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

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