The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-01
/. 4 UNIVERSITIES RARE GIFT
The Collection Of Cyprus Antiques
at Johns Hopkins.
Presented by Theodore NnrburE-
The Curfos Gathered by Col FaIIz-
Innd Warner During n Residence
of Twelve Years in the Island.

BALTIMORE. June 1.-The rare and
beautiful antiques from the Island of Cy-
prus presented to the Johns Hopkins Uni
versity by Theodore MarbUrg. the mil
li0naire tobacco manufacturer of this
city. has been arranged now so its worth
may be easily seen. The collection num-
bers about ninety pieces. and was gath
cred by Col. Falkland Warren, a cousin
of Mrs. Marburs, who was Government
Secretary for Cyprus from 1879 to 1891 In
a letter to Mr.. MaTbUTs, Colonel War
rem says:
These antiques were selected during
d residence of thirteen years from large
assortments brought to me from exca-
vatious made on the spot"
Some of the relics were bought from
peasants who had uncovered them in the
cultivation of their fields. but others were
taken out Of the excavations carried on
by Colonel Warren for the sole purpose
OF collecting relics.
Mr. AIarburg says that in Cyprus the
dfscoverer of antiquities is entitled to
one-thfrd of the treasure. the authCri-
ties a third. and the owners of the land
third. but the landlord is usually will
ing to sell his share at a reasonable fig
ure and it thus happens that the enthu-
siast usually gets tw0-thiTds Of his find
That these antiques are genuine and
worthy of the fullest consideration by
students is manifested by the opinions
! Of such men as Prof Max O. Richter and
Prof. Sayce, who are thoroughly con-
WINGED Of the Importance of the coilec-
ton and were extremely eager to set
hold Of it for Cambridge University and
the Berlin Museum. Colonel Warren was
highly fattered by the attentions of these
savants, but refused to allow his valua-
bles to pass out of his hands
Most beautiful Of all the collection IS
| an intagIio head of Alexander the Great,
| cut in red sard, and supposed to be a
/ likeness from life by the Greek intagito
/ cutter PergotoIes- It would be hard to
/ imagine a more beautiful piece Of work
/ nanship- Alexander is represented as a
| type of majestic beauty familiar in the
/ remains Of Greek statuary, with high fore
/ head. weIl-set eyes. a Greek nose, firm
mouth and chin. and the hair clustering
! in cUTIs-
! With the intagIio is a cameo represen-
) tatfon Of Alexander as the ideaIized Zeus-
1 Ammon whom the Greeks confused with
/ Ammonia. the principal god Of the di-
/ vine triad Of the Egyptians. and in their
minds chief of the Egyptian divinities-
! The face IS nlassiveIr beautiful. but not
attractive as that in the intagIio II is
/ cut on 4 white stone and from q point
I above the ears spring horns which were
used 10 illustrate the characteristics Of
! this particular god when the Greek artists
/ ideaIized him with a human face Instead
/ of the rams head with which he was rep
resented By his Egyptian worshipers- The
cameo was cut to memorize Alexander
attainment Of the overIordship Of the
country
The third piece Of this interesting ser
les is an intaglio representation in brown
/ sard OF Minerva killing the Titan who
| dared to resist the power Of Jupiter.
( Minerva is shown in q heroic attitude
. displaying to the gaze of the Titan d
( shield on which IS the head Of AIedusa
/ which turned to stone any being who
/ looked upon It. The Titan is in q
/ horror-stricken attitude. and his face
+ depicts his agony as he realized that ne
/ was g-auaIIy becoming q monument Al
Of the work on this piece IS of a most
/ delicate character, and the details are
/ brought out with a fidelity that IS re-
markable.
What IS probably most important Of
the collection historically is a series OF
k.gIass canoes. found by peasants while
Fplowing near the village of Nikosa The
style of headdress would Indicate that
the canoes Were made at a very early
/ date, and it is thought when they are
studied by the Johns Hopkins experts il
viii be found that glass and the art Of
working it were known at an earlier age
than has hitherto been thought
There are also seals and cylinders in.
scribed with Hittite figures and charac
ters- The knowledge possessed by the
world Of Hittite history and language is
small, and this knowledge may be in
creased by the new material q the dis
posaI Of student. Several Of the seals
have inscriptions, notably one made OI
green stone. which has a figure of Har
pocrites God Of SHence) being adOret
by one Of his worshipers-
Of special interest to the students Of
earlier history are two scarabaei. or bee
tIes-one Of black hematite, and one OF
white quartz-which are inscribed viii
ancient Cypriot characters. They are be
Iieved to be entirely unique. as nothing
ike them is known in any OF the Euro
peau museums Judging from their gen
eraI appearance and inscriptions. il i
thought that they could not be Of a Iatel
date than 1900 & c. In one group ars
twenty-one scarabaei and seals repre-
senting the period Of Egyptian rule IL
Cyprus. which began with the cOuques
/ Of Nlasis, about 500 3 c These are val
liable for showing the influence Of Egyp
tan art and religion upon that Of tbs
natives
Under the head Cylinders from Cyp
rus are thirteen Specimens Some OF
! them have their written characters i1CoT
/ rectly formed and it IS thought thai
/ these mistakes were intentional done L
represent the ancient CypriOt cnaTaC
! tiers Some Of the characters are COnSid
/ cred attempts to represent CypriOt name:
/ Theoretically All of these seals are very
! rare. one specially so, and those who hav,
/ examined them say that they cannot dat
/ later than 500 Il. g
/ The gold ornaments include a peE"aH
| about two inches long, a human figure OF
/ GraacO-P hOnOeCian origin A peculiarly
/ Of this ornament, which IS Of great value
/ because Of its rarity. is that II IS supposed
| to be hollow and have inside q roll Of pa
per containing an inscription. The fSur'
is not entirely cut awby, as in the case Of
/ a statue and at the bottom of the bach
/ support is a round hole, in which can %
/ distinctly seen an apparently removable
4 notable feature Of the collection o
Z ornamental jewelTy IS the exquisite man
/ rer in which it is made aud the remark
! able resemblance the rings and earring:
bear to those Of the present day
Death of Alexander BreREie-
| FREDERICK. Md. June 1-Alexande1
! .Fia7 cr-TF.rFv- IN, I~reiaTfrL< Yes