CHAPTER VIII.

_On the Hill of Hissarlik, May 11th, 1872._

Hindrances through Greek festivals--Thickness of the layers of _débris_ above the native rock--Date of the foundation of Troy--Impossibility of the _Bunarbashi_ theory--Homeric epithets suitable to Hissarlik--Etymology of Ἴλιος, signifying probably the “fortress of the Sun"--The _Aruna_ of the Egyptian records--Progress of the platform, and corresponding excavation on the south--The bulwark of Lysimachus--Ruins of great buildings--Marks of civilization increasing with the depth--Vases, and fragments of great urns--A remarkable terra-cotta--A whorl with the appearance of an inscription 122