istanbul archaeological museums, istanbul museums, ancient museum

The Istanbul Archaeological Museums, a museum affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is located in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet neighborhood, on the Osman Hamdi Bey slope connecting the Gülhane Park with the Topkapı Palace. Its name is plural, since there are three different museums under the same administration: The Archaeological Museum, the Ancient Orient Museum (Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi) and Tiled Kiosk Museum (Çinili Köşk Müzesi).

• During an Istanbul Archaeological Museums tour, it is possible to visit the extraordinarily beautiful garden of the museum and the three different buildings inside this garden.
• The Istanbul Archaeological Museums, which is housing various artifacts from civilizations that had left their traces to different periods of the history, is one of the 10 most important world-class museums designed and used as a museum building. Additionally, it is the first institution in Turkey arranged as a museum. Besides its spectacular collections, the architectural aspects of its buildings and its garden are of historical and natural importance.
• The Istanbul Archaeological Museums is welcoming all visitors who want to make a journey in the corridors of the history and to trace the remains of ancient civilizations.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM and THE NEW BUILDING

After its opening on June 13, 1891, the Archaeological Museum expanded its collection rapidly. Currently, on the ground floor of the Archaeological Museum, sculptures from the Ancient Age from the Archaic Era to the Roman Era may be seen on the right side, and world wide famous unique artifacts such as the Alexander Sarcophagus, the Sarcophagus of Crying Women and the Sarcophagus of Tabnit that came from the Royal Necropolis in Sidon on the left side. On the upper floor of the two-storey building, there are the Treasury section, the Non-Islamic and Islamic Coin Cabinets and the Library.

The “Surrounding Cultures of Istanbul” section, which was opened in the cellar of the new building in 1998, is a hall where artifacts from various ages found during excavations at the surrounding archaeological sites and tumuli. It has sub-sections of “Thrace-Bithynia and Byzantium”. The ground floor of the new building hosts the “Children’s Museum” exhibition.The “Istanbul Through the Ages” collection is exhibited on the first floor of the new building, the “Anatolia and Troy Through the Ages” collection on the second floor and the “Surrounding Cultures of Anatolia: Artifacts from Syria, Palestine and Cyprus” collection on the third floor, in chronological order.ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM ARTIFACTS

HEAD OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT

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When the Macedon king Alexander the Great, who lived between 356 and 323 BC, ascended to the throne, he was not even twenty. The legendary commander, who died at the age of 33, has never been forgotten during the twenty-three centuries passed since then, thanks to his glorious and great conquests during a short period of kingdom. He overthrew the Persian Empire and established a great empire extending from Macedonia to India. The cities founded by Alexander, who spent most of his life in Asia, as military bases turned into cultural and commercial centers later and played an important role in the spread of the Ancient Greek culture up to India.

The era of Alexander the Great, of which artistic influences can be followed as well, was a transition period between the periods of Classical Art and Hellenistic Art.

The Head of Alexander the Great, dated to the 2nd century BC, was found during excavations at the Lower Agora in Pergamon (Bergama).

His head is inclined towards his shoulder, the lock of hair from the front of his head, slightly pulled back, resembles a lion’s mane and his hair is irregularly waved in both sides. This is the hairstyle of Alexander the Great. All of the aspects such as his heavy eyelids and round eyes, thick eyelashes, slightly open mouth that does not show his teeth are characteristics of the statues of Alexander the Great. This is the style of portraits made by the sculptor Lysippos, who lived in the 4th century BC and led the transition between the Classic Art and the Hellenistic Art. The artist worked for Alexander the Great and he was the only sculptor of Alexander. The deep forehead lines call the big problems faced by the king despite his youth to the mind. This work is reflecting the typical characteristics of the Pergamon sculpture school during the era of King Eumenes II.

STATUE OF MARSYAS

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The Statue of Marsyas, dated to the Hellenistic period, was found in Tarsus, a historical city in south-central Turkey.

He is depicted as hung from a tree and his muscles stretched due to torture draw attention. So to say, he has a physically silent but angry expression. The original version of this special statue should have been placed to the center of a group of statues including the statue of Apollo sitting on his left side and a slave sharpening his knife in order to skin him on his right side.

