CHAPTER IX.

THE FIFTH SEPULCHRE, AND THE FIRST AGAIN.

At length again a guard and watchfire on the Acropolis of Mycenæ--Exploration of the _Fifth Tomb_--Its sepulchral _stêlæ_--The tomb described; containing only one body--Golden diadem and other objects found in the tomb--Hand-made vases of terra-cotta; one with female breasts, like the prehistoric vases at Santorin and Troy--Wheel-made pottery--Excavation of the _First Tomb_ completed--Its position and construction. Three bodies in it: the middle one has been disturbed and rifled of its ornaments--Large size of the bodies--Golden mask and state of the first--Wonderful preservation of the third--Its ponderous gold mask, face, and teeth--Description of the body--its remarkable compression--Golden breast-plate, and leaves of gold on the forehead, eyes, and breast--Excitement caused by the discovery--Measures taken to preserve and remove the body--Its shoulder belt and bronze sword with crystal ornament, and disks of gold for the sheath: all special funeral ornaments, and not for ordinary use--Description of the golden breast-covers of this and the first body--Highly-decorated bronze swords and other objects found with the third body--Ornamented golden leaves, a wooden comb, and bronze swords, with the second body--A large heap of broken bronze swords, with knives and lances--Other weapons, chiefly in fragments--Amber and gold beads, and various objects of gold and silver--An alabaster vase--Wonderful plates of gold--The two massive golden masks of the first tomb--The skilled work argues a long-trained school of artists--Several large goblets of gold and silver--Objects in this sepulchre--A silver vase, with copper and gold plating--A drinking-cup of alabaster--Plates of gold, in form of double eagles, &c.--Fragments of silver vases; one with a gold mouthpiece and handle--A splendidly ornamented plate of gold, covering a cylinder of charred wood--Hundreds of gold-button-plates, large and small, with various ornamentation--The new types shown--Gold plates, ribbons, and ornaments for greaves--Tubes and buttons of bone; their probable use--An ivory plate, and a curious object of glazed Egyptian porcelain--Hand-made and wheel-made pottery--Seven large copper vessels, caldrons and cans--A quadrangular wooden box, with most interesting reliefs 289