Now, with regard to the objects found in these houses, I must first of all mention having discovered, at a depth of 26 feet, in the palace of Priam, a splendid and brilliant brown vase, 24¼ inches high, with a figure of the tutelar goddess of Troy, that is, with her owl’s head, two breasts, a splendid necklace, indicated by an engraved pattern, a very broad and beautifully engraved girdle, and other very artistic decorations; there are no arms, nor are there any indications of them. Unfortunately this exquisite vase has suffered from the weight of stones which lay upon it, and although I myself cut it with a knife from among the stones and the stone-hard débris with the greatest care, I did not succeed in getting it out without breaking it to pieces. I have, however, carefully collected all the fragments and sent them to Athens to be put together, that I may give a drawing of it. (This is No. 219.)
Among the very remarkable vases discovered in this palace, I must also mention one nearly a foot high, with two handles, and an encircling row of cuneiform engravings, above which, on both sides, there is a very prominent decoration, in the form of spectacles, which is connected with a kind of necklace by an engraved tree. I must further draw special attention to an exceedingly remarkable vase, which was found in the same house, and upon which there are actual letters in a circle round it. One piece of the vase is wanting, and with it a portion of the inscription; but, in order to lay before the reader all that has been preserved of it, I give the inscription separately, for it would be impossible to give it accurately on the drawing of the vase. (See No. 3, p. 23.) It would please me immensely if anyone could decipher the Trojan writing, and thus throw some light upon the great people to whom it belonged, and upon the epoch at which it was written.[263] I must also draw attention to a vase, upon which at first sight it seems as if there were a row of letters; at a closer examination, however, it appears not to be writing, but symbolical signs, as the cross is conspicuous in almost every figure.[264]