Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-01-05
The Tomb of Agamemnon.


We extract the following from the
New York Her0iDs account of DR..
Schliemann's discoveries in Mycena:
then turned to the treasury Of Aga
memon, commonly called ''Tomb Of
Agamemnon," (which lies about three
quarters of mile from the citadel.
|: is dug in the side of a little hill,
facing deep ravine. A passage,
! l47 feet long and about 80 feet wide
formed of two parallel walls, each 80
feet high and built of hewn stones
Of about 8 feet by 2, leads to the
grand entrance, which is l3 feet high
and at the top, wide, but its width
/ gradually increases, and it is 9 feot
at the base. This gate is covered
with one block of beautiful hewn
stone, 81 feet long and 4 high, above
which there is a triangular opening
of II feet hill and the same width
at the base. Curiosity having made
me climb the gate, | found III the
| triangular opening some traces that
convinced me that statues or little
columns We're placed there. There
was formerly Oh each side Of the
! great gate i column with base and
capital, and encircled with elegant
,cul ulp;ured ornaments, which, accord
ing to Speaker, had 10 resemblance
to any other scul plures Of ancient
Gieere, but which approached the
sly le of carvings at Per>epolls. In
the great entry the marks on the
bolts anl hinges Of the doors are Wis
idle, and on The same line with these
marks II series Ut little round holes
of airuul an inch and a halt in diam
eter and halt and inch deep, aud ut
the bottom of these two little holes
which eNiicnll y held nails of bronze.
The treasury contains two chambers
the first Of which is shaped like
cone, of so feet diameter ard about
the same height. 1t communicates
by door with an interior chamber
of qua,lranyular shape, which is only
81 feet in length and width, and is
roughly dug Into the rock.
This last WAS entirely dark, and,
unfortunately I had brought no
matches with me. told the boy
who had come with me from Char
vati, to 90 and get some, but he as
surcd me that there WAS not such a
thing iii the village. Being convinc-
ed that, even in the house of the
Peloponnesus. there must be somo
matches, told him | would give
him a half drachma (Slxteen cents)
for three matches. The boy stood
s,upefied and aghast at such llberali-
ty, but could hot bring himself to
believe it at first. Three times over
he asked me If l would truly give
him ''titty latta" if he would seek
some matches; twice | gave him a
simple affirmative answer, but the
third time | swore on the ashes OF
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.-
Scarce had | calculated this oath
than the youngster made off at full
speed toward Charva:i, though more
than mile distant from the treasury
of Agamemnon, and came back IN
hot haste with a bundle of brambles
in one hand and ten matches in the
other. | asked him why he had
brought three times the number of
matches I had told him to. First he
gave me evasive answers, but, being
pressed on the point, at last admitted
that he was afraid that some OF the
matches would be bad, and that he
had brought ten instead of three in
order to guarantee himself against
all chances and to carry off the prom
l>cd recompenSe when he arrived -
He soon kindle, Il fine fire i'll the
chamber, making light enough to
scare the thousands Of bats which
had established their dwellings there
and which made aloud noise in their
endeavorS to escape. But, blinded
by the brightenesS of the blaze, they
failed to lind the door, aud flew rest
lessly from side to side of the room,
annoying lis much, flying i'll our
faces and hanging to oar clothes
The great hall or dome is built OF
hcwn stones Of trnn lhlrt en- totillity
inches long, and rl ven 10 twenty
five thick, lai On e.icI utu rWlthput
cement. In each OF these >ton> there
ar. twp ltlle holes containing the
Ie,nlinS of bronzr nails. which have
been set in there, AMI even Ee', some
entire nails may be seen III the np
per stone; of this ooinr. Tne>c nails
can only have served to support Il
lining which extended over the
whole interior of the editice, for,
while we might admit That those be-
low, say to Il height of twelve feet,
served to suspend arms and other
objects, it is utterly out Of the ques-
ton that those which we see i'll the
stones at the top of the dome could
have been employed for the same
purpose. Besides the const. uction
of this edtice shows, even in the
smallest details,a wonderful care and
art. After having detied the ravages
of time for thirty-onc centurles, it is
siili IL ~ StttC q IiSSSiN'tioh 40 ~
feet as though it was just built
There is, therefore, but little reason
to doubt that it was adorned i'll 4
most splendid manner. SO, | am
perfectly sure that the whole interior
of the great hall was lined with pol
ished plates of bronze or brass. |
believe this the more, As we see in
several ancient authors. that the
Greeks had, at a very early period,
. adorned their houses in this manner;
for we can in no other way explain
the brazen houses and chambers of
which the ancient poets and histori-
ans speak.
"Where were you standing at the
time this trouble occurred?" asked a
lawyer in police court this morning
of an athletic female, whose avcirdu-
pois ranged somewhere in the vicini-
ty of 200 pounds. "You can bet
your life | was standing ut my hus
bands back, where every woman
ought to be when the old man is go
ing to get into row." No further
questions were asked.