Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Three Museums In The First Courtyard Of Topkapi Palace The Archaeological Museum Of 1891, The Museum Of The Ancient Orient And The Tiled Kiosk Of 1472 · Istanbul, Istanbul

In the first courtyard of Topkapi, outside the palace ticket line and missed by most of the people walking past it, are three museums holding objects that belong in any list of the world's great antiquities. The Alexander Sarcophagus is here - carved with Alexander at the battle of Issus in relief so deep the horses come off the stone, with traces of the original paint still on it, dug out of the royal necropolis at Sidon in the 1880s by Osman Hamdi Bey, who founded this museum to keep such things in the country. So is the Treaty of Kadesh, the oldest surviving peace treaty on earth, pressed into clay after the Hittites and the Egyptians fought each other to a standstill. So are lions from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, the Siloam inscription from Jerusalem, and a Tiled Kiosk of 1472 full of Seljuk ceramics. A long renovation means what is open varies, so check before coming for one particular object.

Cankurtaran Mahallesi, Osman Hamdi Bey Yokusu, Gulhane, Fatih, Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkiye

Open most days with a weekly closing day and longer summer hours. A LONG RENOVATION HAS HAD GALLERIES OPENING AND CLOSING IN STAGES FOR YEARS - what you can see varies, and the three buildings do not always all open together. Check before planning a visit around a particular object. The first courtyard of Topkapi, in which it sits, is outside the palace ticket line.

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