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

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