There were also found with the three bodies of the third sepulchre the small hand-made vessel of terra-cotta (No. 324), which shows, on a light yellow dead colour, the following ornamentation of a dark red colour: three circular bands and a spiral line interlacing eight circles, each of which contains a palm-leaf; every two circles are further intersected by two large round spots.

No. 325 is of alabaster, but looks as if it were of shell; it represents two hands joined together in juxtaposition and forming a hollow; all the fingers are distinctly visible. The use of this object is difficult to explain, it being too heavy to have served as a spoon or trowel.

In the same tomb I found a second piece of splendidly polished rock-crystal; its form is more than a hemisphere; it has a perforation in the middle of the bottom, and another on each side. Its interior has paintings of a lively red colour. Its use is altogether inexplicable to me; were it not for the paintings I should believe it to be the handle of a sceptre; but as it is, it can never have served as such.

There were found in the same sepulchre an entire but quite plain silver vase, with one handle; a broken silver vessel with a spiral ornamentation, and a broken plain silver goblet; also a silver vase ornamented with a horizontal row of twelve golden stars of repoussé work, but unfortunately so much broken that it cannot be photographed. I may further mention a large bronze knife with a wooden handle.

I also found in this third tomb the copper-plated mouthpiece of a large vase, which consists, according to Professor Landerer, of a composition of silver and lead; the mouthpiece has probably only been plated with copper in order to plate this latter again with gold. Further, an alabaster cup, a fragmentary bronze vase, two very large copper vases with two handles, a large copper caldron (λεβης), with two handles, and two others with three handles. All these objects are similar to those found in the fourth tomb, of which the engravings will be given in the next chapter.

There were also found here a large mass of fragments of hand-made or very ancient wheel-made terra-cotta vases; and lastly, a long well-polished stone of nearly oval form, which, in the opinion of Mr. Eustratiades, may have served as a weight to draw to a door.

CHAPTER VIII.

Further search within the Agora, without the guide of tombstones—Discovery of an altar of Cyclopean masonry, over the centre of the great Fourth Tomb, containing the bodies of five men, burnt where they lay, laden with jewels, and covered with a layer of white clay—Objects found—Copper caldrons, one containing 100 gold-plated buttons with intaglio work—Homeric mention of caldrons—A silver cow's head with gold horns and a gold sun on its forehead: it represents Hera—Cow-heads with axes—Swords and lances of bronze—Gold-plated wooden sword-sheaths and hilts with gold pins—Three masks of gold covering the faces of the bodies—A fourth mask, representing a lion's head—Two seal-rings and a bracelet, with ornaments—The state of art corresponds with that described in Homer—Golden breastplates on two of the bodies—Golden crown by the head of another—Golden ornament of the greaves—Borax used then, as now, for soldering gold—More than one δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον, and other vessels of gold and silver—The large gold goblet, with doves on the two handles, like Nestor's cup in the Iliad—Two-handled terra-cotta vases, hand-made, like those at Troy—Ornaments of alabaster—Gold shoulder-belts (τελαμῶνες)—Other objects found in the tomb, of rock crystal, amber, alabaster—Golden diadems, some seemingly for children; also a child's belt and frontlet, or "belle Hélène," and other ornaments of gold—Double edged battle-axes—their use by the Greeks as a symbol, especially at Tenedos—A funeral fork of copper—Vase-lids of bone—Vessel of silver and lead in shape of an animal—Buttons of wood, plated with gold, splendidly ornamented—Their patterns and workmanship—Hundreds of gold flowers, plain buttons, and other ornaments of gold—Larger gold buttons splendidly ornamented—Leaves of gold strewn under, over, and around the bodies—Wooden comb with gold handle—Gold models of temples—Many golden cuttle-fish—Gold knobs for sword-hilts, highly ornamented—Arrow-heads of obsidian—Boars' teeth—Large copper vessels—Custom of placing such vessels in tombs—A copper tripod—Uses of tripods in Homer—Bronze swords, lances, and knives—Some swords with parts of their wooden sheaths, alabaster handle-knobs, golden studs, &c.—Remnants of linen sheaths—Oyster-shells and unopened oysters—Broken pottery, indicative of a still existing funeral custom—The bones of the deceased—Alabaster vases—Hand-made and very ancient wheel-made pottery—Fragments of a characteristic form of goblet, both of terra-cotta and of gold—Another type of goblets—Two whetstones—A handle of unique work, gold encrusted with rock crystal, 'θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι.'

