DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0085
Gi
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
ENGRAVED STONES.
Mr. Richard Norton has had charge of the engraved stones from our excavations,
and will give a separate account of these. But 1 may say at this place that his classifi-
cation fully hears out the general conclusions concerning the Ileraeum antiquities to
which I have heen led hy the study of the other finds on our site.
EGYPTIAN OBJECTS.
In the important chronological conclusions to which we have been led by the study of
the antiquities found at the Heraeum, the Egyptian objects were left unnoticed, because
I did not feel qualified to judge of them. But it appeared to me when the excavations
were completed that these could throw no light upon the earliest history of that site. No
Egyptian object was found below the black layer of the Old Temple, and, as far as I
could ascertain from the actual finds, none came from the lowest layers near the bed-
rock on any of the other sites. Those that were found would thus most probably be
related to the later " orientalizing " period, as we noted it in terra-cottas, vases, etc.
Mr. A. M. Lythgoe has undertaken the publication of these objects and will further
make a comparative study of those found at the Heraeum with those discovered at Eleusis
and Aegina. Meanwhile he assures me " that there is no object earlier than the begin-
ning of the so-called Late New Empire — in fact, probably not earlier than the reign of
Amasis, Twenty-sixth Dynasty. That dating would include also the scarabs bearing the
cartouche of Kanien-cheper."
HISTORY OF PREVIOUS EXCAVATIONS.
The site of the Heraeum remained unknown for many centuries. Its discovery and
final identification by means of excavation were achieved in our age by Colonel (later
General) Gordon of Cairness in the year 1831. The first notice of this discovery was
published by William Mure in 18T2.1 He gives the following account of the discovery
and of the site : —
" It was not until my arrival at Athens that I learned that the site of the Heraenm, or temple
of Juno Argive, perhaps the most important sanctuary of ancient Greece, after those of Olympia
and Delphi, and hence so long, so anxiously, and so vainly sought for hy travelers, had heen dis-
covered hy General Gordon, several years before.2 . . . The form of this eminence, of which the
accompanying sketch (Fig. 32), without any pretensions to geometrical accuracy, will give a fair
general idea, is nearly that of an isosceles triangle with its apex pointing to the mountain and its
hase to the plain. The surface is divided into three esplanades, or terraces, rising in gradation one
above another, from the lower to the upper extremity. The central one of the three [our Old Tem-
ple] is supported by a massive Cyclopean substructure, still in good preservation, to a considerable
height, and a conspicuous object from some distance. It was this wall, accordingly, which first
attracted the general's attention. On the lowest of the three terraces he made an excavation,
1 Journal of a Tour in Greece and the Ionian Islands,
London, 1842, pp. 177 fB. lie made his journey in 1838.
2 This General Gordon lie mentions in an earlier pas-
sage (p. 162) : " Argos was at this time the headquarters
of my countryman, General Gordon, who commanded in
chief in the Peloponnesus. His arrival from Athens had
preceded mine by several days, and a general invitation
to his table, during the period of my stay, assured me
both agreeable society and excellent fare during my re-
turn from my daily rambles. The general, in addition
to his extensive knowledge of the country and people, is
an accomplished antiquary ; and his long residence in
this district had rendered him more especially familiar
with its objects of interest."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
ENGRAVED STONES.
Mr. Richard Norton has had charge of the engraved stones from our excavations,
and will give a separate account of these. But 1 may say at this place that his classifi-
cation fully hears out the general conclusions concerning the Ileraeum antiquities to
which I have heen led hy the study of the other finds on our site.
EGYPTIAN OBJECTS.
In the important chronological conclusions to which we have been led by the study of
the antiquities found at the Heraeum, the Egyptian objects were left unnoticed, because
I did not feel qualified to judge of them. But it appeared to me when the excavations
were completed that these could throw no light upon the earliest history of that site. No
Egyptian object was found below the black layer of the Old Temple, and, as far as I
could ascertain from the actual finds, none came from the lowest layers near the bed-
rock on any of the other sites. Those that were found would thus most probably be
related to the later " orientalizing " period, as we noted it in terra-cottas, vases, etc.
Mr. A. M. Lythgoe has undertaken the publication of these objects and will further
make a comparative study of those found at the Heraeum with those discovered at Eleusis
and Aegina. Meanwhile he assures me " that there is no object earlier than the begin-
ning of the so-called Late New Empire — in fact, probably not earlier than the reign of
Amasis, Twenty-sixth Dynasty. That dating would include also the scarabs bearing the
cartouche of Kanien-cheper."
HISTORY OF PREVIOUS EXCAVATIONS.
The site of the Heraeum remained unknown for many centuries. Its discovery and
final identification by means of excavation were achieved in our age by Colonel (later
General) Gordon of Cairness in the year 1831. The first notice of this discovery was
published by William Mure in 18T2.1 He gives the following account of the discovery
and of the site : —
" It was not until my arrival at Athens that I learned that the site of the Heraenm, or temple
of Juno Argive, perhaps the most important sanctuary of ancient Greece, after those of Olympia
and Delphi, and hence so long, so anxiously, and so vainly sought for hy travelers, had heen dis-
covered hy General Gordon, several years before.2 . . . The form of this eminence, of which the
accompanying sketch (Fig. 32), without any pretensions to geometrical accuracy, will give a fair
general idea, is nearly that of an isosceles triangle with its apex pointing to the mountain and its
hase to the plain. The surface is divided into three esplanades, or terraces, rising in gradation one
above another, from the lower to the upper extremity. The central one of the three [our Old Tem-
ple] is supported by a massive Cyclopean substructure, still in good preservation, to a considerable
height, and a conspicuous object from some distance. It was this wall, accordingly, which first
attracted the general's attention. On the lowest of the three terraces he made an excavation,
1 Journal of a Tour in Greece and the Ionian Islands,
London, 1842, pp. 177 fB. lie made his journey in 1838.
2 This General Gordon lie mentions in an earlier pas-
sage (p. 162) : " Argos was at this time the headquarters
of my countryman, General Gordon, who commanded in
chief in the Peloponnesus. His arrival from Athens had
preceded mine by several days, and a general invitation
to his table, during the period of my stay, assured me
both agreeable society and excellent fare during my re-
turn from my daily rambles. The general, in addition
to his extensive knowledge of the country and people, is
an accomplished antiquary ; and his long residence in
this district had rendered him more especially familiar
with its objects of interest."