objects in baked clay, frequently found among the ruins, and having an inscription, containing the names, titles, and genealogy of the King, engraven on the fingers. There are also some curious remains of the bronze portions of a seat, or throne, fragments of glass vessels, and of armour, including a sword and a helmet. We now proceed with our account of the Greek and Roman antiquities: Cases 29, 30 contain a large collection of early Greek vases, which have been discovered for the most part in different places in Greece proper. Among these are ancient vases from Corcyra (Corfu), consisting of three amphoræ and five cnochoæ, or jugs, found in an excavation at Castradès, near to certain ancient sepulchres, known by the names of Menecrates and Tlasias, in the Island of Corfu. They probably date as far back as the 6th century B.C., and have been conjectured to have been some of the celebrated amphoræ in which wines were exported from Corcyra. The plastic art (kepaμevτiкh) was, we know, cultivated at a very remote period, and the trade in pottery flourished at Athens, Ægina, Samos, and Corinth, in the earliest ages of Greek history. In ancient, as in modern times, particular districts were famous for producing superior kinds of potters' clay. These vases were presented to the Museum by the Ionian University in 1846.-Vases of the most ancient style from Athens; they are of various shapes, and ornamented with birds, animals, mæanders, and geometrical and architectural patterns, containing indications of triglyphs and metopes. Among them is a curious stand for a vase, consisting of the body of a chariot, No. 2583. Cases 31, 32 contain a continuation of the ancient Athenian vases. They are decorated with mæander, and other ornaments in brown upon a fawn-coloured ground; on some is an imitation of basket-work, birds, stags, &c.; and one very remarkable vase, having on its cover two horses. Cases 33, 44 contain a large collection of vases from Athens and the Archipelago, chiefly collected by Thomas Burgon, Esq., in different styles, and of different ages. Some have red figures on a black ground, and others have black figures on a red ground. Among them are several of the form called Lecythus. It is much to be wished that these and all other vases of Greek origin were incorporated in the large collection in the next room, so that the student might be able to take a comprehensive view of all that the Museum possesses of Greek fictile workmanship. The most remarkable vases in this case are No. 2923, a small pyxis, decorated with Cupids and other figures in white and blue. No. 2933, a small œnochoe, on which in white is represented a boy crawling on the ground towards a low stool, on which is an apple; and No. 2935, a globular vase, containing human bones, which was found in a sepulchre at the Piraeus. A vase of the same shape is seen close to the Triclinium. All these vases are remarkable for their beautiful finish, and for the ease and elegance of the figures which are upon them. Cases 35, 36 contain Lecythi of the finest age of Athenian art, some probably contemporaneous with the age of Pericles, B.C. 430; the figures on them being traced in brown, red, and black outline, on a white background. One of the finest of these, No. 2847, represents Electra and her hand-maidens before the Tomb of Agamemnon. The colours used in the decorations of this vase are blue, crimson, purple, and green. The subjects of most of the others are taken from the Oresteia of the Athenian Tragic writers, and, like the last, represent Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon. Besides these vases, there are some very curious and beautiful terracottas in bas-relief from Meios, representing respectively a Bacchante playing on the crotala; the son of Creon devoured by the Sphinx; Bellerophon, mounted on horseback, destroying the Chimæra; Perseus on horseback, slaying the Gorgon Medusa; and the interview between Alcæus and Sappho. On Shelf 3, is a very remarkable vase, No. 2911, with a painted cover, coloured white, with the fore parts of three gilded gryphons projecting from the sides. This vase has originally contained bones; and a silver Athenian obolus, which still adheres to the jaw, and which was originally in the mouth of the deceased to pay his fare across the Styx, is placed near it. There are also on the same shelf pyxides or unguent boxes for the toilet, composed of arragonite, and found at Syra; a patera in arragonite; and a small naked female figure, attributed to the earliest period of Greek art, found also at Syra. Case 37 contains terracotta Aryballoi, on which, in bas-relief, are Scylla and a scalloped pattern.-Different small figures in terracotta, the greater part of them from Athens. Among these the most remarkable are, a Comic Actor in the character of Heracles; Silenus and Dionysus; Hydriophora, probably Athenian damsels bearing water upon their heads; Demeter, or Ceres, seated; a group, with two females, one dancing, the other playing on a tambourine, and the Muse Polymnia; and on Shelves 3, 4, various animals, &c. in terracotta; a rhyton in the shape of a ram's head, and Muses and dancers in terracotta. Cases 38, 39 contain a very curious collection of 333 handles of ancient terracotta amphora, inscribed with the names of many magistrates of Rhodus, Cnidus, and other cities; the large majority found at Alexandria, by J. L. Stoddart, Esq., to whom the National Collection is indebted for them. The interest of these curious monuments induces us to pause for a few minutes, and to give some particulars of the history of their discovery. These Greek manubria were not entirely unknown previous to Mr. Stoddart's discovery; a few specimens having been published two centuries ago, and, about fifty, a few years since, by Castello, Prince of Torremuzza, in Sicily; and a few more by the Baron Judica and the President Avolio, respectively. It is curious, however, that hitherto they have been limited to Sicily, and it was not suspected that the custom of marking the tops of the wine-vessels with names and dates was one of general Greek usage. Mr. Stoddart states, that the site of ancient Alexandria is covered to a great depth by an accumulation of broken pottery of every age since the foundation of the city; but that though, it was natural to expect numerous fragments of inscriptions, he met with none for the first eighteen months of his residence there; at length, the chance discovery of a broken handle, with a name on it, in the winter of 