ARCII^OLOGT. 



20 



and difficult excavations, with rich discoveries 

 of much greater value and interest than his 



Ot lu-rs. 



I >r. Schliomann made his first visit to Mycenae 

 in 1HC.7, but did not then undertake any ex- 

 tended iii\-.-ti;;ation8. He found the well-de- 

 tin. (! ruins of the ancient Acropolis, which the 

 villagers call to-day the fort of Agamemnon, 

 while they show the treasury of Atreus as 

 A^uinemnon's tomb. The citadel is of irregu- 

 lar triangular shape, about 1,000 feet long, and 

 stands upon a small steep hill, between two 

 mountains. The outside walls still exist, stand- 

 ing from sixteen to thirty-nine feet high, ac- 

 cording to the nature of the ground, and hav- 

 ing a thickness of from sixteen to twenty-three 

 1'n't. Thi-y are built in some places of immense 

 invirular blocks of stone, with the interstices 

 filled up with smaller stones, but oftener of 

 polygonal blocks, so hewn as to tit snugly to- 

 gether; and in the neighborhood of the great 

 gate and in some other places they are of quad- 

 rangular dimensions, five to fifteen feet long, 

 three to five high, and three to six in thick- 

 ness. Within the walls there are terraces 

 rising toward the centre, supported by the 

 outside walls. A passage between the wall of 

 the citadel and an external wall, built to guard 

 the passage, leads up to the great gate, which 

 is situated on the northwest side. The gate is 

 constructed of two large slabs surmounted by 

 another. The gateway is ten feet high and 

 nine wide. Upon the cross-piece rests a trian- 

 gular stone twelve feet long and nine high, 

 Upon which are carved in low-relief the images 

 of two lions standing upon their hind-legs, with 

 their fore-paws resting upon an altar, upon 

 which stands a column, with a capital formed 

 of four circles inclosed in parallel chaplets. 

 This column is said to be the symbol of Apollo 

 Aggieus, the protector of portals. These fig- 

 ures are executed with great finish and fine 

 artistic feeling, in a manner more primitive, or 

 rather more Oriental, than the sculptures of 

 classic Greece. The pavement shows the ruts 

 worn by chariot- wheels, and the stones of the 

 gateway bear the marks of the bolts and hinges. 

 Another gate on the northeast side, formed 

 also of three stones,without sculptures, is seven 

 feet high by four wide. The surface was cov- 

 ered with potsherds and tiles, and the soil 

 beiow was full of these remains, as Dr. Schlie- 

 mann had an opportunity to observe in the sides 

 of a ditch dug by the peasants. The treasury of 

 Atreus, shown by the inhabitants as the tomb 

 of Agamemnon, is cut into the side of a hill 

 about three-quarters of a mile from the Acrop- 

 olis; it faces a deep ravine. A passage 147 

 feet long by thirty wide, between two walls 

 of hewn stone about thirty feet high, leads to 

 the grand entrance, which is thirteen feet hi^h, 

 with a width of six feet, and is covered with a 

 neatly-dressed solid block of stone, above which 

 is another opening of triangular shape twelve 

 feet in height and the same in breadth, with 

 traces at the base of the pedestals of little col- 



umns or statues. There stood until modern 

 times a column on either side of the entrance, 

 covered with richly-sculptured ornaments, in a 

 style similar to the sculptures at Persepolis. 

 The marks of bolts and hinges are seen in this 

 portal likewise. The interior consists of two 

 compartments, the first cone-shaped of fifty 

 feet diameter and fifty feet in height, the sec- 

 ond quadrangular in form, twenty-one feet 

 square. The walls consist of hewn stones 

 joined without cement, which are pierced with 

 many little holes, in some of which the bronze 

 nails, which they were made to receive, are 

 still remaining. These held the plates of pol- 

 ished metal, with which the chamber once was 

 lined. 



Dr. Schliemann carried on his excavations at 

 the citadel rapidly, employing 125 laborers. 

 Around the outer wall of the Acropolis he dis- 

 covered a circular wall about twelve feet in 

 height, topped with two rows of large slabs, 

 which he supposed to be tombstones. Inside 

 this circular wall the space had been filled 

 up with rubbish. Within this circle and near 

 the two rows of slabs were uncovered two 

 parallel lines of upright slabs, of which seven 

 only are still standing, being about three feet 

 apart, three in one row and four in the other, 

 the latter containing sculptures. One of these 

 has below two circles with spiral ornamen- 

 tations, and above a design representing a 

 man drawn in a chariot by a horse in rapid 

 motion ; in front of the chariot is another de- 

 sign of a man with a long lance, near whose 

 point is an object resembling an idol ; and be- 

 hind it is carved the head of a spear. Another 

 slab contains representations of serpents whoso 

 coiled folds form regular designs of great 

 beauty. 



Pausanias speaks of the sepulchre of Atrens, 

 and the tombs of the companions of Aga- 

 memnon who were slain treacherously by 

 ^Egisthos, and that of 'Agamemnon and his 

 charioteer, Eurymedon, in which were also 

 buried the twins, Teledamos and Pelops, chil- 

 dren of Cassandra, which were destroyed by 

 ^Egisthos, and that of Cassandra, which was 

 doubted by the Lacedaemonians. ^Egisthos 

 and Clytemnestra, he says, were buried with- 

 out the wall, being deemed unworthy of resting 

 within the sacred inclosure. Pausanias could 

 not have seen these tombs, which had long be- 

 fore his day been buried from sight. There 

 is every probability that these tombstones were 

 erected on the spots indicated by tradition as 

 the tombs of Agamemnon and his companions ; 

 the sculptures are apparently of the same style 

 as the lions of the gate, and different from any 

 other Greek remains. 



Below the row of three tombstones he came 

 upon a square tomb, 26$ feet by llf feet, at a 

 depth of fifteen feet or more below the surface 

 of the rock, and fifty- three feet at least below 

 the Acropolis. The wall which supports the 

 circular parallel rows of slabs traverses this 

 tomb, and hence belongs to a later age. The 



