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

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