Marsyas, the main character of an Anatolian story, is depicted while bearing the consequences of his rivalry with Apollo, the god of music. According to the story, Marsyas claims that he plays his flute better than Apollo plays his lyre. Neither of them wins in a musical contest, but Apollo asks Marsyas to turn his instrument upside down and to add his own voice. However, Marsyas cannot meet this challenge and Apollo wins the contest. Angry because of being challenged by a mortal, Apollo skins Marsyas alive and hangs his skin to a pine tree. However, he feels sorry later, breaks his lyre and turns Marsyas into a river.

HISTORY

The Istanbul Archaeological Museums, inherited by the Republic of Turkey from the Ottoman Empire, is hosting the outcomes of the first activities in the field of museum works. In fact, in the Ottoman era, traces of the interest in collecting historical artifacts goes back to the era of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror.

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IMPERIAL MUSEUM

However, the first regular museum works appeared when the Istanbul Archaeological Museums was founded in 1869 as the Imperial Museum (Müze-i Hümayun). The Imperial Museum, which consisted of archaeological artifacts collected until then and exhibited in the Hagia Irene (Aya İrini) church, laid the foundations of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. Saffet Pasha, then Minister of Education, was closely interested in the museum and acted personally to expand its collections. Additionally, he made Edward Goold, a teacher of English origin in the Galatasaray High School (Galatasaray Lisesi), to be appointed as the director of the museum.

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TILED KIOSK

After being abolished for a while, the Imperial Museum was established again in 1872 by the Minister of Education Ahmed Vefik Pasha, who appointed the German Dr. Phillip Anton Dethier as the director. As a result of the works of Dr. Dethier, the room in the Hagia Irene church became insufficient and the construction of a new building came to the agenda. Due to financial constraints, a new building could not be constructed, but the Tiled Kiosk (Çinili Köşk), built in the era of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, was transformed into a museum. The Tiled Kiosk, which is currently operated by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, was restored and opened in 1880.

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ALEXANDER SARCOPHAGUS

The appointment of Osman Hamdi Bey, the son of Grand Vizier Edhem Pasha, as the director of the museum in 1881 marked a new epoch in the history of Turkish museums. Osman Hamdi Bey led excavations in Mount Nemrut, Myrina, Kymi and other Aeolian Necropoles and in the Lagina Hekate Sanctuary, and collected the artifacts from these sites in the museum. In 1887-1888, he found the Royal Necropolis in Sidon, Lebanon, and he returned with many sarcophagi, including the famous Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, to Istanbul.

The oldest building in the complex of Istanbul Archaeological Museums is the Tiled Kiosk. The Tiled Kiosk Museum, where samples of Turkish tile and ceramic works are exhibited today, is the oldest civilian architectural work in Istanbul commissioned by Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. The influence of Seljuk architecture is apparent. According to the tile inscription above the gate, the pavilion was built in 1472 AD, but its architect is unknown.

The two other buildings that were constructed later are close to the Tiled Kiosk. One of them is the building constructed as the first Academy of Fine Arts in the Ottoman Empire and re-designed later as the Ancient Orient Museum.
The building, which is hosting the Ancient Orient Collection today, was constructed in 1883 by the order of Osman Hamdi Bey as the School of Fine Arts (Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi), i.e. the Academy of Fine Arts. This was the first school of fine arts opened in the Ottoman Empire and it laid the foundations of today’s Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts. The architect of the building was Alexander Vallaury, who built later the classical building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. In 1917, the academy moved to another building in the Cağaloğlu neighborhood and the building was assigned to the directorate of museums.

Halil Edhem Bey, the then director of the museum, thought that it was more appropriate to exhibit the artifacts from the ancient cultures of the Near Eastern countries and Greek, Roman and Byzantine artifacts separately, and this building was arranged as the Ancient Orient Museum. The German expert Eckhard Unger, who was invited to lead this transformation, worked in Istanbul in 1917-1919 and 1932-1933, gave the final shape to the museum and made several publications on the artifacts.The museum building was emptied during the World War II for purposes of defense and re-organized later by Osman Sümer in compliance with the principles of Unger. After an extensive restructuring that started in 1963, the museum was re-opened in 1974. The Ancient Orient Museum, which underwent maintenance and repairs in 1999-2000, obtained its current shape on September 8, 2000.On the other hand, the Archaeological Museum is one of the few buildings in the world constructed as a museum building.

