Ankara, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

National archaeological museums tell a lot about the way a nation looks at its own history. A comparison of the museums in Ankara and Cairo is illuminating. The latter focuses on the third and second millennium BCE; the first millennium is almost ignored, even though it is the period in which Egypt, ruled by foreign dynasties, had a very great impact on other civilizations, and the other way round. But somehow, those Libyan, Nubian, Assyrian, and Persian dynasties are treated as if irrelevant. What we see is a “pure” Egyptian culture, not the more cosmopolitan Egypt.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara has made the oppositie choice. The plural “civilizations” tells a lot about the way Turkey looks at its past: plural, varied, multicolored. The first rooms are devoted to the Neolithicum, the Chalcolithicum, and the Early Bronze. Here you will see the finds from Çatalhöyük, one of the oldest agricultural sites in the world. And then: Kanesh – an Assyrian trade post in Central Anatolia. A meeting of cultures.

And this remains a crucial theme. There’s the Early Hittite period, followed by the age of the Hittite Empire, both with a lot of attention to foreign influences. I loved the letter from an Egyptian to a Hittite queen. The Neo-Hittite states are dealt with, and Aramaic influences are duly noted. Most impressive is the set of reliefs from Karchemiš, which include a powerful Gilgameš: the hero of a Babylonian epic.

When we reach the Phrygians and see the finds from the great tumulus of Gordium, the “tomb of Midas“, we again meet the Assyrians, because their texts seem to mention king Midas. (Perhaps this is incorrect, but that’s not my point.) Urartu is also dealt with in relation to its powerful southern neighbor. The Lydians are presented with their relations to the Greeks, and finally, you will see Greek and Roman objects in the basement.

The Persian age is almost neglected – which I sincerely regret, but you will get my point: Turkey’s past is pluriform. It is one of the nicest museums I know.

This museum was visited in 2010, 2013.

57 pictures related to this museum

Ancyra, Balgat Tomb, box	Alacahöyük, "sun disk"	Hattusa, Statue of Cybele/Agdistis	Anisa, Amphora with a hunting scene
Trajan	Karchemish, Neo-Hittite relief of a fight against a lion	Ikiztepe Usak, Incense burner	Seleucus III Keraunos
Hattusa, Letter from the Hittite queen Puduhepa to the Egyptian queen Nefertari	Çatalhöyük, Statuette of a woman with two felines	Justinian	Karchemish, Neo-Hittite mythological relief
Ancyra, Temple of Augustus, coin	Karchemish, Neo-Hittite relief of a hero (Gilgameš?) with animals	Melitene, Inscription and relief of a lion hunt	Figurine of Glykon
Antiochus I Soter	Relief of a magian with libation bowl and barsom	Constans II	Ancyra, Tombstone of a sailor named Cornutus
Gordium, Tomb P, Vase with lion	Melitene, Relief of a chariot	Ancyra, Baths of Caracalla, Statue of an emperor	Seleucus IV Philopator
Kanesh, Divorce contract	Dövlek, Figurine of the smiting god	Melitene, Statue of Mutalluh	Gordium, Tomb P, Wooden toy
Hattusa, Sculpture of a bull	Gordium, Great Tumulus, Chamber, Model	Ancyra, Tombstone of a gladiator	Hattusa, Treaty between king Tudhaliya IV and king Karunta of Tarhuntašša
Kanesh, Will of an Assyrian named Agua	Melitene, Relief of several gods	Karchemish, Neo-Hittite relief of a soldier(?) riding a dromedary	Alacahöyük, Hittite vase (Old Kingdom)
Ancyra, Temple of Augustus, coin	Ancyra, Roman tombstone	Antiochus VIII Grypus	Karchemish, Neo-Hittite relief of Kubaba
Karchemish, Neo-Hittite relief of two winged demons	Ancyra, Roman tomb	Karchemish, Neo-Hittite relief of a mythological creature	Apollo on a coin of Philip II
Ancyra, Balgat Tomb, wreath	Ancyra, Balgat Tomb, wreath	Gordium, Tomb P, Vase with lion and ibex	Heraclius and his son Constantine III
Alacahöyük, Bronze bull	Gordium, Great Tumulus, Skull of the deceased	Gordium, Great Tumulus, bronze rhyton	Ancyra, Temple of Augustus, model
Constantine IV the Bearded	Phocas	Travertine (Ankara-Maliköy)	Lydian stater with head of a lion
Melitene, Lion Gate, lion