THE SECOND GREAT TREASURY; ACROPOLIS; AND CYCLOPEAN REMAINS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MYCENÆ.

Further excavations of Mrs. Schliemann's Treasury—The dromos, doorway, and threshold—Objects found there—Hera-idols—Cyclopean water-conduits and cisterns in the Acropolis—Bronze rings—Pottery with marks like letters—Earrings like those found at Troy—Hand-made painted pottery—New forms of Hera-idols—Terra-cotta tripods and cradles, probably votive offerings—A comb, stilettos of opal, beads and buttons—A bronze sword—Iron tongs of late date—State of the dÉbris left at the Lions' Gate—The excavations visited by the Emperor of Brazil—Ascent of Mount Euboea—The Cyclopean enclosure on its summit; was probably a very ancient sanctuary—Other Cyclopean remains near MycenÆ—State of the excavations.

MycenÆ, October 30, 1876.

Since the 30th of September I have continued the excavations with the utmost vigour, employing constantly 125 labourers and 5 horse-carts. In the Treasury the difficulties were far greater than I had anticipated, particularly as the delegate of the Greek Government opposed the removal of the foundations of the Hellenic house just above the lower part of the "dromos," which I have mentioned before. Thus we have been unable to clear the latter of the dÉbris, 9 ft. deep, which still covers its pavement, and have only succeeded in clearing out the entrance passage, which is 13 ft. long and 8 ft. broad, and the central part of the Treasury; but we have left a border of huge stones and rubbish, 7 ft. to 9 ft. high, and 10 ft. to 15 ft. broad.

The two semi-columns to the right and left of the entrance were fluted; one of them (4 ft. 3 in. high and 1 ft. 4 in. broad) was found in the passage near the door. At 9½ ft. before the latter the "dromos" is shut up by a wall of square blocks of calcareous stones, 5 ft. high. The door of the Treasury has the enormous height of 18 ft. 5 in., and is 8 ft. 4 in. broad. On the threshold, which consists of a very hard breccia, and is 2 ft. 5 in. broad, we found a very thin round leaf of gold. The floor of the Treasury is the levelled rock covered with a coating of sand and chalk, traces of which are visible in many places; it slopes towards the centre, which is 1 ft. lower than the threshold.

There was found in the Treasury a large fragment of a frieze of blue marble, carved with a circle and two rows of a wedge-like ornamentation in the form of fish-spines; it is 9 in. high, 10 in. broad, and 2 in. thick (No. 215). There was further found the fragment of a beautiful frieze of white marble, which is 1 ft. 4 in. long, 8 in. broad, and 3½ in. thick. The engraving here given (No. 216) represents the broad side of the frieze with an ornamentation of spirals between two small borders. We have already given the small face, on which we see, between two fillets on each side, an ornamentation of the same kind of spirals, which are, however, deeper cut and better preserved.[266] There were further found five unornamented blades of copper or bronze, 5½ to 6½ in. long, and a Hera-idol of the usual form, with two horns.

Treasure may be hidden in the large border of stones and dÉbris which I have been forced to leave behind, but I scarcely believe it. Considering that very ancient fragments of pottery with geometrical patterns were found exclusively in the "dromos," and, on the other hand, a variety of potsherds of different ages in the Treasury itself, I am convinced that only the "dromos" and the entrance were covered up in remote antiquity, that the Treasury remained empty, and that the fragments of vases now found in it were contained in the thick layer of rubbish which covered the upper vault when, fifty-six years ago, Veli Pasha tried to force an entrance by this way.

In the Acropolis I brought to light, at a few yards from the second gate, a very curious Cyclopean water-conduit leading into one of the long narrow corridors. I therefore suppose that at least one, and perhaps two, of these are nothing else than cisterns. There is another Cyclopean water-conduit and another cistern immediately south of them; and the latter seems to be connected with the twelve recesses, in which I also recognize nothing but six small cisterns. These water-conduits, like that which runs into the two cisterns below the Cyclopean house, have doubtless brought the water from the copious spring "Perseia," whose name seems to be derived from Perseus, the founder of MycenÆ.