Mycenæ, December 6, 1876.

Encouraged by my success, I resolved upon excavating the whole remaining space within the great parallel circle of slabs by which the Agora is enclosed, and my attention was particularly directed to the spot immediately west of the sepulchre last excavated, although the site was marked by no tombstone. But, at marked variance with the colour of the soil elsewhere, I found here only black earth, which, at a depth of 15 ft., was already intermixed with nothing else than hand-made and most ancient wheel-made pottery, showing that the site had not been disturbed since a remote antiquity; and this increased my hopes of making an interesting discovery.

At a depth of 20 ft. below the former surface of the mount I struck an almost circular mass of Cyclopean masonry, with a large round opening in the form of a well; it was 4 ft. high and measured 7 ft. from north to south, and 5¼ ft. from east to west.[301] I at once recognised in this curious monument a primitive altar for funeral rites, and was strengthened in this belief by two slabs, in the form of tombstones, 2 ft. 9 in. long, and 1 ft. 6 in. broad, and a short column, which lay in a horizontal position below the altar, and which, in my opinion, must have once been erected on the spot to mark the site of a sepulchre. Fragments of beautiful hand-made or very archaic wheel-made pottery and knives of obsidian continued to be the only objects of human industry I met with.

At last, at a depth of 26½ ft., and at a distance of only 4 ft. 7 in. from the tomb last described, I found a sepulchre, 24 ft. long, and 18½ ft. broad, which had been cut into the rock to the depth of 6 ft. on its west side, 10 ft. on the north side, 8 ft. on the south side, and on the east side 6½ ft. deep, its bottom being 33 ft. below the former surface of the mount.[302]

It deserves particular notice that the funeral altar marked precisely the centre of this tomb, and thus there can be no doubt that it had been erected in honour of those whose mortal remains reposed therein. All round the four sides of the bottom of this tomb was, on a foundation of large common stones, a slanting wall, 7 ft. 8 in. high, of large pieces of schist, of irregular form, which had been joined with clay. This wall projected 4 ft., and thus considerably diminished the size of the sepulchre. As in all the other tombs, the bottom was covered with a layer of pebbles, on which, at about equal distances from each other, lay the bodies of five men; three of them were lying with the head to the east, and the feet to the west; the other two were lying with the head to the north and the feet to the south. The bodies had evidently been burned on the very spot on which each lay; this was shown, as well by the abundance of ashes on and around each corpse, as by the marks of the fire on the pebbles and on the wall of schist. The cremation of all the bodies on the layer of pebbles on the very bottom of this, as well as of all the other tombs, has been officially authenticated by the three government clerks, whom the Director-General of Antiquities at Athens, Professor Panagiotes Eustratiades, has sent here to assist me in guarding the treasures, as well as by the Professor of Archæology, Phendikles, who remained here two weeks with me, and by the thousands of people who flock hither from all parts of the Argolid to see these wonders; and, therefore, any one who doubts the exactness of my statements as to the cremation is requested to apply to the said Director-General or to the Ministry of Public Instruction at Athens.

The five bodies of this FOURTH TOMB were literally smothered in jewels, all of which—as in the other tombs—show unequivocal marks of the funeral fires.

Here, as well as in the first and third tombs, I have noticed that, for a reason unknown to me, the burned bodies, with their golden ornaments, had been covered, after the cremation, with a layer (3 in. to 4 in. thick) of the same white clay which has been employed to join the pieces of schist of the slanting internal wall. On this layer of clay was put the second layer of pebbles. Down to about one foot above the upper layer of pebbles, the work of excavation is not difficult, for we have merely to direct our labourers to dig here or there. But from that point we have to do the work ourselves; the task is exceedingly difficult and painful to us, particularly in the present rainy weather, for we cannot dig otherwise than on our knees, and by cutting the earth and stones carefully away with our knives, so as not to injure or lose any of the gold ornaments.

