to the clothes 
 and drapery of the deceased. 
 
 In the same place were found 1 1 8 gold buttons with 
 intaglio work of seventeen different types of ornamentation 
 which are represented in the specimens shown under Nos. 
 393-401 and Nos. 403-413. All of them consist of gold 
 plate, fastened either on wood buttons like our shirt-studs, 
 
 Nos. 387-401. Plates of Gold. Sepulchre IV. Actual site. 
 
 or merely on flat round pieces of wood ; but of a large part 
 of them the wooden button has disappeared, and only the 
 gold plate remains. I need not describe the ornamen- 
 tation of every one of these buttons, because the reader 
 sees what they represent. I would here only call attention 
 to the beautiful intaglio on the button, No. 397, which 
 
264 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 represents four long broad knives, whose handles are pro- 
 longed into spirals. 
 
 410 411 412 413 
 
 Nos. 402-413. Gold Buttons. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 I further found there 130 large gold buttons with 
 splendid intaglio work, some like Nos. 414-420, which re- 
 present beautiful stars, flowers, or crosses, and others like 
 No. 421, which has a beautiful spiral ornamentation. As 
 with the smaller buttons, many of these 130 buttons have 
 still retained their wooden button, shaped like a shirt-stud ; 
 while many others have only flat pieces of wood, and of a 
 great many others the wood has disappeared and the gold 
 plate alone remains. 
 
 Finally I found eight gold buttons of very large size, 
 with beautiful intaglio work, of two of which I give the 
 engravings (Nos. 422 and 422a). The former represents 
 
MAGNIFICENT GOLD BUTTONS. 
 
 265 
 
266 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 a sun, in the centre of which is a beautiful ^ trans- 
 formed into spirals, without, however, losing the marks of 
 nails with which it was fastened. The other represents also 
 a sun with his rays, in the interior of which is the spiral 
 ornamentation which we have so often passed in review. 
 
 All these eight very large buttons have merely flat pieces 
 of wood ; and, as I sometimes find rows of buttons so 
 shaped, and which gradually diminish in size, lying along the 
 swords, I feel certain that they were glued in uninterrupted 
 rows to the wooden sheaths of these weapons, the largest 
 button being fixed where the sword was broadest and the 
 rest gradually diminishing in size according to the breadth 
 of the sword-sheath.* It also deserves particular attention 
 that, wherever the gold buttons have retained their pieces 
 of wood, whether flat or shirt-stud-like, these wooden 
 moulds have, without any exception, exactly the same 
 intaglio ornamentation which we see on the gold plating ; 
 and there can, therefore, be no doubt whatever that all the 
 intaglio work was made on the gold plate after it had been 
 fastened on the wooden buttons, on which the intaglio 
 made on the gold plate was reproduced by the pressure 
 of the artist's hand. 
 
 The whole immense sepulchre was strewn with small 
 gold leaves, of which I collected about 200 grammes, or 
 more than half a pound troy. I found them in masses 
 even below the bodies, and I have, therefore, no doubt 
 that they were spread in the tomb before the funeral piles 
 were dressed there. I also collected from this sepulchre 
 two silver goblets, two silver bowls, ten silver vases, which 
 latter are all broken, and finally three large silver vessels 
 and a small one, which are plated with copper, and are 
 very flat. I presume, therefore, that they have been used 
 as basins or as a kind of saucers for large silver vases. I 
 further found a wooden comb, with a large curved golden 
 
 See the engraving, No. 460, on p. 303. 
 
1876.] GOLD MODEL OF A TEMPLE. 267 
 
 handle, which has evidently served for the forehead, to hold 
 back the hair. 
 
 Perhaps the most curious objects of all are three small 
 edifices of gold in repoussd work, of which I represent one 
 
 No. 433. Model of a Temple, in Gold. Sepulchre IV. Actual m'c 
 
 (No. 423). They are too small for dwelling-houses, and I 
 suppose, therefore, that they were intended to represent small 
 temples or sanctuaries. In this belief I am strengthened, 
 alike by the four horns on the top, by the pigeons with 
 uplifted wings which are sitting at either side, and by 
 the column with a capital, which is represented in every 
 one of the three door-like niches. I call the reader's 
 particular attention to the similarity of these columns to 
 the column represented between the two lions above the 
 Lions' Gate. It is also deserving of special notice that 
 the slanting lines to the right and left of the columns 
 give to these niches a striking resemblance with the 
 tombs and their slanting walls. Below the three niches we 
 see distinctly indicated four courses of masonry of large 
 wrought stones. Of capital interest is the tower-like upper 
 part of the building, which appears to represent a wooden 
 
2 68 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 structure, and in the middle of which are three curious 
 signs resembling letters. I would remind the reader of 
 the coins of Paphos, on which is represented a temple 
 of Aphrodite, with a pigeon sitting on each gable-end. 
 
 I also collected from the tomb not less than fifty- 
 three golden cuttle-fish (sepias), of which I represent one 
 
 (No. 424). All 
 these fifty - three 
 sepias are perfectly 
 alike, and have a 
 curious ornamenta- 
 tion in relief re- 
 presenting spirals ; 
 all their arms are 
 likewise curved into 
 spiral forms. It is 
 difficult to say how 
 these sepias may 
 have been used as ornaments ; probably they were fastened 
 on clothes and drapery ; all appear to have been cast in 
 the same mould, otherwise their perfect resemblance is 
 inexplicable. 
 
 There were further found two objects of thick gold 
 
 No. 424. A Cuttle-fish in Gold. Sepulchre IV. 
 Actual size. 
 
 Nos. 425, 426. The two halves of a whorl-shaped object ot thick Gold Plate. Sepulchre IV. 
 
 Actual size. 
 
 plate in the form of tops, each consisting of two halves ; 
 their use is altogether inexplicable to me. 
 
GOLD S WORD-HANDLE KNOBS. 
 
 269 
 
 No. 427. Guld Cover ot the Knob of a Sword-handle. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 I further found there ten golden plates, with beautiful 
 intaglio ornamentation, intended to cover the wooden or 
 alabaster knobs of sword - handles, of which I represent 
 eight (Nos. 427-434). On No. 427 is represented a 
 
 No. 428. Gold Cover of the K.nob of I Sword-handle. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
270 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 lion; No. 428 is profusely covered with a magnificent 
 intaglio ornamentation, and there is no space as large as a 
 quarter of an inch vacant. In the centre we see a double 
 circle containing the beautiful spiral which often occurs 
 at Mycenae, but here represented with sextuple lines. 
 
 Around this circle is another ; the 
 space between the two being filled 
 up with miniature circles. Then 
 follows a circle of a beautiful spiral 
 ornamentation ; after that, a circle 
 filled with small separate spirals ; 
 then a border of three lines, and 
 another circle with curious spirals ; 
 then again a circular band of three 
 lines, and after that a broad circle 
 of spirals. The golden object (No. 429) evidently 
 belongs to the upper part of the hilt. The golden plate 
 (No. 430) has evidently also covered the knob of a sword- 
 handle, and we see in it the round holes of the gold 
 
 No. 429. 
 Gold Cover of a Sword-handle: 
 Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 No. 430. Gold Cover of the Knob of a Sword-handle. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 nails with which it was fastened ; it is ornamented with 
 intaglio work representing beautiful spirals. 
 
 Not less sumptuous are the golden covers of sword- 
 
1876.] GOLDEN SWORD-HANDLE KNOBS. 27 1 
 
 handle knobs (Nos. 431, 432), the former being ornamented 
 in intaglio work with a number of concentric circles and 
 spirals ; the latter also in intaglio work, with a border of 
 small beautiful spirals and several concentric circles, the 
 innermost of which has a border of spirals in the shape 
 of fish, the internal space being filled with ornaments in 
 the form of horse-shoes. In a similar way the two golden 
 
 Nos. 431-434. Gold Covers of the knobs of Sword-handles. Sepulchre IV. Actual: 
 
 objects, Nos. 433 and 434, have served as covers of 
 sword-handle knobs ; the former being ornamented with a 
 double band in the form of ropes, the latter with vertical 
 flutings. 
 
 There were further found in this tomb, in a heap 
 together, thirty-five arrow-heads of obsidian, which were 
 probably mounted on wooden shafts and contained in a 
 wooden quiver which has disappeared. I represent under 
 
272 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 No. 435 the fifteen different types of these arrow-heads. 
 Nothing could give a better idea of the great antiquity of 
 these tombs than these stone arrow-heads, for the Iliad 
 seems to know only arrow-heads of bronze.* Probably 
 
 No. 435. Arrow-heads of Obsidian. Sepulchre IV. Size 7 : 8, about. 
 
 there had also been bows deposited in the tomb ; but, being 
 of wood, like the quivers and arrow-shafts, they would 
 have decayed. 
 
 There were further found here sixty boars'-teeth ; of 
 all which the reverse side is cut perfectly flat, and has two 
 borings, which must have served to fasten them on another 
 
 * See, for example, f/iadXIll. 650 and 662. 
 
1876.] BOARS'-TEETH AS ORNAMENTS. 273 
 
 object, perhaps on horse-trappings. But we see in the 
 Iliad* that they were also used on helmets, either as a 
 protection or as an ornament. 
 
 I found there also a large quantity of flat quadrangular 
 pieces cut out of boars' teeth. They are from 1 to 2 inches 
 long and from i in. to 3 in. broad ; and they have two 
 perforations, one at each extremity, by which they were 
 attached to other objects, most probably to horse-trappings. f 
 I also found a piece of bone, flat and almost circular, with 
 a round hole in the centre, and with six small perforations ; 
 its use is unknown to us. 
 
 I also found there two large copper handles with 
 unequivocal marks that they had once been plated with 
 gold, and thus it is probable that they belong to a large 
 silver vase. 
 
 Besides the five large copper vessels found (as I have 
 already said) at the southern end of the sepulchre, I found 
 
 • X. 261-265. 
 
 . . . afMpl S( ol KVVfT)V Kt<pakrjtpiv tdj)KtV, 
 pivov iroiT)T^)i/ " no\iaiv J' (vto<t6(v i/xuiriy 
 ivriraro artptwf (xToaOt Si \(vko\ 6S6vrtt 
 ipyt6Sovroi iibs >'.>.... * ?x 0 " btti Kai tv0a 
 c6 »cal imaTaixivws. 
 
 " And on his brows a leathern headpiece placed 
 Well wrought within, with numerous straps secured, 
 And on the outside, with wild hoar's gleaming tusks 
 Profusely garnished, scattered here and there 
 By skilful hand." Lord Derby. 
 
 t These ornaments of horse-trappings vividly remind us of the 
 famous passage in the Iliad IV., 141 : 
 
 is 8' St( Tir r* i\t<pavTa yvvij ipoiviKt nirivy 
 MyovU rjf Kacipa iraprjiof C/iud ai 'in-woiv ' 
 Keirai ft' iv Oa\du(f, iroAf'f j r4 fiiv rjpijaavTo 
 iinrrjts AoolflP ' f3a<n\rii Si Ktijat fryaK/ia, 
 aiitpoTtpov, k6<t/j.os 6' '(ww<p, eAor^pi -rt kvSos ' 
 
 " As when some Carian or M.xonian maid 
 With crimson dye the ivory stains, designed 
 To be the check -piece of a warrior's steed, 
 By many a valiant horseman coveted, 
 As in the house it lies, a monarch's boast, 
 The horse adorning, and the horseman's pride." 
 
 Lord Derby. 
 
 35 
 
a 74 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 five more at the eastern side, behind the heads of the bodies ; 
 further, ten on the west side, at their feet, and twelve at 
 the northern extremity, towards which the heads of two 
 of the bodies were turned. Thus, the sepulchre contained 
 in all thirty-two copper vessels, some of which, however, 
 were too fragmentary to be preserved. The chief types 
 of these copper vessels are shown in the following en- 
 gravings. 
 
 No. 436 represents a large can, 1 ft. 8 in. deep, and 
 1 ft. 4 in. in diameter ; it has two handles, of which the 
 
 one, which is upright, 
 unites the rim to the 
 body, and the other, 
 which is horizontal, is 
 on the lower part of the 
 can. Both handles are 
 fastened with large pins 
 to the vessel. Of this 
 type seven specimens 
 were found in this tomb. 
 
 No. 437 shows one 
 more can of the very 
 same form, but only its 
 upper part can be seen, 
 because it sticks fast in 
 another large copper 
 vessel, and seems to 
 have been welded to it 
 by the funeral fire. Of the form of the lower vessel 
 seven specimens were found ; it has two handles standing 
 vertically, each of which is attached to the rim by four 
 large pins. 
 
 No. 438 represents a large and deep vessel, with three 
 vertical handles, which are likewise fastened to the rim with 
 thick nails ; of this form also four were found, besides two 
 specimens of a similar form of vessel, but with only two 
 
 No. 436. 
 
 A large Copper Vessel. Sepulchre IV. Size i : S. 
 
2,76 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 handles. No. 439 represents a large vessel with two vertical 
 handles, of which eight or nine specimens were found. 
 
 Other forms, of which engravings are not given, are 
 the following. First, a basin, or deep pan, with only one 
 handle in the form of a tube, into which a wooden 
 handle had been fixed ; it is 2 ft. in diameter. 
 
 Next, a very large kettle with three vertical handles ; 
 it measures 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and, as is clear from the 
 perforations in the rim of the bottom, the latter has been 
 fastened with pins. This vessel is so large that it can only 
 have served for heating water for the bath, and it would, 
 
 No. 439. A large two-handled Vessel of Copper. Sepulchre IV. Size i : 4. 
 
 therefore, have been called Xoerpoxoos ; but the poet 
 
 mentions only such large vessels for heating the water 
 for the bath with three feet, and calls them, therefore, 
 TpL7rov<; Xoerpo-)(6o<;* There was also a beautifully-fashioned 
 copper basin of oval form ; it has probably had two handles 
 in the two places where the rim is broken away. Of the 
 last described three vessels no other specimens were found. 
 
 Most of these copper kettles, basins or cans, bear the 
 most unmistakeable signs of having been for a long time 
 
 * //. XVIII. 346 ; Odyss. VIII. 435- 
 
1876.J HOMERIC TRIPODS. 277 
 
 used on the fire ; whilst a few have the appearance of 
 having never been on the fire. 
 
 The custom of placing a large number of copper 
 kettles or large copper vases in the tombs belongs to a great 
 antiquity. The museum of the Warwakeion at Athens 
 possesses seven funeral urns of copper, with lids turning 
 on hinges, which contained the ashes of the deceased. 
 This small number shows how rarely copper vessels were 
 used in Greece, even for this purpose ; but that additional 
 copper kettles should have been placed in a tomb merely 
 in honour of the dead, is a thing unheard of in Greek 
 tombs. But that such was the custom in a very remote 
 antiquity is proved by these Mycenean sepulchres, and by 
 the tomb of Corneto, as well as by the newly discovered 
 tomb at Palestrina, of which I shall have occasion to 
 speak hereafter. Copper vessels, as ornaments of the 
 tombs, were found in the cemetery of Ilallstatt, in Austria,* 
 which belongs, however, to a much later period than the 
 Mycenean tombs. 
 
 Of capital interest is the copper tripod (No. 440). It 
 has three handles, of which two are horizontal and one 
 vertical ; to the right of the spectator is a small mouth. 
 The tripod was used in the Homeric times for various pur- 
 poses. In the Odyssey,f as we ^ as m tnc H' ;u '4 we find it 
 used for presents of honour. In the Iliad,§ it is given as 
 a prize in the games, and it also occurs as an ornament of 
 the rooms, || and, further, for the heating of water and for 
 cooking.^j To indicate its use for these latter purposes, 
 Homer** gives also the epithet i^TrvpL^rjTr)<i to the tripod. 
 
 There was further found in this tomb a mass of small 
 
 * See Edward Ereiherr von Sackcn, ' Das Orabteld von Hallstatt. ' 
 t XIII. 13; and XV. 84. % VIII. 290; and IX. 122. 
 § XI. 700 ; XXIII. 264, 485, 513. 7i8. || //. XVIII. 373. 
 IT Odyss. VIII. 434; //. XVIII. 344. 
 
 ** //. XXIII. 702 ; XXII. 164 it is calleu t/httos instead of the 
 usual form t/jiVovs. 
 
278 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 thin round pieces of copper plate, having all around the 
 rim perforations, which show that they have been used as 
 ornaments, probably on horse-trappings ; also, a copper 
 vase-handle, plated with gold. 
 
 I collected in this tomb, forty-six bronze swords more 
 or less fragmentary, also four lances and three long knives, 
 of which I shall describe the most remarkable. One of 
 the lances is represented under No. 441 ; like all the My- 
 
 No. 440. A Copper Tripod. Sepulchre IV. Size i : 4. 
 
 cenean lances, it has a tube, in which the wooden lance- 
 shaft was fixed, but, as an exception, there is here a ring 
 on either side, by which the lance-head was attached to the 
 shaft by means of a cord, to prevent its being lost. As 
 I have already stated, all Homeric lances seem to have 
 had a similar tube, in which the shaft was fixed ; on the 
 outside of the tube of the lance we see the broad flat head 
 of the nail with which the shaft was fastened. 
 
i«76.] 
 
 WEAPONS OF BRONZE. 
 
 279 
 
 1* 
 
 Among the swords, ten were short and one-edged, of 
 which I represent two under No. 442 and 442a ; they con- 
 sist each of one solid piece of bronze, and measure, when 
 entire, from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 3 in. 
 in length. The handle is too 
 thick to have been covered 
 with wood, and must have 
 been used as it is : the end 
 of it forms a ring, by which 
 the sword was suspended to 
 the shoulder-belt (reXa/jLcou) 
 or to the girdle ((wo-r^'p or 
 £d>vrj). As these short one- 
 edged swords are, properly 
 speaking, nothing else than 
 long knives, they evidently 
 represent the original mean- 
 ing of the Homeric word, 
 (f>do-yapoi>* which is derived, 
 by a euphonic transposition 
 of the letters, from the same 
 root as that of xrdtarfn and 
 afyatfo {slaughter), and thus 
 this weapon must primitively 
 have been used chiefly for 
 slaughtering animals, and, per- 
 haps, also for killing in close 
 fight ; but the name gradually 
 lost its original signification, 
 and in Homer it is perfectly sy- 
 nonymous with ££0osand aop. 
 
 There was also found a double-edged weapon with a 
 long tube (av\6<;) ; but this latter being very narrow, it is 
 
 No. 441- 
 A Lance-head of Bronze. 
 Sepulchre IV. Size i : 5, about. 
 
 Nov 441, 443a. 
 Small one-edged Bronze Swords. 
 Sepulchre IV. Size 3 : 16, about. 
 
 * <t>d<ryavov for <T(f>dyuvov, from the root cr<£ay. There was als > 
 a verb tfmoyaaw " to kill with the sword :" Hesych. Lex. s. v. 
 
280 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 m 
 
 hi 
 
 hardly possible that it can be a lance, 
 and I think it is a long dagger-knife, 
 the handle of which has been made 
 hollow, merely to make the weapon less 
 heavy. No. 443 is a fragment of the 
 blade of a two-edged bronze sword, 
 whose ridge is serrated on both sides, 
 either for the sake of ornamentation, or 
 for the purpose of making the wounds 
 inflicted with the sword more danger- 
 ous. Another weapon (No. 444) is 
 formed by soldering two or three long 
 narrow thick plates of bronze ; and in 
 the interior of the lower part, which 
 is round, we see a great many small 
 bronze pins, whose presence is just as 
 inexplicable as the use of the weapon 
 itself. From the point where the lower 
 crevice ends, it is quadrangular ; but its 
 thickness gradually diminishes towards 
 the end, which forms a small but sharp 
 horizontal edge. There are sixteen 
 marks of small nails or pins in the left 
 border of the lower crevice, which lead 
 me to venture the opinion that the lower 
 round part must have been fixed in a 
 handle of wood or bone, and that the 
 weapon may have been used as a dagger. 
 I may here mention that the Trojan 
 Treasure contained two weapons similar 
 in form but of one solid piece of metal.* 
 There is also a lance-head, with a tube for the shaft, but 
 without rings such as those of the lance, No. 441 ; also 
 a very peculiar fragment of the blade of a double-edged 
 
 Nos. 443, 444. 
 
 Fragment of a two-edged 
 Bronze Sword, and another 
 weapon, probably a Dagger. 
 
 Sepulchre IV. Half-size. 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 332, Nos. 267 and 268. 
 
1876. 
 
 BRONZE SWORDS. 
 
 281 
 
 sword, on which the high protruding 
 middle part or ridge is very conspicu- 
 ous ; further, the fragment of a blade 
 of a short two-edged sword, on which 
 we still see remnants of the wooden 
 sheath. At its lower end there are, 
 on either side, three large round flat 
 golden pin-heads, by which it was 
 fastened to the handle. I also men- 
 tion the fragments of three very 
 long two - edged sword - blades, of 
 which two have retained remnants 
 of their wooden sheaths. The first 
 is 2 ft., the second 2£ ft., the third 
 1 ft. 9 in. long ; but when entire, 
 every one of them has probably 
 been more than 3 ft. in length. 
 All show, at either side of their 
 lower end, the flat heads of the pins 
 by which they were attached to the 
 handles. On all three we see the 
 protruding ridge. I must still notice 
 two sword-blades and an alabaster 
 sword-handle knob adorned with two 
 large flat golden nail-heads (Nos. 
 445, a, 6, c). Perfectly similar ala- 
 baster knobs, but without golden 
 nails, were found by me at Troy, 
 but I did not know then that they 
 belonged to sword-handles, and I 
 fancied they had served as handles 
 to house doors, or on walking-sticks.* The two-edged 
 sword-blade (No. 445a), at the top of which arc still 
 attached remnants of the wooden sheath, measures 2 ft. 7 in. 
 
 Nos. 445, a, b t c. 
 Two-cdficd Bronze Swords and 
 an Alabaster Sword- Knob. 
 Sepulchre IV. 
 Size, 1 : 6, about. 
 
 See ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 265. 
 
 36 
 
282 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 in length. On either side of its lower end we see the 
 four bronze nails with flat heads, by which it was 
 fastened to the handle. The lower end of the sword- 
 blade, No. 445^, is adorned with 
 three flat golden pin-heads on each 
 side. 
 
 I further mention a long knife, 
 with part of its bone handle, the 
 extremity of which has evidently 
 had a curve ; also, the blade of a 
 short two-edged sword, showing at 
 the lower end, on each side, four 
 large flat golden pin-heads (No. 446). 
 A gold plate extends all along the 
 middle part of the blade on both 
 sides, and remnants of the wooden 
 sheath are visible in the middle as 
 well as at the end. I need only 
 mention the fragments of four two- 
 edged sword-blades. The middle 
 part of the one is serrated all along. 
 The lower extremity of another is, 
 on either side, plated with gold and 
 adorned with three large flat golden 
 pin-heads; the gold-plated part is 
 very distinct. No. 447 represents 
 one of several alabaster sword- 
 handle knobs, each ornamented with 
 two golden pins or nails. Nos. 448 
 and 449 are sword-blades, of which 
 the longer one (No. 448) is very 
 well preserved, and is 2 ft. 10 in. 
 long. No. 449 has retained part of 
 its handle, which is plated with gold and attached by gold 
 pins ; all along the surface of the blade we see vertical lines of 
 intaglio work, which give to the weapon a beautiful aspect. 
 
 No. 446. 
 Two-edged Bronze Sword. 
 Sepulchre IV. Half-size. 
 
■ 8 7 6] 
 
 MYCENEAN S WORDS LIKE RA1MKRS. 
 
 283 
 
 Another fragment of a large beautiful bronze sword has 
 the blade plated with gold in its entire length, the handle 
 being also thickly plated with gold and adorned with 
 magnificent intaglio work. But it has suffered so much in 
 the funeral fire, and it is so dirty 
 from the smoke and ashes, that the 
 ornamentation cannot be discerned 
 in the photograph, and, therefore, I 
 cannot give an engraving of it. Mr. 
 Newton justly remarks regarding the 
 Mycenean swords: "The ridge or 
 thread on some of the swords is 
 raised so high down the centre of 
 the blade as to suggest the idea that 
 this weapon was used like a rapier, 
 only for thrusting." 
 
 I here call particular attention to 
 the extreme narrowness of nearly all 
 the Mycenean swords, and to the 
 enormous length of most of them, 
 which seems in a great many cases 
 to have exceeded 3 feet ; in fact, 
 they are, in general, not broader than 
 our rapiers. So far as I know, swords 
 of this shape have never been found 
 before. 
 
 With some of the swords I found 
 traces of well-woven linen, small 
 particles of which were still attached 
 to the sword-blades ; and there can 
 consequently be no doubt that many 
 swords had sheaths of linen. 
 
 I further collected in this tomb 
 oyster-shells and many entire oysters, which had never 
 been opened, from which I conclude that, as in the funeral 
 customs of ancient Egypt, food was laid in the tombs 
 
 Nos. 447-449. 
 Two edged Hronn: Swords and an 
 
 Alabaster Sword-Knob 
 Sepulchre IV. Site i : 8. about. 
 
 a large quantity of 
 
284 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. VIII. 
 
 of the deceased. There was found in this sepulchre, as well 
 as in all the other tombs, a large quantity of broken 
 pottery, on seeing which, Mr. Panagiotes Eustratiades, 
 Director-General of Antiquities, reminded me of the habit 
 still existing in Greece, of breaking vases filled with water 
 on the tombs of departed friends. Mr. Eustratiades also 
 mentioned to me that copper kettles and vases were the 
 great ornaments of the houses, not only in antiquity, but 
 throughout all the Middle Ages until the Greek re- 
 volution. This is, so far, very well ; but, except these 
 Mycenean sepulchres, the cemetery of Hallstatt, and the 
 tombs of Corneto and Palestrina, we have not yet found 
 an example to prove that they served to ornament the 
 abodes of the dead. 
 
