THE MUSEUM JOURNAL by Grotefend, Abbe Saint-Martin, who is in Elamitic; the third is in Babylonian, had devoted considerable time in studying and the vertical column underneath gives his results, felt that he was able to read the same inscription in Egyptian hiero- the name of the king inscribed on the vase. glyphics, XERXES, THE GREAT KING. Champollion, after he had found the key A. T. C. to the Egyptian hieroglyphics, suggested to the Abbe that they decipher the inscrip- MEDITERRANEAN SECTION. tion independently. The test proved con- clusively that progress had been made in MR. SEAGER IN CRETE. the decipherment of the cuneiform and R. RICHARD B. SEAGER continued the Egyptian hieroglyphs and that their his excavations in Crete dur- methods were correct, for their results M ing the late winter and spring confirmed each other's progress. It was and has been successful in locating the found that the inscription read : "Xerxes, cemetery of Gourna, the Mycenaean town the Great King." It was, however, only cleared by Mrs. Harriet Boyd Hawes in determined in later years that the three 1904. The excavation of this cemetery different cuneiform inscriptions found on has occupied Mr. Seager during the season the vase represented the Persian, Elamitic just closed. It dates mainly from the and Babylonian forms of writing. third Middle Minoan period (2500-1800 A number of similar vases and frag- B. C.) and the first Late Minoan (1800- ments belonging to the same king have 1600 B. C.). The bodies were placed in since made their appearance. Loftus, in large terra cotta jars, of which more than 1853, found several fragments of a similar 150 were exhumed. The bones were very vase in the ruins of Susa. These were well preserved, and hence from the stand- deposited in the British Museum. New- point of physical anthropology this is one ton, in his excavations of the mausoleum of the most important excavations ever of Halicarnassus, an anoint Greek city made in Crete, since the skulls found at of Asia Minor, discovered in 1856 another other sites are few and in bad condition. vase of the same king, which found its Some of the jars are painted, but the style way to the British Museum. Less im- of decoration cannot yet be described, portant fragments were also discovered by since they have not been cleaned and ex- Dieulafoy at Susa, which are now in the amined. These are the first burials dat- Louvre. ing from the first Late Minoan period Through the instrumentality of the late that have come to light in Crete, and Mr. E. W. Clark, Esq., of Philadelphia, a simi- Seager's discovery is therefore of special lar alabaster vase, with the same interest to students of Cretan archaeology. quadralingual inscription, was purchased in 1888 G. B. G. from Joseph Shemtob, an antiquity dealer in London. The provenience of this vase CASTS FROM THE ARCH OF TRAJAN AT is unknown. It measures nine and seven- BENEVENTUM. eighth inches in height and eight and fifteen-sixteenth inches in width. It is Among the objects which first attract now in the possession of the University the attention on entering the Mediter- Museum, and is on exhibition among its ranean Section of the Museum are the treasures (Fig. 2). casts from the Arch of Trajan at The upper line of cuneiform writing Beneventum. The original was erected in the shows the Persian script; the second line year 114 A. D. by the Senate and People UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA of Rome to commemorate Trajan's benefi- peror in it. It is one of the best preserved cent rule, while the Emperor was absent of Roman triumphal arches. on a campaign in the East; but Trajan The casts in the Museum reproduce the died abroad in-116, without having seen most interesting and best preserved of the

Fig. 3—Relief on the Arch of Trajan at Beneventum. Liber, Libera, Diana and Sylvanus. the monument. It is fifty feet high, cov- sculptures, but as they are taken from ered with reliefs relating to the life different sides of the monument, it has of Trajan, while on top once stood a four- obviously been impossible to give them in horse chariot with a statue of the Em- the Museum, positions corresponding to

S those which they have at Beneventum. represented on the missing portion of the On the east wall are two slabs. The upper relief (Fig. 3). is taken from the keystone of the vault Above the doorway on the south wall is and represents victory crowning Trajan, the upper part of the side facing away the lower comes from the left side of the from Rome. In the upper corners are

attic or upper part of the arch on the draped river gods; in the middle is a side facing away from Rome and shows draped female figure, while below are nude Liber, Libera, Diana and Silvanus as boys representing the Seasons. Below on protectors of the province of Dacia. They the left is a procession of soldiers with were probably welcoming Trajan, who was prisoners and booty, and on the right a similar procession. Below these are two attic of the side facing Rome. On it is large slabs. That at the left (Fig. 4) is represented Trojan, accompanied by taken from the attic of the side of the Hadrian and followed by lictors in the

arch facing Rome and shows the Capito- act of being received by Rome together line gods. Jupiter stands in the middle with two consuls and penates. with Juno at the right and Minerva at On the south wall of the Museum within the left. The slab at the right of the the doorway are three slabs taken from doorway (Fig. 5) is also taken from the the left pylon of the side of the arch fac- ing the country. At the top Mars presents from Trajan. Above Euphrates is a to Trajan a recruit accompanied by a cen- bridge by which the Romans are crossing. turion. Below this are two Victories slay- This series of casts gives an excellent ing a bull. On the lowest slab Trajan in idea of historical relief sculpture, the only the presence of Jupiter Feretrius receives form of sculpture which can really be the oath of fealty from the Germans. called Roman. W. N. B.

On the west wall are two slabs. On the AMERICAN SECTION. upper two armed male figures stand on THETHE HEYE COLLECTION. either side of two boys who were em- GEORGE G. HEYE collection illus- ployed in sacrificial rites. Below (Fig. trating the culture of the American 6), Mesopotamia personified kneels be- Indians has been materially en- tween her two rivers and begs for mercy larged since its first opening in February