Beginning the excavation of the lower strata of this tomb from the south side, I at once struck on five large copper vessels (λέβητες, 'caldrons'), in one of which were exactly one hundred very large and smaller buttons of wood, covered with plates of gold, with a splendid intaglio work of spirals and other ornamentation. Three of the copper vessels measure 14 to 20 in. in diameter each, and have two upright handles; the fourth is of the same form, but has three handles; the fifth is a can, 1 ft. 9 in. high, with two handles, of which the one is nailed to the mouth-piece and the upper part of the body of the vessel, and the other to its lower part. These five copper vessels stood all upright, close to the southern interior wall.

We find copper vessels (λέβητες) continually referred to in the Iliad, together with tripods, as prizes in the games or as presents.[303] But they are generally referred to in the Odyssey as basins, in which the hands were washed at the sacrifice or before dinner.[304] They were also used for the foot-bath.[305] It deserves particular attention that three of the five copper vessels, and particularly the large can, show unequivocal marks of long use on the fire. It deserves particular attention that there is no soldering in any one of the large copper vessels found in this or any other of the Mycenean tombs; these large vessels consist merely of copper plates, solidly joined together with innumerable small pins. All the handles are likewise attached with broadheaded nails.

Close to the copper vessel with the gold buttons, I found a cow's head of silver, with two long golden horns, which I represent in the engravings Nos. 327 and 328.

It has a splendidly ornamented golden sun, of 2⅕ in. in diameter, on its forehead; in the middle of the head is a round hole, which may have served for flowers. I here remind the reader that the Egyptian Apis is represented with a sun between its horns.

The Mycenean goldsmith evidently did not understand the art of plating silver with gold, for, whenever he had to do it, he first plated the silver with copper, and then plated the copper with gold. He has done so with this silver cow-head, whose mouth, eyes and ears he had to plate, and, therefore, he first plated them with copper and then plated the copper with gold. On the mouth the gold plating is very well preserved, but from the eyes and ears it has almost entirely disappeared. There can be no doubt that this cow-head was intended to represent the goddess Hera, the patron deity of Mycenæ.

There were also found here thirty-five cowheads of very thin gold plate, like Nos. 329 and 330, which have a double axe between the horns. Six of these heads are quite well preserved; the other twenty-nine are all more or less mutilated. I also collected a great quantity of fragments of similar cowheads.

I shall discuss hereafter the symbol of the double axe, which occurs repeatedly in these tombs. I would here call particular attention to the three cowheads with long horns, two of which are of gold, and one seemingly of silver, which figure among the offerings in the wall paintings of an Egyptian tomb in Thebes, conserved in the British Museum; the two of gold are brought by Asiatics on golden vases, whilst the silver cow-head is offered by Egyptians. I further call attention to Mr. G. A. Hoskins's 'Travels in Æthiopia,' p. 330, where a copy is given of a wall painting of a tomb in Thebes, representing a grand procession, in which, among other presents, are rings and four cowheads with long horns, seemingly all of gold.

In further excavating from east to west I struck a heap of more than twenty bronze swords and many lances. Most of the former had had wooden sheaths and handles inlaid with wood, of which numerous remnants could be seen. Lying all along and in the heap of swords I found a large quantity of round plates of gold with beautiful intaglio work, and remnants of flat round pieces of wood, which had once, in unbroken series, adorned both sides of the sword-sheaths. The largest plate was at the broad end of the sheath, the smallest at the opposite extremity. The wooden handles of the swords had likewise been ornamented with large round plates, covered with rich intaglio work. The remaining space has been studded with gold pins, and gold nails can be seen in the large alabaster or wooden hilt-knobs of the swords. On and around the swords and the remnants of the sheaths could be seen a great quantity of fine gold-dust, which can leave no doubt that the handles and sheaths had also been gilded.

Some of the lance-shafts seemed to be well preserved, but they crumbled away when exposed to the air. Unfortunately the skulls of the five bodies were in such a state of decomposition that none of them could be saved; the two bodies with the head to the north had the face covered with large masks of gold-plate in rude repoussé work, one of which, unfortunately, has been so much injured in the funeral fire and by the heavy weight of the stones and débris, and, besides, the ashes stick so firmly to it, that it was impossible to get a good photograph of it. However, by looking at it for some minutes, one gets a tolerable idea of the features. It represents a large oval youthful face with a high forehead, a long Grecian nose, and a small mouth with thin lips; the eyes are shut, and the hairs of both eyelashes and eyebrows are well marked.

