Since my last report we have not found any kind of interesting antiquities worth mentioning on the whole of the east side of the Tower; but in the large new excavation to the north-east of the Tower-road we have discovered a great quantity of exceedingly curious articles. The ruins of the Greek colony here extend exactly to a depth of 6½ feet, and there I found a fragment of pottery with painted Egyptian hieroglyphics, of which I give a drawing. Three other pieces of pottery were found at a depth of 10 feet. One of these represents an owl’s face, a 卐 and the impressions of the four nails for fixing it; the second fragment has a 卐 in which each of the four ends again terminates in a square; the third fragment represents a wheel in a state of rotation. At a depth of 6½ feet we also came upon a terra-cotta idol with the owl’s face and the upraised arms, which are broken off, but appear to have been longer. This idol, like all the others, has a human figure: the owl’s beak and eyes project from the head and have been carefully wrought; there are indications of hair on the forehead, and two lines on the neck seem to denote armour. At the same depth I found the bottom of a dish, upon which there is a representation in high relief of two youths embracing and kissing each other; this is a most masterly piece of work. At a depth of 5 feet we found the upper portion of a vase with a pretty owl’s head; the rim of the mouth forms a kind of helmet. A little deeper than a foot we met with a good-looking head of a man in terra-cotta; at 2 meters (6½ feet) down, a Greek lamp with a foot 2¾ inches long, and at the same depth some very pretty vases and jugs, and a terra-cotta flattened on one side, with two perforated holes and a stamp, in which there is a very pretty picture of the head and shoulders of a woman. At a depth of 3 and 4 meters (10 and 13 feet) were twelve marble idols without owls’ faces; upon one of these idols there are four horizontal lines on the neck; further, at a depth of 10 feet, a fragment of a serpent with two horns; at a depth of 16½ feet, a piece of diorite in the form of a bell, beautifully polished, and twice perforated; at the same depth, a quantity of beautiful terra-cotta vases and jugs, prettily ornamented, ivory needles for knitting or embroidering, and a very neat perforated terra-cotta cylinder 1¼ inch long, covered with engraved symbolical signs. But the most curious article, found at a depth of 5 meters (16½ feet), is an idol of the Ilian Athena with an owl’s head, which is rounded off in front and at the back; the eyes are very large and beautiful, but the beak is small and roughly made; on the neck there is a cross line, and above it ten upright lines, which are probably intended to denote armour; the whole of the rest of the body is covered with lines, in which, more especially on the back, the bird’s feathers are unmistakable; and there is a peculiar ornament on the abdomen. This idol, like all the others, has a human figure.[248]
