World History and Culture: Pushkin Museum presents the second part of the project “Schliemann. Troy is Near”

From January 31, 2023, the Pushkin Museum (Moscow) presents the second part of the project Schliemann. Troy is Near, timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of archeologist Heinrich Schliemann and the 150th anniversary of his discovery of Priam’s Treasure.

Participants of the youth direction Pushkin Youth together with the scientific workers of the museum have developed a website that gives an opportunity to learn about the personality of Heinrich Schliemann and the history of his finds. Audio tours of the museum’s exposition were created as well, and stories about the life of the 19th century and archeology based on entries in Schliemann’s diaries are being published in a special Telegram channel.

One of the halls of the exposition will display objects related to the history of Troy of the 12th century BC. They were created in different epochs and come from various countries, but, when put together, they help to imagine the life of the archeologist-merchant Schliemann. Visitors will have an opportunity to see unique items from the holdings of the museum – a Mycenaean cup and an Egyptian tile depicting a prisoner. Schliemann was the first to discover and describe Mycenaean ceramics, and later used it as a reference point when dating the layers of Troy of the 14th – 12th centuries BC.

Part of the exposition will also be dedicated to Heinrich Schliemann’s life story, in particular to his friendship with the Moscow merchant Sergey Afanasyevich Zhivago, whose family is closely connected with the Pushkin Museum.

Director’s Office will be another hall to hold the exposition. There, documents spotlighting the cooperation of Heinrich Schliemann with the founder of the museum, Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev, will be presented. For example, one will have a chance to see Schliemann’s book Ilion, sent to Tsevatev by the author himself. A handwritten translation of Schliemann’s first monograph about Ithaca, a copy of the so-called Mask of Agamemnon, the first publication of Priam’s Treasure, and other works of Schliemann in original editions will be displayed as well.

A media stand and a video film featuring various facts and opinions about the persona of Heinrich Schliemann will be available in the Hall №3, where the finds of Heinrich Schliemann from Troy are presented, including Priam’s Treasure dating back to the 3rd millennium BC.

The project will be complemented by an extensive educational program: there will be held discussions about modern archaeology and the place of Homer in modern popular culture, joint readings of the Iliad in the Greek Courtyard, as well as lectures on everyday life of the 19th century.

The exhibition will run until March 12, 2023.