Hissarlik

“ We are given to understand [7] that signs of the art of writing have been discovered at Hissarlik; whereas the new volume supplies us with nothing of the kind for Mycenæ. But nothing, I apprehend, can be affirmed of its existence either in Greece or Troas during the Homeric age, except as the secret of a few; in Greece it was manifestly exotic, and perhaps it may have been the same in Troas. As long as the evidence remains in this state, we cannot infer from it with confidence any important proposition as to comparative advancement. ”

“ Commenting on this, Leaf said: [31] "But we know for certain that the dwellers upon the hill of Hissarlik were at a completely different and altogether lower stage of civilization than the royal race of Mycenae. Scarcely half a dozen objects have been found which show a point of contact. If, therefore, Homer correctly describes the Achaeans, his Trojans are quite imaginary." Ludwich, although admitting that most Mycenaean finds are older than the Homeric age, yet declared them to show that the Iliad is no picture of the imagination, but rests upon a real foundation. ”

“ The swampy district below Hissarlik bristles with reeds and bulrushes; the whole plain is thick with trefoil (the ‘lotus’ of the Iliad) ; while the banks of the famous stream, once choked with Trojan dead, are fringed—Dr. Virchow relates—with double rows of willows intermixed with tamarisks and young elms. If no such robust trunk is now to be seen as that of the elm-tree, by the help of which Achilles struggled out of the raging torrent, the deficiency is accidental, not inherent. Potential trees are kept perpetually in the twig stage by the unsparing ravages of camels and browsing goats. ”

“ The Homeric Troy.⁠In consequence of the clear connection between the earlier parts of the Homeric poems and Mycenaean times, it must be admitted that of all the settlements on Hissarlik, only that one which shows that it has come in touch with Mycenaean civilization can lay claim to the title of Homeric Troy. Such a city was our fortress with its huge walls, towers, gates, and inner buildings—a city which before its destruction had at least commercial relations with the people bearing the civilization which has been briefly described. ”

“ And perhaps the eye may be struck, in examining Schliemann's illustrations, with the vigour of life and motion which asserts itself in many of the Mycenean works, where the delineation is technically most imperfect. But we cannot compare the text with these remains alone; we are bound also to avail ourselves of such light as can be had from Hissarlik, whatever its effect upon our prepossessions or our arguments. Now I, for one, am struck with the wealth of Mycenæ, and the comparative poverty of what is probably Troy. ”

“ Was There a Real Troy?⁠With only Schliemann's "Burnt City" before them, we do not wonder that scholars were skeptical. Opinions were divided. One extreme view declared: "We know nothing of Ilion, in spite of Hissarlik and Schliemann. There are found interesting excavations in the land south of the Hellespont, but this is no proof that Troy was once on this spot. A pious opinion must not stand in place of proof." [29] In implicit faith that the Mycenaean discoveries are an exact picture of the Homeric age, Schulze swung to the opposite extreme. ”

“ Not only are modern settlements lacking on the Anatolian shores, but, it seems, very ancient ones as well. The coastal sites have yet to show evidence of primaeval times, and all the native Anatolian cities of the remoter age, thus far known, except Hissarlik, lie inland, and the traces of the earliest civilisation have been found out of sight of the sea. Ephesus has yielded no prehistoric things, nor have any Ionian or Carian sites, which have been explored, given us more. ”

“ Happening to be in California when made a state of the Union, in 1850, he became and remained an American citizen. After travels in Greece, Tunisia, India, China and Japan, and writing a short sketch of the last two countries, he took his large fortune to Greece in 1868, and proceeded to visit Homeric sites. In an ensuing book—Ithaka, der Peloponnes, und Troja—he propounded two theories which he was destined eventually to test in practice, viz. that Hissarlik, not Bunarbashi, was the site of Troy, and that the Atreid graves, seen by Pausanias at Mycenae, lay within the citadel wall. ”

