Priam's Treasure

Priam's Treasure is a spectacular collection of gold and other artifacts discovered by Heinrich Schliemann at Hissarlik in modern Turkey. Schliemann smuggled Priam's Treasure out of Anatolia. The majority of the artifacts are in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Schliemann claimed the site to be that of ancient Troy, and assigned the artifacts to the Homeric king Priam. The treasure is a thousand years older than Homer's King Priam of Troy, who died about 1200 B.C. The collection of 259 items, has been held in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts since 1945.

Russia claims the looted art as compensation for the destruction of Russian cities and looting of Russian museums by Nazi Germany in World War II.

Ruins of the ancient city of Hisarlik.

The Hisarlik site contained layer after layer of ancient settlements, spanning from 3000 BCE to 500 BCE. Schliemann's looting destroyed centuries of history.

Sophia Schliemann wearing the "Jewels of Helen" excavated by her husband in Hisarlik

The “Mask of Agamemnon” is one of the most famous gold artifacts from the Bronze Age. The Mask was discovered in 1876 by Schliemann during excavations at Mycenae. The gold leaf funeral mask was found over the face of a body in a burial shaft in the Mycenaean Citadel.