1948

Kourion Excavations

2 November, 1948Dear Fro:

Your letter of 26 October was most welcome, arriving in the same mail with a very friendly letter from George.

I thoroughly approve of your decision re Sue Young, and agree that the field director should probably have discretion in matters of the sort. I would not be at all surprised if, faced with the decision whether or not to take the stipend from excavation funds, he would reach the same conclusion that I did. In any case, whatever he decides will be acceptable.

Thanks for clearing up the question of the funds for my work in Cyprus. It looks now as if it would be well within the $500 estimate.

"Peter" (A.H.S.) Megaw, the Director of Antiquities, and his wife spent Sunday with us, which gave me a good chance to catch up on many things and lay the ground work for some future matters. One subject which has not figured largely in our conversations and correspondence with regard to Kourion, but in which we have a definite obligation, is the protection and preservation of the buildings which are cleared. Legally the site is formally turned over to the Department of Antiquities. Fortunately for us, Megaw is inclined to be reasonable in the whole matter. Apollo is reasonably solid in any case, and the reconstruction work that has been carried on there more than fulfills our obligations. In the matter of the palace and the mosaics in the palace was lifted a number of years ago and reset by a Syrian "expert" who was brought over to do the job. One of Megaw's men and one of ours worked with him and learned better job than he did. Apart from this one mosaic, there has been a good deal of damage, and the mosaics are disintegrating in spite of stop-gap repairs made by our foremen. I feel strongly that they must be raised and set in new plaster beds in the near future. Megaw, I hardly need add, feels as strongly about it as I do. I asked him, making it clear that I was asking unofficially, if some arrangement could be worked out whereby the expense of resetting the mosaics could share the Department of Antiquities could furnish the materials and we the labor. I suggested that they might furnish the foreman (who is on a salary anyway) doing the work when he was not needed on the dig. Megaw seems willing to go further than this, furnishing the services of his own man free too. The chief materials needed locally, sand, which we can get locally, and steel reinforcements. Megaw thinks he may be able to get the latter from the Public Works department. It looks to me as if an agreement can be reached which will cost us very little. Megaw would like to do the work here. This would suit Fales perfectly, since the lifting of the floors would give him an opportunity to make soundings under them, which are practically essential for the rather complicated study of the building. I will not try to reach any definite agreement, but I think that Mr. Hill should be encouraged to see the job done next spring. I should think that our share of the expenses might come out of Fales' grant, since it is concerned with the palace, partly by way of preservation of mosaics he has found, and partly in order to enable him to ensure the mosaics have been properly