Istanbul, Arkeoloji Müzesi

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 bust 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.

118 pictures related to this museum

Troy VIII, head of Zeus	Priene, Aphrodite	Bor, Relief of king Warpalas	Kanesh, Account of a caravan
Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Blues	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 1, Sarcophagus of the mourning women	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 2, Mixed Egyptian-Greek-style sarcophagus	Hattusa, Kadesh Treaty
Tombstone of Menios	Aššur, Door plaques of Šalmaneser III	Samos, Heracles as archer	Perinthus, Portrait of Commodus
Aššur, Old Palace, Head of a lamassu	Temple of Athena, façade	Sidon, Funerary stele of Dioscurides	Chalcedon, Tombstone of Severius Acceptus of VIII Augusta (EDCS-05300088)
Kanesh, Letter (in an envelope) concerning silver debt	Aššur, Altar of Tikulti-Ninurta I	Tombstone of a Macedonian warrior	Hippodrome, Porphyrius Monument of the Greens
Syllabilary with old and new cuneiform signs	Hellenistic funeral stele	Adad-Nirari III	Lion
Aššur, Parthian stele of a worshipper	Miletus, statue of Apollo	Pergamene copy of the Alcamenes herm	Portrait of a man
Early Roman gravestone from Abydus: "Here, the Boule buried Agathe, the daughter of Papos"	Perinthus, Portrait of a man	Dascylium, funerary stele	Samos, Head of a kouros
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 4, Lycian sarcophagus, Sphinxes	Arcadius	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Gold falcon	Head of Zeus
Forum of Theodosius, Orpheus	Magians with a sacrifice of a sheep and a bull	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: chariot	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (18) (Abdalonymus)
Tenedos, archaising bust of Hermes	Snake head from the Greek victory monument in Delphi, later brought to Constantinople	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 7, Greek-style sarcophagus	Šalmaneser III, statue from Aššur
Adana, bust of Hadrian.	Samos, Head of a kouros	Alexander the Great	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: dinner scene
Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Ivory statuette of the goddess	Ephesus, Archaic temple of Artemis, Ivory lion	Roman tombstone from Iskenderun. "Be brave! Agatheisa".	Temple of Jupiter, lion
Sarcophagus with the Dioscuri	Agrippina the Elder	Roman tombstone from Iskenderun. "Phouseinia, who never caused pain. Farewell".	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (09) Hephaestion
Relief of a hero	Cyzicus, Charioteer	Troy VI, "Minaean" pottery	Augustus
Aelia Eudocia II	Yemenite relief of a woman and a man, seated on dromedaries, meeting at a well	Smyrna, Sappho (Roman copy of a Hellenistic portrait)	Jupiter Heliopolitanus from Palmyra.
The Assyrian king Naram-Sin	Dascylium, funerary stele, detail: chariot	Alexander the Great	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 4, Lycian sarcophagus
Hippodrome, Kathisma, capital	Valentinian II	Troy VIII, metope	Coin of the Bosphorus
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (02) Alexander	Forum of Theodosius, relief with soldiers	Lysippus' Alexander	Bor, Relief of king Warpalas, inscription
Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Genie	The Gezer Calendar	Nineveh, Stele of Sennacherib	Constantinople, Sea Wall, Royal Gate, Marble decoration
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 6, Sarcophagus of the satrap	Golden Gate, statue of a tetrarch	Troy VIII, treaty between Troy and six other towns	Ivriz, king Warpalas and the god Tarhunza
Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Alexander sarcophagus (11) (Perdiccas?)	Hattusa, Deeds of Suppililiuma	Diocletian	Anastasius' Passage Law from Abydus
Sarcophagus from the Persian age	Sidon, Funerary stele of Salmamodes	Troy VIIb, pottery	The Temple Inscription
Temple of Athena, façade	Troy IX, statuette of Cybele	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 3, Sidon, Alexander Sarcophagus	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 1, Egyptian-style sarcophagus
Cyzicus, Column drum	Hattusa, Hittite laws about personal damage	Byzantium, Forum of Theodosius, Tombstone of Aurelius Suro of I Adiutrix (EDCS-05300172)	Temple of Athena, façade
Siloam Inscription	Dascylium, funerary stele	Byzantium, Forum of Theodosius, tombstone of an aquilifer of II Adiutrix (EDCS-05300173)	Perinthus, Tombstone of Paulus of III Italica (EDCS-30000413)
Perinthus, Relief of Micallus	Roman statue of the Egyptian god Bes from Amathus	Cyzicus, Kouros	Nicomedia, Sea god
Alexander the Great	Sidon, Royal Tombs, Chamber 2, Sarcophagus of Tabnit (1)	Sidon, Bustan esh-Sheikh, Egyptianizing head	Nicomedia, Sarcophagus
Dascylium, frieze: women on horseback	Smyrna, relief with a tribute to Euripides	Yemen, Arab warrior	Hattusa, Letter of king Hattusilis III to king Kadashman-Enlil II of Babylonia
Magian venerating the fire	Dascylium, funerary stele, inscription