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

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