No. 474. Massive Golden Mask of the body at the south end of the First Sepulchre. Size 1:3, about. (For description, see page [312].)
CHAPTER IX.
THE FIFTH SEPULCHRE, AND THE FIRST AGAIN.
At length again a guard and watchfire on the Acropolis of Mycenæ—Exploration of the Fifth Tomb—Its sepulchral stêlæ—The tomb described; containing only one body—Golden diadem and other objects found in the tomb—Hand-made vases of terra-cotta; one with female breasts, like the prehistoric vases at Santorin and Troy—Wheel-made pottery—Excavation of the First Tomb completed—Its position and construction—Three bodies in it: the middle one has been disturbed and rifled of its ornaments—Large size of the bodies—Golden mask and state of the first—Wonderful preservation of the third—Its ponderous gold mask, face, and teeth—Description of the body—its remarkable compression—Golden breast-plate, and leaves of gold on the forehead, eyes, and breast—Excitement caused by the discovery—Measures taken to preserve and remove the body—Its shoulder-belt and bronze sword with crystal ornament, and disks of gold for the sheath: all special funeral ornaments, and not for ordinary use—Description of the golden breast-covers of this and the first body—Highly-decorated bronze swords and other objects found with the third body—Ornamented golden leaves, a wooden comb, and bronze swords, with the second body—A large heap of broken bronze swords, with knives and lances—Other weapons, chiefly in fragments—Amber and gold beads, and various objects of gold and silver—An alabaster vase—Wonderful plates of gold—The two massive golden masks of the first tomb—The skilled work argues a long-trained school of artists—Several large goblets of gold and silver—Objects in this sepulchre—A silver vase, with copper and gold plating—A drinking-cup of alabaster—Plates of gold, in form of double eagles, &c.—Fragments of silver vases; one with a gold mouth-piece and handle—A splendidly ornamented plate of gold, covering a cylinder of charred wood—Hundreds of gold button-plates, large and small, with various ornamentation—The new types shown—Gold plates, ribbons, and ornaments for greaves—Tubes and buttons of bone; their probable use—An ivory plate, and a curious object of glazed Egyptian porcelain—Hand-made and wheel-made pottery—Seven large copper vessels, caldrons and cans—A quadrangular wooden box, with most interesting reliefs.
Mycenæ, 6th December, 1876.
For the first time since its capture by the Argives in 468 B.C., and so for the first time during 2,344 years, the Acropolis of Mycenæ has a garrison, whose watch-fires seen by night throughout the whole Plain of Argos carry back the mind to the watch kept for Agamemnon's return from Troy, and the signal which warned Clytemnestra and her paramour of his approach.[351] But this time the object of the occupation by soldiery is of a more peaceful character, for it is merely intended to inspire awe among the country-people, and to prevent them from making clandestine excavations in the tombs, or approaching them while we are working in them.
Already while engaged in the excavation of the large Fourth Tomb, the results of which I have described, I explored the Fifth and last Sepulchre, which is immediately to the north-west of it (see Plan B and the Ichnography, Plate VI.), and which had been marked by the large stêlé with the bas-relief of frets or key-patterns resembling two serpents, and by an unsculptured tombstone, both of which were 11 ft. 8 in. below the surface of the mount, as it was when I began the excavation. At a depth of 10 ft. below the two sepulchral stêlæ, or of 21 ft. 8 in. below the former surface, I found two unsculptured stêlæ, evidently much older; and, only 3 ft. 4 in. below these, I found a tomb 11 ft. 6 in. long and 9 ft. 8 in. broad, which had been cut out in the calcareous rock to a depth of only 2 ft., so that its bottom is 27 ft. below the former surface of the mount. Unlike the other tombs, the four inner sides of this sepulchre were not lined with walls, but merely with large pieces of schist, which were placed in a slanting position against the low border of the tomb, and had not been joined with clay.
ONLY ONE BODY IN THE TOMB.
As usual, the bottom of the tomb was strewn with a layer of pebbles, on which I found the mortal remains of only one person, with the head turned towards the east, which, like all the other bodies, had been burned on the precise spot where it lay. This was proved by the calcined pebbles below and around the corpse, as well as by the undisturbed masses of ashes with which it was covered, and finally by the marks of the funeral fire on the walls of rock. Around the skull of the body, which was unfortunately too fragile to be saved, was a golden diadem, similar to those already represented, with an ornamentation in repoussé work, showing in the middle three shield-like circles, with flowers or a wheel in rotation; the remaining space being filled up with beautiful spirals.