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SALAMIS IN THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.
BY ALEXANDER PALMA DI CESNOLÀ, F.S.A.,
page 48

Close to the spot in question, and evidently deposited there with unusual care, were even more interesting relics, being two paterae of similar form, arranged as a bowl and lid, which cohered so closely at the rims that they could not be separated without fracturing one or both of them (fig. 85). On breaking into the casket which was formed by the union of these vessels, and satisfying myself that no inscriptions were to be found on either of the patene, a quantity of earth was removed from between them, and among this earth was a little cylindrical box of lead (fig. 85 b), about two inches in diameter and three inches and a half high. The finder now thought that there was a probability of treasure being concealed in the little casket, and he cried out for joy. The box was opened by lifting the lid, and it appeared to be made of lead, like others which had been found elsewhere; one of which, from Salamis, filled with glass drops and the earth which had filtered among them during many ages, has already engaged our attention. This leaden casket of Kitium, where this relic was found, contained a very elegant cylindrical box of ivory (fig. 85 c), sculptured with figures of men or priests adoring a bull, Apis, and an ibis (fig. 8G). Both these creatures are placed on benches or altars (fig. 88). The lid of the ivory box is sculptured in relief, with the head in profile of a bearded man (fig. 87), whose hair is bound with two fillets. It has been remarked that, not only is this head of very fine execution, but that critics have not decided whether it is of Greek or Roman origin; and, above all, that the style of its execution differs radically from that of the sculptures on the little box itself, which, delicate and elaborate as they are, show the influence of the somewhat stiff and jejune mode of Assyrian designs as transmitted through Phoenicia, and with characteristics which may be due to the local art of Cyprus itself. Considering these circumstances and conclusions, thelatter being based on recondite criticism of the respective and differing styles of the several parts of this curious casket, we are driven to the conclusion that the body of the relic is a copy from some much more ancient piece of sculpture in ivory, embracing that which is, comparatively speaking, an archaic manner of design and treatment, far removed from the elegant and well-developed style of the medallion on the top; or that the top was made of old, in order to supply the place of the original and far more ancient one, the design of which may, broadly speaking, have been similar to that before us in the medallion in profile.1 I incline to the second hypothesis, and I do so with regard to the differing types of style exhibited by these carvings, and without ignoring the fact that the

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