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MELDS (mod. Milo)

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 99 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MELDS (mod. See also:Milo) , an See also:island of the See also:Aegean See also:Sea (See also:Cyclades See also:group), at the S.W. corner of the See also:archipelago, 75 M. due E. from the See also:coast of See also:Laconia. From E. to W. it See also:measures about 14 m., from N. to S. 8 m., and its See also:area is estimated at 52 q. m. The greater portion is rugged and hilly, culminating in See also:Mount See also:Elias in the See also:west (2538 ft.). Like the See also:rest of the cluster, the island is of volcanic origin, with See also:tuff, See also:trachyte and See also:obsidian among its See also:ordinary rocks. The natural See also:harbour, which, with a See also:depth diminishing from 70 to 30 fathoms, strikes in from the See also:north- west so as to cut the island into two fairly equal portions, with an See also:isthmus not more than i; m. broad, is the hollow of the prin- cipal See also:crater. In one of the caves on the See also:south coast the See also:heat isstill See also:great, and on the eastern See also:shore of the harbour there are hot sulphurous springs. See also:Sulphur is found in abundance on the See also:top of Mount Kalamo and elsewhere. In See also:ancient times the See also:alum of Melos was reckoned next to that of See also:Egypt (See also:Pliny See also:xxxv. i5 [52]), and millstones, See also:salt (from a See also:marsh at the See also:east end of the harbour), and See also:gypsum are still exported. The Melian See also:earth (See also:yii M,l?cas) was employed as a pigment by ancient artists. See also:Orange, See also:olive, See also:cypress and arbutus trees grow throughout the island, which, however, is too dry to have any profusion of vegetation.

The See also:

vine, the See also:cotton plant and See also:barley are the See also:main See also:objects of cultivation. Pop. (1907), 4864 (See also:commune), 12,774 (See also:province). The harbour See also:town is Adamanta; from this there is an ascent to the See also:plateau above the harbour, on which are situated Plaka, the See also:chief town, and Kastro, rising on a See also:hill above it, and other villages. The ancient town of Melos was nearer to the entrance of the harbour than Adamanta, and occupied the slope between the See also:village of Trypete and the landing-See also:place at Klima. Here is a See also:theatre of See also:Roman date and some remains of town walls and other buildings, one with a See also:fine See also:mosaic excavated by the See also:British school at See also:Athens in 1896. Numerous fine See also:works of See also:art have been found on this site, notably the See also:Aphrodite of Melos in the Louvre, the Asclepius in the British Museum, and the See also:Poseidon and an archaic See also:Apollo in Athens. The position of Melos, between See also:Greece and See also:Crete, and its See also:possession of obsidian, made it an important centre of See also:early Aegean See also:civilization. At this See also:time the chief See also:settlement was at the place now called Phylakopi, on the north-east coast. Here the excavations of the British school cleared many houses, including a See also:palace of " Mycenaean" type; there is also a town See also:wall. See also:Part of the site has been washed away by the sea. The antiquities found were of three main periods, all preceding the Mycenean See also:age of Greece.

Much pottery was found, including examples of a See also:

peculiar See also:style, with decorative designs, mostly floral, and also considerable deposits of obsidian. There are some traditions of a Phoenician occupation of Melos. In See also:historical times the island was occupied by See also:Dorians from Laconia. In the 6th See also:century it again produced a remarkable See also:series of vases, of large See also:size, with mythological subjects and orientalizing ornamentation (see See also:GREEK ART, fig. 9), and also a series of terra-See also:cotta reliefs. Though Melos inhabitants sent a contingent to the Greek See also:fleet at See also:Salamis, it held aloof from the See also:Attic See also:league, and sought to remain neutral during the Peloponnesian See also:War. But in 416 B.C. the Athenians, having attacked the island and compelled the Melians to surrender, slew all the men capable of bearing arms, made slaves of the See also:women and See also:children, and introduced 500 Athenian colonists. See also:Lysander restored the island to its Dorian possessors, but it never recovered its former prosperity. There were many Jewish settlers in Melos in the beginning of the See also:Christian era, and See also:Christianity was early introduced. During the " Frankish " See also:period the island formed part of the duchy of See also:Naxos, except for the few years (1341–1383) when it was a See also:separate lordship under Marco Sanudo and his daughter. Antimelos or Antimilo, 5i M. north-west of Milo, is an uninhabited See also:mass of trachyte, often called Eremomilo or See also:Desert Melos. Kimolos, or Argentiera, less than r m. to the north-east, was famous in antiquity for its See also:figs and See also:fuller's earth (KcµwAia yi), and contained a considerable See also:city, the remains of which See also:cover the cliff of St See also:Andrews.

Polinos, Polybos or Polivo` (anc. Polyaegos) lies rather more than a mile south-east of Kimolos. It was the subject of dispute between the Melians and Kimolians. It has See also:

long been almost uninhabited. See Leycester, " The Volcanic Group of Milo, See also:Anti-Milo, &c.," in Jour. See also:Roy. Geog. See also:Soc. (1852) ; See also:Tournefort, Voyage; See also:Leake, See also:Northern Greece, iii. ; Prokesch von Osten, Denkwurdigkeiten, &c.; See also:Bursian, Geog. von Griechenland, ii.; Journ. See also:Hell. See also:Stud. xvi., xvii., xviii.; Excavations at Phylakopi ; Incr. See also:gram xii. iii.

197 sqq. ; on coins found in 1909, see See also:

Jameson in Rev. Num. 1909, 188 sqq. (E.

End of Article: MELDS (mod. Milo)

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