Chapter VIII (2)

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 resembles a man such as children draw; the ring above the head may represent a crown. The splendid ornament in _repoussé_ work on the body we have seen, though less beautiful, in the border of the sepulchral _stêlé_ (No. 24).[326] 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 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.

[Sidenote: FUNERAL FORK.]

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; it has a quadrangular hole, which cannot, however, have served to put 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 concentric 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 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.[327] Four such vase-lids of bone were found in this tomb.

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.

[Sidenote: STAG OF SILVER AND LEAD.]

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 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, particularly 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 fragile. Vases of terra-cotta in the form of animals were frequent at Troy.[328]

[Sidenote: WONDERFUL CROSS-BUTTONS.]

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 magnificent ornamentation of intaglio and _repoussé_ work (see Nos. 377-386).[329] The largest of them (No. 377) is a little more than 3½ in. in length and is 2⅛ 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 _repoussé_ 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. I 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 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 border, 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 _repoussé_ 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 _repoussé_, 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 _repoussé_, 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 ornaments in _repoussé_.

On the other hand, on the button (No. 382) all the ornamentation is produced by _repoussé_ 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 卍 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 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 _repoussé_ work; the circle, with the 卍, 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 _repoussé_, 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 _repoussé_ work, and of the same work is also the small encircled cross in each acute angle, whilst the large circle with the 卍 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 _repoussé_ 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 wooden buttons, and we conclude from this that they must have been merely attached with glue to the clothes and drapery of the deceased.

[Sidenote: CURIOUS GOLD BUTTONS.]

In the same place were found 118 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, 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 ornamentation 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 represents four long broad knives, whose handles are prolonged into spirals.

I further found there 130 large gold buttons with splendid intaglio work, some like Nos. 414-420, which represent 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.

[Sidenote: MAGNIFICENT GOLD BUTTONS.]

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 422_a_). The former represents a sun, in the centre of which is a beautiful 卍 transformed 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.[330] 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 handle, which has evidently served for the forehead, to hold back the hair.

[Sidenote: GOLD MODEL OF A TEMPLE.]

Perhaps the most curious objects of all are five small edifices of gold in _repoussé_ work, of which I represent one (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 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 Aphrodité, 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 ornamentation in relief representing 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 plate in the form of tops, each consisting of two halves; their use is altogether inexplicable to me.

[Sidenote: GOLD SWORD-HANDLE KNOBS.]

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 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 Mycenæ, 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 nails with which it was fastened; it is ornamented with intaglio work representing beautiful spirals.

Gold Cover of a Sword-handle. Sepulchre IV. Actual size.]

[Sidenote: GOLDEN SWORD-HANDLE KNOBS.]

Not less sumptuous are the golden covers of sword-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 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 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.[331] Probably 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 object, perhaps on horse-trappings. But we see in the Iliad[332] that they were also used on helmets, either as a protection or as an ornament.

[Sidenote: BOARS'-TEETH AS ORNAMENTS.]

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 1/2 in. to 3/4 in. broad; and they have two perforations, one at each extremity, by which they were attached to other objects, most probably to horse-trappings.[333] 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 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 engravings.

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.

A large Copper Vessel. Sepulchre IV. Size 1:8.]

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.

[Sidenote: COPPER VESSELS.]

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 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, therefore, have been called λέβης λοετροχόος; but the poet mentions only such large vessels for heating the water for the bath with _three feet_, and calls them, therefore, τρίπους λοετροχόος.[334] 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 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 Hallstatt, in Austria,[335] which belongs, however, to a much later period than the Mycenean tombs.

[Sidenote: HOMERIC TRIPODS.]

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 purposes. In the Odyssey,[336] as well as in the Iliad,[337] we find it used for presents of honour. In the Iliad,[338] it is given as a prize in the games, and it also occurs as an ornament of the rooms,[339] and, further, for the heating of water and for cooking.[340] To indicate its use for these latter purposes, Homer[341] gives also the epithet ἐμπυριβήητης to the tripod.

There was further found in this tomb a mass of small 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 Mycenean 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.

[Sidenote: WEAPONS OF BRONZE.]

A Lance-head of Bronze.

Sepulchre IV. Size 1:5, about.

