Sunday, November 10, 2024

Heinrich Schliemann describes a swamp in the plain of Troy

Homer never mentions a river called Thymbrius.  Other authors do, however.  The temple of Apollo Thymbrius was supposed to be near the place where the river Thymbrius met the Scamander river. What we now know as Kemer Creek is the body of water most commonly identified as the Thymbrius.  It joins the Scamander/Karamendere at the top of the plain of Troy, about 5 miles southeast of the citadel at Hisarlik. Hanai Tepe, a small settlement mound, is nearby the confluence of the two rivers.  If there ever was a temple of Apollo Thymbrius, perhaps it was in the vicinity of Hanai Tepe.  

In his work of 1880, Ilios, The City and Country of the Trojans, Henrich Schliemann cites several sources while discussing the rivers in the plain.  Here is one of them.  

M. Burnouf makes the following remarks upon the river : “The Thymbrius flows in the hollow of a valley between the hills of Akshi Kioi and the heights to the south. It is about 30 ft. broad. Its banks are steep; it is perfectly limpid, and is overshadowed by large trees. Its banks, which are from 10 to 12 ft. high, show two very distinct layers : first, a modern alluvium, consisting of earth washed down by the rains from the hills; secondly, below this, a thick layer of plastic clay, analogous to that which forms the soil of the plain of the Scamander. The confluence of the Thymbrius and the Scamander is not difficult to determine,* since the banks are high. During the inundations, the great polygon formed by the Thymbrius, the Scamander, and the hills to the east, becomes covered with water, which runs with great impetuosity in an easterly direction ; inundates the swamp (now rendered salubrious) to the north of Akshi Kioi; pours into the large bed of the Kalifatl Asmak, which is identical with the ancient bed of the Scamander; and forms other streams, which flow in the same direction. On the 18th of May, 1879, we saw this whole plain covered with dead trees and branches, which had been carried away in the same direction, and caught by the bushes of the agnus-castus and tamarisk.” 

*  This means that the banks of the river are not obliterated, and do not confound themselves with the plain. (Schliemann, City and Country of the Trojans, p 78)

Frank Calvert wrote appendices for Schliemann.  On page 707, in his appendix on "Thymbra and Hanai Tepe", Calvert writes: "Thymbra was identified by Hobhouse with Akshi Kioi (the present Thymbra Farm), and Barker Webb recognized the Thymbrius in the Kemar Su."  


Hanai Tepe is at the southern end of a raised area NNE of the confluence of Kemer Creek and the Karamendere.  Thymbra Farm is the property owned by Frank Calvert.  "At a mile’s distance in a north-westerly direction lies the beautiful estate belonging to my friend Mr. Calvert, the old name of which—Akshi Kioi or Batak (which latter means “swamp ”)—has now been changed into Thymbra" (p108).

The entry in Schliemann's Index: "Akshi Kioi or Batak (i.e. “swamp ”), village, depopulated by plague, and replaced by farm of Thymbra, 99; site of the ancient historic Thymbra, 719. See Thymbra." (p 753)

In his work of 1875, Troy and its Remains, Schliemann tells the story of the swamp on Calvert's farm. 

At half-an hour's distance to the left of Bunarbashi is the beautiful estate of 5000 acres, whose name of Batak is now changed into Thymbria, belonging to my friend Mr. Frederick Calvert. It deserves the change of name for more than one reason ; for not only does the river Thymbrius (now Kemer) flow through it, but it comprises the whole site of the ancient town of Thymbria, with its temple of Apollo, among the ruins of which the proprietor's brother, Mr. Frank Calvert — known for his archaeological investigations — is making excavations, and has found several valuable inscriptions ; among others, an inventory of the temple. ... These springs — probably owing to their natural channels having been stopped up for centuries by a fallen bridge — have formed a large marsh of 240 acres, the evaporations of which greatly contribute to the malaria of the glorious Plain. ... In order to gain 240 acres of rich land and to make the district more healthy, but especially also in the interest of science, Mr. Calvert has now caused the channels to be opened, and he believes, as the incline is considerable, amounting at least to 53 feet, and the distance from the Hellespont is three hours, that by next summer the whole marsh will be dried up, and the two springs, which are now 5 feet under water, will be brought to light.* (p70f)

