Chap. IV. ARCHEOLO been despoiled for the rebuilding of walls; and yet the BOOK III, decidedly more modern works of a later people are used as ANOTHER materials in repairing the walls around the back of the GROUP OF city and upon the Acropolis; many of these have Greek GISTS AND inscriptions, with names common among the Romans. The whole of the sculpture is Greek, fine, bold, and simple, bespeaking an early age of that people. No sign whatever is seen of the works of the Byzantines or Christians. To lay down a plan of the town is impossible, the whole being concealed by trees; but walls of the finest kind, Cyclopean blended with the Greek, as well as the beautifully squared stones of a lighter kind, are seen in every direction; several gateways also, with their paved roads, still exist. I observed on my first visit that the temples have been very numerous, and, from their position along the brow of the cliff, must have combined with nature to form one of the most beautiful of cities. The extent I now find is much greater than I had imagined, and its tombs extend over miles of country I had not before seen. The beautiful gothic-formed sarcophagus-tomb, with chariots and horses upon its roof, of which I have before spoken and have given a sketch of a battle-scene upon the side, accompanied with a Lycian inscription, is again a chief object of my admiration amidst the ruins of this city. Of the ends of this monument I did not before show drawings, but gave a full description. Beneath the rocks, at the back of the city, is a sarcophagus of the same kind, and almost as beautifully sculptured; but this has been thrown down, and the lid now lies half-buried in the earth. Its hog's-mane is sculptured with a spirited battle-scene. Many Greek inscriptions upon pedestals are built into the walls, which may throw some light upon the history of the city; they are mostly funereal, and belong to an age and EXPLORERS. BOOK III, ANOTHER GROUP OF GISTS AND EXPLORERS. people quite distinct from those of the many fine Lycian remains. 'Two of my days have been spent in the tedious, but, I trust, useful occupation, of copying the Lycian inscription from the obelisk I mentioned in my former volume that I had seen this will be of service to the philologist. Having, with the assistance of a ladder, ascended to a level with the top of the monument, I discovered a curious fact: the characters cut upon the upper portion are larger and wider apart than those on the lower, thus counteracting the effect of diminution by distance, as seen from the ground. As the letters are beautifully cut, I have taken several impressions from them, to obtain fac-similes. By this inscription I hope to fix the type of an alphabet, which will be much simplified, as I find upon the various tombs about the town great varieties, though of a trifling nature, in the forms of each letter; these varieties have hitherto been considered as different characters. This long public inscription will establish the form of all the letters of an alphabet, one form only being used throughout for each letter: if this should be deciphered, it may be the means of adding information to history. The inscription exceeds two hundred and fifty lines. It is to be regretted that the obelisk is not perfect; time or an earthquake has split off the upper part, which lies at its foot. Two sides of this portion only remain, with inscriptions which I could copy; the upper surface being without any, and the lower facing the ground: its weight of many tons rendered it immoveable. I had the earth excavated from the obelisk itself, and came to the base, or probably the upper part of a flight of steps, as in the other obelisk-monuments of a similar construction. The characters upon the north-west side are cut in a finer Chap. IV. and bolder style than on the others, and appear to be the Book III, most ancient. Should any difference of date occur on this ANOTHER monument, I should decide that this is the commencement or original inscription upon it. GROUP OF GISTS AND This, which I must consider as a very important monument, appears to have on the north-east side a portion of its inscription in the early Greek language; the letters are comparatively ill cut, and extremely difficult at such an elevation to decipher; seizing favourable opportunities for the light, I have done my best to copy it faithfully, and glean from it that the subject is funereal, and that it relates to a king of Lycia; the mode of inscription makes the monument itself speak, being written in the first person. Very near to this stands the monument, similar in form, which I described in my last Journal as being near the theatre, and upon which remained the singular bas-reliefs of which I gave sketches. On closer examination I find Journal of an these to be far more interesting and ancient than I had Excursion in before deemed them. They are in very low relief, resembling in that respect the Persepolitan or Egyptian basreliefs. 