Note 188 — Chapter II

Ἐν λάκκοις κονιατοῖς.] The Athenians and other Greeks used to make large excavations under ground, some round, some square, and, covering them over with plaster, laid up their wine and oil in them; they called them λάκκοι. Schol. ad Aristoph. Eccl., cited by Hutchinson. Spelman translates λάκκοι κονιατοί, "plastered cisterns," a term which Ainsworth adopts. "The plastered cisterns noticed by Xenophon," says he, "are also met with throughout Kurdistan, Armenia, and Syria. They are especially numerous around some of the ancient villages of the early Christians of those countries, as more especially between Semeïsát and Bireh-jik, and have frequently been a subject of discussion as to their former uses. This notice of Xenophon serves to clear up many doubts upon the subject, although, since the Kurds have become Mohommedans, and rejected the use of wine, there is no doubt they are sometimes used for depots for corn or hay, and even sometimes for water. They were generally closed by a single large stone." Travels in the Track, &c. p. 164.