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Introduction
To learn that the site of ancient Troy had not one or two but nine
distinct layers - each a city of a different time in history - is a startling
fact. Here was a city that was built, destroyed and rebuilt time after time.
Such a revelation gives a vivid sense of the great age of our civilized world.
But the evidence in Troy is only a small part of the dramatic story of the
past as told in The How and Why Wonder Book of Lost Cities.
Archaeology, a fairly new science by which men study the past, provides
information about lost civilizations. In this book we see how archaeologists
work to piece together the jigsaw puzzle of the past, to learn of men of long
ago - their tools, their homes, their arts, their languages. We read how
explorers, following hints from legends, were led to the buried cities and how,
with modern tools and knowledge, many of these cities have been explored
and reconstructed.
In this book we visit many countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
We gain a feeling of the creative, artistic and engineering power of men in
earlier centuries. And we get a fleeting glimpse of the idea that modern
cities, subject to the tooth of time, may some day also be lost.
The How and Why Wonder Book of Lost Cities is an authentic introduction to archaeology for young readers and a stimulating review for readers
already acquainted with this scien'ce.
Paul E. Blackwood
Specialist for Elementary Science
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Washington, D. C.
Contents
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i~ ii:e:started?
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/ /W'
11
a time machine?
that distinguishes
us from the animals. As members of the human race,
we want to have a sense of continuity,
a direct historical line throughout all of
history. In knowing how we developed
our customs, politics and religions, we
can learn more about ourselves.
Tracing the development of archi-
EGYPTIAN
COLUMN
Recently, buried cities have been located from the air. The ground may
appear perfectly smooth when one
stands on it, but an aerial view can reveal many significant markings. Subtle
shaping of the terrain often indicates the
outlines of city walls. Barely perceptible
depressions sometimes show the direction of an ancient road. Vegetation
is known to grow differently when a
stone foundation lies beneath.
When a lost city is finally located, a
few experimental exWhat are some cavations are underexcavation
taken. Once a wall
techniques?
is found, the chief
archaeologist goes to work. His first and
most important job is to determine the
area of the entire city or of a prominent
group of buildings. Then, with the help
of surveyors, he runs straight lines,
along which the diggers operate.
Power equipment is hardly ever used.
The excavation of a city is a slow and
painstaking process. The diggers use
their finds
a preliminary study.
in
OF LAYERS
OF EARTH
picks and shovels and work with extreme caution, for a hasty or misplaced
stroke can destroy a priceless relic or an
important artifact. Steam shovels and
bulldozers would reduce ancient walls
to a formless rubble, so the work must
proceed by hand.
When the pick-and-shovel men come
upon stones that seem to have been
hand-shaped, the archaeology team is
summoned immediately. Smaller shovels are brought out and used. The earth
is carefully scraped away, piece by
piece. Excitement mounts as more and
more of the ancient world is revealed.
As the work proceeds, the tools become
smaller and more delicate. Soft brushes
gently remove the last bits of dust and
earth. A wall that had not seen the light
of the sun for several thousand years is
finally exposed.
Sometimes the process takes many
years as one building after another is
discovered and gradually freed from
the grip of the earth. Every step of the
process is photographed and labeled for
future analysis. In many cases a wall
will not stand alone. The ancient mortar crumbles and cannot hold the stones
in place. And so elaborate means of
reinforcement are devised. But there
are times when all methods fail. If the
original structure was made of clay or
of rammed earth, it is sometimes impossible to restore. This situation is
one in which photographs become extremely valuable. Even though the city
may never stand upright again, the pictures taken during the excavation become the basis for artists' drawings and
scale models.
10
M LATE STONE AG
or
~nd at
is first
id the
ed to
numand a
er be
f the
tool
ng its
~ry
items
with
t the
ork
tping
ages.
the
s of
re-
llar,
ms,
To
l is
und
te-
ken
ms,
ten
of
11
Babylonian
artifacts
(above):
s
e
l,
e
g
.1:tS
1me
his
rld
eek
y of
t if
the
that
1me.
mall
ites,
and
~~-,
))~~
l~
BABY LO
AFRICA
Schliemann urged them on after studying each layer. He was looking for a
sign of the massive gate, the famous
horse of the Greeks and the epic battles. He was interested only in the Troy
of legend. In all, he found nine cities.
actually the
famous Troy?
LEM
ARABIA
ousand
trrived.
ld, and
layers
pletely
ement.
, and
of the
-y. The
d held
tained
a few
which
y, was
houses
vestias surlll with
the use
Bronze
and a
ments.
A hero is put to rest. An artist's conception of a burial in Trojan times, showing the city in the background.
importance as an archaeologist. He
opened the cities of legend to the modern world and also established sound
archaeological techniques.
Schliemann continued his work at Mycenae. He found
What maior finds
great palaces and
were unearthed
in the 1950's?
gates made of
stones so large that
only a legend could explain how they
were moved. The one-eyed giants named
Cyclops were supposed to have put them
in place. Stone tombs with vaulted ceilings, an engineering feat unparalleled
for that time, were also unearthed.
