DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.749#0015
I o
INVESTIGATIONS AT ASSOS
Finally, on the ist of May, the excavations were brought to
a close. Throughout the ancient city, every point which it
had seemed advisable to expose had been freed from earth.
Early in the year the Turkish Ministry of Public Instruc-
tion had been formally requested to send an agent who should
make the prescribed division and allotment of the antiques
discovered by the expedition. The delay of a decision in
this matter for some six weeks after the close of the excava-
tions was more than compensated for by the excellence of
the official appointment. Demetrios Bey Baltazzi, a gentle-
man who has rendered many services to classical archaeology
in the Levant, was named as commissioner, and, during two
visits to Assos, — from the 16th to the 21 st of June, and
from the 27th of June to the 2d of July, — effected a settle-
ment entirely just and satisfactory to both parties.
The trade under which the excavations had been under-
taken was framed in accordance with the laws concerning
antiquities promulgated by the Porte in 1 874.1 In regard to
the final division these laws determined that one third of the
objects discovered should be granted to the owner of the land
where they are found, and one third to the finder, while the
remaining third should become the property of the Turkish
government.2 At Assos the entire extent of the ancient city,
within the walls, is vakoiif—a domain set apart for the main-
tenance of the mosques, — and hence, in so far as the point
in question is concerned, a domain of the state. Two thirds
of all the objects discovered were therefore exacted by the
Ministry of Public Instruction.
Attention was first devoted to the coins, — of which nearly
three thousand had been discovered. Those of gold were at
once set aside for consideration with the ornaments of pre-
cious metal. Sixty of the coins of silver and bronze were of
especial interest on account of the positions in which they
had been discovered: in sarcophagi, the ages of which were
thereby determined; under walls and pavements, thus refer-
able to subsequent dates; and in accumulations of Byzantine
and mediaeval debris, attesting the overthrow and desertion
of the various sites. As these coins were of greater impor-
tance to the expedition than to the Turkish Museum, the
bulk of them was kindly granted to the investigators by
Baltazzi Bey, who chose as an equivalent one hundred and
twenty of the best preserved specimens remaining. He did
not think it worth while to sort and count the oxidized and
defaced coins, but weighed out the twenty-five pounds or more
with scales borrowed from the village shopkeeper, allotting
alternately one oke to the American, and two to the Turkish
share. This method of division was, it is true, somewhat
crude; but, as the pieces were well mixed together, it was
impossible to complain of it as unjust. Nine hundred and
eight coins thus became the property of the expedition, two
hundred and fifty-seven of which were of numismatical inter-
est, and had been identified without the aid of a specialist.
Among these were no less than one hundred and twenty-two
coins of Assos itself, many of them of silver: the finest speci-
mens, and all the imperial types minted by the city, being
1 The laws on antiques, promulgated Sefer 20, 1291, are given by Aris-
tarchi Bey, Legislation Ottomane, vol. III., troisieme division, Constantinople,
1875, pp. 161-167.
3 “Article III. Toute antiquite non decouverte (gisant sous sol), dans
quelque endroit qu’elle se trouve, appartient au gouvernement. Quant aux
antiquites trouvees par ceux qui effectueraient des fouilles par autorisation, un
tiers appartiendra au gouvernement, un autre tiers au trouveur et le reste au
proprietaire du terrain ou les antiquites ont ete trouvees. Si le trouveur a
trouve des antiquites dans sa propriete, les deux tiers seront a lui et le reste au
gouvernement.”
obtained in exchange for certain late Greek and Byzantine
coins of greater intrinsic, but of less scientific value.
On the 28th of June a division was made of the temple
reliefs. In this important matter it was more difficult to
reach a satisfactory conclusion, and it was only after much
persuasion, and by giving up to the Porte all the fragments
of bronze sculptures discovered during the excavations, that
the expedition secured the two finest blocks of the epistyle,—
namely, the Herakles with the human-legged centaurs, and
the two heraldic sphinxes from the eastern front of the build-
ing, superior to all the others in workmanship and of better
preservation.
