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

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