Heinrich Schliemann

archaeology · ancient history · Troy · explorers

Found Troy's ruins. Schliemann excavated Hisarlık in Turkey and believed he had discovered the legendary city of Troy from Homer's Iliad. His discovery helped prove that Homer's epic tales were based on real places that actually existed thousands of years ago.

Trusted Homer's stories. While other scholars thought Homer's Iliad was just made-up fiction, Schliemann believed the poet was describing real events and real cities. His determination to prove this drove him to become an archaeologist and start digging.

Dug too fast. Schliemann's excavations were sometimes destructive because he moved through layers of history quickly without carefully documenting everything. Experts later criticized him for damaging important artifacts and missing crucial details about what he found.

Uncovered nine layers. At Hisarlık, Schliemann discovered nine different layers of ancient ruins stacked on top of each other, showing that the city had been built, destroyed, and rebuilt many times over thousands of years.

From business to history. Schliemann started as a businessman who became wealthy and successful. He then used his fortune and passion for Homer to fund his own archaeological expeditions and change how people understood ancient history.