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

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