'I have received,' continues Sir Charles FELLOWS, 'from Mr. Benjamin GIBSON of Rome a letter in reference to these bas-reliefs his interpretation of this mysterious subject appears far the best that I have yet heard; and from finding the district to have been in all probability the burial-place of the kings, it becomes the more interesting. Mr. GIBSON writes "The winged figures on the corners of the tomb you have discovered in Lycia, represented flying away with children, may with every probability be well supposed to have a reference to the story of the Harpies flying away with the daughters of King PANDARUS. This fable we find related by HOMER in the Odyssey, lib. xx, where they are Asia Minor, &c. (2nd Edit.), Appendix. BOOK III, GROUP OF GISTS AND EXPLORERS. stated to be left orphans, and the gods as endowing them with various gifts. Juno gives them prudence, Minerva instructs them in the art of the loom, Diana confers on them tallness of person, and lastly Venus flies up to Jupiter to provide becoming husbands for them; in the mean time, the orphans being thus left unprotected, the Harpies come and 'snatch the unguarded charge away.' STRABO tells us that PANDARUS was King of Lycia, and was worshipped particularly at Pinara. This tomb becomes thus very interesting; which, if it be not the tomb of PANDARUS, shows that the story was prevalent in Lycia, and that the great author of the Iliad derived it from that source. With this clue, we have no difficulty in recognising Juno on the peculiar chair assigned to that goddess, and on the same side is Venus and her attendants; upon another is probably represented Diana, recognised by the hound. The seated gods are less easily distinguished. In the Travels and Harpies, at the four corners of the tomb, we have the Researches in illustration of those beings as described by the classic writers."' Asia Minor, pp. 336-340. MANY SUB SEQUENT DISCOVE HERE NECES SARILY OVER). THE DIFFI CULTIES OF Jan., 1842. Every lateral excursion made by Sir C. FELLOWS, and by his companions in travel, added to his collection rich works of sculpture, and not a few of them added many varied and most interesting minor antiquities. But I must needs. resist all temptation to enlarge on that head, though the temptation is great. The twentieth and subsequent chapters of the book itself (I refer to the collective but abridged 'Travels and Researches in Asia Minor' of 1852) will abundantly repay the reader who is disposed to turn to them-whether it be for a renewed or for a new reading. When the task of removal had to be undertaken, difficulties of transport were found, under certain then existing circumstances, to be graver obstacles than had been Turkish BOOK III, Chap. IV. GROUP OF GISTS AND 1841, prejudice or Turkish apathy at an earlier stage of the business. The maritime part of the duty had been entrusted to Captain GRAVES, of H.M. Ship Beacon. The captain left his ship at Smyrna; sailed with FELLOWS for the Xanthus, in a steam-packet; but omitted to provide himself with the needful flat-bottomed boats. When they reached the site of the marbles which were to be carried away, Captain February. GRAVES said he would not have any of the stores taken down the river; that stores must be obtained from Malta; and that he would take all hands away from the diggings at the beginning of March. The reader may imagine the reflections of the eager discoverer at this sudden check, Ibid., pp. 440, coming, as it did, at the very beginning of the burst. us, before He took a solitary walk of many hours, he tells he could resolve upon his course of action. He saw before him, to use his own words, 'a mine of treasure.' He had willing hands to work it; ample firmans to stave off opposition; nothing deficient save boats and tackle. A year might possibly pass in awaiting them from Malta; and, meanwhile, the ignorance of the peasantry, the indiscreet curiosity of travellers, or the sudden growth of political complications, might destroy the enterprise irrecoverably. He resolved, in his perplexity, to construct by his own exertions tackle that would suffice for the removal to the coast; got native help in addition to the willing effortshowever unscientific-of the honest sailors of the Beacon ; succeeded in getting a portion of the precious objects of his quest to the waterside, before the arrival of the ship; and got them also strongly cased up. Then he sailed with GRAVES for Malta. The worthy captain resigned the honourable task-to him so unwelcome-into the hands of Admiral Sir Edward OWEN. A new expedition started from Malta at the end of April, and brought away seventy seqq. |