Quite a different physiognomy is represented by the second mask (No. 331), which shews a round face, with full cheeks and a small forehead, with which the nose does not range in a straight line, as on the other mask; the mouth is but small, and has thick lips; the eyes are shut, and the eyelashes, as well as the eyebrows, which are joined, are tolerably represented.

A third mask of much thicker gold-plate was found covering the face of one of the three bodies which lay with the head to the east.

This mask, of which I give the engraving (No. 332), exhibits again a totally different physiognomy: the wrinkles to the right and left above the mouth, and the expression of the very large mouth with thin lips, can leave no doubt that we have here the portrait of a man of more advanced age. The forehead is very large and so are the eyes, which are open and have neither lashes nor brows marked: the nose has been much pressed by the stones and is out of shape. In this mask is preserved part of the skull of the man whose face it covered.

The physiognomies represented by these three masks are so widely different from each other, and so altogether different from the ideal types of the statues of gods and heroes, that there cannot be the slightest doubt that every one of them represents the likeness of the deceased whose face it covered. Had it not been so, all the masks would have represented the same ideal type.

A fourth heavy golden mask was found at the head of another of the three bodies which had their heads turned to the east. This object was bent double, and looked so little like a mask that I took it for a helmet, and described it as such in my letter published in the Times of the 27th December last; but, having unbent it, I see that it has nothing of the shape of a cap and can only have been intended for a mask to cover the face of the body: it had probably been accidentally removed in the process of cremation. At first sight its engraving (No. 326, p. 211) resembles more a jacket than anything else; but, on closer examination, we find that it represents a lion's head, whose ears and eyes are distinctly seen. Being of the purest gold, it is so soft that several pieces have been broken away, as, for example, one from the vertex of the head, another from the nose, a third from the jaws, and a fourth from the mane, to the left of the spectator; but they are preserved, and can easily be added by an able goldsmith. But still, even in its present defective condition, the nose and the large upper jaws of the lion are distinctly seen. To the right of the spectator we see in the rim two small round perforations, and there are similar perforations in the missing piece of the left side. They must certainly have been used to fasten the mask on another object. I call particular attention to the disproportionately small and but very rudely represented eyes and ears of the lion's head.

Neither in Homer nor in any of the later classics do we find any allusion to the custom of burying the dead with masks representing their portrait, or with any masks at all. Masks of wood, which however represent but an ideal type and no portrait, are sometimes found in Egyptian tombs.[306] In a tomb near Kertch there was also found the mask of a woman, which may represent a portrait.[307] A bronze mask was found at Nola.[308]

I further found, with the three bodies whose heads were laid towards the east, the two large golden signet rings (Nos. 334 and 335) and the large golden bracelet (No. 336). Nos. 333 A and B show the inverse side of the rings. The surfaces of both signets are slightly convex; the one (No. 334) represents in very archaic intaglio a hunter with his charioteer in a chariot drawn by two stallions, whose eight feet are in the air and in a line parallel with the ground, to indicate the great speed with which they are dashing forward. Their bushy tails are uplifted, and are very natural, as are also their bodies, except the heads, which are more like camels' than horses' heads. There are no straps visible to attach the horses to the chariot, which is of a different shape from the chariots which we see on the Mycenean sculptures, for here the sides are cut out in the form of a crescent and are consolidated by three projecting beadings, which probably go round the chariot, at least on three sides. But the wheel is exactly like those on the sculptures, for it has only four spokes, which form a cross round the axle.

The two men are naked, and wear merely a belt round the loins; their uncovered heads show thick but not long hair; both wear earrings; their faces are much protruding, and are very archaic, particularly that of the charioteer, of whose body we see the full front view, though his head is turned to the right: his shoulders are too broad and angular, and are disproportionate to the rest of the body. The hunter, who appears to be much younger than his companion, leans over the chariot, holding in his left hand a bow; with his right he has drawn the cord, and is just in the act of shooting an arrow at a stag with long horns, which is running before the chariot, and seems to turn its head back, full of anguish. It deserves particular attention that the stag is represented in the air, and that its hind-feet are on the same level with the men in the chariot, while its fore-feet are much higher still. Otherwise the body of the stag is made true to nature. The object just before the horses' feet is meant to represent the flat ground, though it looks rather like a tree on account of the curve of the ring. The object above the stag and above the archer is a mere ornament, and is perhaps intended to represent the clouds; Mr. Newton thinks it represents mountains.

