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 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.

122 pictures related to this museum

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