Istanbul Archaeology Museums

Museum · GülhaneIstanbul,Türkiye

Three Istanbul buildings around one marble coffin carved with Alexander in battle, opened in 1891 by the man who stopped antiquities leaving the empire.

The Istanbul Archaeology Museums are three buildings around one object: the Alexander Sarcophagus, a marble coffin carved on every side with Alexander and Persians locked in battle and in the hunt. It stands in the main hall, cut in deep, crowded relief, still carrying faint traces of its original paint. Rooms of classical statuary lead on from it, and the Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women sets eighteen grieving figures between columns, no two of them mourning the same way. The Ancient Orient wing beyond holds blue-glazed lions from Babylon's processional way. Osman Hamdi Bey, an Ottoman painter turned archaeologist, dug the great sarcophagus out of a royal necropolis at Sidon and opened a purpose-built home for it here in 1891, beside Topkapı's outer garden. He also wrote the law that stopped antiquities leaving Ottoman soil, which is why so much of this stayed. A tiled pavilion of 1472 shares the grounds. Outside, columns, capitals and weathered sarcophagi rest under the trees beside Gülhane Park.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The hands are gripping nothing — Many figures on the Alexander Sarcophagus once held bronze spears, swords and bridles, made separately and lost long ago. Look for fists closed around empty air.
Don't skip the side buildings — Most visitors crowd the main hall; the Ancient Orient wing and the Tiled Kiosk sit a few steps away and are usually near-empty.
Emperors wait outside the door — The huge purple sarcophagi standing in the forecourt are porphyry, quarried for Byzantine emperors; most people walk past without a glance.

Things to do

1
Hunt for the surviving colour
Stand at the long side of the Alexander Sarcophagus and lean in close. Trace the hunting scene until you find the surviving pigment — faint reds in a cloak, blue in the background. Then step back and take in the depth of the carving, where horses and men seem to break free of the marble.
2
Walk around the mourners
Move slowly along all four sides of the Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women. Look at each of the eighteen figures set between the columns and notice how every woman grieves differently — one covers her face, another turns away, a third simply stares. Read the whole arc of mourning around the box.
3
Find the treaty you could hold in your hands
Cross to the Ancient Orient building and look for a modest clay tablet in its case: the Kadesh treaty. It is far smaller than most visitors expect of the oldest peace agreement that survives from both sides. Stand with it a moment before you move on.
4
Pause in the garden of stones
Before you leave, wander the courtyard. Sit among fallen columns, stray capitals and weathered sarcophagi set out under the trees. It is quieter here than inside, and the shade and old stone make an easy pause between the museum and neighbouring Gülhane Park.