In clearing out the masses of dÉbris, 13 ft. to 20 ft. deep, which obstructed the passage of the gate, I found three bronze rings. Two of these (Nos. 217 and 219), which were found close to the surface, may be of the Hellenic time, but it is impossible to say this with certainty. The former (No. 217), as shown by the hollow, has had a stone, which is now missing. The third ring is a seal-ring, and the intaglio is too archaic not to be derived from a period preceding the conquest of the city (468 B.C.). On it we see a young woman in a sitting posture, with extended arms; her head, which is turned aside, has luxuriant hair; to the right, a little further down, is a male figure, with a broad chest and extended arms.

There were also found many Hera-idols in the form of a cow or a horned female, and among the former a fragment showing on a light yellow dead ground a number of dark red signs, which may be letters, like those shown on the coloured plate B, fig. h; also large quantities of melted lead; further a very primitive golden earring (see No. 220), consisting of a quadrangular golden wire turned twice round. Mr. Chas. T. Newton concludes from the sharp angles of this and all the other quadrangular gold wires which I shall hereafter describe, that they have been a strip or riband cut out of a plate. But it is altogether inexplicable to me how the primitive goldsmith can have performed this operation, particularly as his knives must necessarily have been of bronze. The same form of earrings occurs also in the second of the four prehistoric cities at Troy,[267] with the sole difference that the wire there is round.

There were also found here, in a hollow of the rock, a great many fragments of hand-made vases, coloured either of a plain black or red, both inside and outside, or, on the outside only, of a light green, with black spiral ornamentation. At only 6 ft. behind the Cyclopean wall, on the east side of the passage, I have brought to light the remnants of an evidently much more ancient wall of huge blocks.

In the large Cyclopean house, which tradition seems to have indicated as the palace of the AtridÆ, immediately to the south of the circular Agora, were found Hera-idols of new forms: for example, a perfectly flat cow with only one big hind-leg and two fore-legs;[268] a female idol, with a very compressed bird's face, and with a Phrygian cap, instead of the usual "polos;" and a headless idol, with two protruding breasts, but with two long cow-horns. There was likewise found a terra-cotta cow-horn, 3½ in. long, which shows that there must have been much larger idols than those hitherto found. I further collected there a number of small terra-cotta tripods in the form of arm-chairs and cradles, in one or two instances even cradles containing children: all are gay-coloured and may have served as offerings. Among the other objects found there I may mention two perforated parallelopipeds of variegated colours, 4 in. long, the use of which I cannot explain;—a comb, which, according to Professor Landerer, consists of a very hard white clay paste;—several pointed sticks (stilettos) for female needlework,[269] which the same scholar recognises to consist of opal;—six small perforated round flat transparent beads of white stone, belonging to a necklace; and a large button of alabaster, which seems to have been on the handle of a sword. There was also found the bronze sword (No. 221). A pair of tongs of iron was found near the Lions' Gate close to the surface, and may be of the Macedonian period.

To my very greatest annoyance and displeasure, but by the most urgent demand of the Greek ArchÆological Society in Athens, I have been forced to leave in the Acropolis, on either side of the Lions' Gate, a large block of dÉbris untouched in situ, because this Institution has not yet sent, as it intended to do, an engineer to consolidate the sculpture of the two lions with cramp-irons, and to repair the Cyclopean walls to the right and left of it. But they still intend to do this work sooner or later, and they believe that the two masses of dÉbris will facilitate the raising of the blocks and their insertion in the walls. I hope that this work will be done promptly, so that the two blocks of dÉbris may not have long to wait for their removal, for they give the excavations a miserable aspect, and particularly the mass of dÉbris to the right on entering, because this latter consists of loose ashes, and, should it be left for a few years more as it is, it will be washed away by the rains and spread over my excavations. I call particular attention to this, because every visitor will naturally attribute the leaving behind of these two blocks of dÉbris to my negligence.

