Mycenæ: a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and Tiryns

No. 437 shows one more can of the very same form, but only its upper part can be seen, because it sticks fast in another large copper vessel, and seems to have been welded to it by the funeral fire. Of the form of the lower vessel seven specimens were found; it has two handles standing vertically, each of which is attached to the rim by four large pins.

No. 438 represents a large and deep vessel, with three vertical handles, which are likewise fastened to the rim with thick nails; of this form also four were found, besides two specimens of a similar form of vessel, but with only two 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.

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.

Among the swords, ten were short and one-edged, of which I represent two under No. 442 and 442a; 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]

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. 445a), 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. 445c, is adorned with three flat golden pin-heads on each side.

I further mention a long knife, with part of its bone handle, the extremity of which has evidently had a curve; also, the blade of a short two-edged sword, showing at the lower end, on each side, four large flat golden pin-heads (No. 446). A gold plate extends all along the middle part of the blade on both sides, and remnants of the wooden sheath are visible in the middle as well as at the end. I need only mention the fragments of four two-edged sword-blades. The middle part of the one is serrated all along. The lower extremity of another is, on either side, plated with gold and adorned with three large flat golden pin-heads; the gold-plated part is very distinct. No. 447 represents one of several alabaster sword-handle knobs, each ornamented with two golden pins or nails. Nos. 448 and 449 are sword-blades, of which the longer one (No. 448) is very well preserved, and is 2 ft. 10 in. long. No. 449 has retained part of its handle, which is plated with gold and attached by gold pins; all along the surface of the blade we see vertical lines of intaglio work, which give to the weapon a beautiful aspect.

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.

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.

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.

CHAPTER IX.

At length again a guard and watchfire on the Acropolis of Mycenæ—Exploration of the Fifth Tomb—Its sepulchral stêlæ—The tomb described; containing only one body—Golden diadem and other objects found in the tomb—Hand-made vases of terra-cotta; one with female breasts, like the prehistoric vases at Santorin and Troy—Wheel-made pottery—Excavation of the First Tomb completed—Its position and construction—Three bodies in it: the middle one has been disturbed and rifled of its ornaments—Large size of the bodies—Golden mask and state of the first—Wonderful preservation of the third—Its ponderous gold mask, face, and teeth—Description of the body—its remarkable compression—Golden breast-plate, and leaves of gold on the forehead, eyes, and breast—Excitement caused by the discovery—Measures taken to preserve and remove the body—Its shoulder-belt and bronze sword with crystal ornament, and disks of gold for the sheath: all special funeral ornaments, and not for ordinary use—Description of the golden breast-covers of this and the first body—Highly-decorated bronze swords and other objects found with the third body—Ornamented golden leaves, a wooden comb, and bronze swords, with the second body—A large heap of broken bronze swords, with knives and lances—Other weapons, chiefly in fragments—Amber and gold beads, and various objects of gold and silver—An alabaster vase—Wonderful plates of gold—The two massive golden masks of the first tomb—The skilled work argues a long-trained school of artists—Several large goblets of gold and silver—Objects in this sepulchre—A silver vase, with copper and gold plating—A drinking-cup of alabaster—Plates of gold, in form of double eagles, &c.—Fragments of silver vases; one with a gold mouth-piece and handle—A splendidly ornamented plate of gold, covering a cylinder of charred wood—Hundreds of gold button-plates, large and small, with various ornamentation—The new types shown—Gold plates, ribbons, and ornaments for greaves—Tubes and buttons of bone; their probable use—An ivory plate, and a curious object of glazed Egyptian porcelain—Hand-made and wheel-made pottery—Seven large copper vessels, caldrons and cans—A quadrangular wooden box, with most interesting reliefs.

Mycenæ, 6th December, 1876.

For the first time since its capture by the Argives in 468 B.C., and so for the first time during 2,344 years, the Acropolis of Mycenæ has a garrison, whose watch-fires seen by night throughout the whole Plain of Argos carry back the mind to the watch kept for Agamemnon's return from Troy, and the signal which warned Clytemnestra and her paramour of his approach.[351] But this time the object of the occupation by soldiery is of a more peaceful character, for it is merely intended to inspire awe among the country-people, and to prevent them from making clandestine excavations in the tombs, or approaching them while we are working in them.

