The Treasure of Troy

By Ronald R. & Simonetta M. Weik

The greatest part of your life is spent in earning a living. Why live it in vain? Accumulating wealth for a better life for you and your family and living well in your retirement years should be a part of every person's goal. Anyone can make a living today but why be satisfied with mere subsistence? Take a steam shovel and fill up a string of railroad cars that you might have life in abundance to share with your friends.

The Treasure of Troy is waiting for you to obtain your share and add more to it. The American economy is a river of gold. Divert a stream to fill your coffers. Then let it flow on. This book should be read by every college and high school graduate as well as every person who still works for a living. Teach this information to your children so they grow up with great expectations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ronald R. & Simonetta M. Weik
• Release date: Jan 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310994456

Ronald R. & Simonetta M. Weik

Ronald Weik lives with his wife Simonetta near Richmond, Virginia in a pre-Civil War country home surrounded by rolling meadows and woods. Restoration of the home is a life long project along with maintaining a fleet of classic cars and gardening. He earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Medical College of Virginia and taught at several universities. Simonetta earned a B.S. in Botany from the University of Maryland. Operating Oakwood Scientific Laboratory, a state certified water testing laboratory is their full time passion. Much of the material in this book has been taught and discussed in great detail with the authors' adult bible classes as well as with a number of young adults. If you would like to read more by the authors please see These Eternal Truths by Ronald and Simonetta Weik with the first chapter published herein.

Book preview

The

Treasure

of Troy

by Ronald R. Weik

Simonetta M. Weik

The Treasure of Troy

Ronald R. Weik & Simonetta M. Weik

Copyright 2014 by

Ronald R. Weik & Simonetta M. Weik

Smashwords Edition

Published by Argonath Press

7102 Pole Green Road

Mechanicsville, VA 23116

E-mail: [e-mail]

ISBN 9781310994456

To our beloved son

Nathan

Table of Contents

Map of the Ancient Near East

Introduction

Chapter 1 ─ The Treasure

Chapter 2 ─ The Laws of Wealth

Chapter 3 ─ The Modern Age

Chapter 4 ─ The Rule of 72

Chapter 5 ─ Turbo Charge a Late Start

Chapter 6 ─ Add Warp Drive

Chapter 7 ─ The Second Law of Wealth

Chapter 8 ─ Parable of the Silver Pieces

Chapter 9 ─ The American Convoy

Chapter 10 ─ The 70-10-10 10 Rule

Chapter 11 ─ The Greatest Charity

Chapter 12 ─ The 70-10-10-10 Rule Again

Chapter 13 ─ How to Keep on Track

Chapter 14 ─ The Mind of Man

Epilogue

Bibliography

About the Authors

Other Books by the Authors

Map of the Ancient Near East

Introduction

Long before the origin of history, before man ever learned to write or keep records with scratches on clay or stone, gold has been gathered, hoarded and protected for its beauty, luster, rarity and malleability. Armbands, rings, jewelry, coins, bullion in all its forms, gold has been treasured by prehistoric man. Raiders, pirates, murderers, thieves, gods, war, treasure chests, hidden, buried, secured in secrecy, in fortresses, walls and vaults, all are descriptive of the history of gold. Nor is it surprising that gold and god share the same word origins and each worshipped in their own rites. Such idolatry is the downfall of many:

But doomed are they, and in dead things are their hope,

who termed gods dead things made by human hands:

Gold and silver, the product of art, and likenesses of beasts,

or useless stone, the work of an ancient hand....

But when he prays about his goods or marriage or children,

he is not ashamed to address a thing without a soul.

Wisdom 13:10,17

Despite gold's history of war, looting and destruction, ninety percent of the gold ever mined from the earth is still saved, guarded and protected. Five trillion ounces are estimated to exist in man's keeping throughout the world, enough to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools. From fourteen carat gold plated cheaper jewelry to twenty-four carat pure soft metal, gold beckons you to possess it. You work to obtain the necessities of life, food, clothing and shelter. Then you work to obtain luxuries of nice clothes, new cars, spacious houses, stocks, bonds, annuities and other assets. Behind that drive to succeed there is a human desire to hold one asset that does not depend on anyone's promise to pay. An asset that has intrinsic value, divisibility, liquidity, universal recognition, that does not decay or lose value over time, this indeed would be a sought after possession. To fully understand the value of gold for all men throughout ages past, and understand why it will be the same for ages yet to come, we should look first at its history for instruction. Then we may find the means to fill our own coffers with gold.

