Unfortunately, many of the terra-cottas get broken when the débris is being loosened and falls down, for there is only one way in which I can save my men and myself from being crushed and maimed by the falling stones: this is, by keeping the lowest part of the mighty earthen wall on the perpendicular up to 16 feet (not 7 feet, as on the first five days), and the whole of the upper part at an angle of 50 degrees, by always loosening the perpendicular portion, by making shafts, and working with large iron levers in pieces of from 15 to 30 cubic metres (20 to 40 cubic yards). By thus causing the débris and the stones of the upper portion to be loosened with the pickaxe, the stones fall in almost a direct line over the lower perpendicular wall of 16 feet; therefore they roll at most a few paces, and there is less danger that anyone will be hurt. By this means I also have the advantage that the greatest portion of the débris falls down of its own accord, and what remains can be shovelled down with little trouble, whereas at first I spent half of my time in getting it down. As, however, in making shafts and in bringing down the colossal lumps of earth a certain amount of skill and caution is necessary, I have engaged a third foreman at 7 francs a day, Georgios Photidos, of Paxos, who has for seven years worked as a miner in Australia, and was there occupied principally in making tunnels. Home-sickness led him back to his native country, where, without having sufficient means of earning his daily bread, he, in youthful thoughtlessness and out of patriotism, married a poor girl of his own people who was but fifteen years old. It was only after his marriage, and in consequence of domestic cares, that he recovered his senses. He heard that I was making excavations here, and came on speculation to offer me his services. As he had assured me, when I first saw him, that my accepting his services was a question of life and death to him and his wife, I engaged him at once, the more so because I was very much in want of a miner, tunnel-maker, and pitman, such as he is. Besides acting in these capacities, he is of great use to me on Sundays and on other festivals, for he can write Greek, and he is thus able to copy my Greek reports for the newspapers and learned societies in the East; for I had hitherto found nothing more intolerable than to have to write out in Greek three times over my long reports about one and the same subject, especially as I had to take the time from my sleep. To my great regret, the excellent engineer Adolphe Laurent leaves me to-morrow, for his month is up, and he has now to commence the construction of the railroad from the Piræus to Lamia. He has, however, made me a good plan of this hill. I must add that the Pergamus of Priam cannot have been limited to this hill, which is, for the most part, artificial; but that, as I endeavoured to explain four years ago,[114] it must necessarily have extended a good way further south, beyond the high plateau. But even if the Pergamus should have been confined to this hill, it was, nevertheless, larger than the Acropolis of Athens; for the latter covers only 50,126 square meters (about 60,000 square yards), whereas the plateau of this hill amounts to 64,500 square meters (about 77,400 square yards). I must further mention that, according to Laurent’s calculation, the plateau rises 46 feet above my platform, and that his measurements of its height (about 38 feet on the north and 39 feet on the south) applies to those points where the steep precipice commences. I have just built a house with three rooms, as well as a magazine and kitchen, which altogether cost only 1000 francs (40l.), including the covering of waterproof felt; for wood is cheap here, and a plank of about 10 feet in length, 10 inches in breadth, and 1 inch thick, may be got for 2 piasters, or 40 centimes. (These houses are seen in Plates X. and XI.)
We still find poisonous snakes among the stones as far down as from 33 to 36 feet, and I had hitherto been astonished to see my workmen take hold of the reptiles with their hands and play with them; nay, yesterday I saw one of the men bitten twice by a viper, without seeming to trouble himself about it. When I expressed my horror, he laughed, and said that he and all his comrades knew that there were a great many snakes in this hill, and they had therefore all drunk a decoction of the snake-weed which grows in the district, and which renders the bite harmless. Of course I ordered a decoction to be brought to me, so that I also may be safe from their bites. I should, however, like to know whether this decoction would be a safeguard against the fatal effects of the bite of the hooded cobra, of which in India I have seen a man die within half an hour; if it were so, it would be a good speculation to cultivate snake-weed in India.
