Date: 10 April 2007
Partners for the day: Brooks Smith (text) Kristina Guild (pictures)
Sites: None
Museums: Archaeological Museums of Istanbul
Principle Buildings/Monuments: None
Time Spent on Sites: from ca. 8:30 to ca. 13:00 [4.5 hours]
Weather: Sunny
Our itinerary originally stated that we’d be visiting the Topaki Palace, but our itinerary for Istanbul is just a sheet of paper. Similarly, many museum pieces are just artifacts; at the Archaeological Museums of Istanbul, however, the exhibits are given life. We had a “late start” at 8:30am this morning, and then we stayed as a group at the Museums until 1pm, when we had free time for the remainder of the day.
Of all the museums which we’ve visited, the Archaeological Museums of Istanbul have provided some of the most useful displays, reconstructions, and accompanying text on their exhibits and artifacts. In addition to labeling every single artifact in both Turkish and English with the item’s name, date, find location, material, and catalog number, there were numerous explanatory displays. Unlike even many American museums, these explanatory displays were not just paragraphs of text; they were extremely well-organized bullet point facts, usually combined with timelines, diagrams, and other reading assists. Often in Greece, artifacts will have little more than the approximate date, and sometimes not even that. It was a pleasant surprise here in Istanbul to experience a different situation. Professor Rutter certainly saw the necessity of his job diminish at this museum complex. The writer of this blog entry remained at the museums for a couple hours during the free time, and found himself experiencing deja-vu frequently as he read the various documents on the walls.
Upon entering the main archaeological museum, we were immediately awe-struck with a statue, unique in the Turkish area, of a bearded god holding a lion by the hind legs. It drew us in and made us want more (this was the first thing we did today, so no one was sick of archaeology yet). Professor Rutter heard our calls and led us first to the classical Greek collections. In each room, there was a gigantic poster on the wall which, even our professor admitted, helped him to find the actually remarkable stone works in the room. The alternative, admittedly, has not been a problem for us, as Professor Rutter both knows the museums and knows the specific artifacts so that he can find the interesting items for us. However, the general public usually does not have such a guide.
As we proceeded on, we encountered one very unique part of this museum – it had a children’s section. Parents of young children may often find it difficult to visit adult museums without hiring a baby-sitter, but this museum catered nicely to such parents. Among the items in this section was a miniature Trojan Horse which children could crawl into. Allow me to quote our professor: “Now I know you all want to climb into the horse, but you really aren’t that small anymore.” Amidst much groaning, we submitted and continued on.
The next stop included a beautiful reconstruction of the Temple of Athena at Assos. The Istanbul museum had only a few stones in its possession (the rest being at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts), but they had reconstructed the entire western facade of the building in full size. It was a magnificent sight, and certainly gave a much better impression of what was going on than just the few stones by themselves could have ever hoped for. The museum even took two stones out of the reconstruction and placed them on the floor so that visitors could look up close and get a real sense for the size of the sculptures.
In the same area were several Aeolic column capitals. Based on experience in Greece, we should have expected these capitals to be either on the ground or on a short display stand. Here, however, we found the capitals just out of arm’s reach above our heads. In this way, they could be seen fairly close up, but from a downward angle, similar to how they would have been seen in real life.
We then walked up the stairs to one of the most impressive displays of all – it was an exhibit about the history of Istanbul itself. We walked quickly through this section, as we were told that there was much more information to be learned from the displays than our professor knew, and we should come back to the exhibit later. The textual displays contained enough information to both give the average viewer a strong core of history and also to amuse the reader with a few entertaining facts. One such fact stated: “The earliest library in Istanbul contained 140,000 volumes. One of those was said to be a copy of the Iliad written in gold wrapped around a dragon’s intestine.” Now this was the way to learn history!
Finally, we explored several sarcophagi. They were located in a dim room, but with spotlights designed to perfectly accentuate the exquisite detail to be seen. There was even a reconstruction of the stunning color on the relief sculpture of the Sarcophagus of Alexander.
