Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/367

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
IN THE LEVANT.
317

cup in the British Museum a potter is represented at work with a similar wheel.139 After the shape has been thus formed, the handles are put on when required, and the ware is left to dry in the sun till it hardens. It is then baked in a furnace for a whole day. All the modern Greek pottery which I have seen is of a very coarse kind, though in many islands the ancient shapes of the amphora, and other larger vases are still retained, with little deviation. This is particularly the case at Rhodes. The fine tough clay used by the ancients is either unknown or the process by which it was tempered and wrought to such tenacity is no longer understood: glazing is seldom employed. Many of the ancient names of vases are still retained. At Calymnos saucers are called πινάκια, and large pails for milk, ἀρμέγοι, from ἀρμέγω, the Calymuiote corruption of ἀμέλγω, " to milk."

On the shore at Linari is a harbour formed by a small bay. Here I saw a column of blue marble, inscribed with a dedication by the people of Calymnos to the emperor Claudius, styled Saviour and Benefactor of the island.140

North of Linari and opposite the small island called Telendos is a ruined church on a lull, which contains fragments of columns. A temple perhaps stood here; and a little to the south of this church is a place called Periboli, planted with vines, where many pieces of ancient marble have been dug up. These remains may mark the site of an ancient city. The channel between the shore and Telendos here is very narrow, and affords good anchorage for large ships.