THE GREEK BRONZES FROM TUNISIA 
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marble statues to beautify the interior; 
bronze candelabra that would have har- 
moniously lighted the great entrance ; 
statuettes that would give joy to the eye 
of the beholder, or smiles and laughter 
by their grotesque appearance ; furniture 
that would give ease and comfort to 
the luxurious Romans ; inscriptions that 
would be the pride of a man of letters 
for his library. 
Are we not right, therefore, in sup- 
posing that the sunken Greek galley of 
Mahdia was one of those engaged in 
transferring the trophies of war, con- 
quered by the Romans at Athens in the 
year 86 B. C., and that the entire cargo 
was composed of the spoils which Sylla 
was taking back with him, just as Mum- 
mius had taken years before, when he 
took for himself, his friends, and for the 
temples at Rome the spoils of Corinth? 
Those old Romans who counted on 
the safe arrival of this Greek galley with 
their art treasures did not take into con- 
sideration "Poseidon," the Greek god of 
the sea, or "Boreas," the Greek god of 
the north winds. 
The treacherous Mediterranean claimed 
this galley for its own. Driven out of 
its course by wind and sea, too heavily 
laden to be seaworthy, the galley was 
hard to steer. Heavy seas washing over 
her opened up a seam, and down she 
sank, with her priceless art treasures, to 
be found almost 2,000 years later. Who 
knows but that it was the anger of the 
gods of Greece for having had their 
temples desecrated by the Romans that 
caused the Greek galley to sink, thus 
saving for generations yet unthought of 
the wonderful Greek works of art that 
today grace the Museum of the Bardo, 
about three kilometers outside the walls 
of Tunis? 
Great changes have taken place in 
Tunis during the past 25 years. As a 
boy I remember the Palace of the Bardo 
as the residence of the Bey of Tunis. 
Now about half the palace, formerly the 
harem, has been turned into a remark- 
able museum for Phoenician, Roman, and 
Greek antiquities found at the countless 
Roman, Byzantine, and Phoenician ruins 
dotted all over the country. The ex- 
quisite collection of mosaics surpasses 
any other museum, and is, alas, not well 
known. Even the Eouvre and the Brit- 
ish Museum cannot be compared to the 
Museum of the Bardo for its Roman 
and Phoenician collections. 
Curiously enough, the land of Dido is 
coming to its own once more. A great 
empire is springing up in northern Africa. 
France, of all countries in the world, 
ranks first in her admiration for art 
and all things beautiful. It is therefore 
doubly fitting that within a few miles of 
the site of ancient Carthage is to be 
found under the French flag this mar- 
velous museum. 
It is impossible to adequately describe 
the great dif^culties in raising these 
bronzes and marbles from the sunken 
galley. The little sakoleve, or divers' 
boat, in which the divers work, was 
hardly larger than a Gloucester seine- 
boat, and the columns were exceedingly 
heavy. The divers had to work at a 
depth of 39 meters, or about 120 feet. 
The objects, when brought to the sur- 
face, had to be cleaned, for they were 
covered with a thick coat of mud, dirt, 
and seashells. It was impossible to tell 
whether an object was a bronze statue 
of human shape or a broken bit of a 
marble column. The missing parts had 
to be found and put together, and the 
greatest credit is due to Monsieur A. 
Merlin for his tireless energy and perse- 
verance in spite of every sort of obstacle, 
not the least of which was the absence 
of funds with which to continue the 
work. 
The French government is to be com- 
plimented on having a man like Monsieur 
Merlin as Director of Antiquities and 
Fine Arts in Tunisia. He is one of the 
great authorities on Roman and Greek 
inscriptions and has already done nota- 
ble work in France. 
The thanks of the author are due to 
Monsieur Merlin for his kindness and 
courtesy in giving him the photographs 
published with this article, and for 
much valuable information. Many of 
the above statements are quoted from 
his work, "Les Fouilles Sous-Marines de 
Mahdia." 
