Archaeology and Heinrich Schliemann 2012

52‘The help of my dear wife’: Sophia Schliemannand the discovery of Priam’s TreasureJ. Lesley FittonColourful tales of the exploits of pioneer archaeologistshave long formed part of general works onarchaeology aimed at a broad readership, and perhapsparticularly of those aimed at younger readers,who have undoubtedly often found them inspirational.Stories of Schliemann’s work at Troy andMycenae have been an integral part of this genre, andit perhaps seems sad to undermine youthful enthusiasmby proving such stories essentially flawed. Yetthe letter written by Heinrich Schliemann to CharlesNewton of the British Museum on 27 th December1973, published here in transcript and illustrated inFig 1, destroys just such a ‘myth’, and does so incontrovertibly,as it comes from the pen of the man whocreated the story in the first place.Schliemann’s published account of his discoveryof the so-called ‘Treasure of Priam’ in his work Troyand its Remains makes exciting reading, and it is nowonder that it has often been retold. He describes theevent as follows:I cut out the treasure with a large knife, which itwas impossible to do without the very greatest exertionand the most fearful risk of my life, for the greatfortification wall, beneath which I had to dig, threatenedevery moment to fall down upon me. But thesight of so many objects, every one of which is ofinestimable value to archaeology, made me foolhardy,and I never thought of any danger. It would, however,have been impossible for me to have removed thetreasure without the help of my dear wife, who stoodby me ready to pack the things which I cut out in hershawl and to carry them away. 1The image is a powerful one. We see Sophia Schliemannstanding by her man as the perfect helpmeetand partner. She gets her hands dirty as she takes theprecious things that he is extricating from the Trojansoil, and shares the danger and the labour of removingthem. This is the most dramatic moment of Schliemann’sarchaeological career to date. It would beunkind to ask, as we envisage Sophie clanking gingerlyaway, why on earth must she hide the things inher shawl? Why the awkwardness and the secrecy ofthis manoeuvre?Schliemann would have thought this reactionnaïve. He tells us that, at his first glimpse of the find,he called an early break for the workmen so theyshould not see the treasure emerging. Subsequentlyhe removed it from the site at dead of night, andsmuggled it aboard a steamer bound for Athens. Hehad no intention of sharing the find with the Turkishauthorities, as was stipulated in his excavation permit.It would be cynical to say that this was purely forreasons of personal gain: after many years of indecisionabout the treasure’s ultimate fate he would give– not sell – it to the museum in Berlin. And he certainlypaid a high price for his actions: the immediateeffect was to make him and his excavations unwelcomeon Turkish soil. Again it would take yearsbefore he was able to pay a large indemnity to theTurkish authorities, after which they relented andallowed him to work at Troy again.But this note is not about the Treasure itself, itshistory or the many controversies that were to surroundit, all of which are matters fully discussed in anextensive literature. Rather its purpose is to highlightthe fact that, in spite of Schliemann’s dramatic andeven rather romantic published account of Sophia’shelp in the recovery of the treasure, he later admittedprivately that she did not help – because in fact shewasn’t even there. She was in Athens when the treasurewas discovered.This emerges, it seems for the only time in thewhole of Schliemann’s writings, in the penultimate1. Schliemann 1875, 323-324.