Already while engaged in the excavation of the large Fourth Tomb, the results of which I have described, I explored the Fifth and last Sepulchre, which is immediately to the north-west of it (see Plan B and the Ichnography, Plate VI.), and which had been marked by the large stêlé with the bas-relief of frets or key-patterns resembling two serpents, and by an unsculptured tombstone, both of which were 11 ft. 8 in. below the surface of the mount, as it was when I began the excavation. At a depth of 10 ft. below the two sepulchral stêlæ, or of 21 ft. 8 in. below the former surface, I found two unsculptured stêlæ, evidently much older; and, only 3 ft. 4 in. below these, I found a tomb 11 ft. 6 in. long and 9 ft. 8 in. broad, which had been cut out in the calcareous rock to a depth of only 2 ft., so that its bottom is 27 ft. below the former surface of the mount. Unlike the other tombs, the four inner sides of this sepulchre were not lined with walls, but merely with large pieces of schist, which were placed in a slanting position against the low border of the tomb, and had not been joined with clay.

As usual, the bottom of the tomb was strewn with a layer of pebbles, on which I found the mortal remains of only one person, with the head turned towards the east, which, like all the other bodies, had been burned on the precise spot where it lay. This was proved by the calcined pebbles below and around the corpse, as well as by the undisturbed masses of ashes with which it was covered, and finally by the marks of the funeral fire on the walls of rock. Around the skull of the body, which was unfortunately too fragile to be saved, was a golden diadem, similar to those already represented, with an ornamentation in repoussé work, showing in the middle three shield-like circles, with flowers or a wheel in rotation; the remaining space being filled up with beautiful spirals.

On the right side of the body I found a lance-head with a ring on either side, like that already shown;[352] also, two small bronze swords and two long knives of the same metal. On its left was found the gold drinking-cup now represented (No. 453). It has only one handle, and its ornamentation in repoussé work exhibits four horizontal bands, joined two and two, and ornamented with slanting strokes which converge in the form of wedges, so that the ornamentation of every two bands conjointly resembles fish-spines; and in order to enhance still more the beauty of these bands, the wedges of each two bands point in opposite directions. The whole upper part is ornamented with a continuous row of pointed arches, the joined sides of which are adorned with nine horizontal strokes. The handle is fastened with four nails to the rim and the body of the goblet. With the swords were found small rags of beautifully-woven linen, which, doubtless, belonged to the sheaths of these weapons.

In the same tomb was found a fragmented light green vase, 6½ in. high, of Egyptian porcelain, ornamented with two rows of protruding bosses, three in each row; also fragments of a light red vase of terra-cotta, ornamented with black spiral lines, and with two female breasts surrounded by circles of black strokes. Professor Landerer, who has examined and analysed a fragment of the former vase, writes me that the porcelain is very calcareous, and would be called in mineralogy "Thonmergel-schiefer" (clay-marl-slate); that the borders, examined with a magnifying glass in the sun, exhibit a gold-like and silvery glaze, produced by a lead varnish with which the vase was covered and which was afterwards burned in.

With regard to this vase with the female breasts, similar vases were found on the islands of Thera (Santorin) and Therassia, in the ruins of the prehistoric cities which, as before stated, were covered by an eruption of that great central volcano which is believed by competent geologists to have sunk and disappeared about 1,700 to 1,800 B.C. They are also very frequent in the ruins of Troy, where, however, most of them have also a navel and an owl-face.[353]

There were further found in this tomb, besides a mass of fragments of hand-made pottery, fragments of beautiful wheel-made pottery, ornamented with plants turned into spirals; and other fragments, which present on a light yellow dead colour a magnificent ornamentation of dark red spirals.

