[660] I am not aware that representations of Shardina have yet been found in Crete. Note must be taken however of the porcelain fragment found in the third shaft-grave at Mycenae (cf. p. [191], note 4). The date of these shaft-graves can scarcely be much later than that of the destruction of the palace at Cnossos. Indeed it appears to be the prevalent view at present that they date from 'Late Minoan I,' i.e. before the palace-period; cf. Forsdyke, Journ. Hell. St., XXXI 116, Hall, ib., 119. If this is correct the porcelain fragment must of course be much older than the earliest Egyptian references to the Shardina.
[661] The use of the word ḳrn·t in the great Karnak inscription of Merenptah has given rise to much disagreement among Egyptologists. Prof. Breasted (Ancient Records, Egypt, III p. 247 note) understands from it that the Shardina and their confederates were circumcised. But the allusion is clearly to something which differentiated these peoples from the Libyans. The Libyans themselves however are believed to have practised circumcision (cf. Meyer, Gesch. d. Alt.2, I § 167).
[662] Cf. pp. 190 (note 2), 247. For further references see Hall, Journ. Hell. St., XXXI 119 ff. In particular note should be taken of the fact that the feather head-dress is worn by Ionian or Carian mercenaries on a monument of Sennacherib (ib., p. 122 f.). Sir A. J. Evans (op. cit., pp. 24 ff., 285 ff.) attributes the Phaistos disk—on which this type of head-dress first occurs—to the south-west of Asia Minor. In this connection however it is perhaps worth calling to mind that according to Thucydides (I 4, 8; cf. Herodotus, I 171) the Cyclades also were originally inhabited by Carians. The reference is perhaps properly to the Leleges, a people who may have been nearly related to the Lycians.
[663] The Pulesatha are represented as beardless, whereas many of the Shardina wear beards. More important however is the difference in physiognomy between the two types. It has been observed that the Pulesatha approximate very closely to the Greek type of classical times.
[664] Attempts have been made to find traces of the Shardina in the 'nuraghi' of Sardinia and the burial-places adjacent to them; but, so far as I am aware, no definite evidence in favour of this connection has yet been obtained beyond the fact that a number of statuettes with horned helmets have been found in the island. The chief argument against the western origin of the Shardina is the absence of evidence, either in history or tradition, for movements of population or even for cultural influence from this quarter—at least until Roman times—whereas evidence is abundant not only for cultural influence in the reverse direction but also for settlements both of 'Illyrians' and Greeks in Italy. On the other hand it is perhaps worth noting that a helmet somewhat similar to that of the Shardina survived in historical times among the Thracians (cf. Herodotus VII 76). Further, from Il. XIII 576 f. we may probably infer that the Thracian peoples had early become famous for the manufacture of weapons. Influence from this quarter may have made its way into Greece by more than one channel. But it should be observed that Homeric poetry shows some acquaintance with the districts to the north of Epeiros and Thessaly. In particular note should be taken of certain personal names derived from names of peoples in this region, e.g. Πελάγων, Ὀρέστης, Θυέστης. It is perhaps not without significance that the two latter of these occur in the most important of the Achaean families, while the antiquity of the last is guaranteed by the aspirate (as against Δυέσται).
[665] The extent of these movements may be estimated by the number of names which occur both in the Balkan peninsula and on the east side of the Aegean, e.g. Brygoi (Phryges), Dardanoi, Moisoi (Mysoi), Mygdones, Sintoi (Sinties), Pelasgoi; and it is not to be overlooked that on the European side most of these names occur in the basins of the Axios and Strymon or the region between them. Attention should be paid also to the common element in place-names, more especially to those (e.g. Πέργαμος) which occur in the islands (Crete, etc.) as well as in the two areas under discussion; for they seem to indicate that the movements from the Balkan peninsula were not confined to the Asiatic mainland. Even in Asia Minor itself however the Thraco-Phrygian movements may at first have affected a much larger area than that in which languages of this type survived in historical times. Herodotus (I 171) states that on the ground of common ancestry the Carians allowed Lydians and Mysians to use the temple at Mylasa—a privilege which they did not concede to other peoples, even to those who spoke the same language as themselves. This passage is usually interpreted as pointing to a traditional religious federation of the indigenous peoples. But it is a serious objection to this view that the Mysians were clearly of European origin. If the Lydian and Carian languages were non-Indo-European, as is commonly believed, they may have been taken over from indigenous peoples such as the Caunioi, whose language was similar to that of the Carians and who seem to have been among the peoples excluded from the temple at Mylasa. The possibility that the Carian language belonged originally to the Caunioi is suggested by Herodotus himself.
[666] In particular note may be taken of the absence of national names for the populations of several of the most important kingdoms; cf. p. [389], note.
[667] It may be observed also that some seven centuries elapsed between the settlement of the Servians on the lower Danube and the beginning of their (first) Heroic Age. This latter period was of course accompanied by an extension of the area occupied by the Servians, though the newly won territories were subsequently lost through the Turkish conquest.
[668] Vand. II 6: ἐθνῶν γὰρ ἁπάντων ὧν ἴσμεν ἡμεῖς ἁβρότατον μὲν τὸ τῶν Βανδίλων.... βαλανείοις τε οἱ ξύμπαντες ἐπεχρῶντο ἐς ἡμέραν ἑκάστην καὶ τραπέζῃ ἅπασιν εὐθηνούσῃ, ὅσα δὴ γῆ τε καὶ θάλασσα ἥδιστά τε καὶ ἄριστα φέρει. ἐχρυσοφόρουν δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον, καὶ Μηδικὴν ἐσθῆτα, ἣν νῦν Σηρικὴν καλοῦσιν, ἀμπεχόμενοι.... καὶ ᾤκηντο μὲν αὐτῶν οἱ πολλοὶ ἐν παραδείσοις, ὑδάτων καὶ δένδρων εὖ ἔχουσι, κ.τ.λ.
[669] We may compare the force led by Agamemnon against Troy and the great mixed host encountered by Rameses III (cf. p. [188]).