Immediately to the south of this tombstone, in the same line with it, and separated from it by only one foot, is another tombstone, unsculptured. Two more unsculptured sepulchral slabs stand close to each other, 23 feet to the east of the first three sculptured tombstones; and at a distance of 40 feet directly to the south of the former, stand two more unsculptured tombstones, 4 feet apart. All the unsculptured slabs likewise stand vertically and face the west.

At the foot of the sculptured tombstone first described I found a handful of black ashes, and among them a large button of wood, covered with a thick leaf of gold, on which is engraved · a circle, and within it a triangle containing the representations of three long broad knives, the handles of which are formed by beautiful spiral lines. I also found at the feet of most of the tombstones grey ashes of burnt animal matter, which I at first thought was from human bodies; but as I found together with them bones which on closer investigation turn out to be those of animals, I now think the ashes must be from sacrifices. There certainly appear to have been some more sculptured tombstones here, for I find in this and in the adjoining field, at a depth of 10 to 13 feet below the surface, a number of fragments of sepulchral stÊlÆ.

Of these the most interesting (No. 143) consists of hard calcareous stone, and is 15 in. long, 11 in. broad, and 6½ in. thick. It represents a boy, apparently naked, who had no doubt been made standing on a chariot, for he holds in his left hand the reins, indicated by a broad band: his right hand is also stretched out, but not holding anything: his head-dress is indicated by two curved lines on the head: the two vertical lines to the left were part of the border of the stÊlÉ. A second fragment is 22 in. long, 17 in. broad, and 6 in. thick, and consists of a soft calcareous stone, in consequence of which the sculpture is much defaced and quite indistinct.

The third fragment (No. 144), 2 ft. 6 in. long, 2 ft. broad, and 6 in. thick, is evidently the upper right-hand part of a stÊlÉ. This also consists of a soft calcareous stone, and the sculpture is consequently much defaced. It is divided by broad fillets into three compartments, of which the upper one as well as that to the right contain spirals, whilst we see the fore-part of two horses in that to the left below.

Another fragment (No. 145) is apparently the left upper part of a stÊlÉ: it is 1 ft. 8 in. broad, 2 ft. 2 in. high, and 4 in. thick, and likewise consists of a soft calcareous stone. It has to the left a border of two fillets, at the top the slight remnant of one fillet, and is divided by a horizontal fillet into two compartments, of which the upper one has beautiful spirals, forming the same pattern as on No. 140, whilst of the lower compartment only a small part remains, the sculpture of which is effaced.

I also show three fragments of tombstones, all of a harder calcareous stone, and therefore better preserved. The upper one (No. 146), which is 1 ft. high, 10¾ in. broad, and 4¾ in. thick, has a border of two broad and three narrower bands, above which only the foot of a horse is visible. The two lower fragments (Nos. 147, 148) show spirals; the former is 10¾ in. long and broad, and 4¾ in. thick; the latter is 10¾ in. long, 10 in. broad, and 4¾ in. thick. Of two more fragments of stÊlÆ of a soft calcareous stone (Nos. 149, 150), the first represents to the left spirals, to the right a horse; the second, which has only spirals, is 1 ft. 6 in. high, 16 in. broad, and 4 in. thick.

I have also been fortunate enough to discover, only 3 ft. below the surface, a piece of a quadrangular column of red porphyry, 12? in. long, 10? in. broad, and 8 in. thick, ornamented with a splendid low relief of palmettos lying horizontally (No. 151). Two of these stand opposite to each other, and are united by a rectangular middle piece, which, within an upper and a lower horizontal border, is divided on both sides, to the right and left, by three vertical band-like cuts into seven upright rectangular fields, of which the middle one is as broad as the three on either side. This middle piece reminds one of the Doric triglyphs. To the right and left of the palmettos we see the fragments of other ornaments of a similar kind, and it seems that the whole column has been decorated in this way. Above the palmettos there is a row of denticles, and there has no doubt been a similar row below. The two middle palmettos resemble a saloon furnished with seats all round. I further found at a depth of about 11 ft. 6 in. the fragment of another column or frieze of red porphyry, 8¾ in. long, 10 in. broad, and 4¼ in. thick, carved with a beautiful spiral (see No. 152).

