27 8 



and the Argolid and Leukas. Finally at the beginning of the Late Minoan age the 

 Mycenean or Cretan civilisation became dominant in the Argolid, and then spread 

 northwards, becoming supreme first in Boeotia and Phocis and later in Thessaly. 

 Apparently a backward and isolated Thessaly acted as a barrier behind which the 

 Minoan civilisation was able to reach its high state of development undisturbed. .; It 

 was not till the bearers of the Minoan culture had themselves removed this barrier by 

 trade or conquest that the way was opened for the hardy tribes of the north to overrun 

 and plunder the seats of an old established and wealthy civilisation. 



In Macedonia itself, the country- where we must look for the solution of some of the 

 problems indicated in the last paragraph, much exploratory work has been done. Many 

 prehistoric sites have been noted, and it is to be hoped that their excavation will not be 

 long delayed. We shall then be able to link up the prehistoric culture of northern 

 Greece with that of Servia and Bulgaria, where many important finds have already been 

 made. There are indications that the prehistoric folk of Thessaly were akin to the early 

 inhabitants of those countries, and this gives special point to the Greek legends of 

 Thracians in Thessaly and Phocis. Macedonia is rich also in remains of the classical 

 period. The French excavations in the island of Thasos have laid bare a large temple 

 on the acropolis, the city gates which were decorated with archaic reliefs, and the shrine 

 of Artemis Polo. Some important pieces of archaic sculpture have also been found. 

 Near Salonica a tumulus has been opened and found to contain a vaulted chamber tomb 

 with double doors of marble and wood,, the latter being remarkable for their fine bronze 

 ornaments. The tomb dates from the Hellenistic age, but unfortunately it had been 

 robbed in antiquity. Many new inscriptions have been found in various places. The 

 most interesting is a decree of the emperor Trajan, fixing the boundary between Macedo- 

 nia and Thessaly. In the course of the decree it is stated that it is based on a previous 

 decision of King Amyntas III, the father of Philip II, which was found inscribed in the 

 market place of Doliche. Another important regal inscription dated to the thirty-sixth 

 year of King Antigomis Gonatas contains three letters of his son Demetrius, then 

 apparently acting as regent for his aged father, sent to the governor of the city of 

 Berrhoea. 



(A. J. B. WACE.K \ 



CYPRUS ARCHAEOLOGY 



Since the close of the survey of Cypriote archaeology, in the E. B, (vii, 697 et seq.) 

 nothing of the first importance has been either discovered or published. A new Antiq- 

 uity Law, passed in 1905, has had the effect of restricting facilities for legitimate excava- 

 tion; but the Berlin Academy of Sciences has examined a site at Rantidi near Old Paphos. 

 Reports which appeared in the press in 1910-11 are exaggerated, 1 and have been in part 

 contradicted by the excavator; 2 but there is as yet no official statement of the results. 

 The earlier German excavations are also still unpublished. 



The general bearing of earlier work in Cyprus on the history of the island itself and of 

 adjacent mainlands is discussed afresh in Eduard Meyer's Geschichte des Alterthutns (2nd ed.) 

 vol. i, 2, 498-500; by D. Fimmen, Zeit u. Dauer der Kretisch-Mykenischen Kultur (Leipzig, 

 I 99); by R- von Licntenberg, Mitth. d. Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1906 and 1911, and 

 more popularly by M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Contemporary Review, Nov., Dec., 1912. 



Cypriote objects figure largely in the British Museum's Catalogue of Terracottas (1903), 

 of Jewellery (1911) and of Vases (vol. i, part 2, Cypriote, Etruscan, etc.). The pottery from 

 the British Museum's excavations at Enkomi is discussed in detail by F. Poulsen, Jahrbuch 

 d. Archaeol. Institute, xxvi (1911), and the origins of the Mycenaean style of pottery in 

 Cyprus and elsewhere by E. J. Forsdyke, Journ. Hellenic Studies, xxxi,.p. no. The 

 vast Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has been re- 

 arranged: uncertainty as to the circumstances of discovery does not affect the genuineness, 

 value, or technical interest of its numerous masterpieces: 3 a handbook is in preparation. 



1 In 1910: Phone tes Kyprou, June 25; Patris, June 23, 26; Tagliche Rundscliau, July 

 6, 7; Hellenic Herald, July; Times, July 27, Aug. 27, Oct. 18, Nov. 12. In 1911: Times, Sept. II. 



2 Berlin Philol. Wochenschrift, February 14, 1911. 



* Bulletin. Met. Mus. Art, June and Sept. 1909, Oct. 1910 (interim reports by J.L. Myres). 



