om
four and three-quarters to five and one-quarter feet thick, as hard as
stone, and above this again lay a wall of fortification (six feet
broad and twenty feet high) which was built of large stones and earth,
and must have belonged to an early date after the destruction of Troy.
In order to withdraw the Treasure from the greed of my workmen, and to
save it for archaeology, I had to be most expeditious, and although it
was not yet time for breakfast, I immediately had breakfast called.
While the men were eating and resting I cut out the Treasure with a
large knife, which it was impossible to do without the very greatest
exertion and the most fearful risk of my life, for the great
fortification wall, beneath which I had to dig, threatened every
moment to fall down upon me. But the sight of so many objects, every
one of which is of inestimable value to archaeology, made me foolhardy,
and I never thought of any danger. It would, however, have been
impossible for me to have removed the Treasure without the help of my
dear wife, who stood by me ready to pack the things which I cut out in
her shawl and to carry them away.

[Illustration: TREASURES OF PRIAM.]

"The first thing I found was a large copper shield, in the form of an
oval salver, in the middle of which is a knob or boss encircled by a
small furrow. It is a little less than twenty inches in length, is
quite flat, and surrounded by a rim one and one-half inches high; the
boss is two and one-third inches high and four and one-third inches
in diameter; the furrow encircling it is seven inches in diameter and
two-fifths of an inch deep. This round shield of copper (or bronze?)
with its central boss, and the furrow and rim so suitable for holding
together a covering of ox-hides, reminds one irresistibly of the
seven-fold shield of Ajax (_Iliad_ vii. 219-223):

"'Ajax approached; before him, as a tower,
His mighty shield he bore, seven-fold, brass-bound,
The work of Tychius, best artificer
That wrought in leather; he in Hyla dwelt.
Of seven-fold hides the ponderous shield was wrought
Of lusty bulls; the eighth was glittering brass.'

"It is equally striking to compare the shield of the Treasure with the
description of Sarpedon's shield, with its round plate of hammered
copper (or bronze), and its covering of ox-hides, fastened to the
inner edge of the rim by gold wires or rivets (_Iliad_ xii. 294-297):

"'His shield's broad _orb_ be