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sculptures from 14th century BC.
The Tile Museum was constructed upon
the order of Mehmet II (the conqueror) in 1466 and it is
one of the oldest buildings of Topkapi Palace. This
building, which was used as an entertainment hall in the
Ottoman times, has been used as a department where
Turkish-Islamic tile and ceramic works are exhibited
since 1967.
Archaeological works first gathered
in the St. Irene Church began to be protected in the
Cinili Kiosk from 1874 on. After the sites excavated in
Sidon of Lebanon and in Konya, with Sidamara tombs in
1887 were brought to Istanbul, a need for a new
exhibition building arouse. Today's building was
constructed by Alexandre Valaury in 1891 by the efforts
of Osman Hamdi Bey, master of Turkish museology, and
majority of the collections were transferred to this
building. In 1991, the premises of the museum were put
into service.
800.000 of 2.5 millions of works of
art in all Turkish archaeological museums are in
Istanbul Archaeology Museum. However, only one tenth of
these works can be displayed. The works on display
generally belong to Greek and Roman times. In addition
to the tombs displayed inside and in the garden, there
are many statues and other works of art in the museum.
The cuneiform tablet collection having 80.000 pieces is
the second largest collection after the British Museum.
There are also nearly 500.000 coins from the Greek,
Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times. Besides, daily
objects, oil lamps, busts, jewels, and many other
archaeological works found in Anatolia and the countries
which belonged to the Ottoman Empire taken to Istanbul
are displayed chronologically and thematically in
accordance with a modern museology approach. |
