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

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