 One handle of a hand-made vase found in this tomb 
 particularly attracted my attention by its six perforations, 
 one of which was large enough for a thick string to pass 
 through, and it may, therefore, have served for suspension ; 
 but the other five would be too small even for ' a fine 
 thread, and they can, therefore, never have served for 
 suspension, and I suppose they were merely used to put 
 flowers in, as an ornament. 
 
 Of the bones of the five bodies of this tomb, as well as 
 of those of the bodies in the other sepulchres, I collected 
 all which were not too much decayed, and they will 
 be exhibited in the National Museum at Athens together 
 with the treasures. Of course the contents of each 
 sepulchre are to be kept separate. I give here an engraving 
 of only the best-preserved jaw (No. 450), with thirteen well- 
 preserved teeth ; three only are missing. 
 
 There were further found two broken alabaster vases, 
 and a pedestal of alabaster to stand vases on, besides a 
 very large quantity of fragments of hand-made or very 
 ancient wheel-made pottery. To the former category 
 belongs a vase, which has been wrought to a lustrous 
 surface by hand-polishing. It has had two handles, but 
 
1876.] BONES FROM THE TOMBS. 285 
 
 only one is preserved. Another vase is a beautiful 
 specimen of the most ancient Mycenean wheel-made 
 pottery. It has four handles, and on a light yellow dead 
 ground an ornamentation of dark-red colour representing 
 spirals, circular bands, and circles, filled with a network of 
 lines. 
 
 So. 450. Human Jawbone. Sepulchre IV. Size 3 : 4. 
 
 In this tomb, as well as in the four others, were found 
 many fragments of that kind of terra-cotta goblet which 
 maintained its form here for more than 1,000 years 
 without any modification ; only its colour and mode of 
 fabrication varied, for, while in the sepulchres we find 
 it of a light green colour with a beautiful black spiral 
 ornamentation, we find it afterwards of a plain light green 
 colour, but still hand-made. In later times we find it 
 
286 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 either of a uniform lustrous plain dark red colour or of a 
 a light yellow dead colour with numerous dark red and 
 black bands, as shown in previous illustrations.* In still 
 later times we find it with no other colour than the light 
 yellow or white of the clay itself.f Goblets of this 
 latter sort must have been in use here for a great number 
 of centuries and until the capture of the city, because 
 their fragments are found in enormous quantities, and of 
 their feet I could have collected thousands of speci- 
 mens. We have also a number of specimens of this 
 goblet in gold, such as that shown under No. 343-J In 
 Troy I found this very same form of goblet in the first and 
 most ancient of the prehistoric cities, at a depth of about 
 50 ft.§ 
 
 As a specimen of the only other type of terra-cotta 
 goblet I refer the reader to one already mentioned as 
 found in the first tomb.|| It represents the lower part of a 
 large hand-made lustrous black goblet, with a hollow foot 
 and horizontal flutings in the middle. But fragments of 
 this sort of goblets were found also in the four other 
 sepulchres. This form of goblet is very rarely found 
 outside of the tombs, and only here and there in the lowest 
 strata. But I found it in the ruins of the most ancient 
 prehistoric city at Troy. 
 
 In this fourth tomb were found two whetstones of 
 fine hard sandstone. Both have at the top a perforation 
 for suspension with a string. 
 
 I have further to mention among the objects dis- 
 covered in this tomb the beautiful golden cylinder (No. 
 451), and the splendid golden handle terminating in a 
 dragon's head (No. 452). Both these objects undoubtedly 
 belong to each other, and most probably composed the 
 
 * See Nos. 84, 88, p. 71. 
 
 t No. 83, p. 70. % See p. 233. 
 
 § See my 'Atlas des Antiquite's Troyennes,' PI. 105, No. 231 1. 
 
 || See No. 230, p. 154. 
 
1876.] GOLDEN DRAGON, WITH CRYSTAL SCALES. 
 
 287 
 
 handle of a sceptre, an augur's staff, or something of 
 similar importance, for both offer the unique example 
 among the Mycenean antiquities of gold incrusted with a 
 sort of mosaic of rock-crystal. To examine first the 
 golden cylinder (No. 451); it consists of four-leaved 
 flowers united at the points of the leaves. Each of the 
 latter shows in all its length a flat oval hollow incrusted 
 with a piece of rock-crystal, which exactly fits into it. 
 
 Nos. 451, 453. A Gulden Tube ; and a Golden Dragon with scales of rock crystal, both being 
 probably pieces of a sceptre-handle. Sepulchre IV. Siie 3 : 4. 
 
 Between every two flowers is a square space with 
 curved sides, which is also filled up with well fitting pieces 
 of rock-crystal. Of these latter only one can be seen in 
 the engraving before us in the middle of the right side of 
 the cylinder, as it is represented ; the other pieces, which 
 are mostly preserved, will be put in again as soon as 
 the Arch;cological Society shall be able to exhibit the 
 Mycenean collection. 
 
288 
 
 THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 The appearance of the cylinder, when all the trans- 
 parent crystal pieces were in their places, must have been 
 of marvellous beauty. The golden handle with the dragon's 
 head (No. 452), which belongs to the cylinder, is hollow, 
 and still contains ddbris of the wood with which it was 
 filled. The head of the dragon, with its large eyes, of 
 which one only appears in the engraving, as well as its open 
 jaws, can be distinctly seen. The scales of the dragon have 
 been skilfully imitated by means of small beautifully-cut 
 pieces of rock-crystal, which fit so well into the small 
 symmetrical hollows prepared for them in the gold, that 
 only one of them has as yet fallen out. This is the more 
 astonishing as the handle represents the most unmistakable 
 marks of the fire to which it has been exposed on the 
 funeral pile. If Homer had seen this extraordinary handle 
 when it was entire, he would undoubtedly have ascribed it 
 to the skilful hand of Hephaestus, and would have uttered 
 his sense of its beauty in the words davfia l&ecrdcu, " a 
 wonder to look upon." 
 
 Note on the Royal Palace. 
 
 I omitted to mention, in Chapter V., that in my opinion the ruins 
 extant to the south of the Agora, in which we see no windows, can be 
 only the substructions of the Royal Palace. I would further suggest 
 that all these substructions reached only to the level of the great 
 Cyclopean circuit wall, and that upon them was built the palace proper, 
 of wood. This opinion seems to be corroborated by the tremendous 
 quantities of yellow wood-ashes with which the interior of those sub- 
 structions was filled up, as well as by the impossibility of admitting 
 that the Royal Palace should have had no windows, and should have 
 been built in the deep hollow, so as to be shut out by the great 
 Cyclopean wall from any view of the lower city and the plain. 
 
No. 474. Massive Golden Musk of the body at the south end of the First Sepulchre. Size 1 : 3, 
 about. (For description, sec page 31a.) 
 
 CIIAPTKR IX. 
 
 Tiik Fifth Sepulchre, and the First again. 
 
 At length again a guard and watchfire on the Acropolis of Mycense— 
 Exploration of the Fifth Tomb — Its sepulc hral stela - The tomb 
 described ; containing only one body — Golden diadem and other 
 objects found in the tomb Hand-made vases of terra-cotta ; one 
 with female breasts, like the prehistoric vases at Santorin and Troy - 
 Wheel-made pottery — Excavation of the First Tomb completed 
 Its position and construction — Three bodies in it : the middle one 
 has been disturbed and rifled of its ornaments — Large size of the 
 bodies -Golden mask and state of the first — Wonderful preservation 
 of the third — Its ponderous gold mask, face, and teeth— Description 
 of the body— its remarkable compression —Golden breast-plate, and 
 leaves of gold on the forehead, eyes, and breast Excitement caused 
 by the discovery — Measures taken to preserve and remove the 
 body — Its shoulder belt and bronze sword with crystal ornament, 
 and disks of gold for the sheath : all special funeral ornaments, 
 and not for ordinary use— Description of the golden breast-covers 
 
 37 
 
290 
 
 THE FIFTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 of this and the first body — Highly-decorated bronze swords and 
 other objects found with the third body — Ornamented golden leaves, 
 a wooden comb, and bronze swords, with the second body — A 
 large heap of broken bronze swords, with knives and lances — Other 
 weapons, chiefly in fragments — Amber and gold beads, and various 
 objects of gold and silver — -An alabaster vase — Wonderful plates 
 of gold — ■ The two massive golden masks of the first tomb — The 
 skilled work argues a long-trained school of artists — Several large 
 goblets of gold and silver — Objects in this sepulchre — A silver 
 vase, with copper and gold plating — A drinking-cup of alabaster — 
 Plates of gold, in form of double eagles, &c. — Fragments of silver 
 vases ; one with a gold mouth-piece and handle — A splendidly orna- 
 mented plate of gold, covering a cylinder of charred wood — Hundred-- 
 of gold button-plates, large and small, with various ornamentation — 
 The new types shown — Gold plates, ribbons, and ornaments for 
 greaves — Tubes and buttons of bone; their probable use — An 
 ivory plate, and a curious object of glazed Egyptian porcelain — 
 Hand-made and wheel-made pottery — Seven large copper vessels, 
 caldrons and cans — A quadrangular wooden box, with most interest- 
 ing reliefs. 
 
 Mycenae, 6th December, 1876. 
 
 For the first time since its capture by the Argives in 
 468 B.C., and so for the first time daring 2,344 years, 
 the Acropolis of Mycenao has a garrison, whose watch- 
 fires seen by night throughout the whole Plain of Argos 
 carry back the mind to the watch kept for Agamemnon's 
 return from Troy, and the signal which warned Clytem- 
 nestra and her paramour of his approach. | But this time the 
 object of the occupation by soldiery is of a more peaceful 
 character, for it is merely intended to inspire awe among 
 the country-people, and to prevent them from making 
 clandestine excavations in the tombs, or approaching them 
 while we are working in them. 
 
 Already while engaged in the excavation of the large 
 Fourth Tomb, the results of which I have described, I 
 explored the Fifth and last Sepulchre, which is immediately 
 to the north-west of it (see Plan B and the Ichnography, 
 
 See the opening scene of the Agamemnon of /Eschylus. 
 
1876.I ONLY ONE BODY IN THE TOMB. 291 
 
 Plate VI.), and which had been marked by the large stel£W\t\\ 
 the bas-relief of frets or key-patterns resembling two ser- 
 pents, and by an unsculptured tombstone, both of which 
 were 1 1 ft. 8 in. below the surface of the mount, as it was 
 when I began the excavation. At a depth of 10 ft. below 
 the two sepulchral stila, or of 21 ft. 8 in. below the former 
 surface, I found two unsculptured stclcc, evidently much 
 older : and, only 3 ft. 4 in. below these, I found a tomb 
 1 1 ft. 6 in. long and 9 ft. 8 in. broad, which had been cut 
 out in the calcareous rock to a depth of only 2 ft., so that 
 its bottom is 27 ft. below the former surface of the mount. 
 Unlike the other tombs, the four inner sides of this 
 sepulchre were not lined with walls, but merely with large 
 pieces of schist, which were placed in a slanting position 
 against the low border of the tomb, and had not been 
 joined with clay. 
 
 As usual, the bottom of the tomb was strewn with a 
 layer of pebbles, on which I found the mortal remains 
 of only one person, with the head turned towards the 
 east, which, like all the other bodies, had been burned 
 on the precise spot where it lay. This was proved by the 
 calcined pebbles below and around the corpse, as well as 
 by the undisturbed masses of ashes with which it was 
 covered, and finally by the marks of the funeral fire on the 
 walls of rock. Around the skull of the body, which was 
 unfortunately too fragile to be saved, was a golden diadem, 
 similar to those already represented, with an ornamentation 
 in rcpoussd work, showing in the middle three shield-like 
 circles, with flowers or a wheel in rotation ; the remaining 
 space being filled up with beautiful spirals. 
 
 On the right side of the body I found a lance-head with 
 a ring on either side, like that already shown ;f also, two 
 small bronze swords and two long knives of the same metal. 
 On its left was found the gold drinking-cup now rcprc- 
 
 * See No. 441, p. 279. 
 
292 THE FIFTH SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 sented (No. 453). It has only one handle, and its orna- 
 mentation in repousst work exhibits four horizontal bands, 
 joined two and two, and ornamented with slanting strokes 
 which converge in the form of wedges, so that the orna- 
 mentation of every two bands conjointly resembles fish- 
 spines ; and in order to enhance still more the beauty of 
 these bands, the wedges of each two bands point in opposite 
 
 N T o. 453. A richly ornamented Cup of Gold. Sepulchre V. Size 9 : 10, about. 
 
 directions. The whole upper part is ornamented with a 
 continuous row of pointed arches, the joined sides of 
 which are adorned with nine horizontal strokes. The 
 handle is fastened with four nails to the rim and the body 
 of the goblet. With the swords were found small rags of 
 beautifully-woven linen, which, doubtless, belonged to the 
 sheaths of these weapons. 
 
 In the same tomb was found a fragmented light green 
 vase, 65 in. high, of Egyptian porcelain, ornamented with 
 two rows of protruding bosses, three in each row ; also 
 
1876.] VASE LIKK THOSE OF THEKA. 293 
 
 fragments of a light red vase of terra-cotta, ornamented 
 with black spiral lines, and with two female breasts sur- 
 rounded by circles of black, strokes. Professor Landerer, 
 who has examined and analysed a fragment of the former 
 vase, writes me that the porcelain is very calcareous, and 
 would be called in mineralogy " Thonmergel-schiefer " 
 (clay-marl-slate) ; that the borders, examined with a magni- 
 fying glass in the sun, exhibit a gold-like and silvery glaze, 
 produced by a lead varnish with which the vase was 
 covered and which was afterwards burned in. 
 
 With regard to this vase with the female breasts, 
 similar vases were found on the islands of Thera (Santorin) 
 and Therassia, in the ruins of the prehistoric cities which, 
 as before stated, were covered by an eruption of that great 
 central volcano which is believed by competent geologists 
 to have sunk and disappeared about 1,700 to 1,800 B.C. 
 They are also very frequent in the ruins of Troy, where, 
 however, most of them have also a navel and an owl-face.* 
 
 There were further found in this tomb, besides a mas>> 
 of fragments of hand-made pottery, fragments of beautiful 
 wheel-made pottery, ornamented with plants turned into 
 spirals ; and other fragments, which present on a light 
 yellow dead colour a magnificent ornamentation of dark 
 red spirals. 
 
 The mud in the First Sepulchre, whose site had been 
 marked by the three stela; with low reliefs, having dried 
 up in the fine weather, I continued the excavation there, 
 and struck at last the bottom of the tomb, which is cut 
 out in the rock, \ ~ t \ ft. deep on the north side, and 17 ft. 
 deep on the south-east side. But from these points the 
 slope is so abrupt that, although the upper breadth of 
 the sepulchre does not exceed 10 ft. 10 in., yet the greater 
 part of its west side needed only to be cut 1 1 ft. deep into 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 35, No. 13; p. 106, No. 70; 
 p. 307, No. 2 1 9. 
 
294 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the rock to make a level bottom. This west side is close 
 to the Cyclopean wall, with the parallel double row of large 
 calcareous slabs, which forms the enclosure and benches 
 of the Agora, and rises vertically over the sepulchre. (See 
 Plans B and C.) For all these reasons it appeared to me, 
 on first excavating this tomb, that the wall passed through 
 its north-west angle. But, by propping up with planks and 
 beams the earth and stones which cling to the wall and 
 overhang the north-west corner of the tomb, I have now 
 cleared the latter in its entire length, and visitors will per- 
 ceive that the wall does not pass through the tomb but 
 merely touches its brink in the north-west corner. 
 
 The length of the tomb is 2,1 ft. 6 in., its breadth at 
 the bottom is 1 1 ft. 6 in., and thus 8 in. more than at the 
 top. The four inner sides were lined with a Cyclopean 
 wall, 3 ft. high and 2 ft. broad ; and this had superposed 
 on it a slanting wall of schist plates joined with clay, 
 which reached to a height of 6i ft., and projected on all 
 sides a foot more than the Cyclopean wall, and thus in 
 all 3 feet on the bottom of the tomb. The latter was 
 covered with the usual layer of pebbles, which were, how- 
 ever, more irregularly strewn than in the other tombs, 
 there being places without any pebbles ; which circum- 
 stance made me at first believe that there was no layer 
 of pebbles at all in this tomb. But on careful examination, 
 I found such a layer, and below the bodies I found it just 
 as regular as in any other tomb, which circumstance appears 
 to give an additional proof that those layers of pebbles 
 were merely intended to procure ventilation for the pyres. 
 
 The three bodies which the sepulchre contained lay at 
 a distance of about 3 ft. from each other, and had been 
 burnt in the very same place where I found them. This 
 was evident from the marks of the fire on the, pebbles and 
 on the rock below and also around the bodies, and to the 
 right and left of them on the walls, as well as from the 
 undisturbed state of the ashes. Only with the body which 
 
1876.] THREE BODIES IN THE TOMB. 295 
 
 lay in the midst the case was different. The ashes had 
 evidently been disturbed ; the clay with which the two 
 other bodies and their ornaments were covered, and the 
 layer of pebbles which covered the clay, had been removed 
 from this body. As, besides, it was found almost without 
 any gold ornaments, it is evident that it had been rifled. 
 This opinion is also confirmed by the twelve golden 
 buttons, the small golden plates, and the numerous small 
 objects of bone, which had been found together with small 
 quantities of black ashes at different depths below the 
 three sculptured tombstones which adorned this sepulchre. 
 It is further confirmed by the fragments of the usual 
 Mycenean pottery of later times, which in this tomb were 
 mixed up with the very ancient hand-made or wheel-made 
 vases. Most likely some one sank a shaft to examine 
 the tomb, struck the body in question, plundered it 
 recklessly, and for fear of being detected, carried off his 
 booty in such a hurry that he only thought of sav ing the 
 large massive gold ornaments, such as the mask, the large 
 breast-cover, the diadems and the bronze, swords, and, in 
 remounting to the surface, dropped many of the smaller 
 objects, such as the twelve golden buttons, etc., which I 
 found at intervals in digging down. There can be no 
 doubt that this larceny occurred before the capture of 
 Mycenae by the Argives (468 r.c.) ; for, if it had been 
 committed while the later Greek city stood on the top 
 of the prehistoric ruins, I should also have found frag- 
 ments of Greek pottery in the tomb ; but of these I ->a\\ 
 no vestige. 
 
 The three bodies of this tomb lay with their heads to 
 the east and their feet to the west ; all three were of large 
 proportions, and appeared to have been forcibly squeezed 
 into the small space of only 5 ft. 6 in. which was left 
 for them between the inner walls. The bones of the 
 legs, which are almost uninjured, are unusually large. 
 Although the head of the first man, from the south side, 
 
ig6 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 was covered with a massive golden mask, his skull 
 crumbled away on being exposed to the air, and only a 
 few bones could be saved besides those of the legs. The 
 same was the case with the second body, which had been 
 plundered in antiquity. 
 
 But of the third body, which lay at the north end of 
 the tomb, the round face, with all its flesh, had been 
 wonderfully preserved under its ponderous golden mask ; 
 there was no vestige of hair, but both eyes were perfectly 
 visible, also the mouth, which, owing to the enormous 
 weight that had pressed upon it, was wide open, and 
 showed thirty-two beautiful teeth. From these, all the 
 physicians who came to see the body were led to 
 believe that the man must have died at the early age of 
 thirty-five. The nose was entirely gone. The body 
 having been too long for the space between the two inner 
 walls of the tomb, the head had been pressed in such a 
 way on the breast, that the upper part of the shoulders 
 was nearly in a horizontal line with the vertex of the head. 
 Notwithstanding the large golden breast-plate, so little had 
 been preserved of the breast, that the inner side of the 
 spine was visible in many places. In its squeezed and 
 mutilated state, the body measured only i ft. \\ in. from 
 the top of the head to the beginning of the loins ; the 
 breadth of the shoulders did not exceed i ft. in., and 
 the breadth of the chest i ft. 3 in. ; but the large thigh- 
 bones could leave no doubt regarding the real proportions 
 of the body. Such had been the pressure of the debris 
 and stones, that the body had been reduced to a thickness 
 of 1 in. to ii in. The colour of the body resembled very 
 much that of an Egyptian mummy. The forehead was 
 ornamented with a plain round leaf of gold, and a still 
 larger one was lying on the right eye ; I further observed 
 a large and a small gold leaf on the breast below the large 
 golden breast-cover, and a large one just above the right 
 thigh. 
 
1876.] A WELL PRESERVED HUMAN BODY. 297 
 
 The news that the tolerably well preserved body of a 
 man of the mythic heroic age had been found, covered 
 with golden ornaments, spread like wildfire through the 
 Argolid, and people came by thousands from Argos, 
 Nauplia, and the villages to see the wonder. But, nobody 
 
 No. 454. The upper part ol I Body found in the First Tomb 
 From an Oil Painting made directly after its discovery. 
 
 being able to give advice how to preserve the body, I sent 
 for a painter to get at least an oil-painting made, for I was 
 afraid that the body would crumble to pieces. Thus I am 
 enabled to give a faithful likeness of the body, as it looked 
 after all the golden ornaments had been removed. But to 
 
 38 
 
298 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 my great joy, it held out for two days, when a druggist 
 from Argos, Spiridon Nicolaou by name, rendered it hard 
 and solid by pouring on it alcohol, in which he had dis- 
 solved gum-sandarac. As there appeared to be no pebbles 
 below it it was thought that it would be possible to lift it 
 on an iron plate ; but this was a mistake, because it was 
 soon discovered that there was the usual layer of pebbles 
 below the body, and all of these having been more or less 
 pressed into the soft rock by the enormous weight which 
 had been lying for ages upon them, all attempts made to 
 squeeze in the iron plate below the pebble-stones, so as to 
 be able to lift them together with the body, utterly failed. 
 There remained, therefore, no other alternative than to 
 cut a small trench into the rock all round the body, and 
 make thence a horizontal incision, so as to cut out a slab, 
 two inches thick, to lift it with the pebble-stones and the 
 body, to put it upon a strong plank, to make around the 
 latter a strong box, and to send this to the village of 
 Charvati, whence it will be forwarded to Athens as soon 
 as the Archaeological Society shall have got a suitable 
 locality for the Mycenean antiquities. With the miserable 
 instruments alone available here it was no easy task to 
 detach the large slab horizontally from the rock, but it was 
 still much more difficult to bring it in the wooden box 
 from the deep sepulchre to the surface, and to transport 
 it on men's shoulders for more than a mile to Charvati. 
 But the capital interest which this body of the remote 
 heroic age has for science, and the buoyant hope of 
 preserving it, made all the labour appear light.* 
 
 The now nearly mummified body was decorated with a 
 golden shoulder-belt (TeXa/Awv), 4 ft. long and if in. broad, 
 
 * I think it my duty to state here that the Archaeological Society in 
 Athens has alone incurred all the trouble and expense of drugging the 
 body so as to render it hard and solid, and raising it from the sepulchre 
 and carrying it to the village of Charvati, and that I have had no 
 trouble or expense from this operation. 
 
1876.] GOLDEN SHOULDER-BELT. 299 
 
 which, for some cause or other, was not in its place, for it 
 now lay across the loins of the body, and extended in a 
 straight line far to the right of it. In its midst is suspended, 
 and firmly attached, the fragment of a double-edged bronze 
 sword (see No. 455), and to this latter was accidentally 
 
 No. 455. A Golden Shoulder-belt l r«A<mioi') 1 with a fragment of the two-edged Sword. 
 Sepulchre I. Size i : 4. 
 
 attached a beautifully-polished perforated object of rock 
 crystal, in form of a jar (ntOos), with two silver handles. 
 It is pierced in its entire length by a silver pin. This little 
 object has unfortunately been detached in removing the 
 treasure from Charvati to Athens, and thus I represent 
 
3°° 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE, 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 No. 456. 
 A small Jar of rock crystal 
 Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 it separately (No. 456). Together with the shoulder-belt 
 and the little crystal jar was found the small object of 
 rock-crystal (No. 457), which has the 
 shape of a funnel. In the extremity 
 of the shoulder-belt, to the left of the 
 spectator, are two perforations ; at the 
 other end there has probably been a 
 clasp, because there are no perforations ; 
 on the fragment of the sword we see 
 one of those small shield-like or button- 
 like golden disks, with an ornamenta- 
 tion of repoiLss6 work, which have 
 decorated the sheaths of the swords in uninterrupted rows, 
 their size being always determined by the breadth of the 
 sheaths. The disk before us is divided by 
 three concentric circles into three circular 
 compartments, of which the outer and the 
 central one represent a number of ornaments 
 resembling horse-shoes. A glance at this 
 shoulder-belt will convince every one that it 
 is by far too thin and fragile to have been 
 worn by living men. Besides, I feel certain 
 that no living warrior has ever gone to battle 
 with swords in sheaths of wood ornamented 
 on either side with rows of gold plates, which are merely 
 glued on the wood. Thus, we may consider it beyond 
 all doubt that a great part of all the golden ornaments 
 have been expressly prepared for funeral use. There was 
 also found an alabaster stand for a vase. 
 
 The massive golden breast-plate of this same body is 
 perfectly plain, and it is therefore unnecessary to engrave 
 it. It is i5f in. long and gh in. broad; it has no orna- 
 mentation, but two protruding breasts can be distinctly 
 seen ; they are not, however, in the middle, as they ought 
 to be, but more to the right of the spectator. While 
 speaking of breast-covers, I may as well give here the 
 
 No. 457. 
 A funnel-shaped 
 object, of rock cry- 
 stal. Sepulchre I. 
 Actual size. 
 
