Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-11
Psychologists Of today as Baedeker 10 to
the ordinary tourist.
Destruction of Corinth.

Corinth was destroyed by the Roman
general. Lucius Mummius, i'm 1876 b. Z.
| Its inhabitants we're sold into slavery.
| and for a hundred years the site lay
desolate being gradually covered by silt
washed down from the surrounding noun
tains, dust which blew i'm from the plains
and the crumbling fragments OF its own
| architecture.
| Caesar built a new town a hundred
years later upon the ruins OF the Old.
] but did not take the trouble to dig be-
meath the surface. Modern Corinih
| never prospered, nor recovered its impor-
| lance or interest. 1t is now an Indifferent
| village. lying upon the grave of the an
| Gent Corinth. or at least small portion
| of it, and the students of the American
| College have been making excavations in
order to ascertain as much information
| as is possible about the ancient city.
| The splendid theater where the ancient
| Corinthians enjoyed the famous dramas
and satires and the ancient market place,
| an old temple whose seven monolithic Dori:
| columns are familiar to all students of
| architecture, have been uncovered. The
| topography of the ancient city has been
| clearly defined. and many pieces OF pot
| terry. silver. gold. terra Gotta and coins
| have been found.
The Fountain of Peirene.
The most sensational discovery how
ever. was the sacred fountain of Peirene.
which supplied the ancient city and still
supplies the present village of Corinth
| with water. 1t was built in the sixth
| century before Christ, and in classic
times poured n flood through a conduit
| which was tapped here and there by the
citizens as they needed the water.
One day this fountain was discovered
| by two STUDENT of the American school.
| They noticed a stream of some sort, but
| had no idea of its source or character.
So after sinking shaft. they let them
selves down and found conduit about
| thirty-siX inches square. Crawling
through it for long distance. they came
to a series of chambers hidden under a
thick stratum of debris and earth, and
| recognized at once. from the descriptions
| they had read in Pausanias of the water
supply of ancient Cornith, that they had
found what was known as the secret
| fountain of Pe!rene.
| Without saying anything about their
| discovery the director of the American
School purchased the garden under which
| it was concealed, cut down the trees and
the students are now at work digging II
out. 1t is a complex water works sys-
tenn, built 1900 years ago. and once sup
piled large population with water.
| which was not conducted through pipes.
but through channels chiSeled in the
rock. The water for the use of the great
| Temple of Apollo flowed through the
mouths OF several bronze lions, which
are still in place.
cavating a theater of ancient Corinth,
| they found, under one of the seats, q
ter. a Gotta mold of a statue of the god
dess Athene, about ten inches long and
| four or five inches wide. which was used
for making copies Of the great statue for
votive offerings. This mold is still In
working order. after having been buried
| for twenty centlNies or more.
They have identified the Temple Of
Apollo. which Pausanias described: they
| have discovered the Odeum. which was
| about sixty-five meters in diameter, with
the seats cut in the native rock, and sew
eral statues and sixty-two or more coins.
Aim Of the Excavations.
| Prof. HILL director of the school, IN
| answer to my questions. said: THE work
at Corinth began in 1895, and has been
continued ever since as rapidly as the
funds at the command of the school will
permit We have oniy $1,000 year for
excavations. which is the gift of Mrs.
Montgomery Sears of Boston, and We
| ought to have at least $500 year to
carry on the work properly. What we
| aim to do is to uncover all OF ancient
Corinth We are now working in the
region of the market place. We have
| opened a broad paved road leading up to
the temple, and beside that road our
bows discovered the fountain of Peirene.
4
the most famous fountain Of ancient
| times. 1t is in practically perfect pres
eryation, but the reservoirs, which con-
| tain about 10000 gallons of mud. must
| be cleaned out for sanitary as well a.
archaeological reasons. When the work
| Is done we shall be able TO make the
hest exhibit of a fountain In all Greece.
| There is an abundance of water and we
can show it absolutely as it was I'm the
middle of the sixth century before Christ
Rut we shall not be able to do this with.
ont a special contribution for the pur.
pose. IT., >
ready uncovered, was indosed on three
sides with long colonnades. The most in
teresting thing we found there Is a small
Greek temple with a secret passage under
n so that voices from below could be
heard at the altar. 1t probably was q
small oracle
I'VE have absolute proof that the tenn
nile at Corinth which has been attributed
to both Athene and Poseidon belongs
really to Apollo, and have made other
important archaeological discoveries.
what we shall do hereafter has not
been decided What the school needs most
is liberal fund for excavation. and
if ii were available we could accomplish