The mud in the First Sepulchre, whose site had been marked by the three stêlæ with low reliefs, having dried up in the fine weather, I continued the excavation there, and struck at last the bottom of the tomb, which is cut out in the rock, 17½ ft. deep on the north side, and 17 ft. deep on the south-east side. But from these points the slope is so abrupt that, although the upper breadth of the sepulchre does not exceed 10 ft. 10 in., yet the greater part of its west side needed only to be cut 11 ft. deep into the rock to make a level bottom. This west side is close to the Cyclopean wall, with the parallel double row of large calcareous slabs, which forms the enclosure and benches of the Agora, and rises vertically over the sepulchre. (See Plans B and C.) For all these reasons it appeared to me, on first excavating this tomb, that the wall passed through its north-west angle. But, by propping up with planks and beams the earth and stones which cling to the wall and overhang the north-west corner of the tomb, I have now cleared the latter in its entire length, and visitors will perceive that the wall does not pass through the tomb but merely touches its brink in the north-west corner.

The length of the tomb is 21 ft. 6 in., its breadth at the bottom is 11 ft. 6 in., and thus 8 in. more than at the top. The four inner sides were lined with a Cyclopean wall, 3 ft. high and 2 ft. broad; and this had superposed on it a slanting wall of schist plates joined with clay, which reached to a height of 6½ ft., and projected on all sides a foot more than the Cyclopean wall, and thus in all 3 feet on the bottom of the tomb. The latter was covered with the usual layer of pebbles, which were, however, more irregularly strewn than in the other tombs, there being places without any pebbles; which circumstance made me at first believe that there was no layer of pebbles at all in this tomb. But on careful examination, I found such a layer, and below the bodies I found it just as regular as in any other tomb, which circumstance appears to give an additional proof that those layers of pebbles were merely intended to procure ventilation for the pyres.

The three bodies which the sepulchre contained lay at a distance of about 3 ft. from each other, and had been burnt in the very same place where I found them. This was evident from the marks of the fire on the pebbles and on the rock below and also around the bodies, and to the right and left of them on the walls, as well as from the undisturbed state of the ashes. Only with the body which lay in the midst the case was different. The ashes had evidently been disturbed; the clay with which the two other bodies and their ornaments were covered, and the layer of pebbles which covered the clay, had been removed from this body. As, besides, it was found almost without any gold ornaments, it is evident that it had been rifled. This opinion is also confirmed by the twelve golden buttons, the small golden plates, and the numerous small objects of bone, which had been found together with small quantities of black ashes at different depths below the three sculptured tombstones which adorned this sepulchre. It is further confirmed by the fragments of the usual Mycenean pottery of later times, which in this tomb were mixed up with the very ancient hand-made or wheel-made vases. Most likely some one sank a shaft to examine the tomb, struck the body in question, plundered it recklessly, and for fear of being detected, carried off his booty in such a hurry that he only thought of saving the large massive gold ornaments, such as the mask, the large breast-cover, the diadems and the bronze, swords, and, in remounting to the surface, dropped many of the smaller objects, such as the twelve golden buttons, etc., which I found at intervals in digging down. There can be no doubt that this larceny occurred before the capture of Mycenæ by the Argives (468 B.C.); for, if it had been committed while the later Greek city stood on the top of the prehistoric ruins, I should also have found fragments of Greek pottery in the tomb; but of these I saw no vestige.

The three bodies of this tomb lay with their heads to the east and their feet to the west; all three were of large proportions, and appeared to have been forcibly squeezed into the small space of only 5 ft. 6 in. which was left for them between the inner walls. The bones of the legs, which are almost uninjured, are unusually large. Although the head of the first man, from the south side, was covered with a massive golden mask, his skull crumbled away on being exposed to the air, and only a few bones could be saved besides those of the legs. The same was the case with the second body, which had been plundered in antiquity.