1876.] GOLDEN BREAST -COVER. 301 
 
 breast-cover of the body at the southern end of this first 
 tomb (No. 458). It is 1 ft. o, in. long and 1 ft. 2? in. 
 
 broad. Here the two breasts are well represented by 
 two protruding shield-like bosses, and the whole re- 
 
3° 2 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 maining space is richly ornamented with beautiful spirals 
 in repousse" work. 
 
 The best preserved parts of the same body, at the 
 southern end of the tomb, are two large bones and a 
 small bone. On the latter, which is 
 probably an arm-bone, is still attached 
 a broad golden ribbon, with a splendid 
 ornamentation of repoussi work (No. 
 
 459)- 
 
 I return to the body at the northern 
 extremity. To its right lay the two 
 bronze swords represented under No. 
 460, and close to them all the other 
 objects just as we see them in this 
 engraving. The handle of the upper 
 sword is of bronze, but thickly plated 
 with gold, which is all over covered 
 with a magnificent intaglio work of 
 the most varied description. On the 
 upper part of the handle, where the 
 blade issues from it, is fastened a 
 broad curved gold plate with splendid 
 intaglio work, similar to that repre- 
 sented below (No. 462),* of which we 
 only here recognise the exact use. 
 No doubt this sword has had a wooden 
 sheath, which must have been orna- 
 mented with the long gold plate, with a ring and much 
 resembling the shape of a man, which we see to the right of 
 it. This gold plate b similar to that represented under 
 No. 369.1 The sheath must have been further adorned 
 with the golden button, with engraved concentric circles, 
 which we see close to the blade. Much still richer has evi- 
 dently been, the ornamentation of the other bronze sword, 
 
 No. 459. 
 Small Bone, with the fragment of 
 
 a splendidly ornamented Gold 
 Ribbon. Sepulchre I. Size 3: 8. 
 
 See p. 305. 
 
 t See p. 253. 
 
1876.] WONDERFULLY ORNAMENTED SWORDS. 303 
 
 for its wooden sheath must 
 evidently have been adorned, 
 in its entire length, on both 
 sides, with a series of those 
 large golden buttons with a 
 magnificent intaglio work of 
 spirals which we see below 
 and on the right side of the 
 sword. The sheath has evi- 
 dently been also adorned with 
 the tubular golden plate, or- 
 namented with spirals in in- 
 taglio work, which we still see 
 around the sword. 
 
 The handle of this sword 
 must have been of wood, 
 because it has entirely dis- 
 appeared, and it must ne- 
 cessarily have been adorned 
 with the two quadrangular 
 golden plates which we see 
 lying, still closely joined to- 
 gether, in the very place 
 where the knob of the handle- 
 ought to have been ; only on 
 the small side, which is turned 
 towards the spectator, the two 
 plates are slightly disjoined. 
 They are perfectly similar in 
 size and shape to that shown 
 a little later under No. 472 ;* 
 both have exactly the same 
 ornamentation in rcponssd 
 work of interwoven spirals; 
 and, as on No. 472, we see 
 
 * See p. 311. 
 
THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 in their long sides the marks of a number of small pins, 
 which must have served to attach both plates to a piece 
 of wood which stuck between them, and of which some 
 traces remain. This piece of wood must have been very 
 
 thin, for otherwise the two plates 
 could not after its disappearance 
 have fallen together so exactly as 
 to appear still joined. Certainly 
 they must have served as orna- 
 ments of the sword-handle, but 
 how this was done is altogether 
 inexplicable to me. I find it im- 
 possible to suppose that the sword- 
 handle terminated in a thin piece 
 of wood, so as to be fastened 
 between the two plates ; besides, 
 this is contradicted by their raised 
 borders. With the two plates 
 was found a bead of amber, the 
 presence of which here must be 
 only accidental, for of course it 
 can have nothing in common 
 with the swords. To one of these 
 swords was doubtless attached the 
 golden tassel represented under 
 No. 461, which I found near them. 
 Probably all these weapons had 
 been suspended on a belt of em- 
 broidered work which has disap- 
 peared. 
 
 At a distance of hardly more 
 than one foot to the right of the body I found eleven 
 bronze swords, of which nine had suffered more or less 
 from moisture; but the other two were pretty well pre- 
 served. One of them has the enormous length of 3 ft. 
 2 in., the other of 2 ft. 10 in. With the swords I found 
 
 No. 461. 
 A Gold Sword-tassel. 
 Sepulchre I. Size 5 : 8. 
 
1876.J OBJECTS FOUND WITH THE SWORDS. 
 
 the two golden plates represented under No. 462, both of 
 which have belonged to sword-handles j that to the left 
 having been on the upper part of the handle, to which 
 it was attached with no less than twelve gold pins, of 
 which five with large globular heads are still visible. This 
 object is so thickly covered with ashes of the funeral fire 
 that but little of its spiral ornamentation in intaglio can 
 be discerned. The other golden plate has been used as 
 the cover of the wooden sword-handle, and it is perfectly 
 similar to those which we passed in review in describing 
 the discoveries in the fourth tomb (see Nos. 430, 431). 
 I further found with the swords three tubes of gold 
 
 No. 462. Gulden Covers uf Sword-handles, with intaglio ornamentation. Sepulchre I. 
 
 Sire 4 : <). 
 
 plate, one 1 a i in. long, another ioi in. long, both con- 
 taining remnants of wood, and the third 5;? in. long. 
 There were also 124 large round gold burtons, plain or 
 with splendid intaglio work, two of which are two inches in 
 diameter, and four of the size of five-franc pieces ; the other 
 1 18 are smaller. Further, six large splendidly-ornamented 
 golden buttons in the form of crosses, three of which are 
 3 in. long and i\ in. broad. All these buttons consist 
 either of fiat pieces of wood covered with gold plates, and 
 in this case they have invariably been pasted or soldered 
 as embellishments on sword-sheaths or other objects, or 
 they are real wood buttons resembling our present shirt- 
 studs and covered with gold plates, and in this case they 
 must have been used on clothes. The magnificently 
 
 39 
 
306 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 engraved ornamentation of both these kinds of buttons 
 can leave no doubt as to the importance attached to them. 
 I may add that in this tomb not only all the cruciform 
 gold buttons, but also all the very large round gold 
 buttons, have on their lower side a flat piece of wood. 
 463 464 
 
 4 
 
 4^5 
 
 
 M 
 
 III 
 
 
 IP 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 i 1 
 
 
 WW* 
 
 466 
 
 Nos. 463-466. Bronze Battle-axe and Swords. Sepulchre I. Size 1 : 4, about. 
 
 With the body which lay in the middle of the tomb 
 were found some round leaves of gold with an impressed 
 ornamentation, and the remnants of a wooden comb. 
 With the body at the south end of the sepulchre I found 
 fifteen bronze swords, ten of which lay at his feet. Eight 
 of them are of very large size, and tolerably well preserved. 
 
1876] A HEAP OF BRONZE WEAPONS. 307 
 
 A large heap of more or less broken bronze swords, 
 which may have represented more than sixty entire ones, 
 was found on the west side, between the last-mentioned 
 body and the middle one ; also a few bronze knives and 
 lances. Very remarkable is the battle-axe, No. 463, for I 
 have never yet found this shape here, but I very frequently 
 found it in Troy, and fourteen of them were contained in 
 the Trojan treasure.* Compared with our present axes, 
 this Mycenean and the 
 Trojan battle-axes have no 
 hole in which the wooden 
 handle could be fixed, and 
 thus they had evidently 
 been fastened in or on 
 the handle instead of the 
 handle being fastened in 
 them. Some of the swords 
 show traces of having been 
 gilded; several of them have 
 golden pins at the handle. 
 The other weapons shown 
 under Nos. 464, 465, and 
 466, are short swords. At 
 the lower end of No. 465 
 are remnants of gold- 
 plating. No. 407. 
 
 j * s* * ■ t J Sword-h.mdlc, plated with gold, richly urnu- 
 
 1 also round, with the memcd. scpuichrd. iumm 
 
 body at the south end of 
 
 the tomb, the large handle with a fragment of a bronze 
 sword represented under No. 467. This handle is covered 
 with thick gold plate richly ornamented with intaglio work, 
 which can be well distinguished, though the handle is 
 very dirty from the smoke and ashes of the funeral pyre. 
 The ornamentation is exactly the same on both sides. In 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' pp. 330, 331. 
 
3 o8 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 the hollow of the handle is still preserved part of the wood 
 with which it was once filled. 
 
 I also found with the body at the southern end a large 
 quantity of amber beads and five small plain cylinders of 
 gold plate (in one of which still sticks a piece of wood), 
 which have evidently covered a stick, perhaps a sceptre ; 
 further seven large sword-handle knobs of alabaster and 
 one of wood, all ornamented with gold 
 nails ; a small piece of gold in the form of a 
 bar of a watch-chain (see No. 468), which 
 cannot but have served as a sort of clasp 
 to a shoulder-belt (reXafxaip) ; thirty-seven 
 round gold leaves of various sizes, twenty- 
 one fragments of gold leaves, two frag- 
 mentary silver vases, a pair of silver tongs 
 or tweezers (see No. 469), and a large vase 
 of alabaster, with a mouthpiece of bronze, 
 plated with gold. The perforations on three 
 sides in the upper part of the body can 
 leave no doubt that this vase has had three 
 handles, and the large round hole with four 
 small perforations in front show that it has 
 had a pipe. In this vase I found thirty-two 
 small and three large round gold buttons 
 with rich intaglio patterns, as well as two 
 gold buttons in the shape of crosses, each 
 with two very small golden handles ; further 
 a large gold button of conical shape, and a wedge-shaped 
 golden tube. 
 
 The following engravings represent three more of those 
 wonderful gold plates, two of which we have already passed 
 in review in explaining the objects engraved under No. 460. 
 There were found twelve of them in all, to the right and 
 left of the body at the northern extremity of the tomb. 
 No. 470 represents a lion chasing a stag ; the four feet of 
 the former are in a horizontal line to show the great speed 
 
 No: 
 
 A curious Object of 
 Gold, and Silver 
 Tongs. Sepulchre I. 
 Actual size. 
 
1876.] WONDERFUL GOLD PLATES. 309 
 
 with which he is running; he has just overtaken the stag, 
 which sinks down before him, and his jaws are wide open 
 to devour it. The head of the lion, as well as the mane, 
 are pretty well represented. On the other hand, the repre- 
 
 No. 470. A Guld Plate, with Intaglio of a Lion chasing a Stag. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 sentation of the stag, which has no horns, is clumsy and 
 indistinct ; beyond it we see an animal with spines and a 
 long fishtail, probably a sea monster. \bo\e the lion are 
 represented two long palm-fronds, and below it the crowns 
 of two palm-trees and a palm-frond. 
 
 No. 471. A Gold Plate, with Intaglio of a Lion catching a Stag. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 No. 4 7 1 represents nearly the same subject : we see 
 again a lion running at fulL speed and catching a stag, 
 which is represented with the body turned towards his 
 pursuer and with his head in the opposite direction ; he 
 
310 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 stands on his hind-legs, into which the lion, with open 
 jaws, is just biting. The fore-feet of the stag are uplifted, 
 and his lower feet protrude at a right angle from the knee. 
 Just before the uplifted loins of the stag we see the wide- 
 open jaws of a large cow-head with two long horns of the 
 crescent form and two enormous eyes, to which I call 
 particular attention. Between the two large horns we see 
 two smaller ones, the space between which is filled with 
 small objects in the form of figs ; similar objects are seen 
 between the small and the large horns. Though the artist 
 has given us a front view of the cow-head, yet he represents 
 its jaws in profile. To the right of the cow-head we see 
 five long palm-fronds, below which, in the corner to the 
 right of the spectator, is an object which I cannot recog- 
 nise ; it resembles a bird's foot. 
 
 The whole scene certainly appears to be symbolic. 
 
 I think there can be no reasonable doubt that the cow- 
 head represents Hera Boopis,* the patron deity of Mycenae, 
 and that when, in later times, this goddess received a female 
 head, her enormous cow's eyes alone survived of her former 
 cow-shape ; because her sole characteristic epithet /3oco7rt9, 
 consecrated as it was by the use of ages, was thenceforward 
 indiscriminately used for both goddesses and mortal women 
 to designate large eyes. Thus, for example, Clymene, one 
 of Helen's female servants, is called by Homer ox-eyed f 
 (/3oaj7r(,<j). Hera's representation here, with a double pair 
 of horns and the fruits between the four horns, can, I think, 
 have no other purpose than to glorify her. I further 
 believe that the lion represents the house of the Pelopids, 
 and perhaps Agamemnon himself, and that the stag repre- 
 sents a sacrifice offered by the lion (the house of the 
 Pelopids or Agamemnon himself) to the patron deity of 
 
 * Homer's fioCnris ttotviu. "Hprj, " our lady Hera with the head of a 
 cow;" hence "cow-faced;" and then, with large eyes like a cow, or 
 "ox-eyed." (See Note at the end of Chapter I.) 
 
 t //. III. 144. 
 
1876.] MASSIVE GOLD MASK. 311 
 
 the town, and the open jaws of the cow-head may have 
 the meaning that she benignantly receives the sacrifice. 
 
 The remaining plate (No. 472) represents the same 
 spiral ornamentation which we have so frequently passed 
 in review. 
 
 To the reverse side of these wonderful golden plates 
 there sticks a good deal of a blackish matter, perhaps a 
 sort of cement, which must have served to attach them to 
 flat pieces of wood, on each side of which must have been 
 one plate. This opinion seems also to be confirmed by 
 the marks of nails which we see in the rims of the plates, 
 
 No. 472. Gold Plate, with a spiral ornamcntatiun in Intaglio. Sepulchre I. Actual sire. 
 
 for the nails can, of course, only have been used to fasten 
 them to a softer substance. 
 
 No. 473 represents the massive golden mask of the 
 same body at the north end of the first tomb ;* unfortu- 
 nately, the lower part of the forehead has been so much 
 pressed upon the eyes and the nose, that the face is dis- 
 figured, and the features cannot be well distinguished. 
 Highly characteristic is the large round head, the enormous 
 forehead, and the small mouth with the thin lips. 
 
 In a perfect state of preservation, on the other hand, 
 is the massive golden mask of the body at the south end of 
 
 * See Vignette to Chapter X., p. 333. 
 
312, THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the tomb (No. 474).* Its features are altogether Hellenic 
 and I call particular attention to the long thin nose, 
 running in a direct line with the forehead, which is but 
 small. The eyes, which are shut, are large, and well 
 represented by the eyelids ; very characteristic is also the 
 large mouth with its well-proportioned lips. The beard 
 also is well represented, and particularly the moustaches, 
 whose extremities are turned upwards to a point, in the 
 form of crescents.f This circumstance seems to leave 
 no doubt that the ancient Myceneans used oil or a sort 
 of pomatum in dressing their hair. Both masks are of 
 repotisse work, and certainly nobody will for a moment 
 doubt that they were intended to represent the portraits of 
 the deceased, whose faces they have covered for ages. 
 
 The question now naturally arises : — have they been 
 made in the lifetime, or after the death, of the persons ? 
 Probably after their death : but then we wonder again how 
 the masks can have been made so quickly ; because here, as 
 in all hot climates, the dead are buried within twenty-four 
 hours after their decease ; and this must have been the 
 custom here at all times. If Homer leaves the bodies of 
 Patroclus and Hector for ten or twelve days unburied, it 
 was owing to peculiar circumstances ; and if they remained 
 well preserved, it was that Thetis dropped ambrosia into 
 the veins of the former, and Apollo into those of the latter. 
 However that may have been with the bodies before us, 
 we are amazed at the skill of the ancient Mycenean gold- 
 smiths, who could model the portraits of men in massive 
 gold plate, and consequently could do as much as any 
 modern goldsmith would be able to perform. 
 
 But this skill of the early Mycenean goldsmiths 
 shows a great practice in similar work, and it can leave 
 no doubt that they were preceded by a school of artists 
 
 * See Vignette to this Chapter, p. 289. 
 t " There is nothing new under the sun." 
 
1876.] CURIOUS GOLD CUPS. 313 
 
 which had flourished for ages before such work could he 
 produced. 
 
 There was further found to the right of the body at 
 the north end of the sepulchre the very large gold 
 drinking-cup, with one handle, represented under No. 475. 
 It is 6 in. in diameter, and as much in height ; it has 
 a beautiful ornamentation in repoussd work, divided by a 
 rope-like horizontal band into two compartments. The 
 upper one represents a row of arches, founded as it were 
 
 No. 475. Large Gold Cup. Sepulchre I. Size 3 : 7, about. 
 
 on high pilasters of square cut stones, and much resem- 
 bling a Roman aqueduct; the lower compartment contains 
 a wedge-like ornamentation. 
 
 In the same tomb I found another very large golden 
 cup, which likewise has only one large broad handle 
 (No. 476). It is 5i? in. in diameter, and is likewise divided 
 by a horizontal band into two compartments, both of 
 which are decorated in repousst work with two parallel 
 horizontal rows of beautiful spirals. In these occur a 
 large number of that curious cross, which is so frequently 
 met with in the ruins of Troy, and which is thought 
 
 40 
 
3*4 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 to be the symbol of the holy fire, the Arani of the 
 Brahmans.* 
 
 Another large and splendid thick gold goblet found 
 here is represented under No. 477. It is ornamented in 
 repousse' work with three lions, which are represented as 
 running with great velocity. This goblet represents again 
 the type of all the terra-cotta goblets at Mycenae, with 
 but one exception. (See Nos. 83, 84, 88.) The handles of 
 
 No. 476. Large Gold Cup. Sepulchre I. Half-size, about. 
 
 all these golden goblets are fastened to the rim and body 
 of the vessels by gold pins with large flat heads. 
 
 There were further found two golden goblets, one of 
 which is likewise of thick gold plate, but it is nevertheless 
 much crumpled ; it has a beautiful massive handle, of a 
 shape which we have repeatedly passed in review in the 
 fourth tomb. The other gold goblet has an ornamenta- 
 tion in repousse work of two double parallel rope-like 
 bands ; the upper compartment representing a horizontal 
 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' Plate XXIV. Nos. 348, 350, 351. 
 
1876.] GOLD AND SILVER GOBLETS. 315 
 
 zigzag line, united by vertical bands of horizontal strokes 
 to the upper double rope-like band. The ornamentation 
 has a remarkable resemblance to the form of the ogive- 
 like passages in Mycenae and Tiryns. In this latter goblet 
 sticks a very thin and much crumpled smaller golden 
 drinking-cup. 
 
 There were also found four silver goblets ; one of them 
 
 No. 477. A Golden Goblet. Sepulchre L Siic 7 : 10, about. 
 
 has a handle, but no ornamentation ; the second is orna- 
 mented in rcpoussd work with bands of double lines, which 
 terminate at the top in bows. The other two goblets are 
 very large, but broken and defaced ; the one, whose sole 
 ornamentation is a raised horizontal band, is still filled 
 with ashes of the funeral pyre. The second of these is 
 ornamented with a number of furrow-like horizontal bands, 
 and in it sticks a smaller silver cup. To the bottom oi 
 
3 l6 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 this goblet is still attached one of the pebbles with which 
 the bottom of the tomb is strewn. 
 
 There was also found in this first sepulchre, close to 
 
 No. 478. The top and lower part of a large Silver Vase, from the First Sepulchre. 
 Size 4 : 10, about. 
 
 the body in question, a large silver vase, 2 ft. 6 in. deep and 
 1 ft. 8 in. in diameter in the body ; but, unfortunately, it 
 
.8 7 6.] 
 
 A SPLENDID SILVER VASE. 
 
 3 1 7 
 
 had been in contact with a saline substance, which had 
 converted the silver into chloride, in consequence of which 
 the vase is broken into many pieces. No. 478 represents 
 the upper and the lower part of it, put together. Its whole 
 body was ornamented with a repousse" work of interwoven 
 spirals ; the lower part with 
 horizontal parallel flutings ; 
 but it must be distinctly 
 understood that we see in 
 the engraving only the inner 
 side of the lower part. The 
 mouth, as well as the band 
 marked with strokes on the 
 upper part of the body, 
 are plated with copper, and 
 the copper had been plated 
 with gold. The bottom is 
 entirely of copper, pro- 
 bably in order to give more 
 solidity to the vessel; very 
 likely the rim of this copper 
 bottom had also been plated 
 with gold. Of this vase, 
 therefore, it may be said that 
 the early artist endeavoured 
 to the utmost to combine 
 solidity with splendour. 
 
 There was also found the 
 large drinking-cup of alabaster represented under No. 479 ; 
 it is \o\ in. high, and its form is not unlike our present 
 glasses. 
 
 There were further found five plates of gold in the 
 form of double eagles, of which I represent two under No. 
 480 ; all of them are of rcpoussd work, and have exactly 
 the same size and shape. The figures of the eagles are true 
 
 No 479- 
 
 A large lloblcl of Alabaster. Sepulchre I. 
 Size 3 : 8, about. 
 
3 18 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 to nature, except for a spiral line which protrudes from 
 their neck; just below this spiral we see a long serpent 
 across the bodies of the two eagles : both the serpent and 
 the spiral may have a symbolic meaning. The eagles are 
 leaning against each other with their whole body, and even 
 with their claws, but are turning their heads in opposite 
 
 No. 480. Double Eagles in Gold Plate. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 directions ; above the heads we see a long tube, which can 
 only have served to draw the ornaments on a string for a 
 necklace. 
 
 There were also found five large shield-like disks, and 
 a small one, of thin gold plate, with an ornamentation in 
 repousst work, representing in the centre a star, and around 
 
1876.] GOLDEN SHIELD-LIKE DISKS. 3 I 9 
 
 it, within a border of two double circles of points, an 
 ornamentation of spirals (see No. 481). Further, two 
 whorl-shaped, hollow objects of gold, which fit together, 
 but whose use is unknown to us. Perfectly similar objects 
 have been represented under Nos. 425 and 426.* Further, 
 a fragmentary silver vase, with the beautiful golden mouth- 
 piece (No. 482) and the golden handle (No. 483) ; both 
 
 No. 481. Gold Plate, with a pattern in rtpoussf work. Sepulchre [, Actual sue. 
 
 having an ornamentation of repoussd work. In the mouth- 
 piece we see the six perforations by which it was fastened 
 with pins to the neck of the silver vase, of which we see a 
 fragment still attached to the handle. There were further 
 found two fragmentary plain silver vases, of one of which 
 the lower half is preserved : also a fragmentary silver 
 vase, with a copper bottom and mouthpiece, which latter 
 
 * See p. 268. 
 
320 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 may have probably been plated with gold. Also, a large 
 fragmentary silver vase, with a repoussS work of spirals ; 
 
 No. 482. Golden Mouthpiece of a Vase. Sepulchre I. Size 5 : 7, about. 
 
 and two large disks of copper, plated with silver, which 
 probably belong to silver vases. 
 
 From the same tomb came 
 the small cylinder of gold plate 
 (No. 484), which is profusely 
 covered with intaglio work, and 
 still contains a piece of charred 
 wood, to which the cylinder 
 was attached below with three 
 gold pins ; one of these can 
 still be seen to the right of the 
 spectator. If we look from the 
 top of the cylinder downward, 
 we see that its upper part is divided by horizontal bands 
 of three or four lines into four compartments, of which 
 the upper one has an ornamentation of small concentric 
 
 No. 483. 
 
 Golden Vase-handle. 
 Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
i8 7 6.] 
 
 NUMEROUS GOLD BUTTONS. 
 
 321 
 
 circles* the second of vertical strokes, the third again of 
 concentric circles, and the fourth of vertical strokes ; on 
 both sides of this fourth compartment were golden pins, of 
 which the one to the right is still in its place. The space 
 below is divided by vertical bands into three compartments, 
 of which those to the right and left are filled with an orna- 
 mentation of spirals, and the middle one with a tree-like 
 band, from the top of which project, to the right and left, 
 branch-like spirals forming circles, in 
 which we again see small spirals: the 
 remaining space is filled up with spirals 
 and closely joined wedge-like ornaments. 
 Thus we see on this cylinder not the 
 tenth part of an inch unornamented. 
 
 Inclusive of the gold buttons already 
 mentioned, there were found in this first 
 tomb in all 340 such buttons, from most 
 of which the wooden mould has disap- 
 peared, so that only the gold plates re- 
 main. Of these, eighty-four are plain 
 and without any ornamentation ; namely, 
 thirty-five very large ones, being 2 in. 
 in diameter, thirty-six of a less size, 
 measuring 1 h in. in diameter, and thirteen 
 small ones, measuring 1 inch or less. 
 The remaining 256 gold buttons are 
 ornamented with intaglio work. The total number consists 
 of thirteen very large ones of 2 in. in diameter, thirtv-nine 
 of about 1^ in. and 194 of 1 in. or less, and eight large 
 and two smaller ones, in form of crosses ; making in all 
 ten cross-shaped buttons, all of which have retained their 
 wooden moulds. As before-mentioned, two of the cross- 
 like buttons have each two small gold handles. Not to 
 
 No. <8 4 . 
 A Cylinder of Cold Plate 
 Sepulchre I. Actual sire. 
 
 * Owing to the ashes and smoke with which the cylinder is 
 covered, the upper row of circles did not appear in the photograph. 
 
322 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 fatigue the reader, I give no engravings of the plain buttons, 
 and even of the richly ornamented ones I represent in the 
 accompanying plates only those whose ornamentation shows 
 a variance from that of the types of the buttons of the 
 Fourth Tomb. The reader may therefore take it for 
 granted that, of the large buttons of this First Tomb, those 
 represented under Nos. 485-491 are the only ones whose 
 ornamentation exhibits new types. 
 
