objects, but as the explorers penetrate into the interior of the palaces and temples the number of works of art and especially of documents is likely to increase.

The American excavations at Nippur, under the direction of Professor Hilprecht, of the University of Pennsylvania, have been temporarily suspended, in order to allow the study and arrangement of the mass of material already recovered, but they are to be resumed in a short time on an even more extensive scale.

II. Palestine and Syria.-The work of the Palestine Exploration Fund during the past season has been confined to such studies as can be pursued without special permission; for as yet the Turkish government has failed to issue the promised firman for excavations at an unnamed site, which is described as likely to yield much information on the pre-Israelitish and early Jewish periods and possibly on the puzzling Philistine problems. A museum has been established by the Turkish government in Jerusalem, where the lesser objects found by Dr. Bliss and other explorers are to be preserved. This is in accord with a new policy, which has in view the establishment of local museums at various points throughout the empire for the preservation of such antiquities as are not of sufficient importance to be brought to Constantinople. Konieh and Bagdad have also been designated as sites for such museums, and others will probably be added. The Imperial Museum has also taken part in excavations, having conducted during the summer an examination of Bostân eshShaykh near Sidon. The work was in charge of Makridi Bey, who had previously represented the government at the German excavations at Baalbek. The trenches brought to light the foundations of a Phoenician temple dedicated to Eshmun, and a mass of sculptures in stone, vases, terra-cotta, inscribed gems, etc. Most of the objects are of the Hellenistic period; but there are several Phoenician inscriptions, one of which gives the name, Bad-'Ashtoreth, of the hitherto unknown grandson of Eshmun'azar.

Two lesser discoveries are of some importance. The aqueduct near Jerusalem, which has been variously attributed to Solomon, Herod and Pilate, has been carefully examined and several Latin inscriptions found, which show that it is much later than had been supposed, as it was built in 195 A. D., during the reign of Septimius Severus for Ælia Capitolina, the Roman city, which occupied the site of Jerusalem. While traveling in the Hauran, Dr. George Adam Smith discovered at Tell esh-Shibâb, a basalt slab with an Egyptian inscription of Seti I., thus furnishing a new point in the extension of the Egyptian conquests towards the northeast before the Israelitish occupation of Palestine.

The past year also brought the publication of a preliminary report of an American expedition, which in 1899-1900 made a careful exploration of the region of central Syria, east of the Orontes and in the Hauran, visited by Count de Vogüé in 1861-62, and almost wholly neglected since that time. The expenses of the expedition were provided by four New York gentlemen, and the party consisted of Messrs. R. Garrett, W. K. Prentice, and H. C. Butler, of Princeton University, and Dr. Enno Littmann, of Oldenbourg, to whom were added later Mr. H. M. Huxley as anthropologist, and Dr. George E. Post, of Beirût. The mountain region of northern central Syria was entered from Antioch, and carefully explored, the numerous inaccuracies of the maps corrected, inscriptions copied, and a large number of photographs taken. The importance of the region lies in the large number of ancient towns, now deserted, but flourishing down to the end of the sixth century of our era, and abounding in well-preserved remains of churches, tombs and especially of the domestic architecture, which is nowhere so well represented unless at Pompeii. The houses, of two, three and even five stories in height, belong to all classes of society, and with the public buildings, furnish material for an important but hitherto obscure chapter in the history of the transition of architecture from the later classical to the Byzantine period. In the northern parts of this region the material is an easily worked limestone, while toward the south a hard basaltic rock is used, leading to a totally different architectural treatment, a fact still more plainly marked in the Hauran, where the basalt is also common, but not made clear in the work of previous explorers. Inscriptions in eight different languages were found, including 386 in Greek, less than half of which were previously known, and some of these only in inaccurate copies. The Syriac inscriptions are regarded as of great importance epigraphically, as such documents are very rare. The Nabatean inscriptions include one of the earliest known from the northern kingdom (5 B. C.), and Dr. Littmann was so fortunate as to find a number of examples of the rude Safaitic writing, including some new forms of letters and a number of complete sentences. which are especially valuable, as the previously known specimens had consisted almost wholly of proper names. An elaborate publication of the results is in preparation at Princeton. See American Journal of Archæology, IV. (1900), PP. 415-440. Egypt.-As in the past, Egypt continues to be the favorite field of excaNot only is the land full of unexplored and comparatively accessible sites, but the liberal policy of the government in permitting a considerable part of

