The Discovery of Troy

In May 1873, Heinrich Schliemann discovered a large, spectacular cache of gold and silver jewellery, bronze bowls and cups, copper axes and other valuables at Hisarlık, a mound on the Asian shore of the Dardanelles in the Ottoman Empire. Schliemann announced that he had found the remains of Homeric Troy and called the precious finds Priam’s Treasure (Fig. 8). ¹ Schliemann’s report of the discovery of Priam’s Treasure published in the Allgemeine Zeitung (Augsburg) on 5 August 1873, was hailed around the world and impressed scholars and the general public alike. The Homeric world had become tangible for an enthralled audience. Schliemann’s discoveries triggered new interest in Homer and made him world-famous as the excavator of Troy. ²