Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museums or Şanlıurfa Museum () are located in the south-eastern city of

Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about east of the Eup ...

(also known as Urfa),

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The museums contain remains of Şanlıurfa (known as

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

in antiquity),

Göbekli Tepe Göbekli Tepe (, ; Kurdish: or , 'Wish Hill') is a Neolithic archaeological site in Upper Mesopotamia (''al-Jazira'') in modern-day Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from around to at least , during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is famou ...

, Karahan Tepe,

Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...

(another ancient city which lies southeast of Şanlıurfa), findings from the

Southeastern Anatolia Project The Southeastern Anatolia Project (, GAP) is a multi-sector integrated regional development project based on the concept of sustainable development for the 9 million people (2023) living in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, Turkey, Southeastern An ...

and ruins found in the

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

reservoirs of

Atatürk Dam The Atatürk Dam (), originally the Karababa Dam, is the third largest dam in the world and it is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates River on the border of Adıyaman Province and Şanlıurfa Province in the Southeastern ...

Birecik Dam The Birecik Dam, one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project of Turkey, is located on the Euphrates River downstream of Atatürk Dam and upstream of Birecik town west of Province of Şanlıurfa in the southeastern region of Turk ...

and Karkamış Dam. Both museums are located at Haleplibahçe Mahallesi 2372, Sok Eyyübiye/Şanlıurfa (across the Şanlıurfa Piazza Mall).

The location history and the building

The old museum located at Çamlık Caddesi was opened in 1969 with a display area of 1500sq.m. Later on annexes were added. Before that, archaeological finds were displayed in the rooms of the Şehit-Nüsret-elementary school, therefore in Atatürk-elementary school. The current museum is on Haleplibahçe street, close to Balıklıgöl, a sacred pool. The museum opened in 2015, and replaced the former museum of Şanlıurfa on Çamlık street. With a closed area of , it is one of the biggest museums of in Turkey. The museum consists of two major buildings. To the north is the archaeology museum and to the south is the mosaic museum. The museum has 3 floors and covers 2,500 square meters of indoor space.

The mosaic museum

The mosaic of Orpheus was created in 184 A.D. in Edessa. It was found in 1980, and was taken to United States by illegal means. After some handovers, it returned to Şanlıurfa from the Dallas Museum in 2015.

The archaeology section

Urfa museum Urfa man sept 2019 4717 cropped

In the ground and upper floor there are four exhibition halls. The first exhibition hall is reserved for

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n and Hittite artifacts. In the second and third halls,

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

items such as stone tools, terracota ceramic tools, stamps, pithoi, necklaces, figurines, metallic tools, ornaments, and idols are exhibited. One of the most important items is a 9500-year-old sculpture which is the oldest-known life-size human sculpture. In the ethnographic section, clothes, silver and bronze ornaments, handworks, doors with epitaph, examples of calligraphy, and hand written Korans are exhibited. In the yard, there are various archaeologic items. It includes the

Urfa Man Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

statue, dated c. 9000 BC (11,000 years ago), being considered as the oldest life-sized sculpture of a human already discovered.

Gallery

File:UrfaMuseumGöbekli.jpg, Steles and sculptures from Göbekli Tepe File:Urfa Museum Schutzgott Gölpınar.jpg, Hittite Stele from Gölpinar File:Urfa Museum Nabonidstele.jpg, Stele of Nabonid from Harran File:UrfaMuseumNevaliCori.jpg, Fragment with scribing from

Nevalı Çori Nevalı Çori (, ) was an Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, early Neolithic settlement on the middle Euphrates, in Şanlıurfa Province, Southeastern Anatolia Region, Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. The site is known for having some of the world's oldest kn ...

File:UrfaMuseumStiere.jpg, Basis from Kabahaydar File:Balikligol.heykeli.jpg, Balikligöl statue File:Totem2.jpg, Totem File:Göbeklitepe.totem.jpg, Göbeklitepe totem File:Urfa museum Sphinx from Central- Çamlıdere Iron Age.jpg, Guard

References

External links

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virtual tour
{{Museums in Turkey Buildings and structures in Şanlıurfa Museums in Turkey 1987 establishments in Turkey Tourist attractions in Şanlıurfa Province Museums established in 1987 Archaeological museums in Turkey Museums established in 1969 1969 establishments in Turkey