Troy
_by_Dr._phil._Walter_Ruge_and_Dr._phil._E._Friedrich.jpg)
Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Trojan refers to the inhabitants and culture of Troy.
Today it is the name of an archaeological site, the traditional location of Homeric Troy, Turkish Truva, in Hisarlık in Anatolia, close to the seacoast in what is now Çanakkale province in northwest Turkey, southwest of the Dardanelles under Mount Ida.
A new city of Ilium was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople and declined gradually during the Byzantine era.
In the 1870s, the wealthy German business man and archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated the area. Later excavations revealed several cities built in succession to each other. One of the earlier cities (Troy VII) is often identified with Homeric Troy. While such an identity is disputed, the site has been successfully identified with the city called Wilusa in Hittite texts; Ilion (which goes back to earlier Wilion with a digamma) is thought to be the Greek rendition of that name.
The archaeological site of Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.
External links
Encyclopedias
- Ancient History Encyclopedia: Troy
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Troy
- Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 Edition: Troy
- Encyclopedia.com: Troy
References
- ↑ This uncommon map shows the Asian part of Turkey with antique names of archaeological sites, printed in red, in contrast to the modern names printed in black. The in-set maps show new roads in the area and different levels of Troy. The archaeological site of Troy was in the time of the publication of the map one of the most important new archaeological sites. The first discoveries and excavations were made by Heinrich Schliemann in 1871–73 and 1878–79, and by Wilhelm Dörpfeld between 1893 and 1894. The map was accompanied with an eight pages index, listing the names of archaeological sites in different languages and their position on the map. Source: Archäologische Karte von Kleinasien
