1. Heinrihc Schlieman was one of the world's most extraordinary men. From early childhood be wanted to find Troy, to prove that the Greece of Homer was fact not myth. He had to overcome many difficulties — poverty, illness, lack of education to achieve the goal. He trained himself as an archaeologist, he was a genius at languages. His mind was brilliant, his energy immeasurable. He walked the Great wall of China and penetrated the jungles of Mexico and Peru.
2. His wife Sophia was his partner in all the excavations. The book devoted to their life covers their tremendous discoveries and excavations. Troy came first. At Troy they discovered, in Priam's palace, the great treasure of more than 10,000 pieces. Schlieman offered the treasure to the British museum, which refused it, ultimately it went to Berlin and disappeared at the end of the Second World War.
(...) Work progressed rapidly through the long days. And in late spring, 1873, came the day that justified their hopes.
3. Sophia and Heinrich were digging together but without a crew on a level flagstone floor between two walls. One was the wall of the house that Heinrich thought was the Palace of Priam, the other, a high fortification wall. Heinrich standing apart from Sophia, struck metal, a strike that triggered the most sensational archaeological news of the nineteenth century. He called to her. In a moment she stood beside him, looking at a big copper object of a most peculiar shape. Then she too saw a glint of brighter metal. Without speaking, she helped Heinrich dig into the wall. On top of it there was a layer of red ruins, about five feet thick and hard as stone. The fortification wall rested on that layer.
4. The copper object was finally freed from the earth, and the Schlie-mans stared in the hole. Gold gleamed from it. Heinrich turned to Sophia, his back to the opening. Soundlessly his lips formed the words: None must see it.
In a whisper he told Sophia to tell the workmen to have extra time to rest in honour of his birthday. After that Sophia returned. Together they, cut out the treasure with a large knife which it was impossible to do without the greatest risk to their life, for the fortification wall threatened every moment to fall down. As a jumble of gold, silver and copper objects began to pile up Sophia took the treasure to their room in her big red shawl.
5. In their room they began to examine the more than 10,000 precious objects they had dug out from the earth that morning.
Heinrich and Sophia picked up a huge silver vase. Lifting the vase to eye level Heinrich shook the heavy object. His fingers explored the inside of the neck of the vase, and gently pulled out from it gold so glorious that Sophia involuntarily cried out.
Heinrich held two diadems, Sophia slid her hand into the vase and pulled out four golden earrings.
Heinrich impulsively tilted the silver vase, and thousands of tiny objects tumbled to the table. When the tiny gold treasures were counted, they numbered 8,700.
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