But of the third body, which lay at the north end of the tomb, the round face, with all its flesh, had been wonderfully preserved under its ponderous golden mask; there was no vestige of hair, but both eyes were perfectly visible, also the mouth, which, owing to the enormous weight that had pressed upon it, was wide open, and showed thirty-two beautiful teeth. From these, all the physicians who came to see the body were led to believe that the man must have died at the early age of thirty-five. The nose was entirely gone. The body having been too long for the space between the two inner walls of the tomb, the head had been pressed in such a way on the breast, that the upper part of the shoulders was nearly in a horizontal line with the vertex of the head. Notwithstanding the large golden breast-plate, so little had been preserved of the breast, that the inner side of the spine was visible in many places. In its squeezed and mutilated state, the body measured only 2 ft. 4½ in. from the top of the head to the beginning of the loins; the breadth of the shoulders did not exceed 1 ft. 1¼ in., and the breadth of the chest 1 ft. 3 in.; but the large thigh-bones could leave no doubt regarding the real proportions of the body. Such had been the pressure of the débris and stones, that the body had been reduced to a thickness of 1 in. to 1½ in. The colour of the body resembled very much that of an Egyptian mummy. The forehead was ornamented with a plain round leaf of gold, and a still larger one was lying on the right eye; I further observed a large and a small gold leaf on the breast below the large golden breast-cover, and a large one just above the right thigh.

The news that the tolerably well preserved body of a man of the mythic heroic age had been found, covered with golden ornaments, spread like wildfire through the Argolid, and people came by thousands from Argos, Nauplia, and the villages to see the wonder. But, nobody being able to give advice how to preserve the body, I sent for a painter to get at least an oil-painting made, for I was afraid that the body would crumble to pieces. Thus I am enabled to give a faithful likeness of the body, as it looked after all the golden ornaments had been removed. But to my great joy, it held out for two days, when a druggist from Argos, Spiridon Nicolaou by name, rendered it hard and solid by pouring on it alcohol, in which he had dissolved gum-sandarac. As there appeared to be no pebbles below it it was thought that it would be possible to lift it on an iron plate; but this was a mistake, because it was soon discovered that there was the usual layer of pebbles below the body, and all of these having been more or less pressed into the soft rock by the enormous weight which had been lying for ages upon them, all attempts made to squeeze in the iron plate below the pebble-stones, so as to be able to lift them together with the body, utterly failed. There remained, therefore, no other alternative than to cut a small trench into the rock all round the body, and make thence a horizontal incision, so as to cut out a slab, two inches thick, to lift it with the pebble-stones and the body, to put it upon a strong plank, to make around the latter a strong box, and to send this to the village of Charvati, whence it will be forwarded to Athens as soon as the Archæological Society shall have got a suitable locality for the Mycenean antiquities. With the miserable instruments alone available here it was no easy task to detach the large slab horizontally from the rock, but it was still much more difficult to bring it in the wooden box from the deep sepulchre to the surface, and to transport it on men's shoulders for more than a mile to Charvati. But the capital interest which this body of the remote heroic age has for science, and the buoyant hope of preserving it, made all the labour appear light.[354]

The now nearly mummified body was decorated with a golden shoulder-belt (τελαμών), 4 ft. long and 1¾ in. broad, which, for some cause or other, was not in its place, for it now lay across the loins of the body, and extended in a straight line far to the right of it. In its midst is suspended, and firmly attached, the fragment of a double-edged bronze sword (see No. 455), and to this latter was accidentally attached a beautifully-polished perforated object of rock crystal, in form of a jar (πίθος), with two silver handles. It is pierced in its entire length by a silver pin. This little object has unfortunately been detached in removing the treasure from Charvati to Athens, and thus I represent it separately (No. 456). Together with the shoulder-belt and the little crystal jar was found the small object of rock-crystal (No. 457), which has the shape of a funnel. In the extremity of the shoulder-belt, to the left of the spectator, are two perforations; at the other end there has probably been a clasp, because there are no perforations; on the fragment of the sword we see one of those small shield-like or button-like golden disks, with an ornamentation of repoussé work, which have decorated the sheaths of the swords in uninterrupted rows, their size being always determined by the breadth of the sheaths. The disk before us is divided by three concentric circles into three circular compartments, of which the outer and the central one represent a number of ornaments resembling horse-shoes. A glance at this shoulder-belt will convince every one that it is by far too thin and fragile to have been worn by living men. Besides, I feel certain that no living warrior has ever gone to battle with swords in sheaths of wood ornamented on either side with rows of gold plates, which are merely glued on the wood. Thus, we may consider it beyond all doubt that a great part of all the golden ornaments have been expressly prepared for funeral use. There was also found an alabaster stand for a vase.