The frequently-discussed terra-cottas in the form of the volcano and top (carrousel) are continually found in immense numbers, as far as a depth of from 33 to 36 feet, and most of them have decorations, of which I always make an accurate drawing.[115] On comparing these drawings, I now find that all, without exception, represent the sun in the centre, and that almost the half of the other carvings show either only simple rays or rays with stars between, or round the edge; or again, three, four, six, or eight simple, double, treble, and quadruple rising suns in a circle round the edge.[116] Sometimes the sun is in the centre of the cross with four nails, which, according to the explanations in my sixth memoir, can evidently, and in all cases, represent only the instrument which our Aryan forefathers used for producing the holy fire (Agni), and which some Sanscrit scholars call “Arani” and others “Suastika.” The rising sun must have been the most sacred object to our Aryan ancestors; for, according to Max Müller ('Essays'), out of it—that is, out of its struggle with the clouds—arose a very large portion of the gods who afterwards peopled Olympus. Upon some pieces the sun is surrounded by 40 or 50 little stars. I also found one upon which it is represented in the centre, surrounded by 32 little stars and three 卐; another where one entire half of the circle is filled by the rays of the sun, which, as in all cases, occupies the central point; on the other half are two 卐 and 18 little stars, of which twice three (like the sword of Orion) stand in a row; and another where even four are seen in a row. As M. Émile Burnouf tells me, three dots in a row, in the Persian cuneiform inscriptions, denote “royal majesty.” I do not venture to decide whether the three dots here admit of a similar interpretation. Perhaps they point to the majesty of the sun-god and of Agni, who was produced out of the 卐. Upon some of these terra-cottas the sun is even surrounded by four 卐, which again form a cross by their position round it. Upon others, again, I find the sun in the centre of a cross formed by four trees, and each one of these trees has three or four large leaves.[117] Indian scholars will, perhaps, find these tree-crosses to represent the framework upon which our ancestors used to produce the holy fire, and the repeatedly-recurring fifth tree to be the “Pramantha.” I find representations of this same tree several times, either surrounded by circles or standing alone, upon small terra-cotta cones of from 1½ to 2-1/3 inches in diameter, which, in addition, have the most various kinds of symbols and a number of suns and stars. Upon a ball, found at the depth of 8 meters (26 feet), there is a tree of this kind, surrounded by stars, opposite a 卐, beside which there is a group of nine little stars.[118] I therefore venture to express the conjecture that this tree is the tree of life, which is so frequently met with in the Assyrian sculptures, and that it is identical with the holy Sôma-tree, which, according to the Vêdas (see Émile Burnouf, Max Müller, Adalbert Kuhn, and Fr. Windischmann), grows in heaven, and is there guarded by the Gandharvas, who belong to the primeval Aryan period, and subsequently became the Centaurs of the Greeks. Indra, the sun-god, in the form of a falcon,[119] stole from heaven this Sôma-tree, from which trickled the Amrita (ambrosia) which conferred immortality. Fr. Windischmann[120] has pointed out the existence of the Sôma-tree worship as common to the tribes of Aryans before their separation, and he therefore justly designates it an inheritance from their most ancient traditions.[121] Julius Braun[122] says, in regard to this Sôma-tree: “Hermes, the rare visitor, is regaled with nectar and ambrosia. This is the food which the gods require in order to preserve their immortality. It has come to the West from Central Asia, with the whole company of the Olympian gods; for the root of this conception is the tree of life in the ancient system of Zoroaster. The fruit and sap of this tree of life bestows immortality, and the future Messiah (Sosiosh, in the Zend writings) will give some of it to all the faithful and make them all immortal. This hope we have seen fully expressed in the Assyrian sculptures, where the winged genii stand before the holy tree with a vessel containing the juice and fruit.”
Just now two of those curious little terra-cottas, in the form of a volcano, were brought to me, upon one of which three animals with antlers are engraved in a circle round the sun;[123] upon another there are four signs (which I have hitherto not met with) in the shape of large combs with long teeth, forming a cross round the sun.[124] I conjecture that these extremely remarkable hieroglyphics, which at first sight might be imagined to be actual letters, can by no means represent anything else than the sacrificial altar with the flames blazing upon it. I do not doubt moreover, that in the continuation of the excavations I shall find this comb-shaped sign together with other symbols, which will confirm my conjectures.