Yesterday and to-day my excavations have had the honour of being visited by his Majesty Dom Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil. Coming from Corinth, his Majesty rode direct up to the Acropolis, and remained for two hours in my excavations, which he attentively examined and re-examined. The immense double parallel circle of slanting slabs, within which are the three lines of tombstones, and particularly the four sculptured ones, seemed to be of paramount interest to him, and he requested me to send him photographs of them to Cairo. The great Lions' Gate, through which the king of men (??a? ??d???) passed when he left for the most glorious expedition of the heroic age, the wonderful threshold of this gate, the large Cyclopean house, the three Cyclopean water-conduits, the immense Cyclopean circuit walls and all the other monuments of prehistoric times, seemed also to be of very great interest to his Majesty, who went thence to the Treasury which we have excavated, and afterwards to the Treasury of Atreus, where dinner was served. This meal, in the midst of the mysterious, dome-like underground building nearly forty centuries old, seemed to please his Majesty exceedingly. He afterwards examined with the deepest interest, in the village of Charvati, the large collection of prehistoric Mycenean antiquities produced by my excavations, and he particularly admired the enormous mass of differently-shaped Hera-idols, the intaglios, the marvellous Mycenean pottery, and the archaic sculptures. His Majesty also examined attentively, in and around Charvati, the ancient quarry whence all the stones for the Cyclopean walls, the Treasuries, and other buildings, have been extracted, and went thence to Argos and Nauplia. His Majesty called here again to-day, to see once more the Mycenean museum and the excavations, and returned hence by Corinth and Calamaki to Athens.

After the departure of his Majesty, Mrs. Schliemann and I ascended, not without the very greatest difficulty, the very steep northern peak of Mount Euboea, now called Hagios Elias, which is situated immediately north of the Acropolis, and is crowned by an open chapel of the prophet Elias (see Plate II.). The summit forms a very small triangle, the eastern side of which is 35 ft., the two other sides, which converge due west, each 100 ft. long. It is full of rugged and pointed rocks, between which it is difficult even to move, and it can therefore never have been inhabited by men, the more so as there is no water. The only even and level place on the summit is in the south-east corner; it is but 10 ft. broad and 23 ft. long, and is occupied by a very small open shrine, dedicated to the prophet Elias. But in spite of its small dimensions, the summit is surrounded by Cyclopean walls, which are on an average 4 ft. 2 in. thick, and from 3 ft. to 6½ ft. high; but the masses of stones which lie beside them can leave no doubt that they were once much higher.

The entrance, which is on the eastern side, leads to a short passage. In the large stone which forms the threshold of the door is still visible the hole in which the lower hinge turned. At a distance varying from 16 ft. to 53 ft. lower are, on all the three sides by which the summit is accessible, Cyclopean walls, varying from 133 ft. to 266 ft. in length, and 5 ft. thick, which are still now on an average 10 ft. high, and appear to have once been much higher. From between the stones of all these walls I have been able to collect a large number of fragments of hand-made light green vases with black ornaments, which I consider as old as the walls of Tiryns and MycenÆ, because in the former place I found them in situ on and near the virgin soil, in the latter in situ only on the natural rock in the recesses of the gate-passage, and in the tombs. I conclude from this that the Cyclopean fortifications on Mount Euboea (Hagios Elias) must be contemporaneous with the walls of both cities, and may perhaps claim even a still higher antiquity.

The question now naturally arises, for what purpose all these fortifications have been built. The mountain being so high and steep, and the summit so exceedingly small and encumbered by protruding rocks, it can never have served as a fortress. Therefore the only explanation I venture to give of the origin of these Cyclopean walls is that there must have existed on the summit a small temple of great sanctity and immense importance, and by a curious coincidence we may even find in the present cultus on the summit the name of the deity who was worshipped there in antiquity. In times of great drought the inhabitants of the surrounding villages are in the habit of going thither on a pilgrimage in large crowds, the priests leading, to invoke the prophet Elias to give rain. And it appears likely that the very site of the present open shrine of the prophet Elias was in ancient times occupied by a sanctuary of the Sun-god, who had a celebrated cultus there, and who has given way to the prophet Elias, with hardly any change in the orthography or pronunciation of the name, the Sun-god having been originally called ???????, pronounced EËlios. This is a wonderful coincidence, because, as the name of the prophet is purely Hebrew (???? or ?????, meaning "Jehovah is God") it can have no affinity with the Homeric name of the Sun-god, ???????' which is probably derived from the primitive name of the moon's husband (perhaps Se?????) and is at all events purely Greek.

