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.

120 pictures related to this museum

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