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

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