⚱️ 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.
Schliemann's 1873 discovery of Priam's Treasure at Troy
TürkiyeArtifact
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
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