In the new large excavation on the north-west side, which is connected with the one I have just been describing, I have convinced myself that the splendid wall of large hewn stones, which I uncovered in April 1870, belongs to a tower, the lower projecting part of which must have been built during the first period of the Greek colony, whereas its upper portion seems to belong to the time of Lysimachus. (See [Plate XIII].) To this tower also belongs the wall that I mentioned in my last report as 9 feet high and 6 feet broad, and as continuous with the surrounding wall of Lysimachus; and so does the wall of the same dimensions, situated 49 feet from it, which I have likewise broken through. Behind the latter, at a depth of from 26 to 30 feet, I uncovered the Trojan city wall which runs out from the Scæan Gate.
In excavating this wall further and directly by the side of the palace of King Priam,[275] I came upon a large copper article of the most remarkable form, which attracted my attention all the more as I thought I saw gold behind it. On the top of this copper article lay a stratum of red and calcined ruins, from 4¾ to 5¼ feet thick, as hard as stone, and above this again lay the above-mentioned wall of fortification (6 feet broad and 20 feet high) which was built of large stones and earth, and must have belonged to an early date after the destruction of Troy. In order to withdraw the Treasure from the greed of my workmen, and to save it for archæology, I had to be most expeditious, and although it was not yet time for breakfast, I immediately had “païdos” called. This is a word of uncertain derivation, which has passed over into Turkish, and is here employed in place of ἀνάπαυσις, or time for rest. While the men were eating and resting, I cut out the Treasure with a large knife, which it was impossible to do without the very greatest exertion and the most fearful risk of my life, for the great fortification-wall, beneath which I had to dig, threatened every moment to fall down upon me. But the sight of so many objects, every one of which is of inestimable value to archæology, made me foolhardy, and I never thought of any danger. It would, however, have been impossible for me to have removed the Treasure without the help of my dear wife, who stood by me ready to pack the things which I cut out in her shawl and to carry them away.[276]
The first thing I found was a large copper shield (the ἀσπὶς ὀμφαλόεσσα of Homer) in the form of an oval salver, in the middle of which is a knob or boss encircled by a small furrow (αὔλαξ). This shield is a little less than 20 inches in length; it is quite flat, and surrounded by a rim (ἄντυξ) 1½ inch high; the boss (ὀμφαλός) is 2-1/3 inches high and 4-1/3 inches in diameter; the furrow encircling it is 7 inches in diameter and 2/5 of an inch deep.[277]
PLATE XIV.