 On No. 485, we see around three concentric circles, and 
 within a border of two circles, a star-like ornament with 
 curved sides and obtuse points, each of the latter containing 
 a small circle, the space between each curve and the border 
 being filled up by a crescent and a small circle. In 486 we 
 
 Nos. 485, 486. Ornamented Gold Buttons. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 see six concentric circles around a magnificent central orna- 
 mentation of spirals of a new form ; in the border an un- 
 interrupted row of a sign which resembles the letter koppa. 
 
 In No. 487, we see in the centre two spirals standing 
 opposite each other, and surrounded by five concentric 
 circles, then by an ornamentation of four signs in the form 
 of a cornucopia, and by four circles, which form the border. 
 In the following button (No. 488) we see in the middle a 
 figure approaching the oval form, within which are spirals 
 impossible to describe, the remaining space being filled up 
 by a small border and a large number of curved lines and 
 two signs resembling hand-saws, with handles of a spiral 
 
1876.] ORNAMENTED GOLD BUTTONS. 323 
 
 form. In No. 490, we see around the central circle two 
 borders, of which the outer one is filled with a circular 
 row of double circles, the inner one with a circular row of 
 signs resembling a sling with a stone in it. The ornamen- 
 tation of No. 491 is very beautiful, but I find it impossible 
 
 490 491 
 
 Nos. 487-491. Ornamented Gold Buttons. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 to describe. As to the gold buttons of the second size, the 
 only new pattern I found is No. 489 ; it represents in the 
 centre a beautiful spiral in the shape of a coiled-up serpent, 
 whose head is distinctly visible ; around it are three con- 
 centric circles, and a border filled up with an ornamenta- 
 tion resembling a row of figs. 
 
3 2 4 
 
 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. 
 
 [Chap. IX. 
 
 Nos. 492-506. Ornamented Gold Buttons. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
1876.J ORNAMENTED GOLD BUTTONS. 325 
 
 Of the small buttons, I represent the new types under 
 Nos. 492-499 and 501-5 12. I have added a couple of those 
 whose patterns the reader has seen before, because of 
 superior beauty. In No. 492 we see, within a small border 
 of two circles, a flower-like ornament, with three inner and 
 three outer circles ; in No. 493, within a border with round 
 or square signs, a spiral in the form of a serpent ; in No. 
 494, two concentric denticulated circles; in No. 495, a 
 spiral ornament, which very frequently occurs both here 
 and at Troy ; in No. 496, we see two concentric circles of 
 small triangles; in No. 497, we again see a flower. N< . 
 498 is a massive gold button, and represents a beautiful 
 flower ; it is perforated, and it may be that it never served 
 as a button, but as a lid of a small golden can or bottle. 
 In No. 499, we recognise the shape of a beautiful flower 
 with two denticulated circles; No. 501 represents the verv 
 same ornament as No. 495 ; No. 502 and No. 503 repre- 
 sent flowers. The ornamentation of No. 504 is difficult to 
 describe; if we turn the figure to the right it resembles the 
 bust of a man ; in No. 505, we see two spirals of a new shape ; 
 in No. 506 again a flower. No. 507 exhibits a treble j^J. 
 with the arms converted into spirals, each of them termi- 
 nating in a round point, which is joined by a stroke to the 
 usual points, the marks of the four nails. No. 508 has no 
 other ornament than four concentric circles ; in No. 509, 
 we see only a single |ILiJ, with curved arms and the marks 
 of the four nails; No. 510 exhibits an ornamentation 
 resembling three knives with handles in the form of 
 spirals; No. 511 is identical with No. 501; and finally 
 No. 512 shows us a figure similar to that of No. 507, with 
 the sole difference that it is here but single and there 
 treble. 
 
 Of the ten large cross-like buttons I give the engraving, 
 under No. 500, of the only new pattern. As with the 
 cross-like buttons of the fourth tomb, the wooden moulds, 
 
1876] ORNAMENTED GOLD RIBBONS. 327 
 
 beneath the gold plates of the ten buttons have exactly the 
 same intaglio ornamentation which we see on the latter, 
 and there can consequently be no doubt that the intaglio 
 work was made when the gold plate was already fastened on 
 the wooden buttons, and that the engraving made on the 
 former was reproduced on the latter by the pressure of the 
 artist's hand. The ornamentation of the cross-like button, 
 No. 500, is as follows: it has at each acute angle of the 
 lozenge three and at each obtuse angle two globular pro- 
 jections ornamented with concentric circles, and in the 
 interior lozenge two spirals in the form of omegas standing 
 opposite each other ; the four angles being filled up by 
 small circles. 
 
 Of the other cross-like buttons, not sufficiently different 
 to require engraving, we have the following patterns. One 
 has at each angle three globular projections, bur the orna- 
 mentation consists solely of circles, which stand together, 
 forming flowers. On another large button there are only two 
 globular projections at each corner, and the lozenge has a 
 broad border filled with an uninterrupted rowof small circles; 
 in the centre we see a double circle filled with spirals, of the 
 form we have so frequently passed in review; the remaining 
 space in each acute angle being filled up with an omega -like 
 spiral and three small figures similar to those in No. 501. 
 Identical with this is the ornamentation of another cross- 
 like button, with the sole difference that its border is 
 wider and that, instead of the sign in No. 500, it has only 
 one small circle in each acute angle of the interior lozenge. 
 I have no observations to make on the other cross-burtons, 
 for their patterns are perfectly similar to those already 
 represented. 
 
 In the same sepulchre I found the broad golden 
 ribbons represented under Nos. 513-518, with a magni- 
 ficent ornamentation in repousst work. 
 
 There was also found a round gold plate, having in its 
 centre a star, surrounded by three concentric circles, a 
 circular row of small spiral ornaments, and a border ot 
 
328 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 three circles. Also another double gold plate, which has 
 probably formed a cylinder. 
 
 No. 519 Golden Ornament of the Greaves. Sepulchre I. Size 10 : 13. 
 
 Of objects of gold there were further found in this 
 tomb two ornaments for greaves (lor/fuSes), of which I 
 represent one under No. 519. It consists of an upper 
 
 Nos. 520-524. Bone Tubes and Buttons. Sepulchre I. Actual size 
 
i«76.] 
 
 OBJECTS OF BONE AND IVORY. 
 
 3 2 9 
 
 golden band, terminating in a ring which must have served 
 to attach it to a button, and a lower golden band, broad 
 in the middle and gradually diminishing in breadth towards 
 the two extremities, which has served to fasten the greave 
 round the thigh. There is no ornamentation on the upper 
 band, where we see only a thicker tube-like gold plate, 
 which, being soldered to the rim of the ring, becomes 
 gradually smaller, and is fastened with 
 small pins to the lower end of the 
 upper band, which it is intended to 
 make more solid. The lower hori- 
 zontal band is decorated with repoussd 
 work, showing in the middle three 
 ornaments, composed of treble con- 
 centric circles of protruding points, 
 and at each end a branch with leaves. 
 
 I have further to mention among 
 the objects found in this tomb the 
 three tubes of bone, Nos. 520, 521, 
 and 522, and the two bone buttons, 
 Nos. 523 and 524, the latter still 
 having a fragment of the bone-stick, 
 which must have served as a syringe- 
 handle in the three tubes, which have 
 undoubtedly been fastened together. 
 We therefore have here in all proba- 
 bility an ancient Mycenean clyster- 
 pipe. 
 
 The object, No. 525, is a thick flat 
 piece of ivory, and may have served as 
 handle to an ornamental dagger. The upper rounded end 
 is slightly concave, and we see engraved on it a double 
 concentric circle with that beautiful type of spiral orna- 
 mentation which so often occurs here. Below it are four 
 treble concentric circles and a band of three horizontal 
 lines. 
 
 No. S a 5 . 
 Piece of Ivory : [Wf4"p' 
 
 Handle of a Dagger. 
 Sepulchre 1. Actual vi/e. 
 
330 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 The object, No. 526, in the form of a horse-shoe, 
 is, according to Professor Landerer, of Egyptian porce- 
 lain, which has been rubbed with a lead-glazing before 
 being put into the oven ; by this process it has got a 
 glancing greenish colour. On the reverse side it is hollow, 
 and must therefore have been fastened on something 
 else. All the objects now described have evidently been 
 much exposed to the funeral fire. 
 
 This tomb contained a vast quantity of fragments both 
 of beautiful hand-made and wheel-made pottery. Among 
 
 No. 526. An object of Egyptian Porcelain. Sepulchre I. Actual size. 
 
 the former, particular attention is claimed by the goblets of 
 the usual Mycenean type, but of a light greenish colour 
 with black spiral ornaments ; also, the much larger black 
 goblets with a large hollow foot and deep horizontal 
 furrows in the middle ; further, the splendidly-fashioned 
 small monochromatic lustrous red or black vases, whose 
 fabrication is far superior to any painted wheel-made vases 
 to be found here ; further, the light green vases with black 
 spirals, likewise hand-made ; these vases are rather rudely 
 
1876.] POTTERY AND COPPER VESSELS. 331 
 
 made, and their painted ornamentation is still ruder. 
 I found fragments of the last-named vases in all the 
 tombs, and also among the stones of the Cyclopean walls 
 on Mount Euboea. Of the painted wheel-made vases 
 the most interesting are those with a dark red ornamen- 
 tation on a light red or yellow dead ground, of which I 
 represent a specimen under No. 527. 
 
 Of large copper vessels I found in this tomb only seven, 
 all of which stood on the west side ; one of them, a Xe'/^s 
 
 No. 527. A whccl-madc Vase of Tcrra-cotta. Sepulchre I. Size I : 3, about. 
 
 \o€T/3o^o'o5, or kettle for heating water for the bath, like the 
 one already represented (No. 438, p. 275.) It has three 
 vertical handles, and measures 22 in. in diameter. There is 
 another smaller one of the same form and also with three 
 vertical handles, and three of the same shape with only two 
 handles ; also two enormous cans with two handles, of 
 which the one joins the rim to the body, while the other is 
 fastened below. As perfectly similar cans, found in the 
 fourth tomb, have been already represented, I abstain from 
 
33 2 THE FIRST SEPULCHRE. [Chap. IX. 
 
 giving any more engravings of them. (See Nos. 436, 437, 
 pp. 274, 275.) 
 
 I may further mention the copper bottom of a vessel ; 
 and, among other objects, a marble disk which may have 
 served as the bottom to a vase of alabaster, and a large 
 whetstone of very fine sandstone ; also 16 flat quadrangular 
 pieces of bone, having at each end two perforations ; they 
 are i^-J in. long and ^ in. broad, and must have served 
 somehow as ornaments, probably on horse-trappings. 
 Especially characteristic of this tomb was the large quantity 
 of wood it contained. Besides a number of half-burnt 
 pieces of wood of the funeral fires, I found there a piece of 
 cypress-wood, 9 in. long and 4^ in. broad, which had not 
 been touched by the fire, though apparently it had been on 
 the pyre. There was also collected in this tomb a very 
 large quantity of cloven wooden instruments or handles, 
 and three lids of wooden boxes, as well as remnants of 
 sword-sheaths or domestic utensils. 
 
 Perhaps still more important and interesting than all 
 the jewels found in this tomb was a small quadrangular 
 wooden box (ydpdrjg), of which I picked up two sides, on 
 each of which are carved in relief a lion and a dog. Small 
 as these sculptures are, they are nevertheless of capital 
 interest to science, because they prove to us that the art of 
 carving in wood flourished in the mythic heroic age. 
 
 When first taken out of the grave all this wood was 
 moist and soft like a sponge, but it is now dry, and I hope 
 that with proper care it can be preserved. There were also 
 found many larger and smaller pieces of cork, several of 
 them with a curved border, from which I conclude that all 
 must have belonged to shields ; otherwise their use is quite 
 inexplicable. Food seems also to have been deposited 
 with the three bodies of this tomb, for I gathered in it a 
 large quantity of oyster-shells, and among them several un- 
 opened oysters. A very large number of boars' teeth were 
 also found. 
 
No. 473. klauivc 6aldn Mult of the body at the north end of the Kirst Sepulchre. Size 1 : 5, about. • 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONNKCTION OF THE FlVE TOMBS WITH THK ROYAL HOUSE 
 
 of Pelops; am) Date of the Agora, 
 
 Discussion of the identity of the five tombs with those mentioned by 
 Pausanias as the tombs of Agamemnon and his companions — 
 Opinions of scholars about the Trojan War — The ancients unani- 
 mous for its reality — The author's faith in the traditions led to 
 his discovery of Troy and of the five Royal Tombs at Mycena: — 
 The civilisation of Mycenae higher than that of Troy — The pottery 
 of both very primitive — Alphabetic writing known at Troy, but not 
 at Mycenaj — The different civilisations may have been contempo- 
 raneous — The appearances in the tombs prove the simultaneous 
 
 * Described on p. 311. I call particular attention to the fact that 
 the engraving represents the mask in only one-fifth of its actual size. 
 
334 
 
 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 death of those interred, certainly in each tomb, and probably in all 
 the five — Traditional veneration for the sepulchres — Monuments 
 repeatedly placed over them — No tombs between the two circular 
 rows of slanting slabs which formed the enclosure of the Agora and 
 its benches — Agora probably erected when the tombstones were 
 renewed, and the altar built over the fourth tomb, under the 
 influence of the enthusiasm created by the Rhapsodists — These 
 monuments buried in the course of time, but the memory of the 
 site was fresh by tradition long after the destruction of the new city 
 of Mycenee — Testimony of Pausanias — The enormous treasures 
 prove the sepulchres to be royal, but royalty at Mycenae ended with 
 the Dorian invasion — This must have been much earlier than the 
 received date, 1104 B.C. — An objection answered — Honours paid 
 to the remains of murdered princes even by their murderers — 
 Custom of burying the dead with their treasures — The sepulchral 
 treasure of Palestrina — The sepulchre ofNitocris at Babylon — 
 Case of Pyrrhus and the royal sepulchres at ^Egea? — The sepulchre 
 at Corneto. 
 
 Having in the preceding pages described the five great 
 sepulchres and the treasures contained in them, I now pro- 
 ceed to discuss the question, whether it is possible to 
 identify these sepulchres with the tombs which Pausanias, 
 following the tradition, attributes to Agamemnon, to 
 Cassandra, to Eurymedon, and to their companions. 
 
 The Trojan war has for a long time past been regarded 
 by many eminent scholars as a myth, of which, however, 
 they vainly endeavoured to find the origin in the Rig- 
 Vedas. But in all antiquity the siege and conquest of 
 Ilium by the Greek army under Agamemnon was con- 
 sidered as an undoubted historical fact, and as such it is 
 accepted by the great authority of Thucydides.* The 
 tradition has even retained the memory of many details of 
 that war which had been omitted by Homer. For my 
 part, I have always firmly believed in the Trojan war ; my 
 full faith in Homer and in the tradition has never been 
 shaken by modern criticism, and to this faith of mine I am 
 indebted for the discovery of Troy and its Treasure. 
 
 * Thucyd. I. 8-10. 
 
1877.] THE AUTHOR'S FAITH IN THE TROJAN WAR. 335 
 
 However, the want of ornamentation on the Trojan 
 jewels, the hand-made uncoloured pottery with impressed 
 or engraved ornamentation, and, finally, the want of iron 
 and glass, convinced me that the ruins of Troy belong to 
 such a remote antiquity, as to precede by ages the ruins of 
 Mycenae, the date of which I thought I could fix by the 
 result of the 34 shafts which I sank in the Acropolis in 
 February 1874. I therefore believed that Homer had only 
 known the siege and destruction of Troy from an ancient 
 tradition commemorated by preceding poets, and that, for 
 favours received, he introduced his contemporaries as actors 
 in his great tragedy. But I never doubted that a king of 
 Mycenae, by name Agamemnon, his charioteer Eurvme- 
 don, a Princess Cassandra, and their followers had been 
 treacherously murdered either by yEgisthus at a banquet, 
 "like an ox at the manger," as Homer* says, or in the 
 bath by Clytemnestra, as the later tragic poets represent;! 
 and I firmly believed in the statement of Pausanias.J that 
 the murdered persons had been interred in the Acropolis, 
 differing in this respect, as I have said before, from Leake, 
 Dodwell, (). Midler, E. Curtius, Prokesch, and other 
 travellers in the Peloponnesus, who had all misunder- 
 stood the statement of Pausanias, and thought that he 
 meant the murdered persons to have been buried in the 
 lower town. 
 
 My firm faith in the traditions made me undertake my 
 late excavations in the Acropolis, and led to the discoverv 
 of the five tombs, with their immense treasures. Although 
 I found in these tombs a very high civilisation, from a tech- 
 nical point of view, yet, as in Ilium, I found there only 
 hand-made or most ancient wheel-made pottery, and no iron. 
 Further, writing was known in Troy, for I found there a 
 number of short inscriptions, in very ancient Cypriote 
 
 * Odyss. IV. 530-535, and XI. 409-41 >• 
 
 t /Eschvlus, Agamemnon, 1438; Euripides, Orestes, 26. 
 
 J Paus. II. 16, § 6. 
 
33 6 
 
 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 characters ; and, so far as we can judge, in a language 
 which is essentially the same as Greek ; * whereas we have 
 the certainty now that the alphabet was unknown in 
 Mycenae. Had it been known, the Mycenean goldsmiths, 
 who were always endeavouring to invent some new 
 ornamentation, would have joyfully availed themselves 
 of the novelty to introduce the strange characters in 
 their decoration. Besides, in the remote antiquity, to 
 which the Homeric rhapsodies and the tradition of the 
 Mycenean tombs refer, there was as yet no commercial 
 intercourse. Nobody travelled, except on warlike or pira- 
 tical expeditions. Thus there may have been a very 
 high civilisation at Mycenae, while at the very same time 
 the arts were only in their first dawn in Troy, and 
 writing with Cypriote characters may have been in use in 
 Troy more than iooo years before any alphabet was known 
 in Greece. 
 
 I have not the slightest objection to admit that the 
 tradition which assigns the tombs in the Acropolis to 
 Agamemnon and his companions, who on their return from 
 Ilium were treacherously murdered by Clytemnestra or 
 her paramour ^Egisthus, may be perfectly correct and 
 faithful. I am bound to admit this so much the more, as 
 we have the certainty that, to say the least, all the bodies 
 in each tomb had been buried simultaneously. The 
 calcined pebbles below each of them, the marks of the fire 
 to the right and left on the internal walls of the tombs, 
 the undisturbed state of the ashes and the charred wood 
 on and around the bodies, give us the most unmistakable 
 proofs of this fact. Owing to the enormous depths of these 
 sepulchres, and the close proximity of the bodies to each 
 .other, it is quite impossible that three or even five funeral 
 piles could have been dressed at different intervals of time 
 in the same tomb. 
 
 See ' Troy and its Remains,' pp. 363-372. 
 
I877-] VERACITY OF THE TRADITION. 337 
 
 The identity of the mode of burial, the perfect similarity 
 of all the tombs, their very close proximity, the impossi- 
 bility of admitting that three or even five royal personages 
 of immeasurable wealth, who had died a natural death at 
 long intervals of time, should have been huddled together 
 in the same tomb, and, finally, the great resemblance of all 
 the ornaments, which show exactly the same style of art 
 and the same epoch— all these facts are so many proofs that 
 all the twelve men, three women, and perhaps two or three 
 children, had been murdered simultaneously and burned at 
 the same time. 
 
 The veracity of the tradition seems further to be 
 confirmed by the deep veneration which the Myceneans 
 and in fact the inhabitants of the whole Argolid, have 
 always shown for these five sepulchres. The funeral pyres 
 were not yet extinguished when they were covered with a 
 layer of clay, and then with a layer of pebbles, on which 
 the earth was thrown at once. To this circumstance 
 chiefly are we indebted for the preservation of so large a 
 quantity of wood and the comparatively good preservation 
 of the bodies ; for in no instance were the bones consumed 
 by the fire, and on several bodies, which were covered with 
 golden masks and thick breast-plates, even much of the 
 flesh had remained. The site of each tomb was marked 
 by tombstones, and when these had been covered by the 
 dust of ages and had disappeared, fresh tombstones were 
 erected on the new level, but precisely over the spot where 
 the ancient memorials lay buried. Onlv on the large 
 fourth sepulchre with the five bodies, instead of new tomb- 
 stones, a sacrificial altar of almost circular form was built. 
 
 As before explained, the first tomb had, according to 
 all appearance, been originally decorated with a large 
 monument, from which came the three tombstones with 
 the bas-reliefs, and these sculptured tombstones must have 
 been taken out and erected on the new level. 
 
 Before proceeding to what I have further to say of 
 
 13 
 
338 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 the Agora, I must here add to the discussion opened in 
 Chapter V. the testimony of Homer himself to the form 
 and use of the Agora in the heroic age. In that beautiful 
 passage in which he depicts the trial of a suit, as repre- 
 sented on the Shield of Achilles, he expressly describes the 
 Agora as a sacred circle, with the elders sitting round it on 
 polished stones, or — as we may now venture to translate — on 
 smoothed slabs, like those in the Acropolis of Mycenae : — * 
 
 " But the townsmen, all assembled 
 
 In the forum, thronging stood; 
 For a strife of twain had risen, 
 
 Suing on a fine of blood. 
 All was paid, the first protested, 
 
 Pleading well to move the crowd ; 
 Nought was had, upheld the second : 
 
 Each to obey an umpire vowed ; 
 And the hearers, as they sided 
 
 This or that way, cheered aloud : 
 And the heralds ordered silence ; 
 
 And, on chairs of polished stone, 
 Ranged in venerable circle 
 
 Sate the Elders. One by one 
 Each the clear-toned herald's sceptre 
 
 Took, and standing forth alone 
 Spake his mind. Two golden talents 
 
 Lay before them, to requite 
 Only him, among the Judges, 
 
 Straightliest who should judge the right." 
 
 * Iliad, XVIII. 497-508 :— 
 
 \ao\ 8' eiv ayopfj e a av a 8 p6 01 ' ep6a Si v(7kos 
 wpiipei ' Svo 8' &vdp£S ivi'iKtov f'lveica woivrfs 
 di>8pb? airotyQiixivov. 'O jxlv evx*To iravr' 1 airoSovvai, 
 hriixy iTKpavo-Koov, 6 8' avaivero /j.r)S(v e\tadai ' 
 a,u<pui 8' leVfhji' eirl Xaropi ire'ipap eAeVSai. 
 \ao\ b" a/j.(poT€poio-tv iirqirvov, ap.(p\s apwyoi • 
 KrjpvKfs 8' ixpa Aabv ipr)rvoi>. O't Se yipovres 
 e'lar' eirl lecroiffi \(6ots iepa Ivl KVK\tf, 
 (TKrjTTTpa 84 K7]pVKWV 6C x*P' T ' *X 0V V^po<pd>vcov • 
 TOIOIV C7T61T' jjlffffOV, djU01/3?)8iS 8e SiKa^ov. 
 
 Ktiro 8' dp' eV fieo-ffotai Svoi xp vao ^° rahavra 
 tg5 S6fj.ev bs fitTa Toloi S'iKrjv idvvTara (hoi. 
 
 The translation is by Mr. Gladstone, in the Contemporary Review 
 for February, 1874. 
 
i877-] THE AGORA IN HOMER. 339 
 
 What reader can follow this vivid picture, in the light 
 furnished by my discovery of the Agora at Mycenae, 
 without feeling that the poet had often witnessed such a 
 scene, perhaps on this very spot r 
 
 Homer makes the Trojan Agora, the assembly of all 
 the people, old and young, with the elders, meet in the 
 citadel of Ilium, at the gates of Priam.* 
 
 In several passages of the Odyssey he describes the 
 Agora of the Phaeacians, which was also in the citadel, near 
 the port. Hither the people were led by Alcinous, to 
 hear the wonderful adventures of Ulysses, and they also 
 " coming, sealed themselves near on polisJied stones (or 
 smoothed slabs) ; and the spaces of the Agora and the scats 
 were quickly filled by the thronging people." f 
 
 To complete the parallel, this Pharacian Agora (that is, 
 its circular enclosure) was " fitted together with stones 
 dragged to their places and sunk in the ground," like the 
 slabs of the Agora at Mycenae ; and it surrounded " a 
 beautiful Posideiim," which we must naturally suppose to 
 have been a small open sanctuary in the centre of the 
 Agora.;}] 
 
 I may add, as a proof of the great importance of the 
 Agora in the civic life of the Heroic age, that its absence 
 
 * //. II. 788-9; VII. 345-6; where iyopa is the assembly, from 
 which the place of meeting took its name ; iyopd, from the verb uyiipw, 
 " assemble." 
 
 t Odyss. VIII. 4-7, and 16, 17 : — 
 
 roiatv 8' T)y(n&vtv ', >• atvot ' A\kw6oio 
 
 <pair]Ka>v iyoprivS', 5} o<piv irapa VT)va\ Wtukto. 
 i\()6vrts hi KaOi^ov iw\ ^(arotat KiBoKTiv 
 
 iftiftnap ...... . . 
 
 Kapirakifiwt 5' (uirKijfTo fipoTtov kyopal T( koX iSpai 
 aypofitvwv. 
 
 X Odyss. VI. 266-7 :— 
 
 tvda it rt <r<p' ayopT), Ka\hv noaiSJiiov &ft<pls, 
 vt ola iv Kdf <T(T 1 Karwpvx*f<T<r' ipapvta. 
 
