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

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