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

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