Although, as Dr. Fr. Schlie thinks, the technical treatment of the low-relief of all these stÊlÆ may not be vastly different from a whole series of archaic reliefs of ancient Greek art, yet such figures and such an ornamentation have never been found yet on Greek sculptures. The stÊlÆ of MycenÆ are, therefore, unique in their kind. It is true that the manner of filling up with manifold beautiful spiral ornaments the space not covered by the forms of men and animals reminds us of the principles of the painting on the so-called orientalizing vases. But nowhere do we see on the sculptures of MycenÆ the ornamentation of plants, which is so characteristic of this class of ancient Greek representations. The whole style is rather a linear ornamentation with forms in powerful low-relief, and herein we obtain an interesting guide to that epoch in the development of Greek art, which preceded the so-called GrÆco-Phoenician period, that is the time when its course was determined by oriental influences. The beginning of this latter period Mr. Newton fixes with certainty not later than B.C. 800. But these Mycenean representations, which are decorated exclusively with linear ornamentation in relief, are again remarkable because we see in them living beings such as man, the horse, the dog, and the deer, which are not reduced to a more or less linear design, such as those on the Trojan whorls,[204] but which are given, though rudely, and in a puerile way, in full bodily form, precisely as the nature of the relief requires.

These reflections lead us to the conviction that the Mycenean reliefs must be brought into relation with the ancient architecture of MycenÆ. Let us compare with them only the preserved remnants of the ornamentation of the gateway of the "Treasury of Atreus" and its semi-column, as restored by Professor Donaldson.[205] Therefore it cannot appear an unfounded assumption, if we claim for these ancient monuments the middle of the second millennium B.C., and if we insert them for the future as an important link into the history of art. As Mr. A. S. Murray, of the British Museum, justly observed to me, the spiral ornamentation is no proof whatever of an orientalizing influence, because every wire must have given to the early artist the idea of the spiral ornamentation; nay, we find the spiral ornamentation even on the ancient Mexican and Peruvian monuments.

Close to the twelve small reservoirs on the north side of my second trench, is a Cyclopean house without a roof, which even now is on its south side 24 ft. high. It contains only one chamber, 17 ft. long and 9½ ft. broad; its east wall is 3 ft. 4 in., and its west wall 3 ft., thick. On the south side it has two walls, the inner one 3 ft. 4 in., the outer one 3 ft. 8 in., thick; against its north wall, which is 3 ft. thick, leans another, 6½ ft. thick; and thus the passage of the door, which is on this side, is not less than 9½ ft. long. I excavated in this house, and found it filled with ashes both of wood and of animal matter, intermixed with bones, particularly of swine, and with millions of fragments of painted archaic vases. But I found nothing worth mentioning, except a certain quantity of baked wheat and vetches, a weight of jasper with a perforated handle for suspension (No. 155), some well-preserved archaic vases, the fragment (No. 156) of a vase with sieve-like perforations, and a certain number of whorls of blue stone. One of these vases is particularly interesting for its painted ornamentation, showing two swans, which hold their heads together, much like the two eagles in the Russian arms.

I have not been more lucky with the twelve small reservoirs formed of four large slabs, for they contain nothing else than the remnants of household utensils, and particularly fragments of archaic vases.

The four sculptured and five unsculptured sepulchral slabs undoubtedly mark the sites of tombs cut deep in the rock, the exploration of which, however, I must needs delay until I have terminated all my excavations in the northern part of the Acropolis.

The presence of these numerous sepulchres near the Lions' Gate, and thus in the most prominent part of the citadel, in a place where one would have expected to find the king's palace, is very significant; the more so, as the slabs of the two parallel rows perfectly resemble the five unsculptured tombstones and the slabs of the twelve small reservoirs, and all these monuments appear to have been erected simultaneously.

