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