The Archaeological Museum, one of the most beautiful and glorious examples of the neo-classical architecture in Istanbul, has a very spectacular architecture especially due to its gorgeous façade. With the two entrances on the long façade, which are reached through wide stairs, and each of which is decorated with four columns and a pediment, it appears like a temple. The kufic inscription on the pediment in Ottoman Turkish says ‘Asar-ı Atika Müzesi’ (Ancient Artifacts Museum). The tughra (calligraphic seal) above this script belongs to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II, who ordered the construction of the Old Building.

A new museum building was needed in order to display the glorious artifacts such as the Alexander Sarcophagus, the Sarcophagus of the Crying Women, the Lycian Sarcophagus and the Sarcophagus of Tabnit brought to Istanbul after the Royal Necropolis excavations in Sidon, Lebanon led by Osman Hamdi Bey in 1887 and 1888. The Istanbul Archaeological Museum, which was built against the Tiled Kiosk by the then famous architect Alexander Vallaury on the request of Osman Hamdi Bey, was opened to visits on June 13, 1891. This day is still celebrated as the Museum Day in our country.

Today’s main museum building took its final shape after the addition of the northern and the southern wings in 1903 and 1907 respectively.Due to the need for new exhibition halls, a new building adjacent to the southeastern side of the main museum building was constructed between 1969 and 1983 and this section was named the Additional Building (new building).

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• ÇİNİLİ KÖŞK

Titan, Titans, greek mythology, Pandora, Poseidon, Prometheus, Pyrrha, Rhea, River And Rain, Roman myths, sea goddesses, Selene, symbolizes, Tartarus, younger gods, Zagreus, zeus, zodiac

Hesiod claimed, the word Titan means “Strainer”, because they strained and performed some presumptuous, fearful deed and the vengeance would come after it. Where the Olympians lived in Olympus, the home of the Titans was Othrys, their stronghold.

The exact number of the Titans varied from author to author, and they often included some of the children of the Titans. So there are at least two generations of Titans can be considered.

For a generation, the Titans shared the world and created mankind, with Cronus as their leader. Although a number of the male Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, when they chose to fight a war against the younger gods, known as the Olympians.

According to the Orphic myth, Zeus destroyed the Titans with his thunderbolts, because the Titans had murdered and devoured his son Zagreus (Dionysus). From the smouldering ashes, mankind were created.

Much of what we know about the Titans is because of Hesiods’ Theogony.

The twelve Titans were the children of Uranus and Gaea.

There were 12 Uranides, six sons and six daughters:

Cronus - God of Eternal Time and King of the Titans, until overthrown by his own son Zeus.

(Okeanos) Oceanus – God of the fresh water rivers that bound the earth; including wells, springs, river and rain. Husband of Tethys, a nurse that claimed to have distributed the water to the earth. The Oldest of the twelve Titans

Iapetus – Son of Uranus and Gaea. He married the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Iapetus was the father of the Titans, Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Some say that Iapetus married his own sister Themis, and became the father of Prometheus

Hyperion – God of the Sun, sometimes referred to as ‘Helios Hyperion’ Sun High one.

Crius - Married his half-sister Eurybia, daughter of Gaea and Pontus, and became father of Perses, Pallas and Astraeus.

titans, titanes, monsters, Hyperion, Tartarus, god and goddesses, mythology

Coeus - God of intellect. He married his sister Phoebe, became the father of Leto and Asteria.

Rhea – Titaness and earth-goddess. According to Diodorus Siculus, Rhea was also known as Pandora. She married her brother, Cronus and was the mother of Olympians: Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera and Zeus. When it was prophesied that her children would overthrow her brother/husband, Cronus, he took steps to prevent it.

Tethys - Titaness of the sea. She married her brother, Oceanus. She became the mother of all the river gods. She is said to have bore three thousand daughters, known as the Oceanids. The eldest daughter being Styx, who was the only female river goddess; while Amphitrite, who married Poseidon, and Doris, who married Nereus, became sea goddesses.

Theia - Titaness of sorcery. She was sometimes called, EuryphaEssa (Eurtphaessa). Theia was the goddess of light. She married her brother Hyperion, and was the mother of Eos (“Dawn”), Helius (“Sun”), and Selene (“Moon”). By her other brother Oceanus, she was mother of the Cercopes.

