' But expectation still fixed on Knossos as the most
probable site for any Cretan discoveries.
[Illustration VIII: A MAGAZINE WITH JARS AND KASELLES, KNOSSOS (_p_. 69)]
The attention of Schliemann and Stillman had been drawn to a hill
called 'Kephala,' overlooking the ancient site of Knossos, on which
stood ruined walls consisting of great gypsum blocks engraved with
curious characters; but attempts at exploration were defeated by
the obstacles raised by the native proprietors. In 1878 Minos
Kalochaerinos made some slight excavations, and found a few great
jars or _pithai_, and some fragments of Mycenaean pottery; but up
to the year 1895, when Dr. A. J. Evans secured a quarter of the
Kephala site from one of the joint proprietors, nothing of any
real moment had been accomplished. Dr. Evans had been attracted
to Crete by the purchase at Athens of some seal-stones found in
the island, engraved with hieroglyphic and linear signs differing
from Egyptian and Hittite characters. In the hope that he might be
led to the discovery of a Cretan system of writing, and relying upon
the ancient Cretan tradition that the Phoenicians had not invented
letters, but had merely changed the forms of an already existing
system, he began in 1894 a series of explorations in Central and
Eastern Crete. On all hands more or less important evidence of
the existence of such a script came to light, especially from the
Dictaean Cave, where a stone libation-altar was found, inscribed with
a dedication in the unknown writing.
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