DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4327#0036
15. LION'S HEAD FROM CYMATIUM OF THE TEMPLE OF ATHENE, FROM A FRAGMENT IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Height 1 foot 3 inches, Width 3 feet 6 inches. From a photograph.
Me. PULLAFS REPORT OF THE EXCAVATIONS AT PRIENE.
The firman authorizing excavations at Priene which
was sent to me by Lord Lyons in 1866 required renewal
in 1869. Although I reached Smyrna on September 4th,
the new viziral letter was not forwarded from Constan-
tinople until October 10. No time was lost, however, by
the delay, as the recent rains had rendered the interior of
the country, and especially the valley of the Mseander, so
unhealthy that two-thirds of the inhabitants were attacked
by fever of a severe type, which occasionally proved fatal.
In these circumstances it would have been unadvisable to
have commenced operations. I therefore waited in the
neighbourhood of Smyrna until the great heat had mode-
rated and the fever had subsided, which was the case about
the third week in October.
During the interim I made preparations for the journey.
I engaged the old and experienced dragoman Spiro, who
had accompanied me on former expeditions, and also two
Turkish corporals of militia to act as guards and to super-
intend the labourers in the excavations.
We left Smyrna on October 14 by the Aidin Railway,
and proceeded as far as the Ballajik Station. Here we
engaged horses and camels to carry us, and our tools and
tackle, to Sokoi, a distance of four or five hours from the
station. Our road lay through the ruins of the Temple of
Diana Leucophryne at Magnesia ad Maiandrum. The
walls of the peribolos are standing to a height of about 30
feet, and within the in closure and around the ruins of the
temple there are still to be seen the trenches dug by the
late M. Texier at the time of his exploration of this district.
At Sokoi we took up our quarters in the house of our friend
Mr. Clarke, who had entertained mo when I made the pre-
liminary survey for the Society of Dilettanti in the year
1861. On the following morning I presented my letter of
authority (called by the Turks buyurulcli) to the Kaimakam
of Sokoi.' He expressed strong disapproval of my proposed
plan of encamping on the Samsun Dagh, the mountain
upon which stood the ancient city of Priene. He had
himself brought about the destruction of a band of Greek
brigands who had infested the neighbouring hills, and who
had only a few months previously seized and carried off
the nephew of the Dutch consul at Smyrna; therefore he
had reason to speak strongly on the subject. I was not,
however, in a position to promise to take his advice, as it
was of importance that our tents should be pitched as near
as possible to the ruins of the temple.
On the 16th we rode to Priene, a distance of about four
hours. Our road lay along the northern side of the valley
of the Maeander, which is here about six miles wide, per-
fectly level, and bounded on both sides by ranges of high
mountains—by that of Mycale on the north and that of
Latinos on the south.
Leaving the village of Kolebesh on the right, we ascended
the hill upon which the ruins of Priene arc situated. I
found the heap which marked the site of the Temple of
Athene Polias much in the same state that it was in 1861,
except that a draped figure near the ruins had been broken
in pieces.
Priene is situated on a low spur of Mount Mycale, some
two hundred feet above the level of the plain. It was sur-
rounded by walls which can still be traced on all sides but
the north, where a grand precipice rises to a height of a
thousand feet. In the higher part of the city, almost
immediately under this precipice, there is a platform of
rock bounded by terrace Avails. Upon this platform stood
the Temple. Here, and in the agora beneath it, are the
only level spots of ground within the city walls. The
remainder of the city was built on the side of the hill, and
approached by flights of steps cut in the solid rock.1 In
order that I might have the works immediately under my
eye, I decided to pitch the tents at the west end of the
platform. We commenced operations as soon as the camels
with tools arrived and the camp was formed.
The heap of ruins extended about 150 feet in length by
about 100 in breadth, and was 15 or 16 feet in height at
the highest point.2 It consisted of drums of columns, wall-
stones and architrave stones, heaped together in confused
masses, and partly covered with earth, on which low bushes
were growing. The platform being narrow, there was barely
room for a passage between the ruins and the natural pre-
cipice which formed the boundary on the north; and we
were obliged, in order to clear the site, to throw many of
the stones, after they had been measured, into the valley
below.
By October 26 we had ascertained that the wall of the
cella on the north side was standing to a height of 5 feet
above the level of the pavement of the peristyle, and that
this pavement and the steps beyond it were in situ. The
plinths and bases of several columns were also discovered,
many of them slightly moved from their original positions.
As I found that the height of the wall on this side would
preclude the removal of the stones which evidently filled
the cella, I determined after a few days' work to attack
the south side of the heap. Here we found a gap in the
cella wall, and at the south-west angle were found stones
of the capitals of anta3.
On November 1st there was a severe gale, from which
our encampment, being in an exposed situation, suffered
severely. A wooden hut, which I had erected for photo-
graphic purposes, was blown away bodily, and its contents
1 See Antiquities of Ionia, 2nd edit. pt. i. and frontispiece, plate ii.
2 See the view of these ruins, Ibid, plate iii.
Height 1 foot 3 inches, Width 3 feet 6 inches. From a photograph.