In the 1920's, Alan J. B. Wace made
a series of discoveries at the Mycenae
site that carried the city back to 1600
B.c. Then the diggings were left alone
until 1950, when Wace returned. He
went deeper and unearthed a new series
of houses and graves. The city seemed
endless. Each search revealed new
riches. Bronze swords and daggers with
golden hilts, ivory inlaid shields, beautifully inscribed vases, all came to light.
Mycenae was revealed as a wealthy
city, perhaps at one time the leading
center of ancient Greece.
In 1952, the Greek Archaeological
Society took over the work and spent
some years in cleaning the debris from
the city. Their scientists began to discover even more. It seemed that Mycenae would continue yielding its
treasure to the modern world. But one
discovery was made that is worth more
than the hoard of precious metals and
jewels. It is a drab piece of cloth, originally used as a wrapping for daggers.
This modest bit of material is now a
. He
modsound
t My-
ound
; and
e of
e that
they
amed
them
1ceilleled
Fade
cenae
1600
alone
L He
series
Iemed
new
1With
~au ti-
pent
lrom
dis-
Myits
one
s we pt through
Greece and the
Near East, but two deserve particular
mention. The first is Knossos, on the
island of Crete, and the other is the
city of Gordian.
In 1900, Sir Arthur Evans went to
Crete to research some of the ancient
languages. There he found indications
of a large burled city. Digging was easy,
as the city was not too deeply buried,
but it took some forty years to excavate
the entire area completely. Some of the
buildings were as large as those we
build today, or even larger. The main
palace was five stories high and almost
half a mile square! In this massive building Evans found a series of winding,
twisting passageways. From some of
the inscriptions on the walls he real-
Knossos is . easily dated back to before 2000 B.c., a remnant of a civilization that was as despotic as it was artistic. The city perished in a raging fire,
probably set by invaders who came to
overthrow the Minoan tyrants.
Gordion, deep in the Asia Minor section
of Turkey, has two faWhy was
mous legends to remind
Gord ion
famous?
us of its existence. It was
in this Phrygian city that
Alexander the Great cut the Gordion
Kpot with a single stroke of his sword.
However, even more famous is the
story of Midas, the king with the golden
touch. Midas ruled ancient Gordion in
800 B.c., and if he did not have the
20
21
11
"death ship"
tian tomb. It
eing carried
retric
ure of
f the
raohs
r largiting
high
enty
move
t two
p the
sand
tfully
locks
into
that
so.
,the
reon
ep-
rorits
the
ut
The writings of
Herodotus, who
had seen the pyramids, were a constant
spur to men interested in the ancient
world. But the greatest stimulus came
much later with Napoleon's campaign
through the Middle East in 1789. He
wanted to control that part of the world
and open a route to India. But this military genius must be given credit for
more than conquest. He knew of the
mighty past of Egypt and desired to
learn more. Accordingly, he equipped
his army with a corps of scientists and
scholars whose function was to unravel
the mystery of the desert monuments.
Many beautiful carvings and other
works of art were brought back to Paris
after the campaign, but the most important was a large slab of black basalt
known as the Rosetta Stone. One side
was covered with writing.
The writing on the slab was in three
languages: Greek,
What was the
Demotic script
importance of
the Rosetta Stone? and Egyptian
hieroglyphic. To
scholars it soon became apparent that
the message was the same in each lan-
WRITING~~~
Jt ~ l ~~ ~)
UNDERGROUND VAULT
Two men made astounding discoveries in the tombs. One was William
Flinders Petrie and the other was Howard Carter. Both found kings. Petrie
first dug into the pyramids at Giza in
1880 and then went on in 1889 to a nondescript pyramid near the Nile. This
unassuming monument yielded to his
efforts, and he came upon the burial
place of Amenemhet III, one of the
great leaders of Egypt in 1800 B.c. Not
only was the discovery important in itself, but it also led Petrie to devise a
system of classifying and grouping archaeological finds. This system permits
a clear understanding of the culture,
and it has become a standard device of
all archaeologists.
However, the most fascinating discovery in Egypt happened in the area
called the Valley of Kings. There,
across the Nile from Luxor and Karnak, was a whole valley of tombs and
to
flep-
lmen
ling
tion
rounded by a great
arc of land. Turkey
looms to the north, and around to the
Th
Th
SU
ution
nto .a
~s was
~. Set
~olden
within
boxes
:nd of
e sarleamgreat
ifully
a was
heavy
olden
ely a
unted
~final
gold.
y of
.A
trin-
cient
ield
time
Nineveh, as it may
have looked at the
time of King Sargon in
the eighth century B.C.
and
~r the
r the
d to
er to
l the
:orm
of the
as a
in the
I and
ethan
efore
.obert
,ite in
f the
gious
t ter-
t. It
e to
~ods.
r>lue,
the
sun
STONE SCULPTURE OF A
MONKEY (BABYLONIAN)
~od.
the
artnds
:onthe
1
ter-
till
31
0
PERSIA (IRAN)
32
~land,
unbars old
acts
)Und
this
~oth
ting
to
of
tan
mas
0-
c,
le
The building in the bottom layer of the hill in Jericho is possibly the oldest known building. It is at least 7,000 years old.
