Schliemann's 1873 discovery of Priam's Treasure at Troy. On May 31, 1873, during his third excavation campaign at Troy, Heinrich Schliemann uncovered a cache of gold and silver jewelry and vessels The treasure included gold and silver pitchers and cups, a copper shield, axes, daggers, two golden diadems (dubbed the Jewels of Helen), over 8,000 gold rings, six gold bracelets, and two gold goblets found inside a silver vase Schliemann smuggled the treasure out of the Ottoman Empire to Germany rather than handing it to authorities

⚱️ On May 31, 1873, Schliemann uncovered Priam's Treasure at Troy: gold/silver vessels, copper weapons, the "Jewels of Helen" diadems, 8,000+ gold rings, and bracelets. He smuggled it out of the Ottoman Empire. Some was traded back to Istanbul; the rest went to Berlin, then Moscow after WWII. Scholars suspect it may be a composite hoard.

Key Facts

  • On May 31, 1873, during his third excavation campaign at Troy, Heinrich Schliemann uncovered a cache of gold and silver jewelry and vessels
  • The treasure included gold and silver pitchers and cups, a copper shield, axes, daggers, two golden diadems (dubbed the Jewels of Helen), over 8,000 gold rings, six gold bracelets, and two gold goblets found inside a silver vase
  • Schliemann smuggled the treasure out of the Ottoman Empire to Germany rather than handing it to authorities
  • Some of the treasure was later traded to the Ottoman government for permission to continue digging and is now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum
  • The remaining treasure was acquired by the Royal Museums of Berlin in 1881 and transferred to the Soviet Union after WWII; the Pushkin Museum in Moscow admitted possessing it in 1994
  • The Troy layers where the treasure was found date much earlier than the traditional date of the Trojan War and King Priam's reign
  • Schliemann likely fabricated details about the discovery, and the treasure may be a composite of multiple finds rather than a single hoard

Related site: Ancient City of Troy — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.

Source: Do These 10 #Artifacts Transform The Trojan War from Myth into Reality? by Inside Archaeology