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

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