Still more interesting is the battle-scene on the other signet-ring (No. 335); where we see four warriors, of whom the one has evidently vanquished the other three. One of the latter, who is wounded, sits on the ground to the right of the victor, supporting himself with his hands. He has only a short helmet (κυνέη) on his head, and is otherwise completely naked. His beard is well shown, and the Mycenean engraver has taken great pains to represent the anatomy of the body; though he is sitting and with his feet stretched sideways to the spectator, yet we see the full upper part of his body in front without any perspective diminution.

The second vanquished warrior seems also to be wounded, for he is kneeling on one knee before the victor, whilst his other foot is stretched on the ground; but still he is fighting against his antagonist, whose breast he has seized with his left hand, endeavouring to stab him with the long sword which he holds in his right hand. I call particular attention to the large knob at the end of the sword-handle.

The wounded man is not quite naked, because we distinctly see on him a pair of trousers, which, however, reach only down to the middle of the thighs. His head would, no doubt, have been quite well proportioned had not the artist forgotten to remove a small particle of gold; by this a small white line is produced in the photograph, which makes it appear as if there were only a helmet and no head. If we imagine this small white line removed, we at once recognise the true proportions of the head, with its small helmet, which has an upper part (φάλος), but no λόφος or crest. Though this man is also kneeling sideways to the spectator, still we see his whole body in front without any perspective diminution.

The third warrior seems to have taken to flight; we see only his head and his feet, the rest of his body being hidden by an enormous shield, of a peculiar form, which, if the man were standing upright, would cover his whole body from head to foot. We see a border all around this shield, and there appears to be also some ornament on it, which, however, is difficult to distinguish. It is only owing to the curve of the ring that he is not shown standing upright. This shield represents to us, no doubt, one of the large Homeric shields, which were so enormous that the poet compares them to towers:[309]

This warrior's head is covered with a helmet, having a broad border and a large φάλος and attached to it the λόφος, from which a long and well-represented crest (ἵππουρις) is waving. He appears to have stopped in his flight, and, having turned his head, he is trying to thrust his long lance at the victor. This latter is of gigantic proportions, and has on his head a helmet similar to that of the other man with the tower-like shield; only the crest is different, consisting here of three straps which may represent ostrich feathers. He appears to wear a broad belt, because four long straps are hanging down from his loins: his body is the best proportioned of all. He seizes with his left hand the vanquished man before him, whilst with his uplifted right hand he deals him a deadly blow with a broad two-edged sword, on the handle of which we again see one of those very large knobs, of which we find here so many of alabaster or wood. The posture of the victor is perfectly faithful to nature; he is stepping with his left foot forward and leaning on it the whole weight of his body, in order to strike a more powerful blow. Above the four warriors is an ornament in which Mr. Newton may be right in seeing a rude representation of mountains. I may here add that both signet-rings are but very small, and could only fit on ladies' fingers.

When I brought to light these wonderful signets, I involuntarily exclaimed: "The author of the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' cannot but have been born and educated amidst a civilisation which was able to produce such works as these. Only a poet who had objects of art like these continually before his eyes could compose those divine poems." Mr. Gladstone has already proved beyond any doubt in his celebrated 'Homeric Synchronism' that Homer was an Achæan, and I am constantly bringing to light in the depths of Mycenæ thousands of additional proofs that he is perfectly right.

Highly interesting is also the very heavy, massive, golden bracelet, which I represent under No. 336. In remarkable contrast with the size of the signet-rings, it is so enormously large that it would fit on the loins of an ordinary man. It is ornamented with vertical strokes between two margins formed by two circular bands; and further with a beautiful flower of gold, which is not soldered directly on the bracelet, but is fastened with a silver pin to a plate of the same metal, and this latter is soldered on the ring. The silver plate, part of which is broken off all round, appears to have represented four flowers, and there are signs of its having been plated with copper, which has no doubt been plated with gold; because, as I have before stated, the Mycenean goldsmiths did not know the art of plating silver with gold.