34-0 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 among the Cyclopes is cited by Homer to characterize 
 their barbarous state.* 
 
 I at first thought that every one of the large slabs of 
 the circular double parallel row, which forms the enclosure 
 of the Agora and its benches was a tombstone, and 
 marked a grave ; but this could not be the case. There 
 are no real tombs either between the two parallel rows or 
 on either side of them. The twelve quadrangular tomb-like 
 recesses which form part of the enclosure of the Agora on 
 the north side, have turned out to be nothing else than small 
 reservoirs or cisterns. They were filled with household 
 remains and bones of animals. At all events the Agora 
 appears to have been erected in honour of those who 
 were buried in the five sepulchres, but evidently at a later 
 period, though undoubtedly centuries before the capture of 
 Mycenae by the Argives. I infer this from the irregular 
 and careless architecture of the Cyclopean wall which 
 supports the double parallel row in the lower part of the 
 Acropolis, and from the number of slabs which it contains 
 resembling those of that enclosure. 
 
 As a further proof, I may mention that between the 
 stones of this wall, as well as between the two double 
 circular rows of slabs which form the enclosure and 
 benches of the Agora, and in the tomb-shaped cisterns, I 
 find only fragments of the usual Mycenean pottery, and no 
 trace of that ancient hand-made and wheel-made pottery 
 which is found in the royal tombs. I think it therefore 
 highly probable that the erection of the- Agora coincides 
 with the renewal of the tombstones on the ist, 2nd, 3rd, 
 and 5th tombs, and the erection of the sacrificial altar on 
 the 4th tomb ; and that this renewal was occasioned by 
 the immense enthusiasm which the Rhapsodists, who went 
 from house to house chanting the Homeric hymns, roused 
 
 * OdySS. IX. 112: Tolaiv 5' oCt' 070^01 /3ouKr)(p6poi ovSi Oefi'iffTts, 
 
 "But they have neither assemblies for council nor laws" — each ruling apart in his 
 own family. 
 
.877-] 
 
 DATE OF THE AGORA. 
 
 341 
 
 among the people for the heroes of the Iliad and the 
 Odyssey. Very likely the glorious acts of the king of men, 
 Agamemnon, and his companions, were frequently chanted 
 here in the Agora on their very sepulchres. I may here 
 observe that while tl*e whole Acropolis is covered with 
 remnants of Cyclopean house-walls, I found no trace 
 whatever of any prehistoric building within the sacred 
 precincts of the circular Agora. 
 
 But, nevertheless, the accumulation of debris con- 
 tinued, and in the course of time the new tombstones, as 
 well as the Agora itself, were buried and disappeared, while 
 the site of the tombs remained always fresh in the memory 
 of the inhabitants. I think, however, we may consider it 
 as perfectly certain that the Agora continued to serve for 
 the National Assembly until the capture of Mycenae by 
 the Argives (468 B.C.), because not only were the My- 
 ceneans attached to those sacred precincts by the most 
 glorious and most affectionate reminiscences, but also 
 because the Agora was the most imposing and most beau- 
 tiful situation in the whole city, whence the Assembly 
 overlooked not only the whole lower city, but also the 
 whole plain, with Argos, Tiryns, Nauplia, as well as the 
 splendid Gulf of Nauplia. It is therefore equally certain 
 that until 468 b.c the Agora was kept clean, and that the 
 accumulation in it only began after the Myceneans had 
 been forced to emigrate. I think I have proved by the 
 passages in Euripides* that this poet must necessarily have 
 visited Mycena*; for he was fully acquainted with the 
 peculiar architecture of its Cyclopean walls, he perfect!} 
 knew the Agora in the Acropolis, and he was well aware 
 that close to it was the building, laid bare by my spade, 
 to which tradition pointed as the ancient Royal Palace. 
 
 * Iphig. Taur. 845; Iphig. Aid. 152 and 1498-1499 ; Ifcrcul. 
 Furens, 944; Orest. 1246-47; 7'roati, 1088; JS/cctra, 710-712 and 
 1158. See Chapter II., pp. 37-38. 
 
342 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 To the above testimony might also be added the passage 
 where the messenger says to Orestes, " Even if thou earnest 
 within the walls (the Acropolis) thou wouldst not be able" 
 (to kill Aegisthus)* ; further, the passage where the mes- 
 senger says of a person that he *' seldom comes to the city 
 (Mycenae) and to the circle of the Agora."f 
 
 From the former of these passages we also infer that 
 Euripides knew the Palace of Aegisthus to be in the 
 Acropolis, and from the latter we have an additional proof 
 that he knew the Agora to be of circular form. I think 
 we might, as a further proof of Euripides' acquaintance 
 with Mycenae, also adduce the passage : " I see the people 
 go and sit down on the height (no doubt the Acropolis) 
 where, as tradition goes, Danaus first assembled the people on 
 common seats when he was brought to trial for the offence 
 against Aegyptus.'"J Mr. Newton thinks that the poet 
 speaks here of Argos, and so it certainly appears by the 
 names of Aegyptus and Danaus, of whose visit to Mycenae 
 there is no tradition ; besides, the walls of the Acropolis 
 of Argos were attributed to Danaus. But after reading all 
 that precedes, I think the passage can only refer to the 
 Acropolis of Mycenae. However that may be, at all events 
 the passage gives us an additional proof that the people 
 were sitting in the Agora. 
 
 It is impossible to say how many years after its capture 
 by the Argives (468 b.c) Mycenae was visited by Euripides, 
 who was born in 480 and died in 402 b.c. But the 
 particulars he gives us of the Agora, as well as his allusions 
 to the royal palace, seem to leave no doubt that he saw 
 these monuments, and that consequently they were not yet 
 totally buried in the debris when he visited the Acropolis. 
 
 * Elect. 615 '• Tei^e'coe fikv eKdwv ivrbs ovSev &c aBivois. 
 "t" Ot'CSt. 9^9 • oKtydxis &arv Kayopas xp aivuv kvkXov. 
 
 * Orest. 871—3 '• 6pS> 8' &x^ov ffrelxovra Ktxi Qaaaovr &Kpav 
 
 ov <pa<Ti -npCiTov Aavaov Alyvirr^ S'iKas 
 SiSout' aBpolaai \a.hv eij Koivas iSpas. 
 
1877] EURIPIDES SAW MYCENAE. 343 
 
 On the other hand, my excavations have proved that the 
 Agora was already covered by a deep accumulation of 
 debris when the later Greek city was built on its top, and 
 for the various reasons I have adduced* there can be 
 no doubt that the new settlement was founded about 
 400 B.C. But as all the debris which covered the Agora 
 must necessarily have been washed down by the rain from 
 the five upper natural or artificial terraces of the steep 
 mount of the Acropolis, we are led to the conclusion that 
 Euripides visited Mycenae in his younger years, and thus 
 shortly after the city's capture, for otherwise the enormous 
 accumulation of dibris in about 400 b.c. would be alto- 
 gether inexplainable. 
 
 But though buried deep below the new city, the 
 precise site of each tomb was perfectly remembered by the 
 inhabitants of the Argolid. After an existence of about 
 200 years, the new city was, for some cause or other, again 
 and finally abandoned. But still the tradition remained so 
 fresh, that nearly 400 years after the destruction of the 
 new town the exact place of each tomb was shown to 
 Pausanias. Nay, the interest which the inhabitants of the 
 Peloponnesus felt in the sepulchres was still so great 
 sixteen or eighteen centuries after the tragic event, that, as 
 Pausanias states, the Lacedaemonians of Amyclae disputed 
 with Mycenae the honour of having Cassandra's tomb, 
 which they thought they possessed in their own city. At 
 all events, Pausaniasf says that the Amycleans had in their 
 village the sanctuary and the statue of Alexandra, whom 
 they identified with Cassandra. 
 
 The five tombs of Mycenae, or at least three of them, 
 contained such enormous treasures, that they cannot bur 
 have belonged to members of the royal family. But the 
 period of the kings of Mycenae belongs to a very remote 
 antiquity. Royalty ceased there at the Dorian invasion, the 
 
 * Chapter III., p. 63. t Paus. III. 19, § 6. 
 
344 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 date of which has always been fixed at 1104 B.C. Thucy- 
 dides says that it took place eighty years after the war 
 of Troy, which has been hitherto supposed to have ended 
 in 1 1 84 b.c. But, in agreement with all archaeologists, I 
 hold to the conclusion that, on the evidence of the monu- 
 ments of Troy, the capture and the destruction of that 
 city, and consequently also the Dorian invasion, must have 
 occurred at a much earlier date. 
 
 It has been objected that the five sepulchres cannot 
 possibly contain the bodies of Agamemnon, Eurymedon, 
 Cassandra, and their followers, for the reason that they were 
 killed by their enemies, ^Egisthus and Clytemnestra, who 
 had usurped the power, and who would neither have buried 
 them nor have permitted them to be buried with immense 
 treasures. But this objection falls to the ground before the 
 testimony of Homer, that even he who killed his enemy 
 burned him in his full armour, with all his weapons. Thus, 
 for example, Andromache says to Hector : * 
 
 ..." Father I have none, 
 Nor honoured mother ; for divine Achilles 
 My father slew, and sacked Cilician Thebes, 
 Fair-peopled city of the lofty gates. 
 Yet stript he not Eetion of his arms, 
 Through the restraint of a religious awe, 
 But burning him with all his panoply, 
 Heaped high his tomb." I. C. Wright 
 
 That it was the custom in the heroic age to bury the 
 dead with those objects which had been dear to them in 
 life, is further proved by Homer, where the soul of 
 Elpenor begs Ulysses to bury his body with his weapons, 
 
 * II. VI. 413-419 =— 
 
 . . . ouSt jjLol ion iraTTjp koX ir6rvia fxi\Tt\p, 
 tjtoi yap irarep' afibv cnreKrave 57os 'AxiMevs, 
 €K 5e ir6\iv wcpa(i> KiA'ikwv evvaierdtiirav, 
 &ri^i)v vty'mvXov ■ koto 8' e/crapec 'Heriaiva 
 ou5e fuv i^cvdpL^f ' <re/3d<T(raTo yap rSye 8vp.<Zi ' 
 oA\' &pa fxiv KaTtKije avv ivreoi haihaKtoiffiv, 
 7)5' eirl <rrjp.' *x €fv - 
 
i877 ] AGAMEMNON'S IGNOMINIOUS BURIAL. 345 
 
 and to erect a mound over him.* My esteemed friend 
 Professor Semiteles reminds me that Ajax, in the tragedy 
 of Sophocles, prays to be buried with his arms.! 
 
 It would therefore appear that, in burying the fifteen 
 royal personages with immense treasures, the murderers 
 merely acted according to an ancient custom, and con- 
 sequently only fulfilled a sacred duty. 
 
 On the other hand, the usage of the age appears to 
 have left the murderers at full liberty regarding the form 
 of the sepulchres and the mode of the burial, which were 
 consequently as ignominious as possible. The graves were 
 merely deep irregular quadrangular holes, into which the 
 royal victims were huddled by three and even by five, and 
 on the bottom of which they were burnt, but each sepa- 
 rately, so that their bones might not be mixed together. 
 
 I perfectly share Mr. Newton's opinion, that all the 
 five immense and magnificent Treasuries in the lower city 
 and in the suburb must necessarily be more ancient than 
 the five royal tombs in the Acropolis; and if we reflect that 
 princes, who used such magnificent underground palaces as 
 storehouses of their wealth, should have been huddled away 
 like impure animals into miserable holes, we find in this 
 ignominious burial alone a powerful argument in favour of 
 the veracity of the tradition which points to these sepul- 
 chres as those of the king of men, Agamemnon, and his 
 companions, who on their return from Ilium were treacher- 
 ously murdered by Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. 
 
 Professor Paley reminds me that the excellent Greek 
 
 * 0(/yss. XI. 72-76: — 
 
 UTI n' &K\avTuv, idairroy, twv uirtdo/ KaraKttirttv 
 i>o<T<pi<r8tis, fii) TOl ti Offly fii}vifia ytvufiai ' 
 a\\d fit KaKK(7cn avv t« iixtoiv, antra /uoi iariv. 
 <rf|^a Ti not x*'" 1 ') iroAii|i iirl 6ii>1 QaKaaar^s. 
 
 " Do not leave me behind, unwept for, unlmried, when you go away, lest I should 
 become the cause of the wrath of the gods against thee ; but burn me with all the 
 arms which belong to me, and erect over me a mound on the shore of the hoary KM." 
 
 t Soph. Ajax, 555 :— 
 
 to 5' aK\a T(i>xv KOW ^ol Tf flavj/frai. 
 "My other weapons shall be buried together with me." 
 
 44 
 
346 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. [Chap. X. 
 
 scholar, Miss A. Swanwick, the translator (among other 
 works) of the Oresteia of Aeschylus, has already made the just 
 remark, that the ancient tradition made Agamemnon to be 
 buried in silence and ignominy ; and the same friend calls 
 my attention to the following passages in the tragic poets 
 to show how all of them agree upon this. Thus we read in 
 Aeschylus : " By our hands has he fallen and died, and we 
 shall bury him not with the lamentations of his house- 
 hold."* But we see continually in Homer that the lamen- 
 tations of relations and of all those who belonged to the 
 household were regarded as quite essential to the honour as 
 well as the peace of the dead. So, for instance, we read in 
 the Iliad f : "So spoke (Briseis) weeping, and the women 
 (the other female slaves) broke out into lamentations, 
 seemingly for Patroclus, but in reality every one of them 
 was merely lamenting over her own misfortune." 
 
 We further read in Aeschylus : " O insolent mother, 
 with the funeral of an enemy thou hast dared to bury your 
 lord, a king without the tear of his citizens, a husband 
 without his wife's " \ : and " O father, who hast not died in 
 the manner of kings. "§ Also in Sophocles : " Having 
 ignominiously slain him like an enemy, she chopped and 
 hacked his limbs." || Likewise in Euripides: "Certainly 
 like a criminal thou wilt be buried ignominiously by night, 
 not in the daytime." ^[ 
 
 * Agam. 1552-1554 : . ■ . *pbshn&r 
 
 Ka-KTiarev, KarOave, r]/xe7s Kal KaraBd^iOjxev 
 ovx V1T0 KhavQfxuv ruv e{ oXkuv. 
 
 t //., XIX. 301-302 : 
 
 Ss ecparo (Bpiarjts) KAaiova' ' iir\ 5t rrTevaxovro yvwiiKfS, 
 TlaTpunAov irpotpacrtv, <r<pa>v 8' avTUiv /o)8e' efcauTTj. 
 
 £ CtlOepk. 43O"" 3 • TrdvroXfxt fiarsp, Salais iv eK(popa?s 
 avev iroKnav &vaKr', 
 avev Se TTtvOriixdruv 
 ctAtjs kvoifnoiKTOV dvSpa 0ai|/at. 
 
 § Ibid. 479 • irdrep, -rpowounv ou TvpavvMols Oavdiv. 
 
 || Electro,, 444 • V< P' ^ s Bavuiv aT tfios, ware Sva/xevTis, 
 eixacrxaAio-0ri. 
 
 ^1 Troad, 446 : i\ KaKhs KaK&s ra<pT)oei vvktus, ovk eV hp ( P a - 
 
I877-J CUSTOM OF BURIAL WITH TREASURES. 347 
 
 I may here observe that Sophocles seems never to have 
 visited Mycenae, for he fancied Agamemnon's sepulchre to 
 have the form of a tumulus * : " On the mound of this 
 grave I proclaim this to my father." 
 
 That in a remote antiquity it was the custom to bury 
 kings with their treasures is proved by various classics. 
 Thus, for instance, we are told by Diodorus Siculusf that 
 Sardanapalus, the last king of Assyria, erected in one of 
 his courts an immense pyre, on which he burnt himself 
 together with all his treasures, his royal ornaments, bis wives 
 and his eunuchs. 
 
 We further read in Herodotus : $ "This same queen, 
 Nitocris, committed the following fraud : Above the most 
 frequented gate of the city (Babylon) she erected for her- 
 self a sepulchre, which projected from the upper part of 
 the gate. And on this sepulchre she engraved an inscrip- 
 tion of the following tenour : 'Whichever of the kings of 
 Babylon who succeeds me may stand in need of mone\ . 
 let him open the sepulchre and take treasure as much as he 
 likes. But let him open it in no other case than when be 
 really needs money ; because that would not be good.' 
 This sepulchre remained intact until the kingdom passed 
 over to Darius. Darius was vexed that he could never 
 use the gate, and that, though treasures were lying there, 
 and though the treasures themselves invited him, he should 
 not be allowed to take them. But this gate he could not 
 use, because in passing through he would have had the 
 corpse above his head. Now, on opening the tomb he 
 found no treasures, but only the corpse, and an inscription 
 which was as follows: 'If thou wert not insatiable and 
 greedy for treasures, thou wouldst not have opened the 
 tombs of the dead.'" 
 
 This account of Herodotus proves two things ; first, that 
 it was the custom at Babylon to bury the royal dead with 
 
 * Ekct. 894 : rvfi&ov 5' <V axSu t<?5( 
 
 t II. 21-28. % 1. 187. 
 
348 
 
 THE ROYAL TOMBS AND AGORA. 
 
 [Chap. X. 
 
 treasures, and, secondly, that the people were prevented by 
 a religious fear from plundering the abodes of the dead. 
 
 We further read in Diodorus : * " When Pyrrhus 
 had pillaged JEgese, which was the residence of the Mace- 
 donian kings, he left there the Galatians. These having 
 learned from some people that, according to an ancient cus- 
 tom, large treasures were buried in the royal tombs together 
 with the deceased, they excavated all the sepulchres, and 
 having rifled them, they divided the treasures among 
 themselves, but the bones of the dead they threw away. 
 Pyrrhus upbraided them on account of this sacrilegious act, 
 but he did not punish them because he needed them in 
 his wars." This proves again to us that it was an ancient 
 custom in Macedonia to bury the dead of royal houses 
 with treasures, and that the people were deterred by a reli- 
 gious fear from touching them, because, although it had 
 been known for ages that the tombs contained treasures, 
 yet nobody had dared to plunder them. 
 
 I may further remind the reader of the large trea- 
 sure of elaborately ornamented gold and silver vases and 
 other jewels, as well as of bronze vessels and vases, arms, 
 etc., recently discovered in a tomb at Palestrina in Italy 
 (the ancient Praeneste), and attributed to the seventh cen- 
 tury b.c, — " that period at which the influence of the 
 civilization and industry of the East dominated in Etruria 
 and Latium, before those countries became subject to the 
 force of Hellenic genius — the period when the two currents 
 of Assyrian and Egyptian luxury and thought had become 
 intermingled in their effect upon art, and spread by the 
 Phoenician artisans and traders through the Western coun- 
 tries whither they carried their productions, ornamented 
 according to the ideas they had imbibed, from the banks of 
 the Euphrates on the one side, and the Nile on the other." f 
 
 I also call attention to the sepulchre of Corneto, the 
 
 * IV. 2 2, 23. 
 
 t From an account of the Tomb at Palestrina in the Times, February 
 *7, 1877. 
 
[877-] CUSTOM OF BURIAL WITH TREASURES. 349 
 
 contents of which, as I have before stated, are in the 
 Museum of Berlin. This tomb, which belongs to an epoch 
 anterior to the influence of Greek culture in Italy, and 
 therefore anterior to the seventh century B.C., contains not 
 only the armour and weapons, but also the whole household 
 furniture, copper kettles, drinking vessels, and so forth, of 
 a rich warrior. I hardly think it necessary to remind the 
 reader of the custom in ancient Egypt of burying the dead 
 with treasures, for all the collections of Egyptian antiqui- 
 ties in the world are procured from Egyptian tombs. 
 
 My learned friend Dr. Karl Blind, in his excellent 
 pamphlet, entitled ' Fire Burial,' cites the Odin Law in 
 Scandinavia, which reads as follows : — " Odin ordained 
 that the dead should be burnt, and that everything that 
 had been theirs should be carried to the pyre. lie said 
 that every one should go up to Walhalla with as many 
 riches as would be heaped upon his pyre, and that he 
 should enjoy in Walhalla all those things also which he 
 had hidden away in the earth. The ashes should be 
 thrown into the sea, or be buried deep in the soil ; but 
 for illustrious men a mound should be raised as a token of 
 remembrance." 
 
 Dr. Blind also gives in the same pamphlet the description 
 of Beowulf s funeral, to prove that it was also the habit with 
 the Anglo-Saxons to burn their dead with treasures : — 
 
 " Geatland's men for him then made 
 A pyre broad, most firmly built, 
 With helms bedeckt, with war-shields hung, 
 And armour bright, as he them bade. 
 In the midst they laid, the sorrowing heroes, 
 Their mighty ruler, their beloved lord." 
 
 Thus we have the proof that in a remote antiquity it 
 was the custom in Babylon, Egypt, Italy, Macedonia, 
 Scandinavia, and Germany, to bury the rich with their 
 treasures, and my excavations have proved that this custom 
 existed also at Mycenae in the time of the Atridfe. 
 
No. 528. A Golden Goblet (6e7ras on^i/cvireAAoiO, with dog's-head handles. 
 From the Tomb south of the Agora. Half-size. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Treasure of the Tomb South of the Agora. 
 
 Discovery and description of another tomb in the Acropolis outside the 
 Agora — Its Cyclopean masonry like that of the five sepulchres — The 
 golden trinkets of this tomb — Double-handled goblets — A plain 
 gold cup ((f>td\y]) — Spirals and rings of gold and silver wire, like 
 those of the Egyptian tombs — A golden seal-ring covered with 
 intaglio-work — Its full description — The face-covers of the female 
 figures prove the use of masks during life — A figure meant for a 
 Palladium — Six other rude figures resembling the Trojan idols : 
 their likeness to the " Corinthian helmet" of Athena — The work of 
 this ring calls to mind Homer's description of the shield of Achilles 
 — A smaller golden signet-ring, with four Palladia and three Hera- 
 idols — A beautiful lion of massive gold — Gold necklace beads — 
 Bones of animals found in this tomb — The human remains pro- 
 bably removed when the water conduit was built, but the small 
 jewel-recess escaped being rifled — Three curious lentoid gems of 
 necklaces, one found on the site of Phcenice, the others near the 
 ancient Herseum — The first represents Phoenician figures — De- 
 
I877-] DISCOVERY OF THE TOMB. 351 
 
 scription of the other two — The Cyclopean foundations of the ancient 
 Heraeum, probably as old as the walls of Tiryns and Mycenae — It 
 was destroyed by fire in 423 B.C., and its site deserted. 
 Telegrams to and from the King of Greece — Conclusion. 
 
 'Athens, March I, 1877. 
 
 My engineer, the Lieutenant Vasilios Drosinos, of Nauplia, 
 having proceeded on the 20th of January to Mycenae, 
 in company with the painter D. Tountopoulos, who had 
 to make for me an Ichnography of the five large 
 sepulchres and the circular Agora by which they are 
 surrounded, in verifying the plans he had made for me, 
 recognised, due south of the Agora the form of a tomb, 
 the site of which is marked with the letter P on the 
 Plan B, and of which I give a most accurate separate 
 plan.* By the latter it will be seen that the con- 
 struction of this tomb differs from that of the five 
 sepulchres within the Agora, for on its north side the 
 rock is cut vertically for a distance of 2 metres 
 (6 ft. 8 in.) only, whilst on its east side it is cut for more 
 than double the distance required for it ; the vertical 
 height of this rock being 1 m. 70 c. (5 ft. 8 in.) The 
 eastern rock, which is cut vertically, is lined with a 
 roughly built wall of stones joined without cement, and 
 the same is the case with the northern rock, but here the 
 Cyclopean wall continues in a straight line for 6 metres 
 (20 feet), and thus for 13 ft. 4 in. farther west than the 
 extent of the rock. On the west and south sides there 
 is no rock at all, but merely the same kind of rude wall, 
 which is so irregularly built that, whilst the north side 
 of the tomb is 20 ft. and the eastern side 13 ft. 4 in. long, 
 its southern side is 1 7 ft. 4 in. and its west side 1 2 ft. long. 
 In the south-east corner of the tomb the Cyclopean 
 masonry has been demolished for a distance of 1 m. 80 c. 
 (6 feet), apparently by those who laid the water conduit, 
 
 * See Plan G, Tomb south of the Agora. 
 
352 THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA. [Chap. XI. 
 
 which, built of uncut stones without cement, runs all 
 along the eastern and northern sides of the tomb, and is 
 doubtless much later than the latter. 
 
 As will be seen by Plan G, I had excavated this site to 
 a depth of 6 m. 70 c. or 11 ft. 4 in., and had penetrated 
 on one side 5 ft., on the other 5 ft. 4 in. deep within the 
 walls of the tomb, in which I had left a layer of debris 
 only 1 ft. 10 in. deep. But as the tomb is immediately 
 east of the large Cyclopean house, of which I had exca- 
 vated many rooms down to the rock without finding 
 anything particular, I had considered the sepulchre as a 
 dependency of the house, and had not cared to excavate 
 the little debris which still covered its site. 
 
 But my most excellent engineer was more keen-sighted. 
 Being struck by the appearance of the walls built in a 
 much ruder way than those of the Cyclopean house, he at 
 once recognised the identity of the masonry with that of 
 the masonry in the large tombs, and as he saw the northern 
 wall partly and the eastern entirely leaning against the 
 rock, he had the firm conviction that it was a sepulchre. 
 Therefore on his return to Nauplia he communicated his 
 important discovery to a government clerk of the name 
 of Stamatakes, who had been sent that very day by the 
 Director-general, Mr. P. Eustratiades, to Nauplia, in order 
 to choose a place in the Acropolis of Mycenas on which to 
 build a wooden hut for the watchmen. Mr. Drosinos 
 indicated to him on my plans the precise site of the tomb, 
 and gave him the most minute information in relation to 
 it, so that the clerk found the place at once, and engaged 
 a workman, at whose first or second blow of the pickaxe 
 a golden vessel came to light, and in less than half an 
 hour the following objects were gathered. First, four large 
 golden goblets with two handles, of which I represent one 
 as the vignette to this chapter (No. 528). All the four 
 goblets have exactly the same form and are nearly of the 
 same size. All of them represent the Homeric SeVa? 
 
