All the primitive symbols of the Aryan race, which I find upon the Trojan terra-cottas, must be symbols of good men, for surely only such would have been engraved upon the thousands of terra-cottas met with here. Yet these symbols remind one forcibly of the “σήματα λυγρά” and “θυμοφθόρα,” which King Prœtus of Tiryns gave to Bellerophon to take to his father-in-law in Lycia.[146] Had he scratched a symbol of good fortune, for instance a 卐, upon the folded tablet, it would assuredly have sufficed to secure him a good reception, and protection. But he gave him the symbol of death, that he might be killed.
[Illustration: No. 81. Whorl with Symbols of Lightning (7. M.).]
The five [six] characters found on a small terra-cotta disc at a depth of 24 feet, and which in my report of November 18th, 1871,[147] I considered to be Phœnician, have unfortunately been proved not to be Phœnician, for M. Ernest Renan of Paris, to whom I sent the small disc, finds nothing Phœnician in the symbols, and maintains that I could not find anything of the kind in Troy, as it was not the custom of the Phœnicians to write upon terra-cotta, and moreover that, with the exception of the recently discovered Moabite inscription of King Mesha, no Phœnician inscription has ever been found belonging to a date anterior to 500 years B.C.
[Illustration: No. 82. Two fragments of a great Mould of Mica-schist for casting Copper Weapons and Ornaments (14 M.).]
I may also remark, with regard to my last year’s excavations, that I have now found quadrangular pieces of mica-schist and chlorite slate, from nearly 6 inches to nearly 11 inches long, and from about 1¼ to 3½ inches thick, which have on all four sides, and several of them on six sides, forms or moulds for casting weapons and instruments; and further, that the channelled pieces, spoken of in the report of November 18th, 1871,[148] are nothing but fragments of similar stone-moulds; the brilliant, glossy appearance of the slate seems to have been produced by simple polishing.
Of cellars, such as we have in civilized countries, I have as yet found not the slightest trace, either in the strata of the Hellenic or in those of the pre-Hellenic period; earthen vessels seem everywhere to have been used in their stead. On my southern platform, in the strata of Hellenic times, I have already had ten such vessels dug out in an uninjured condition; they are from 5¾ to 6½ feet high, and from 2 to 4½ feet in diameter, but without decorations.[149] I sent seven of these jars (πίθοι) to the Museum in Constantinople.