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

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