An especial arrangement was made in regard to the in-
scriptions. The commissioner considered the value of the
bronze tablet, with the oath of the Assians to Caligula, as
equal to twice that of all the inscribed stones together, and
could not be prevailed upon to make any allotment by which
the Porte would be obliged to relinquish this treasure. The
possession of the tablet was, indeed, greatly to be desired, as
it is one of the largest and best preserved among the few
bronze inscriptions remaining from Greek antiquity. Never-
theless, it was felt that, in the division of all the seventy-four
inscriptions discovered at Assos, those cut in stone which it
was possible to remove from the site formed, in essential value,
decidedly more than one third. In historical interest, for
instance, the bronze tablet is certainly not equal to either the
inventory of the great temple, the dedicatory inscriptions of
the Bath, or the epitaph of Hellanikos and Arlegilla. The
proposed division of the inscriptions was therefore accepted.
The marble sculptures, figurini, pottery, glass, and miscel-
laneous objects were divided, class by class, by Baltazzi Bey,
each into three approximately equal lots, the choice of one
of these being allowed to the investigators.
It is but just that attention should be called to the fact,—
exceptional, if not unparalleled in dealings of this kind with
the Turks, — that not the smallest object, not a single coin
or sherd of pottery was kept back from the division by the
explorers. The instructions given in this respect by the exe-
cutive committee of the Archasological Institute had been
explicit, and were carried out by their agents with scrupulous
exactness.3 Only those experienced in Oriental methods of
dealing can fully understand what this means. An entirely
different procedure would have been quite in accordance with
the accepted laws of human intercourse in the Levant; and
this being naturally taken for granted by the authorities, it
was utterly impossible to convince them that the usual pro-
testations of fair dealing were in this case literally true. A
certain license of appropriation enters into the calculations of
all Turkish business; and, as in most instances of individual
deviation from established usages, the consciousness of abso-
lute rectitude was here purchased at the expense of great
disadvantages. In itself, this position may be regarded with
pride by those who planned, as by those who carried out,
the work; but, as a moral lesson to the Turkish official,
the fiat justitia of the Archaeological Institute was certainly
futile.
It had been hoped that the Turks would be readily
induced, after the division, to sell the greater part of the
antiquities which had thus become their property, more
especially the remaining blocks of the temple epistyle. The
3 It should be stated that these instructions were in conformity to the obli-
gations entered into by the Institute in the acceptance of the irade, the execu-
tive committee being bound in honor, no less than in morals, to issue them.
INVESTIGATIONS AT ASSOS
Finally, on the ist of May, the excavations were brought to
a close. Throughout the ancient city, every point which it
had seemed advisable to expose had been freed from earth.
Early in the year the Turkish Ministry of Public Instruc-
tion had been formally requested to send an agent who should
make the prescribed division and allotment of the antiques
discovered by the expedition. The delay of a decision in
this matter for some six weeks after the close of the excava-
tions was more than compensated for by the excellence of
the official appointment. Demetrios Bey Baltazzi, a gentle-
man who has rendered many services to classical archaeology
in the Levant, was named as commissioner, and, during two
visits to Assos, — from the 16th to the 21 st of June, and
from the 27th of June to the 2d of July, — effected a settle-
ment entirely just and satisfactory to both parties.
The trade under which the excavations had been under-
taken was framed in accordance with the laws concerning
antiquities promulgated by the Porte in 1 874.1 In regard to
the final division these laws determined that one third of the
objects discovered should be granted to the owner of the land
where they are found, and one third to the finder, while the
remaining third should become the property of the Turkish
government.2 At Assos the entire extent of the ancient city,
within the walls, is vakoiif—a domain set apart for the main-
tenance of the mosques, — and hence, in so far as the point
in question is concerned, a domain of the state. Two thirds
of all the objects discovered were therefore exacted by the
Ministry of Public Instruction.
Attention was first devoted to the coins, — of which nearly
three thousand had been discovered. Those of gold were at
once set aside for consideration with the ornaments of pre-
cious metal. Sixty of the coins of silver and bronze were of
especial interest on account of the positions in which they
had been discovered: in sarcophagi, the ages of which were
thereby determined; under walls and pavements, thus refer-
able to subsequent dates; and in accumulations of Byzantine
and mediaeval debris, attesting the overthrow and desertion
of the various sites. As these coins were of greater impor-
tance to the expedition than to the Turkish Museum, the
bulk of them was kindly granted to the investigators by
Baltazzi Bey, who chose as an equivalent one hundred and
twenty of the best preserved specimens remaining. He did
not think it worth while to sort and count the oxidized and
defaced coins, but weighed out the twenty-five pounds or more
with scales borrowed from the village shopkeeper, allotting
alternately one oke to the American, and two to the Turkish
share. This method of division was, it is true, somewhat
crude; but, as the pieces were well mixed together, it was
impossible to complain of it as unjust. Nine hundred and
eight coins thus became the property of the expedition, two
hundred and fifty-seven of which were of numismatical inter-
est, and had been identified without the aid of a specialist.