III. vators.

the objects found to be removed to other countries, only reserving those of special importance for the Museum at Gizeh, naturally attracts expeditions largely dependent on private subscriptions. It is certainly true, though regrettable, that it is hard to secure funds for the mere increase of human knowledge, if no tangible returns can be secured by the contributors. Apart from these considerations, however, the long duration of Egyptian civilization, and its connection with that of the West, both in the remote past of the Stone and Bronze Ages and in the Græco-Roman and early Christian centuries, makes it an important subject of study for many others beside the specialists in Egyptology. This activity is shown by a list of eighteen permits issued to excavators by the Committee of Archæology, while the agents of the Museum worked at six other sites, and native Egyptians were allowed to carry on some small excavations. In general it has been the wise policy of M. Maspero to prevent so far as possible unauthorized digging, and to authorize only such expeditions as seem likely to be conducted in a scientific manner. In spite of these efforts the grave robbing by the peasants and Arabs is by no means suppressed, as stories of the dealers in antiquities show only too clearly. Of course objects placed on the market with no true statement as to their prominence and the exact circumstances of their discovery, are mere curiosities almost devoid of scientific value, but unfortunately none the less attractive to the tourist. The chief work of the Department of Antiquities is the preservation of the monuments already discovered, and the chief scene of its activity has been at Karnak, where it has had two special objects in view the raising of the fallen columns and the inclosure of the ruins. In both of these good progress has been made. The foundations of the columns have been cleared and made secure, and one of the two villages, whose presence interferes with the inclosure, has been purchased and removed, while the other is to follow in 1902. This work of clearing and repairing has led to the discovery of some good statues. It is reported, however, that the damage done by floods will necessitate much labor in strengthening the monuments. Another important task has been the preparation of the General Catalogue of the Cairo Museum, which was begun in 1896 by an international commission, and of which two volumes have appeared, containing the Ostraka by Daressy, and the Bronze Vessels by von Bissing, while other volumes are in the press or completed in manuscript. The complete work will probably require twenty or thirty volumes. It is intended to include a complete account of the origin and history of each monument, so far as the records allow, the reproduction of the more important hieroglyphic inscriptions, and phototype reproductions of all objects of special interest.

The Egypt Exploration Fund and Egyptian Research Account have worked chiefly at Abydos and its neighborhood. At El'Amrah two prehistoric cemeteries and one of the Eighteenth Dynasty were carefully excavated; their importance seems to lie chiefly in the evidence they furnish of the passage from the prehistoric age to the tombs of the First Dynasty, between which a gap had previously been assumed. At Abydos, Petrie continued the excavation of the royal tombs of the First Dynasty, and as usual has promptly made his discoveries accessible by the publication of Part II. of The Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty at Abydos. Of the fourteen kings whose tombs have been discovered, four are assigned to the period before the First Dynasty, eight to that dynasty, and two, Perabsen and Kha-sekhemui, to the Second. In general it must be admitted that there is considerable difficulty in identifying the names with those assigned to the early dynasties by Manetho and the table of Abydos, but many indications derived from the arrangement of the tombs and the differences in style make the general principles of the succession probable. It should be noted, however, that Foucart proposes to identify Narmer, one of Petrie's predynastic kings, with the first king of the Second Dynasty; Petrie's chronology, which dates the earliest tombs in the neighborhood of 4800-4500 B.C., has also been called in question. While the discoveries of recent years have thrown a flood of light on the early civilization of Egypt, which can now be traced from the end of the Stone Age to the time of the Second Dynasty, and have made it very probable that no foreign conquest disturbed the native development, the chronological data are by no means certain, as there are still several gaps before we reach a fairly certain point in the establishment of the New Empire. In this connection may be mentioned another volume, Diospolis Parva, by Mr. Petrie, which contains a very carefully worked out system for dating prehistoric finds by a series of types of pottery, arranged according to evidence afforded by several thousand graves, opened at various points in Egypt. The sequences are numbered from 30 to 80, in order to leave room for additions, as it was then assumed that some 300 years separated 80 from the First Dynasty, though it is clear that no such gap existed, and some authorities are even inclined to place 75 in the reign of Menes. In spite of the reckless plundering of Abydos for centuries, many small objects of great interest have been found, including an extremely beautiful set of jewelry, in gold, turquoise, lapis-lazuli, and amethyst. Especially noteworthy is a bracelet of representations of the royal hawk in gold and turquoise alternately. To the north of Abydos, Mr. Garstang excavated

some early cemeteries for the Egyptian Research Account, but without striking results until a large structure at Bet Khallâf was reached, where two large tombs were cleared. They proved to belong to Neter-Khet, already known as builder of a pyramid at Sakkara, and Hen-Nekht, previously unknown, but evidently a successor of the foregoing, both kings of the almost unknown Third Dynasty. Neter-Khet seems to have succeeded Perabsen, who closed the Second Dynasty. Near by were the tombs of high officials of these kings.

