Made it to Troy -- however you spell it!

Tuva – Troya – Troia – Wilusa – Ilios – Troy – No matter how you pronounce or spell it, for me, it has always been magical for some reason.  I don’t think I’ve ever read the Illiad, but it seems that I’ve known the story of the Trojans and Helen and Menelaus for as long as I can remember anything!  Which is why I really wanted to go back there just one more time!  We were supposed to re-visit on our last trip to Turkiye, several years ago, but my bout of bronchitis put paid to that, as we cut the trip – and Troy – short to get me medical attention.  So … suffice to say I REALLY wanted to see the site again, and their brand-new supposed-to-be-wonderful 4-story site museum!  And, it was!

 

To begin today … up about 4:30 am with enough time before showers to blog about yesterday.  Then breakfast, and R got yesterday’s pictures loaded on to the computer.  (Note:  First-rate hotel, and lovely accommodations, but truly, not a great breakfast at all!  I was surprised, but I’m thinking this hotel probably caters specifically to tour groups visiting Troy and Gallipoli so maybe doesn’t make as much of an effort as other Hilton hotels?). Took down our final load of laundry and dropped it off at the front desk.  (Note #2: It was back by 1 pm!). Now have plenty of clean clothes; just like being sure!!

 

Out the door by 7:45 am.  I know it’s only 25 minutes to the site, but I was very concerned when we weren’t able to get site tickets on-line last night, so wanted to be sure to be at least within fighting distance of the head of the line for tickets this morning! Note #3:  We were first in line.  In fact, we were held up at the entrance for 10 minutes by the nice guard, who probably thought we were crazy, arriving go early!  A small mini-van pulled up behind us a few minutes later, but we were the only two groups heading in when the site opened up!  No problem at all with the tickets, and soon it was just us and the Trojan Horse!  I know it’s hokey, but I have always loved that re-made Trojan Horse that stands at the entrance to the site!  Don’t know why, other than it’s fun and people (other than me!) really seem to love it!  Having it by itself made it really special!

 

Yep!  First in line!

I know it's a modern rendition, but I love it anyway!

Started our walk around the site, and soon discovered – oh!  Did I mention that when we left the hotel, it was all of 32 degrees F???  Brrrrrrr…took a few minutes for the car to warm up, and I think I have been chilled to the bone ever since!  I was wearing my long-sleeved turtleneck shirt with my cashmere sweater over it, and a scarf, my long jacket, with the hood pulled up, but still wished like crazy that I had my gloves with me, which I didn’t!  Oh well!  The main problem we had at the site, is that it was/had been so cold out, that there was FROST over the wooden walkway and the steps!  Fortunately, there were guardrails everywhere, but even the guardrails had frost on them!  We were lucky, though, that the sun was shining, and eventually, as we walked, things started to thaw out.  We just took it nice and slowly, though, as to watch our footing and not slip and fall. 

Part of the over site map, outlining the many different levels of occupation 

A city by many names!

And did I mention I was freezing??

City walls

 

Religious shrine on the hillside

Think this is an old well

Level I, the oldest level, burned mud brick

Again, more city walls

There were a few small tour groups or independent travelers around, but basically we had the site to ourselves the entire trip around!  It was amazing, and I was so surprised!  

Schliemann's original 40' trench

Stratified layers labeled on the hillside

Ramp up, possibly the gate used for the Horse

Moving into the Roman occupation level

More defense walls

On the left side of the ramp, Priam's Treasure was discovered

The site, Hissarlik, has been inhabited for approximately 8,000 years, so there is truly a jumble of mud bricks and stones everywhere!  There are at least 9 levels of civilizations, numbering from I through IX, and most are marked along the way, leading from bedrock – the Chalcolithic, through the Bronze Age, and into the Hellenistic and Roman eras.  “Troy” – the one Schliemann was looking for, is believed to possibly be Troy VII, although that stratum has itself been broken down further into a, b and c.  

 

Roman level

Roman Odeon

Bouleuterion, where the "congress" met

We took lots of photos (obviously!) and hopefully I’ll be able to remember well enough which is which, but there are absolutely no guarantees here!  Suffice to say that I enjoyed it all very, very much!

 

We meandered (carefully, because of the frost!) for about an hour, back to the main entrance, where we warmed ourselves up in the gift/coffee shop – and they had excellent hot chocolate! 

 

From there, it was about 500 meters back up the road to the site museum, a rather ugly and very square box-like 4-story building, at the end of a long ramp.  Wondering now if the ramp is significant, as the entrance gate thought to have been the one used IF a Trojan Horse was ever taken into the citadel, was also up a ramp!  Hmmmm…

 

One thing I learned about working in a steel and glass building in Southern California for 22 years, is that it’s hard to keep it at a good temperature … and this was truly the same way!  It was colder than a well digger’s lunch box, as my late Dad used to say. I mean, seriously!  It was freezing in there!  Maybe nice in the heat of the summer, but really??  In November??  