Among these were no less than one hundred and twenty-two
coins of Assos itself, many of them of silver: the finest speci-
mens, and all the imperial types minted by the city, being
1 The laws on antiques, promulgated Sefer 20, 1291, are given by Aris-
tarchi Bey, Legislation Ottomane, vol. III., troisieme division, Constantinople,
1875, pp. 161-167.
3 “Article III. Toute antiquite non decouverte (gisant sous sol), dans
quelque endroit qu’elle se trouve, appartient au gouvernement. Quant aux
antiquites trouvees par ceux qui effectueraient des fouilles par autorisation, un
tiers appartiendra au gouvernement, un autre tiers au trouveur et le reste au
proprietaire du terrain ou les antiquites ont ete trouvees. Si le trouveur a
trouve des antiquites dans sa propriete, les deux tiers seront a lui et le reste au
gouvernement.”
obtained in exchange for certain late Greek and Byzantine
coins of greater intrinsic, but of less scientific value.
On the 28th of June a division was made of the temple
reliefs. In this important matter it was more difficult to
reach a satisfactory conclusion, and it was only after much
persuasion, and by giving up to the Porte all the fragments
of bronze sculptures discovered during the excavations, that
the expedition secured the two finest blocks of the epistyle,—
namely, the Herakles with the human-legged centaurs, and
the two heraldic sphinxes from the eastern front of the build-
ing, superior to all the others in workmanship and of better
preservation.
An especial arrangement was made in regard to the in-
scriptions. The commissioner considered the value of the
bronze tablet, with the oath of the Assians to Caligula, as
equal to twice that of all the inscribed stones together, and
could not be prevailed upon to make any allotment by which
the Porte would be obliged to relinquish this treasure. The
possession of the tablet was, indeed, greatly to be desired, as
it is one of the largest and best preserved among the few
bronze inscriptions remaining from Greek antiquity. Never-
theless, it was felt that, in the division of all the seventy-four
inscriptions discovered at Assos, those cut in stone which it
was possible to remove from the site formed, in essential value,
decidedly more than one third. In historical interest, for
instance, the bronze tablet is certainly not equal to either the
inventory of the great temple, the dedicatory inscriptions of
the Bath, or the epitaph of Hellanikos and Arlegilla. The
proposed division of the inscriptions was therefore accepted.
The marble sculptures, figurini, pottery, glass, and miscel-
laneous objects were divided, class by class, by Baltazzi Bey,
each into three approximately equal lots, the choice of one
of these being allowed to the investigators.
It is but just that attention should be called to the fact,—
exceptional, if not unparalleled in dealings of this kind with
the Turks, — that not the smallest object, not a single coin
or sherd of pottery was kept back from the division by the
explorers. The instructions given in this respect by the exe-
cutive committee of the Archasological Institute had been
explicit, and were carried out by their agents with scrupulous
exactness.3 Only those experienced in Oriental methods of
dealing can fully understand what this means. An entirely
different procedure would have been quite in accordance with
the accepted laws of human intercourse in the Levant; and
this being naturally taken for granted by the authorities, it
was utterly impossible to convince them that the usual pro-
testations of fair dealing were in this case literally true. A
certain license of appropriation enters into the calculations of
all Turkish business; and, as in most instances of individual
deviation from established usages, the consciousness of abso-
lute rectitude was here purchased at the expense of great
disadvantages. In itself, this position may be regarded with
pride by those who planned, as by those who carried out,
the work; but, as a moral lesson to the Turkish official,
the fiat justitia of the Archaeological Institute was certainly
futile.
It had been hoped that the Turks would be readily
induced, after the division, to sell the greater part of the
antiquities which had thus become their property, more
especially the remaining blocks of the temple epistyle. The
3 It should be stated that these instructions were in conformity to the obli-
gations entered into by the Institute in the acceptance of the irade, the execu-
tive committee being bound in honor, no less than in morals, to issue them.