The Archaeological Museums of Istanbul provided some of the most exquisite displays which we had yet seen on this foreign study program. Despite our knowledgeable guide, we are still provided with significantly better information from a museum complex that explains its displays so well. To the general public, the writer believes that this is one of the best museum complexes to which one can go to not just see, but experience the Eastern Mediterranean cultures of yore.
It is about 8:00pm on April 9th, our second day in Istanbul. As we wait for a group to assemble for dinner, Gahl and I start the first round of an arm wrestling tournament in the lobby of the Ottoman Hotel. Liz and Chris referee the showdown. Who won?!? Come on now…
Brooks and Josh take their places for the second match of the tournament. The tension is thick. Liz looks worried. She and I are the official elbow stabilizers for the match. Chris counts off “1…2…3!” After several minutes of heated competition, Brooks carries the victory.
YILDIRIM!!! YILDIRIM!!! YILDIRIM!!! Our wonderful guide slams his younger opponent’s hand down on the table. Johann is sweating!
Johann, Brooks and Kyle show off their guns for the photographers at the end of the tournament. Good and tired, we all head out to dinner at a small restaurant around the corner.
It is about 8:45am on April 10th. We are on our way to the Archeological Museum of Istanbul. On the way we pass the Topkapi Palace, which we visited yesterday. Gahl can’t resist the temptation to pose with the gendarme on duty. Not even our Gahl could make the man smile…That’s saying something.
We are now in the Archeological Museum of Istanbul. Ray bears his teeth alongside a lion from the Mausoleum at Bodrum, which was known in ancient times as Halicarnassus. This is the only piece from the Mausoleum in the museum’s collection. Most of the remaining sculpture is in the British Museum.
Nick and Pete pose next to funerary stele of the Classical Period.
Kinsey stares off dreamily as she poses with a marble head said to represent the lyric poetess Sappho. As she walks away from the sculpture, Kinsey exclaims “I love Sappho!”
As we make our way through the museum’s collection of marble sculpture, several people are excited to see another gigantomachy. In the central panel the goddess Athena battles with the snake-tailed giants.
The museum has a gallery designed specifically for children. Nick’s inner child bubbles to the surface when he sees the reconstruction of the Trojan Horse with stairs for children to climb inside. Unfortunately, none of us could fit…A group picture on the outside will have to do.
From farthest to closest, Josh, Kyle, Ben, Chris pose under beautifully displayed column capitals in the museum’s gallery devoted to the Temple of Athena at Assos.
Gahl takes careful notes in front of a case of pottery from the finds at Troy VI. We are almost finished with our tour of the Archeological Museum. It is almost 12:30pm.
After our tour of the Archeological Museum and the adjacent Museum of the Ancient Orient, Yildirim strikes a victory pose over his defeated arm-wrestling opponent of the previous night. Johann bows humbly.
Professor Rutter, Johann and Gahl take a break on the steps of the Museum of the Ancient Orient. Meanwhile, Yildirim shows Ben how to get to the port to make the commuter boat for an afternoon trip up the Bosphorus.
It’s finally time for lunch at 2:00pm. Gahl, Johann, Chris and I stop to eat in a small restaurant close to the Hippodrome. Pistachio Baklava is amazing!
Now it is time for the Covered Bazaar. Groups of three and four students make their way through the maze of shops and stalls. Here Gahl and Johann pose wearing Turkish hats.
A few hours after our entry into the Bazaar, I find my dream rug. Time to start bargaining!
We emerge from the Bazaar three hours later with all of our wares. Now we just need to find a way to get it all home… Johann, Chris and Gahl are very proud of what they managed to buy and especially of what they managed NOT to buy!
A group photo before our highly anticipated session at a famous Turkish bath. It is 7:30pm, and the end of a long day.
Gahl, Johann and Josh compare their freshly exfoliated skin before the group heads out to dinner.
Final Comments:
After a long day of exploring the Archaeological Museums and then haggling with street vendors at the covered bazaar, a large group went on an excursion to a famous Turkish bath. What a relaxing and sweaty way to end a long day! We’re sure everyone will remember this experience for years to come.