With the support of Mrs. Hearst, an expedition under the charge of Dr. Reisner has been conducting scientific excavations for the University of California at several sites, which have already yielded a large mass of small objects of all epochs, including many stone vessels and early cylinders, and a very remarkable collection of gold jewelry. The records of the expedition include a valuable series of photographs of almost every grave opened, furnishing important evidence on the subject of archaic methods of burial, among which it may be noted that dissection of the body, at one time regarded as common, is almost unknown. In every case but one the separation of the head from the body was accompanied by evidence of previous robbery of the grave. At Abusir the German excavators have continued the clearance of the interesting temple of the sun-god, Ra, built in the Fifth Dynasty, and of which the chief feature seems to have been a great obelisk, surrounded by courts and chapels. Near the inclosure was found a great boat, some ninety feet long, built of clay and wood, undoubtedly one of the "sun-vessels," in which the god voyaged through the lower world at night. At Abu-Roash, Chassinat has proved that the stone pyramid on the plateau in front of the village was built by King Didoufrî, the successor of Cheops, of the Fourth Dynasty, and has found a number of fragments of sculpture, including a fine head of this little-known monarch.

For the Græco-Roman period the most important results are likely to come from the excavations at Alexandria, conducted by a German expedition under the direction of Professor Schreiber. A part of the work consists in an endeavor to recover the plan of the most important parts of the ancient city by sinking trial shafts and often driving tunnels to determine the direction of streets or walls. Of the results obtained no detailed account has been published, but they are said to be satisfactory. In connection with this work, the Messrs. Thiersch, father and son, are occupied with the study of the remains of the famous temple of Serapis, and are reported to have made good progress in the history of the building, though with much damage to previously accepted views. Not very far from "Pompey's Pillar," quarrymen accidentally discovered a necropolis of the second century of our era, built in four stories, of which, however, only the second and third have been cleared. From an artistic point of view the paintings and reliefs in this tomb and in a similar one in another part of the city are of the highest importance for the history of the later Alexandrian art. Grenfell and Hunt continued their persistent search for papyri, especially those of the Ptolemaic period, in the Fayûm, but with less success than usual; for though many cemeteries were examined, there was but limited use of papyrus in preparing the coffins and where it was used, the moist soil had in most cases caused its decay. Near the end of the season, however, they were rewarded by obtaining a large quantity of mummy cases in which Greek and demotic papyri had been employed. The number of publications of papyri, literary and non-literary, increases with every year, and scholars rejoice over the recovery of tantalizing fragments from lost works of classical literature, or over the letters, decrees, and government documents which give such a vivid picture of the village life under Greek and Roman rule. The past year has been no exception to this rule, but none of the publications are of great general interest.

IV. Asia Minor.-The report of the second campaign of the Berlin Museum at Miletus shows a rapid advance in the recovery of the ancient city, though as yet the discoveries of sculpture and other works of art are not very striking. Further excavations at the "theatre" showed that this building was the Senate-house (Bouleuterion). In front of the building was a court containing an altar, and bearing on its walls a number of important inscriptions, chiefly of Roman times. Here, too, was a round base with an inscription in honor of the general Lichas, which mentioned the building of the Senate-house at this point. The building seems to have been erected about 200 B.C. Excavations at the so-called "Lion Bay" brought to light the city end of the aqueduct from the southern mountains, and a series of halls and porticoes, which are compared with the Piazza at Venice. The exact nature of these buildings, whether Agora or Emporium, is not yet clear. The Hellenistic wall and a late fortification were also examined, and in the latter were found a mass of earlier material, including the torsos of archaic statues and many architectural fragments, which seem to point to an important temple of Artemis in the neighborhood. The ancient system of drainage and the plan of the streets was partially traced, leading to the discovery of many foundations of Hellenistic times, and a number of Roman mosaic floors, one of which contains pictures of the nine Muses, with their

names of the Hesiodic order. Excavations were also begun at a hitherto unknown Heroon, about halfway between Miletus and Didyma, but had not reached any satisfactory result when they were suspended for the season.