I know of no example in history of an acropolis having ever served as a burial place, except the small building of the Caryatides in the Acropolis of Athens, which was called the Sepulchre of Cecrops, the first king of Athens. But we now know with certainty that Cecrops is nothing else than Kacyapa or Cacyapa, who was a sun-god, and thus the story of Cecrops having been buried in the Acropolis is a pure myth. But here in the Acropolis of MycenÆ the tombs are no myth, they are a tangible reality. But who have the great personages been, and what immense services did they render to MycenÆ, to have received the signal honour of such a burial place?

I do not for a moment hesitate to proclaim that I have found here the sepulchres which Pausanias, following the tradition, attributes to Atreus, to the "king of men" Agamemnon, to his charioteer Eurymedon, to Cassandra, and to their companions. But it is utterly impossible that Pausanias should have seen these tombstones, because, when he visited MycenÆ, about 170 A.D., all the sepulchral monuments had for ages been covered by a layer of prehistoric dÉbris, from 8 to 10 ft. thick, on which an Hellenic city had been built and had again been abandoned about four centuries before his time, after having added a layer of Hellenic ruins, 3 ft. thick, to the deep stratum of prehistoric remains. Thus he could only have known of the existence of these sepulchres by tradition.

In the Treasury close to the Lions' Gate the work advances but very slowly, the soil being as hard as stone, and only to-day has my trench reached a sufficient depth to enable me to begin the excavation of the triangular space above the door. My supposition that this Treasury would turn out to be nearly of the same size as the Treasury of Atreus seems to be confirmed by the width of the approach ("dromos"), which is in the latter 20 ft. 7 in., in the former 19 ft. 8 in., broad.

These conical buildings, 50 ft. high, were constructed under the slope of a hill, and were destined to remain subterranean: for, as before stated, the outside surface of the stones is quite irregular, and the whole building is covered all round with a thick layer of stones, the weight of which holds the masonry fast together. I feel certain that the tradition is correct which says that these mysterious buildings served as the store-houses of the wealth of the early kings; but there can be no doubt that as long as they served as treasuries the "dromos" and the entrance gate were unobstructed, and the great question, therefore, arises, why and when were the "dromos" and the gate hidden under the tremendous masses of dÉbris?

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It has been asserted that they were buried at the time of the Dorian invasion; but did the excavation of the Treasury of Atreus in 1810 by Veli Pasha, the son of Ali Pasha, produce anything else than a stone table, a few sculptured slabs, and fragments of brazen plates? and was it worth while to bury empty treasuries? But it is a fact that they were buried, and, as to the chronology of the event, the pottery in the layer of dÉbris, which covers the "dromos" of each, gives us fortunately some clue, for I find there continually very ancient painted pottery with geometrical patterns, resembling the Attic vases which until now have been considered as the most ancient terra-cottas in Greece; as well as very rude terra-cotta idols of Hera in the female and cow forms. The style of the pottery is seen in the annexed piece (No. 157), which shows to the right of the handle a ? of which only part is visible, and then follows a row of the frequently recurring animal in form of a crane, but which may have been intended to represent a horse, and after that follows a beautiful band of key-patterns. On another fragment (No. 158) is only a row of the same birds or horses between two bands, each of three parallel circular lines; also a small can, ornamented with vertical lines, was found there. Of course it is perfectly certain that the dÉbris which covers the entrance has been brought there from other places, but as it contains solely fragments of very ancient painted terra-cottas nearly all of them with geometrical patterns, the filling-up of the entrance must have been already effected in a remote antiquity, and the Treasury itself is doubtless more ancient than the Treasury of Atreus.

Of the idols found in the "dromos" before the Treasury now in question the most ancient Hera-idols, in the shape of a woman, are very rudely made, sometimes without painted ornaments, and they have a head either oblong or round, with or without a diadem, and large eyes. Some are with breasts, others without; the hands are either protruding or folded on the breast. To the same epoch no doubt belong the female idols with a very compressed bare head, large eyes, outstretched hands, and no breasts; or with two breasts, below which a horn protrudes on each side, so that both horns together form a semicircle;[206] also the male idol, with its head ornamented in front with a diadem, bearing a star, a long aquiline nose, large eyes, and a long protruding beard;[207] and some very archaic cow idols, with painted red or black ornamentation (see No. 118, p. 74); also the fragment of a vase of granite, and a small female figure in silver with long hair.

