Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/178

 Troy. X57 of its volume falls into its ancient bed, which now is almost always dry, reaching the Hellespont by four mouths or estuaries, more or less choked up, of which the most important are the Kalifatli-Asmak and In-Tepeh-Asmak. Overlooking the old bed of the Scamander, some five kilometres from the sea-shore, rises the now famous hill, which, on account of its abrupt sides and of the walls which formerly crowned its top, the Turks call Hissarlik, ** small fortress." The mound is a kind of spur which the heights parting the Kemar from the Dumbrek project into the plain. The rise of the Dumbrek is considerably north of that of the Scamander ; it runs parallel to it for some distance, and only joins it at its mouth. The summit of the mound, fifty metres above the sea, is probably a little more than I "■ ii rvV^;i^H.-" '^•*--^5a^-v^^.^- •■^^^^^?^^■'-- •-*>tif?f5ki'.,-'_ •, ^ "' ■. ^"^" -, '■

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■-<y^<a;-U" Fig. 34. — View of Hissarlik from the north-west. when the first settlers established themselves on it, i. e. before successive erections had raised it to its present elevation. The side turned to the plain doubtless rose precipitously, or at the least was difficult to scale. Since then sherds and fallen earth have entirely covered the rock which forms the core of the hill, and trenches without number have furrowed its flanks. Never- theless some notion of its original shape may be gained from our engraving (Fig. 34).^ Its happy situation was calculated to com- ^ I embrace this opportunity of acknowledging my debt of gratitude to M. Durm, the leading Government architect and teacher at the High Technical School of Carlsruhe, with whom I spent some very pleasant days at Hissarlik, in May 1890. He kindly allowed me to reproduce several of his sketches which he had made on the spot.