Archaeological Museum of Amasya
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Amasya Museum, also known as Archaeological Museum of Amasya ( tr, Amasya Müzesi or Amasya ''Arkeoloji Müzesi'') is a national museum in Amasya, northern Turkey, exhibiting
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
artifacts found in and around the city as well as ethnographic items related to the region's history of cultural life. Established in 1958, the museum owns nearly twenty-four thousand items for exhibition belonging to eleven historic civilizations.


Background

In 1925, a museum depot was formed in two rooms of the madrasa within the Sultan
Bayezid II Bayezid II ( ota, بايزيد ثانى, Bāyezīd-i s̱ānī, 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512, Turkish: ''II. Bayezid'') was the eldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, ...
Complex when a few archaeological artifacts and some
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic era mummies were stored up together. The official establishment of the museum took place by June 1958. As more space became needed due to the increased number of items for exhibition, the inventory was transferred in 1962 to the 13th-century monumental Seljuk era-building at Gökmedrese Mosque. The museum was moved to its newly built current modern building on March 22, 1977. It was opened to the public on June 14, 1980, after rearrangement of the exhibition items in chronological order.


Museum

The museum is housed in a three-story building. The basement contains storeroom, laboratory and service units. In the ground floor, a small exhibition room, a kiosk and a lounge is situated. The upper floor comprises two large exhibition halls containing archaeological artifacts and ethnographic items. In the museum's garden, stone artifacts and mummies from the Ilkhanate period inside the Tomb of Mesud I are on exhibition. The museum has 5,574 archaeological and 17,287 ethnographic objects as well as 1,247 items for study purposes.


Ground floor

The exhibits in the ground floor include
amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...
s of the Roman and Byzantine eras found in a shipwreck off
Bafra Bafra is a district of Samsun Province of Turkey. It is a settlement located from the Black Sea, in the fertile delta of the Kızılırmak River. The Bafra Plain is famous in Turkey for its rich soil and high quality tobacco growing conditions. ...
, three Roman-era terracotta and a Byzantine-era bronze
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
, a Hellenistic period relief featuring
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
and son, a torso statue of a priest from the Roman era, original marble inscriptions of the
Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...
and Ottoman era mosques and madrasas, a wooden door leaf with figures from the Late Byzantine period, double-winged wooden doors of Gökmedrese Mosque from the Seljuk era and Mehmed Pasha Mosque from the Ottoman era. There are also carpets, prayer rugs and saddlebags on display, which were brought to the region by
Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...
who immigrated during the Russo-Turkish War.


Upper floor - archaeological section

The archaeological section in the upper floor contains artifacts unearthed inat local
archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
s, including earthenware, bronze daggers and axes, needles, loom weights and seals of the Early Bronze Age (3500–2100 BC) and Hittites (1400–1200 BC), figurine of Hittite storm
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
Teshub, best known as the Amasya figurine, acquired bronze bracelets and pots of Kingdom of Urartu (900–600 BC), libation bowls of
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 ...
ns (850–600 BC), iron sword and diverse metallic fighting tools of a Scythian cavalry (6th century BC), dishes and kantharos from the Hellenistic period,
tear catcher Tear, tears or tearing may refer to: * Tearing, the act of breaking apart a material by force * Tears, a clear liquid secreted by the tear gland in the eyes of land mammals Arts and entertainment Literature * "Tears", a poem by Edward Thomas * ...
s, glass perfume cups, bowls, terracotta kantharos, theatrical masks, bronze containers, various golden, silver and glass women's jewellery of the Roman era, Hellenistic and Roman oil lamps and bronze coins, copper coins of Byzantine, silver coins of Seljuk and golden coins of Ottoman period, and finally diverse Byzantine period (476-1453 AD) items.


Upper floor - ethnographic section

This museum's section exhibits copper-ware utensils such as kettles, washbowls, buckets, hand-basins and cooking pots used in the Ottoman households during the 19th century; various jewellery worn by Ottoman women;
nacre Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is f ...
-inlay wooden spoons, boxes, trunks and clogs from the Ottoman period; all types of Ottoman weapons; Seljuk and Ottoman ceramic plates and water jugs; astronomical tools like wooden
astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
s, compasses and globes; Ottoman bath objects such as bundles made of tinsel embroidery velvet and bath clothes; timekeeping instruments including silver and enamelled hunter-case pocket watches and wooden-case pendulum clocks; lighting devices like glass and ceramic
kerosene lamp A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a t ...
s; Ottoman period tea, coffee and smoking utensils; thuribles; talismans; hand-written books of the Quran; writing utensils; lecterns; decree documents with Sultan's tughra, and colours, standards and guidons.


Open-air exhibition

In the garden to the west of the museum, large-sized stone artifacts are on display from the periods of Hittites, Hellenistic, Byzantine, Ilkhanate, Seljuk and Ottoman. These are Hittite gate lion statues, Hellenistic and Roman epigraphies,
Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...
and
Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
s, Roman sarcophagi made of marble and limestone, inscriptions and milestones, Byzantine
stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
s and architectural elements as well as inscriptions of buildings, headstones, terracotta jars and mosque column capitals from the Ilkhanate, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Six mummies from the Ilkhanate period (1256–1335/1353) are on display inside the Tomb of Mesud I. This part of the museum is the most visited. The mummies were transferred here from two mosque graveyards in Amasya.


Access

The museum is located on Mustafa Kemal Paşa Cad. in the city center. It is open every day from 8:30 to 19:00 local time (17:00 in winter months). The admission fee is 5.00 (approx. US$1.67).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amasya Archaeological Museum Archaeological museums in Turkey Ethnographic museums in Turkey Buildings and structures in Amasya Province Museums established in 1958 1958 establishments in Turkey Museum Tourist attractions in Amasya Province