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In the Acropolis the most common idols are those of Hera as a woman with horns or in the shape of a cow. In fact, they are so abundant that up to this time I have been able to gather more than (say) 700 of them, but all are more or less mutilated. Among the forms of the idols found abundantly in the Acropolis I must further mention that with a round uncovered bird's head,[208] and that with a very compressed head, with large eyes, and a polos in the form of a bowl, on which is often painted a cross; both these idols hold their hands on the breasts, and have no characteristic of the cow.[209] I may further mention the very frequently occurring idol, the whole middle part of which is in the form, or nearly so, of a disk,[210] and which may have been intended primitively to represent the full moon, because Hera was originally the moon-goddess, and her cow-horns, and subsequently her whole cow-character, cannot but be derived from the symbolic horns of the crescent moon. Lastly, I have to mention the less frequent female idol with a perfectly modelled cow-head; but this type is only found on the handles of vases, and the body of the woman is always incomplete, never reaching further down than the breast, and frequently finishing with the neck, on which the necklace is never forgotten.[211] By a strange coincidence the three or four terra-cotta cow-heads found in Troy were likewise on the handles of vases.[212] One headless Hera-idol was found, with two well preserved horns and two breasts. The head is not broken off, for it was never intended to have a head. I may also mention that many perfectly flat idols were found, showing on each side a head with a long muzzle and large eyes in profile, but no indication of horns. (See No. 161.[213])

Except the button with a gold plate, already mentioned, no objects of gold or silver have been found yet; but that these metals were in extensive use cannot be doubted. I found a mould consisting, according to Professor Xavier Landerer, of very fine dark red granite; it shows on both sides together fourteen different fanciful types of earrings and other ornaments, all of which were probably cast in gold or silver (see No. 162). I found also a smaller mould, which consists, according to the same Professor, of basalt, and is in form of a cube (see No. 163): it has on all the six sides moulds for casting ornaments, of which the types may be seen in the engravings; amongst others, it has a type for casting small cones with parallel horizontal circles, of which I find here a large number. (See No. 164.) They consist of a lustrous blackish mass, which Professor Landerer has analysed and found to consist of a hard-baked clay which has been varnished with a lead glaze. Mr. Newton also kindly showed me, among the objects found in the tomb at Ialysus, very small cones with parallel horizontal circles of the very same composition as these Mycenean cones. I also very frequently find here small disks of the same composition, with impressed flowers or other ornamentation, which must have served as ornaments on the doors or elsewhere (No. 165), and these also figure in the British Museum among the objects from the tomb of Ialysus. The quadrangular piece (No. 166), on which may be seen a very well-represented cuttle-fish between two vertical borders with teeth-like cuts, has four perforations for attaching it with pins. As I have already mentioned, the object No. 167, which has the form of a mushroom, but a perforation in its whole length, is of the same material; this also must have served as an ornament, while the whole tube-like lower part was sunk into the object which was to be ornamented, so that the head alone protruded, and may have served to put in a flower or something else. Of the same baked clay with a varnished lead glaze there was further found a large perforated bead (No. 168).

