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

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