224 carnegie institution 



Past Excavations. 



Greece. — Thirty years ago no archeological excavations worthy of 

 the name, according to present ideas, had been undertaken in Greece. 

 The best had been the uncovering of the great theater of Dionysus 

 at Athens, but this was not completed. The soil had been scratched 

 a little on the Athenian Pnyx, a little rubbish had been removed 

 from about the Parthenon, the French had spent six weeks in re- 

 moving the earth from the temple of Zeus atOlympia, less time had 

 been spent in clearing the sanctuary at Eleusis, many graves had 

 been opened by unauthorized persons, and a few of the tombs in 

 the Ceramicus had been opened by authority. Now, however, the 

 principal and most promising sites have been subjected to a careful 

 archeological search, and the list of places where important investi- 

 gations of this kind have been made would read like a catalogue of 

 the chief political, commercial, and religious centers of Hellas. 

 Dodona, the earliest seat of the worship of Zeus in Greece, was 

 discovered by Carapanos and excavated by him in 1875. Olympia, 

 the seat of a famous oracle and of still more famous athletic con- 

 tests — the chief common meeting ground of Greeks of all tribes, 

 whether their homes were in Libya, Sicily, Macedonia, or Hellas 

 proper — was excavated by the German Empire in 1 875-' 81 at a cost 

 of about $200,000. Only in May of this year the French handed 

 over to the Greeks the results of their excavations on the site of the 

 sanctuary of the Pythian Apollo at Delphi, excavations which in 

 their final stage lasted for ten years and which are said to have cost 

 about what was expended for the similar work at Olympia. The 

 site of the worship of Apollo at Delos was attempted by the French 

 thirty years ago and the work was continued later, but was not 

 completed according to modern standards, and it is to be resumed 

 by them within a few months, an American, the Due de Eoubat, 

 furnishing the money needed for this work. The ancient and hon- 

 ored shrine of Demeter at Eleusis, the seat of the Eleusinian mys- 

 teries, and the extensive sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus, the 

 chief seat of worship of the Greek god of healing, with temple, 

 theater, stadium, and many other accompaniments of a health resort, 

 has been excavated by the Greeks themselves rather gradual^. The 

 earliest and chief seat of the worship of Hera in Greece, the Argive 

 Heraeum, including not only the temples but also the neighboring por- 

 ticoes and other buildings, was excavated by the American School of 



