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.

100 pictures related to this museum

Coin of the Bosphorus	Early Roman gravestone from Abydus: "Here, the Boule buried Agathe, the daughter of Papos"	Relief of a hero	Tombstone of Menios
Dascylium, funerary stele	Troy IX, statuette of Cybele	Perinthus, Portrait of Commodus	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: chariot
Agrippina the Elder	Pergamene copy of the Alcamenes herm	Sidon, Alexander Sarcophagus	Aquilifer of I Adiutrix
Alexander on the Alexander sarcophagus	Adad-Nirari III	Hippodrome, Kathisma, capital	Marble decoration of the Royal Gate
Temple of Athena, façade	Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Genie	Valentinian II	Aššur, Door plaques of Šalmaneser III
Siloam Inscription	Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Greens	Smyrna, Sappho (Roman copy of a Hellenistic portrait)	Syllabilary with old and new cuneiform signs
Šalmaneser III, statue from Aššur	Bor, Relief of king Warpalas	Sidon, Bustan esh-Sheikh, Egyptianizing head	Alexander the Great
Lysippus' Alexander	Troy VI, "Minaean" pottery	Detail of the Alexander sarcophagus, probably Hephaestion	Miletus, statue of Apollo
Temple of Jupiter, lion	Augustus	Alexander the Great	The Assyrian king Naram-Sin
Nicomedia, Sea god	The Gezer Calendar	Troy VIII, metope	Temple of Athena, façade
The Temple Inscription	Aelia Eudocia II	Cyzicus, Column drum	Dascylium, frieze: women on horseback
Sarcophagus from the Persian age	Aššur, Parthian stele of a worshipper	Smyrna, relief with a tribute to Euripides	Troy VIII, head of Zeus
Hellenistic funeral stele	Tombstone of a Macedonian warrior	Temple of Athena, façade	Roman tombstone from Iskenderun. "Phouseinia, who never caused pain. Farewell".
Alexander the Great	Dascylium, funerary stele, inscription	Kanesh, Account of a caravan	Nicomedia, Sarcophagus
Nineveh, Stele of Sennacherib	Tenedos, archaising bust of Hermes	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: dinner scene	Cyzicus, Charioteer
Golden Gate, statue of a tetrarch	Roman tombstone from Iskenderun. "Be brave! Agatheisa".	Bor, Relief of king Warpalas, inscription	Heracles as archer (Samos)
Head of Zeus	Sarcophagus with the Dioscuri	Troy VIII, treaty between Troy and six other towns	Magian venerating the fire
Roman statue of the Egyptian god Bes from Amathous	Diocletian	Snake head from the Greek victory monument in Delphi, later brought to Constantinople	Perinthus, Relief of Micallus
Detail of the Alexander sarcophagus, probably Abdalonymus of Sidon	Detail of the Alexander sarcophagus, perhaps Perdiccas	Perinthus, Portrait of a man	Anastasius' Passage Law from Abydus
Tombstone of Severius Acceptus of VIII Augusta (AE 1934, 125)	Cyzicus, Kouros	Ivriz, king Warpalas and the god Tarhunza	Lion
Hattusa, Letter of king Hattusilis III to king Kadashman-Enlil II of Babylonia	Portrait of a man	Aššur, Altar of Tikulti-Ninurta I	Arcadius
Kanesh, Letter (in an envelope) concerning silver debt	Tombstone of Paulus, from Perinthus, third century	Hattusa, Kadesh Treaty	Forum of Theodosius, Orpheus
Hattusa, Hittite laws about personal damage	Hattusa, Deeds of Suppililiuma	Jupiter Heliopolitanus from Palmyra.	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: chariot
Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Blues	Dascylium, funerary stele	Aššur, Old Palace, Head of a lamassu	Tombstone of a soldier of I Adiutrix
Troy VIIb, pottery	Forum of Theodosius, relief with soldiers	Adana, bust of Hadrian.	Magians with a sacrifice of a sheep and a bull