Chapter VII (1)

THE FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD TOMBS IN THE ACROPOLIS.

Discovery of the _Tomb_ indicated by the three sculptured
_stêlæ_--Curious gold-covered buttons, objects of ivory,
baked clay, gold, glass, bronze, &c.--Pottery, both wheel
and hand-made--_Second Tomb_ below the unsculptured
_stêlæ_--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 Mycenæ--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 _repoussé_ 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 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.

Mycenæ, December 6, 1876.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: THE FIRST SEPULCHRE.]

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 representing the warriors and the hunting scene,[270] 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 another place. At a depth of 3 ft. 3 in. below the place where the tombstones had stood I found a curious sort of 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 2½ 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.

[Sidenote: OBJECTS OF IVORY, BONE, ETC.]

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 , 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.[271] 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 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 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 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 flutings 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 ornamentation; and the larger vases of a light red dead colour, with dark red circles, or with two protruding female breasts surrounded by circles of small black strokes.

Having dug down to a depth of 10½ 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, 11 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, which had been brought from another place. At from 2 to 2½ ft. below the two tombstones I found the fragments of two other tombstones, also unsculptured, which appeared to be older.

[Sidenote: THREE BODIES IN THE SECOND TOMB.]

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; 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,[272] each 19½ 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 ornamentation of _repoussé_ 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 according 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 likewise 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 (ἔμβολον), and at the other a tube (αἀλίσκος) 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 7½ in. long; the breadth of the leaves is 1⅔ 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 _repoussé_ 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.

[Sidenote: TUBES OF COBALT GLASS.]

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 extremities 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 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 containing lead (_bleihaltig_). 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.[273] He assures me that the analysis of Egyptian glass has given the same 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 Mycenæ 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 (φιάλη) 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.[274] There are also fragments of terra-cotta tripods, of which I found such an enormous quantity at Troy,[275] but which are less frequent at Mycenæ, 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 卍, the four arms of which have merely been converted into a spiral form.

[Sidenote: ANTIQUITY OF HORNED FEMALE IDOLS.]

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 worshipped, 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 _débris_ 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 Mycenæ 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 _débris_ 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 compared to the mass of horned idols, we may take it for 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 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."

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 as a sort of funnel. Another has the most curious ornamentation of all; it shews above what appears to be intended for the head of a serpent; to the right is a circle surrounded 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.

[Sidenote: THE THIRD SEPULCHRE.]

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 extremely 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 15 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:--

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 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 a piece of wood, 4 in. long and 2 in. broad, with beautifully carved spiral lines (No. 222),[276] which seems to belong to a box (νάρθηξ); 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 16½ 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 16½ 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.[277] 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-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).

[Sidenote: ROCK IN CENTRE OF THE AGORA.]

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 (βῆμα) for the orators. It had been split and was overhanging 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 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 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 particularly 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 irregular, 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.

A large bronze dagger, with two blades soldered together in the middle.

(6½ M.) Size 7:20.]

[Sidenote: SEVEN HUNDRED GOLD PLATES.]

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 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.

[Sidenote: PLATES OF GOLD.]

The ornaments of which the greatest number was found were the large, thick, round plates of gold, with a very pretty decoration of _repoussé_ 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[278] I give all the different types of these wonderful plates. It is difficult to say how the Mycenean goldsmiths executed the _repoussé_ 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.[279] The curious ornamentation in the centre, which so often recurs here, seems to me to be derived from the , the more so as the points which 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 type is exceedingly frequent. Whether, as in the later Greek art, the butterfly is here the symbol of immortality, as Mr. Chas. T. Newton reminds me, I do not dare to decide. No. 244 presents a curious ornamentation of spirals in the form of six serpents, round a central circle. In No. 245 we at once recognise again the ornamentation of the sepulchral _stêlé_ (No. 142), as in No. 239, which this one very much resembles. No. 246 has a most curious pattern, which shows within a broad circular border six spirals, all very cleverly finished off, each of them surrounding seven concentric circles, and all united around an ornament likewise of seven concentric circles, which the artist seems to have vainly tried to unite at the upper part. Each of the spirals separately very much resembles the hair-springs of our watches, at least at the first glance, but on closer examination we find 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,[280] yet the majority of them were smooth (ἐΐση)[281]: further most shields were round (εὔκυκλος),[282] and many of them, if not all, were works of art and beautifully ornamented.[283] We further find around the Homeric shields a border (ἄντυξ), which may have been sometimes single, but which certainly was usually treble,[284] and such a border we also find represented on several of these golden plates.

[Sidenote: HERCULES AND THE NEMEAN LION.]

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 (καρηκομόων) 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 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 frequently plated with gold, were found in the tombs successively discovered.