I877-] TWO-HANDLEU GOBLETS. 353 
 
 d/jL<t>LKV7re\\ov, because all have two handles. These are 
 attached with golden nails to the body and rim, and all 
 of them terminate in a dog's head, which holds the rim in 
 
 1. 529. Gold Rings, gold wire (round and quadrangular) in spirals, and one Silver Ring 
 All of the double size. 
 
 his jaws and seems to drink from the cup. Besides the 
 dogs' heads, these four goblets have no ornamentation 
 whatever, and their form is identical with that of the cup 
 
 45 
 
354 THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA. [Chap. XI. 
 
 No. 343, # with the sole difference that the latter has only 
 one handle. 
 
 Together with the four goblets was found a large plain 
 gold cup ((f)idXri). It has only one handle, which is 
 fastened to the rim and body with four gold pins with 
 large flat heads. There were further found four spirals of 
 thick quadrangular, and seven spirals of thick round gold 
 wire, five plain gold rings, and a similar one of silver, of 
 which a selection is represented under No. 529. I remind 
 the reader that similar spirals and rings of thick gold 
 wire occur in the wall paintings of the Egyptian tombs. 
 They are supposed to have served as presents, or perhaps 
 as a medium of exchange. 
 
 No. 530. Gold Sig net-ring, from the tomb to the south of the Agora. Double size. 
 
 In this tomb was further found a gold seal-ring of the 
 same form, but more than twice as large, as those which I 
 discovered in the fourth sepulchre.! From the engraving 
 of this new ring, which is represented in double size 
 under No. 530, it will be seen that it is entirely covered 
 with intaglio work. To the left of the spectator is re- 
 presented a tree, whose stem certainly resembles that of 
 a palm-tree ; it has fifteen short branches on which we 
 
 * See p. 233. 
 
 t See Nos. 334, 335, p. 223. 
 
I877-] MARVELLOUS SIGNET-RING. 355 
 
 see no leaves, but large clusters of a small fruit, each 
 cluster resembling a pine apple; below the tree stands a 
 small female, who is leaning over a little backwards and 
 extends both her hands just below the lowest cluster of 
 fruit, as if in the act of plucking it. My esteemed friend 
 the Professor of Botany, Mr. T. Orphanides, of Athens, 
 says that of all trees in Greece this tree resembles most 
 a pine, but that, as the little woman is going to pluck 
 one of its fruits, the fruit must necessarily be eatable, and 
 he thinks therefore that it must be a breadfruit-tree, 
 because of all the fruits of India the breadfruit most 
 resembles that of the tree before us. But I do not 
 remember having ever seen the breadfruit-tree in India. I 
 have only seen it in Central America. My other esteemed 
 friend, the Professor of Botany, von Ileldreich, in Atliens, 
 thinks that the Mycenean artist intended to represent here 
 simply a vine laden with bunches of grapes, and that, 
 merely by his ineptitude, the vine has been represented as a 
 thick tree ; and this is also my opinion. 
 
 Two long tresses of hair are hanging from the little 
 woman's head down on the back ; her dress below the 
 waist is divided by two horizontal bands into three com- 
 partments, probably to make us aware of its richness ; 
 from her arms there project two bands, which may be 
 intended to represent the sleeves. 
 
 On the other side of the tree, and leaning with her 
 right arm against it, is sitting a tall woman, with noble 
 Grecian features. Her eyes are large and her nose projects 
 in a straight line with the forehead, just as we see it on 
 the sculptures in the Parthenon ; her head is covered with 
 a turban running out into a point, from beneath which a 
 tress of hair is hanging down on her back ; just above this 
 tress we see two ornaments on the turban. I call par- 
 ticular attention to the curious sign just above her fore- 
 head, which is no doubt meant to represent her diadem ; 
 but I have not found a diadem of this kind in any of the 
 
356 
 
 THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA. [Chap. XI 
 
 five tombs. The upper part of her dress is tightly fitted 
 to the body, but nevertheless the woman's two breasts pro- 
 trude. The lower part of her dress is ornamented with 
 a large number of horizontal bands, and is in the form of 
 wide pantaloons which end at the ankles in crescents. Her 
 right hand rests on her waist, and she holds in her up- 
 lifted left hand three poppies, which she appears to offer 
 to a tall woman, splendidly dressed, who is standing before 
 her and extends her right hand towards the flowers. 
 
 The head of this tall standing woman is covered with a 
 sort of turban, which strikingly resembles the turbans now 
 worn in India, with the difference that here the turban 
 runs out into a point, from which a long ornament hangs 
 down on the back. A further difference is that from the 
 forepart of the turban there projects a sort of mask, on 
 which the two eyes and the nose are well represented, but 
 here this mask is lifted, and we see the woman's eyes from 
 below it ; a third difference between this and an Indian 
 turban is that from its right side, on the left of the 
 spectator, hangs down a band which must also represent 
 an ornament ; a fourth difference is the strange ornament 
 which we see just above the forehead, and which must be a 
 sort of diadem. The features of this woman are certainly 
 masculine and her hair is cut short, but the artist wished 
 her sex to be distinctly understood and gave her two large 
 pTotruding breasts. Just above her breasts we see two 
 horizontal bands, which may be intended to represent 
 necklaces ; but we ought not to leave unnoticed the long 
 band which hangs from her right shoulder. Her lower 
 dress seems also to be in the shape of enormously wide 
 pantaloons, and from the loins downward we see on the 
 dress of each leg five large curved parallel bands, which 
 can have no other object than to represent the splendour 
 and costliness of her attire: these bands become more 
 curved the lower they are, and the lowest is exactly in the 
 form of a crescent. Below the extremity of the panta- 
 
1877-3 MARVELLOUS SIGNET-RING. 357 
 
 loons we see that the woman wears drawers, which are 
 fastened with clasps. Above the forepart of this woman's 
 turban is again represented an ornament, the nature of 
 which cannot be discerned. 
 
 Just below her outstretched right arm we see another 
 small female figure, probably a child, holding in each of 
 its extended hands an object, the nature of which we are 
 unable to discern, and which it seems to offer to the seated 
 woman. The child's head is covered with a turban, and a 
 long tress of hair, or some ornament, is hanging down 
 its back. It wears a necklace, and its dress is divided 
 by horizontal parallel bands into three or four compart- 
 ments. The features of the child are very expressive. 
 
 Just above the extended hand of the tall standing 
 woman we see two double axes on one handle, exactly 
 like those on the Tenedian medals and those between the 
 horns of the cows (Nos. 329, 330), but richly ornamented. 
 The second double axe is seen projecting on both sides 
 from behind the first one. The handle of these axes, 
 which runs out into a sharp point, is artistically made. 
 
 Behind this tall standing woman stands another, whose 
 dress I shall not describe, as it is perfectly identical with 
 that of her companion, and above the forepart of her 
 turban we see the same strange ornament, the nature of 
 which cannot be recognised. Very visible is her Indian 
 turban which also terminates in a point, and from which 
 a long band-like ornament hangs down on her back. The 
 mask, which projects from the forepart of her turban, 
 closely covers the upper part of her face and her nose; it 
 contains openings for the eyes, for her large left eye is 
 glancing out from it. I call very particular attention to 
 the vizors of both these women, because they give us the 
 most unmistakable proof that masks were not only used 
 for the dead but that they were also worn by the living. 
 She holds in her uplifted right hand three objects, whose 
 form certainly resembles that which we see on the forepart 
 
358 THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA. [Chap. XI. 
 
 of the turban of the seated woman. In her left she holds 
 two flowers with long stalks, which Professor Orphanides 
 thinks to be lilies. From her left shoulder we see project- 
 ing two bands, and another from her left elbow. Like her 
 tall companion, she is barefooted, but wears drawers, and 
 on her right foot is distinctly visible the ornament with 
 which the drawers are fastened. 
 
 Just above the strange objects which this second tall 
 standing woman holds in her right hand, we see a curious 
 figure holding a long staff, meant probably to represent a 
 lance ; her head is shown in profile ; the rest of her body, 
 which is given in full view, consists of two circles, of which 
 the upper one represents the upper part of the body from 
 the neck to the waist, and the lower one the lower part of 
 the body as far as the loins ; no legs are shown and only 
 one arm is seen ; from the back project two long bands. 
 The two circles of which the body consists have a small 
 border, and look altogether like shields ; but that shields 
 were not intended to be represented is shown by the two 
 points indicating the breasts. 
 
 This rudely represented figure, in the presence of the 
 splendidly dressed women, can in my opinion be nothing 
 else than a Palladium of a very ancient and primitive type, 
 which, like that of the cow-headed or horned Hera-idols, 
 was, on account of the sanctity attached to it, subject to no 
 caprice of fashion and remained for ages unchanged. 
 
 The border of the seal, between the Palladmm and the 
 feet of the second tall woman, is filled up by six objects of a 
 strange form with heads and eyes, also with a kind of 
 helmet. From the great resemblance of these six objects 
 to the Trojan idols* we believe that they also are meant 
 to represent Palladia. But Professor Rhousopoulos re- 
 minds me of the great similarity of these six figures to 
 the Kpavos KopivdiaKov, or Corinthian helmet of Pallas 
 
 * See ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 36. 
 
1877.] MARVELLOUS SIGNET-RING. 359 
 
 Athena, as represented on the Corinthian coins of the fourth 
 century B.C., and to the same helmet on the three bronze 
 busts of that goddess, in natural size, of which one is in the 
 British Museum, the second in the Ministry of Public 
 Instruction at Athens, and the third in a private house in 
 the Pinrus. The forepart of the helmet is represented, 
 on the Corinthian coins and on the bust of the goddess, as 
 drawn up, because she only drew it over her face when she 
 was fighting. On this forepart of the helmet we see the two 
 eyes, the nose, and the mouth ; consequently it represents 
 a mask, and gives an additional proof that it was customary 
 to wear masks. 
 
 The resemblance between the six figures and the Kpdvos 
 KopivdiaKov is certainly striking ; the latter was assuredly not 
 invented in the fourth century B.C., but it has certainly been 
 copied from a very ancient idol, and I have not the slightest 
 doubt that the six figures represent this very same idol. 
 
 Finally, we see near the top two waving lines which 
 cannot possibly represent anything else than the sea, 
 which is represented in like manner on the coins of 
 Tarentum. From the sea rises to the left the sun in full 
 splendour, the rays being well represented, and to his left 
 (to the right of the spectator) rises the crescent of the 
 moon. On seeing this marvellous ring, Mrs. Schliemann 
 and I involuntarily exclaimed, "This ring must have been 
 seen by Homer before he described all the wonders which 
 Heplwcstus wrought on the shield of Achilles." * 
 
 • //. XVIII. 483-489 :— 
 
 'Ev n'tv 7a7ai' (rtv£, iv $' ovpavov. iv Si 9d\aoaav, 
 
 'Hi\ii>v t' dndfiavra, 2t\i)vt]v Tf n\r)0ov(rav, 
 
 iv Si to Ttipta irdvra, tot' ovpavbs i(TTf<pdvwrat, 
 
 TWyidSas 8' 'TaSos Tf, t6, Tf oBfvos 'flplwvos, 
 
 "ApKTov 6', $iv Kai uuu£ui- iirli<Kri<Ttv KaKtovaiv, 
 
 J)t' o''Tou <TTpf <pt rai, «al t' 'Clplwva Soxfu'fi. 
 
 olr) 5' &)ifiop6i ion Kotrpwv 'nKtavoio. 
 
 " There he wrought earth, sea, and heaven, 
 There he set th' unwearying sun, 
 And the waxing moon, and stars that 
 Crown the blue vault every one ; 
 
360 THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Lying together with this was found another somewhat 
 smaller golden signet-ring, which I likewise represent in 
 double size (No. 531). We see on this signet not less than 
 four Palladia and three Hera-idols in good intaglio work. 
 The former perfectly resemble the Trojan idols of Pallas 
 Athena ;* only there is a slight difference in the head, 
 which is here a little less obtuse, and may be intended to 
 be represented with a helmet. The Palladium in the lower 
 row to the left is exactly like the Trojan idols ; but it is a 
 little effaced, and above it we see three ears of corn. Of 
 the Hera-idols in the form of cow-heads with two horns, we 
 see one in the upper and two in the lower row ; the horns 
 
 No. 531. Second Gold Signet-ring, found in the same tomb. Double size. 
 
 of the two latter are particularly long, and between those of 
 the head to the left of the spectator we see two smaller 
 ones ; therefore this cow-head has four horns. At the 
 
 Pleiads, Hyads, strong Orion, 
 
 Arctos, hight to boot the Wain. 
 He upon Orion waiting, 
 
 Only he of all the train 
 Shunning still the baths of ocean 
 Wheels and wheels his round again." 
 
 From Mr. Gladstone's translation of the " Shield of Achilles " in the 
 Contemporary Review, Feb. 1874 ; vol. xxiii. p. 337, New Series. 
 * See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 36. 
 
I877-] GOLDEN LION AND BEADS. 361 
 
 right end of the upper row is represented a curious object 
 which I cannot well distinguish ; if we turn the engraving 
 to the right, it looks like a bird. Between the two rows 
 are eleven signs, resembling eyes. 
 
 Together with the two signet rings was found the 
 beautiful massive golden lion, which is represented in 
 double size (No. 532). It is fastened on a thick golden 
 
 No. 533. Golden Lion, Irom the HUM tomb. Double jik. 
 
 wire, and is represented lying down, with the head facing 
 the spectator j and both the head and the rest of the body 
 are perfectly faithful to nature. I share Mr. Newton's 
 opinion that the lion has been cast and tooled. 
 
 There were further found fourteen golden beads of a 
 necklace, of which I represent six (Nos. 533-538); they 
 
 Nos. 533-538 Gold Heads of a Necklace from the same tomb. Double size. 
 
 are ornamented all round with four rows of globular pro- 
 jecting points. 
 
 As will be seen by Plan G, all the above-described 
 jewels were found together in one spot, which was only 
 2 ft. long and 8 in. broad, and precisely 6 m. qo c, or 
 23 ft., below the surface of the soil before the beginning 
 of my excavations, or only 8 in. below the surface of my 
 
 46 
 
362 THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA. [Chap. XI. 
 
 excavation, as I left it on the 6th of December last. It 
 further appears by Plan G, that the debris below the site 
 of the jewels was still 1 ft. 2 in. deep. 
 
 There were found bones in this tomb, which were at 
 first thought by us to be human bones, but my esteemed 
 friend Dr. Theodoros Aretasos, the celebrated Athenian 
 surgeon, who has examined them, declares them to be the 
 bones of animals. As before stated, the Cyclopean water- 
 conduit, represented in Plan G, was evidently built at a 
 later prehistoric period than that to which the tomb 
 belongs, and its builders, who necessarily had to excavate 
 the tomb down to the virgin rock, no doubt robbed it of 
 its contents and threw away the bones of the skeleton ; 
 but, luckily that small place near the wall (only 2 ft. long 
 and 8 in. broad), where the above jewels lay, was not dug 
 
 Nos. 539-541. Three Lentoid Gems of Serpentine and Agate with intaglio-work, found on the site 
 of Phcenice and of the Herasum. Actual size. 
 
 up by them, and therefore the jewels have been saved for 
 science.* 
 
 Lastly, I represent three lentoid gems of necklaces 
 which I have bought in Chonika, a village situated in the 
 Plain of Argos, close to the site of the ancient city of 
 Phoenice (^owuoy), and at a distance of one English mile 
 from the ancient Heraeum. I call the attention of the 
 reader to the name Chonika, which is nothing but a 
 corruption of the name <t>oivUr). 
 
 The two peasants, who sold me the three lentoid gems, 
 
 * The spot where the jewels were found is marked by the letter (a), 
 both on the plan and section (Plan G). 
 
I877-] LENTOID GEMS BOUGHT IN CHONIKA. 363 
 
 said that they had found the middle one in labouring on 
 the site of Phoenice, and the other two close to the site 
 of the ancient Heraeum. I have no reason to doubt their 
 statement to be correct, because, as the name sufficiently 
 proves, Phoenice was a Phoenician colony, and the middle 
 gem (No. 540) which is said to have been found there, most 
 decidedly represents two Phoenician figures, probably very 
 ancient types of idols. Their heads are marked by a mere 
 horizontal hollow, and no face is shown ; their necks are 
 very long, and their shoulders, which, like all the rest of 
 their bodies, are rectilinear, arc enormously broad. Very 
 characteristic are their long legs and their feet, which 
 rather resemble horse-hoofs than human feet ; one man 
 holds in his right hand, and the other in his left, a zigzag, 
 probably intended to represent a symbol of fire and perhaps 
 lightning. The very short left hand of the man to the 
 left of the spectator is uplifted, and seems to hold some 
 object, whilst the left hand of the other figure is very long 
 and nearly touches the ground. Over the right shoulder 
 of the man to the left of the spectator is a strange sign, 
 perhaps a written character, and an arrow-like sign is close 
 to the neck of the other man ; to both these signs I call 
 particular attention. This lentoid gem is of dark red 
 agate, semi-globular, and has a horizontal perforation. 
 
 The lentoid gem to the left of this (No. 539), as seen 
 by the spectator, is of greenish serpentine. It is convex on 
 both sides and has likewise a horizontal perforation. It 
 represents, in beautiful intaglio, two horses standing on 
 their hind-legs opposite each other, their heads leaning 
 over in opposite directions. The tail of the horse to the 
 left of the spectator is represented by a mere band ; that 
 of the other is bushy ; to the head of each horse is attached 
 an ornament, which probably belongs to the trappings. 
 Between the heads of the horses we see two human figures, 
 of which that to the left of the spectator has a Phrygian 
 cap on its head, and extends its hands towards the other 
 
3 6 4 
 
 ANCIENT HER/EUM. 
 
 [Chap. XI. 
 
 figure, whose head seems to be uncovered, and which is 
 holding a round object in its only hand which is visible. 
 
 On the third lentoid gem (No. 541), which is an agate 
 of variegated white and brown colour, also convex and 
 horizontally perforated, we see a much more artistic 
 intaglio work, representing a Hera-idol, in the form of a 
 cow-head, with two long horns, in perfectly faithful imita- 
 tion of nature. Between the two horns we see, head 
 downward, an ornamented double-edged axe, with its 
 handle, the extremity of which is ornamented with two 
 rings or turned buttons. To the right and left of the 
 cow-head we see a beautifully ornamented object, the 
 nature of which we are unable to explain ; it resembles a 
 cornucopiae. 
 
 I remind the reader that this lentoid gem, as well as 
 the other with the two horses, was found close to the 
 ancient Herasum, of which the foundations, consisting 
 of various courses of Cyclopean masonry of enormous 
 uncut blocks, still exist, and may be as old and even 
 older than the walls of Mycenas and Tiryns. But my 
 explorations on the site, in February, 1874, have shown 
 that the accumulation of dtbvis there does not exceed 
 ii to 3 ft. in depth, and consequently excavations there 
 are impossible. The ancient Heraeum was accidentally 
 destroyed by fire in 423 B.C., and its site has remained 
 deserted, the new Herasum being built on the slope, about 
 50 ft. below the ancient one. 
 
 On the discovery of the Treasures of the Royal 
 Sepulchres, I had the honour of addressing a telegram 
 to His Majesty, the King of the Hellenes, which I insert 
 here, with His Majesty's gracious reply : — 
 
I877-] GIFT OF THE TREASURES TO GREECE. 
 
 3 6 5 
 
 "A Sa Majeste le Roi George des Hellenes, Athenes. 
 
 " Avec une extreme joie j'annonce a Votre Majeste 
 que j'ai decouvert les tombeaux que la tradition, dont 
 Pausanias se fait l'echo, designait comme Jes sqmlcres 
 d' Agamemnon, de Cassandra, d'Eurymedon et de leurs 
 camarades, tous tues pendant le repas par Clytemncstre et 
 son amant Egisthe. lis etaient entoures d'un double 
 cercle parallele de plaques, qui ne peut avoir e're erige 
 qu'en honneur des dits grands personnages. J'ai trouve 
 dans les sepulcres des tresors immenses en fait d'objets 
 archai'ques en or pur. Ces tresors suffisent a eux seuls a 
 remplir un grand musee, qui sera le plus merveilleux du 
 monde, et qui, pendant des siecles a venir, attirera en 
 Grece des milliers d'ctrangers de tous les pays. Comme je 
 travaille par pur amour pour la science, je n'ai naturelle- 
 ment aucune pretention a ces trdsors, que je donne, avec 
 un vif enthousiasme, intacts a la Grece. Que Dieu veuille 
 que ces tresors deviennent la pierre angulaire d'une im- 
 mense richesse nationale T 
 
 " IIknky Schliemanx. 
 
 " Mycenes, 16 (28) Novembre 1876." 
 
 His Majesty's Reply: — 
 "Monsieur le Docteur Schliemann, Akgos. 
 
 " J'ai l'honneur de vous annoncer que Sa Majeste le 
 Roi, ayant rci^u votre depeche, a daigne me charger de 
 vous remercier de votre zele et amour pour la science, 
 et de vous feliciter de vos importantes decouvertes, et Sa 
 Majeste espere que vos efforts seront toujours couronnes 
 d'aussi heureux succes. 
 
 " Le Secretaire de S.M. Hellenique, 
 
 "A. Calinskis." 
 
366 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I cannot conclude without mentioning the names of 
 my esteemed friends, Professor Euthymios Castorches, Pro- 
 fessor Stephanos Coumanoudes, and Professor Kokkides, 
 of Athens, and thanking them here publicly for all the 
 kindness they have shown me during the time of my toil- 
 some excavations at Mycenae. 
 
 I also deem it my agreeable duty to thank here 
 publicly my excellent engineer, the sagacious Lieutenant 
 Vasilios Drosinos, for his scrupulous care and attention 
 in making all the plans of Mycenae, as well as for the 
 great service he has rendered to archaeology by promptly 
 indicating to the government clerk the tomb which he 
 had discovered in my excavations, so that its contents 
 could be saved for science. 
 
 I further fulfil an agreeable duty in warmly recom- 
 mending to all visitors to Athens the most excellent 
 photographers, Messrs. Roma'ides Brothers, from whose 
 wonderful photographs all the engravings of this work 
 have been made ;* in fact, I do not exaggerate if I assure 
 the reader that their photographs can hardly ever be 
 excelled. 
 
 It is also my pleasant duty to thank publicly the 
 celebrated printers, Messrs. William Clowes and Sons, 
 of London, who printed this book, as well as the most 
 excellent engravers, Messrs. J. W. Whymper and J. D. 
 Cooper, who made all the engravings, for the superior 
 skill and the unremitting zeal and scrupulous attention 
 with which they have executed their part in the work. 
 
 Lastly, I here express my warmest gratitude to the 
 learned publisher of this work, my most esteemed friend, 
 Mr. John Murray, as well as to my most excellent learned 
 friend Mr. Philip Smith, for all the kind services they have 
 rendered me and all the valuable assistance they have lent 
 me in carrying out the present work. 
 
 * Except the body (No. 454, p. 297), and a few diagrams and new 
 drawings of objects, besides the Plans. 
 
DR. PERCY'S ANALYSIS. 
 
 367 
 
 ANALYSIS OF MYCENEAN METALS. 
 
 Mr. P. EUSTRATIADES, the Director of the Antiquities of 
 Greece, having kindly given me some specimens of the Myce- 
 nean metals, I thought I could not do better than submit 
 them for analysis to the celebrated chemist and metallurgist, 
 Dr. PERCY, in London, to whom I cannot adequately express 
 my gratitude for his invaluable Report. I would especially 
 direct the reader's attention to the evidence, which is suggested 
 by the analysis, of the extensive use at Mycena; of what is probably 
 native gold, — to that use of gold largely alloyed with silver which, 
 when carried somewhat further, produced the well-known elcctrnm, 
 of which I found several goblets in the ruins of prehistoric Troy, — 
 and to the new light thrown on the question of the Homeric 
 ^a\/c6? (so largely discussed by Mr. Gladstone) by the proof 
 that both copper and bronze were in use in the heroic age of 
 Mycena;, but that the weapons (and some of the vases) were 
 of bronze, while the domestic utensils, such as kettles, were of 
 copper. Thus the metal of a sword from one of the royal sepul- 
 chres contains a little more than 86 per cent, of copper and 
 above 13 per cent, of tin, and that of a vase-handle contains 
 nearly 90 per cent, of copper and above 10 of tin ; whereas that 
 of a kettle contains 98-47 per cent, of copper, and a mere trace 
 of tin. 1 would remind the reader that of the Trojan bronze 
 battle-axes the one contained only 4 per cent., the second 8 per 
 cent., and the third about 9 per cent., of tin.* 
 
 The course taken by Dr. Percy to effect the analysis is de- 
 scribed in the following letter with which he has favoured me : — 
 
 DEAR DR. SCHLIEMANN, London, Auguit 10, .877. 
 
 I have now the pleasure of communicating to you the results of the 
 examination of the various specimens of metal which you placed in my 
 hands for that purpose. A considerable time and very great care have 
 been required to complete this work ; and I must ask you to be so good as 
 to state that the analytical investigation, with two exceptions, has bun 
 wholly conducted by my able assistant, Mr. Richard Smith, in the Metal- 
 lurgical Laboratory of the Royal School of Mines, London. Mr. Smith, I 
 can assure you, has laboured most earnestly and heartily in this investi- 
 gation ; and whatever credit there may be is due to him. Some of the 
 results are, I think, both novel and important, in a metallurgical as well as 
 archaeological point of view. 
 
