New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-11-28

Cv,rrs and IN speoal manner OF those found In the
s9iferranean chambers NJ Cnrum These gold articles
s ass Wc bad belengrd 20 IN ancient tple and
az as be interesting To you 20 learn now tey weIo
Ia 1893 10 s7 7s T." snored the entire south
ern coast Of Cyprus After many oin utes anu ';o
once stood several cities mentioned by strabo and
Pausanias, but all traces OF which, Tor many
ruins of these ancient cities, rewarded BY the ais
cOvery OF great many objects OF ART most OF WHICH are
now in the metropolitan Museum Of oar city o,,.oa
Encouraged by the success hid obEsned resolved;
carry III 1874 visit the western coast Of cyprus ana
JOURNEYS ard which proved 10 be those OF on ancient
city called CuIium. This clty had been originally he
settlement Of all Argye colony and the present runs IRE
Interesting TO an arch@ologis as the s0i Is nIe,1g
with ancient Lebrs OF every knd-Orokeh Jats,
tiles, fragments of statues, INSCRIPTIONS ana budlts
Of columns halt buried ID the Mo9nu Mi ,
look as tnOagh they have been left undsturDcd Tor ce
turtles Now and then parts OF street PayGnses se
In place there several stone steps qntc worn
who MI their water lars and discuss tnr news
ami scandal Of the day WIN inc Ionnfers VINO nust
nave stood near by. Altogether can assure YOU the
scene Is which exces the Imagination TO conjuro up
the ancient days OF that city.
Hundreds OF small mounds mark the spot
where the ordinary dwcng-hOuses of Curium bad
stood. Larger mounds, with shafts OF columns Nlng
around PROBABLY those ~ temples or 2nhlo build
ngs. Examined one OF these mounds; ana while re,
moving some columns which lay cmbedded III IT,
brought u hight mosaic pavement considerably dam
aged. eli curious 10 see whether there wac anything
boueaih this pavement or not / was surprised To
long time ago, had aug beneath mat mosaic
pavement TO depth OF about Ave feet and then, for
some unknown reason, bad renowned the under
taking was thinking what had been mat man Oh
ject IN digging beneath That mosaic pavement Had nc
any slsUic that there was some repository where the
ancient priests Of Curum had sccreted their treasures
Or the digger himself one o. the priests, who, Know
contents soon fter the destruction Of TIE temple had
tried but uusuccessfnlly TO discover the secretf
Ibis shall never know. remained tmuhlns
for "A ing time and after having very carefully sur
yeyed the whole ground came 10 Inc conclusion lhat
"A certain spot benrath the pavement sounded hollow
and m spite OF the contrary opinion OF my dggers, de-
ended excavat there TIL We should meet either WIN
the rock or the virgin SOIL
Ater digging some twenty feet deeper came to o
passage corridor cut in the rock at one ed
OF which | found o doorway carelessly or hnrrledly
closed by slab As soon this stone was removed
j q CIRCULAR chamber filled 10 within few inches
above. This was evidence that the place had not
been entered Tor centuries In the progress OF removing
this earth three similar chambers communicating WIN
one other discovered The total absence OF human
remains all convinced mo that these chambers
well known that in ancient times the priests
had secret repositories, usually situated Win. INN
kept the gold and silver vessels used In their religious
ceremonies. ana also the valuable voye offerings pre-
scented by deyotees their difcren. shrnes. during
my long excavations in Cyprus discovered several OF
these places, bat they were Invariably OuId fneu 9i i
their contents You will ednily understand my delight
when, af er having descended into tn hst chahDcf
struck something hard on the floor which proved 10 DO
SANITY III that room, aud scareey minute passed
are now in The Metropolitan Museum OF Art, Of New.
YoIk' and consist of rings bruocets, necklaces,
rings amuiets signet rings and arucjs, among which
are those OF the King OF Papbos described III former
lecture.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOLD ORNAMENTS.
All these gold ornaments found in Cyprus belong to
the socaed Cyprioe art, that is to they are OF
local manufacture and they evidently made both by
Phpuican and Greek artists In regard to their date
approach this subject with some didence as great
difficulty very often exists in deciding on the date OF
ancient iewery OF course when IL is Of the finest kind
there is Limitation, but ia other cases when the
Workmanship not Of the best, the difficulty is some
times to say whether 1t Is TOO carly or
too late, and in the Cypriote jevolry the
difficulty materially increased by having to take into
account the various civilizations. which at different
times have existed In the island Jeweiry for instance
made in CypriOte where Gre elan culture was yet
in its early stage would at the same time be oontem-
poraIy with late and probably dobased stage OF Phoe-
nician art in another town.
MANY Of the gold ornaments found the treasure
room Curum, but especially the earrings and brace
lets terminate In the head OF lion ituI No. snake or
some fantastic hoTce looking anina, such a. gfhn,
which has hone head with the horbs vi goat and IN
some cases is winged (Cut No. 81 There doubt that
these designs originally selected charms to ward
off evil from the OF course they continued 10
made aud long after the original idea was forgotten.
inst as we Mt the present day continue employ the
lions head for the spout OF fountain. quite forgetting
Of lis supposed eie i OF soaring ANIMALS the
In the same way you often see hons bends used for
Knockers OF doors and if people cared to think at all
abOut such matters they wo,d see that the idea was
really beautiful one since the lion was The recognized
symbol of q faithful GUARDIAN and 1t was In limos
when this was recognized by all Thinking men
that the idea OF employing the animals head
for door knocker originated since then u
has beeu handed down to in bnd ignorance Besides
the head of lion. griffin snake the Indies OF Cyprus
wore often representations OF the mead or Me-
dusa as did the Greek ladies' 10 protect them AGAINST
evil fl firmly believed In ancohi times that who,
ever beheld the OF Medusd was instantly turned
into a stone statue, bnt am not aware that any sucn
statues have been found out sucn IL the legeud
and believing the truth OF H. LADIES in oiden times wore
this special form OF charm as protection Tor their
person