Artworks symbolizing empires ruling from the Hittite period to the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia and its surroundings are on display at a new exhibition at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum until Aug. 1.
The exhibition “Empires in Istanbul: From Hittite to Ottoman” (İmparatorlar İstanbul'da: Hitit'ten Osmanlı'ya) opened last week with support of the Turkish Culture Ministry in various sections including Hittite, Persian, Macedonian Alexander, Roman, Eastern Roman and the Ottoman empires. The exhibition displays 210 artworks from 16 museums.
The first section of the exhibition displays emperors of the Hittite Empire, who ruled a large part of Anatolia as well as northern Syria in the 2nd century B.C. Reliefs depicting the emperors are accompanied by some moldings and photos. Works in this section have been chosen from the Istanbul Archaeology Museum’s former Museum for Oriental Works, Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum, Çorum Museum and Kastamonu Museum.
The second section is home to the empire of Macedonia, Alexander the Great, who ruled a region from Anatolia to India between the 6th and 4th centuries. Works like the head of Tyran, the statue of Alexander the Great and the head of Seleukos I are displayed to visitors via information boards.
The Roman Empire, which starts with Octavian, who ended the wars in the empire in 27 B.C. and was honored with the title “Augustus,” is shown in the third section with other objects from the museums affiliated with the Culture Ministry.
This section also highlights the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who realized the largest reconstruction activities in Anatolia. The pieces of head, leg and feet of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius statues, which were unearthed during the excavations in Sagalassos ancient city in the Aegean city of Burdur, which is regarded as one of the most important archaeological findings in recent years, are among the most striking works in this section.
The head of empress Livia, reliefs of emperors Claudius and Agrippina and the statue of the emperor Nero are among the other works in the section.
The exhibition continues with the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire. Since there are not many emperor statues from this period, the works are also enriched with mosaics, coins and miniature printings.
The head of Constantine the Great, who made Istanbul the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, a piece of porphyry sarcophagus, which is thought to be of Constantine the Great and the bust of Arcadius are among the highlights in this section. Just like in the other sections, coins from this period are displayed in chronological order in this section.
The final section of the exhibition brings the Ottoman Empire to the present day. Objects symbolizing Ottoman culture and art as well as the life of the sultans, selected objects reflecting the richness of the state in various fields are shown in this section. Sultans’ portraits, weapons, seals, ospreys, jewelries, imperial orders and caftans are waiting for visitors.
The exhibition “Empires in Istanbul: From Hittite to Ottoman” will run through Aug. 1 at the Assos Hall in the additional building of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.
Source: Hurriyet Daily News [May 16, 2011]