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

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