Evening star., 1901-06-01

feet Mycenaean knife. But except by hui
man agency 1t could hardly have come
into that crevfce. Crevtce after crevice
was discovered to be stocked with blades,
pins, tweezers and here and there a votive
AK OFTEN 1t was necessary to smash the
stalactite lips that in long ages had al
most closed upon the objects. Here, then,
after all, was the real Holy of Holes In
this most awful part of the sacred grotto
II was held most profitable to dedicate in
inches made by nature herself objects
fashioned expressly for the gods service.
In these pillared halls of unknown extent
and abyssmai gloom undoubtedly was laid
the scene Of Minos' legendary converse
with Zeus. That here is the original birth
cave Of Zeus there can remain no shadow
OF doubt Among the holy cayerns of the
world this on Mount Dicta in virtue of its
lower halls must stand alone, unrivaIed
One seemed in this dismal chasm to have
come almost to sight and speech OF the
men before history. AS we saw those pil-
Jared aisles SO the last worshiper who Of
fered token to Zeus saw then 5000 years
before"
In another part of the island Mr. Evans
has been digging out the buried glories of
Minos. the son Of Zeus. By purchase from
the Greek government he obtained the hill
known as Zephla overlooking the ancient
site of CnosSuS. Excavations began at
once and the result has been the uncover
inis of a large part of vast prehistoric
building, MinoS' palace. with its numerous
dependencies. About four acres of this has
been unearthed and by an extraordinary
piece of good fortune the remains of walls
began to appear only foot or so below the
surface. This dwelling OF ancient kings
had been overwhelmed by a great catastro-
phe. Everywhere there were traces of a
mighty confiagration. Burnt beams and
charred wooden columns lay within the
rooms and corridors. There was here no
gradual decay. The civilization represent
ed on this spot had been cut short in the
fullness of it's bloom. The palace showed
fro ont Sfa Of Iali
ly elements may go back thousand years
or more before it's final overthrow, some
5000 b. G. On the walls Of the corridors
were still preserved the lower part of
procession of painted life-size figures, in
the center of which was female person.
age. probably a queen in magnificent ap-
pare Along nearly the whole length of
the building ran spacious paved corridor
lined by long row Of fine stone doorways
giving access to succession Of magazines.
On the floor of these magazines huge stone
jars were still standing, large enough to
have contained the Forty Thieves. One of
these jars, found in a small chamber. was
nearly five feet in height and profusely
carved. Only few Of the Jars were open
and they proved to be empty, but there is
but little doubt that they were constructed
for the deposit of treasure.
The frescoes discovered OF the palace
walls constitute new era In the history Of
painting, the finest of these being that of
youth bearing a gold-mounted silver cup.
lie tDlDTS are dlUOSt dS DglllldHl as WHICH,
laid on over 5000 years before. For the
first time a true portraiture Of a man of
this mysterious race is pictured to us. The
limbs are finely nodded, though the waist.
as usual, in Mycenaean fashion, Is tightly
drawn in by a silvermounted gfrdle. The
profile of the face is pure and almost clas-
scally Greek. The profile rendering of the
eye shows an advance in human portraiture
such as was achieved by the artists of clas
scal Greece in the early fine art period of
the fifth century. B. c. A transition from
painting to sculpture was supplied by a
ored with natural tints II Is unquestion-
ably the finest plastic work Of the time that
has come down to us. stronger and truer TO
life than any classical work Of the kind. In
the palace King Minos had built the dane
ing ground of Ariadne and the famous
Labyrinth" great part Of the ground
Of the palace, with its long corridors and