 

R's philosophy with museums is to oftentimes start at the top and work our way down, and that was a brilliant idea this time!  On the top floor, there was an interesting history of the archaeology/archaeologists who have worked on the site, starting with the farmer who owned the land originally, and working down to today.  It’s interesting to read the parts that both the University Museum of Pennsylvania as well as the University of Cincinnati have played here, both, very important I’m proud to say!

Ramp down into the building 

Very well decorated!

Sarcophaghi used as decoration along the ramp

Huge entrance hall, and then the ramp up to the top!

 

Again, once the Romans were “anywhere” you see a great deal of marble and sculpture, so there was quite a bit of that – including several huge sarcophagi, where were stunning!  But the museum worked its way down to the ground floor, where the Bronze Age and the Chalcolithic finds were displayed … although I have to admit that the golden jewelry and diadem that were on display really makes one blink!!

 

Talk about a jigsaw puzzle...

View from the top floor looking down

Lots of pithoi stored outside!

Stunning sarchophagus 

Detail from a frieze from Assos

If anyone is unfamiliar with Schliemann’s “Priam’s Treasure” let me recapitulate briefly.  Schliemann basically was digging for treasure.  That was all he was interested in.  And, at Troy, he hit the jackpot.  A cache of gold and jewelry, gold cups, huge diadem, smaller diadem, earrings, necklaces, goblets, silver vases and golden bottles, among many other value things.  These things, as per the signed agreements, were the property of the Ottoman government.  However, Schliemann and his Greek wife, Sophia, smuggled the treasures – notably the jewelry – out of Anatolia, and Sophia was later photographed wearing the jewelry, advertised as “Priam’s Treasure.”  The Ottoman government was, understandably furious, and this caused quite a stink – including having Schliemann’s digging license suspended.  However, Schliemann, in his normal fashion, shrugged it off and went on to Greece to discover Mycenae – and again, what he called the Mask of Agamemnon.  Both his namings – the Mask and Priam’s Treasure, were substantially shown to be incorrect, and in the case of the Treasure, off by more than 1250 years – but the excitement they stirred up at the time was tremendous!  Schliemann, while he may have been a hack as an amateur archaeologist, was certainly a very lucky guy!

Loved this chalcolithic figurine

And this chalcolithic pot

Several ivory chalcolithic items

Cuniform tablet outlining treaty between Willusa (Troy) and Hittites

Bronze figurine

Bronze age pottery    

Bronze age jewelry

Pot lid with human face!

Very primitive mortal and pestle 

My favorite piece!  Chalcolithic figurine with face!

Gold jewelry; part of Priam's Treasure returned

More gold diadems

I think these gold "crowns" are stunning!

I think, though, that my very favorite piece at the museum is a carved ivory piece dating back to the early Bronze Age; very plain, but what I think is beautiful.  It doesn’t come from Troy, but rather from an island just off the coast of Turkiye, but is included in the museum as it comes from the same period/area.

 

I have read that one of the things that the current archaeologist/museum director has been working on is getting items returned to Troy from other museums in Turkiye and in other countries.  The University of Pennsylvania Museum has returned their gold pieces from Priam’s Treasure – now if the Russians would just return the bulk from the Pushkin Museum, where it ended up after being looted out of a Berlin Museum at the end of WWII, that would really be lovely!

 

By this time, it was past noon, and we were cold, tired and hungry!  Well, I was certainly cold!  How R has been managing with only his light blue jacket, I can’t even imagine!  So, back to the hotel – and, lo and behold, directly across the street from the hotel, there’s a McDonald’s – and yes, folks, we did!  Have a break today!  Big Mac’s and fries with Coke’s at the shopping mall across the street!  Just hit the spot, and will (hopefully!) enable me to get to dinner without snacking!  Now, for a short nap before dinner, and I should actually be able to post tonight about dinner!

 

More later!

m

xxx

 

[Added note: Troy has always been a fascinating but difficult site for me to comprehend.  First and foremost, it is a very complex site, with at least nine distinct occupation levels spanning several thousand years, from the neolithic to the Romans.  And, with destruction due to conquest and earthquake, the levels are often in a jumble, and that’s notwithstanding the 40-foot trench Schliemann drove right through the center of the mound.  For most of the sites we have visited, it is easier to see the structure – streets, temples, houses.

 

Second, Schliemann was not the most accomplished archaeologist, even by the standards of his era.  He left quite a mess in his wake. – R]

 

Additional notes continued!  We heard from our dear friend, Norm Cheale, in Australia today, after I’d posted about Anzac Cove, and I wanted to include what he wrote, as we both thought it very interesting and important!

 

“Glad you enjoyed ANZAC Cove, as you indicated, it is an important place in Australian military history. 

 

The Gallipoli campaign was a disaster, but it cemented the legend of Australian and New Zealand troop's fighting capabilities. The one positive was the evacuation of troops with minimal additional loss of life. They were evacuated over several nights so quietly that the Turks did not realise they had gone! An Australian soldier came up with a device that fired a rifle periodically without there actually being anyone present. Water dripping into a tin somehow built up enough weight to eventually pull the trigger. Very clever.”