The Museum of the Ancient East is part of the Archaeological Museum, which, after being renovation and remodelling (1917-1919 and 1932-1935) became part of it in 1935. The building was built to house the School organised (1883) by Osman Osman Hamdi Bey School of Fine Arts at the Imperial Museum.
The Museum of the Ancient Orient has a particularly rich collection of artefacts and archaeological finds from all over the world. Archaeological finds from all regions of the Middle East that were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire and 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 Egyptian antiquities that were brought here from the inner courtyard of the Al-Ula temple, were exhibited here.
The last renovations took place here in 1963-1974 and, already after that the renovated museum with a new layout has reopened its doors to the public. Here you can admire objects representing the material and spiritual cultures of such powerful and ancient nations as Babylon, Egypt and Assyria. The exposition of one of the halls fully depicts the culture and life of the state of Urartu, in the north-east of Anatolia. This is another mysterious power that disappeared in the 13th century BC. It was inhabited by the Hittites. The most interesting are the statues of Kings Gudea of Lagash, Hamurappi of Babylon, Salmansar III, and, of course, the faience relief that adorned the the sacred path leading to the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. It dates from a time period between the 7th and 6th century BC.
The museum hosted an exhibition called "Istanbul Through the Ages", a rich Istanbul Through the Ages", a rich and well-preserved exhibition that was honoured in 1993 with a prize from the Council of Europe. The exhibition also included both a 14th-century bell from the Galata Tower, and a part of the serpentine Hippodrome Column - a restored snake head. The two lower levels of the exposition contained exhibits on the centuries-long evolution of of Anatolia and Troy. There were also sculptures from Palestine, Cyprus, and Syria.
The Museum of the Ancient East is located to the left of the gate at the entrance of the complex. It is all about the most ancient cultures. For someone who is just to the ancient culture of the Arab East will be very interested to know how different the ancient cultures of the Arab East are. to know how different the artefacts of these civilisations are from those of other cultures. from other cultures - Hellenic and Roman. The most precious legacy from Byzantine times is the remains of the Ishtar Gate, also in the Ancient Oriental Museum. The mosaic bas-reliefs of this gate cannot fail to impress by their realism. They depict lions, bulls and Sirrushi - dragons with snake heads. They were built during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. There's no such rich collection of Ishtar bas-reliefs is found nowhere else in the world.
In the museum you can still see the Obelisk of Adad-Nirari the Third, which has with cuneiform inscriptions. The oldest exhibits in the museum date back to the 13th century BC. These include the sphinx from the Yarkapi Gate in Hattusas and, truly the jewel of the collection - 2 of the 3 known clay tablets of the most ancient peace treaty (Treaty of Kadesh), which was signed between the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III in the 13th century BC.
It is said that Osman Hamdi Bey donated his annual salary to build the museum salary. This was followed, in 1884, by a ban on exporting archaeological archaeological monuments abroad by a new provision included in the relics law.
