Features

Priam’s Treasure
The story behind the 4,000-year-old hoard of Trojan gold By David A. Traill

Heinrich Schliemann’s second season of excavation in 1872 on the mound of Hisarlik, which he fervently believed to be the site of Homer’s Troy,1 had ended in triumph. He had discovered, so he thought, the “Great Tower of Ilium”—which Hector’s wife Andromache anxiously climbed upon learning that the Trojans were being pushed back by […]

Who Owns Priam’s Treasure?: An Odyssey Debate
Discovered at Troy; smuggled to Greece, bestowed upon Germany; confiscated by the USSR—Schliemann’s gold is still causing a ruckus. By Klaus Goldmann, Özgen Acar, Stephen K. Urice

Return the Treasure to Germany Why should the events of World War II abrogate longstanding agreements over cultural ownership?

Priam’s Treasure in Boston?

On at least two occasions, the famous Trojan gold nearly found a home in the United States.

Heinrich Schliemann: Improbable Archaeologist

Athens at the height of summer. Visitors are negotiating their way through the crowded Mycenaean room of the National Museum. The name “Schliemann” rustles through the air as the guides halt their groups at strategic points and launch into their mini-lectures on the finds. The tourists gaze in awe at the Mask of Agamemnon […]

Monotheism
The Egyptian roots By James P. Allen

Among the many features of Western intellectual history that can be traced to the ancient Near East, none has been more powerful than the idea of transcendental monotheism—the belief in only one god who exists eternally and apart from his creation. The early Hebrews are generally given credit for this concept, and the Bible […]

Departments

Origins: Interesting Developments
Just how did ancient bureaucrats set their interest rates? By Michael Hudson
Past Perfect: On a Mission from God
Assigned the simple task of buying wood for a temple, the ancient Egyptian official Wenamun gets more than he bargained for. By Ronan James Head
Destinations: The Valley of the Tombs, Palmyra, Syria
On the outskirts of a ruined city, visitors encounter a suburb of the dead.
Ancient Life: Table Manners?
An ancient mosaic gives us a bird’s-eye view.
The Forum
Our readers submit new theories explaining the Qasr el-Abd reflecting pool. And who was “Apella the Jew,” referred to by the Roman poet Horace?