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Part I.—The Rock Necropoleis of Phrygia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

W. M. Ramsay
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Extract

This paper, and the plates by Mr. A. C. Blunt which accompany it, are the first-fruits of a journey in Phrygia, October 15 to November 27, 1881, for which Mr. Blunt was sent out specially by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. It would be both unbecoming and unnecessary for me to speak of the drawings which he contributes to this paper; but I may say that he learned photography in the few days that were at his disposal before leaving England specially for the work of the expedition, so that he has been enabled to verify at home, by means of photographs, the drawings that he made on the spot. In addition to this, we together compared most of his drawings with the original monuments, and spared no care to attain accuracy. It has been necessary for me to write in Athens without seeing the completed drawings: this has added much to the difficulty of the work, but the reader who finds the text correspond with the plates will thus have an additional proof of the accuracy of both. I should, however, have found it quite impossible to write what I have here written without constant help from the drawings, the artistic taste and clear memory of one friend who accompanied us, to whom are due the discovery of many monuments in the two necropoleis, and several of the drawings here published.

Type
Studies in Asia Minor
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 3 , November 1882 , pp. 1 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1882

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References

page 1 note 1 I had either to work in this somewhat hurried way before starting on a new journey, or defer the whole subject for a year.

page 2 note 1 The river may possibly be the Sangarius itself.

page 3 note 1 See Leake, , Asia Minor, p. 21Google Scholar; Steuart, Anc. Remains of Lydia and Phrygia; Texier, Asie Mineure; Laborde, Voy. en Orient; Barth, , Peterm. Geogr. Mittheil. 1860Google Scholar; Mordtmann, , Münch. Sitzungsb., 1862Google Scholar; Perrot, Voy. Archéol. Steuart's brief description is accurate, but conveys little information to one who has not seen the place; his plates are singularly bad, his copies of the inscriptions very good. Texier's account in his smaller work is a useful guide book; his plates in the larger work are better than usual; the engraving of the Midas-tomb is almost completely accurate, the chief fault being about the pseudo-doorway. Laborde I have not seen. Barth describes a traveller's hasty visit; his account is good so far as it goes, but serviceable chiefly to travellers. Mordtmann gives a very good account of Nacoleia, and exceedingly bad copies of the Phrygian inscriptions. Perrot's account and his few illustrations are invaluable.

page 5 note 1 It has been imperfectly published by Perrot (Voy. Arch. p. 147): Mordtmann, (Münch. Gel. Anz. 1861)Google Scholar assigns it to the time of Julian, on the sole ground that an inscription in honour of Julian exists at Nacoleia, six hours distant, but the letters are far too finely cut for such a late period.

page 6 note 1 None of these can compare in length with the great staircase in the citadel of Amasia in Pontus, which is still quite perfect. It is not, like the Phrygian stairs, a secret entrance to the fortress, but runs down into the heart of the mountain to a spring of water.

page 6 note 2 Around the foot of the plateau there is a great accumulation of earth forming a steep slope. The road of which I speak can of course be traced only after it reaches the edge of the rocks, and not up the slope beneath.

page 10 note 1 Perrot, Pls. 38 and 44.

page 10 note 2 See Br. Mus. Coin Catalogue of Thrace. These sculptures beside the gate should be compared with those of Alyzia in Acarnania (Heuzey, , Acarnanie, p. 407)Google Scholar.

page 10 note 3 See Conze, , Hermes-Cadmilos in Arch. Ztg. 1880, p. 1Google Scholar.

page 11 note 1 Gesch. des Wegebaus bei den Griechen, p. 61.

page 11 note 2 See Zimmer, Altind. Leben, ch. 12; Marquardt, , Röm. Privatleben, i. 49, 6Google Scholar; Weber, , Ind. Stud. v. 177ff.Google Scholar

page 11 note 3 Benndorf, , on the Vase of Myrrhina, in Mittheil. Inst. Ath. iv., p. 185Google Scholar.

page 12 note 1 Ross, , Arch. Aufs. i. 50Google Scholar; Körte, , Mitth. Ath. iii. 102Google Scholar.

page 16 note 1 The position of this inscription suggests that it was intended to attract the eye of a person ascending the steps. On the interpretation of the Phrygian inscriptions, see an article which I hope to publish in Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc. 1882.

page 23 note 1 Length of leg from top to joint, 4 ft. 3 in.

page 24 note 1 Athenaeus mentions that the tumuli of Laconia were popularly called the graves τῶν μετὰ Πέλοπος Φρυγῶν.

page 26 note 1 The squares are of 5½ inches. Accurate measurements of these ornamented tombs would show the relation of the unit of measurement to Greek and oriental standards. My impression is that two fundamental lengths are used, one about 5½ inches, the other about 8¼ inches, showing a ratio of 2 to 3.

page 27 note 1 Reber's idea about the tent of nomadic Phrygians is quite untenable.

page 27 note 2 Robes of similar pattern were worn (see Rawlinson, , Anc. Mon. i. p. 572)Google Scholar, and examples might be quoted from early Greek art: the peplos of Kora at Mantineia was of this character (Fouc. I.c.).

page 29 note 1 Mr. Dennis's discovery of the hieroglyphic inscription beside the ‘Niobe’ was a very important step in our knowledge.

page 32 note 1 In an article, “Trois Villes Phrygiennes,” in the Bullet. Corr. Hellen., I have gathered some new facts about the early spread of Christianity in Phrygia.