The Istanbul Archaeological Museum is one of the largest museums in the world. It exhibits about one million artefacts and works belonging to cultures of different times. The museum's collection includes works belonging to civilisations that existed from Africa to the Balkans, Anatolia and the Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and the Ottoman Empire.
The Istanbul Archaeological Museum is housed in three buildings located in Topkapi Palace within the First Court. It also includes the Turkish Ceramics Museum and the Ancient Oriental Museum. These museums were opened in 1891 and owe their existence to Osman Hamdi Bey, a 19th century Turkish artist, diplomat, archaeologist and museum curator. It was Osman who proposed to build a new museum here and already in 1891 the first part of the new building was opened. Its plan was drawn by the architect Alexander Vallauri, of French-Turkish origin, modelled on a sarcophagus called "The Weeping Woman" of Western neoclassical design. The third part of the building was completed in 1908. Osman Hamdi is said to have donated his annual salary for the construction of the museum. This was followed, in 1884, by a ban on exporting archaeological artefacts abroad by a new provision included in the relics law.
The Museum of the Ancient East, located in the School of Fine Arts building, became part of the museum in 1935. It was later joined by the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. Since 1953 it has been housed in the Tile Pavilion. It was built in 1472 to house the harem of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, belonging to one of the oldest architectural monuments of the Ottoman Empire.
Since 1991, the works of the Hall of Ancient Sculptures and the sarcophagi of the Archaeological Museum have been re-displayed in this complex complex, which consists of the main building of the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Ancient Eastern Works, the Tile Museum-Pavilion, the chasing rooms, the tablet archive, laboratories, libraries and other annexes of all kinds. One of the most valuable collections of the museum is represented by sarcophagi from Sidon (ancient Syria). They are exhibited in their original form, but in a slightly more modern atmosphere. These sarcophagi represent the different architectural styles that developed under the influence of the cultures of Phoenicia and Egypt. One of the most famous among the exhibits is the Sarcophagus of Alexander, found by archaeologists in 1887 and covered with beautiful carvings depicting battles and scenes from the life of what was first thought to be Alexander the Great himself. However, it was later proved that the sarcophagus belonged to Abdalonimos, the King of Sidon. Also found in the necropolis of Sidon was a well-preserved Sarcophagus of the Weeping Woman with intricately carved panels depicting a woman in mourning. There are also other sarcophagi from the city of Sidon, such as that of Satrap, king of Tabnite. In addition, the museum displays a statue of a lion that was in the tomb monument of the ruler Mausolus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The Archaeological Museum preserves fragments of statues from ancient times brought here from the Temple of Zeus in Pergamon, objects found during the excavation of Troy and parts of the Temple of Athena from the city of Assos.
The museum contains a large chronological collection of the remains of the material culture of the ancient inhabitants found in the area. These exhibits shed light on the history and origins of Istanbul. At the entrance of the museum is a statue of a lion that was found in the mausoleum of Halikarnassus.
The museum housed an exhibition called "Istanbul Through the Ages" - the rich and well-preserved exhibit was awarded a prize by the Council of Europe in 1993. Both a 14th century bell from the Galata Tower and part of the serpentine Hippodrome Column, a restored snake head, were also on display. The two lower levels of the exhibition contained exhibits on the centuries-long evolution of Anatolia and Troy. There were also sculptures from Palestine, Cyprus and Syria. The Museum of the Ancient East was recently renovated and houses a particularly rich collection of artefacts that once belonged to early civilisations - Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt and the entire Arab continent. Pre-Islamic idols and deities, ancient Aramaic inscriptions, and a small collection of Egyptian antiquities that were brought here from the inner courtyard of the Al-Ula temple have been displayed here.
In the museum you can still see the Obelisk of Adad-Nirari the Third, which has cuneiform inscriptions. Of particular value is a series of multi-coloured mosaic panels depicting dragons with snake heads and bulls - elements of the monumental Ishtar Gate, built under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The oldest exhibits of the museum date back to the 13th century BC. They include the sphinx from the Yarkapi Gate in Hattusas and 2 of the 3 known tablets of the oldest peace treaty (Treaty of Kadesh), which was signed between Ramses II and Hattusili III in the 13th century BC.
Of particular interest are the historical documents on cuneiform tablets, of which there are more than seventy-five in the museum. The collection includes a limestone tablet with writing measuring 11.1x7.2 cm, which was found in 1908, created in the 10th century BC. It is called the calendar of Gezer. A larger exhibit is the Siloam inscription, which is a stone measuring 1.32x0.21 metres, which tells the story of the construction of a tunnel that connected the Gion spring and the Siloam reservoir in the 8th century BC.
