The Archaeological Museum of Istanbul is simply wonderful - even if you're not seriously interested in history and art. It's located a stone's throw from the back corner of the Hagia Sophia located in the Sultanahmet in Istanbul, and consists of several buildings that cover different genres of art throughout the ages.

http://www.istanbularkeoloji.gov.tr/main_page

This huge statue (3 meters / 10 feet tall) greets you as you enter the main museum building that displays works from the Near East, and the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires. The statue is called "Bes" - an ancient Egyptian deity - and comes from the southern coast of Cyprus, at Amathus. (This is not far from the traditional site where Aphrodites - goddess of love, lust beauty, passion and procreation - emerged from the foam of the Mediterranean waves. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess Venus.) LINK

Here is a LINK to a similar copy in the Louvre, Paris, France.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

There's an large collection of articles carved from stone on the ground floor - dominated by sarcophagi - burial structures.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Most of these pieces came from the Levant - the Eastern Mediterranean area.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

The highlight of this exhibit - and the entire museum - is the Hellenistic "Alexander Sarcophagus," carved in the 4th century BC and found in a necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon. It was not actually designed for Alexander the Great, who died about 600 years earlier. Discovered in 1887, it was rolled to the coast and transported by ship to its present location in Istanbul.

The Alexander Sarcophagus is one of four massive carved sarcophagi, consisting of two pairs, that were discovered during the excavations conducted by Osman Hamdi Bey, an Ottoman of Greek descent and Yervant Voskan, an Ottoman of Armenian descent, at the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon in 1887. Originally thought to have been the sarcophagus of Abdalonymus (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon, who was appointed by Alexander to be an administrator immediately after the Battle of Issus (333).

It's a truly magnificent piece (195 cm. x 318 cm. x 167 cm.), made of white pentelic marble and carved in careful detail: two battle scenes and two hunting scenes. It's protected by shroud of plexiglas. Click here and here for related articles on the Alexander Sarcophagus.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below is a hunting scene on the end-panel. Notice that the stone still retains a slight red coloration of certain parts.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

In this freeze, Alexander is portrayed on horseback, throwing a spear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Sarcophagus_Battle_of_Ussus.jpg

The entire piece was originally covered with brilliant paint - called polychromy - like a Greek temple. Below is an historical rendition in the museum which shows what it had originally looked like.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Alexander is shown mounted and clothed in a red coat, wearing a lionskin on his head, and throwing a spear at the Persian cavalry. The scene depicts combat with the Persians at the Battle of Issus was fought in November 333 BCE near Syria in modern-day Turkey, along the Mediterranean Sea. Thereafter, Alexander fought his way eastward across the Persian Empire and eventually into the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 [map], before marching his army on toward India.

It's helpful to become acquainted with Alexander the Great's Journey, and his important battles.

https://geography.name/alexander-the-great-and-his-empire/

One scholar has compared the sarcophagus motif to the famous Alexander Mosaic at Naples (LINK), concluding that the iconography of both works is derived from an earlier common source - a lost Greek painting.

The Greek artists who designed this work seemed to be less concerned with the historical accuracy of the figures than the mythic content of battle and a royal hunt. Some scholars believe that other mounted figures portrayed represent a close friend of Alexander and one of his generals.

Here's a wikipedia link to the Alexander Sarcophagus.

Below, an on-site description of the sarcophagus with color scheme. (Please scroll left and right.)

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Side panel: Alexander and a mounted horseman on the left

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Alexander was not buried in this structure, as it was carved roughly 600 years after his death, which occurred at Babylon in 332 BCE.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

If you are interested in seeing further plates (or buying a life-size replica!), click here, and then scroll down and click on one of the six photos clustered together.

The next 4 pictures are part of the Assyrian collection at the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Assyrian artwork is typified by a characteristic stylized form of braided hair and beard.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

A procession of Assyrian rulers.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below, a detail of the leading figure from above, left. Click here for a another example of an Assyrian rock carving in the British Museum.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below are remnants of two legal documents written in cuneiform script: the "Kadesh Treaty" (top) and the "Code of Hammurabi" (bottom) that are displayed together in the museum.

cliff_emerson

Here's part of the museum's sign (shown below) paraphrased and edited:

The Kadesh Treaty is the earliest known parity peace treaty... between the Hittites and Egyptians in 1269 BCE. It was written in Akkadian, the international language of the day, and originated in Mesopotamia."

Here is specific information about the Battle of Kadesh, which gave rise to the treaty: LINK (YouTube)

Two other versions of the treaty are known to exist, one on exhibit in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin, and an Egyptian (hieroglyphic) version that was carved upon the walls of the temple of Amon at Karnak, Egypt.

Please scroll the copy of the treaty below.

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Below: An Assyrian stele with cuneiform script. Can you see a figure at the top - carved with two feet, two arms and hands, and a head covered with braided hair? (please scroll sideways)

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Let's look at it more closely. Below is a detail of the upper area. Does anything stand out?