At Pergamon, the German Archæological Institute has continued the excavations, begun during the autumn of 1900. Thus far an important gate of the city of Eumenes has been fully cleared, and the main street, leading up the hill from this point, followed in its zig-zag course until a second Agora of the time of the kings was discovered, which is now to be thoroughly examined. A fine head in the type of Alexander the Great and a long inscription with regulations regarding streets, drains, fountains, etc., are among the most important of the lesser discoveries. It is already clear that in spite of all that has been done, the city of Pergamon is very far from being an exhausted site. In this connection may be noted the opening of the Pergamon Museum at Berlin, which has been built primarily for the proper exhibition of the reliefs of the great altar. This has been set up in the centre of the building in as nearly as possible its old position. The Ionic colonnade which crowned the structure has been replaced only on the western side, where the flight of steps led to the platform on which the altar proper rose. The interior of the court formed by the altar has been used to display the single statues and other works of art, including the colossal marble copy of the Athena Parthenos of Phidias, which was found in the ruins of the library.

During the summer of 1900 the brothers Körte carried on excavations near Pebi in Phrygia, where it was suspected the ancient Gordion had stood. The work was very difficult, and the results somewhat scanty, though of value as bringing to light the only known remains of early Phrygian buildings, not tombs. In the city the pottery seemed to indicate a continuous occupation of the site from c. 1500 B.C. to the Roman period, though of the tumuli opened only one was certainly older than the seventh century B.C. The pottery showed that from the sixth century B.C., Greek trade flourished, and many fragments of Corinthian and early Attic ware, as well as of the later classes of Greek pottery, were found. A series of terra-cotta reliefs, which had decorated the brick wall of an early temple, threw an interesting light on the rock-cut façades of the Phrygian tombs. No inscription proved that the site was Gordion; but the general character of the discoveries, when taken in connection with the literary evidence, confirms the theory that this is the site of the ancient Phrygian capital.

Important results are also reported from an exploring tour of Dr. Belck in Pontus and Cappadocia. His first centre was Amasia, an impregnable fortress of antiquity, where he found a new Greek inscription of Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, and his first work was the examination of the neighboring districts, including Comana Pontica and Cabira, the treasury of Mithridates. He then marched south and passed through the hill of Uyuk, where he found new Hittite monuments and decided that the entire hill is artificial, covering probably the ruins of a temple which he assigns to the period between 2000 and 1500 B.C. His next pause was at the celebrated Boghaz-Keni, where the rock sculptures were carefully studied, and part of a badly damaged Hittite inscription copied. Belck refuses to admit that the neighboring ruins are those of the ancient Pteria. He considers that the city is of Turanian origin, and was destroyed c. 700 B.C. Here were found many clay tablets with Assyrian cuneiform writing. Cæsarea in Cappadocia was then made the headquarters, and the Troglodyte region to the west visited. Belck is convinced that in Cappadocia a great Cimmerian kingdom existed from c. 700-585 B.C., which had destroyed the Hittite states, and itself fell before Cyaxares. The Moschi, who are declared to be ancestors of the modern Georgians, occupied the region between 750 and 680 B.C., when they were driven out by the Cimmerians. To them are due the mysterious "Cappadocian" cuneiform tablets, whose source Belck has discovered in a ruined temple not far from Caesarea. The longest known Hittite inscription covers four sides of a stele, and the remainder of an inscription is engraved on the body of a statue, of which the beginning on the head of the statue is at Constantinople. The expedition was to continue its work as long as the weather permitted.

V. Crete. As in 1900, so during the past year, this island has been the centre of interest for all classical archaeologists, for the work already done has shown that only the beginnings have been made, and that here is concealed an unsuspected wealth of material calculated to throw new light on the difficult problems of early civilization in the Mediterranean. At Knossos Mr. Arthur J. Evans continued his excavations in behalf of the Cretan Exploration Fund. It was soon found that the first season's work had only uncovered a part of the western side of the palace, and that the building was far larger than had been supposed. The absence of a plan makes a detailed description impossible, but it may be said that the western area has been further excavated, bringing to light more magazines, some of them full of great earthenware jars. To the north another quarter of the building was found, in which was a large bath, reached by a descending flight of steps. The most im

