DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.749#0013
8
INVESTIGATIONS AT ASSOS
so far as the earth beneath the Agora of Assos had been
examined during the first year, the results had borne out this
presumption. Almost all the inscriptions published in the
first Report, among them the valuable bronze tablet with the
oath taken by the Assians on the accession of Caligula, were
found in the ruins of Byzantine buildings, situated just below
the Bouleuterion. But, however well grounded, these expec-
tations were almost entirely disappointed, during the long
work of the second year. The movable objects discovered,
marble carvings, inscriptions, and the like, were few.
In architectural respects, on the other hand, this field was
eminently productive. At the east were found two rooms,
paved with exceptionally fine and early mosaics, the one rep-
resenting the coat of arms of the city, two crouching griffins,
the other a vender of Cupids, with Nikes and tripods at either
side. The monumental flight of steps leading from the street
below to the middle of the Agora, the Heroon, and, above
all, the unique Greek Bath, with its three stories surmounted
by a broad colonnade, must be considered among the most
striking results of the expedition.
Five weeks were devoted to this edifice. The greater
part of the cisterns, and three of the lower chambers, were
thoroughly excavated. This was a work of considerable diffi-
culty, as the heavy stones of the superstructure entirely covered
the plan. Near the northeastern corner, on the level of the
Agora, was found a remarkable standard of roofing tiles.
On the south of the adjoining street the remains of a
Roman bath were discovered.1 These had been too much
injured by their continued employment during Byzantine
ages, and especially by the reconstruction of the chief halls as
a Christian church, to warrant the expenditure of much time
and labor in their exploration. Still, four chambers were
excavated which appeared to have been buried at an earlier
epoch than the rest. In them were found the fragments of
two inscriptions, dedicating the bath and its belongings to Julia
Aphrodite, and thus giving an accurate date for the construc-
tion. (14 to 37 A.D.)
In the caldarium of the bath the space beneath the tiled
floor was found to be still filled with fine wood ashes, which,
being whirled into the air by the high winds, covered every-
thing in the neighborhood with a thick white coat. It was
a picturesque sight, at nightfall, after work in this locality, to
see the men standing in a long row on the large stones of the
ancient mole which still project above the water. Here they
washed before their evening meal, which, like the laborers of
classic antiquity, they not unfrequently ate in the dark.
On the 4th of September, as the funds at the disposal of
the expedition ran low, it was necessary to dismiss a great
number of the men. A week later, those remaining were
transferred to the Gymnasium and its vicinity; but on the
1 8th, many of these had also to be sent away. During Octo-
ber only seven men were employed, chiefly in removing small
banks of earth, and in aiding the surveys and detailed meas-
urements. In an undertaking directed merely towards treas-
ure-trove, such a diminution in the number of laborers would
have been equivalent to an entire cessation of work. This
was not the case at Assos. The delay rendered it possible
for the explorers, released from the superintendence of the dig-
ging, to carry on the investigation necessary for determining
the character of the most recent discoveries. The members
of the expedition were at no time more busily or more prof-
itably employed than during these weeks, when the results
previously obtained were collected and systematized.
xSee Photograph, Fig. I, Page 12.
Assos in this respect presented peculiar difficulties. The
walls within the city had everywhere been levelled to the pres-
ent surface of the earth, and in those cases where the build-
ings were elevated upon artificial terraces the foundations
themselves had been washed away by torrents of winter rain.
Throughout the entire city, less than half a dozen columns
were still erect, and even these were without entablatures and
capitals. Not one stone remained in position above the steps
of the great temple. Retaining walls and ramparts, suffi-
ciently heavy to withstand the wanton destruction of man,
had been thrown out of position by the many severe earth-
quakes which Assos has experienced.
The vestiges which had survived this terrible demolition
were buried beneath stones fallen from the upper part of the
buildings, and generally also beneath some accumulation of
earth. This had been overgrown by dwarf oak bushes, inter-
twined with briers, and as these are the only forms of vege-
tation spared by the browsing goats and camels, they had
covered the heaps of debris with low, dense thickets.