Me. PULLAFS REPORT OF THE EXCAVATIONS AT PRIENE.
The firman authorizing excavations at Priene which
was sent to me by Lord Lyons in 1866 required renewal
in 1869. Although I reached Smyrna on September 4th,
the new viziral letter was not forwarded from Constan-
tinople until October 10. No time was lost, however, by
the delay, as the recent rains had rendered the interior of
the country, and especially the valley of the Mseander, so
unhealthy that two-thirds of the inhabitants were attacked
by fever of a severe type, which occasionally proved fatal.
In these circumstances it would have been unadvisable to
have commenced operations. I therefore waited in the
neighbourhood of Smyrna until the great heat had mode-
rated and the fever had subsided, which was the case about
the third week in October.
During the interim I made preparations for the journey.
I engaged the old and experienced dragoman Spiro, who
had accompanied me on former expeditions, and also two
Turkish corporals of militia to act as guards and to super-
intend the labourers in the excavations.
We left Smyrna on October 14 by the Aidin Railway,
and proceeded as far as the Ballajik Station. Here we
engaged horses and camels to carry us, and our tools and
tackle, to Sokoi, a distance of four or five hours from the
station. Our road lay through the ruins of the Temple of
Diana Leucophryne at Magnesia ad Maiandrum. The
walls of the peribolos are standing to a height of about 30
feet, and within the in closure and around the ruins of the
temple there are still to be seen the trenches dug by the
late M. Texier at the time of his exploration of this district.
At Sokoi we took up our quarters in the house of our friend
Mr. Clarke, who had entertained mo when I made the pre-
liminary survey for the Society of Dilettanti in the year
1861. On the following morning I presented my letter of
authority (called by the Turks buyurulcli) to the Kaimakam
of Sokoi.' He expressed strong disapproval of my proposed
plan of encamping on the Samsun Dagh, the mountain
upon which stood the ancient city of Priene. He had
himself brought about the destruction of a band of Greek
brigands who had infested the neighbouring hills, and who
had only a few months previously seized and carried off
the nephew of the Dutch consul at Smyrna; therefore he
had reason to speak strongly on the subject. I was not,
however, in a position to promise to take his advice, as it
was of importance that our tents should be pitched as near
as possible to the ruins of the temple.
On the 16th we rode to Priene, a distance of about four
hours. Our road lay along the northern side of the valley
of the Maeander, which is here about six miles wide, per-
fectly level, and bounded on both sides by ranges of high
mountains—by that of Mycale on the north and that of
Latinos on the south.
Leaving the village of Kolebesh on the right, we ascended
the hill upon which the ruins of Priene arc situated. I
found the heap which marked the site of the Temple of
Athene Polias much in the same state that it was in 1861,
except that a draped figure near the ruins had been broken
in pieces.
Priene is situated on a low spur of Mount Mycale, some
two hundred feet above the level of the plain. It was sur-
rounded by walls which can still be traced on all sides but
the north, where a grand precipice rises to a height of a
thousand feet. In the higher part of the city, almost
immediately under this precipice, there is a platform of
rock bounded by terrace Avails. Upon this platform stood
the Temple. Here, and in the agora beneath it, are the
only level spots of ground within the city walls. The
remainder of the city was built on the side of the hill, and
approached by flights of steps cut in the solid rock.1 In
order that I might have the works immediately under my
eye, I decided to pitch the tents at the west end of the
platform. We commenced operations as soon as the camels
with tools arrived and the camp was formed.
The heap of ruins extended about 150 feet in length by
about 100 in breadth, and was 15 or 16 feet in height at
the highest point.2 It consisted of drums of columns, wall-
stones and architrave stones, heaped together in confused
masses, and partly covered with earth, on which low bushes
were growing. The platform being narrow, there was barely
room for a passage between the ruins and the natural pre-
cipice which formed the boundary on the north; and we
were obliged, in order to clear the site, to throw many of
the stones, after they had been measured, into the valley
below.
By October 26 we had ascertained that the wall of the
cella on the north side was standing to a height of 5 feet
above the level of the pavement of the peristyle, and that
this pavement and the steps beyond it were in situ. The
plinths and bases of several columns were also discovered,
many of them slightly moved from their original positions.
As I found that the height of the wall on this side would
preclude the removal of the stones which evidently filled
the cella, I determined after a few days' work to attack
the south side of the heap. Here we found a gap in the
cella wall, and at the south-west angle were found stones
of the capitals of anta3.
On November 1st there was a severe gale, from which
our encampment, being in an exposed situation, suffered
severely. A wooden hut, which I had erected for photo-
graphic purposes, was blown away bodily, and its contents
1 See Antiquities of Ionia, 2nd edit. pt. i. and frontispiece, plate ii.
2 See the view of these ruins, Ibid, plate iii.