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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[July, 



behind them, and their massive citadel is fast crumbling into ruins;— 

 and of the renowned and magnificent Sardis, the only uninjured relic 

 which has reached our times, is the sepulchre of the sovereign who 

 first raised it into splendour. 



To whatever part of the world we turn our attention, we find bar- 

 rows or tumuli in great abundance, and differing from each other but 

 little, either in construction or in form. They are generally conical 

 hillocks, of larger or smaller dimensions, constructed sometimes of 

 earth, sometimes of stone, in some cases solid, in others containing a 

 vaulted chamber. In our own country they are found in Cornwall, and 

 more especially in Scotland and the Orkneys, where they are known 

 under the name of cairns ; Dr. Clarke relates having met with them 

 abundantly in the Steppes, or vast plains in the south of Russia;— and 

 I found considerable numbers in Rouraelia, both north and south of 

 the Balkan, and also in Servia and Bulgaria. Jefferson (in his " Notes 

 on the State of Virginia,") describes many of them in different parts 

 of the New World; in Africa they are said to be not unfrequent; and 

 in Greece and Asia Minor they are seen in unusual quantities, and of 

 extraordinary dimensions. Having had the good fortune to visit 

 several of the more celebrated of these barrows, it may not perhaps 

 be wholly uninteresting to the Society to hear a short description of 

 the two which most deserve our attention, viz. those at Sardis and 

 Mycenae. 



To commence with the latter. The plain of Argos, in the N.E. of 

 the Morea, is an extensive semicircle of flat, and for the most part, 

 marshy land, situated at the head of the Gulph of Nauplia, and appa- 

 rently reclaimed from the sea at no very remote period, as indeed 

 mythological history plainly indicates. It is inclosed by a vast amphi- 

 theatre of hills, among which is situated Mycens, the city of Atreus 

 and Agamemnon, said to have been founded by Perseus, about 1300 

 B.C. Its remains are very accurately described by Pausanias, who 

 flourished A.D. ISO; though Strabo declares that in his time fB.C. 10) 

 no vestige of it existed, and that its site was entirely unknown. It is 

 not, however, easily to be found, even by those acquainted with its 

 general position ; for though myself and my companions were fur- 

 nished with the best maps, and travelled Pausanias i/l hand, it was 

 not till the second day's search that we were at length rewarded by 

 stumbling upon the Citadel, among the low hills near the village of 

 CJiarvati. 



The Acropolis of Mycenae is a rocky hill entirely surrounded by 

 walls, which in many parts are still tolerably perfect, and, except at 

 intervals, are of the oldest style of Cyclopian architecture. Of the 

 Pelasgians or Cyclopes, to whom all the most solid and stupendous 

 structures of ancient Greece and Italy are, by common fame, attributed, 

 we know almost nothing; nor has the profound and patient genius of 

 Niebvdir succeeded in throwing any material light on the origin, 

 history, or achievements of this singular and powerful people. Their 

 national existence would seem to have been almost terminated before 

 the commencement of the historic era; and many of the most ancient 

 and remarkable cities in Greece Proper and Magna Grecia appear to 

 have been founded by them, either while existing as an independent 

 people, or after their subjugation by other Greek tribes. 



It is not my intention to enter here into a description of the massive 

 monuments which bear the Pelasgic or Cyclopian name ; but it may 

 be important to remark, that they consist of three distinct styles, 

 which I should conceive to be referable to widely different periods of 

 time. The first, which appears to be the most ancient, consists of 

 walls formed of immense blocks of stone, roughly, if at all, hewn, 

 generally of a square or oblong shape, put together with little care, 

 and having the interstices filled up wilh stones of smaller dimensions. 

 To this class may be referred the outer walls of Tiryns, the Pelasgic 

 wall round the citadel of Athens, and a large part of the acropolis of 

 Mycenie. The second style includes those buildings which are con- 

 structed of enormous blocks of every imaginable shape, but most 

 commonly pentagons and irregular rhomboids, and fitted together with 

 the most scrupulous and beautiful exactitude. The galleries of Tiryns, 

 some fragments which surround the hill of Argos, and others near 

 jirpim, in the Southern Apennines, are the only specimens of this 



class I have seen. The third and most modern division of Cyclopian 

 architecture, is of a far more finished and somewhat less massive 

 character ; and the tomb of Agamemnon at Mycenae, which forms the 

 subject of this paper, is, as far as I am aware, the only instance of it 

 extant. 