In examining the ancient buildings, every block still re-
taining its original shape, whether belonging or not to the
edifice upon whose plan it was found, was measured and
drawn to a uniform scale, generally 1:20. While the plan
of a building could be followed by the foundation walls, if
not by marks upon the pavement, the elevations were recom-
posed upon paper, bit by bit, from the fragments brought to
light. The height of the columns, when not found entire,
became evident from a comparison of the proportional dimi-
nution of all the drums with the diameter traced upon the
stylobate, and with that of the necking of the capitals. The
holes for dowels and cramps of metal provided the most
absolute proof of contiguity ; and even the position of the
separate stones in courses long overthrown could be deter-
mined from the shift holes which it was customary through-
out Greek antiquity to cut upon the beds.
The task of tracing the connection between the architec-
tural members was complicated through their having been
scattered over the entire site by later Byzantine and Turkish
builders. Stones of the upper story of the Stoa had been
used for the Christian church on the terrace below the
Agora; a captial, an entablature, and the lintel and jambs of
a door from the lower town, together with many blocks
from the summit of the Acropolis, had been built into the
mosque. The fitting together of such disjecta membra in
some cases involved more than a thousand measurements.
The homogeneous character of the material was the source
of even greater difficulty. Without a single exception, the
buildings of Assos, from the archaic Greek temple to the
most recent hovels of the village of Behram, were built of the
second andesite. Thus, while in the investigations among
other ruins — for instance, those of the neighboring Perga-
mon — the color and grain of the various limestones were
among the most readily recognizable and trustworthy indica-
tions, at Assos all was indistinguishable. To this may be
added the fact that the andesite, although in general suffering
but little from Weathering, is easily chipped and split, so that
projecting mouldings were frequently broken off altogether.
After the 6th of November, funds having been received,
the full force was again engaged, and the digging at the
Gymnasium was at last completed. Towards the close of
the month the men were divided into small gangs, and were
employed upon the Agora, in the Street of Tombs, and upon
several parts of the fortifications. As it was then thought it
might be necessary to end all excavations at Assos with the
season of 1882, every exertion was made to complete the
INVESTIGATIONS AT ASSOS
so far as the earth beneath the Agora of Assos had been
examined during the first year, the results had borne out this
presumption. Almost all the inscriptions published in the
first Report, among them the valuable bronze tablet with the
oath taken by the Assians on the accession of Caligula, were
found in the ruins of Byzantine buildings, situated just below
the Bouleuterion. But, however well grounded, these expec-
tations were almost entirely disappointed, during the long
work of the second year. The movable objects discovered,
marble carvings, inscriptions, and the like, were few.
In architectural respects, on the other hand, this field was
eminently productive. At the east were found two rooms,
paved with exceptionally fine and early mosaics, the one rep-
resenting the coat of arms of the city, two crouching griffins,
the other a vender of Cupids, with Nikes and tripods at either
side. The monumental flight of steps leading from the street
below to the middle of the Agora, the Heroon, and, above
all, the unique Greek Bath, with its three stories surmounted
by a broad colonnade, must be considered among the most
striking results of the expedition.
Five weeks were devoted to this edifice. The greater
part of the cisterns, and three of the lower chambers, were
thoroughly excavated. This was a work of considerable diffi-
culty, as the heavy stones of the superstructure entirely covered
the plan. Near the northeastern corner, on the level of the
Agora, was found a remarkable standard of roofing tiles.
On the south of the adjoining street the remains of a
Roman bath were discovered.1 These had been too much
injured by their continued employment during Byzantine
ages, and especially by the reconstruction of the chief halls as
a Christian church, to warrant the expenditure of much time
and labor in their exploration. Still, four chambers were
excavated which appeared to have been buried at an earlier
epoch than the rest. In them were found the fragments of
two inscriptions, dedicating the bath and its belongings to Julia
Aphrodite, and thus giving an accurate date for the construc-
tion. (14 to 37 A.D.)
