DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO THE FIRST LEGAL COURT CASE FILED BY THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO RECLAIM ITS SMUGGELD ARTIFACTS

Heinrich Schliemann's first official excavations, which began in 1871, became the most discussed and debated archaeological excavation of the 19th century. In particular, the question of whether the city of Troy, mentioned in Homer's epics, really existed or not is the focal point of these discussions. However, the ‘Treasures of Priamos’ found by Heinrich Schliemann in 1873 and smuggled out of the Ottoman Empire were also intensely discussed. The lawsuit filed by the Ottoman Empire in Athens in April 1874 to recover the treasures illegally smuggled by Heinrich Schliemann was finalised in May 1875. There are different stages of the lawsuit process in Athens. Despite the Ottoman Empire prevailing in the lawsuit to recover the artefacts, the proceedings were ultimately concluded with a settlement, in light of the prevailing circumstances of the period.Until today, no documents related to the case from Greece Archive have been published. In this article, for the first time, the first court decision and documents of the ‘Priamos Treasure Case’ in Athens are published in facsimile. The case documents, including a complete list of artefacts, are of great importance for the evaluation of Ottoman archival documents on the subject.