Heinrich Schliemann (redirected from H. Schliemann)

Schliemann, Heinrich 

Born Jan. 6, 1822, in Neubukow; died Dec. 26,1890, in Naples. German archaeologist.

Schliemann, who had amassed a vast fortune through trade, retired from business in 1863 and devoted himself to searching for the sites of places mentioned in the Homeric epics. In 1869 he suggested that the site of Troy was the mound of Hissarlik in Asia Minor. Excavations in 1870–73, 1878–79, 1882–83, and 1889–90 confirmed Schliemann’s hypothesis and proved that Homer’s epic had a sound, factual basis. Schliemann also carried out excavations in Mycenae (1876), on the island of Ithaca (1878), in Orchomenos (1880–81), and in Tiryns (1884–85). Largely selftaught, Schliemann made use of completely unorthodox methodology in his excavations and, despite the fact that he kept detailed diaries and published the results of his excavations, the scientific value of his works is not very great. Of particular importance, however, was Schliemann’s discovery of the “pre-Homeric” Aegean culture, studied scientifically by A. Evans after Schliemann’s death.

WORKS

Mykenae. Leipzig, 1878.
Ilios . . . . Leipzig, 1881.
Orchomenos. Leipzig, 1881.
Troja. Leipzig, 1884.
Tiryns. Leipzig, 1886.
Heinrich Schleimann: Selbstbiographie, 8th ed. Wiesbaden, 1955.

REFERENCE

Stoll, H. A. Shliman. Moscow, 1965. (Translated from German.)