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

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