Due to a series of discoveries, Liang En and his team were able to confirm that this site was indeed the legendary Troy. During the excavation of the sixth and most prosperous layer of ruins, they uncovered a distinct feature of the city's construction.
This feature revealed that, because Troy was situated at the crossroads of two civilizations, its architectural remnants displayed characteristics that differed from both the castles of the Aegean world and the craftsmanship of the Hittites.
For instance, the tightly fitted limestone blocks used in the construction of the city walls, along with the unique upward-sloping wall structures, seemed to embody the indigenous architectural style of northwestern Anatolia.
This style persisted in Hisarlik for several centuries, and similar features were found in the ancient Phrygian city of Gordion.
From this, it was evident that Troy was not an isolated city but part of the wider network of city-states in western Anatolia.
Thanks to this construction method, the majestic southern city wall of the Troy ruins remains well-preserved to this day. Particularly impressive is the prominent tower at the southeast corner, which, despite the absence of mortar, is built with such precision that the structure remains intact.
Further east, there is a fortress approximately 18 meters wide, which still stands over 9 meters tall today. This fortress may have once served as a watchtower, offering a commanding view of the entire Scamander plain and the eastern entrance to the highlands.
This fortress was not isolated but part of a 180-meter-long, grand city wall constructed from large limestone blocks, running along the northern hillside.
This indicates that it was part of a tightly-knit defensive system, although, unfortunately, the ancient builders caused significant damage and buried it under newer strata during later construction phases.
Thanks to the existence of ground-penetrating radar, they discovered the grand structure of the city wall: a sharp turn within just 12 meters, descending 7 meters, forming a stepped foundation.
The underground portion of this foundation was approximately 7 meters high, sufficient to support a fortress over 18 meters tall. Unfortunately, more specific details can never be uncovered because the upper structure was removed by those who built the new Troy.
In contrast to the sturdy walls here, the walls constructed later were only half as thick, made of smaller and rougher stones, with shallower foundations and significantly less durability.
Of course, during this month-long period, Liang En and his team did not focus solely on these defensive features. For example, they discovered that all roads seemed to lead to the western summit of the hill, which they deduced to be the site of the palace.
Below the palace's terraces, they found the foundations of approximately 25 houses, likely the residences of the royal family's close attendants and relatives, while the king's brothers and sons probably had their own separate homes.
From today's perspective, both the royal relatives and the close attendants lived in conditions far too simple. The royal family had only private residences, and ministers had to live collectively in dormitories, a stark contrast to what people had previously imagined.
However, in that era, these were the most luxurious dwellings available. After all, most people of that time had only a straw hut or a small rammed-earth house to live in, with the entire family sharing a single room, often cohabiting with livestock.
For people of that time, livestock often represented the most valuable asset of a family, sometimes even more so than some family members, making it normal for humans and animals to live together.
Perhaps because some of the houses resembled modern dormitories, the largest buildings were all two-story structures close to 27 meters long.
These buildings were similar to the central halls in Tiryns and Mycenae, where the local nobles and warriors gathered, with the only difference being that the buildings in Troy had side entrances.
This architectural style also appeared in other parts of the world, mainly to avoid dust and noise from the roads and to gain some advantage during wartime.
One of these buildings, located near the south gate and known as the "Pillar Mansion," became the main focus of Liang En's team during this phase of excavation due to the lack of debris piled on top.
During the excavation, they discovered that the foundation of this building was 26 meters long and 12 meters wide, and traces of decorations and fireplaces suggested that it had a main hall and a kitchen.
Although the building had long since collapsed, it was still possible to see that the roof was supported by large stone pillars, one of which has survived to this day.
The upper floor was likely a wooden frame structure, with mud bricks forming the walls, covered in plaster, and featuring windows and doors. There might have even been a skylight, a feature still seen in the traditional architecture of northwestern Anatolia.
In many ancient civilizations, skylights were a necessity because buildings of that time were often constructed from woven plants combined with earth or directly from rammed earth, making them far less structurally sound than today's houses.
To illustrate, these structures, though far more advanced than living in caves or in the open, were still extremely fragile and poorly designed, with walls that were particularly weak.
This is why the earliest cities discovered in Turkey, like Çatalhöyük, had buildings without doors.
This city, over 8,000 years old, had more than 1,000 mud-brick houses and a population of over 6,000. The houses were uniform in size, consisting of a single living room and several attached rooms, with small holes about 70 cm wide connecting the interior spaces.
The lower floors of the houses had no doors or windows, with only a skylight on the second floor serving as an entrance. People had to climb a ladder to the second floor and enter the house through the skylight.
Apart from structural reasons, skylights were also important for lighting. At least until translucent materials were available, the small holes dug in the walls were not enough for illumination.
As for artificial lighting, it was completely out of the question in ancient times, as the cost was prohibitively high for anyone other than the most elite royals and nobles.
Beyond their understanding of architectural structures, Liang En and his team uncovered more clues, such as evidence suggesting that in its final phase, Troy's buildings might have been used as arsenals or barracks.
This is evidenced by the discovery of a large number of slingshots and signs of significant food consumption, all indicating that organized armed forces were stationed there for an extended period. The tight defenses of the same period also suggest that the situation was dire.
After all, this was an extremely wealthy city, and many forces would have coveted it. Such hostility would not have gone unnoticed by the Trojans.
However, the city's destruction was not due to an enemy invasion, at least according to the clues found in the ruins. Instead, the city was ultimately destroyed by a massive earthquake.
This reveals that, whether in ancient or modern times, the most destructive forces for a city are, first, war and, second, natural disasters.
Even today, cities remain vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, and typhoons, showing how similar ancient and modern cities are in this respect.
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