Listed 5 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for destination: "TROY Ancient city TURKEY".
Region: Troad
Periods: Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Archaic,
Classical, Hellenistic, Roman
Type: Fortified city
Summary: Major Late Bronze Age settlement at the Hellespont.
Physical Description:
From the beginning, the settlements at the site of Troy
were fortified. During the Bronze Age the coast line was closer to the low mound
of the site and Troy maintained a stratigic maritime advantage due to its position
at the opening of the Hellespont. Troy also had access to a large fertile coastal
plain for agriculture. By the Hellenistic period the coast line had shifted away
due to silting and the nearby city of Alexandria Troas captured the maritime commercial
advantage. In the Early Iron Age the Greek colonists repaired and made use of
the earlier Bronze Age fortification walls, and the city remained relatively small
throughout the Archaic and Classical periods. In the Hellenistic period much of
the original settlement area was disturbed by by the construction of a new sanctuary
of Athena, a theater, palaestra, and extended city walls. The city was destroyed
in 82 B.C. during the Mithridatic Wars, but rebuilt during the reign of Augustus
(27 B.C. - A.D. 14). The Roman rennovations included the reconstruction of the
sanctuary of Athena and the addition of odeum, bouleuterion, and other buildings.
Description:
The earliest settlement at Troy was in the Early Bronze Age
at ca. 3000 B.C. This small fortified settlement was destroyed by fire and was
followed by Troy II (2500-2200 B.C.), which Schliemann incorrectly believed to
have been the city of Priam. Settlement continued throughout the Bronze Age at
the site. The latest prehistoric levels are Troy VI (1800-1275 B.C.) and Troy
VII (1275-1100 B.C.) and scholars debate which of these levels represent the city
of Priam and scene of the Trojan War. Following the end of the Late Bronze Age
there was a 400 year hiatus at the site until it was resettled at ca. 700 B.C.
by Greek colonists, possibly from Lesbos or Tenedos. The Early Iron Age city (Troy
VIII) was founded with the name Ilion and believed at the time to be the site
of Homeric Troy. The city had little political power, but was symbolically important.
It was under Persian control from the 6th century B.C. until the liberation of
Asia Minor by Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. In 480 B.C. Xerxes halted at Troy
to sacrifice a thousand oxen before crossing the Hellespont into Greece. In 334
B.C. Alexander went to Troy immediately after crossing into Asia Minor to make
an offering. Following the death of Alexander in 323 B.C., his successor in Thrace
had a new temple of Athena built at the city. Julius Caesar, who believed himself
to be a direct descendant of Priam, visited the city and gave it immunity from
taxation. In the reign of Augustus the city and the sanctuary of Athena under
went a large rebuilding program. Constantine considered Troy as a possible site
for his new capital before chosing Byzantium, and as late as A.D. 355 the site
was visited by the emperor Julian. By the 4th century A.D., however, the site
was little more than a small farming community and by the 12th century A.D. it
was completely abandoned.
Exploration:
Troy was discovered and first excavated by H. Schliemann
at the end of the last century. Work was continued by Dorpfeld and then by C.
Blegen.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 63 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati, USA
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