Nos. 442, 442_a_.

Small one-edged Bronze Swords.

Sepulchre IV. Size 3:16, about.]

Among the swords, ten were short and one-edged, of which I represent two under No. 442 and 442_a_; they consist 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 (τελαμών) or to the girdle (ζωστήρ or ζώνη). As these short one-edged swords are, properly speaking, nothing else than long knives, they evidently represent the original meaning of the Homeric word, φάσγανον,[342] which is derived, by a euphonic transposition of the letters, from the same root as that of σφάγη and σφάζω (_slaughter_), and thus this weapon must primitively have been used chiefly for slaughtering animals, and, perhaps, also for killing in close fight; but the name gradually lost its original signification, and in Homer it is perfectly synonymous with ξίφος and ἄορ.

There was also found a double-edged weapon with a long tube (αὐλός); but this latter being very narrow, it is 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 dangerous. 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.[343]

Fragment of a two-edged Bronze Sword, and another weapon, probably a Dagger.

Sepulchre IV. Half-size.]

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 sword, on which the high protruding middle part or ridge is very conspicuous; 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 mention 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 2½ 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_, _b_, _c_). Perfectly similar alabaster 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.[344] The two-edged sword-blade (No. 445_a_), at the top of which are still attached remnants of the wooden sheath, measures 2 ft. 7 in. 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_c_, is adorned with three flat golden pin-heads on each side.

Two-edged Bronze Swords and an Alabaster Sword-Knob.

Sepulchre IV.

Size, 1:6, about.]

Two-edged Bronze Sword.

Sepulchre IV. Half-size.[345]]

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.

[Sidenote: MYCENEAN SWORDS LIKE RAPIERS.]

Two-edged Bronze Swords and an Alabaster Sword-Knob.

Sepulchre IV. Size 1:8, about.]

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 a large quantity of 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 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 revolution. 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.

[Sidenote: BONES FROM THE TOMBS.]

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 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.

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 either of a uniform lustrous plain dark red colour or of a light yellow dead colour with numerous dark red and black bands, as shown in previous illustrations.[346] In still later times we find it with no other colour than the light yellow or white of the clay itself.[347] 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 specimens. We have also a number of specimens of this goblet in gold, such as that shown under No. 343.[348] 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.[349]

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.[350] 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.

[Sidenote: GOLDEN DRAGON, WITH CRYSTAL SCALES.]

I have further to mention among the objects discovered 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 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. 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 Archæological Society shall be able to exhibit the Mycenean collection.

The appearance of the cylinder, when all the transparent 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 _débris_ 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 Hephæstus, and would have uttered his sense of its beauty in the words θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι, "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 substructions 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[301] 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.

[302] See Plans B, BB, C, and Plate VI.

[303] See for example _Il._ IX. 123, 265, XXIII. 259 and 267, XXIV. 233; _Odyss._ XIII. 13.

[304] See _Od._ I. 137, III. 440.

[305] _Od._ XIX. 386, 469.

[306] See Caylus, 'Recueil d'Antiquités,' I. 41, pl. XI.

[307] 'Antiquités du Bosphore Cimmérien,' Planche I.; where also mention is made of a gold mask found at Olbia.

[308] Tischbein, 'Recueil de Gravures,' II. 1; where also mention is made of an iron mask from a sepulchre at Santa Agata dei Goti.

[309] See _Il_. VII. 219:--

Αἴας δ᾽ ἐγγύθεν ἦλθε, φέρων σάκος
ἠΰτε πύργον,
χάλκεον, ἑπταβόειον, ὅ οἱ Τυχίος
κάμε τεύχων,
σκυτοτόμων ὄχ᾽ ἄριστος, ῞Ὑλῃ ἔνι
οὶκίια ναίιων.

also XI. 485; XVII. 128.

[310] 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.

[311] See No. 213, p. 133.

[312] See p. 81.

[313] See my 'Atlas des Antiquités Troyennes,' Plate 105, No. 2311.

[314] The photograph was unfortunately taken in such a position as to show only one of the two handles.

