604 THE EXCAVATIONS OF CARTHAGE. 



date is known to within a century, as well as by the form of certain 

 pieces of earthenware, specially of some rather primitive lamps, resem- 

 bling - deep saucers, the edges of which are pressed together on one side 

 to form a channel for the wick. And this opinion concerning their age 

 is confirmed by the discovery of the pendant to a gold necklace, hardly 

 the size of a ten-franc piece, but admirably engraved with a legend in 

 Phoenician characters of the most archaic type. 



The farther from the center, the more recent the date of the necropo- 

 lis. The least ancient one, yet antedating the end of the Punic wars, 

 forms the right horn of the crescent, where the hills marking the north- 

 ern limit of the village meet the sea near the Turkish fort of Bordj 

 Djedid. It is especially interesting for the richness of its funeral access- 

 ories, in which the influence of Greek art predominates, and for the 

 remains of men contemporary with the supreme struggle of Carthage. 



The tombs usually consist of one or more funeral chambers connected 

 by a vertical shaft. They were sunk in the side of the hill to a depth 

 of 8, 10, and even 14 meters. To get at them it was necessary to clean 

 out shafts choked up and completely covered over with dirt heaps, make 

 subterranean passages from tomb to tomb, remove obstacles, and haul 

 aside, even blow up, great flagstones, barring the way to chambers — 

 all at the peril of a thousand difficulties, over which only energy stimu- 

 lated by the hope of discovery could triumph. 



One of the most beautiful tombs of the necropolis of Douimes is the 

 one called by Pere Delattre the tomb of Iadamelek, because the pend- 

 ant to a gold necklace found in it, near one of the skeletons, bears that 

 name — the name of the owner — following a dedication to Astarte-Pyg- 

 malion engraved in microscopic but perfectly clear Phoenician charac- 

 ters of great antiquity. 



A rock slab, 3 meters long by 50 centimeters thick, covered the sep- 

 ulcher, and Pere Delattre had to cut a passage through it and through 

 9 meters of earth before he reached the chamber, which he found intact. 

 He describes the sight that met his eyes in these words: "The walls 

 and even the flagstone pavement were overlaid with stucco. This 

 stucco, exceedingly fine and hard, had the white crystalline appearance 

 of snow. The flame of our candles made it gleam in myriad sparkling 

 points. Part of the glazing had become detached, and had fallen on 

 the skeletons in sheets; another part, still unbroken, leaned over like 

 a great piece of cardboard. The density of the stucco was such that 

 under the slightest stroke it gave out a metallic sound." 



The glazing did not reach the top of the chamber. Between the 

 stucco and the large stones covering the cave was a space of 19 centi- 

 meters, into which a wooden cornice and ceiling had once fitted, but 

 had now disappeared. The imprint of the fibers, and even bits of wood 

 sticking to the rock, could leave no doubt that they had been there. A 

 red thread 5 centimeters below the stones, which must have served as 

 a chalk line to bring the cornice and the ceiling flush with each other, 



