by Max Howell
Priestesses, known as the Pythia, would be consulted on a host of matters, from money, religion, marriage, to wars. The oracle was invariably ambiguous in her answers, allowing a decision to be made by the requestor either way.
They were told that the French began their excavations at Delphi in 1894, under the direction of Theopile Homolle.
They had written a letter while at Mycenae to the British expedition on the island of Crete, including therein their note from Sir Arthur Evans, and they had received a reply that the Villa Ariadne would be at their disposal. They again took their car by ship to the port of Heraklion in Crete, and after a short drive arrived at nearby Knossos and the Villa Ariadne, where they were to stay a month.
Knossos was another magical visit. The Villa there was for their exclusive use, and a family was included to service the villa and provide for their needs. The cottage, built in 1912 by Evans, reeked of history, and the students and archaeologists on site would favour them with visits, and would take them whenever they wanted over the site. At night a blazing fire would be lit for them in their drawing room.
The archaeological site at Knossos was entirely different from any other they had visited. Evans made a decision to reconstruct parts of the palace, so it required no imagination for visitors to visualise what the palace had looked like in ancient times.
The Minoan civilization was discovered and named by their friend Sir Arthur Evans. It was a pre-Greek civilization, and thus Evans wrote a new chapter in the history of the world. Evans discovered that Knossos was occupied from circa 4000BC to 1100BC.
In the month they stayed at the Villa Ariadne they pored over the library that was there, which afforded a deeper understanding of the work of Evans, and for that matter knowledge of other Mediterranean civilizations. They also examined the other archaeological sites on the island of Crete, such as Gournia, Phaestos and Hagia Triada.
While cosily sitting before the fire on one of their last nights, drinking Greek wine, which they had now got used to, Joanne turned to Henry and said: “You know, Henry, we have now slept in beds once occupied by Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann, and Margaret and Arthur Evans. Schliemann had three children, and Evans none. Which bed do you prefer?”
Henry laughed. “I favour the Schliemann’s. Besides, it was our first night of marriage.”
Joanne nodded. “I agree, and I do believe that it was in Mycenae where I got pregnant.”
“You what?” exclaimed Henry.
Tears ran down her face. “I believe I am pregnant, Henry, I am pregnant and I could not be happier. I am ten days overdue.”
Henry jumped up and swept Joanne in his arms, covering her with kisses. “I am so happy”, he said, “so happy, and there you go again, crying when you are happy.”
“What does all this mean for our travels?” asked Joanne.
“I honestly don’t know, Joanne, we’ll have to think about it and discuss it as we travel. At the moment my head is simply swirling with excitement. We had better, however, go see a doctor to make sure if your feelings are correct.”
They kissed again, got up and retreated to the bedroom, where they made love and talked about what they should do in the future.
As Joanne was only barely in to her second month of pregnancy, which was verified by a visit to a doctor in Heraklion the next day, they decided that they would continue their travels, to Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. They would then go to London or Oxford, where they both had more faith in the medical profession. The plan was however considered flexible, for in no circumstances were they prepared to endanger the life of the child she was bearing.
The one thing that had completely intrigued them at Knossos was the bull games, which had a mythical linkage. King Minos, who the civilization was named after by Evans, was connected to the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. Minos became overlord of Athens through conquest, and he demanded each year that twelve noble Athenian youths and maidens would be sacrificed to the Minotaur, which was kept in a labyrinth at the Palace of Knossos. The Minotaur would devour the victims that were sent. Theseus, the son of Aegeus, the Lord of Athens, was chosen as one of the twelve. The daughter of King Minos was called Ariadne, and of course this was selected as the name of Evans’ villa. She fell in love with Theseus. Ariadne dressed as a cow to distract the Minotaur, and gave Theseus a thread so that he could find his way out of the labyrinth. Theseus encountered the bull in the labyrinth and killed it.
These twelve youths and maidens were presumably those who participated in the bull games. The bull would charge at them, and they would endeavour to escape by vaulting over the horns of the bull. The Taureador Fresco and the gold Vapheio Cup clearly show the game in progress. The youths and maidens would have leather strips on their hands to escape slippage on the horns, and a leather apparatus surrounding the groin to protect them against being horned.
“It must have been an exciting activity”, enthused Joanne, “and extremely dangerous.”
“Yes”, said Henry, “and it had to be performed in the central court, which we have walked over every day, and Phaestos and Hagia Triada had similar open spaces, so the bull game must have been done there as well.”
They were sorry to leave Knossos, but knowledge that Joanne was pregnant had them a little more careful of the time at their disposal. So it was off to Turkey, to Istanbul and then Gallipoli to visit the war graves and historic landing site of the Australians and the British in the First World War. They were very moved as they stood at the top of the cliffs at Gallipoli, and visualised how impossible it was for the Australians in particular to land. The trenches were still there that were used by the Turks and the Allied forces.
They then drove to Troy, and stayed a few days, going through in their minds all they had read about Heinrich Schliemann and his discovery there. Carefully marked was Level 7, which was the depth of the archaeological cut where the ancient city lay.
