Letter·34 CDF art. 168-4·1 May 1949

Five letters from Dikaios to Schaeffer about the excavations at EnkomiPorphyrios Dikaios

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Typed in French. Every line is transcribed and translated, and the English sits beside the scan.

Scan 20 of letter 34 CDF art. 168-4 (Five letters from Dikaios to Schaeffer about the excavations at Enkomi), typed in French. The transcription and translation follow.

Scan: Collège de France, Paris, 34 CDF art. 168-4, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Unnumbered pageScan 20 of 20

COPY.

Enkomi, Monastery of St. Barnabas, 30 May 1949.

Dear friend,

... The question of earthquakes: I am more and more convinced that it took place in L.C.III. Since my letter of the 6th we have touched Mycenaean floors which show no stratigraphic sign of a catastrophe. The destruction layer is observed only between level (or floor) I and II, after which the floors follow one another in a natural way and without an intermediate layer of destruction. Furumark's opinion (cited in your letter of 19 May) supports my observation. I would like to reach the bottom of my stratigraphic layers everywhere before declaring myself definitively. That there was a catastrophe of seismic origin in L.C.III seems to me certain. But I would like to reach the bottom of the layers examined by me before excluding such a catastrophe in the 14th century. I agree with you that even an earthquake of the 5th century may have shaken the walls of Enkomi, but the destruction layer is conclusive.

As I have already said, I have touched purely Mycenaean floors with Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery on them. Very interesting as this will date our palace. Each floor contains, besides the pottery, objects of a domestic nature etc. etc. So far I have touched the V or VIth successive floor and the first four are L.C.III. Obviously I must study the pottery in detail before giving the chronological limits.

The plan of the palace is becoming clearer and clearer but it still needs much clearing before making it entirely clear and above all uncovering the original plan. I hope that by the end of the campaign I will be able to give you more details.

[illegible]

Handwritten: signature

65 figures hard to readstruck struck outadded written in above” jug ditto, and what it repeatsword reading not certain

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