Alanya Archaeological Museum is an archaeological museum in

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, east of the city of Antalya. As of Turkey's 2010 census, the city had a population of ...

, Turkey. The museum is divided into two sections, with displays of archaeological and ethnographic artifacts. It contains numerous ceramic, marble, bronze and glass pieces and mosaics from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Of particular note is its 2nd century bronze statue of

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, which measures in height. The museum, which was established in 1967, was refurbished in 2012.

History

The museum was founded in 1967. At the time of the museum's opening, the exhibits were provided by the

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations ( tr, Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi) is located on the south side of Ankara Castle in the Atpazarı area in Ankara, Turkey. It consists of the old Ottoman Mahmut Paşa bazaar storage building, and the Kurş ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

; these artifacts related to the periods of early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

n, and Lidyan. Artfacts from the excavations at

Laertes In Greek mythology, Laertes (; grc, Λαέρτης, Laértēs ; also spelled Laërtes) was the king of the Cephallenians, an ethnic group who lived both on the Ionian islands and on the mainland, which he presumably inherited from his father A ...

were gifted to the museum. Two sections display exhibits related to archaeological and ethnographic artifacts. Objects from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods are included in the museum's collections.

Exhibits

Some of the prominent artifacts on display include: two amphoras in good condition, which were recovered by fishermen from the waters in Antiochia and Cragnum, Greco-italic in form (dated to 250–150 BC), and a Will Type 10 Lamboglio 2 (dated to 100–40 BC); window frames with coverings carved with geometrical designs; an unusual wooden door frame with an inscription "Year 1237 H' (1821)" and flowery border ornamentation; coins from the period 700–500 B.C and also of the present period of the Turkish Republic; as well as a letter with 46 lines written by the Roman emperor

Septimus Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succe ...

to the citizens of Syedra conveying a message of thanks. Other is a prominent display in the central hall of an antiquity with an inscription on a stone of grey colour in the

Phoenician language Phoenician ( ) is an extinct language, extinct Canaanite languages, Canaanite Semitic languages, Semitic language originally spoken in the region surrounding the cities of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon. Extensive Tyro-Sidonian trade and commerci ...

dated to 625 BC; also featured is traditional art of the Alanya area of the Yörük people such as bags made of goat's hair, bags attached to the saddle, garments, decorative fabric, cookware, table linen, cutlery, adornments, handwritten documents, writing tools and model room replicating every day life. Additional displays include epigraphy and decorative artifacts of Orthodox Greeks from the Hagios Georgios church of Alanya; an array of exhibits related to navigation, such as a model of a ship loaded with amphorae found from the bed of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

sea which were used to transport oil, and a container made of bronze ornamented with a sculpture of the mythical

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

Grounds

A garden surrounds the museum. There are a large number of artifacts related to funerary practices of the Roman period and the Islamic period of the Seljuk, Ottoman, and Republican periods. The open grounds have an exclusive wing in which exhibits related to agricultural practices of the Romans are on display including oil extraction methods followed in the ancient Mediterranean region.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{authority control Archaeological museums in Turkey Antalya Province Alanya Museums established in 1967