“Do you remember me reading Agamemnon to you?” asked Henry.
“Do I remember? I will never forget your masterly exposition.”
“It is certainly difficult to believe that this is where the Achaeans came, and where the Wooden Horse was used to trick them”, said Henry.
“I wonder where Schliemann found the treasure?”
“The treasure?” queried Henry.
“Yes, don’t you remember the photograph of Sophia Schliemann wearing some of the Jewels of Helen, the Treasure of Priam, as they were called? They had been digging here for some three years, with up to a hundred and fifty workmen, which in itself is very hard to believe. He was going to stop excavating at Troy on June 15, and incredibly it was on June 14 he found the treasure. It was of inestimable value. I have a description here in this book. There were two gold diadems, from the first of which hung 74 short, and 16 long chains containing 16,353 separate gold pieces. The second diadem was similar. There were also six gold bracelets, a gold bottle, a gold goblet weighing 601 grams, a goblet of electum and a large vessel of silver which contained, beside the diadems, 60 gold earrings, 8700 small gold rings, perforated prisms, gold buttons, small perforated gold bars and other trinkets, vases of silver and copper, and weapons of bronze. How about that? Sophia was only 20 years of age then, and Henrich delighted in dressing her up with this unbelievable gold treasure. Imagine, he almost missed finding it. The very next day he was to cease excavations.”
“What happened to the treasure?”
“Schliemann used to keep it in his home in Athens, which we visited. Harried by the Turkish government to return everything, he instead made a gift of it to Germany. The Turks forever hated him because of it.”
“Afterwards he found Mycenae, and the supposed gold mask of Agamemnon”, said Joanne. “It’s interesting, Henry, but do you remember Arthur Evans telling us that the night he became engaged to his wife-to-be Margaret their celebration was to visit the Schliemann collection that was being shown in London? It’s marvellous how all this ties in.”
Before leaving Tur
key, they visited Pergamon and Ephesus. Pergamon was from the Hellenistic era, while Ephesus was of the Roman and early Christian era. What astonished Henry and Joanne was how well preserved these sites were, in comparison with the much better known Greek sites. The most likely explanation, they both thought, was that these places were much more out of the way of the normal tourist.
After Turkey they decided to look at some of the excavations in Ancient Mesopotamia, now present-day Iraq. They went down the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, looking at evidence of the Babylonian, Hittite, Assyrian and Sumerian civilizations, many artefacts from each civilization being housed in the British Museum.
“What is amazing”, said Joanne, “is that most of the famous discoveries we have been witnessing were done by wealthy amateurs. Schliemann and Evans were cultured millionaires. Archaeology was not a science in those days. If one had the money and interest they could just go almost anywhere and dig. Many of the countries seemed to have little interest in their own heritage in these times, hence literallytons of finds were sent back to the various major museums of the world. We have not seen the famous German and French museums yet, but presumably they stole just about as much as the British.
“This same exploration of by amateurs occurred in Mesopotamia as well. In 1839 a young Englishman, Austen Henry Layard, set off for Ceylon, his principal aim being to join the British already working there in the great tea plantations. He was going overland with a friend, which must have been an unbelievable journey in those days, and became intrigued by some mounds that he saw dotting the landscape here in Iraq. It was certainly some delay on his part, as his short visit extended into years, and ancient Nineveh and Nimrod were subsequently excavated by him. Do you remember those enormous Assyrian sculptures in the British Museum showing hunting scenes? Those were the finds of the young Layard, a rich young lad with little else to do.
“At Nineveh Layard also found over 25,000 clay tablets. This was the paper of yester-year. Things would be written down in the wet clay by a wedge-like pen, and they were then left to bake hard in the sun. The work of translation on these tablets was taken over and solved by another amateur, Henry Rawlinson, who was then in Baghdad, and later on he was assisted by George Smith. Smith excavated more of the tablets, and found that he had come across a description of the flood, opening a new line of biblical studies, perhaps verifying the Noah’s Ark story.
“What I did not know is that America had a vital role here through an expedition headed by John Punnet Peters, of the University of Pennsylvania. This University seemed to be way ahead in the USA in the field of archaeology, particularly with its world-wide interests. Anyhow, he and his team dug at ancient Nippur, and some 30-40,000 additional tablets were found. Mostly the tablets were simply records and inventories, but among them was the famous Epic of Gilgamesh. It is an immense work, an epic, which many nations have preserved in either written or oral form. The flood is just one part of the Epic.
“I will read a part of it to get ahead of you, Henry.
“What I like best is the lament following the death of Enkidu.
Hear me, great one of Urick,
I weep for Enkidu, my friend,
Bitterly moaning like a woman mourning.
I weep for my brother.
O Enkidu, my brother,
You were the axe at my side.
My hand’s strength, the sword in my belt,
The shield before me,
A glorious robe, my fairest ornament…”
“Sounds like you, Henry. You are my hand’s strength, the shield before me!”
“Well, my thanks”, he replied laughing. “You’re pretty good at this archaeology stuff now.”
