Editing Troy (section)

=== Troy II ===
Troy&nbsp;II was built around 2550&nbsp;BC. Although there is no evidence of a cultural break after the previous settlement, the new city had a very different character. It was twice the size of the preceding city, featuring a lower town as well as an expanded citadel divided into two precincts. These precincts, divided by [[colonnade]]s, suggest growing [[social stratification|socio-political stratification]] in Trojan society. At the center were large [[megaron|megaron-style]] buildings around a [[courtyard]] which was likely used for public events. One of these buildings, Megaron IIA, is the biggest known building of its kind in the Aegean-Anatolian region.<ref name=Jablonka-2012-Cline/><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=11–19}}

The citadel was protected by massive stone walls and towers topped with mudbrick superstructures. It was accessed through two ramps, one of which is well preserved and attracts attention from modern day tourists. Because the city was not large enough to require two gates for practical purposes, some archaeologists have speculated that one of the gates was intended for ceremonial processions. The lower city was protected by a wooden [[palisade]] unlike any other known in that era. It was a complex structure nearly 3 meters wide, with interior [[buttress]]es and columns and beams secured in notches cut into the bedrock.<ref name=Jablonka-2012-Cline/><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=11–19}}

[[Potter's wheel|Wheel-made pottery]] appears at the site for the first time, along with caches of treasures that attest to Trojan participation in networks of aristocratic competition. These items were made from [[amber]] imported from the [[Baltic region]], [[carnelian]] imported from [[India]], and [[lapis]] imported from [[Afghanistan]]. Some of these items are strikingly similar to those found at sites such as Poliochni and [[Ur]], leading some scholars to speculate that they may have been made by itinerant jewelers who worked routes covering much of the Ancient Near East.<ref name=Jablonka-2012-Cline/><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=11–19}}

Troy&nbsp;II was destroyed twice. After the first destruction, the citadel was rebuilt with a dense cluster of small houses on an irregular plan. The final destruction took place around 2300&nbsp;BC. While some scholars have linked this destruction to a broader crisis that affected other Near Eastern sites, there is no definitive evidence for the city having been destroyed by an attack.<ref name=Jablonka-2012-Cline/><ref name=Neer-2012>{{cite book |title=Greek Art and Archaeology |last=Neer |first=Richard T. |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2012 |isbn=9780500288771 |place=New York |page=21}}</ref><ref name=Rose-2013/>

Troy&nbsp;II is notable for having been misidentified as Homeric Troy, during initial excavations, because of its massive architecture, treasure hoards, and catastrophic destruction. In particular Schliemann saw Homer's description of Troy's Scaean Gate reflected in Troy&nbsp;II's imposing western gate. However, later excavations demonstrated that the site was a thousand years too old to have coexisted with [[Mycenaean Greek]]s.<ref name=Jablonka-2012-Cline/><ref name=Neer-2012/><ref>{{harvnb|Schliemann|1881|pp=75, 277}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schliemann |first=Heinrich |year=1968 |title=Troy and its Remains |publisher=Benjamin Blom}}</ref>

{{Gallery
| title        =Troy&nbsp;II
| align        = left
| state        = collapsed
| mode         = packed
| File:Troy_II.jpg
 | alt1=
 | Southwest ramp of Troy&nbsp;II.
| File:Troya_3.jpg
 | alt2=
 | Side view of southwest ramp.
| File:Troy_(Ilion),_Turkey_(7446526244).jpg
 | alt3=
 | Troy&nbsp;II walls with modern reconstructed mudbrick<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.troyexcavations.com/kale-duvari/?l=en |title=Citadel Wall |date=2023 |website=Troy Excavations |access-date=27 February 2023 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228021936/https://www.troyexcavations.com/kale-duvari/?l=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
| File:Turkey-2937_(2217216354).jpg
 | alt4=
 | Troy&nbsp;II fortifications with modern reconstructed mudbrick
}}
{{clear}}