Istanbul, Arkeoloji Müzesi

Q636978

What did I expect when I decided to visit the Istanbul Archaeological Museum? I only had some vague notions about the collection, but nothing more. I knew that the famous Alexander sarcophagus and a well-known portrait of Diocletian were there; the oldest Jewish calendar, from Gezer, belonged to the collection, and a lot of finds from Troy. And of course there was the head of one of the serpents of a column from the ancient Constantinople hippodrome – a column that once stood in Delphi to commemorate the Greek victory in the Persian War (below).

What I really wanted to photograph was an inscription found on the Temple Mount, which says that pagans were to be killed when they came within a sacred court (photo to the left). It proves that the Jewish Temple was indeed on the temple mount, something that no one who is compos mentis will deny, but has been challenged by the former great-mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Sa’id Sabri. Unfortunately, this insane idea -which does not deserve to be dignified by a refutation- is gaining currency, and I have already encountered it in a book by a serious ancient historian (if someone who is unable to recognize Intifada propaganda can be called a serious historian).

One of my travel compagnons had told that the museum was bigger than the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, but I had not expected that a visit to the Istanbul museum takes at least six hours. You can visit the oriental department (among the finds is the Kadesh treaty), which is in a separate building next to the entrance. In the main building, you will find on the ground floor a very large collection of Anatolian sarcophagi, the royal cemetery of Sidon (includes the Alexander sarcophagus), and a department of Greek art. Behind this is a three-storey building that contains Thracian and Bithynian art, a collection of finds from Constantinople (which includes the chain that once was in the Golden Horn), artifacts from Troy, and a collection of art from Cyprus and Palestine.

The department of Greek art, where you can see the splendid bust of Diocletian on the photo to the left, has reasonable dimensions – the other parts are immodestly big, and I wondered which museum had the largest archaeological collection: Istanbul or the Paris Louvre. I had not expected a museum of these dimensions, and was exhausted after visiting it three times in three days. And every object is splendid. It is, to paraphrase Truman Capote, like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.

Most departments of the museum close at five o’ clock, but the main building closes at seven. In the garden, between the ancient columns, tombstones, and sarcophagi, you can buy coffee, tea, and soft drinks. You will probably need them to survive this big, beautiful museum.

This museum was visited in 2008, 2012.