“ In our citadel several of the buildings discovered consist of such an arrangement. Before each structure we must suppose an open court. The great closed apartment is the thalamos, and the half-open antechamber is the doma.
Dörpfeld described the nine strata of settlements on Hissarlik as follows: [27]
I. Lowest primeval settlement; walls of small rubble stones and clay; primitive finds; date (only conjectured) , 3000 to 2500 B.C.
II. Prehistoric citadel, with strong walls of defense and large dwellings of brick; three times destroyed and rebuilt; monochrome pottery ”

“ At first he found on the hill of Hissarlik seven distinct layers of superimposed settlements. [21] The first, an insignificant settlement, lay on
Plan II.⁠Citadel of II Stratum (1880)
The wall and inner buildings of the three periods are indicated by different cross-hatching. d—the first wall, with the towers (da, db) and the gates (FN, FL) . c—the second, with the towers (ca, cb, cd, ce) , the gates (FO, FM) , and the postern (FK) . b—the third, with the gares (FM, FO) and the towers (ba, bc, bd) . The megaron of the palace is seen at A.
the virgin rock ”

“ Another valley—this time of an insignificant swamp stream, called Dumbrek Su, and often identified with the Simoïs—cuts the eastern chain of hills at a little distance from the Hellespont.
Here at the southern point of meeting of the two valleys of the Scamander and the Dumbrek Su is the mound of Hissarlik, rising about sixty feet above the plain, and over three miles distant from the sea and from the Hellespont. [5] The hillside is rather
Fig. ”

“ On the W. it is wholly bounded by the desert; the Amu limits it on the S. and S.E.; and Karateghin and Darvaz complete the boundary on the E. Until 1875 it was one of the least known tracts of Central Asia. Hissar is traversed from north to south by four tributaries of the Amu, viz. the Surkhab or Vakhsh, Kafirnihan, Surkhan and Shirabad-darya, which descend from the snowy mountains to the north and form a series of fertile valleys, disposed in a fan-shape, within which lie the principal towns. ”

“ The climate of the valleys of Hissar and Kulab is pleasant, as they are protected by mountains to the north and open towards the south. They produce all the cereals and garden plants indigenous to Central Asia. ”

“ The Surkhan valley is highly cultivated, especially in its upper portion. It supplies Bokhara with corn and sheep, but its chief products are rice and flax. The town of Hissar (pop. 15,000) commands the entrance into the fertile valleys of the Surkhan and Kafirnihan, just as Kabadian at the southern end of the latter defends them from the south. Hissar was long famous for its damascened swords and its silk goods. Kulab produces wheat in abundance, and gold is brought thither from the surrounding districts. Kabadian is a large, silk-producing town, and is surrounded with rice-fields. ”

“ When a great and well-known person like this is going and travelling around, this is an aspect of a defect in the Hispa'arus [17] , G-d forbid, so to speak. For Yisroel are the pride of Hashem Yisborach, and the greatest of Yisroel is the main Hispa'arus, since he is the most important and glorious person in Yisroel. When he sits in his house, then he is the aspect of [the verse] , "Like the splendour of a man to dwell in his house". This means that the aspect of the Hispa’arus is “dwelling in its house”, which is the aspect of the Batim (‘houses’) of the Tefillin. ”

“ And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children. And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria. ”

“ The sight of Shiraz, standing in the midst of groves of thickly planted cypress trees, is quite a relief for the eye, wearied with the monotonous look-out upon the barren desert and bare rocks. The natives say that looking at the enchanting capital of Southern Persia from the spot whence I first saw it, the stranger in his admiration involuntarily bursts out into the customary "Allah Ekber" (God is greatest) , and that the place owes its appellation to this exclamation. ”

“ We were among the paid Hessians, whom we ever hated more than the British for coming to fight us in a quarrel that was none of theirs.
The Hessians, even with their intrenchments and cannon, could not stand before us—nor do I think they are as good as we. Perhaps our hatred of these mercenaries swelled our zeal, but their intrenchments were no barrier to us. For a space we fought them hand to hand, knee to knee; then they gave way. I saw their slain commander fall. Some fled, some yielded; others fought on, retreating. ”