Chapter 1 ─ The Treasure

In the ancient world, civilizations rose and fell with a change in fortunes. Egypt was the most long lasting, tracing its origins prior to 3000 years BC. Part of its longevity was due to borders defended by deserts on both sides of the world's longest river ─ the Nile. Headwaters of the Nile River lay deep in the heart of Africa. The River was navigable throughout most of its four thousand mile length except at the cataracts of the Nile, short stretches of rapids and protruding rocks. Winter winds blow south, up river, so ships could sail up river and then sail down using the flow of the river. Trade was the life blood of this remarkable civilization. From the Upper Nile came river boats laden with gold; much of it was picked up off the ground or taken from shallow mines. Because of its source of gold and ivory, Egypt was able to trade for all the luxuries available to the ancient world. Furthermore, the Nile overflowed its banks every year during the central Africa rainy season, spreading rich alluvial soil on the lands along the river. This rich farmland became the breadbasket of the ancient world and secured Egypt's economic importance throughout the Middle East that knew frequent famines due to droughts.

The Kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were politically united in 3000 B.C. but long before culturally united by trade. In 2560 B.C. the great pyramid of Giza was built as a tomb for the very wealthy Pharaoh Khufu and others were built for his wives and later for the pharaohs that followed. The history of Egypt is a long and proud one with diplomacy and trade with the other great powers of their time.

In 1700 B.C. there were other great kings. The Assyrians ruled Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Greek kings ruled a series of city-states along the Mediterranean including Sparta, Mycenae, Athens, Thebes, Orchomenus, Corinth, and others. Just to the east, across the Aegean Sea, was the great empire of the Hittites spanning the Anatolian peninsula (modern day Turkey) with its capital at Hattusha. This land lay just north and a little east of Syria and Israel. A significant city-state existed on the Asian side of the Straights of the Dardanelles which connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. The Hittites called the city Wilusa, the Greeks called it Troy and later Ilium by the Romans. Troy was located on one of the most prosperous trade routes since on the west side was Europe and on the east side was Asia. The term Asia is Greek for the land over there. Although Troy held allegiance to the Hittite Empire to which it was connected by mountainous land and a high plateau, the rulers of the city were able to steer an independent course between obligations to the empire and its lucrative trade with the rest of the Middle Eastern world. The Greeks were their closest trading partners just across the Aegean Sea but their trade extended to the Minoan kingdom on Crete as well as the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, the Iberians and settlements on the Black Sea.

Homer, the poet, singles out Troy for its fine horses. The citizens of Troy were known for breeding horses on the great open spaces of the Anatolian peninsula. Everyone has heard of the great Arabian stallions that were prized throughout the ancient world. The origin of these horses were the Trojan horses and herds of wild horses still roam the northwest Anatolian peninsula. Before the bay filled in from river sediment one could sail right to within sight of the walls of Troy. Part of Troy's wealth lay in seasonal migrations of mackerel and tunny through the Dardanelles which later brought fishing fleets from all over the Aegean Sea. The well towered citadel stood on a bluff, shaped like a great prow of a sailing ship with steep sloping walls and the kings built marbled palaces and gathered much wealth through the sale of their magnificent steeds. Every great pharaoh and king needed retinues of horsemen for pageantry as well as for their horse soldiers and for pulling their chariots.

Homer's Troy was built on the site of previous cities with layer upon layer of earlier settlements. Continuous settlement in the Anatolian peninsula is dated at Troy and other sites to prior to 5,500 B.C. In addition to their horses as a source of wealth, latest archeological records document that silver mining in Anatolia dates back to 4,000 B.C. and gold mining to 3,000 B.C. with the leading gold-producing cities being Troy and Lydia (just east of Istanbul and Chalcedon). Archeological records document that the world's first gold mines were at Astyra just 15 miles from the city of Troy. Scholars have long considered Anatolia to be the birthplace of metallurgy. It is not surprising that metallurgical technologies developed in context with one of the richest ore deposits in the world. The treasure of Troy was taken from their own mines, refined and used in trade. The Trojans supplied Greek and Minoan craftsmen who worked precious metals. Although the name, Troy ounce, is not documented beyond the namesake merchant city of