The two bodies which are turned with the head to the east, whose faces were covered with gold masks, had also the breasts covered with large golden breast-plates. The one is of massive gold, but without any ornamentation; the other is of a much thinner gold plate and decorated with a repoussé work of two borders of small circles, within which are five rows of shield-like ornaments with concentric circles. This latter breast-cover has, at each of its extremities, a hole for fastening it to the body. Close to the head of another body, I found the beautiful golden crown (στέμμα, No. 337), but it must be distinctly understood that it is represented here head downward, because to that side which is shown here as the lower, were attached, with very small pins, of which six can be seen, a number of leaves, a few of which still remain; and if, therefore, the crown had been put round the head as it is shown here, the leaves would have hung over the eyes, which can never have been the case.[310] Thus, this crown had on its upper side the leaves, and on its lower a small border with small oblique strokes, the intervening space being filled up in the middle with three rosettes, intersected by vertical rows of very small shield-like circles, and at both ends with similar circles or with larger ones. At each extremity, there is a very small perforation, through which the crown was fastened by means of a thin gold wire. This crown resembles the one already shown (see No. 281), but its ornamentation is much less sumptuous.

No. 338 represents the thigh-bone of one of the bodies of this sepulchre, around which was still attached the golden band, which served both for fastening and ornamenting the greave (κνημίς). The band consists of two parts, the lower horizontal and the upper vertical; the former being attached by a fine gold wire, the latter by means of the ring which we see at its extremity and which must have been fastened to a button fixed to the short trousers, of which we have seen a specimen on the ring (No. 335). We have already seen[311] that the greaves were attached above the knee, and the existence of this greave-holder on the thigh-bone can leave no doubt that such was the general custom. The lower band is decorated all round with an imitation of leaves, and in front with two rosettes. On the upper band we see soldered a smaller and thicker one, with the unmistakeable intention to give it more substance.

While speaking of soldering, I may mention that Professor Landerer informs me that the Mycenean goldsmiths soldered gold with the help of borax (borate of soda), which is still used at the present day for the same purpose. He adds that he was lucky enough to discover this salt on the border of an ancient false medal from Ægina; that it was called in antiquity χρυσόκολλα ("gold cement"), and that it was imported from Persia and India under the name of Baurac-Pounxa-Tinkal. In the Middle Ages, it was imported by the Venetians from Persia to Venice, where it was purified and exported under the denomination of Borax Venetus.

There were further found with the five bodies of this sepulchre nine vessels of gold; the first (No. 339) being a large massive golden goblet with two handles, and, therefore, an Homeric δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον; it has no ornamentation. The two golden goblets, one of which is shown (No. 340), are, as Professor A. Rousopoulos observed to me, of the pattern called in Greek αὐλακωτά ("furrowed"), each of them being encircled by nine parallel furrows; each has only one handle. Another gold vessel (No. 341) found in this sepulchre, is a beautiful œnochoë, with a large handle, and decorated in repoussé work, with three parallel horizontal rows of spirals, united with each other and forming an interwoven ornamentation, which fills the whole body of the flagon with a net-work, and which, as Dr. Schlie remarked to me regarding the perfectly similar spiral net-work on the sepulchral stêlé (No. 140)[312] is in principle the same as the filling up with frets or spirals combined horizontally and vertically. The foot of the œnochoë is ornamented with small slanting strokes. I also found a gold goblet with one handle (No. 342), the body of which is encircled with a broad band of a plain ornamentation in repoussé work, resembling blades of knives. Further, a plain massive golden goblet of a new shape (No. 343) having one handle, which, like all the other handles, is fastened to the vessel with gold nails with broad convex heads, which can be seen on the inner side of the rim. If we take away the handle, this goblet resembles our present water-glasses, but its cup is larger and its foot smaller.

I would here call very particular attention to the fact that this golden goblet more or less exactly represents the form of all the goblets of terra-cotta found at Mycenæ (see No. 83, p. 70, and Nos. 84 and 88 on p. 71). It further deserves special notice that, as before stated, the British Museum contains, of perfectly the same shape, fourteen terra-cotta goblets found in the tomb of Ialysus. It is also worthy of particular notice that exactly the same form of goblet was found by me at Troy (Hissarlik), in a depth of 50 feet, in the most ancient of the four prehistoric cities.[313]

But the most remarkable of the vessels deposited in this sepulchre is an enormous massive golden goblet with two handles—δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον—weighing four pounds troy (No. 344).[314] It is one of the most splendid jewels of the Mycenean treasure; but, unfortunately, it has been crumpled up by the ponderous weight of the stones and débris, and its body has been compressed upon the foot, so that the spectator cannot fully realise from the engraving the magnificence of this royal cup. Any goldsmith might easily restore it to its former shape, but I think it would be far better to leave it as it is, because it has thus a far higher value to science; and, as a general rule, I may remark that the less ancient jewels of gold are touched and handled, the better, because their great value lies in the tarnish of antiquity—the "patina"—which no human hand can imitate, and which, when once lost, can never be restored.

