THE SPADE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGIST: THE RESURRECTION OF TRUTH—ERROR'S FUNERAL: by Ariomardes

THE resurrection of the prehistoric age of Greece, and the disclosure of the astonishing standard of civilization which had been attained on the mainland and in the isles of the Aegean at a period at least 2000 years earlier than that at which Greek history, as hitherto understood, begins, may be reckoned as among the most interesting results of modern research into the relics of the life of past ages....

All preconceived ideas may be upset by the results of a single season's spade work on some ancient site. The work is by no means complete; but already the dark gulf of time that lay behind the Dorian conquest is beginning to yield up the unquestionable evidences of a great and splendid and almost incredibly ancient civilization....

Most surprising of all, in many respects, was the revelation of the amazingly complete system of drainage with which the palace was provided. Indeed the hydraulic science of the Minoan architects is altogether wonderful in the completeness with which it provided for even the smallest details....

Perhaps the most striking and interesting result that has been attained is the remarkable confirmation given to the broad outlines of those traditions about Crete which have survived in the legends and in the narratives of the Greek historians.—The Scientific American, in a review of James Baikie's Sea Kings of Crete.

Preconceived ideas may certainly be said to be in a precarious situation, if they can be so easily upset by a spade. Pagan tradition, however, comes out triumphant. Should we not therefore, place more faith in the pagan legends than in the preconceived ideas?

Refusing to believe that the Greek legends were imaginary, Schliemann and his successors investigated the sites at Troy, Tiryns and Mykenae, there discovering the old civilization described. Now we learn that this was but the dying remnant of a still older and grander civilization whose center was Crete. How much more has the spade to reveal to us? How much further will discovery go? It can but show, as revelation follows revelation, that the map of ancient history sketched in H. P. Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine is correct; that our annals, as far as we can trace them back, record not a rise but a fall. The present Fifth Root-Race of humanity, being in its middle course, has reached the lowest point of its cycle before its reascent; the earlier of its seven sub-races have lived; some of the most enduring of their colossal works in masonry have survived, silent yet eloquent witnesses. The spade is slowly uncovering the vestiges of civilization gradually rising in knowledge and culture as we go backwards; until at last the completed chain of history will conduct us to the glory of our Race in the Golden Age of its birth.

Confirmation, Theosophy has in plenty, as H. P. Blavatsky foretold of the dawning years of this century. Recognition, it may get later. And this important question arises: Will archaeologists, while admitting the truth of the Theosophical teachings about history, also admit those teachings as to the nature of Man and other kindred subjects, which logically depend on the historical teachings? If not, then, Archaeology, thy name is inconsistency. For Nineteenth Century views of the origin of man will not fit.

And let us not become so absorbed over the Aegeans as to forget the rest of the world and devise theories to account for our own particular discoveries regardless of the discoveries in other fields. The ancient Chimu civilization recently uncovered in Peru claims our attention. History in America too goes back through rising stages to a mightier past. And linking all, we have the admissions, now being made on all sides, as to the truth of the Theosophical teachings (in The Secret Doctrine) about Atlantis. This links together the prehistoric cultures of the Old World and the New.

Even in mechanical science there was prowess, as we learn in connexion with these drainage works of Crete. Perhaps we have been wont to solace our pride by the reflection that if the Egyptians surpassed us in building, and the Greeks in art, in science at least we bear the palm. But is this consolation merely based on the fact that the civilizations with which we have so far been familiar have not expended their genius in that particular direction? Could antiquity have surpassed us in applied science also, if it had had the mind to apply its abilities in that direction? Nay, have there actually been civilizations which surpassed us? This particular Cretan culture seems to have been distinguished by many features which connect it more with modern times than with the intervening Greek culture. The same has been said with regard to the choice and treatment of subjects in the decorative and imitative pottery unearthed on the Chimu site in Peru.