THE LOST AND FOUND "PRIAM'S GOLD"
German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated a number of sites in Greece and Turkey. He found objects made of gold, bronze, and silver. Schliemann mistakenly dubbed the artifacts "Priam's Treasure" in reference to the king of the ancient city of Troy. Researchers later determined that the artifacts are 1000 years older than the city described in Homer's Iliad.
A pioneer in the field of archaeology, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann(1822-1890) is best known for his excavations of ancient cities Mycanae and the fabled city of Troy. His discoveries of these two sites gave proof that the stories told by Homer and Vergil, that had intrigued Schliemann from his youth, had some truth to them. For the most part Schliemann was self-educated because of his state of poverty he and his family lived in. At the age of 14 he left school to go to work and help support his family. He did continue studying on his own and because he was so apt to learn foreign languages, which he mastered thirteen of them, he was able to gain a large fortune in the world of business and retire at the very early age of 41. With his fortune he turned his entire life to archaeology and the search for the fabled city of Troy. With Homer's Iliad at his side he set out to prove that the poems in this famous book were not just poems but accounts of a real world that really existed. He began his dig at Troy in 1870 and in 1873 struck paydirt. He also later did excavations at Mycanae, the legendary home of Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the once thought storybook Trojan War. Before Schliemann no one even knew of most of the civilizations that he had discovered and he has opened up a door into the past that is not quite ready to be shut even today.
Using the web to research this topic I came across many sites that helped me to have a better understanding about not only the believed to be fictional Trojan War but about excavating, and what is called "war booty", but few that did not repeat the other. The biggest issue involving the so-called "Priam's Gold" is its history and uncertain future. After Schliemann excavated the gold he displayed it briefly in Athens and then took it back to his homeland of Germany despite Greek objections. It remained there in Berlin until its fall in 1945. This is where things get real interesting because the gold vanished without a trace and was not heard from again until in 1993 the Russians admitting to having it. The Russians refused to return the gold to either Germany or Greece. The two sites that I have used, along with other sources, will help us to understand what happened to the gold during that time and what controversy is surrounding it today.
By the time that it is all said and done you will be able to clearly see that this priceless treasure belongs with its rightful owners in the Mediterranean not the thieves that have had it for the past century.
SECTION 1
"The Treasure of Priam"
www.clix.net/5thworld/5thwnew/dooleys/diary/treasure.html
This site suggests that a king under seige and sure to soon fall hastily hid a fabulous treasure as his city crumbled by the onslaught of the attackers, but no one will probably aver know whose the gold really belonged to. It is known that the empire from which it came crumbled to dust and was forgotten but other great cities were built upon its foundation but also fell. We also know that this later became the foundation for the most famous of cities there, Troy. It was thought at one time that Troy was a fable that Homer made up in his poetic epic the Iliad until the late 19th century when it was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann.
It is also learned at this site that Schliemann was greedy. On the morning of the original discovery he was watching his Turkish workers when he saw a flicker of sunlight off of a gold piece and he then made up some very elaborate excuse and sent his workers all home and completed the dig himself. He then snuck the treasure out of the country and tried and tried to sell it to museums and princes but without proof of authenticity that was hard. After no luck in selling is fortune shortly before his death in 1890 he gave it to the National Museum in Berlin where it sat until World War II.
As Berlin fell in 1945 the Soviets sent in their "Trophy Squad", which were special trained to search out and obtain as much of the Nazi wealth as possible. This included the most valuable find in a underground bunker with 8 foot thick walls below the Berlin Zoo, "Priam's Gold".
This site proved to be a very helpful resource but there are a few things that could have been changed in order to make it a little more complete. The historical information was good but there was a whole in it concerning the time between the fall of Berlin and the lack of the information on its present state in Russia. Most people have heard of the Trojan War and all the myths around it including the Trojan Gold but few know that it is still a hot topic between Germany and Russia today. Maybe a little current information would help to make this a more rounded site.
SECTION 2
"Looted Art Stays in Russia, Court Rules"
www.bday.co.za/98/0407/world/w12.htm
As of April 7, 1998 we get some information on the more current status of "Priam's Gold" straight from mother Russia herself. Now to bring us up to date even more in April 7, 1998 the treasure still remains in Moscow and does not seem that they will return it. On April 7 Russia's highest court said that President Boris Yeltsin had to give in to the parliament and sign a law that stated that all works of art looted by Soviet forces during the war remained Russian property. Yeltsin stood his ground and complained that the courts were behaving in and unconstitutional way, however the president will have to sign the bill before it can be challenged. Yeltsin's representative said, "Any decision of the court should be carried out, even if it is unjust and legally not correct". The president was due to meet his parliamentary counterparts to work on the composition of the new government and no doubt the issue of "war booty". Yeltsin, who is very aware of the damage that could occur between Germany and Russia if his veto was overturned, but the Russian president still refused to sign the bill arguing that it involves some charges of voting irregularities. The original Russian laws consider the finds to be "compensation for the damage caused to the cultural heritage" of the Soviet Union during the war against the Nazis.
This site was one of the most current and up to date pieces of information I could find anywhere. It came directly off of the web from a world news site. You really, I think, get a could feel for how both Germany and Russia still feel even today. You also see neither one budging anytime soon. One thing that this site could have used is a little more background information than was included. Actually very little was used. People new to the net or even to this topic might be real interested in how all of this came about. They should have either put in some background information or linked to a site that had some.
CONCLUSION?
No one really knows what will become of this treasure or where it will eventually end up but one thing is for sure and that is the desire for it will never die regardless of what happens in the future. Also no one really gives much consideration to the Turkish people, who seem to be rather silent in all of this. Does anyone remember where "Priam's" Gold was found? On a hill at Hissarlik, Turkey. Maybe the rightful owners would like to have this national prize that was robbed from them by Schliemann. Maybe the best suggestion I have heard for the treasure is return it to Turkey, from where it came, and build a museum dedicated to only Troy on the once thought fabled site and there display the treasure at home where it belongs. If only treasure could talk we would probably hear the most interesting and twisting story ever told. Sounds like a could movie. It has got everything you need: war, deceit, and controversy. Who knows maybe we will see it on the next ABC mini-movie of the week.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Heinrich Schliemann" [online] www.1inf.fu-berlin.de/~wiesen/heinrich.html
"Looted Art Stays in Russia, Court Rules" [online] 1998 www.bday.co.za/98/0407/world/w12.htm
Moorehead, Caroline. Lost and Found: The 9,000 Treasures of Troy. (New York, 1994).
"Priam's Gold" Encarta Encyclopedia CD_ROM 1998
"The Treasure of Priam" [online] www.clix.net/5thworld/5thwnew/dooleys/diary/treasure.html