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

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