ISTANBUL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

(ÝSTANBUL ARKEOLOJÝ MÜZESÝ)

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.