Phoebe – Titaness of the Moon, married her brother Coeus (Coeus). Phoebe became the mother of Leto and Asteria, so Phoebe was the grandmother of Apollo, Artemis and Hecate.

ancient greece, ancient sea god, Apollo, Artemis, Asteria, Astraeus, astrological planets, astrological signs, Atlas, Calliope, Cronus, Demeter, Diodorus, Dione, Earth Goddess, Eros, Euterpe, goddess

Themis – Titaness of justice and Earth-goddess. Later she became known as the goddess of order and justice. Themis was the second wife of Zeus. Themis became the mother of many children, including the Seasons (Horae) – Eunomia (“Order”), Dike (“Justice”) and Eirene (“Peace”) – and the Fates (Moerae).

Mnemosyne - Titaness of memory. Mnemosyne (“Memory”) was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was the abstract personification of memory. In Roman myths, she was called Moneta.

By Zeus, she was the mother of nine daughters, known as the Muses. Zeus had slept with Mnemosyne for nine nights, and one year later, she gave birth to the nine wondrous daughters. Mnemosyne had named them as Cleio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpischore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania and Calliope being her eldest daughter.

Dione – An obscure goddess, as it was not certain whether she was either Titaness or Oceanid. Most commonly thought to be the goddess of the sea. She was also known as Thalassa, who was a sea deity. Thalassa was also beleived to the wife of the ancient sea god, Pontus.

Second Generation Titans ( Iapetionides )

Atlas - Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus by the Oceanid Clymene or Asia. Brother of Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. When his brother, Prometheus tried to persuade him not to go to war against the Olympians, he did not listen. Zeus punished Atlas, by making the Titan carry the weight of the sky upon his shoulders.

Prometheus – Titan of forethought. Son of the Titan Iapetus and by Iapetus’ sister Themis or by Clymene or Asia. Both were Oceanids. Prometheus was the brother of Atlas, Menoetius and Epimetheus.

Prometheus married Pronoea and was the father of Deucalion. During the war between the Titans and Olympians, Prometheus sided with Zeus, knowing that the war would end with the younger gods winning the war.

Prometheus unsuccessfully tried to persuade his father Iapetus and his brother Atlas to change side. Iapetus was thrown into Tartarus, while Atlas would be forever burdened with the weight of heaven on his shoulder.

Epimetheus – Titan of afterthought. Epimetheus ( Afterthought ) was the son of the Titan Iapetus by the Oceanid Clymene or Asia. Brother of Prometheus, Menoetius and Atlas. Epimetheus married the first mortal woman Pandora and was the father of Pyrrha.

Menoetius: Son of Iapetus and Oceanid Clymene or Asia.Brother of Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus.

Titan, Titans, greek mythology, Pandora, Prometheus, Pyrrha, Rhea, symbolizes, Tartarus, zodiac , mythological monsters, ancient monsters

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According to mythological legends of the history of the creation of the world starts from four categories in the whole world, which have names: matter, energy, space, time. That is, Gaia (matter) was one of four initial possibilities also Chaos, Tartarus, Eros are.

As an initial potential Gaia means the presence of the structure, chaos means an absence of structure, the Tatars means destruction, Eros means structuring. These are the basic principles of a world that is incorporated into the framework of Gaia and have formed a formal question at the same time can be chaotic, and is also capable of creating or able to be collapsed. This is the initial list of possibilities have formed a cross raw material shown in the figure:

The Gaia has connected four initial potential and trained Uranus (energy), and with the help of Uranus has formed six male Titans: Oceanus, Coeus, I breed, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus and the titans of six women:

Tethys Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Theia, Themis, Rea, who have made a world of material and energy, shown in the figure below. That is, men and women have formed the structure titans of the world, and essentially formed a circle that symbolizes the astrological structure of the world, but on condition that the astrological circle corresponds to the zodiacal constellations (zodiac signs) and mythological essence the Titans, but others also correspond to the zodiacal constellations.

parities of the Titans shows signs of the zodiac are presumed but are based on mythological sources, ie, characters from Greek mythology correlate with the characters of the zodiac signs, which are known in modern astrology. Zodiac signs are of Egyptian origin, but are comparable to the characters of Greek mythology as ancient Egypt and ancient Greece are between cultures.

The arrows in the figure shows the marital relationships of the Titans. The symbols of the planets near the names of the astrological planets Titans specify operating or if the astrological signs of the zodiac.

Read More articles and see the pictures about greek gods and greek goddesses:

• Greek Gods
• Greek Myth
• Ancient Greece
• Zeus Greek God
• Titans
• Historical Greek
• Wanderings of Dionysus
• Zeus Pictures
• Pictures of Aphrodite
• History of Greek Goods
• Greek Goddesses

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