DI CESNOLAS DISCOVERIES AT CURIUM. 69 



square walls like the following sketch, the roof in every instance being 

 composed only of three large slabs ; and the other, with the roof in the 

 form of what we call in the American army a "wall tent." These tombs, 

 the construction of which must have cost a large amount of money and 

 much labor, probably belonged to the royal and aristocratic families of 

 Amathus. Those of but one room have always one, often two, and some- 

 times three, sarcophagi inside. When with one only, it is invariably found 

 placed in the centre of the room; when two they are placed to the right 

 and left of the entrance, with their heads toward the wall. When three 

 are found inside, two are placed, as before stated, to the right and left, and 

 the third one near the wall, opposite the door. 



" The position of the sarcophagi inside these tombs never varies, whether 

 the latter have one, two or four chambers. In one composed of two rooms, 

 for instance, I found as many as ten sarcophagi. Foiir sarcophagi were 

 deposited in the first, and six in the second room. Their position was 

 exactly as described before, with this difference, that the five extra sar- 

 cophagi were superposed to the other five. All were made of calcareous 

 stone, "v^ithout any ornament. 



"]^o tombs were discovered with more than four rooms ; and of these 

 only two, one of which contained the sculptured sarcophagus of which I 

 sent a photograph to the president of the Metropolitan Museum. The 

 sculptured sarcophagus was in the centre of the inner room facing the 

 entrance, and there lay in a heap, broken to pieces by the Yandals who, 

 centuries ago, had opened this tomb, and being perhaps disappointed in 

 finding the treasure they sought, wreaked their vengeance upon this rare 

 gem of Oriental art and of pure Cypriote manufacture. Fortunately, how- 

 ever, the stone of which it is composed being soft, it is easy to restore it. 

 In the adjacent chambers were two plain sarcophagi, both of which had 

 suffered in like manner. The discovery of this tomb seems to have been 

 due originally to mere chance, as an opening was found pierced through the 

 roof, by which the descent was made. 



"At what epoch this occurred it is difficult to determine, though some 

 rude figures traced upon the walls seemingly with lamp smoke, and bearing 

 in one case semblance to a knight, would indicate the presence of soldiers 

 of the army of the Crusaders. 



'fThe roofs of the four rooms are flat, and, as I said elsewhere, each is 

 composed of three large stones. The first, or entrance chamber, is nine 

 feet seven inches high, thirteen feet four inches long, and eight feet three 

 inches wide. The tomb was discovered at a depth of thirty-nine and a 

 half feet from the surface of the soil, the door facing the west. The three 

 latei'al chambers are each eight feet nine inches in length, seven feet ten 

 inches in height, and eight feet two inches in width. The sarcophagi in all 

 these tombs were j)laced on a very fine pavement of square stones, except 

 in one tomb, in which I discovered a beautiful sarcophagus of fine white 

 marble, having sculptured upon it a female head of colossal proportions in 



