Page 63 - All About History - Issue 29-15

The Truth Behind the Trojan War

Although no evidence
of the Trojan horse has
been found, this method
of attack would fit with
Bronze-Age tactics

and a massive ramp still impressive to visitors bedrock, and a wooden palisade, to defend the power and wealth. The findings demonstrate
today. Schliemann also found sophisticated city against chariot attacks. The lower city’s thepresenceatTroyofalanguagerelatedto
wheel-made pottery and more than 20 impressive defenders could avail themselves of fresh water Hittite, which strengthens the hints in Hittite
so-called ‘Treasures of Priam’ of gold and other from an underground stream – worshipped as a texts that Troy was a Hittite ally. Hittite texts also
precious metals. god–andreachedthroughtunnelscarved500 demonstrate that Ahhiyawa, whose name strongly
After excavating the massive fortifications of feet into the rock. suggeststheAchaeans–theGreeksfoundin
Troy’s citadel, which he labelled Troy VI (1740- The citadel walls traced a Homer’s works – engaged in war and
1180 BCE), Dörpfeld more credibly identified them circumferenceof1,150feetstandi plomacywithHittitesonwhatis
with Homer’s Troy. Generally considered the peak about33feethighandmorethan oday the Turkish mainland.
of ancient Trojan civilisation, it came about 1,000 16 feet thick. Their 20-foot-high Around 1180 BCE, a great fire
years later than Schliemann had thought. stonebaseslopedoutward, destroyed Troy. The excavators
Blegen, who subdivided the levels further, making the walls difficult to have found weapons –
changed the identification to Level VII, and the climb. The stone base was arrowheads, spearheads
most recent excavators identify Homer’s Troy as topped with a 13-foot-high and sling stones – as well as
Level VI, which they date to 1300-1210/1180 BCE. mud-brick superstructure. A unburied human bones, which
However, the most important change lies less 30-foot-high tower defended the ll suggest a sudden and violent
in the refinement of dating than in our overall South Gate, probably the citadel’s ack. The towns around Troy,
understanding of the site. main entrance. The ‘Mask of ding to a recent survey, may
Previously, scholars thought that Troy was only Thenewexcavationshavenotgone Agamemnon’, havebeenabandonedaround1200BCE,
discovered in 1876
a small citadel, impressive in its stone fortification without controversy. Critics suggested by Schliemann consistent with an invasion.
walls but only about half an acre in size. Thanks that the defensive trench was a drainage In short, archaeological and textual
to the most recent excavations, we now know that ditchandthereisnoshortageofcandidates evidence provides considerable support to the
Troy was, in fact, about 75 acres in size, with a elsewhereinTurkey–andbeyond–forthesiteof tradition, unanimously believed by ancient
large lower city beneath the citadel. The lower city Troy.Butthetrenchrunsuphill,soitcanhardly writers, that Greeks attacked and sacked Troy.
was packed with houses, businesses, workshops, be a drainage ditch, and Hisarlik fits Homer’s Thatwouldn’tstandupasevidenceinacriminal
artisans’ studios, animal stalls, shrines, and even descriptionofthesitebeautifully,whichcannot caseinacourtoflaw,butitismorethanplausible.
doctors’ offices. We estimate that several thousand be said of any other would-be Troy. Ofcourse,itdoesn’tprovetheexistenceof © Adrian Mann, Alamy, Getty Images, Rex Features, Matthew Barrett
people, no more than 10,000, lived in Troy. Therewasnevergoodreasontodoubtthat Helen or Achilles or any of the other characters
A wall, nearlyamileincircumference,defended some sort of Trojan War happened. After all, the of myth, but in various ways, from vendettas to
the lower city. The wall consisted of a stone ancientauthorsallbelievedinit,eventherealist raidingtocunningploystocaptureenemycities,
foundation and a mud-brick superstructure. Thucydides, who challenged only the idea that thosecharactersechothebehaviourofpeoplein
Outside the walltherewasaditch,cutintothe itwasfoughtoverawomanratherthanover theLateBronzeAge.
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