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Notice the Assyrian figure on the left side... holding a staff with one hand, and offering a sacrifice with the other...

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

...and a Zoroastrian symbol of an eagle (below, in purple).

Zoroastrianism was the official state religion of the Persian Empire (ancient Iran) for nearly seven centuries, going back to Babylon, and still continues in remote places in Iran today, although greatly suppressed by the local religion.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Notice also the crescent moon.

>>The crescent is one of the oldest art symbols known to humanity. Together with the sun, it appeared on Akkadian seals as early as 2300 BC, and from the second millennium BC. It was the symbol of the Mesopotamian Moon gods Nanna in Sumer and Sin - the "Lamp of Heaven and Earth" - in Babylonia.

The crescent was well known in the Middle East and was transported by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage (modern Tunisia). The crescent moon and star also appears on pre-Islamic coins of South Arabia.<< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Here's the original stele (carved rock), below.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

I'm fascinated by archaeology because it supports the study of history. Archaeology is basically practicing the art of "seeing beneath the surface." One must get dusty or dirty in order to participate in it - something I don't really enjoy.

I'll tell you more in a future post about some experiences I've had on an actual archaeological site - at Alexandria Troas - and also in Istanbul, looking for the Hippodrome and the Imperial Palace of Constantinople.

If you're interested in learning more about the cuneiform writing system, click here and here.

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Below is an Egyptian tombstone - in basalt - a very hard volcanic rock.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Notice how the workers were able to polish it to a very smooth sheen - what a beautiful stone!

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Egyptian funerary stelle - Luxor

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below, a close-up of the top-right corner.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below, a Byzantine-era gravestone, still showing brilliant coloration.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

The gravestone commemorates a fallen soldier or gladiator.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below, the stone features a moving scene that likely represents the death of a mother. The daughter sends her off with a kiss. Notice the stylized tree on the left side. It looks like the work of Giotto, 1100 years later in the Italian Renaissance.

Below are ceramic figures from the 6th century Isthar Gate in Babylon (today, Iraq), built by Nebuchadnezzar II. Archaeologists have dug at the site for years, which is located south of Baghdad. Link: (NYT, 06. May 2009: Babylon Ruins Reopen in Iraq, to controversy)

A griffith - covered with scales is below. Notice that the tiles for the smooth legs - without scales - probably recovered as fragments on-site.

Another griffith - notice the claws on the back feet!

A unicorn bull.

Below, a related figure from the Babylon site that I've seen at the Pergamon Museum on the museum island in Berlin. Material: ceramic tiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ish-tar_Gate_detail.jpg
The bull (unicorn) is represented in bas-relief as part of the Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

And finally, this figure is from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts:

www.eurocles.com

Below, a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in Berlin's Pergamon Museum. I have read that the entire gate was disassembled after excavation at Babylon and taken to Berlin, where it is now in storage in the basement. Similar freezes are displayed in museums in Bristol, England and Boston.

Above, a mock-up in the basement in Berlin. For more information watch this excellent YouTube video:

Ishtar Gate and Processional Way (reconstruction), Babylon (6:49)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2iZ83oIZH0

This raises the age-old question of whether it's ethical to relocate such objects to Europe or America after they were discovered and excavated in the 18th-20th centuries: If they weren't taken away by archaeologists from these countries and placed in museums, would they have survived? The discolored bull (shown below - in a state of deterioration) is evidently still on-site in Iraq. Here's a link to another opinion (in German), focusing on the Pergamon Altar now located in Berlin.

http://www.mangalorean.com/browsearticles.php?arttype=Feature&articleid=2035
Turkey and Germany are currently involved in a legal battle before a European Union court about the rightful place for the Pergamon Altar (article in German) - originally located about 100 km. north of Izmir, on Turkey's west coast. I plan to cover the archaeological site at Pergama (near the Dardenelles) later in this blog.

In a similar fashion, the British Museum is also engaged in talks about the possibility of returning the Elgin Marbles taken from the freeze of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens which has prepared a terrific place for them in their new museum s.e. of the Acropolis. Info

The ruins of Babylon are located south of Baghdad:

New York Times

An artist's concept of the Isthar Gate, as a part of the Babylonian Palace complex in the 6th century, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. The animal ceramic tile figures were mounted around the gate entrance and along the processional way.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson

A band of archers, taken from the processional way, and now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Can you imagine the splendor of such a palace? (close-up detail)

www.redbubble.com

Another artist's concept of how this part of the Babylonian Complex may have appeared (blue color):

isloafelic.forumcommunity.net

And finally, a hunting scene carved into a porous igneous rock from the late-Hittite period (ca. 1200 BC). Notice that the hunter has two dogs to assist him in pursuing two deer with large antlers. The deer in the center panel is turning around to watch its pursuers, and has an arrow through its neck. (scroll sideways)