First of all, I want to express my gratitude to the regular reader of the channel, S. Kichigin, for the material provided for this article.
In this series of articles, I will try to very briefly and easily present the content of the book by Andrey Stepanenko "History is no more".
Continuation, the beginning of the series read: The story no longer exists. The mystery of biblical Jerusalem. / The story is gone. Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. / The story is gone. Persian gambit. / The story is gone. Where was gunpowder actually invented? / The story no longer exists. Great and invisible Wall.
Mysterious and legendary
It is hard not to notice that in the Western world, and after them and in the russophile lobby of Russia (according to the tradition established in the USSR), they are actively cultivating the legend that ALL the ancient history of the world consists of beautiful fairy tales of ancient Greeks, arrogant Romans and frostbitten Vikings.
The legend of the Trojan War (approximately XIII-XII centuries BC) is one of the most beloved plots of ancient myths by readers. It has been proven that the classic plot described by Homer in the Iliad has earlier roots and was known in the form of disparate stories about the Trojan-Greek war.
Given the constant interest in Troy, they searched for her for a long time and unsuccessfully, but could not find it. In academic circles, scientists even believed that Troy is a fictional city. However, there was a clever man who literally made the world believe in his find.
Promotional video:
The famous Trojan horse.
Schliemann
Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered that very Troy and found the gold of Priam (king of Troy), lied all his life. He lied that he was at a reception with the President of the United States, he lied that he spoke in Congress, shamelessly manipulated facts during the excavation of Mycenae. He also lied about the circumstances of the discovery of Priam's gold. However, first things first.
At the end of the 19th century, in 1870-1890, Heinrich Schliemann unearthed Homeric Troy on the western ledge of Asia Minor, disgracing the guild scientists, who assured that she was not there. For quite understandable (for contemporaries) reasons, no one believed him …
The son of the German pastor Schliemann miraculously survived after a shipwreck off the coast of America, which means that he restored the papers in this name there, far from his native police station. Having returned after long and tragic wanderings … no, not home, but in Holland (!), He suddenly discovered perfect command of the Russian language. Somewhere along the way from South America to Europe, he took possession of him like a family … lucky!
Heinrich Schliemann.
With this sudden knowledge of the Russian language and documents “restored in South America”, Heinrich Schliemann suddenly achieves everything in Russia: the position of a gunpowder supplier during the Russian-Turkish war, the chair of the director of the Imperial Bank, and even the title of an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg.
The thing is that this "windy son of a German subject" was a figurehead who supplied Russia with the main component of gunpowder - saltpeter, which was banned for export by the British monopolies. Russia at that time was waging another war with the Ottomans, so Schliemann's services were in demand and appreciated.
The moment has come, and the money earned from the supply of saltpeter and gunpowder for the war against the Ottoman Empire, as if by order, were invested in a major archaeological forgery in the territory of the Ottomans. It was extremely dangerous for Turkey to have Troy on its land - a cultural shrine of Greece, which is traditionally tense with it.
The first photograph of Priam's treasure.
Knight's move
To give credibility to his archaeological find, Schliemann announced the discovery of the gold of the king of Troy - Priam. It had an effect. He colorfully described how his wife Sophia carried the Trojan treasures in a basket of vegetables through Turkish customs posts.
But Priam's treasure - only 8700 (!) Items of pure gold. Plus dishes made of copper, silver, electra, ivory and semi-precious stones. The Berlin Museum kept the contents of the "ladies' basket" in three weighty boxes.
Schliemann claimed to have discovered the treasure on June 14, 1873, a day before his planned departure. However, a study of Schliemann's diaries and press materials shows that neither he nor his wife could have been in Hisarlik at the time of the discovery. Sofia lived in Paris, and the excavations were completed by that time.
Greek warriors are Achaeans.
Priam's treasure could become another instrument in the hands of diplomats, proving the unconvincing claims of the Turks to the primordiality of living in these territories (as you know, the Russian Empire sought possession of these straits). And Turkey itself, with that level of development of science, was never able to prove that the treasure was forged.
But someone seriously opposed this alignment (Europe in general and Britain in particular), and the examination was carried out at the highest level. However, the location of Troy in the place indicated by Schliemann, although it is subjected to incessant criticism, is still recognized by the scientific world by default and tourists from all over the world flock to this place.
Achilles' victory over Hector, Iliad.
Alternative options
A. Stepanenko in his book "History is no more" (link above), provides information indicating the location of the city of the same name in Egypt. As proof, he cites numerous maps of the 18th century, with the city of Troy in the Nile Delta (by the way, Babylon is also indicated there) at the entrance to the Trajan Canal, leading to the Red Sea.
On different maps of reconstruction, the Troy fortress is shown in different places, but it should be remembered that the coastline of the Nile changes, and the entrance to the channel regularly moves along the coast, and Troy depends on the position of this entrance. You cannot order the Nile, and with such money, neither expanding nor moving the fortress is a problem.
Here, in the fortress, there are still the ruins of an old aqueduct, and one should remember the amazing discovery of A. Fomenko: aquae-ductio - an aqueduct "leading the water", and equae-ductio - "leading a horse". Standing on its feet - exactly like a horse - the Trojan Aqueduct could be interpreted or translated as a Trojan horse with all its cultural implications.
And Homer simply had to sing this piece of the Greek land. Because it was here that all the money in the world was collected at that time. This canal is the most gold-bearing transport artery of antiquity. It made sense to fight for her.
Glorified by Homer, Hector's duel with Achilles.
Another version is given by Lev Klein in his articles and monograph "Anatomy of the Iliad". The reason for his doubts was the striking discrepancy between the excavated material and the descriptions of the city contained in the Iliad.
This is something that many skeptics who spoke before him have noted. To this criticism, the enthusiasts of Schliemann's explanation, and even Schliemann himself, always replied that the singer (Homer) was a poet and had the right to poetic exaggeration and artistic deviation from the truth.
Klein's reasoning is based on a deep analysis of bibliographic material, (scientifically proven) patterns in the use of artistic epithets in describing the city and heroes of the epic. In the poem, the city has two names - Troy and Ilion, and on the stones excavated by Schliemann in the late (post-Homeric) layer, an inscription was found where the city is called Ilion.
So Schliemann unearthed Ilion, no doubt about it. And in the Greek language of local residents, the city was called Ilion after Homer. But what about Troy? Klein believes that this is a completely different city and an indication of its location must be sought in Hittite sources. He believes that the famous city is located in the same place - in Anatolia, but in a completely different place.
As a result, Klein states: “I did not find Schliemann Troy. The Greeks-Achaeans did not take Ilion. There was no Trojan War."