Istanbul, Arkeoloji Müzesi

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 bust 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.

106 pictures related to this museum

Byzantium, Forum of Theodosius, Tombstone of Aurelius Suro of I Adiutrix (EDCS-05300172)	Hattusa, Kadesh Treaty	The Gezer Calendar	Forum of Theodosius, Orpheus
Snake head from the Greek victory monument in Delphi, later brought to Constantinople	Pergamene copy of the Alcamenes herm	Nicomedia, Sarcophagus	Temple of Athena, façade
Miletus, statue of Apollo	Temple of Athena, façade	Dascylium, funerary stele	Ivriz, king Warpalas and the god Tarhunza
Yemenite relief of a woman and a man, seated on dromedaries, meeting at a well	Tombstone of Menios	Troy VIIb, pottery	Magian venerating the fire
Troy VIII, head of Zeus	Coin of the Bosphorus	Hattusa, Deeds of Suppililiuma	Alexander on the Alexander sarcophagus
Perinthus, Portrait of a man	Perinthus, Relief of Micallus	Kanesh, Letter (in an envelope) concerning silver debt	Dascylium, frieze: women on horseback
Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: chariot	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Gold falcon	Magians with a sacrifice of a sheep and a bull	Kanesh, Account of a caravan
Aššur, Parthian stele of a worshipper	Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Greens	Aelia Eudocia II	Early Roman gravestone from Abydus: "Here, the Boule buried Agathe, the daughter of Papos"
Cyzicus, Kouros	Nicomedia, Sea god	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Ivory statuette of the goddess	Chalcedon, Tombstone of Severius Acceptus of VIII Augusta (EDCS-05300088)
Aššur, Old Palace, Head of a lamassu	Cyzicus, Column drum	Portrait of a man	Aššur, Door plaques of Šalmaneser III
Bor, Relief of king Warpalas, inscription	Temple of Athena, façade	Tenedos, archaising bust of Hermes	Heracles as archer (Samos)
Aššur, Altar of Tikulti-Ninurta I	Tombstone of a Macedonian warrior	Hippodrome, Kathisma, capital	Detail of the Alexander sarcophagus, probably Hephaestion
Nineveh, Stele of Sennacherib	Lysippus' Alexander	Perinthus, Tombstone of Paulus of III Italica (EDCS-30000413)	Relief of a hero
Sidon, Bustan esh-Sheikh, Egyptianizing head	Roman tombstone from Iskenderun. "Be brave! Agatheisa".	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: chariot	Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Blues
Adana, bust of Hadrian.	Šalmaneser III, statue from Aššur	Golden Gate, statue of a tetrarch	Troy VIII, metope
Jupiter Heliopolitanus from Palmyra.	Siloam Inscription	Augustus	Hellenistic funeral stele
Dascylium, funerary stele	Hattusa, Hittite laws about personal damage	Hattusa, Letter of king Hattusilis III to king Kadashman-Enlil II of Babylonia	Detail of the Alexander sarcophagus, perhaps Perdiccas
Roman tombstone from Iskenderun. "Phouseinia, who never caused pain. Farewell".	Sarcophagus from the Persian age	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: dinner scene	Lion
Forum of Theodosius, relief with soldiers	Agrippina the Elder	Anastasius' Passage Law from Abydus	Troy VI, "Minaean" pottery
Sidon, Alexander Sarcophagus	Sarcophagus with the Dioscuri	Byzantium, Forum of Theodosius, tombstone of an aquilifer of II Adiutrix (EDCS-05300173)	Bor, Relief of king Warpalas
Dascylium, funerary stele, inscription	Head of Zeus	Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Genie	Alexander the Great
Temple of Jupiter, lion	Constantinople, Sea Wall, Royal Gate, Marble decoration	Diocletian	Smyrna, relief with a tribute to Euripides
Alexander the Great	The Temple Inscription	Yemen, Arab warrior	Cyzicus, Charioteer
Perinthus, Portrait of Commodus	Valentinian II	Detail of the Alexander sarcophagus, probably Abdalonymus of Sidon	Priene, Aphrodite
Smyrna, Sappho (Roman copy of a Hellenistic portrait)	Arcadius	Troy IX, statuette of Cybele	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Ivory lion
Roman statue of the Egyptian god Bes from Amathus	Troy VIII, treaty between Troy and six other towns	Syllabilary with old and new cuneiform signs	The Assyrian king Naram-Sin
Alexander the Great	Adad-Nirari III