“Have to be, after your meticulous reading at Mycenae!”
They then went to Babylon, where the hanging gardens had been, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was excavated by a German, Dr. Koldewey. Part of the Ishtar Gate was still there, but the majority had already been taken to Germany. They found the site disappointing, as there were no hanging gardens, not even a single flower, to be seen.
Henry said that the site in no way resembled the description in the Bible, where in The Revelations it is written:
‘Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their mechandise any more:
The merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.’
“So”, added Henry, “what happened to it all? It is now so arid, so desolate. It is now like a body without a heart.”
Then it was off to ancient Ur, the capital of the Sumerian civilization, which dated from at least 2700BC. They were delighted when they saw the Ziggurat at Ur, and climbed to the top, where it afforded a magnificent view. It was Henry who took over.
“You know”, he said, grasping her hand, “we are now standing on the central temple at Ur. Here was the first city-state in history, it is believed. The first city-state, imagine that. Up to this point small communities had developed throughout the world, but here was the very first city, with potters and other artisans, priests, officials, royalty, peasants… a self-sustaining city. I have to read to you, Joanne, a poem from here that has been translated.
“He embraced her, he kissed her,
Enki poured the seed into the womb,
She took the seed into the womb,
The seed of Enki.
One day being her one month,
Two days being her two months,
Nine days being her nine months,
The months of ‘motherhood’.”
“So, like you, she was in the months of ‘motherhood’.”
Joanne replied: “I just wish mine was only nine days long.”
Henry went on. “The excavations I like are those associated with a love story. It was the same here. The main person on site here was Sir Leonard Woolley, who dug with his wife Lady Woolley. They were here twelve long years. They just finished last year. His book, The Sumerians, was published just four years ago, and his latest, Ur Excavations: the Royal Cemeteries, was published just this year. I read a review in The Times. It is unfortunate that we missed the Woolleys. They are now back in England.
“The ziggurat was a great find, but now I am walking you to a discovery that caused an absolute sensation. One of the archaeological finds of the century. There it is over there, the so-called Death Pits at Ur. Some remarkable finds were made here, harps, gold head-dresses and necklaces. But what astonished the world was the number of skeletons found here, all placed in a reasonably orderly fashion. In the best preserved section, Woolley and his wife found the remains of 64 ladies of the court, 4 harpists and 6 male soldiers. It was incredible. Over 5000 years ago these bodies were placed here. They were not peasants or courtesans, they all wore rich garments and expensive jewellery. It appears to be obvious that they went to their deaths voluntarily, perhaps following the death of a king or queen. One harpist even had her hand around the strings, as if she played until death.”
“How did they die?” asked Joanne.
“No-one knows for certain, but it is presumed they were all drugged or poisoned. A remarkable discovery! Imagine them coming across this after twelve years of digging?”
“Incredible”, exclaimed Joanne, “absolutely incredible. By the way, there were also love poems translated, you know. One I like is:
“Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet.
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet…
<
br /> … Bridegroom, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savoury than honey.
In the bedchamber, honey-filled,
Let me enjoy your goodly beauty.
Lion, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savoury than honey.”
She laughed, and he said: “Honeysweet? Lion? I think we have seen and heard enough of Mesopotamia. We had better get off to Egypt.”
From the very moment they arrived in Cairo they fell in love with Egypt. The Nile appeared more beautiful than the Tigris and Euphrates, and the annual flooding meant that on either side of the Nile there was always a rich and fertile soil. There was a certain serenity about the land. They stayed in Cairo for some six days, going often to the Egyptian Museum to view the incredible Tutankhamen exhibit in particular, with its furniture, jewellery, mummies and the tomb and portrait mask of Tutankhamen. Then they went to the Pyramids and Sphinx. There were very few tourists there at this time of year, so they climbed the Cheops pyramid and then crawled up inside a narrow opening to find the chamber where presumably the Pharaoh was put to rest.
They next chartered a boat to take them down the Nile, their spare time on board being taken up with reading about the things they would see. They watched the peasants tilling the soil, fetching water and caring for their livestock. It was both peaceful and pleasurable. They often held hands and delighted in the majesty of it all. When they got to Luxor they checked in to the Luxor Hotel, which was on the foreshore of the Nile. Looking to the right they could see Karnak, and across the Nile they could see clearly the so-called Valley of the Kings.
Joanne asked: “Why were Pharaohs buried here instead of in the Pyramids?”
Henry said: “There were many reasons. First, there was an enormous cost in time and labour building the Pyramids. It is hard to believe, but each of those thousands upon thousands of massive granite blocks was cut near here and floated down the Nile. They made incisions along the face of the granite with bronze instruments, and then would place wet wooden blocks in the cuts. As the wood dried it cracked the granite open. But imagine the problem of lifting them from here, floating them down the Nile, landing them and somehow moving them up the pyramid, the difficulty increasing the higher they had to go. Thousands of slaves were used, and many must have lost their lives. The base of the Great Pyramid, Cheops, measures 755 feet and it is 481 feet high, the distance of a football field. Each granite block would weigh several tons. Incredible.”
