ISTANBUL ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUMS

THE GATE TO THE LAST 70,000 YEARS
Archeological Museums offers visitors the chance to see the artistic values and understanding of many civilizations from Ancient Egypt to Anatolia.
This Museums, a museum complex composed of 3 buildings and used for a time as the Museum of the Empire during the Ottoman era, house many renowned historical
pieces of art, such as the text of the Kadesh Peace Agreement, the Five Faces of God, the Tomb of
Alexander the Great, and the Tomb of Weeping Women.

The istanbul Archeological Museums, among the largest museums in the world with over one million objects from various cultures, was established in 1891 in order to exhibit the archeological artifacts that were found within the geographical borders of the Ottoman Empire. The Old Eastern Works Museum where objects from the Egyptian, Arabian, Mesopotamian, and Anatolian civilizations are exhibited, is one of the richest archives in the world with over 75,000 cuneiform writing tablets. Here, the objects from the Early and Late Bronze Ages and Iron Ages are exhibited and show how mankind flourished in their way of living for thousands of years. Artifacts from the Urartu civilization are also exhibited in this building. The statue of the Five Faces of God welcomes you in the entryway of the main museum building. Here, there are ancient tombstones and relief works. Following these impressive objects, you see the Three Marble Cities of Anatolia Hall where artifacts from Ephesus, Miletus, and Aphrodisias are on display, including great sculptures from the Hellenistic and Roman Periods are exhibited. In the third building of the museum, the Tiles Kiosk (Cinili Kbsk), there is a plethora of chinaware and ceramics from the Seljuk and Ottoman periods.

Signature of Vallaury on the façade of the building
The front fagade of the neo-classical main museum building first built by famous Turkish artist and art historian Osman Hamdi Bey in 1881, took on its latest form with additions in 1902 and 1908 by famous architect Alexandre Vallaury, who was inspired by the Tomb of Alexander the Great and the Tomb of the Weeping Women.

In the next picture you see the decorative style of the Tiles Kiosk, which was built by Mehmet the Conqueror, bears the traces of Seljuk artistic style.

In the next picture you see the rich and extensive inventory of the Archeological Museums offers visitors the chance to see the artistic values and understanding of many civilizations from Ancient Egypt to Anatolia.

In the next pictures you see bust of famous Hellenistic female poet Sappho is exhibited in thr meseum.