[Sidenote: ACHILLES AND HECTOR?]

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).[285] The horn seems here to be nothing else than a λόφος, into which the crest was sunk, for this appears also to be visible. But should this conjecture 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 φάλος 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;"[286] 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 Homer,[287] with a lance, but the artist may have substituted 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 very 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 fore-part of the lion which we see on the gold staters of Sardis in Lydia, which Borrel attributes to Crœsus (560 B.C.).

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[288] with chains, of which Nos. 259 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, of which Nos. 257 and 258 give the engravings of two; all have a tubular hole at the top, and are evidently from necklaces. These ornaments, as well as the crickets, are of _repoussé_ work, and consist of two halves, which were soldered together.

[Sidenote: GOLDEN GRIFFINS.]

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 ornamented with spirals. Each of these objects has three perforations, which can leave no doubt that they have been sewn on the clothes as ornaments. The griffins are mythic animals belonging to India, whence they came over to the West. We find 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 find it already mentioned in Hesiod and Herodotus as watcher of the gold in the far north of Europe.[289] Pliny describes the _gryphi_ as _ferarum volucre genus_, which _mira cupiditate_ dig up the gold _ex cuniculis_ and watch it, likewise in the north of Europe, that is, in the land of the Scythians.[290] Damis Olear[291] 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 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." Böttiger[292] explains these monsters as simple productions of the Indian carpet-manufacture, because from a remote antiquity the Indians delight in compounding 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.

Sepulchre III. Actual size.]

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 golden ornaments (see 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.

[Sidenote: GOLDEN BROOCHES WITH STAGS.]

I further found on the three bodies of the third 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 flutings, 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 bottom of No. 264, and part of the silver pin in No. 265, where we also recognise the horizontal flutings, 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 ornaments had besides two perforations. Reckoning two such ornaments as one brooch, there were found in this sepulchre in all six brooches with a pair of stags on either side. There were also found two golden ornaments (see No. 266), representing 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 perforations 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 (πόρπη).

[Sidenote: GOLDEN WOMEN WITH PIGEONS.]

I further found with the three bodies of the third tomb two golden ornaments, representing two women, each 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 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 their breasts with both hands. The four pigeons are represented with spread wings, as if they were flying. The first woman (No. 267) has four perforations 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 the artist intended to represent a 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 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 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 ornaments may have been used is altogether a riddle to me. 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 perforations 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 Aphrodité, 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 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.

[Sidenote: VARIOUS GOLDEN ORNAMENTS.]

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 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. 274, which represents two eagles. Very curious are the ornaments represented by No. 279, of which four were found; 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 Chimæra, or of Orthos and the Chimæra, 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 Œdipus 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.

[Sidenote: SPLENDID CROWN OF GOLD.]

On the head of one of the three bodies was found the splendid crown of gold (στέμμα, No. 281), which is one of the most interesting and most precious objects that I collected at Mycenæ. It is 2 ft. 1 in. long, and profusely covered with shield-like ornaments. The work being _repoussé_, all the ornaments protrude and appear in low relief, giving to the crown an indescribably magnificent aspect, which is still further augmented by the thirty-six large leaves, ornamented in a like manner, which are attached to it. It deserves particular attention that the crown was bound round the head so that its broadest part was just 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, and so I found it on the head of one of the bodies. The four other signs resemble the κηρύκειον, or caduceus, the herald's staff of Hermes.

[Sidenote: GOLDEN DIADEM.]

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 photographs 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 with which the diadem was fastened round the head. On all these six diadems we recognise the fine black ashes of the funeral pyre sticking to the gold. I may here mention that we find round shields with an ornamentation of crescents 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 in the Assyrian collection of the same museum four figurettes of ivory representing Hercules, whose head is likewise ornamented with such diadems.

[Sidenote: APHRODITE IDOLS WITH 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 seemingly joined only by the copper wire with which they are piped. The thin wires at the extremities are here also broken off.

[Sidenote: GOLDEN CROSSES.]

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 _repoussé_ work; and there is an ornamentation of spirals at both ends of 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 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 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 ornamentation in _repoussé_ work; both crosses are fastened together with a golden pin with a large round flat head, which is still preserved on the one shown in the engraving. In the centre of the other star there is only the impression 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_.

[Sidenote: GIGANTIC GOLD BROOCH.]

On one of the bodies I found a gold brooch (πόρπη), with a very thick silver pin, 8 in. long (see No. 292), 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 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.

I also found in this tomb the two very curious golden ornaments (see No. 293), which are too large and heavy to have been worn as pendants of earrings and have probably been used as breast ornaments. Each consists of two pieces of _repoussé_ work, which are soldered together, and thus these objects present the same ornamentation on either side.