DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.959#0425
348 TROY AND ITS REMAINS. [Chap. XXIII.
perceive that Priam's people were the succeeding nation,
because in their ruins I have discovered the actual SeVas
afufriKvireWov, made of gold and also of terra-cotta, and
likewise the Scaean Gate.
Several geologists, who have visited me here, maintain
that the stratum of scoriae, which runs through the greater
part of the hill, at an average depth of 9 meters (29J feet),
has been formed by melted lead and copper ore, quantities
of which must have existed here at the time of the destruc-
tion of Troy; and this opinion is also shared by the
engineer, Adolphe Laurent, who has returned to help me
with my last works, and to make some new plans.
Strabo says,* " No trace of the ancient city (Troy) has
been preserved. This is very natural; for, as all the towns
round about were desolated, yet not completely destroyed,
while Troy was razed to the ground, so all the stones were
carried off to renovate the others. Thus, at least, Archaea-
nax of Mitylene is said to have built a wall round Sigeum
with the stones." These statements of Strabo are, however,
completely erroneous, and the tradition of antiquity, that
Troy was razed to the ground, can only be explained by its
having been buried deep beneath colossal masses of wood-
ashes and stone, which were built over by a new town; the
latter being again destroyed, and again surmounted by
buildings which had a similar fate; till at last the mass of
debris lying upon Troy reached a height of from 6 to
8 meters (20 to 16 feet), and upon this was established the
Acropolis of the Ilium of the Greek colony.
In consequence of my former mistaken idea, that Troy
was to be found on the primary soil or close above it, I
unfortunately, in 1871 and 1872, destroyed a large portion
of the city, for I at that time broke down all the house-
walls in the higher strata which obstructed my way. This
year, however, as soon as I had come by clear proofs to the
* XIII. p. 599, ed. Forbiger.
perceive that Priam's people were the succeeding nation,
because in their ruins I have discovered the actual SeVas
afufriKvireWov, made of gold and also of terra-cotta, and
likewise the Scaean Gate.
Several geologists, who have visited me here, maintain
that the stratum of scoriae, which runs through the greater
part of the hill, at an average depth of 9 meters (29J feet),
has been formed by melted lead and copper ore, quantities
of which must have existed here at the time of the destruc-
tion of Troy; and this opinion is also shared by the
engineer, Adolphe Laurent, who has returned to help me
with my last works, and to make some new plans.
Strabo says,* " No trace of the ancient city (Troy) has
been preserved. This is very natural; for, as all the towns
round about were desolated, yet not completely destroyed,
while Troy was razed to the ground, so all the stones were
carried off to renovate the others. Thus, at least, Archaea-
nax of Mitylene is said to have built a wall round Sigeum
with the stones." These statements of Strabo are, however,
completely erroneous, and the tradition of antiquity, that
Troy was razed to the ground, can only be explained by its
having been buried deep beneath colossal masses of wood-
ashes and stone, which were built over by a new town; the
latter being again destroyed, and again surmounted by
buildings which had a similar fate; till at last the mass of
debris lying upon Troy reached a height of from 6 to
8 meters (20 to 16 feet), and upon this was established the
Acropolis of the Ilium of the Greek colony.
In consequence of my former mistaken idea, that Troy
was to be found on the primary soil or close above it, I
unfortunately, in 1871 and 1872, destroyed a large portion
of the city, for I at that time broke down all the house-
walls in the higher strata which obstructed my way. This
year, however, as soon as I had come by clear proofs to the
* XIII. p. 599, ed. Forbiger.