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.

119 pictures related to this museum

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