Only half an hour's walk in a westerly direction from the Lions' Gate, and close to the village of Phichtia, are the ruins of a small Cyclopean building, in the same style of architecture as the walls to the right and left of that gate, and probably belonging to the same epoch. This also appears to have been a temple. We likewise see, at an hour's distance in a north-westerly direction from the Lions' Gate, in a secluded valley, on the border of a deep glen, the well-preserved ruins of a quadrangular Cyclopean tower, of which every side measures 40 ft. in length; the walls are 10 ft. to 11 ft. high. At the south-westerly corner is the door, which leads into a small corridor and two chambers. On the outer walls are seen two gutters. The architecture is also very similar to that of the walls close to the Lions' Gate. Most likely this tower served the Myceneans for dominating the narrow pass by which the road leads from Argos to Corinth.

The present state of the excavations is represented by the engraved Plate VII. First we see, to the left of the spectator, the inner side of the great Cyclopean circuit wall, which is terminated in the background by the Lions' Gate, of which, however, there is only visible the reverse side of the great triangular slab, on the exterior side of which is the famous bas-relief of the two lions. The Cyclopean wall seen in the background to the right was part of an interior enclosure.

Further down, just behind the last man, is a Cyclopean wall, of which, however, only the small portion close to the Lions' Gate, with the chamber of the ancient door-keeper, can claim the age of the circuit walls; the remainder is much later, but anterior to the capture of the city by the Argives (468 B.C.). Before this wall is the labyrinth of corridors, two of which, at all events, are cisterns. To the left, close to the circuit wall, is the small Cyclopean house so often referred to, containing only one chamber.

In the foreground, below the feet of the workmen who stand upon it, can be seen the great double parallel circular row of slanting slabs, inclined inwards, which were covered with cross slabs, and served as benches of the Agora and as its enclosure. In the same line with this double circular row of slabs are the twelve small tomb-like water-reservoirs which we see in the direction of the Lions' Gate, and between which is the entrance to the Agora, 7 feet broad. Thence the circle of slabs slopes to the left of the spectator, from the rock to the Cyclopean wall (12 feet high), which has been built with no other intention than to sustain it, and to raise it almost to the level of its continuation on the rock; but as will be seen, nearly all the slabs in this part have tumbled down, and only a few have remained in situ. The wall which supports the parallel double row can be well seen, slanting down at an angle of 15° from the perpendicular, to the left of the spectator. The four sculptured stÊlÆ are hidden behind the large standing slab just in front; of the unsculptured tombstones, two can be seen to the right, on the side of the entrance to the Agora, and two more on the side of the two horses. Therefore the ancient Agora of MycenÆ comprises the whole space which we see enclosed by the great circle of slabs.

In the middle is seen, in the background to the left, part of the steep slope of Mount Euboea, on whose summit is the open chapel of the prophet Elias. In front, more to the right, is the great interior Cyclopean wall, crowned by the ruins of a tower, which gives to the Acropolis a particularly grand aspect. It forms part of a second enclosure. To the right there is a good view of the Mount of the Acropolis, on the slope of which remnants of inner enclosures can be seen in many places. All the walls which are seen lower down are those of Cyclopean houses, except the large supporting wall of the double parallel row of slabs, of which a small part may be seen in the lower left-hand corner. Below, to the right, are the ruins of the vast Cyclopean house, to which I have repeatedly referred, and which, though we cannot of course form a definite opinion, may well represent to an imagination enlightened by the vivid descriptions of Homer and the tragedians, the Royal Palace of Agamemnon and his forefathers.

NOTE.—I call the reader's particular attention to the Sectional Plan, B B, which shows the depths of the Five Royal Sepulchres, which are described fully in the two following chapters, beneath the surface of the soil, as it was before my excavations.