Letter from Dikaios to Schaeffer about his discoveriesPorphyrios Dikaios

Enkomi Monastery of St Barnabas 13/4/1949.

Dear friend,

I apologise for replying late to your two letters of 17 and 22 March. I have just arrived here and resumed the work in order to clear the lower floors. The work has only just begun and I cannot give many results. We are finding a great deal of pottery in situ, which I hope will be useful for the study of the stratigraphy.

I thank you very much for the remarks that you kindly made in your two letters concerning the statue and other questions concerning my communication. Unfortunately your last letter reached me too late, after the 1^st April and so I was unable to reply to you in time for my reply to reach you in time.

I admit that I had left the question of the date of the statue somewhat uncertain: but the stratigraphic indications as well as the comparisons with other documents of Mycenaean date gave some reference point: and then I had thought that with the lack of means in Cyprus (complete libraries, collections etc.) one had to be reserved at least for the moment. I hope that the members of the Institute will not hold it against me too much!!

You will find enclosed photographs of two ingots A: from the Museum of Nicosia B from the Los Angeles museum: M.