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I also very often find small objects in the form of a cone or with points more obtuse, and in this case perforated; they are turned from a mineral, which, according to Professor Landerer, is the Siphnian stone (lapis ollaris), commonly called potstone. The same scholar calls my attention to a passage of Pliny, who says: "On the island of Siphnos there is a stone which is hollowed out and turned for vases; these latter are very useful for cooking victuals or for the preservation of eatables, which, as we know, is the case with the Comnes stone in Italy. The Siphnian stone has the peculiarity that, being heated, it becomes black by the contact of oil and much harder, it being naturally soft. It can be turned and used for ornaments." The small cones of this stone have in the lower border two small holes on either side, which must have been made for the pins by which the object was fastened. A likeness of such a cone is No. 172; of another object of the same material, No. 169. The curious object, No. 171, which has almost the form of a Trojan idol, is of decomposed glass, but its use is inexplicable to me; it has on its lower side a tubular hole for fastening it to something else, and may have served as an ornament. The little ball, No. 170, on which we see curious incised drawings, is of very hard baked clay. I also find very frequently button-like objects, like those already shown under No. 126,[214] which, according to Professor Landerer, have been turned out of a stone called "lapis serpentinus." I cannot explain the use of them otherwise than that they have served as ornaments in the doors and on the walls, like No. 167. There was also found a large perforated bead of white glass, and further a large block of diorite, with circular moulds for casting various objects.

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A treasure of bronze objects was found at a depth of 13 feet. It consists of five knives (like Nos. 121-125),[215] two small wheels and an inexplicable object with a ring,[216] two lances, two double-edged hatchets (No. 173), hair-pins, two vases, and remnants of four others, and a tripod. It is incomprehensible to me for what purpose the wheels may have served; they can never have been intended for rotation, for, as may be seen by the engraving,[217] there is attached to them a quadrangular handle, which proves that they can never have been turned round. From one of the wheels[218] this handle is broken off; as for the rest, the wheels perfectly resemble those represented on the chariots in the sculptures, for there are four spokes, which form a cross round the axle. Also two very small and exceedingly curious wheels of lead were found, the one at the depth of 11 ft. 8 in., the other at 16½ ft.[219]

There were also found a certain number of lentoid gems of steatite, onyx, or agate, polished, nearly round, and somewhat convex, with intaglios of animals, which are very archaic, but show in several instances an advanced art; all of these have evidently belonged to necklaces. No. 176 is of steatite (lapis ollaris); it gives us a very rude and primitive representation of an animal with a very long tail, long legs, and a pointed head, which is turned backward, and on which we see a horn standing vertically: probably we must understand that this horn covers the second horn: the body of the animal resembles the body of a horse, the head that of an antelope. No. 178 is of red agate, and this also gives a rude representation of an animal with its head turned backward; above its hinder part is a trident, and it is difficult to distinguish whether the primitive artist intended to represent by this the animal's uplifted tail or something else. The most beautiful of all the intaglios is of red onyx (No. 174), showing an antelope perfectly true to nature. Both horns are well represented, and the head and body are beautiful; the animal seems to kneel on its two fore-legs; the tail is lifted sideways above the back. I call particular attention to the object above the back of this animal; it looks like an overturned flower-pot, with a long plant lying horizontally. The object on the lentoid gem (No. 183) cannot be recognised; this gem consists of serpentine. On No. 184, which is of black agate, we again see a very rudely-engraved animal with the head turned back, but without horns. No. 185 is a bead.

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Another beautiful intaglio (No. 186), on black serpentine, represents an animal with the head turned back and very large eyes; it seems to run with great speed. The object No. 189 is also of black serpentine, and has no intaglio. Similar lentoid gems, with rudely-incised animals, found in the Greek islands, are in the gold room of the British Museum, and I call particular attention to them, as well as to the lentoid gem of rock crystal, representing in intaglio a goat, which turns her head. This gem, again, was found in the repeatedly-mentioned sepulchre of Ialysus, and is also in the British Museum. Very pretty is the small parallelopiped (No. 182), likewise of serpentine, ornamented on two sides with fourteen lines which cross each other, and on the other two sides with two incised squares, in each of which we see a small circle with a point in the centre. No. 187 represents a light green cylinder of opal, on which a human head is rudely carved, with closed eyes, a very broad nose, a large mouth, and a necklace, and very much in the ancient Egyptian style of art. It is cylindrical, and has no hole, and it seems therefore not to have served as a stick-handle. No. 188 is a bead of white glass; No. 180 is an object of blue glass cast in the form of a long but narrow mussel-shell, surrounded by horizontal parallel cuts; it is coloured with cobalt; No. 179 is a small bead of blue glass twice perforated. There is also a well-polished brown onyx, without any intaglio, and it deserves attention that a similar one was found in the tomb of Ialysus. No. 181 is of an artificial glass paste. I repeat that, with the exception of Nos. 175, 180, 187, all these objects are perforated and are beads or lentoid gems of necklaces.