1842, led him to make careful investigations, the result of which has been, that in the course of two years he procured no less than 470 manubria with legible inscriptions, of which 370 were dissimilar. The whole were distinguishable into two principal groups, which the texture and colour of the earthenware, and the form of the epigraphs, showed to be different; of these, Alexandria alone furnished 406, with 285 differences. These had all belonged to the pointed diotæ, with long lateral handles, which are depicted on the coins of Athens and Chios. One entire vase of this shape, but without any stamp, was found, and stood about three feet four inches high. The seal was placed upon the upper shoulder of the vase, and is generally in the form of an oblong cartouche, 1 inch or 1 inch long, by of an inch high. A radiated head of Apollo, or a peculiar flower, occupies the centre, the legend surrounding the exergue. The inscriptions on them contain the name of the magistrate, and often that of the month in which the amphora was made and legalized by the public seal-occasionally the magistrate is distinguished by his official title IEPETE (priest). On further examination, it was found that these manubria corresponded exactly with those discovered in Sicily. Of those published by Castello, 35 names were found out of 46; of those by Judica, 13 out of 14; and of those by Avolio, 22 out of 26. On more complete investigation, the following results were established to Mr. Stoddart's satisfaction : 3. 1. Evidence that the manubria were of common origin; neither Sicilian nor Alexandrian, but Rhodian. 2. Evidence that the magistrates named were EPONYMI; and that the Eponymus of the Rhodians was a sacerdotal dignitary, bearing the title IEPETZ. The acquisition of 169 names of these hierarchical and, probably, annual magistrates. 4. The discovery of a complete list of Doric months, used at Rhodes, and probably in its colonies; twelve months and a deuteral intercalary month. The circular seals disclosed the Rhodian origin of the whole class of manubria to which they belong. As long as only five of these stamps were known, the occurrence of the Rose, and the Radiated head of Apollo, the characteristic symbols of that island, were not especially noticed; when, however, no less than 54 were met with, the origin of the vases which bore them was at once rendered certain. In addition to this, many names were recognised of personages who figure in the history or on the inscriptions and coins of Rhodes. The same evidence showed that the names were those of magistrates, while the new fact learned from them was, that the title of some of the Rhodian magistrates was IEPETZ; a designation which was manifestly appropriate, when taken in connexion with the fact, that Rhodes was called "The Holy City of the Sun," and with the radiated head of Apollo in reference to that Deity. The Eponymus was the Pontiff of the National worship; the minister of the tutelary God, the author of the Rhodian race, Apollo Helius. The Diotal manubria have made known 114 names, which are certainly Rhodian Eponymi; and there is good ground to believe that there are 55 names besides, which are also of Rhodian origin, though the evidence in their favour is not so perfectly conclusive. Of the whole number, 36 names are altogether new. Not the least interesting result from this discovery is the determination of the Dorian Calendar, of which little was previously known, and that little with doubtful certainty. The inscriptions on the Diotæ set this question at rest, as the names of the months occur very generally, repeated in three cases, as often as 36, 28, and 26 times respectively. It is not possible to determine definitely the dates of these manubria; but there is fair reason to suppose that they belong to a period extending over 400 years, from the Foundation of Alexandria, B.C. 332, to the extinction of the separate existence of Rhodes in the reign of Vespasian. Besides the manubria the origin of which is Rhodian, there are several from Cnidus, of which 48 bear the names of magistrates. There can be no doubt that Cnidus had extensive commercial relations with Egypt; the olive oil of Caria was famous, and the whole coast was celebrated for its excellent wines. Besides Rhodes and Cnidus, which supply the greatest part of the manubria, specimens of them have also been met with from Hierapytna, Polyrhenium, Cydonia, and Gortyna, in Crete; from Salamis in Crete? Chios; Apameia in Bithynia, Lysimachia in the Propontis, and Parium in Mysia. In conclusion, Mr. Stoddart remarks, that the Diotal manubria show that while the Ptolemies continued to rule, Rhodes possessed the same commercial preference in Egypt which the Phoenicians had in that country before the time of Alexander; and that no epigraph has been found which can be assigned to any other city during the Ptolemaic period. No sooner, however, was that Dynasty extinct than the pottery of Corinth made its appearance, and then that of Cnidus and of the other cities. The Rhodian intercourse itself presents throughout the most interesting analogies with that which, from the Thirteenth to the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, was maintained by the Venetian Republic with Egypt and Syria under their independent Sultans.1 Cases 40, 41, on Shelves 1, 2, contain a number of objects in terra cotta, and some curious vessels of the shape called Lecythus, with female forms of the Egyptian type, and some objects in the shape of the eggs of ostriches, painted with figures and miscellaneous subjects. They were found at Polledrara. In approaching the next great collection of objects which are deposited in this room—those in Bronze or other metals, we must state that it is simply impossible to do more than to select from the different Cases some of the more remarkable specimens. Among them will be found bronze objects of almost every kind and description,-some from Greece Proper, many from Rome and of the Roman period, but perhaps the largest portion the products of the extensive excavations which have been made during the last hundred years among the Sepulchres of Ancient Etruria, and at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These objects are not at present arranged scientifically, but are only placed temporarily where they are now. Among them 1 See a very interesting Paper "On the Inscribed Pottery of Rhodes, Cnidus, and other Greek Cities." of Literat., vol. iii. pp. 1-125. By J. L. Stoddart, Esq. Trans. Roy. Soc. 1 |
