Konya archeological museum - Byzantine art 2

Konya Archaeological Museum is a state archaeological museum in

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...

, Turkey. Established in 1901, it had been relocated twice before moving to its present location in 1962. One of the most prominent displays in the museum is of sarcophagi and other antiquities from the ancient city of

Çatalhöyük Çatalhöyük (; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a tell of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from app ...

. Other exhibits relate to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

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 prin ...

( old-Bronze and mid-Bronze periods),

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

( Phrygian and

Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...

), Classical,

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

periods; artifacts consist of

ceramic ware Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and porc ...

, stone and bronze wares,

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...

and inscriptions. A prominent display is of a marble sarcophagus of the 3rd century BC with elaborate sculpting events depicting the life 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 ...

. In the outer open yard of the museum, there are a number of small sculptures, sarcophagi, column heads, and epigraphy.

History

The museum was established in 1901 in one corner of the Karma Secondary School. It was shifted in 1927 to the Mevlana Museum and to the İplikçi Mosque in 1953. The museum reopened in a new building at the present location in 1962. It is situated in the interior of Konya city, approached by narrow lanes, and is on the ''Sahip Ata Caddesi''. Konya Archaeological Museum is one of the eight museums owned by the state in Konya.

Halls

The building houses a number of exhibition halls: The Pre-Historic Hall with antiquities of the Neolithic period (3000-1950 BC) from the excavations at Çatalhöyük consisting of terracotta pottery and stone implements; artifacts of the Old Bronze Period (1950-1750 BC), mostly ribbed terracotta pottery, from the archaeological excavations at Virgin, Karahöyük and Beyşehir; Middle Bronze Age (1950-1750 BC) artifacts of terracotta wares and bronze rings from Konya Karahöyük. The Iron Age Hall has exhibits of painted and other types of pottery in various shapes from the Iron Age (8th to 6th century BC) from Konya Alaaddin Hill, Phrygia, and Kıcıkışla, and figurines from

; Classical Period antiquities which are finds from excavations at Kıcıkışla and Lekythoses in the form of Kylixes, and a ''oinokhoe'' decorated and painted black; the Hellenistic Period exhibits are dated to 330-30 BC and consist of pottery of different varieties; and Roman Period small bronze artifacts of

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...

and a bull. Konya archeological museum - hercules 7

The Roman Period Hall has displays of antiquities from 30 BC to 395 AD from Iconium of "Sidemara type marble Herakles Sarcophagus with columns (250-260 AD)", pottery, glassware, ivory and ornaments; Byzantine Period (395-1453 AD) artifacts of "base mosaics" from Tatköy Church in Sille, Tatköy, Çumra, Alibeyhöyük, and Kilise, and also "bronze door knockers, cauldron handles, rolickers, crosses, marks and arrow ends" of the period. The prominent exhibits here are the 3rd century marble sarcophagus with carved scenes from the life of Hercules, a sarcophagus made in clay of the Roman period, a marble sarcophagus with engraved festoons, a 2nd-century sculpture of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

, and religious stone slab of the goddess

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian language, Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian language, Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother godde ...

(the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

n mother goddess).

Collections

The museum has inscriptions collected from locations within the city, and nearby areas; these consist of 231 inscriptions in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

of which 91 are from Konya and the rest are from other places in the vicinity. In addition, there 10 inscriptions in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. Another notable collection on display consists of six commercial amphorae made to store wine, garum and olive oil for maritime trading. These were specially manufactured in various subgroups in shapes with pointed bottoms so that the maximum number of them could be fitted into vacant spaces on the ship to maintain a stable form during a voyage.

Grounds

In addition to exhibits within the museum, the grounds contain small sculptures, sarcophagi, column heads, and epigraphy. Exhibits are also maintained at the entrance porch and in the front garden. The porch has exhibits of the Byzantine Period in the form of stone and marble antiquities of grave stones from Sille and Konya; and cemetery slabs of the Roman Period. Two important sculptures exhibited in the open yard of the museum are a limestone block with an inscription of

Derbe Derbe or Dervi ( gr, Δέρβη), also called Derveia ( gr, Δέρβεια), was a city of Galatia in Asia Minor, and later of Lycaonia, and still later of Isauria and Cappadocia. It is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles at , , and . Derbe ...

ascribed to the period of Paul the Apostle, and two stone monuments with inscriptions; one is a limestone block with the name of the city of Derbe and the other is an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

piece with the name Lystra inscribed on it.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Konya Archaeological Museum ceramics
{{coord, 37.8678, 32.4937, type:landmark_region:TR, display=title Museums established in 1901 1901 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Archaeological museums in Turkey Archaeological