[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 mouthpiece 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 Page [289]
[CHAPTER X.]
CONNECTION OF THE FIVE TOMBS WITH THE ROYAL HOUSE OF PELOPS; AND DATE OF THE AGORA.
Discussion of the identity of the five tombs with those mentioned by Pausanias as the tombs of Agamemnon and his companions—Opinions of scholars about the Trojan War—The ancients unanimous for its reality—The author's faith in the traditions led to his discovery of Troy and of the five Royal Tombs at Mycenæ—The civilisation of Mycenæ higher than that of Troy—The pottery of both very primitive—Alphabetic writing known at Troy, but not at Mycenæ—The different civilisations may have been contemporaneous—The appearances in the tombs prove the simultaneous death of those interred, certainly in each tomb, and probably in all the five—Traditional veneration for the sepulchres—Monuments repeatedly placed over them—No tombs between the two circular rows of slanting slabs which formed the enclosure of the Agora and its benches—Agora probably erected when the tombstones were renewed, and the altar built over the fourth tomb, under the influence of the enthusiasm created by the Rhapsodists—These monuments buried in the course of time, but the memory of the site was fresh by tradition long after the destruction of the new city of Mycenæ—Testimony of Pausanias—The enormous treasures prove the sepulchres to be royal, but royalty at Mycenæ ended with the Dorian invasion—This must have been much earlier than the received date, 1104 B.C.—An objection answered—Honours paid to the remains of murdered princes even by their murderers—Custom of burying the dead with their treasures—The sepulchral treasure of Palestrina—The sepulchre of Nitocris at Babylon—Case of Pyrrhus and the royal sepulchres at Ægeæ—The sepulchre at Corneto [333]
[CHAPTER XI.]
TREASURE OF THE TOMB SOUTH OF THE AGORA.
Discovery and description of another tomb in the Acropolis outside the Agora—Its Cyclopean masonry like that of the five sepulchres—The golden trinkets of this tomb—Double-handled goblets—A plain gold cup (φιάλη)—Spirals and rings of gold and silver wire, like those of the Egyptian tombs—A golden seal-ring covered with intaglio-work—Its full description—The face-covers of the female figures prove the use of masks during life—A figure meant for a Palladium—Six other rude figures resembling the Trojan idols: their likeness to the "Corinthian helmet" of Athena—The work of this ring calls to mind Homer's description of the shield of Achilles—A smaller golden signet-ring, with four Palladia and three Hera-idols—A beautiful lion of massive gold—Gold necklace beads—Bones of animals found in this tomb—The human remains probably removed when the water conduit was built, but the small jewel-recess escaped being rifled—Three curious lentoid gems of necklaces, one found on the site of Phœnicé, the others near the ancient Heræum—The first represents Phœnician figures—Description of the other two—The Cyclopean foundations of the ancient Heræum, probably as old as the walls of Tiryns and Mycenæ—It was destroyed by fire in 423 B.C., and its site deserted—Professors Sayce and Mahaffy on the Date of the Capture of Mycenæ—Views of M. Emile Burnouf [350]
Telegrams to and from the King of Greece—Conclusion [380]