The Allard Pierson Museum is presenting the exhibition Troy. City, Homer and Turkey. The exhibition reveals Troy’s many characteristics and offers the latest perspectives on the city. With more than 300 artefacts on loan from within the country and abroad. The exhibition recounts the stories of Troy and reveals how the meaning of the city is in a constant state of flux. Wherever the legendary name of Troy is heard there is controversy and conflict. Many have laid their own claim to Troy through the centuries. The blind poet Homer commemorated the city in his world-renowned epic, the Iliad, but Troy is more than the 10-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. Troy is also the city itself, where excavations have revealed 5,000 years of history and where so many people, countries and cultures have left their mark. The exhibition presents a historical reflection of the city from various points of view – from the city itself, from the poet Homer and from different cultures and countries. The many myths that developed about Troy over time act like a thread running through the exhibition. The sensational excavations by Heinrich Schliemann and his successors are displayed with the aid of copies of the famous Priam’s Treasure, along with original finds from the various digs. The large marble head of Zeus from the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul is a highlight. The reception of the history of Troy by various cultures and Turkish culture during the 19th and 20th centuries forms a major part of the exhibition. A selection of items from the Ottoman archives, including photographs of Atatürk at Troy and the excavation permit issued to Schliemann, reveal Homeric Troy’s relevance to Turkey.