Of combinations of signs resembling inscriptions, I have hitherto only found three or four; one of them is on both sides of a mutilated Hera-idol in the form of a woman (see No. 102); another inscription is on a mutilated cow-idol[220]; and a third is on a disk (No. 190). Of all of them I have sent copies to Professor Max MÜller, who considers them too indistinct and fragmentary to warrant any expression of opinion for the present.

I found at a depth of 6 feet a short Greek inscription:

for which, however, I cannot claim a higher antiquity than the 6th century B.C.; in fact, the fragment of a vase on which it is scratched is of the usual black Hellenic pottery, which is so widely different from the archaic pottery of MycenÆ that I could not venture to attribute it to a remoter epoch than the 5th century, were it not for the archaic characters which are decidedly of the 6th century. But this fragment of black pottery again gives us an idea of the age of the ancient Mycenean pottery. I suppose that the first ? stands for ??, the second ? for O and that the sign ] is merely a comma. I read it thus: t?? ????? e?(?), "I belong to the heros."

Besides the goblets already mentioned in the form of large Bordeaux wine-glasses with one handle,[221] which continue to be found in enormous quantities, there are also frequently found goblets of the same form with two handles. Although these goblets have not the slightest resemblance to the splendid Trojan goblets,[222] yet, like the latter, those with two handles can fully claim to represent the Homeric d?pa? ?f???pe????. I think Aristotle[223] is wrong in his theory that the ?f???pe???? had the shape of a bee's cell. The best judge, nay, the highest authority, for the form of the Homeric d?pa? ?f???pe???? must necessarily be Homer himself; and according to him the d?pa? ?f???pe???? is always synonymous with ??e?s?? ?f?t??,[224] which latter cannot possibly mean anything else than a simple goblet with a large handle on each side. In speaking of the shape of the Homeric d?pa? ?f???pe????, AthenÆus[225] does not even mention the opinion of Aristotle, but he cites the opinion of Asclepiades of Myrlea, who says that ?f???pe???? does not mean anything else than that the goblet is ?f????t??. But the following phrase leaves no doubt that the latter word signifies "with two handles," and this is confirmed by Passow's Greek Lexicon (ed. Rost and Palm).

As far as my excavations have proceeded, I nowhere find an accumulation of dÉbris exceeding 26 ft.; and even this depth is only found near the great circuit wall. Thence the rock rises rapidly, and further on the depth of the dÉbris is not more than from 13 to 20 ft. On the west side the Cyclopean wall has been nearly demolished for a distance of 46 ft., and on its interior side a wall of small stones joined with earth has been built to sustain its ruins. It must remain mere guesswork when the Cyclopean wall was destroyed and the small wall built, but at all events this must have occurred long before the capture of MycenÆ by the Argives in 468 B.C., because the small wall was buried deep in the prehistoric dÉbris.

The great quarry, whence all the stones for the Cyclopean walls, the Treasuries, and other buildings, were cut, is on the site of and around the village of Charvati, a little over a mile from this place; but the rock has in no instance been cut away deeper than the surface. I give a view of this village, in which the greater part of the ancient quarry is visible.[226] The name Charvati is no doubt derived from the Arabic word ???? (ruins), which has passed over into the Turkish language.

Mrs. Schliemann and I superintend the excavations from morning till dusk, and we suffer severely from the scorching sun and incessant tempest, which blows the dust into the eyes and inflames them; but in spite of these annoyances, nothing more interesting can be imagined than the excavation of a prehistoric city of immortal glory, where nearly every object, even to the fragments of pottery, reveals a new page of history.

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