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

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