Having dug down to a depth of 10½ ft., I was stopped by heavy rain, which turned the soft earth in the tomb to mud, and I therefore took out the two unsculptured tombstones of the second line, which stood due east of the three sculptured ones, and at a distance of 20 ft. from them. One of these tombstones was 5 ft., the other 5 ft. 4 in., long. In excavating around them I found another tomb cut in the rock, 11 ft. 8 in. broad, and in length 21 ft. 3 in. on one side, and 19 ft. 8 in. on the other. It was entirely filled with unmixed natural earth, which had been brought from another place. At from 2 to 2½ ft. below the two tombstones I found the fragments of two other tombstones, also unsculptured, which appeared to be older.
THREE BODIES IN THE SECOND TOMB.
At a depth of 15 ft. below the level of the rock, or of 25 ft. below the former surface of the ground, as I found it when I began the excavations, I reached a layer of pebbles, below which I found, at a distance of three feet from each other, the remains of three human bodies, all with the head turned to the east and the feet to the west. They were only separated from the surface of the levelled rock by another layer of small stones on which they were lying, and they had evidently been burned simultaneously in the very same place where they lay. The masses of ashes of the clothes which had covered them, and of the wood which had partially or entirely consumed their flesh, as well as the colour of the lower layer of stones and the marks of the fire and the smoke on the stone wall, which at the bottom of the sepulchre lined all the four sides—can leave no doubt whatever on this point; nay more, there were the most unmistakable marks of three distinct funeral piles. The wall, which at the bottom of the tomb lined its four sides, consisted of pretty large stones joined without any binding material; it was 5 ft. high and 1 ft. 8 in. thick. The small stones with which the bottom of the sepulchre was strewn can, in my opinion, have had no other object than to procure ventilation to the funeral pyres. These could not have been large, and had evidently been intended to consume merely the clothes and partly or entirely the flesh of the deceased; but no more, because the bones and even the skulls had been preserved; but these latter had suffered so much from the moisture, that none of them could be taken out entire.
On every one of the three bodies I found five diadems of thin gold-plate, like those to be presently described,[272] each 19½ in. long, and 4 in. broad in the middle, from which it gradually diminishes to a point at both ends. The pointed ends have been broken off, but, as several of the other diadems have such points, there can be no doubt that all had been fashioned in the same way. All the diadems were piped with copper wires in order to give them more solidity, and a great many fragments of those copper wires were found. All the fifteen diadems show the very same ornamentation of repoussé work, consisting of a border of two lines on either side, between which we see a row of treble concentric circles, which increase or diminish in size according to the breadth of the diadem, the largest circle being in the middle. Between these treble circles is on either side a row of smaller double concentric circles, which likewise increase or diminish in size in proportion to the breadth of the diadems. As well in the larger treble as in the smaller double circles, the central or innermost circle is always hammered so as to protrude, which gives to the diadems a splendid aspect. The diadems had at one end a pin (ἔμβολον), and at the other a tube (αἀλίσκος) by means of which they were fixed round the head; of course in such a way that the largest treble circle was just in the middle of the forehead.
I further found with two of the bodies ten very thin golden crosses (five with each body), formed of laurel leaves (No. 231); with the third body there were only four of them. Each of these crosses is 7½ in. long; the breadth of the leaves is 1⅔ in. The leaves of all the fourteen crosses have also been piped with thin copper wire, to give them more firmness. The ornamentation of the leaves is likewise of repoussé work. It presents all round the leaves a small border formed by a line, on which lies an uninterrupted row of double concentric ovals in a slanting position, which are probably also meant to represent leaves. In this way the whole leaf is encircled by a broad band of such double ovals or leaves, and the space left is filled up with three double concentric circles.
No. 231. A cross of golden laurel leaves. Sepulchre II. Size 4:5, about.
TUBES OF COBALT GLASS.
I also found with the bodies many curious objects; for example, small cylinders with a small tube throughout their length, as well as square pieces composed of four such cylinders, of which however only those at the two extremities have perforations. All these things have a greyish-white colour, and consist of a very soft matter, which falls into dust when pressed but softly with the hand. In the interior of each cylinder there is a hard, blue transparent tube, which Professor Landerer has analysed and found to consist of cobalt glass. Within the blue tube again is a small thin white tube, which shines like silver, and Professor Landerer has found it to consist of a glassy substance containing lead (bleihaltig). According to Professor Landerer, this discovery proves that the ancient Myceneans knew the colouring of glass as well as the art of encompassing a tube of glass with a second and a third one.[273] He assures me that the analysis of Egyptian glass has given the same result, and he supposes that the cobalt-glasses were derived from Egypt. He further mentions that all present blue-coloured glasses are of such cobalt-glass. All these cylinders and square pieces of four cylinders must have served as ornaments of the corpses.