About the Kalifatli Asmak Schliemann writes in 1880 that "one arm of it rises in the Duden swamp on Mr. Calvert's farm of Akshi Kioi while another starts from the point where the Scamander and Thymbrius meet". About the swamp, Schliemann notes that it "formerly covered an area of about 250 acres" and "has by the exertions of Mr. Calvert and his engineer, Mr. Stoney, been dried up and converted into the most valuable land; the three springs which produced it still exist" (99f). 

Apparently there were three springs, not two, in the swamp.  

The picture below shows the confluence and the locations of Hanai Tepe, Frank Calvert's farm, and the anomaly on Kemer Creek about which I have written before.  


Schlieman continues: 

Professor Virchow says: “There can be no doubt whatever that the volume of water which once flowed in the bed of the Kalifatli Asmak was much larger than that which now flows in it, even at the period of the inundations. Its bed answers so well to a great and powerfully working stream, that the present river appears only as a residue of its former wealth. Where was formerly water, there are now broad edges of bank overgrown with bushes, and now and then showing deeply-indented borders. In places here and there are still deep bays, of whose origin the present current offers no explanation. In many places, especially on the left bank, are rows of sand-hills, which must once have been formed by alluvium; they are at present so high that even their foot is never reached by the water. The common sources of the Asmak in the Duden swamp, close to Akshi Kioi, are not copious enough to feed a large river." (1880, 84f)

Virchow points to a swamp near Akshi Kioi/Thymbra Farm as the source of the Asmak on the eastern side of the plain. (An Asmak is a body of water that flows for only part of the year, and is standing pools during another part.)

Two things I take away from this.  

1. There was a body of water north of Akshi Kioi/Thymbra Farm at one time. 

2. The waters north of Akshi Kioi/Thymbra Farm were the source of the waterways on the east side of the upper plain. 

I have speculated that the anomaly on Kamer Creek was a dam on the old river bed, and that the dam created a reservoir that then flowed off to the east side of the plain.  That reservoir would have filled the entire area north of the former Thymbra Farm, precisely where Burnouf reports a swamp.  

The swamp on Calvert's land is not shown on the 1850's Spratt map below, but the two arms of the Asmak are.  
























Spratt shows the upper arm of the Asmak ending at Akchi Keui Chiflik.  Chiflik indicates a private holding of some kind, possibly a farm.  This map clearly shows the ridge running down to Kanai Tepe (= Hanai Tepe).  Eski Akchi Keui means Original Akchi Village, this is the location of the old village that was depopulated by plague. It sits further north on the same ridge as the Calvert property and Hanai Tepe. 


Friday, November 1, 2024

Herodotus on the Causes of the Trojan War

These are the first lines of Herodotus' Histories.  So these lines are known as Histories I, 1-6. They tell an alternative story about the outbreak of the Trojan war. 

This is the text of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that things done by man may not be forgotten in time, and that great and marvelous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians, not lose their glory, including among others what was the cause of their waging war on each other.

The Persian learned men say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the dispute. These (they say) came to our seas from the sea which is called Red,1 and having settled in the country which they still occupy, at once began to make long voyages. Among other places to which they carried Egyptian and Assyrian merchandise, they came to Argos, [2] which was at that time preeminent in every way among the people of what is now called Hellas. The Phoenicians came to Argos, and set out their cargo. [3] On the fifth or sixth day after their arrival, when their wares were almost all sold, many women came to the shore and among them especially the daughter of the king, whose name was Io (according to Persians and Greeks alike), the daughter of Inachus. [4] As these stood about the stern of the ship bargaining for the wares they liked, the Phoenicians incited one another to set upon them. Most of the women escaped: Io and others were seized and thrown into the ship, which then sailed away for Egypt. 2.

