The Istanbul Archaeology Museum is a goldmine of antiquities and treasures of various sorts, including things collected over many years by the Ottomans from their Empire. There are two major problems with this museum: 1) it has nowhere near enough space to properly display its holdings (much like the problem at the old Museum of Egyptology in Cairo), and 2) also like the old Cairo museum it is not climate controlled. Part of the result is that like other such museums in Turkey, some of the holdings are simply out in the open air in the courtyard, or in basements getting moldy and musty. On the good side, the museum is undergoing some major repairs so the third floor is closed to the public, but there is so much to see on the first two floors that you couldn’t possibly take that all in in a single day anyway. What is especially of interest is the new additions to the museum to enhance the learning process. So let’s start with these new features.
There are in the first place a lot of new artistic depictions of ancient Greco-Roman gods and related scenes, meant presumably to help one make sense of the plethora of images one sees on the many sarcophagi on exhibit on the first floor.
Equally interesting are the illustrations of how in the world the sarcophagus of Alexander got to Istanbul. It is only the s0-called Alexander sarcophagus. It’s actually the sarcophagus of someone who perhaps modeled himself on Alexander and had visions of grandeur about himself, and possibly whom Alexander appointed. It does indeed have scenes on it from Alexander’s exploits. It was found in Sidon in Lebanon and brought to Istanbul.
Here is the man in charge of the packing up of the sarcophagus and seeing it safely to Istanbul, and below that is his team.
Below are two pictures of the dragging of the sarcophagus off the docks and after that the picture of the extrication of it from the tomb area in Sidon. It must have been a monumental undertaking, for such a huge monument.
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