ISTANBUL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
The archaeological remains in Turkey were assembled for
the first time and preserved in the interior of what was
the Church of St. Irene, situated behind Saint Sophia.
It was founded, erected in one of the outer gardens of
Topkapi Palace thanks to the initiative of Osman Hamdi
Bey, one of the pioneers of painting in our country and
himself a master of this art. Appointed head of the Museum
with the title of Director General [1381], he organised
the excavations at Saida (the ancient Sidon).
The rooms of the Museum of Archaeology are laid out as
follows:
The entrance is numbered as Room XII. Room I, from where
our visit starts, is at the very end of the corridor to
the left.
Room I: The
middle of the stone at the right of its window is a decree
promulgated by the Emperor Anastasius I, governing the
circulation of ships crossing the Dardanelles - a decree
in force no longer! One of the two inscriptions in the
middle of the room mentions an internal loan made to Milet.
This goes to show that the problems modern governments
face now existed in the year 205 B.C.!
The left-hand side of the room is reserved for statues
unearthed at Silahtaraga in the neighborhood of Istanbul
during the construction of the Electricity Centre, and
for antiquities discovered at Izmit and transported here.
In the right-hand section are Byzantine tomb-stones of
the ancient epoch. The cemetery where the stones were
found extended from Cemberlitas to Laleli, including Beyazit
and Suleymaniye.
In this section, on the left side, a stele belonging to
the tomb of Hekatodor's son can be seen; from it we learn
that its owner was a sporting man and erudite too; near
to exercise books and textbooks, whole athletic equipment
has been drawn. Against the third wall, below the window,
there is a large tomb stone on which the effects of the
dead man have been carved. Seated near to the dead man
there is a woman in mourning, surrounded by his belongings,
mirror, comb, flasks of perfume etc. This stone, dating
from two centuries before Christ, shows that at that period
the objects used by men and women respectively were quite
different from those of today!
Room II:
Architectural antiquities. Here in particular are to be
found bas-reliefs, mosaics end panels. In the middle section
can be seen Hercules gathering the golden apples from
the garden of the Hesperides. On the other mosaic Hercules
is slaying the Nemean lion. In the right-hand section,
in the middle, on a mosaic on the ground, is Orpheus sitting
on a rock playing the lyre; on either side of Orpheus,
on the branches of a tree, are various animals, a peacock,
a duck and an eagle.
Room III:
In the middle section is the Sarcophagus of Sidamara.
This funeral monument was discovered in the province of
Kenya, in the district where the ancient town of Sidamara
used to be, on the road which goes from Eregli to Karaman.
Among sarcophagi of this type it is one of the finest
and most widely known. From this comes the name “Sarcophagus
of Sidamara” given to analogous funeral monuments.
On the lid of the sarcophagus the occupant of the coffin
can be seen, with his wife lying beside him. On the principal
face of the monument, on the window side, a man in the
garb of a philosopher can be seen, with a young girl dressed
like Artemis on his right, and on his left a woman with
her head covered. At two ends the Dioscuri hold the bridles
of horses. On the narrow part of the sarcophagus a woman
carrying fruit is standing in front of the gate of the
tomb; on the other part there are hunting scenes.
On the friezes on the base, cupids struggle with wild
animals, athletes train, and chariot-races take place.
This sarcophagus dates from the 3rd century before Christ.
Lids like the one on this sarcophagus are not found on
the funeral monuments of Asia Minor. On this one can be
traced an influence coming from Italy: Etruscan or Roman.
Sarcophagi of this type must have been fashioned by foreign
artists visiting Anatolia, in the 2nd and 3rd centuries
after Christ. For after this period no further examples
were made in Asia Minor.
The sarcophagus in the right-hand section of this room
is of the same type, out the lid is missing. The form
of the main part, the scenes and figures are the same.
It was found at Silifke. Very close to this, the funeral
monument No. 4027 was found at Sardis. It is a work of
the 2nd century after Christ. The inscriptions, one is
Claudia Antonia Sabina and the other her daughter. On
the wall of the landing there is a head of Medusa. Whereas
the expression of this head should have been terrifying,
the sculptor has given it an astonished expression.
Room IV:
Sarcophagi and funeral steles. In the left-hand section
there is a sarcophagus for two person’s discovered
in Crete and dating from the 2nd century after Christ.
The Greek sculptor who carved this funeral monument, has
depicted on the sides a quantity of gods and Egyptian
figures.
Before the window, the sarcophagus No. 210, which was
found In Albania, is a work which dates from the 2nd century
and is a very fine specimen, showing the difference between
the Greet and Roman coffins. Since the funeral monuments
of the Greeks have the form of a temple or of a house,
the four faces are decorated. On the other hand the Roman
sarcophagi, set into the walls as coffins, are only carved
on the main face.