 I remain, yours very truly, 
 
 John Percy, m.i>., k.k.s. 
 
 Lecturer on Metallurgy at the Royal 
 Dr. SCHLIEMANN. School of Mines London, &c. 
 
 * See ' Troy and its Remains,' p. 361 . 
 
368 MYCENEAN METALS. 
 
 I.— ARGENTIFEROUS GOLD FOIL. (No. 542.) 
 
 The whole of the specimen weighed 2-177 grains, and its 
 thickness varied from i-500th to 1 -600th of an inch. It 
 was one of those gold leaves which were found strewn in vast 
 numbers about the bodies. It was much crumpled, of a reddish 
 yellow colour, and both surfaces appeared as if they had been 
 varnished or lacquered. A sketch of the specimen is annexed 
 
 of the actual size. By heating, 
 the metal becomes much paler in 
 colour and assumes a greenish 
 yellow tinge, a volatile substance, 
 probably organic, being given off 
 at the same time. The colour 
 of the metal is not affected by 
 digestion in warm alcohol, ether, 
 or benzole ; but by boiling it in a 
 strong aqueous solution of caustic 
 potash, it loses its red tinge, and 
 becomes paler, though not so pale 
 as when heated. n68 grain of the metal, by cleaning with 
 warm water, dilute hydrochloric acid, and finally gentle rubbing, 
 lost 0'0i5 grain, which is equal to a loss of i - 28 per cent. The 
 it 53 grain of cleaned metal was submitted to analysis, with 
 the following results : — 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 Gold .. .. .. .. .. 73*11 
 
 Silver .. .. .. .. 2337 
 
 Copper .. .. .. .. .. 2*22 
 
 Lead .. .. .. .. 0*35 
 
 Iron .. .. .. .. .. 0*24 
 
 99-29 
 
 From the composition of the specimen it may be inferred 
 that it was an artificial alloy, as the amount of copper and lead 
 present is, so far as we know, much larger than has ever been 
 found in " native gold " from any locality. The presence of the 
 lead is probably owing to the fact of the silver used in preparing 
 the alloy having been refined, though imperfectly, by means of 
 lead. The large proportion of silver present may have been used 
 to economise the gold. An alloy composed of 75 per cent, of gold 
 
 No. 542. 
 
 A piece of Argentiferous Gold Foil. 
 Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
DR. PERCY'S ANALYSIS. 
 
 3 6 9 
 
 and 25 per cent, of silver has a distinct gold-yellow colour ; but 
 when the silver amounts to 33-33 per cent, the alloy is much paler 
 in colour, and alloys containing more than about that proportion 
 of silver would cease to be designated as gold ; the presence of 
 copper would tend to counteract the paleness imparted by silver 
 to gold. 
 
 The alteration in colour produced by heating the metal 
 may possibly be due not only to the removal of a coating of 
 organic matter from its surface, but also to the following action. 
 It is well known that an alloy of silver and gold, which contains 
 so much of the former metal as to resemble it in colour, may 
 be made to acquire the colour of gold by superficially removing 
 the silver. This may be effected by various processes, some of 
 which, there is reason to believe, were known to the ancients. 
 When such alloys of silver and gold as those above mentioned 
 are heated to redness for a certain time, after having acquired 
 superficially the colour of gold by any of the processes in ques- 
 tion, they resume their original silvery colour. The large oval 
 medal-like coins of the Japanese furnish an excellent illustration 
 of this fact. Such a coin has been found in the Laboratory of 
 the Royal School of Mines to consist of about two parts by 
 weight of silver, and one part of gold. On heating such an alloy 
 sufficiently, it becomes almost silver-white ; and on subsequently 
 treating it with hot sulphuric acid the original golden colour is 
 restored. 
 
 II. — SHEET GOLD. (No. 543.) 
 
 The total weight of the specimen was 1702 grain, and its 
 thickness was about i-iooth of an inch. Its specific gravity at 
 6o° Fahr. was 18 867. Annexed is a sketch of 
 the specimen, of the actual size. It was yellow, 
 soft, ductile, and marked or indented on the 
 surface, which appeared as though slightly a P ie« Jrshect 
 tarnished. After cleaning with warm water, Gold. Sepuidwiv. 
 
 0 Actual RgSy 
 
 dilute hydrochloric acid, and gentle rubbing, 
 the metal weighed 1698 grain, which is equal to a loss of 
 0235 per cent, ingrain of the cleaned metal was analysed 
 with the following results : — 
 
 47 
 
37° 
 
 MYCENEAN METALS. 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 Gold 
 Silver 
 
 89-36 
 8-55 
 
 Copper 
 Iron 
 
 0-57 
 
 98-68 
 
 The absence of lead suggests that possibly the metal may- 
 have been native gold, or prepared with native gold, of which 
 silver is always a constituent in varying proportions. 
 
 III.— PART OF A SILVER VASE. 
 
 A sketch of this, of the same size as the original, is annexed ; 
 it was distinctly curved, having formed part of a hollow thin 
 vessel. 
 
 The total weight of the specimen was 44-36 grains. The 
 metal was much corroded on both surfaces. The convex 
 
 When broken across, the fractured surface of the crust on both 
 sides of the metal was found to be in two distinct layers ; 
 that next the metal was black, dull, somewhat sectile, and easily 
 broken ; while the other, or outer layer, was light-grey, soft, sectile, 
 and wax-like. In some places the metal was corroded com- 
 pletely through. The crust was removed by warm dilute 
 ammonia-water and gentle rubbing ; the residual metal was 
 found to be very brittle, much pitted on the surface, dull white 
 in fracture, granular, and containing minute irregular cavities ; 
 no appearance of fibre or crystalline structure was observed, 
 even with the aid of the microscope. By annealing, the softness 
 and malleability of the metal were restored in a marked degree. 
 The thickness of the specimen, inclusive of the crust on one 
 
 Fragments of a Silver Vase. Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 No. 544. Convex Surface. No. 545. Concave Surface. 
 
 544 545 
 
 or outer surface was 
 completely covered 
 with a somewhat ir- 
 regular crust while 
 the concave or inner 
 surface was only 
 partly covered with 
 a similar crust, and 
 partly with a yellow- 
 ish, tarnishlike film. 
 
DR. PERCY'S ANALYSIS. 
 
 371 
 
 surface only, was 1 -2 5th of an inch ; and where the crust was 
 thickest it was l-20th of an inch. The thickness of the metal, 
 after the removal of the crust by dilute ammonia-water and 
 rubbing, was I -40th of an inch. 
 
 A portion of the specimen was selected for analysis to which 
 the crust was attached on the convex or outer surface only, and 
 which was comparatively free from crust on the opposite surface ; 
 the quantity operated on was 1 5786 grains. By repeated treat- 
 ment with warm moderately strong ammonia-water, gentle 
 rubbing, and washing with warm water, the crust was easily 
 removed ; most of it being dissolved by the ammonia-water, 
 which became pale blue, while the insoluble part was left as 
 a brownish black powder, intermixed with some particles of 
 metallic silver. The metal, after this treatment and drying, 
 weighed 1 11S23 grains. The metal itself (a), the portion of the 
 crust soluble in ammonia-water (b), and the residue insoluble in 
 ammonia-water (c) were separately analysed, with the following 
 results :- 
 
 (a) Metal. 
 
 {b) Crust. 
 Portion 
 soluble in 
 ammonia-water. 
 
 (c) Crust. 
 Portion 
 insoluble in 
 ammonia- water. 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 Silver .. .. .. , 
 
 Gold 
 
 Copper .. .. .. , 
 
 Lead 
 Iron 
 
 Chlorine 
 
 Chloride of Silver 
 Protoxide of Copperl 
 (Black Oxide) J 
 Chlorine 
 Copper .. 
 Sulphuric Acid 
 Carbonic Acid 1 
 Water f 
 
 Gold .. 
 Silver 
 
 Protoxide of Copper 
 
 (Black Oxide) 
 Carbonate of Lime 
 Silica 
 
 Peroxide of Iron 
 Alumina 
 
 7160 
 
 0"22 
 2'42 
 
 033 
 009 
 
 traces 
 
 1998 
 056 
 
 0-13 
 traces 
 
 7466 
 
 115 
 
 21-97 
 
 C05 
 
 o - o9 
 136 
 
 030 
 
 3>6 
 
 9979 
 
37 2 
 
 MYCENEAN METALS. 
 
 The composition per cent, of the metal, exclusive of the crust, 
 as calculated from the above analysis, is given underneath ; but it 
 certainly cannot be inferred that the original metal had the exact 
 composition shown in that analysis, because some of the ingre- 
 dients may not have been carried away during corrosion in 
 the same relative proportions in which they were present in the 
 original alloy. 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 Silver .. .. .. .. .. 95*59 
 
 Gold .. .. .. .. .. 0*30 
 
 Copper 3-23 
 
 Lead .. .. .. .. .. 0*44 
 
 Iron .. .. .. .. .. 0*12 
 
 99-68 
 
 A portion of the crust when heated in a glass tube gave off 
 water, and the glass was stained yellow. 
 
 A portion of the crust treated with dilute hydrochloric acid 
 effervesced, the acid became pale blue, and was found to contain 
 copper and lime. 
 
 The crust was examined under the microscope, but no trace 
 of crystalline structure could be detected. A qualitative 
 examination was made of a portion of the inner crust, from 
 which it appeared that its composition was similar to that of the 
 outer crust. 
 
 IV. — PORTION OF A BRONZE SWORD. (No. 546.) 
 
 The weight of the specimen, inclusive of the incrustation, was 
 585 grains ; it was about 1 J inch in length, and varied from about 
 5-8ths to 7-8ths of an inch in thickness. A 
 sketch of a section of the specimen is annexed. 
 
 The whole of the specimen was coated with 
 an irregular layer or layers of matter, varying 
 in chemical and physical characters and in 
 thickness. In the centre, where the crust was 
 removed, the solid metal varied from about 
 4-8ths to 5-8ths of an inch in thickness. 
 
 One side was chiefly incrusted with ir- 
 regular patches of dull earthy non-crystalline 
 matter, of varying shades of green and brown, which were found 
 
 No. 546. 
 
 Piece of a Bronze 
 Sword. Sepulchre IV. 
 
 Dimensions stated in 
 fractions of an inch. 
 
DR. PERCY'S ANALYSIS. 
 
 373 
 
 to consist of green carbonate and oxy-chloride of copper in 
 different proportions ; a few minute pale green needle-like 
 crystals were noticed on the other surface ; there were also 
 observed irregular thin layers or patches of green (found to be 
 green carbonate of copper, in some places containing more 
 or less of oxychloride of copper) and blue crystals (found 
 to be blue carbonate of copper) of varying tints and lustre. 
 One end of the specimen was covered with a dark green crust 
 with a velvety lustre, which was found to consist of minute 
 transparent crystals of oxychloride of copper ; the opposite end, 
 which was flat, and had the appearance of having been cut or 
 rubbed, was chiefly coated with deep red non-crystalline red 
 oxide of copper ; and a depression on the surface was lined with 
 the dark green velvety crust ; on the edges, where the outer 
 part of the crust had been broken off, was a dull white opaque 
 layer of peroxide of tin, and on either side of it were layers of 
 dark red compact red oxide of copper, having cavities here and 
 there filled with ruby-red brilliant transparent crystals of the 
 same substance. When the outer incrustation had been subse- 
 quently removed, these substances were found to extend more 
 or less over the surface underneath. 
 
 The specimen was cut across in the centre when portions of 
 the incrustation were detached ; by this means the structure 
 of the specimen, and the nature of the substances forming the 
 incrustation, could be well observed. The substances were 
 generally found to occur in the following order, from within 
 outwards. 
 
 I. — Solid metal. 
 
 II. — Particles of metal resembling filings, tarnished on the 
 
 surface, and intermixed more or less with a dull 
 greenish-grey substance, which was found to contain 
 chlorine, copper, and tin. 
 
 III. — A pale green dull soft compact layer, which was found 
 
 to consist chiefly of carbonate of copper, containing 
 chlorine, probably in combination as oxychloride of 
 copper, and a little peroxide of tin. 
 
 IV. — Red oxide of copper, varying in colour from brick-red 
 
 to dark red, compact, dull and opaque, and in part 
 crystalline. 
 
 V. — Peroxide of tin : examined under the microscope it was 
 
 found to be veined with minute thin layers of red 
 oxide of copper. 
 
374 
 
 MYCENEAN METALS. 
 
 VI. — Red oxide of copper similar in character to No. IV. 
 
 VII. — Irregular patches of amorphous and crystalline sub- 
 
 stances of various shades of green, blue, and brown, 
 as before described. 
 
 The above order of superposition was not always observed ; 
 thus, in some places there was a layer of red oxide of copper in 
 No. III. 
 
 When the incrustation had been removed by sawing the 
 specimen across the middle, and filing, the metal was found to 
 be very sound and free from cavities. The fracture was yellowish 
 copper red, and finely granular. 
 
 Portions of the solid metal perfectly free from incrustation 
 were selected for analysis. 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 Mean. 
 
 Copper 
 
 .. 86-41 
 
 .. 86-31 
 
 . 86- 3 6 
 
 Tin .. 
 
 ■• 13*05 
 
 13-07 
 
 I3-06 
 
 Lead 
 
 
 o-ii 
 
 o-ii 
 
 Iron .. 
 
 o'i7 
 
 
 0-I7 
 
 Nickel 
 
 .. 0-15 
 
 
 0-15 
 
 Cobalt 
 
 traces 
 
 
 traces 
 
 
 
 
 99-85 
 
 The specific gravity of the metal was 8-858 at 6o° Fahr. 
 
 A portion of clean solid metal weighing 24-811 grains was 
 employed for the experiment. 
 
 The substances forming the incrustation could not possibly 
 be separated from each other with sufficient accuracy to allow 
 of their being separately analysed. 
 
 V.-FRAGMENT OF A BRONZE VASE-HANDLE. 
 
 Sketches of this, of the actual size, are annexed (Nos. 547- 
 549). It is curved, and on the convex side there are three parallel 
 indented lines, which doubtless were connected with ornamenta- 
 tion. It was everywhere incrusted with the products of weathering 
 action. On the convex surface the prevailing colour was green, 
 with here and there patches of grey and dark blue ; on the concave 
 surface the incrustation was much thinner and more uniformly 
 
DR. PERCY'S ANALYSIS 375 
 
 green. It is quite impossible to describe accurately in words 
 these appearances. The portion analysed was freed by filing 
 
 Nos. 547-549- Plan, side elevation, and end elevation, of a Bronze Handle of a Vase. 
 Sepulchre IV. Actual size. 
 
 from incrusting matter. This analysis was made in the labo- 
 ratory of the Royal School of Mines by Mr. W. F. Ward. 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 Copper .. .. .. .. 80/69 
 
 Tin .. .. .. .. .. 1008 
 
 9977 
 
 This is the most usual composition of ancient bronze. The 
 metal seems to have been exceptionally pure. 
 
 VI. — FRAGMENT OF A COPPER KKTTLE. 
 
 FROM THE FOURTH SEPULCHRE. 
 
 This specimen was in a single piece, much crumpled, irregular 
 in shape, and ragged at the edges ; it weighed about 800 grains, 
 and varied from I -25th to i-30th of an inch in thickness. There 
 were three rivets in the metal, the ends of which protruded on 
 one side to the extent of about I -8th of an inch ; and there was 
 one rivet-hole without its rivet. After filing, the colour of the metal 
 forming the rivet appeared to be the same as that of the sheet 
 metal. There was no trace of the article which had been attached 
 by means of those rivets. On one surface the specimen seems 
 originally to have been pretty generally encrusted with blue and 
 green matter, between which and the metal was, as usual, a thin 
 
37^ 
 
 MYCENEAN METALS. 
 
 coating of red oxide of copper ; on the other surface, or that 
 showing the protruding ends of the rivets, the metal was coated 
 first with the red oxide of copper and then with dark greenish 
 brown matter, with here and there patches varying from light 
 green to dark blue and dark green, especially round the ends of 
 the rivets. 
 
 Portions of the sheet metal were heated to redness in a current 
 of hydrogen, whereby they acquired a coppery colour and lustre. 
 The water evolved in this process was found to contain both 
 copper and chlorine, thus indicating the existence of oxychloride 
 of copper in the incrusting matter, a portion of the subchloride 
 of copper (cuprous chloride) having escaped decomposition by 
 the hydrogen. A piece of the metal, free from incrustation, was 
 boiled in a flask containing hydrochloric acid and perchloride of 
 iron, and the vapour evolved was passed into a refrigerating 
 vessel, when a liquid was obtained in which arsenic was found in 
 considerable quantity. This process was used for the quantita- 
 tive determination of the arsenic as ammoniacal arseniate of 
 magnesia, and the result was confirmed by several repetitions. 
 The metal taken for analysis was that which had been heated 
 in hydrogen as stated above. The analysis was made in the' 
 laboratory of the Royal School of Mines by Mr. W. F. Ward. 
 
 Composition per Cent. 
 
 Copper .. 
 
 Tin 
 
 Lead 
 
 Bismuth .. 
 Silver 
 Iron 
 Nickel 
 Arsenic . . 
 
 98-47 
 0-09 
 o - i6 
 
 traces 
 0-013 
 0-03 
 0-19 
 0-83 
 
 99783 
 
( 377 ) 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ACHILLES. 
 
 A. 
 
 Achilles and Hector, intaglio on gold, 
 175- 
 
 Acropolis ; citadel of Tiryns, 6 ; of 
 
 Myccna?, 28, 29. 
 jEgisthtts, murder of Atrcus by, 54 ; 
 
 murder of Agamemnon by, 54 ; 
 
 death of, 55 ; buried without the 
 
 wall, 60. 
 
 Aiirope", wife of Atreus, legend of, 5 3. 
 
 Agamemnon, son of Atreus, 48 ; sepul- 
 chre of, 48 ; murdered by /Egisthus 
 and Clytemnestra, 54 ; h,is expedi- 
 tion to Troy, 58 ; his supremacy in 
 the Argolid and Peloponnesus, 58. 
 
 and his companions, tombs of, 
 
 334-337 ; their ignominious burial, 
 345-347. {Comp. Sepulchres.) 
 
 Agora of Mycenae, 39, 338-341 ; slabs 
 forming its enclosure and bench, 
 124, 125 ; circular form of the Greek 
 Agora, 125, 126; Royal Tombs in 
 the Agora at Megara and Cyrcnc, 
 126-7 ; Homer's description of the 
 heroic Agora, 338 ; of that of Troy, 
 
 339 ; and of the Phaeacians, 339 ; 
 age of the Agora at Mycenae, later 
 than the Five Sepulchres within it, 
 
 340 ; no building within its sacred 
 enclosure, 341. 
 
 Alabaster : button of, 144 ; hand, 209 ; 
 model of a scarf, 242 ; three-handled 
 vase of, 246 ; sword-knobs of 219, 
 281, 282 ; fragments of vases, 257, 
 308 ; goblet of, 317. 
 
 Amber, beads of, 203, 245. 
 
 -, found in Italy and Sicily, 204 ; 
 
 mention of, by Homer, ibid. 
 
 Amethyst, lentoid gem of, 202. 
 
 hoars' teeth. 
 
 'AfifpiKi TTt Wov (sec A«'n-at). 
 
 Analysis of Mycenean metals, 367- 
 
 376 ; argentiferous gold foil, 363 ; 
 
 sheet gold, 369 ; silvi. r vase, 370 ; 
 
 bronze sword and vase-handle, 372, 
 
 375 ; copper kettle, 375. 
 Archers, niches in walls of Tiryns for, 
 
 5- 
 
 Argion : first name of the mount of 
 
 the Citadel at Mycenae, 36. 
 Argolis, map of, 1. 
 
 Argos : road from, to Mycenae, 24; 
 
 plain of, described, 25 f. ; Achaean 
 
 states of Argos and Myccnx, 28 ; 
 
 Homer's use of the name, 37. 
 Arm-bone, with gold ribbon, 302. 
 Arrow-heads ; of bronze, only in the 
 
 upper strata, 76, 123; of obsidian, 
 
 4th Sepulchre, 272. 
 Ashes, of burnt animal matter, 88 ; 
 
 at the foot of tombstones, 92, 93. 
 Aslerion, the plant, 25. 
 Atreus, son of I'elops, 53 ; legend of 
 
 Atrcus and Thyestcs, 53; killed by 
 
 >Egisthus, 54. {Comp. Treasury.) 
 Axes, of diorite, 40, 132 ; double, as a 
 
 symbol, 219, 252-254, 357. 
 
 B. 
 
 Battle-axes of gold plate, 252. 
 Battle scene on a ring, 224, 225. 
 Beads; of glass, 1 1 1, 120 ; of lluor-spar, 
 
 120; of agate, 201, 202; of amber, 
 
 308 ; of gold, 361. 
 Belt of gold, apparently for a child, 
 
 248. 
 
 Boars' teeth, 272 ; used on helmets 
 and horse-trappings, in Homer, 
 272, 273. 
 
 48 
 
378 
 
 BODIES. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CROWNS. 
 
 Bodies found, all partially burnt where 
 they lay; three in the 2nd Sepulchre, 
 155 ; three, probably of women, in 
 the 3rd Sepulchre, 164 ; Jive in the 
 4th Sepulchre, 228 ; one in the 5th 
 Sepulchre, 291 ; three in the 1st 
 Sepulchre, 294, 295 ; one of them 
 wonderfully preserved, 296, 297 ; its 
 removal, 298 ; in all 15 bodies in 
 the five sepulchres, 337 ; other 
 skeletons of bodies not burnt, 162. 
 
 Bone, objects of, 153, 255. 
 
 Bones : of animals, 88, 362 ; human, 
 in all the five Sepulchres, 284 ; 
 thigh-bone, with greave-ornament, 
 in the 4th Sepulchre, 230 ; jaw-bone, 
 285 ; small bone, with gold ribbon, 
 302. 
 
 Bonitza: modern name of the Inachus, 
 24. 
 
 Bodpis : title of Hera, its significance, 
 12, 19 f. 
 
 Borax, used for soldering gold, 231. 
 Boxes; of gold, 204, 205 ; of copper 
 
 plate, filled with wood, 207, 208 ; of 
 
 wood, carved, 332. 
 Bracelets of gold, 196, 223, 227. 
 Breast-plates of gold, found on bodies 
 
 in the 4th Sepulchre, 228 ; in the 1st 
 
 Sepulchre, 300, 301. 
 Bronze : male figure of, at Tiryns, 14 ; 
 
 objects of, in, 112; weapons of, 
 
 279-283, 299, 303, 306 ; of Mycenae 
 
 and Troy compared, 369. {See 
 
 Analysis.) 
 Brooch of gold, 193. 
 Buildings, Cyclopean, at Mycenae, 40. 
 Burial with treasures, 344-349. 
 Butterflies of gold, 165, 176 ; perhaps 
 
 a symbol of immortality, 166. 
 Buttons; of gold, 152; of wood, plated 
 
 with gold, 4th Sepulchre, 258-262 ; 
 
 of gold, 1st Sepulchre, 305, 321-327 ; 
 
 of bone, 1st Sepulchre, 329. 
 
 C. 
 
 Caldrons of copper, 215. 
 
 Cans of copper, 274. 
 
 Cassandra, tomb of, and her twin-sons, 
 
 Teledamus and Pelops, 59. 
 Cephisus, the river, 25. 
 
 Chariots, sculptured, on tombstones, 
 80-85 ; true form of the Homeric, 
 84. 
 
 Charvati, village of, with the ancient 
 quarry of Mycenae, 117. 
 
 Children : objects found in the 3rd 
 and 4th Sepulchres, indicating the 
 burial of two or three, 198, 247, 248, 
 337 ; in accordance with the tradi- 
 tion, 39. 
 
 Cicada; (crickets or tree-hoppers) of 
 gold, 176 ; their significance, ibid. 
 
 Cisterns at Mycenae, 141. 
 
 Clay, baked and glazed, ornaments of, 
 1 10, 11 1. 
 
 , white, the bodies in the Royal 
 
 Sepulchres covered with a layer of, 
 214, 295, 337. 
 
 Clytemnestra, seduced by yEgisthus, 
 murders Agamemnon, 54 ; is killed 
 by Orestes, 55 ; buried with ^Egis- 
 thus outside the wall of Mycenae, 
 60. 
 
 Cobalt glass, tubes of, like the 
 Egyptian, 157. 
 
 Coins, copper, of Macedonian age, 
 found at Tiryns, 15 ; of Argos, 
 found at Mycenae, 63, 64 ; none of 
 Roman or Byzantine times, 64 ; 
 none of Mycenae itself, ibid. 
 
 Column of porphyry, 96, 97. 
 
 Comb; of clay, 78 ; of gold, 203. 
 
 Copper : a fork and another object of, 
 255 ; vessels of, 273-274, 331 ; their 
 use as ornaments of houses, 284 ; 
 medium for plating gold on silver, 
 158. {Comp. Analysis.) 
 
 Cork, pieces of, 332. 
 
 Cow-heads : of terra-cotta, on handles 
 of vases, 104, 105 ; the great one of 
 silver, with golden horns, 215 ; of 
 gold plate, with double axes, 218. 
 
 Cows, of terra-cotta, found at Tiryns, 
 10 ; idols, in the form of, at My- 
 cenae, 73, 74. {Comp. Hera Boopis.) 
 
 Cremation, partial, of all the bodies in 
 the royal sepulchres, 155 ; officially 
 authenticated, 214. 
 
 Crosses of golden leaves, 156, 189-192. 
 
 Crowns of gold, found with the bodies 
 in the 3rd Sepulchre, 184 ; in the 
 4th Sepulchre, 228. 
 
