8/22/2019 The Classical Weekly, Vol. 33, No. 17 (Mar. 4, 1940), Pp. 196-197

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Review: [untitled]

Author(s): James A. KelsoSource: The Classical Weekly, Vol. 33, No. 17 (Mar. 4, 1940), pp. 196-197Published by: Classical Association of the Atlantic StatesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4340855

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8/22/2019 The Classical Weekly, Vol. 33, No. 17 (Mar. 4, 1940), Pp. 196-197

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196 CLASSICAL WEEKLYI shall limit myself to two matters n connectionwithwhich ProfessorDorpfeldaddresses imself directlytome, claimingthat two of his theoriescan easily beprovedor disprovedby a little digging on the partofthe excavator.One of. these test casesadmirablyllus-tratesD6rpfeld'ssurprisingmethod of research.Sincehe hasallowed he templeof Apolloto impersonateheStoaBasileios e hasno name for the largestoaadjoin-ing the templeon the north,and he, therefore,makesthisstoa the southern ndof a buildingof extraordinaryshapewhich passesnorth of the modernrailwayandtheremakesa right-angled urn so as to extend westalong the road to the Dipylon. In order to do thisDorpfelddisposesof a prohibitive bstruction y push-ing out of the way the Bryaxisbasewhich was locatedby Travloson the north sideof the Stoaof Zeuson thebasisof the recordsmade at the time the trench wasdug for the railroad.A renewed arefulexamination ftheserecords onfirmshe positionassigned o the baseby Travlos.ProfessorD6rpfeldadmits that a test of his imag-inary reconstructionan be made by a smallexcava-tion north of the railwayon the line of the Stoa ofZeusand correctly tatesthat the result would be de-cisiveas to the truthor falsityof his theory (I87). Ifhe had readcarefully he annualreportsof the excava-tion he wouldhave been saved the troubleof evolvinghis untenabletheory. Before the dimensionsof theStoa of Zeus had been ascertained trench was dugduringthe campaignof I934 northof the railroad e-neatha houseon PoseidonStreetbut no foundations fany sort were revealed.This investigationwas men-tionedby me in Hesperia4 (1935) 354and the exactareawill be markedon the revisedplan of the Agorato be publishedn the thirdpartof the currentyear'sHesperia.In the secondcase,whereD6rpfeldconfidently ssertsthat a little digging wouldprovethe correctnessf anamazingconjecture,he result has been equallydevas-tating to his theory. Without detailedknowledgeofthe terrainandwithouta particleof evidencehe placesthe graveof Theseus n the Odeion(whichhe calls theTheseion)in the centreof the market-placendmarksthe exactspot with a star on his plan (plate io). Herepeatsthis amusingfiction from the first fascicle inspiteof my pointingout the obvious act that accordingto Pausaniashe Theseionwas not locatedactually nthe Agora.D6rpfeld s especially riticalof me in thisconnection 139) becauseof the delayin removing hesmall areaof Romandepositin which he places thegraveof Theseus.This depositwas left as a "martyr"so thatThompson,when he cameto studythe buildingfor publication,ouldtest andverify the recordsmadeat the time of its mainexcavation. confessthat I re-frainedfrom asking Thompsonto interruptthe im-portantworkon whichhe wasengaged n order o turnto the completionof the Odeion, becauseD6rpfeld's

theory was clearlytoo fantastic for serious considera-tion. Now in the normalcourseof the development fthe scheduleof work the investigationof the Odeionwas completedduringthe past season,and the resultswill be published n a forthcomingnumberof Hes-peria.In the meantime Thompsonnotes in his pre-liminaryreport on this excavationthat "where Dr.D6rpfeldhas placedthe grave of Theseus, there is notraceof pre-Odeionoundations;he surfaceof bedrocklies smoothandunbroken . . apparently normalpartof the floor of the market-square."Thus Dorpfeld'shouses of cards collapseone afterthe other,and the finalrefutationof his unsupportedtheoriesof the sites of the Enneakrounosnd Eleusin-ion, and of the route of the Streetof the Panathenaia,is providedby the discovery, ince the writingof thisbook,of the site of the Eleusinion ndby the uncover-ing of a long stretchof the Streetof the Panathenaiawith its name inscribedon a stone beside the route.Although Dr. D6rpfeldproclaimshis only aim to bethe discoveryof the ,truth (i 46), the impression on-veyed by the book is that its sole aim is to defendtheoriespropounded orty years ago, and if evidencesecuredduring he pastnine yearsrunscounter o suchtheories he evidencemust be rejected.All who arein-terestedn the truthaboutthe topography f the Agorawill do well to consult the full and accurate ecordsofthe excavationsn the files of the Agora, and to beguidedby the officialdetailedpublication f the results.T. LESLIE SHEARPRINCETON UNIVERSITYPetra. The Rock City of Edom. By M. A. MUR-

RAY. Xiv, 210 pages,32 plates,2 maps. Blackie&Son,Glasgow939 IOS.6d.The remainsof Petra,the capitalof ancient Edomandlaterof the NabataeanKingdom,aresituated ome1ilessoutheast f the southern nd of the Dead Sea.They are among the most picturesqueruins of theNear East,situated n an incomparablendfascinatingbasinof the mountainrangewhichflanks,on the east,the greatdepressionunning rom the Dead Sea to thearmof the RedSea. Theseruinsof a city, characterizedby the poet on accountof the coloring of the baremountains s 'the roseredcity half as old as time,' werean objectof curiosity n the Middle Ages and visitedeven by the Crusaderswho built one of their castlesnearby at Shobak. In modern times (I812) Burck-hardt, he famous raveller, escribedhem aftera visit,and latermodern archaeologists, uropeanand Amer-ican, turnedtheirattentionto them, since the site be-camefairlyaccessible fter the regionwas incorporatedlin the BritishMandate of Trans-Jordan.Miss Murrayis oneof a numberof these excavatorswhohavestudiedthe remainsof Petra on the spot. It must be empha-sized that except for a few soundingsno excavationshave been conductedon this interesting ite.