In this way, the Persians say (and not as the Greeks), was how Io came to Egypt, and this, according to them, was the first wrong that was done. Next, according to their story, some Greeks (they cannot say who) landed at Tyre in Phoenicia and carried off the king's daughter Europa. These Greeks must, I suppose, have been Cretans. So far, then, the account between them was balanced. But after this (they say), it was the Greeks who were guilty of the second wrong. [2] They sailed in a long ship to Aea, a city of the Colchians, and to the river Phasis:2 and when they had done the business for which they came, they carried off the king's daughter Medea. [3] When the Colchian king sent a herald to demand reparation for the robbery and restitution of his daughter, the Greeks replied that, as they had been refused reparation for the abduction of the Argive Io, they would not make any to the Colchians. 3.

Then (they say), in the second generation after this, Alexandrus, son of Priam, who had heard this tale, decided to get himself a wife from Hellas by capture; for he was confident that he would not suffer punishment. [2] So he carried off Helen. The Greeks first resolved to send messengers demanding that Helen be restored and atonement made for the seizure; but when this proposal was made, the Trojans pleaded the seizure of Medea, and reminded the Greeks that they asked reparation from others, yet made none themselves, nor gave up the booty when asked. 4.

So far it was a matter of mere seizure on both sides. But after this (the Persians say), the Greeks were very much to blame; for they invaded Asia before the Persians attacked Europe. [2] “We think,” they say, “that it is unjust to carry women off. But to be anxious to avenge rape is foolish: wise men take no notice of such things. For plainly the women would never have been carried away, had they not wanted it themselves. [3] We of Asia did not deign to notice the seizure of our women; but the Greeks, for the sake of a Lacedaemonian woman, recruited a great armada, came to Asia, and destroyed the power of Priam. [4] Ever since then we have regarded Greeks as our enemies.” For the Persians claim Asia for their own, and the foreign peoples that inhabit it; Europe and the Greek people they consider to be separate from them. 5.

Such is the Persian account; in their opinion, it was the taking of Troy which began their hatred of the Greeks. [2] But the Phoenicians do not tell the same story about Io as the Persians. They say that they did not carry her off to Egypt by force. She had intercourse in Argos with the captain of the ship. Then, finding herself pregnant, she was ashamed to have her parents know it, and so, lest they discover her condition, she sailed away with the Phoenicians of her own accord. [3]

These are the stories of the Persians and the Phoenicians. For my part, I shall not say that this or that story is true, but I shall identify the one who I myself know did the Greeks unjust deeds, and thus proceed with my history, and speak of small and great cities of men alike. 6.

As you can see, Helen is still the issue in Herodotus' version of events, but she is just one in a series of abductions.  A Phoenician ship abducted Io, and then a Greek ship abducted a Phoenician princess called Europa. Then another Greek ship abducted Medea from Colchis. This is followed by the abduction of Helen by a Trojan prince, in retaliation for the abduction of Medea.  Thus there were retaliatory abductions of high status women going on.  

The usual story of how Medea left Colchis is, of course, the story of Jason and the Argonauts, in which Medea uses her magical powers to help Jason steal the golden fleece from her father, a powerful sorcerer, then flees to Greece aboard the Argos with Jason and her brother. This is no abduction because she goes willingly, eventually marrying Jason and becoming his queen when he takes the throne.  Similarly, the usual story is that Helen, the queen of Sparta, fell in love with Paris, a mere prince, via the agency of Aphrodite, and went with him willingly to Troy.  

Meanwhile, Io is one of many mortal women with whom Zeus fell in love. He turned her into a cow to hide her from his jealous wife. After many adventures he turned her back into a human. 






Historical Descriptions of the Hill at Kumkale

 Let's begin with a statement from Walter Leaf,  Troy, A study in Homeric Geography  (1912)  Firstly, as to the "spring of the plai...