CUPS. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 379 
 
 Cups j of gold, 24r, 313, 354; of ala- 
 baster, 317. (Comp. Goblets.) 
 
 Cuttle-fish of gold, 165, 268. 
 
 Cyclopean Walls: their name and 
 nature, 3, 4 ; three forms, 29, 30 ; of 
 the citadel of Tiryns, the most an- 
 cient monument in Greece, 2, 9 ; 
 house-walls at Tiryns, 9 ; of the 
 citadel of Mycenae, 4, 29 ; substruc- 
 tions and house-walls at Mycena?, 
 31, 42, 79, 80, 99, 123, 130 ; de- 
 struction of portion of, 116; water- 
 conduit, 141 ; tower, 147. 
 
 Cylinders of gold, 251, 286, 287, 320, 
 32i. 
 
 D. 
 
 Daggers of bronze, 163 ; ivory handle 
 
 of one, 329. 
 Debris: at Tiryns, 19; at Mycenae, 
 
 42 ; in the Acropolis of Mycenae, 62 ; 
 
 over dromos of Treasury near Lions' 
 
 Gate, 103 ; in the same Treasury, 
 
 141. 
 
 AfVnr u\i(\MK\m(KKov ( two - handled 
 goblet) : several of tcrra-cotta, 115, 
 116 ; several of gold, 231, 235, 237, 
 35°) 35 2 ; the true form, not that 
 supposed by Aristotle, 1 1 6, 237 ; 
 none such found either at Troy or 
 Mycena. 1 , 238. 
 
 Diadems of gold, found with the 
 bodies: in the 2nd Sepulchre, 155, 
 156 ; in the 3rd Sepulchre, 186-189 : 
 in the 4th Sepulchre, 246, 247 ; two 
 of these small, as if for children, 
 ibid.; in the 5th Sepulchre, 291. 
 
 Diomedes, King of Argos, under Aga- 
 memnon, 58. 
 
 Disks of gold, 319. {Comp. Plates.) 
 
 Dorians, invasion of the, 55 ; early date 
 of, 344. 
 
 Dragon of gold, with scales of rock- 
 crystal, 287. 
 
 Dromos, or approach to the Treasury 
 of Atrcus, 43 ; to the Treasury near 
 the Lions' Gate, 103-107. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earring of gold, 142. 
 Egyptian glass, 157 ; porcelain, objects 
 of, 242, 330. 
 
 /■Stones, the port of Mycenae, 58. 
 
 Eleutherion, the river, 25. 
 
 Elias, chapel of, at Tiryns, 4 ; chapel 
 
 of, on Mt. Eubcea, above Mycenae, 
 
 26, 145-147. 
 Emperor of Brazil's visit to Mycenae, 
 
 144, 145- 
 
 Eubwa, Mount, above Mycenae, 25, 
 26 ; ascent of, 145 ; Cyclopean re- 
 mains on, probably a sanctuary of 
 the Sun-god, 146-7. 
 
 Euripides visited Mycena;, 38; his 
 knowledge of the Acropolis, the 
 Agora, and Royal Palace, 341, 342. 
 
 Excavations : at Tiryns, beginning of, 
 9 ; of the Treasury of Atreus, by 
 Veli Pasha, 49, 50 ; at Mycenae, in 
 1874,61 ; at Mycenae, in 1876, 62; 
 panoramic view of, before the dis- 
 covery of the Tombs, 148-9. 
 
 F. 
 
 Eis/i of wood, 129. 
 
 Flagons (oivo\6ai) ; of gold, 233 ; of 
 
 silver, 243. 
 Flowers, golden, 165-167, 172, 173, 
 
 262. 
 
 Flute, found at Mycenae, 77, 78, 79. 
 Fork of copper, for stirring the funeral 
 
 fires, 255. 
 Fountain of Pcrscia at Mycena*, 59. 
 Frieze of marble, 141. 
 
 G. 
 
 Galleries in the Walls of Tiryns, 51. 
 
 Gate, the eastern, of Tiryns, 5 ; of the 
 Lions at Mycena; (see Lions' 
 GATE) ; the postern, at Mycenae, 
 35. 36. 
 
 G*ll, Sir William, cited, 44. 
 
 Glass, fabrication of, only in its begin- 
 ning at the age of the tombs, 158. 
 
 Goblets, of tcrra-cotta, at Tiryns, 16 ; 
 at Mycenae, 70; two-handled, 115, 
 116; black, 154 ; of gold, 204, 231- 
 
 240, 3'4, 352-353 1 of silvcr > 3'4- 
 Gold. The objects are described under 
 their several heads. The quantity 
 found in the sepulchres amounts to 
 about 100 lbs. troy. 
 
3 8o 
 
 GORDON. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 MASKS OF GOLD. 
 
 Gordon, Gen., his fragments of bronze 
 nails and plates from the Treasury 
 of Atreus, 45 n. 
 
 Grasshoppers, golden. {See Cicada.) 
 
 Greaves of warriors on a painted vase, 
 134 ; gold ornament of, 230, 328. 
 
 Greco-Phoenician Period of Art, after 
 about B.C. 800, 98 ; the sculptures 
 of Mycenae anterior to, ibid. 
 
 Griffins, of gold, 177 ; legend of the 
 griffin of Indian origin, 177, 178. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hatchets ; of stone, 76 ; of bronze, in, 
 112. 
 
 Hellenic House, foundations of, 12 1. 
 Hera Boopis, note on, 19-22, 
 Herman, the great temple of Hera, 
 
 near Mycenae, 20, 59, 362, 364. 
 Hercules and the Nemean Lion, gold 
 
 ornament, with intaglio of, 173. 
 Highway from Mycenae to Tiryns, 42. 
 Horse-trappings, ornaments of, 153, 
 
 273 ; described by Homer, 273. 
 Hunters in a chariot, on a signet-ring, 
 
 223 f. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ialysus, in Rhodes ; objects found in 
 a tomb there, resembling those at 
 Mycenae : terra-cotta vases, 65 ; cow- 
 idols, 73 ; whorls, 77 ; painted pot- 
 tery, 138 ; terra-cotta goblets, of 
 same pattern as Mycenean gold 
 goblets, 234. 
 
 Idols, terra-cotta, at Tiryns, 10, 11, 12, 
 13, 14 ; similar to those at Mycenae, 
 12 ; at Mycenae, 13, 71, 72, 73 ; in 
 "dromos" before Treasury near 
 Lions' Gate, 103-107. 
 
 Inachus, the river, 24, 25. 
 
 Inscriptions, signs resembling, 114; 
 Greek, 115. 
 
 Iron keys and knives, probably of the 
 later age of Mycenae, 75. 
 
 Ivory, objects of, 152, 153, 161, 162, 
 329 ; stained, for horse-trappings, 
 273- 
 
 J- 
 
 Jar of crystal, 299, 300. 
 Jasper weight, 100. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kettles. {See Copper.) 
 
 Keys of bronze, lead, and iron, 74, 75. 
 
 Knives of obsidian at Tiryns, 18 ; of 
 bronze and iron at Mycenae, 74, 75, 
 76, in, 112, 158; of obsidian, 158. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lamps, unknown to Homer, and never 
 found at Troy, Tiryns, or Mycenae, 
 50. 
 
 Lances of bronze, 278 ; mode of fasten- 
 ing to the handle, ibid. 
 
 Lead, found at Tiryns, 14 ; a large 
 quantity at Mycenae, 77. 
 
 Leake, Col., quoted, 5 n. 
 
 Leaves of Gold, strewn all about the 
 4th Sepulchre, and even below the 
 bodies, 266. 
 
 Legend, of the crimes of the Pelopids, 
 53, 54 ; of the Trojan War and the 
 fate of Agamemnon, the author's 
 faith in it led to the discovery of 
 Troy and Mycenae, 334 f. ; confir- 
 mations of its veracity, 337. 
 
 Lentoid gems, 112, 113, 114, 202, 252; 
 bought of peasants in Chonika, 362, 
 364- 
 
 Lids of boxes and vases of gold, 
 
 fastened on by gold wires, 206, 207 ; 
 
 of bone for jars, 256. 
 Lion of gold, 361. 
 Lion cub of gold, 251. 
 Lions' Gate at Mycence, 4, 32, 33, 34, 
 
 35 ; plan of, 34 ; excavations at, 121, 
 
 122, 123. 
 
 Lower City of Mycena, 39, 40 ; Cyclo- 
 pean bridge at, 39 ; Treasuries, 39. 
 Lyre of bone, 77, 78, 79. 
 
 M. 
 
 Masks of gold: a child's, in the 3rd 
 Sepulchre, 198 ; on the faces of three 
 bodies in the 4th Sepulchre, 219- 
 221 ; a fourth like a lion's head, 
 beside another of the bodies, 222 
 {Cut, p. 211) ; discussion of burial 
 with masks, 222, 223 ; on two of the 
 bodies in the 1st Sepulchre, 311, 
 312 {Cuts, pp. 289, 333). 
 
MEDALS. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 REMA. 
 
 3 8l 
 
 Medals. (See Coins.) 
 
 Mcgapenthes, son of Prcctus, Tiryns, 
 
 ceded to Perseus by, 6. 
 Metals, found at Tiryns, only lead and 
 
 one bronze figure, 14 ; found at 
 
 Mycenae, 74, 75, 77. 
 Moulds, for casting ornaments, 108, 
 
 109. 
 
 Mure, Col., cited, 45 n. 
 
 Mycena, arrival at, 24 ; importance of 
 excavations at the capital of Aga- 
 memnon, 28 ; topography of, 24 f. ; 
 Acropolis, 28 f. ; the lower city, 39 ; 
 the suburb, 40 ; confused with Argos, 
 36-38 ; history, 53 f. ; decline, 56 ; 
 besieged by the Argivcs and Cleo- 
 neans, 56 ; its surrender and de- 
 struction (B.C. 468), 56, 57 ; Homeric 
 epithets of Mycenae, 57 ; remains 
 described by Pausanias, and true 
 interpretation of the passage, 59, 60, 
 335 ; shafts sunk in 1874, 61 ; ex- 
 cavations begun in 1876, ibid. ; 
 its re-occupation unknown to the 
 ancients, 63. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nails, bronze, in the walls of the 
 
 Treasury at Atrcus, for holding the 
 
 lining plates, 44. 
 Needle of ivory, 153. 
 Nestor's goblet, in Homer, compared 
 
 with one found in the 4th Sepulchre, 
 
 235- 2 37- 
 
 O. 
 
 Orestes kills ./Egisthus and Clytcm- 
 nestra ; probably the last of the 
 Pelopid dynasty at Mycenae ; 
 reigned in Arcadia and Sparta, 55. 
 
 Oyster shells, found in 1st Sepulchre, 
 332- 
 
 P. 
 
 Painted vases. (See Pottery ; 
 Vases.) 
 
 Palace : Cyclopean house-walls, sup- 
 posed to be the Royal Palace of 
 Mycenae, 130 f. ; the substructions 
 probably supported a wooden build- 
 ing, 288. 
 
 Palaocastron, the modern name of 
 Tiryns, 2. 
 
 Pausanias, his description of the tombs 
 of Agamemnon and his companions, 
 59 ; general misunderstanding, and 
 true meaning, of the passage, 60, 61, 
 et passim. 
 
 Pebbles, layers of, below and above the 
 bodies, to aid in ventilating the 
 funeral pyres, and bearing marks of 
 fire, in all the Sepulchres, 155, 164, 
 213, 214, 291, 294, 337- 
 
 Pelopids, dynasty of the, at Mycenae, 
 54, 55 ; its probable end under 
 Orestes, ibid. 
 
 Perseus, builder of Mycenae, 6, 53 ; 
 Tiryns given to Electryon by, 6 ; 
 his dynasty, 53. 
 
 Pigeons of gold, on the heads and arms 
 of female figures, 180 ; on the handles 
 of a goblet, 236 ; on a model of a 
 temple, 267. 
 
 Pins of gold, 4th Sepulchre, 249, 250. 
 
 Plates, large, thick, round, of gold, 
 with patterns in repousst' work, below, 
 above, and round the bodies in the 
 3rd Sepulchre, 165 f. ; in the 1st 
 Sepulchre, 318, 319 ; smaller round 
 plates of sword-sheaths, 219, 302- 
 303 ; quadrangular plates with in- 
 taglio work, 302, 303, 308-31 1. 
 
 Plundered body in 1st Sepulchre, 295. 
 
 Porter's lodge at Mycena.', 62. 
 
 Pottery, Tirynthian archaic, 14, 15, 16, 
 17 ; Mycencan painted, 6;, 66, 67, 
 68, 69, 120 ; geometrical, ioj f., 120, 
 141 ; hand-made and wheel-made, 
 137, '58. '59> '60, 210, 340, &c. 
 (Comp. Terra-Cottas.) 
 
 Pra-tus, the founder of Tiryns, 6. 
 
 Q- 
 
 Quarry, of Tiryns, 4 ; of Mycena:, at 
 Charvati, 41, 117. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rapier-like swords, 4th Sepulchre, 2S3. 
 Ribbons of gold, 249, 327. 
 Rema, modern name of the river Cha- 
 radrus, 24. 
 
382, RESERVOIRS. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 SWORD-HANDLES. 
 
 Reservoirs, twelve in the Acropolis of 
 Mycense, 80, 99, 100, \\j n. 
 
 Rings, of bronze, plain and engraved, 
 142 ; of gold, plain and ornamented, 
 250, 353, 354 ; of silver, ibid. {See 
 Signet-rings.) 
 
 Rock crystal, objects of, 200, 210 ; 
 polished segment of a sphere, 213. 
 
 Royal tombs. (See SEPULCHRES.) 
 
 S. 
 
 Sardonyx, lentoid gem of, 202. 
 Scales of gold, 197 
 
 Sceptres, of silver plated with gold, 
 201 ; rock-crystal knob of a sceptre- 
 handle, 200; handles, 251 ; splendid 
 handle of, a sceptre, 286, 287. 
 
 Sculpture on tombstones at Mycenae. 
 (See Tombstones.) 
 
 Seal-rings; of bronze, 142; of silver, 
 203. (See Signet-rings.) 
 
 Sepulchral Slabs, or Stclce. (See TOMB- 
 STONES.) 
 
 Sepulchres, the Royal, at Mycenae ; 
 described by Pausanias from tradi- 
 tion only, 59, 102 ; their position in 
 the Acropolis unique, 101 ; tradi- 
 tional reverence for them, 337, 343 ; 
 their site indicated by tombstones 
 renewed from time to time, as they 
 got covered with debris, 101 f., 337, 
 341 ; the sacred Agora, erected as an 
 enclosure round them, in honour of 
 the deceased heroes, probably when 
 the monuments were renewed, 128, 
 129, 340 : — discovery of the First 
 Sepulchre, 151 ; work interrup f ed, 
 1 54 ; resumed, 293 ; the sepulcnre 
 described, 294 (comp. BODIES) : — 
 discovery and description of the 
 Second Sepulchre, 154; — of the 
 Third, 161 ; — of the Fourth, 212 ; 
 — of the Fifth, 290. Evidence of the 
 simultaneous burial of the bodies in 
 each sepulchre, and probably in all, 
 336 ; agreement of the sepulchres 
 with the tradition of the burial of 
 Agamemnon and his companions, 
 Chap. X. passim. 
 
 Shoulder-belts, of gold, in the 4th 
 Sepulchre, 243, 244 ; one with a 
 piece of a bronze sword attached, 
 
 1st Sepulchre, 298, 299; too slender 
 to have been ever used, 300. 
 Signet-rings : one of white onyx, en- 
 graved in intaglio, in the supposed 
 Royal Palace, 131, 132 ; two of gold, 
 with intaglios of a stag-hunt and 
 a combat, 4th Sepulchre, 223-227 ; 
 too small for any but female fingers, 
 227 ; two of gold, with wonderful 
 symbolic intaglios, from the tomb 
 south of the Agora, 354-360 ; cor- 
 respondence of the first to a scene 
 in Homer's " Shield of Achilles," 
 359, 36o. 
 
 Skeleton of a man, found at Tiryns, 
 18 ; skeletons above the 3rd Se- 
 pulchre, 164. 
 
 Slabs, double parallel circle of, 87, 88. 
 (See Agora.) 
 
 Spiral ornamentation, characteristic 
 of Mycenean art, 82, 99, et passim. 
 
 Stag, of silver and lead, 257. 
 
 Stilce, sepulchral. (See Tombstones.) 
 
 Sthenelus, son of Perseus, 53. 
 
 Stilettos of opal, for needlework, 143. 
 
 Stone bench round the Agora. (See 
 Agora.) 
 
 Stone implements, none at Tiryns, 14 ; 
 at Mycenae, 76 ; knives and arrow- 
 heads of obsidian, 158, 272 
 
 Streets of Mycenae, 57. 
 
 Suastika, the sign pj-j, 77, 165. 
 
 Suspension, vases with tubular holes 
 for, found at Mycenae as well as 
 Troy, 158. 
 
 Swords of bronze : two-edged, from 
 the (supposed) Royal Palace, 144 ; 
 a heap of, in 4th Sepulchre, with the 
 gold ornaments of their handles and 
 sheaths, 219; 46 more in 4th Se- 
 pulchre, 278 ; 10 of these short one- 
 edged, 279 ; two-edged, with a ridge 
 on each side, gilt, studded, and other- 
 wise ornamented, 280-283, 302-304, 
 306, 307 ; their extreme narrowness, 
 and the enormous length of some, 
 283, 3°4- 
 
 Sword-handles, wooden, gilt, and orna- 
 mented with gold-plates, studs, and 
 nails, 219 ; covers of gold-plate 
 belonging to, 269-271, 305 ; knobs 
 
SWORD-SHEATHS. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 WEAPONS. 
 
 383 
 
 of alabaster, 219, 281, 282; one 
 plated with gold, richly ornamented, 
 and containing a piece of the bronze 
 sword, 307, 308. 
 
 Sword-sheaths, wooden, remains of, 
 and the golden plates that orna- 
 mented them, 219, 303, 305 (com/>. 
 PLATES of Gold) ; pieces still on 
 swords, 281 ; of linen, traces of, 
 adhering to swords, 283. 
 
 Sword-tassel of gold, 304. 
 
 T. 
 
 Telegram to the King of the Hellenes 
 and His Majesty's reply, 365. 
 
 Temple of gold, model of, 267. 
 
 Terra-cottas : vases, Tirynthian ar- 
 chaic, 17 ; archaic at Mycena:, 51, 
 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 ; compared with 
 those at Ialysus, 65 ; figure of a 
 woman, 73 ; tripods, 69, 143, 158 ; 
 vessels, 209 ; cows and a cow-horn, 
 143 (comp. Cows ; Idols) ; objects 
 found in 2nd Sepulchre, 1 59 ; vases in 
 3rd Sepulchre, 210; in 4th Sepulchre, 
 241 ; goblets, 285, 286. 
 
 Thyestes, brother of Atreus, legend of, 
 53- 
 
 Tiryns : excavations at, 1 ; site of, 2 ; 
 Pausanias on, 2 ; Cyclopean walls 
 of, 2, 4, 5 ; rock of, 4 ; founded by 
 Prcctus, 6 ; conquered and inhabited 
 by Hercules, 6 ; destroyed by the 
 Argives, 7 ; plain south of, 8. 
 
 Tombs. (See Sepulchr es.) 
 
 Tombstones, or sepulchral stela, sculp- 
 tured and plain, in the Acropolis of 
 Mycenae, above the Royal Sepul- 
 chres : the 1st sculptured, 80 (Cut, 
 p. 52) ; the 2nd sculptured, 82 ; the 
 3rd sculptured, 88 ; the 4th sculp- 
 tured, 90 ; 5 plain, 92 ; several frag- 
 ments of sculptured, 92-96 ; they all 
 mark the site of tombs, 100 (comp. 
 Sepulchres) ; plan of, in the ist 
 Sepulchre, 151 ; plan of, above the 
 3rd Sepulchre, 161 ; two plain above 
 the 5th Sepulchre, 291. 
 
 Tongs of iron, 144 ; of silver, 308. 
 
 Treasures : of the Pelopids, 48 ; enor- 
 
 mous in the Royal Sepulchres, 337 ; 
 custom of burial with, 344-349. 
 
 Treasuries, in the suburb of Mycenae, 
 underground and dome -shaped, 
 called "ovens" ((frovpvoi), 41 ; one 
 near the Lions' Gate, ibid., excavated 
 by Mrs. Schliemann, 102, 118, 140 f. ; 
 two smaller ones, 41 ; of Atreus, 42 ; 
 commonly called the "Tomb of Aga- 
 memnon," 49 ; compared with that 
 of Minyas at Orchomenus, 45 ; 
 arguments for their being treasuries, 
 47, 48 ; a sixth, close to the great 
 Herasum, 59 (comp. Flan D). 
 
 Tripods; of copper, 137, 277 ; of terra- 
 cotta (see Terra- cottas). 
 
 Trojan War, the Author's faith in the, 
 led to his discoveries, 334, 335. 
 
 Tubes; of gold plate, 203 ; of gold, 1st 
 Sepulchre, 305 ; of bone, ist Se- 
 pulchre, 329. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vases, of tcrra-cotta : one with female 
 breasts, 259 ; of crystal, 78 ; of 
 silver, 158, 160, 210, 308, 316; of 
 gold, 206 ; of alabaster, 245 ; of 
 Egyptian porcelain, 292. (Comp. 
 Terra-Cottas.) 
 
 Vessels: household, at Tiryns, 15 ; of 
 gold, 207 ; of copper, 274-276 ; of 
 terra-cotta. (See Terra-cottas.) 
 
 W. 
 
 Wages of workmen at the excavations, 
 87. 
 
 Walls, Cyclopean, 3, 4, 5, 29 f. ; of 
 Tiryns, 2, 9 ; of Mycena;, 4, 29, 30, 
 31, 40, 87, 88 ; of Treasuries lined 
 with bronze plates, 44, 45 ; inner, 
 of the Royal Sepulchres, bearing 
 marks of tire, 155, 213,294; none 
 in the 5th Sepulchre, 291. 
 
 Warriors, armed, on a painted vase. 
 I32-I34- 
 
 Water-conduits, Cyclopean, at Tiryns, 
 
 9 ; Cyclopean, at Mycena:, 80, 141. 
 Wealth of Myccnie, 57. 
 Weapons of bronze, 278-280, 291, 307. 
 
3^4 
 
 WEIGHT. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 WRITING. 
 
 Weight, of jasper, 100. 
 Wells of Mycenae, 41. 
 Wheels of chariots on sculptures, with 
 
 four spokes, 84 ; small bronze wheels, 
 
 1 1 1 {Cut, p. 74) ; of gold, 203. 
 Whetstones, 286, 332. 
 Whorls : of stone, at Tiryns, 18 ; of 
 
 stone and terra-cotta at Mycenae, 77 ; 
 
 whorl-shaped object of gold plate, 
 
 268. 
 
 Wire, gold, 142, 354 ; used for fasten- 
 
 ing on lids of boxes and vases, 206, 
 207. 
 
 Wood : objects of, 1st Sepulchre, 332 ; 
 quantity of, in a copper box, 207, 
 208 ; piece of cypress, 332 ; half- 
 burnt pieces in 4th Sepulchre, ibid.; 
 various objects of wood, ibid. {Comfi. 
 Boxes, Buttons,Sword-handles, 
 Sword-sheaths.) 
 
 Writing unknown at Mycenae, so far 
 as the excavations shew, 336. 
 
 THE END. 
 
Plate A. 
 
 Terra-Cotta Cows and Idols found at Tiryns 
 
 Siz e 3 f 
 
Plate B. 
 
 Terra-Cotta Idols from Mycen/e 
 
 Actual Size 
 
Plate C. 
 
 Fig. m. 5M 
 
 Terra-Cotta Idols, Cow, &.c from mycen/e 
 
 Actua-l Siz e 
 
Plate D. 
 
 Fragments of terra- Cotta Cow-headed Idols, from Mycen/e 
 
 Actual Size. 
 
PLATE VIII 
 
PLATE IX. 
 
 No. 38. (6 m.) No. 39. (6 M.) 
 
 Nos. 35—39. Fragments of Painted Vases from Mychme. 
 Some actual size, and some r educed. 
 
PLATE X. 
 
 Nos. 40—47. Fragments of Paintkd Vases from Mycen>e. 
 Some actual size, and some reduced. 
 
PLATE XI. 
 
 Nos. 48—54. Fragments of Painted Vases from Myci n. v.. 
 Some actual size, ntui some reJuceJ. 
 
PLATE XII. 
 
 Nos. 55 — 61. Fragments of Painted Vases from Mycbma 
 Some actual size, and some reduced. 
 
 5° 
 
PLATE XIII. 
 
 No. 65. (4 M.) 
 
 No. 67. (5 M.) 
 
 Nos. 62 — 67. Fkacments ok Painted Vases fkom MyciNA 
 Some df/uii/ sizi; ami temt rdiuted. 
 
I 
 
PLATE XIV 
 
 Nos. 71 and 73. (5 m.) 
 
 Fragments of Painted Vases from Mycen;e. 
 Some actual size, and some reduced. 
 
Xo 78 
 
 Nos. 73—78. Fragments of Painted Vases from Mwen.i-. 
 
 Some actual size, and some reduced. 
 
5» 
 
Nos. c>4 <)S. Tkrra-Cotta [dols. Actual w, 
 
PLATE XVIII. 
 
i. 103— no. Terra-Cotta Idols. Actual mm, 
 
PLATE XXI. 
 
 s. 198-204. Fragments of Painted Pottery from the approach 
 the Treasury near the Lions' Gate. Half-size. 
 
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PLAN E. 
 
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 Facade, Plan, and Section of the Treasury near the I.iuns' Gate. 
 
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