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

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