“ The contrast between the two cousins and namesakes was a very marked one, for Elector Frederick was an orthodox Christian, King Frederick a follower of Voltaire. The Swiss historian, Müller, republican as he was, wrote from Cassel to his Swiss home in terms of strong praise of the Hessian corps of officers, of their scientific and social culture; the Hessians, he said, are sound, honest folk, warlike and courageous,—all the peasants have served in the army, and in every village the men show the good effects in their manly strength and love of discipline. ”

“ Careful to allow himself to be looted, at times nearly ruined, by the powerful king’s uncle, the Hissam-u-Sultaneh, he has always thus secured a friend at court, and while feathering his own nest during the governorship of the Zil-es-Sultan, he has always satisfied the young prince by large subsidies. Having several daughters, all ladies of mature age and all married save the favourite child—for whom he obtained the title of Lika-ul-Molk—on the Muschir’s death, the Governor of Shiraz, whoever he may happen to be, will have a gigantic prize. ”

“ There, donning a fez, I would stroll, my headgear saving me from the disagreeable attentions of the Greek shopkeepers, the most pertinacious of their calling in the city. For a long time among the natives of Persia in the bazaar I could find none but Tabrizi. Persian Turks often enough know little Persian; but at last I found a native of Shiraz, much to my delight, for a residence of two years among the Shirazi has always been a pleasant memory, and this particular Shirazi, too, seemed as glad as I was to meet a sincere admirer of the Jewel of Southern Persia, “The Pearl among the Emeralds.” ”

“ And, indeed, I do not know of a town in Persia, the inhabitants of which are as merry and jovial as those of Shiraz. Centuries have passed by since Hafiz, the glorifier of wine, sung his odes here, but a sojourn of a very few days in the capital of Fars will convince any one that the people of Shiraz have not modified a hair's breadth their views of life since the time of Hafiz. Everybody indulges freely in wine in spite of [Pg 138] the rigid inhibition of the Mohammedan law. ”

“ His jurisdiction extends over many Nestorian villages chiefly in the valley of Shemisden. Half of this district is within the Persian territories, and from the convent we could see the frontier dominions of the Shah. It is in the high road of the periodical migrations of the great tribe of Herki, who pass like a locust-cloud twice a year over the settlements of the unfortunate Christians, driving before them the flocks, spoiling the granaries, and carrying away even the miserable furniture of the hovels. It is in vain that the sufferers carry their complaints to their Kurdish master ”

“ The Turks love us little, and though they put up with us, as they need the goods that we sell, still there may at any moment be a fanatical rising, and it is well, indeed, to have made friends with one of the desert tribes, among whom you can find a safe refuge. You little know the value of the horse he has given you. The breed is a famous one, and the sheik has been offered a fabulous sum for one of his steeds, but nothing could tempt him to part with one. ”

“ The striking victory over a menacing combination of Turks and Arabs in the north, won by troops under the command of Lord Hastings, the veteran of so many striking victories, was already spread by the newspapers all over the Empire, let alone to this small garrison so near to the battlefield.
"Now, no other nation in the world could have done a thing like that," cried Captain Boyle, emphatically.
Horne Fisher was still looking silently into the well; a moment later he answered: "We certainly have the art of unmaking mistakes. That's where the poor old Prussians went wrong. ”

“ Abu Ishac, whose life was one of perpetual dissipation, redoubled his orgies in the face of danger. Uncertain of the fidelity of the people of Shiraz, he put to death all the inhabitants of two quarters of the town, and contemplated insuring himself of a third quarter in a similar manner. But these measures did not lead to the desired results. The 11chief of the threatened quarter got wind of the King’s design, and delivered up the keys of his gate to Shah Shudja, son of Mahommad ibn Muzaffar, and Abu Ishac was obliged to seek refuge a second time in Isfahan. ”