Niğde Archaeological Museum () is located in the centre of the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

provincial capital,

Niğde Niğde (; ; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and is located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Niğde Province and Niğde District.Köşk Höyük Köşk Höyük is a tell northeast of Bahçeli, near Kemerhisar (the ancient city of Tyana) in the modern Niğde Province of Turkey. It is located on the Bor Plateau, south of Mount Hasan near a spring. Description The site is a limestone h ...

and the Graeco-Roman city of

Tyana Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Iron Age, and Tūwanuwa during the Bronze Age, was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was the capital of a Luwia ...

, both in the nearby town of

Kemerhisar Kemerhisar is a town (''belde'') in the Bor District, Niğde, Bor District, Niğde Province, Turkey. Its population is 5,463 (2022). Geography The distance from Kemerhisar to Bor, Niğde, Bor is and to Niğde is . It is only west of Bahçeli, ...

History

From the Second World War until 1950, part of the collection of the

Istanbul Archaeological Museum The Istanbul Archaeology Museums () are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace. These museums house over one million objects from nearly all periods an ...

was kept in the ''Akmedrese'', the main Quran school in Niğde, on ''Ak Medrese Caddesi''. The building continued to be used as a museum after that. Because that space ceased to be sufficient for the collection, work began on a new museum building in 1971. The Akmedrese was closed in 1977and the new museum was opened to visitors on 12 November 1982. Soon the collection outgrew this building as well and it was accordingly rebuilt and renovated. The re-opening of the present museum occurred in 2001. The museum is or has been active in excavations at Köşk Höyük,

Porsuk Hüyük Tynna (; ), possibly also known as Dana, was an ancient Anatolian city located at the foothills of the Taurus Mountains, near the town of Ulukışla and the Cilician Gates in southern Cappadocia. It is known in the present-day as Porsuk Höy� ...

, Kestel,

Göllü Dağ Göllüdağ (also Göllü Dağ, Golludag) is a volcanic mountain located in central Turkey. This area has a long history of human occupation going back to the Lower Paleolithic period. Especially the obsidian found here was valuable. Geology ...

, Andaval, Eskigümüş and Kınık Höyük.

Collection

The museum's collection includes material displayed chronologically. Room 1 contains

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

artefacts, including obsidian spearpoints and arrowheads from Göllü Dağ,

Köşk Höyük Köşk Höyük is a tell northeast of Bahçeli, near Kemerhisar (the ancient city of Tyana) in the modern Niğde Province of Turkey. It is located on the Bor Plateau, south of Mount Hasan near a spring. Description The site is a limestone h ...

, Pınarbaşı Gölü, , and other locations, which date back to the 12th millennium BC. A large number of

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 ...

and

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 ...

ceramic objects (6th and 5th millennia BC) are also displayed, most of which come from the excavations at Köşk Höyük. There is also a reconstruction of a house from this settlement. Room 2 contains objects from the Early

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 ...

(3rd millennium BC) from Göltepe and the Kestel tin mines, as well as Middle Bronze Age pottery from the Assyrian trade colonies at

Acemhöyük Acemhöyük is an archaeological site in Turkey. The tell is located near the village of Yeşilova in Merkez district, Aksaray Province. The Bronze Age name for the place was probably Purušḫanda/Purušḫattum or . The site was important d ...

, near

Çamardı Çamardı is a town in Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, at the foot of Aladağ in the Taurus Mountains. It is the seat of Çamardı District.Neo-Hittite The states called Neo-Hittite, Syro-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works) were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern parts o ...

Luwian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

period. These are associated with the Hittite cities of the Nahita (Niğde) and

Tuwanuwa Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Iron Age, and Tūwanuwa during the Bronze Age, was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was the capital of a Luwia ...

(

) and the Neo-Hittite successor state of

Tuwana Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Iron Age, and Tūwanuwa during the Bronze Age, was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia Region, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It wa ...

. They include the

Niğde Stele The Niğde Stele is a Neo-Hittite monument from the modern Turkish city of Niğde, which dates from the end of the 8th century BC. Discovery The stele was found on 24 September 1975 near the citadel of Niğde in the Çelebi Hüsamettin Bey Mo ...

, which depicts the

weather god A weather god or goddess, also frequently known as a storm god or goddess, is a deity in mythology associated with weather phenomena such as thunder, snow, lightning, rain, wind, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Should they only be in charge of ...

Tahrhunzas and bears an inscription recording its dedication by Muwaharanis, son of

Warpalawas Warpalawas II () was a Luwian king of the Syro-Hittite kingdom of Tuwana in the region of Tabal who reigned during the late 8th century BC, from around to . Name Etymology The Luwian name was pronounced and was derived by adding the adjecti ...

, the king of Tuwana at the end of the 8th century BC. A second stele from Keşlik, c. 30 km west of Niğde, near

Altunhisar Altunhisar is a town in Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Altunhisar District.

, shows the weather god in a similar way, but its inscription is no longer legible.Stele of Keşlik
(with bibliography). Also on display is a plaster cast of the , found at Andaval (modern Aktaş), northeast of Niğde, which mentions Warpalawas, as well as other

Luwian hieroglyphic Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous logographic script native to central Anatolia, consisting of some 500 signs. They were once commonly known as Hittite hieroglyphs, but the language they encode proved to be Luwian, not Hittite, and the ter ...

inscriptions from Porsuk and Veliisa. The room also holds a pair of Neo-Hittite door lions from Göllü Dağ, as well as pottery, bronzes, and other small objects of the Phrygian period from Porsuk and elsewhere. Room 4 contains objects from the Greco-Roman period, mostly from

. Among these are inscriptions, statues, reliefs, terracotta and marble sarcophagi, small finds, and pottery. At the entrance to Room 5 is a smaller room with coins from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods. Rooms 5 and 6 are devoted to mediaeval and modern material. Room 5 contains the mummies of a woman and four children, which were found in the Yılanlı church in the

Ihlara Valley The Ihlara Valley (or Peristrema Valley; Turkish ''Ihlara Vadisi'') is a canyon which is 15 km long and up to 150 m deep in the southwest of the Turkish region of Cappadocia, in the municipality of Güzelyurt, Aksaray Province. The v ...

and date to the 10th century AD. Room 6 has an ethnographic display with books, carpets, weapons, and traditional costumes.

Gallery

NigdeMuseumKöskHaus.jpg, Reconstruction of a house from Köşk Höyük NigdeMuseumKöskVase.jpg, Animal vase from Köşk Höyük Nigde museum Kosk Hoyuk Gods and goddesses 0892.jpg, Goddess from Köşk Höyük Nigde museum Assyrian colonies 0897.jpg, Pottery from Assyrian colony at Acemhöyük Nigde museum Porsuk inscription 0920 orig colour.jpg, Luwian inscription from Porsuk Neo-Hittite stele from Niğde (Niğde Arch Mus 22.1.75).jpg, Neo-Hittite stele from Niğde Nigde museum Late Hittite 8th BC 0942.jpg, Neo-Hittite lions from Göllü Dağ Niğde museum Cauldron with handles Phrygian 0939.jpg, Phyrgian bronze cauldron NigdeMuseumTyana.jpg, Roman sculpture from Tyana NigdeMuseumMumieIhlara2.jpg, Mummy of a Byzantine child from the Ihlara Valley

References

External links

Niğde Museum

(Turkish)
Many pictures of museum objects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nigde Archaeological Museum Archaeological museums in Turkey Buildings and structures in Niğde Province