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 HALICAKNASSUS 393 of which the ruins are yet prominent, and va- rious beautiful temples, were among the other attractive features of the city. The most cele- brated monument was the Mausoleum, which ranked among the seven wonders of the world. It was built by Pytheus in conjunction with Satyrus, and the sculptures are ascribed to Scopas, Bryaxis, Timotheus, and Leochares. The share of Timotheus, however, is assigned by some Greek writers to Praxiteles. It/vvas still standing in the 12th century, but was over- thrown either by an earthquake or by light- ning before the building of the castle by the knights of St. John ; and the detritus washed down from the hills, which filled the lower part of the city in some places to the depth of 20 ft., and concealed parts of the terraces, complete- ly covered its site. In 1522 the knights, in removing some half- buried white marble, discovered a richly de- corated and sculptured chamber, leading into a smaller apartment, where they found a sar- cophagus and a beau- tiful vase, which they left untouched, but next morning they returned and found the tomb ri- fled. These chambers were undoubtedly the interior of the Mau- soleum. The site of the ancient town was discovered in 1839 by Lieut. Brock, and in 1846 the English am- bassador obtained per- mission to remove a number of slabs, which were deposited in the British museum. Most of them had suffered severely, the heads of the figures being nearly all wanting, but a few are magnificent speci- mens of art. All attempts to rediscover the Mausoleum proved futile, until in 1856 Mr. Newton, the British vice consul at Mitylene, undertook a more thorough search than had yet been made. Three ships were placed by government at his disposal, and most of the excavation was done by their crews. Sev- eral experiments were made in digging be- fore the site of the Mausoleum was reached. On Jan. 1, 1857, Mr. Newton began digging at the foot of the highest terrace, on the spot which he had himself designated in 1848 as the probable site of the Mausoleum. By the beginning of April he had cleared the entire rocky platform which formed the foundation of the building. It is almost a square, measur- ing 472 ft. in circumference, and formed by quarrying into the solid rock. On the W. side of the platform there was a flight of steps leading to the upper terrace. The entrance to the inner tomb was probably on this side, and was closed after the corpse had been car- ried in by a huge stone, which was then in its place. Behind this stone was found an alabas- ter vase bearing two inscriptions, one in Egyp- tian, the other in cuneiform characters, signi- fying " Xerxes the great king." In the rub- bish which covered the foundation were im- bedded parts of friezes and colossal statues, and four slabs, representing a battle of Amazons, in excellent preservation. Extending his exca- vations beyond the foundation bed, Mr. New- The Mausoleum, as restored by Fergusson. ton unearthed a number of flat blocks of white marble, halves of two colossal horses, and por- tions of a chariot. The figures, more or less complete, of several lions, a leopard, a woman in beautiful drapery without head or arms, the head of a man which proved to be that of Mausolus, and some ornamented lions' heads and capitals of columns, were also found here, and parts of a chariot wheel on the other side. The relics collected from various quar- ters comprised a number of standing or sitting statues from 8 to 12 ft. high, many lions, parts of friezes, and a multitude of fragments, all which were removed to the British museum, where the statue of Mausolus has been recon- structed out of 03 pieces, and is nearly com-