The body of this costly goblet is encircled by a row of fourteen splendid rosettes, between an upper band of three lines, and a lower one of two; the foot, by a band of large protruding globular points. Not only the flat sides of the handles, but even their edges, are ornamented. Here also may be seen the heads of the golden pins with which the handles are attached to the rim and body.

No. 345 (p. 236) represents a plain, large, massive golden goblet, with one handle, of which the side turned to the spectator is much crumpled and compressed; it has no other ornament than a thick, protruding band, by which the body is encircled.

The splendid massive golden goblet (No. 346, p. 237) is also defaced, having been pressed over to the left side of the spectator. It has two horizontal handles, each formed by thick plates, which are joined by a small cylinder. The lower plate of each of these handles is attached to the large round foot by a long broad thick gold band, whose upper part is embellished with a long opening, the upper end of which is pointed, the lower being round. The lower part of the band is, for a like purpose, cut out into three straps, which join again on the foot of the goblet, where the band is fastened with two golden pins, with broad flat round heads, which can be seen in the engraving. On each upper plate of the two handles is soldered a beautiful little golden pigeon, apparently of cast-work, with the beak turned towards the goblet, so that the two pigeons are looking at each other. This goblet vividly reminds us of Nestor's cup.[315]

Homer's description of this Nestorian goblet fully answers to the vase before us, except that the former is much larger and has four handles, each with two pigeons, instead of only two handles, each with but one pigeon, as our engraving shows. The Nestorian goblet had two bottoms, and so has our goblet, because it is impossible to understand by "two bottoms" anything else than the bottom of the goblet and the bottom of its foot. The usual explanation of the Nestorian goblet, as having an upper and a lower cup (the form also attributed to all the Homeric δέπα ἀμφικύπελλα), is altogether erroneous. A goblet of such a shape would have only one bottom common to its two cups, and it could not, therefore, answer the requirements of the Homeric description. Further, as such a double goblet could at all events be filled only on one side at a time, there would be no raison d'être for the two cups in opposite directions. Besides, whenever a goblet with wine is presented by one person to another, Homer clearly always means it to be understood that it is a δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον, namely, that it is double-handled, and that, being presented with the one handle, it is received by the other. I may mention, besides, that no goblet with an upper and a lower cup has ever yet been found, while I found twenty differently-shaped goblets with two handles at Troy, and a large number of double-handled goblets at Mycenæ, all of which can be nothing else than δέπα ἀμφικύπελλα.

Athenæus[316] lays great weight on the explanation of the Nestorian goblet, as given by a certain Apelles, who maintained that it was nothing else than a goblet with a foot, on two sides of which latter were soldered two bands (of metal), which had a common base, and stood vertically not far from each other. These bands reached to above the mouth of the goblet, and were bent over and joined again in one sole piece, which was soldered to the rim. Apelles maintained that by the four handles of the Nestorian goblet, Homer could mean nothing else than these handles, which were properly but two, but were called four, in consequence of being divided. Thus, as there were only two pigeons at the juncture of each of those two metal bands, the Nestorian goblet had in all only four pigeons. This explanation of Apelles very nearly answers to the shape of the goblet before us.

I would also suggest that the shape of the Nestorian goblet may be imagined as perfectly similar to the goblet before us, because this really has four handles; namely, the two horizontal ones, on which the pigeons lie, and the two lower ones which are produced by the thick vertical straps, which join them at the foot. If so, the only difference would be that Nestor's goblet had one more pigeon on each of these double handles. But the question is what that goblet was made of. Probably it was of wood and studded with gold nails; because, if it had been of gold or some other metal, it is difficult to suppose that it could have been studded with gold nails.