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