EXCAVATIONS AT (JOURNIA, C'llKTE. !'}(\] 



seasons of abuiulant rain like IDOli it ^ives <r()0(l yields of olives, 

 carobs, <rrai)os, and orain; hut in dry years like 11»01 it is parched 

 and fruitless. More fertile, because better watered, is the lovely 

 valley of Kalo Kliorio, which occupies the north^vest cornei- of the 

 isthmus, descending to the Gulf of Mirabello. Between Kavousi and 

 Kalo Khorio" the coast, though utterly barren, is wonderfully beau- 

 tiful. At Pachyammos there is a good beach; elsewhere stee]) cliffs, 

 alternating with coves, form a coast line as picturesc^ue as any in 

 southern Europe, and within these coves rest waters as clear and 

 rich in color as those of Capri. The main highway of Crete, con- 

 necting Sitia, Hexakleion (Candia), Rethymo, and Canea, follows 

 this coast and near Pachyammos meets the road that crosses the 

 isthmus from Hierapetra. Since the earliest times this isthmus road 

 must have been in constant use, for no other route across the island 

 is so short, so level, so direct. Halfway betAveen the two seas stands 

 Episkopi, and side roads lead east to Monasteraki, Kato Khorio, and 

 Apano Khorio, at the foot of the Thriphte Range, and west tc^ 

 Vasiliki and Kentri, situated on low hills. From Episkopi south 

 the loAvland widens, and, being Avatered by mountain streams, is 

 richly productive of lemons, oranges, figs, and mulberries, as well as 

 of the connnoner fruits and grains. This cheerful fertility continues 

 until the neighborhood of Hierapetra is reached, a region as barren 

 as the northern shore and far less interesting. 



From time immemorial the isthnnis has been inhabited, and yet it 

 is an interesting fact that with the exception of Hierapetra, where 

 the modern city is built above ruins of Hellenic and Roman cities 

 of the same name, the sites occupied at different periods are distinct '' 

 one from another. Men of the bronze age chose Ioav hills not far 

 from the sea; their successors, a ruder people of the iron age, had 

 strongholds on almost inaccessible mountain heights; (Jre<'ks and 

 Romans established trading stations on the shore; Venetians and 

 Turks built Avatch toAvers and block houses at commanding points for 

 the purpose of holding the unfortunate Cretans in subjection: mod- 

 ern Cretans still prefer the security of the hills, but a seaAvard move- 

 ment has already begun as a result of the peace and order that since 

 the liberation of Crete in 1808 haA-e prcA^ailed throughout tlie 

 island. * * * 



My first year's Avork on the isthmus of Hierapetra as Fellow of the 

 American School of Classical Studies at Athens has been described 

 in an article entitled " ExcaA^ations at KaA'ousi, Crete, 1900," jxiblished 

 in the American Journal of Archeology, second series. Volume Y, 

 1901, pages 125-157. Opportunity for a second campaign was given 



a KaXd(r) Xa)piu{y). beatitiftil A'illage, is aptly named. 

 6 Azoriv, Hill may be an unimportant exception to this rnle, 

 SM 1904 36 



