DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0173
126 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
slabs. The ground diameter is about 47 feet, or very
nearly that of the Treasury of Atreus; the floor is leveled
and covered with lime-plaster, which here and there retains
traces of red color. In the floor were found two oblong
pits — tombs within the tomb. One of these measures 17
feet 9 inches by 5 feet 6 inches, and is 10 feet deep, thus
closely resembling the acropolis graves, although neither
side-walls nor covering slabs were found in it. The other
pit has the sides walled with poros, and appears to have
been covered in the same way, thus resembling the custom-
ary Hellenic graves; still it is undoubtedly coeval with the
tholos itself.
After the greatest of the domed tombs at Mycenae, the
first place belongs to that of Orchomenos in Boeotia. In
some respects indeed the Orchomenos tomb is more re-
markable than the Treasury of Atreus. "With the like
structural perfection, its unique sculptured ceiling gives it
a distinct preeminence in decorative character. Moreover,
it brings more definite credentials from antiquity than any
other monument of its age. It was already known to
Pausanias as the Treasury of Minyas, and is thus tra-
ditionally associated with the great dynasty which made
Orchomenos a synonym for wealth and power, to be
coupled with " hundred-gated Thebes."1 The old second-
century traveler, who found it open and turned to alien
uses, is not content to tag it in his usual way as a thing
" worth seeing." On the contrary he is powerfully im-
pressed by it and expresses himself accordingly. After
telling us that Minyas (who is properly enough the son of
Chryses and grandson of Chrysogeneia) had revenues so
vast that he was richer than all his predecessors and was
the first of men to build a treasure-house to hold his wealth,
1 Iliad, ix. 381 f.
slabs. The ground diameter is about 47 feet, or very
nearly that of the Treasury of Atreus; the floor is leveled
and covered with lime-plaster, which here and there retains
traces of red color. In the floor were found two oblong
pits — tombs within the tomb. One of these measures 17
feet 9 inches by 5 feet 6 inches, and is 10 feet deep, thus
closely resembling the acropolis graves, although neither
side-walls nor covering slabs were found in it. The other
pit has the sides walled with poros, and appears to have
been covered in the same way, thus resembling the custom-
ary Hellenic graves; still it is undoubtedly coeval with the
tholos itself.
After the greatest of the domed tombs at Mycenae, the
first place belongs to that of Orchomenos in Boeotia. In
some respects indeed the Orchomenos tomb is more re-
markable than the Treasury of Atreus. "With the like
structural perfection, its unique sculptured ceiling gives it
a distinct preeminence in decorative character. Moreover,
it brings more definite credentials from antiquity than any
other monument of its age. It was already known to
Pausanias as the Treasury of Minyas, and is thus tra-
ditionally associated with the great dynasty which made
Orchomenos a synonym for wealth and power, to be
coupled with " hundred-gated Thebes."1 The old second-
century traveler, who found it open and turned to alien
uses, is not content to tag it in his usual way as a thing
" worth seeing." On the contrary he is powerfully im-
pressed by it and expresses himself accordingly. After
telling us that Minyas (who is properly enough the son of
Chryses and grandson of Chrysogeneia) had revenues so
vast that he was richer than all his predecessors and was
the first of men to build a treasure-house to hold his wealth,
1 Iliad, ix. 381 f.