[315] _Il._ XI. 632-635:--

πὰρ δὲ δέπας περικαλλές, ὁ οἴκοθεν
ἦγ᾽ ὁ γεραιος,
χρυσείοις ἡλοισι πεπαρμένον· οὔατα
δ᾽ αὐτοῦ
τέσσαρ ἔσαν, δοιαὶ δε πελειάδες
ἀμφὶς ἕκαστον
χρύσειαι νεμέθοντο· δύω δ᾽ ὑπὸ
πυθμένες ἦσαν.

"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."

[316] 'Deipnosophistæ,' XI. 77.

[317] See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 87, No. 53, and p. 169, No. 192.

[318] With regard to these ornaments, see further Appendix C.

[319] See Nos. 282, 283, 284, pp. 186, 188.

[320] The Cut has to be viewed with the outer edge of the page downwards.

[321] See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 335, Plate XIX.

[322] See Nos. 329-330, p. 218.

[323] _De Pythiæ Oraculis_; _Op. Moral._ ed. Didot, vol. i. p. 488.

[324] This name is always Μαύσσολλος on the coins.

[325] _Quæst. Græc._ p. 45.

[326] See the Vignette to Chapter III., p. 52.

[327] See 'Atlas des Antiquités Troyennes,' Plate 21, Nos. 583 and 584. This explains how the nurse Euryclea fastened on the lids of the amphoræ for Telemachus. (Hom. _Odyss._ ii. 354):--

Δώδεκα δ᾽ ἔμπλησον, καὶ πώμασιν
ἄρσον ἅπαντας.

[328] See 'Troy and its Remains,' pp. 160, 208, 209, 214, 352.

[329] The two remaining buttons have similar patterns.

[330] See the engraving, No. 460, on p. 303.

[331] See, for example, _Iliad_ XIII. 650 and 662.

[332] X. 261-265.

... ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ κυνέην κεφαλῇφιν
εθηκεν,
ῥινοῦ ποιητήν· πολέσιν δ᾿ ἔντοσθεν
ἱμᾶσιν ἐντέτατο στερεῶς· ἔκτοσθε δὲ
λευκοὶ ὀδόντες ἀργιόδοντος ὑὸς
θαμέες
ἔχον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα εὖ καὶ
ἐπισταμένως.

"And on his brows a leathern headpiece placed
Well wrought within, with numerous straps secured,
And on the outside, with wild boar's gleaming tusks
Profusely garnished, scattered here and there
By skilful hand." LORD DERBY.

[333] These ornaments of horse-trappings vividly remind us of the famous passage in the Iliad IV., 141:

ὡς δ᾿ ὅτε τις τ᾿ ἐλέφαντα γυνὴ
φοίνικι μιήνῃ Μῃονὶς ἠὲ Κάειρα
παρήïον ἔμμεναι ἵππων· κεῖται δ᾿
ἐν θαλάμω, πολέες τέ μιν ἠρήσαντο
ἱππῆες φορέειν· βασιλῆï δὲ
κεῖται ἄγαλμα, ἀμφότερον, κόσμος
θ᾿ ἵππω, ἐλατῆρί τε κῦδος·

"As when some Carian or Mæonian maid
With crimson dye the ivory stains, designed
To be the cheek-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.

[334] _Il._ XVIII. 346; _Odyss._ VIII. 435.

[335] See Edward Freiherr von Sacken, 'Das Grabfeld von Hallstatt.'

[336] XIII. 13; and XV. 84.

[337] VIII. 290; and IX. 122.

[338] XI. 700; XXIII. 264, 485, 513, 718.

[339] _Il._ XVIII. 373.

[340] _Odyss._ VIII. 434; _Il._ XVIII. 344.

[341] _Il._ XXIII. 702; XXII. 164 it is called τριπος instead of the usual form τρίπους.

[342] Φάσγανον for σφάγανον, from the root σφαγ. There was also a verb φασγάνω "to kill with the sword:" Hesych. _Lex. s. v._

[343] See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 332, Nos. 267 and 268.

[344] See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 265.

[345] For an engraving of this sword, after cleaning, see Appendix D.

[346] See Nos. 84, 88, p. 71.

[347] No. 83, p. 70.

[348] See p. 233.

[349] See my 'Atlas des Antiquités Troyennes,' Pl. 105, No. 2311.

[350] See No. 230, p. 154.