125 pictures related to this museum

Mada'in Saleh, Head of a man	Perinthus, Relief of Micallus	Byblos, Statue of Poseidon	Constantinople, Forum of Theodosius, Relief with soldiers
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (18) (Abdalonymus)	Amida, Relief of Naram-Sin	Assos, Temple of Athena, Façade	Pergamon, Portrait of Agrippina Maior
Smyrna, Relief with a tribute to Euripides	Pella, Tombstone of a Macedonian warrior	Aššur, Statue of Šalmaneser III	Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Greens
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 1, Egyptian-style sarcophagus	Palmyra, Tombstone of a man	Aššur, Parthian stele of a worshipper	Samos, Head of a kouros
Nicaea, Funerary relief of Menas	Sidon, Funerary stele of Dioscurides	Constantinople, Sea Wall, Royal Gate, Marble decoration	Aelia Eudocia II
Saba'a, Relief of Adad-Nirari III	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (11) (Perdiccas?)	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 6, Sarcophagus of the satrap	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 1, Sarcophagus of the mourning women
Dascylium, Long funerary stele, detail: chariot	Adana, Portrait of Hadrian	Snake head from the Greek victory monument in Delphi, later brought to Constantinople	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Ivory figurine of the goddess
Tenedos, Head of Hermes (archaizing)	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 2, Mixed Egyptian-Greek-style sarcophagus	Chalcedon, Tombstone of Severius Acceptus of VIII Augusta	Hattusa, Kadesh Treaty
Constantinople, Tombstone of Menios	Samos, Heracles as archer	Dascylium, Relief of two Magians sacrificing a sheep and a bull	Pergamon, Portrait of Augustus
Palmyra, Jupiter Heliopolitanus	Ivriz, Relief of king Warpalas and the god Tarhunza	Roman statue of the Egyptian god Bes from Amathus	Troy VIII, Head of Zeus
Sarcophagus from the Persian age	Aššur, Door plaques of Šalmaneser III	Cyzicus, Column drum	Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Genie
Abydus, Roman tombstone	Kallipolis, Relief of Cybele	Hattusa, Letter of king Hattusilis III to king Kadashman-Enlil II of Babylonia	Troy VIII, Metope
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 7, Greek-style sarcophagus	Constantinople, Forum of Theodosius, Tombstone of Aurelius Suro of I Adiutrix	Constantinople, Forum of Theodosius, Tombstone of an aquilifer of II Adiutrix	Pergamene copy of the Alcamenes herm
Hippodrome, Kathisma, capital	Aššur, Old Palace, Head of a lamassu	Yemenite relief of a woman and a man, seated on dromedaries, meeting at a well	Miletus, Statue of Apollo
Didyma, Head of Zeus	Kanesh, Letter (in an envelope) concerning silver debt	Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Blues	Abydus, Anastasius' passage law
Coin of the Bosphorus	Assos, Temple of Athena, Façade	Dascylium, Long funerary stele, Inscription	Pergamon, Portrait of Alexander the Great
Nicomedia, Sarcophagus	Dascylium, Long funerary stele	Cyzicus, Charioteer	Sidon, Funerary stele of Salmamodes
Halicarnassus, Mausoleum, Lion	Assos, Temple of Athena, Façade	Aphrodisias, Valentinian II	Perinthus, Portrait of Commodus
Aššur, Altar of Tikulti-Ninurta I	Baalbek, Temple of Jupiter, Lion	Troy VI, "Minaean" pottery	Hellenistic funeral stele
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (02) Alexander	Constantinople, Forum of Theodosius, Arcadius	Mada'in Saleh, Sundial	Smyrna, Sappho (Roman copy of a Hellenistic portrait)
Samos, Head of a kouros	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 2, Sarcophagus of Tabnit	Priene, Aphrodite	Dascylium, Short funerary stele: chariot
Troy VIII, Treaty between Troy and six other towns	Alexandria near Issus, Roman tombstone	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Ivory lion	Seleucia in Pieria, Sarcophagus with the Dioscuri
Jerusalem, Temple Inscription	Hattusa, Deeds of Šuppililiuma	Troy IX, Figurine of Cybele	Perinthus, Portrait of a man
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Sidon, Alexander Sarcophagus	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 4, Lycian sarcophagus	Kanesh, Account of a caravan	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 4, Lycian sarcophagus, Sphinxes
Nicomedia, Portrait of Diocletian	Bor, Relief of king Warpalas	Cyzicus, Kouros	Dascylium, Frieze of women on horseback
Bor, Relief of king Warpalas, inscription	Constantinople, Forum of Theodosius, Orpheus	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Gold falcon	Bolu, Hidirsihlar tumulus, Galatian torques
Dascylium, Short funerary stele	Jerusalem, Siloam Inscription	Pergamon, Relief of a hero	Sidon, Bustan esh-Sheikh, Egyptianizing head
Aššur, Syllabilary with old and new cuneiform signs	Constantinople, Golden Gate, statue of a tetrarch	Alexandria near Issus, Roman tombstone	Dascylium, Relief of a Magian venerating the fire
The Gezer Calendar	Alexander the Great	Perinthus, Tombstone of Paulus of III Italica	Dascylium, Short funerary stele: chariot: dinner scene
Yemen, Arab warrior	Troy VIIb, Pottery	Hattusa, Hittite laws about personal damage	Nicomedia, Sea god
Nineveh, Stele of Sennacherib	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (09) Hephaestion	Lysippus' Alexander	Alexander the Great
Nicaea, Statue of Cybele (Roman copy of a Hellenistic original)