In
the right-hand section, near to the second wall, to the
left of the window, there is a sarcophagus which was discovered
at Ephesus, during excavations undertaken by Austrian
archaeologists. The faces of this sarcophagus depict a
divine tribunal. Hermes has brought before Pluto, King
of the Dead, and his wife Proserpina, two souls, that
of a man and of a woman, who are about to be judged. On
the left side of the sarcophagus, can be seen the boat
which is waiting to carry those who emerge successfully
from the judgment to the land of the blessed. On the other
side, the right-hand face, the damned souls pause, before
a dark doorway and a terrifying creature. If this philosophy
is to be believed, the obstacles we negotiate in this
difficult world will not be sufficient, we shall have
a great deal of explaining still to do in the other.
Room VII:
The majority of the antiquities in this room were found
at Saida near Beirut, at the time when Lebanon was a province
of the Ottoman Empire - that is to say at quite a recent
epoch, some 80 years ago.
In the right hand section are lead sarcophagi and fragments,
dating from the Roman era. These funeral monuments have
been influenced by Phoenician. Greek and Roman styles,
and are works of the 3rd and 4th century after Christ.
Room
VIII:
Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. Here continuing its
sleep of 20 centuries, reposes one of the greatest works
of art of its kind in existence. In 1887, the founder
of this museum, the painter Osman Hamdi Bey, made at Saida,
in the Necropolis of the Kings, the greatest archaeological
discovery of the 19th century. This discovery has an interesting
history: the owner of a plot of land, in a village, one
day discovered a deep well. He notified the governor,
who informed the proper authorities in Istanbul. The Director
of Museums came in person to supervise the excavations,
and discovered in this necropolis two caves. The first
one was 10 metres in depth and 3.70 metres wide, and at
the far end of it were 4 rooms, the doors of which were
hidden by the walls. Near to these rooms, some without
any communication with the others, three further rooms
were found. This first tomb had been robbed by unknown
persons. The second cave was 4 metres wide and 7.50 metres
deep. At the end of it two rooms were found. In one of
them (3.30 meters down, in a cavity) the sarcophagus of
King Tabnit was discovered, concealed beneath a heap of
stones. It is thought that this tomb dates from the 5th
century before Christ. As for the three other funeral
monuments, they must have been placed there at some former
period, towards the end of the 4th century B. C.
Aphrodisias
Relics, treasures from Ephesus, Miletus and Aphrodisias,
artifacts found in Troy, treasures discovered in Cyprus,
Palestine and Syria are only some of the vast treasures
on display at the museum.
That
this necropolis belonged to Kings there is no shadow of
doubt. But to which Kings? Apart from the sarcophagus
of King Tabnit, which has been identified with certainty,
the identity of the occupants remains doubtful. Even the
sarcophagus called Alexander the Great belongs to a Persian
Governor (i.e, satrap). It is evident that Alexander the
Great died at Babylon and his remains were buried at Alexandria.
In this room there is a bust of Osman Hamdi Bey, thanks
to whom all these antiquities were able to be collected
here, fortunately for history, and also for... tourism.
Before the door is the famous sarcophagus of the “Women
in Tears”. On this funeral monument can be seen
separated by columns, 18 sculpted scenes depicting 18
women in tears. Whereas these 18 weapers might have been
accepted to be all in the same position, to form a monotonous
decor the sculptor has given to each of them a different
pose and thus succeeded in carving a particularly living
picture. The door of the sarcophagus, which forms the
lid of the funeral monument, is very heavy. On the two
principal faces, funeral processions are depicted. On
the friezes all around are hunting scenes. This sarcophagus
was originally in colours.
In the middle of the room, in a glass cabinet, is one
of the most admirable works in the Museum, the sarcophagus
of Alexander the Great, superb, and with an imposing grandeur.
On one of the sides, scenes from the war between Greeks
and Persians are depicted. On the left Alexander can be
seen, his head covered with a lion-skin, symbol of Hercules.
The horse he is riding, having received an arrow in the
breast, is rearing up. Alexander, a lance in his hand,
is pursuing a Persian knight. On the right, at the end
of the sarcophagus a wounded Macedonian kills a Persian.
The Persian, his throat cut, dies in the arms of a friend
who has run to his aid. Between these two groups is the
Persian. Alexander is chasing, soldiers fighting sword
in hand, and animals killing one another, the whole forms
a superb picture. On the other side are hunting scenes
with lions and stags. A wounded lion springs vengefully
on a Persian officer. The personage on the left with
the royal head-band, symbol of power, is Alexander the
Great. At one end on the narrow side a further battle-scene,
and on the other narrow side a scene from a leopard hunt,
and one from a battle between Greeks and Persians.
The three small sarcophagi at the end of the room were
found in the same cave as Alexander's and have the same
form.
KADESH
TREATY
The treaty of Kadesh is the earliest known parity peace-treaty
that had been concluded between the Hittite king Hattusilis
III and the Egyptian pharah Ramses II, and was written
in Akkadian: the international language of the day, in
1269 B.C. Two of the treaty-documents of Kadesh are in
the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
 |
Home
|
 |
Archaeological
Museum continued... |
 |
Back
to Museums |
Archaeological
Museum Contact Info
Osman
Hamdi Bey Yokusu, Sultanahmet
Telephone:
+90 (212) 5207740
Open
daily except Mondays, 09:30-17:00