The mystery which hangs over the origin of these massive struc- 

 tures, their singular appearance, and remote antiquity, all conspire to 

 render them most fascinating objects of research. But at Mycenae 

 our interest was more peculiarly awakened by the celebrated GaU of 

 Lions, the entrance to the Acropolis, and the one through which 

 Agamemnon led his army to the siege of Troy. It is formed of two 

 upright slabs of stone, 17 ft. high, and supporting an entablature of 

 similar proportions, viz., 15 ft. long, G'> ft. thick, and 4 ft. deep, hewn 

 out of a single block. Resting upon this entablature is a triangular 

 slab, 10 ft. high, containing in relief the figures of two lions, standing 

 on their hind legs on each side of a pillar, the summit of which has 

 been broken off. On the whole, it is a most magnificent gateway 

 and on gazing on it, we are at a loss to conceive how, in those remote 

 times, men could have acquired sufficient command of mechanical 

 agents, to raise and place such enormous masses. 



About 50 yards from the Gate, and outside the walls of the 

 Acropolis, stands the immense mound, which forms the more immediate 

 subject of these remarks. It is a large, round, conical hill, partly 

 natural, partly artificial, and considerably lower on one side than on the 

 other. On the side nearest to the Citadel an excavation has been 

 made, which succeeded in laying bare the entrance or doorway, a 

 structure of even more gigantic dimensions than the Gate of Lions. 

 On entering this we come into a large vaulted chamber, inclining to 

 the conical form, 50 ft. across at the base, and about 45 ft. high. 

 Adjoining this is an interior chamber of square form, and smaller 

 dimensions. 



The chief peculiarity in this beautiful monument struck me as being 

 the extreme neatness and regularity of the masonry. It contains 40 

 courses of hewn stone, aU admirably fitted together, but without 

 cement ; and it is, I should think, quite as perfect a specimen of work- 

 manship as could be produced at the present day. 



Great doubt exists among the learned, as to rchal this monument 

 really was— some calling it the Tomb of Agamemnon, and others the 

 Treasury of Atreus. Dodwell and Dr. Clarke hold the former 

 opinion, while Col. Leake and the generality of travellers are 

 strenuous advocates of the latter. The only authorities on which we 

 have to rely, are the description of Pausanias, and the plays of 

 Sophocles and Euripides. From V.ie former, it appears more than 

 probable that the Treasury of Atreus was ?i!ithin the Citadel; and 

 indeed we can scarcely conceive that any monarch who possessed a 

 fortress as strong as that of Mycenae, would deposit his treasures 

 anywhere but within its walls. Nou- the monument in question is 

 outside the fortifications, and therefore can scarcely be the Treasury of 

 Atreus. Again ; Pausanias places the Treasury near the spring Per- 

 sea, which in no way corresponds to the position of this tumulus ; 

 for the only two rivulets to he found at Mycens rise 100 or 200 yards 

 distant. Now we gather from different passages in the Eleclra of 

 Euripides, as well as from that of Sophocles, that the tomb of Aga- 

 memnon mas without the walls, (although Pausanias seems to indicate 

 the contrary,) for Sophocles describes Orestes as visiting his father's 

 sepulchre before he reached the gate of the Citadel; and in Euripides, 

 when Orestes relates to Pylades his nocturnal visit to the tomb, it is 

 expressly stated that he repaired thither without entering the walls. 

 Now the tumulus in question being without the walls, and being also 

 by far the largest to be found at Mycenae, may fairly be conceived to 

 belong to so celebrated a monarch; and to make assurance doubly sure, 

 we learn from Sophocles that the sepulchre (Taipoa) of Agamemnon 

 ?vas a mound or barrrow (Ko\»>'ij). 



I have unfortunately neither the classic lore, nor the habits of 

 antiquarian research, which could alone entitle me to form an inde- 

 pendent opinion on this controverted point. Certainly from consider- 

 ations above mentioned, I incline to Dr. Clarke's view of the subject. 

 But the decision of the question is now of little moment ; for whether 