portant discovery was to the east of the great court, where another series of rooms, believed by the discoverers to be the state chambers, came to light shortly before the cessation of work. At one point the walls were found to descend much deeper than elsewhere, and soon a triple staircase was revealed leading to a series of apartments, one of which seems to have had a double series of colonnades. Staircases, one above the other, were previously unknown in ancient remains, and the discovery shows an unsuspected development of architectural skill among the Mycenæan builders. In such extensive excavations small finds are naturally numerous, and many of them are of great beauty and interest. Intercourse with Egypt receives further proof in the presence of the cartouche of Khyan, one of the Hyksos kings, while more extended trade is suggested by a Babylonian cylinder of lapis-lazuli mounted in gold. The amusements of the court of Minos are indicated by a "draught-board" of ivory, plated with gold, and set with crystal on silver and blue enamel, and a set of fishes of bone engraved with various symbols, apparently also belonging to some game. New fragments of wall-paintings were found, among others a series showing girls taking part in the dangerous but favorite Mycenæan sport of bull-hunting. Further fragments of painted stucco reliefs show portions of human figures modeled with close attention to details in the rendering of muscles and veins and yet with a power unattained in the early days of later Greek art. Beneath this palace were found remains of a large settlement of the later Stone Age, which yielded a number of stone axes and primitive "idols" of earlier types than those hitherto found on Greek sites. Mr. Evans believes that this settlement can scarcely be later than 3000 B.C. The fund has also contributed to excavations undertaken by Mr. D. G. Hogarth at Zakro, in the extreme east of the island, where a Mycenæan trading-post seems to have been found. There are no remains of fortifications or of a palace, but the basements of a number of houses were cleared, yielding many specimens of good pottery and bronzes, and a mass of impressions in clay of signets, containing over 150 types. It is said that exploration shows clearly that in eastern Crete the indigenous Eteocretans occupied the heights inland, while the "Mycenæans" settled at favorable harbors or on fertile spots near the coast where there was an opportunity for profitable trade. The director of the British School at Athens, Mr. R. C. Bosanquet, also excavated under the auspices of the Fund, at Præsos, the ancient capital of the Eteocretans, in the hope that this too might prove a Mycenæan centre. This proved an error, at least so far as the site of the city was concerned, though some scanty remains of the early period were found in the neighborhood. The results of the campaign were, however, by no means unimportant for the later period of Cretan civilization, when the place seems to have been an important centre. An inscription containing seventeen lines of an unknown language in Greek characters was found, and a large number of terra-cottas, which point to the existence of a local school of art. The chief prize was the head and shoulders of a youthful male statue, though a shrine near the town yielded terra-cotta statuettes of a goddess in a new type. At Petras, near the modern Sitia, were remains of a fortified Mycenæan settlement, a type new in Crete, but the site has been so damaged by the construction of terraces, that only small results were obtained. Next to the discoveries at Knossos, perhaps the most important results have been obtained by the Italians, Professor Halbherr and Mr. Pernier, at Phæstos, where another great palace has been partially excavated. The work has been in progress for two seasons, and much still remains to be done. On the surface were found Byzantine tombs, then Roman walls came to light, and then remains of a Greek city; below this were unimportant traces of an earlier Greek city and also remains of the period between the destruction of the palace and the Greek settlement. The Mycenæan palace occupies the lowest summit of the hill, and this position has given rise to a somewhat complicated plan, with many corridors and staircases. The stonework is careful, but as yet there is no evidence of the elaborate decorations which form so marked a feature at Knossos. Of interest is a court with, at one end, a broad set of steps, which lead nowhere and can only have served as seats. The great hall or Megaron is reached by a flight of twelve steps, about forty-five feet broad, and contained a transverse of three columns which supported the roof; side staircases afford easy communication with other parts of the palace, including a room which the discoverers with no little probability regard as the women's apartment. The smaller finds are somewhat scanty, and there seems little doubt that the place was thoroughly plundered.

America also has taken part in the work of exploration. Miss H. A. Boyd, who with Miss Patten excavated the post-Mycenæan (geometric) houses and tombs on the heights of Kavousi in 1900, returned with Miss B. E. Wheeler in 1901 under the auspices of the American Exploration Society of Philadelphia, to make further search for Mycenæan remains. Aided by some intelligent peasants of a neighboring village, she was so fortunate as to find on the low hill of Gournia "the most perfect example yet discovered of a small Mycenæan town." It is approached from the sea by a paved road, which divides at the foot of the hill, to unite again at the small