In the caldarium of the bath the space beneath the tiled
floor was found to be still filled with fine wood ashes, which,
being whirled into the air by the high winds, covered every-
thing in the neighborhood with a thick white coat. It was
a picturesque sight, at nightfall, after work in this locality, to
see the men standing in a long row on the large stones of the
ancient mole which still project above the water. Here they
washed before their evening meal, which, like the laborers of
classic antiquity, they not unfrequently ate in the dark.
On the 4th of September, as the funds at the disposal of
the expedition ran low, it was necessary to dismiss a great
number of the men. A week later, those remaining were
transferred to the Gymnasium and its vicinity; but on the
1 8th, many of these had also to be sent away. During Octo-
ber only seven men were employed, chiefly in removing small
banks of earth, and in aiding the surveys and detailed meas-
urements. In an undertaking directed merely towards treas-
ure-trove, such a diminution in the number of laborers would
have been equivalent to an entire cessation of work. This
was not the case at Assos. The delay rendered it possible
for the explorers, released from the superintendence of the dig-
ging, to carry on the investigation necessary for determining
the character of the most recent discoveries. The members
of the expedition were at no time more busily or more prof-
itably employed than during these weeks, when the results
previously obtained were collected and systematized.
xSee Photograph, Fig. I, Page 12.
Assos in this respect presented peculiar difficulties. The
walls within the city had everywhere been levelled to the pres-
ent surface of the earth, and in those cases where the build-
ings were elevated upon artificial terraces the foundations
themselves had been washed away by torrents of winter rain.
Throughout the entire city, less than half a dozen columns
were still erect, and even these were without entablatures and
capitals. Not one stone remained in position above the steps
of the great temple. Retaining walls and ramparts, suffi-
ciently heavy to withstand the wanton destruction of man,
had been thrown out of position by the many severe earth-
quakes which Assos has experienced.
The vestiges which had survived this terrible demolition
were buried beneath stones fallen from the upper part of the
buildings, and generally also beneath some accumulation of
earth. This had been overgrown by dwarf oak bushes, inter-
twined with briers, and as these are the only forms of vege-
tation spared by the browsing goats and camels, they had
covered the heaps of debris with low, dense thickets.
In examining the ancient buildings, every block still re-
taining its original shape, whether belonging or not to the
edifice upon whose plan it was found, was measured and
drawn to a uniform scale, generally 1:20. While the plan
of a building could be followed by the foundation walls, if
not by marks upon the pavement, the elevations were recom-
posed upon paper, bit by bit, from the fragments brought to
light. The height of the columns, when not found entire,
became evident from a comparison of the proportional dimi-
nution of all the drums with the diameter traced upon the
stylobate, and with that of the necking of the capitals. The
holes for dowels and cramps of metal provided the most
absolute proof of contiguity ; and even the position of the
separate stones in courses long overthrown could be deter-
mined from the shift holes which it was customary through-
out Greek antiquity to cut upon the beds.
The task of tracing the connection between the architec-
tural members was complicated through their having been
scattered over the entire site by later Byzantine and Turkish
builders. Stones of the upper story of the Stoa had been
used for the Christian church on the terrace below the
Agora; a captial, an entablature, and the lintel and jambs of
a door from the lower town, together with many blocks
from the summit of the Acropolis, had been built into the
mosque. The fitting together of such disjecta membra in
some cases involved more than a thousand measurements.
The homogeneous character of the material was the source
of even greater difficulty. Without a single exception, the
buildings of Assos, from the archaic Greek temple to the
most recent hovels of the village of Behram, were built of the
second andesite. Thus, while in the investigations among
other ruins — for instance, those of the neighboring Perga-
mon — the color and grain of the various limestones were
among the most readily recognizable and trustworthy indica-
tions, at Assos all was indistinguishable. To this may be
added the fact that the andesite, although in general suffering
but little from Weathering, is easily chipped and split, so that
projecting mouldings were frequently broken off altogether.
After the 6th of November, funds having been received,
the full force was again engaged, and the digging at the
Gymnasium was at last completed. Towards the close of
the month the men were divided into small gangs, and were
employed upon the Agora, in the Street of Tombs, and upon
several parts of the fortifications. As it was then thought it
might be necessary to end all excavations at Assos with the
season of 1882, every exertion was made to complete the