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CLASSICAL WEEKLY 197A considerable body of literature,both technical andpopular, has been produced since the turn of the cen-tury, and the volume before us is the latest addition tothe growing library dealing with these ruins. Theauthor'sown claim that she wrote the book for the man

in the street or for the visitor to Petra is too modest,because the serious reader, as well as the technicalarchaeologist or Old Testament specialist, will find itcomprehensive, reliable, and scholarly. The material isorganized logically from the point of view of historyand comparative religion.First we have a description of the monuments whichhave been neither built nor erected, but excavated outof the mountain with faSades carved on the face of thecliff. The east and west walls of the city were twomountains about I250 yards apart and on their facesthe hand of man carved facades of beauty, in one ortwo cases of rare beauty, such as El-Khazne, or theTreasuryof Pharaoh, often regardedas a temple of Isis,which 'glows almost like a jewel in the sunlight.' Inthe reviewer'sopinion there is only one other structurein the Near East which rivals it in beauty, and that isthe Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem. In Petra, natureand art co-operated in producing a unique and fascin-ating type of architecture. In the volume before usthese remains are describedin detail, accompaniedwithprofuse illustrations.After her description of the monuments the authordevotes five chapters to accounting for the existenceof a city in this sterile region and to giving its history,discussing its manners and customs, and setting forthits religion. The site was occupied successively by theEdomites and the Nabataeans; when the latter wereconquered by the Romans, the city was incorporatedwithin the Province of Arabia Deserta. The chapter onthe Edomite period is based largely on the Old Testa-ment record and allusions found in Egyptian records.During the Old Testament period Petra was frequentlyconquered and occupied by the Israelites.The value ofthe city was due to its being a station on one of thegreat caravan routes where the roads diverged, onegoing to Gaza and the other to Damascus. Whoeverheld the city controlled the traffic and levied toll.About the beginning of the sixth century B.C., theNabataeans, an Arab tribe, drove out the Edomites andin the course of a few centuries established a kingdomwhich at one time reached as far as Damascus. All thisis recounted by the author in an interesting and reliablenarrative.The chapter on the religion of the city will be ofspecial interest to students of comparative religion.There is abundant archaeological material in Petrabearing on religion. The most striking religious monu-ment is the High Place on the summit of a peak at thesoutheast corner of the city. With its altar and obelisks,it is the best preserved open air sanctuary of theSemites. The origins of Islam are discussed in relation

to the worshipof Dusares,the God of Petra,whoseworship is attested by pillarsand stones of variousshapes,analogous o the black stone in the sanctuaryat Mecca.In presentinghe mannersand customsof the peo-ple, the authorpasses nto the sphereof anthropology,setting forth facts that are quite familiar o studentsof that science.The workis well suppliedwith maps,a bibliography,and an excellent ndex.Studentsof both the Hebrewand Hellenisticperiods,whether nterestedn archaeol-ogy or historyor religion,will find the volumea valu-ableaccessiono the literature f the subject.

JAMESA. KELSOWESTERN THEOLOGICALSEMINARY

Prehistoric Macedonia. An archaeologicalecon-naissance f GreekMacedonia west of the Struma)in the Neolithic,Bronze,andEarlyIronAges. ByW.A. HEURTLEY. XXVi, 275 pages, frontispiece, 112figures, 23 plates.UniversityPress,Cambridge1939($i8)It is only latelythat Macedoniahas attractedhe in-terest which it meritsand it is only in the past fewyears hat hermoundshavebegunto yieldtheirsecretsto scientific nvestigators. An eminent place amongthese archaeologistss occupiedby Mr. Heurtley, whohas spent many a year in the strenuous ask of un-coveringher prehistoricemains. t is one thing to beexcavatingnearor within the circleof a moderncity

andanother o be working n the primitivedistrictsofnorthernGreecewhere ingenuity and personal aboroften have to take the placeof expert assistanceandadvice and wherecomfortsare unknown.Those of uswho have seen Heurtleyin Macedonia, iving in tentsandworking n the openfieldsfromsunrise o sunset,will alwaysremember is whole-heartedevotion o histaskandhis pioneer pirit.The resultsof his workandthose of othersarepresentedn this volume n an effortto survey he prehistoricemainsof that part of GreekM\4acedoniahat lies to the west of the Strumariver.The materialand the book are dividedinto threeparts.In the firstpart (I-59) aredescribedhe varioussites in CentralandWesternMacedonia ndin Chalci-(lice; their stratigraphys discussedand their archi-tectural emains xplained. n the secondpart,ChapterI (63-108) is devoted o the studyof the potteryand ofthe smiallerinds.ChapterII (I09-I32) containsa dis-cussionof the interrelationshipsf the sites,of their ex-ternalrelations, f the problemof chronologyand thatof ethnologyand finallya summaryof conclusions. nPart III are includedan illustratedcatalogueof thefinds (I35-240) and 23 excellentplates (241-252). Atthe end are added a study by 0. Davies on Miningin Macedonia 253-255), notes by ProfessorL. Kou-mares on the "NeolithicSkeletonfrom Servia"(256-