. .
BRONZE CANDLE-HOLDE
OIL LAMP
cloudless blue sky. Its slopes were dotted with vineyards, and the thick clusters of grapes were almost ready for the
harvest. Insects buzzed in the hot air
above the cities, and the very earth
seemed asleep.
It was not asleep. In the deep caverns
beneath Vesuvius, white-hot streams of
lava rushed and boiled, rocks melted
and water flashed into steam. The earth
was preparing an assault.
Slowly the boiling, seething mass rose
through the chambers of the volcano,
34
HOLDER
Most of the survivors reached Neapolis, the early site of modem Naples,
and when the eruption was over, they
tried to return to their homes. But the.
cities were almost completely buried.
Rain had fallen on Herculaneum, hardening the ash into a kind of cement, and
Pompeii was almost completely covered. The cities were abandoned.
As the centuries passed, the earth
slowly covered the last vestiges of man's
work, and both cities were lost.
In 1594, an architect, Domenico Fontana, while tunHow were the
cities discovered?
I
I
statues all graced this clean and efficient city. The walls of many buildings
were covered with paintings and frescoes, perfectly preserved by the volcanic ash that kept destructive forces
from marring the ancient works of art.
Pompeii today is in excellent condition.
Nowhere else does
What is the
such a complete
condition of
relic exist. In a
Pompeii today?
sense, it is a monument to the Roman Empire. Archaeologists have cleaned up most of the city
and its neighbor, Herculaneum. Today
36
The artist here recreates the panic and terror of the people of
Pompeii when
nearby
HAIRPINS OF IVORY
FOUND IN POMPEII
Pompeii,
dug
out
of
Shown
is
Temple of Apollo.
the
IN
CHICHEN-ITZA
U.S.A.
ATLANTIC OCEAN
PACIFIC OCEAN
SOUTH
AMERICA
Words can hardly describe the feeling of satisfaction and triumph when, after having been close to admitting defeat,
Stephens and Catherwood suddenly discovered the first .stone
monolith . Not far from the Copan River in the oppressive heat
of the jungle of Honduras they reached their goal - Copan,
the chief city of the first Mayan empire. Stephens was able to
buy the city for fifty dollars.
This is how the scene may have looked (above) when one of
the ceremonious ball games was in progress. The "ball park" in
Chichen-ltza was a court measuring 225 by 545 feet, with walls
on the long sides and a little temple on each of the far sides.
The object of the game was to get a rubber ball through one of
the rings that were placed in the middle of each of the two
walls. At the right is the well where maidens were sacrificed.
The stone cities of the Mayans, Aztecs and other civilizations were temple cities, and only the priests and the
nobility lived there. The rest of the population lived in
primitive huts covered by thatched roofs, just as many
Indians do today. At the right is an Aztec calendar stone.
plorers took led them past stone monoliths carved with stern faces. When they
had almost reached the river bank, they
were blocked by a tremendous mass of
stone. Stephens began to climb and
found he was ascending a series of large
steps. When he reached the top, he
looked out over a ruined and desolate
city. He had found Copan!
In spite of the condition of the buildings, Copan was impressive. The stone
work was precise and so massive that
men still wonder how it was lifted into
place. The structure Stephens stood
on was built like the Babylonian ziggurats - a pyramidal building in a
series of steps.
A final footnote to Stephen's discovery is humorous. He was met by the
man who owned all the land along. the
Copan River and was told to leave.
Stephens offered to buy the Mayan City
and to his surprise, Don Jose Maria,
the owner, agreed to sell.
\:
The deal was arranged and Steph~O$
consequently became the first archae~
ologist to own completely a lost city.
The price? Fifty dollars!
The picture is a schematic drawing of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuac6n, Mexico (on the left) and the great
pyramid at Giza in Egypt (on the right). The comparative size of the two pyramids is indicated. Note that while
the Egyptian pyramids were built as burial places, the Mexican pyramids served as temple foundations.
43
46
the.se cities into the sea. However, scientists regard these stories as pure myth.
It may be that there are cities under
the sea, cities that were submerged by
earthquakes which unsettled a stretch
of coastline. If so, they are bound to
be counterpar~s of other ancient cultures, not remnants of mythical cities.
But archaeologists are seriously
working under the sea now with skin
divers. They are not searching for cities,
but for sunken ships of the ancient
world. Already some Phoenician, Egyptian and Grecian galleys have been
found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, their holds filled with the
commercial wares of the time. These
discoveries are beginning to fill in some
of the gaps in the tapestry of history.
48
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