As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end. Michel Foucault
A peaceful day in İstanbul...
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| Garden |
I'm going back in time. I'm 8 years old and stepping in İstanbul Archeological Museums. I remeber two things clearly. A dark room, it's covered with red carpets, there is a sarcophagus in the middle of the room. I'm moving slowly in the corridors of the museum, students of fine art department are drawing the statue of River God Oceanus.
This must be love at first sight, this is how I fallen love with the İstanbul Archeological Museums, one of the most important archeological museum in the world.
This is the place where you can find the animal fossils belongs to B.C.4000, the statue of Alexander the Great or emperors who ruled over Anatolia and neighboring lands.
But The Alexander Sarcophagus is the most important artifact in the İstanbul Archaeological Museums. It called The Alexander Sarcophagus but the sarcophagus doesn't belong to Alexander the Great, the tomb belongs to The King of Sidon.
Alexander was believed to be the descendant of Heracles, so he is depicted with fur of Nemean Lion. Which is why the tomb is called as Alexander Sarcophagus. The name of sculptor is unknown.
Alexander Sarcophagus - The war between Persians and Greeks
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| Alexander The Great, riding the horse |
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| The King of Sidon |
With the conquest of Alexander the Greek Culture was spreaed to Middle East. So a new culture was born: Hellenism. Below you can find the influence of Hellenistic Culture. This tomb was found in Middle East. The entire body of the tumb carries the traces of Ancient Egypt Art. But at the top you can see the impacts of Greek Culture.
The museum is the home of magnificent marble statues of Roman and Greek Gods.
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| River God Oceanus |
Do you know who is first female poet? Her name is Sappho, she was born in Lesbos Island. The word lesbian is derived from the island where Sappho was born. So some people say she was a lesbian and killed herself because her female love rejected her.
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| Sappho |
Some stories say it was the Pan who challenged Apollo, some stories say it was Marsyas. According to our unknown sculptor it was the Marsyas who challenged Apollo at a music contest. Marsyas was fluting and Apollo was playing his lyre. Marsyas claimed he was a better musician than Apollo. Apollo was very angry because of being challenged by a satry. So Marsyas was skined by Apollo. The sculptor depicted Marsyas after he skined by Apollo.
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| Marsyas |
This piece of terra-cotta is The First Written Peace Treaty in the history of mankind. Can you imagine how precious is it? In the museum you not only see old statues, you see civilisations which shaped the today's world, present conditions.
The First Written Peace Treaty Kadesh was signed between the Hittite and Egyptian empires at 13th century BC.
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| Kadesh Treaty |
Below you can find the reliefs of Isthar Gate. Isthar is the main gate of Babylon. You can see some pieces of the gate at İstanbul Archeological Museums. Other parts of the gate is at Pergamon Museum.
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| Isthar Gate / Lion Relief |
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| Isthar Gate / Horse Relief |
Below you can see a marriage contract belongs to Hittites (B.C. 19). It says; La-qepum married daughter of Enisru, Hatala. He shall not marry to a slave girl in the country (It means Anatolia) but he can marry a whore in the city (It means Asur). If she can't have children in two years, she will a slave girl for him. When the slave girl give birth to a boy she will sell her. If La-qepum divorces her, he will pay 5 silver minas. If Hatala divorces him she will also pay 5 silver minas.
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| Marriage Contract |
Other interesting pieces;
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| Head of Alexander The Great |
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| Vize Tumulus |
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| Hekate Temple |
