DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.748#0046
INVESTIGATIONS AT ASSOS, 1881. 35
north winds, — the Etesians already mentioned. The wind
was so heavy at times as to render it difficult to stand upright
upon the walls of the exposed summit, where any disturb-
ance of the dry soil by pick or shovel raised blinding clouds
of sand and lime-dust into the air. The men made wary
by experience at Pergamon had provided themselves with
spectacles of gauze; the less fortunate raw hands wept pain-
fully, and aggravated the ill by rubbing their eyes with gritty
sleeves. The distress was sufficient to reduce the number of
laborers; and it was a relief when, by the end of August, ma-
terial had been obtained for preliminary study, and the work
could be temporarily transferred to the sheltered southern
slopes of the lower town.
Little earth had accumulated upon the commanding terrace
before the stoa. The bowlders and debris washed down from
the heights above had formed a slide across the colonnade,
almost wholly filling up the great basin in front of it, but thus
caught as by a moat, left the open place almost bare. The
general arrangement of the long colonnade remained so plainly
evident that even an unscientific traveller could comprehend
from the ruins the appearance of the original structure.
Although the broad flight of steps which must have served
as an ascent from the theatre, the parapet, and in places parts
of the terrace itself, are missing, yet the general disposition
of the public buildings in the vicinity could be determined
with no great difficulty. Compare Plate 3.1
1 The topographical sketch, Plate 3, exhibits the condition of the stoa, theatre,
and adjacent buildings upon the termination of the preliminary excavations made
during the year. The walls in black are antique, and, with exception of those
of the theatre scene and of the building at T, remain nearly to their original
height. The trial pits and trenches dug by the Expedition are designated by
asterisks.
A A Narrow subterranean passage leading to the stoa plateau.
B Steps in position.
C Fountain niche, before which is the vaulted cistern of accurately jointed
polygonal masonry.
north winds, — the Etesians already mentioned. The wind
was so heavy at times as to render it difficult to stand upright
upon the walls of the exposed summit, where any disturb-
ance of the dry soil by pick or shovel raised blinding clouds
of sand and lime-dust into the air. The men made wary
by experience at Pergamon had provided themselves with
spectacles of gauze; the less fortunate raw hands wept pain-
fully, and aggravated the ill by rubbing their eyes with gritty
sleeves. The distress was sufficient to reduce the number of
laborers; and it was a relief when, by the end of August, ma-
terial had been obtained for preliminary study, and the work
could be temporarily transferred to the sheltered southern
slopes of the lower town.
Little earth had accumulated upon the commanding terrace
before the stoa. The bowlders and debris washed down from
the heights above had formed a slide across the colonnade,
almost wholly filling up the great basin in front of it, but thus
caught as by a moat, left the open place almost bare. The
general arrangement of the long colonnade remained so plainly
evident that even an unscientific traveller could comprehend
from the ruins the appearance of the original structure.
Although the broad flight of steps which must have served
as an ascent from the theatre, the parapet, and in places parts
of the terrace itself, are missing, yet the general disposition
of the public buildings in the vicinity could be determined
with no great difficulty. Compare Plate 3.1
1 The topographical sketch, Plate 3, exhibits the condition of the stoa, theatre,
and adjacent buildings upon the termination of the preliminary excavations made
during the year. The walls in black are antique, and, with exception of those
of the theatre scene and of the building at T, remain nearly to their original
height. The trial pits and trenches dug by the Expedition are designated by
asterisks.
A A Narrow subterranean passage leading to the stoa plateau.
B Steps in position.
C Fountain niche, before which is the vaulted cistern of accurately jointed
polygonal masonry.