Museum of Ancient Anatolian Civilizations Hittite. Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Neolithic. How to get to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara

Photo: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara (Ankara, Turkey) - expositions, opening hours, address, phone numbers, official website.

• Tours for the New Year Worldwide
• Hot tours Worldwide

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is the modern, largest and most significant museum not only in Ankara, but in the whole country. This world-class museum boasts a unique rich collection of rare historical artifacts. It was founded in 1921 and grew rapidly under the auspices of President Atatürk, who was interested in preserving and studying the history of the Hittite tribes. Nowadays, the museum has expositions dedicated to prehistoric history starting from the Neolithic, as well as Assyrian civilization, the Hittites and Phrygians, great ancient civilizations, ancient Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire. The exhibits collected in the museum cover a period of 7500 years, and its collection of ancient Hittites is unparalleled in the whole world.

The exhibits collected in the museum cover a period of 7500 years, and its collection of ancient Hittites is unparalleled in the whole world.

At first, the museum occupied part of the Ankara castle (Akkale), and it housed artifacts from the temple of Augustus and the Byzantine baths. On the recommendation of Ataturk and with the expectation of creating a full-fledged Hittite museum, a need arose for a new building, for which two buildings were chosen - the former bazaar and the caravanserai. The buildings of the mid-15th century were restored from 1938 to 1968. The half-restored building was opened to the public in 1943. The round-domed Kursunlu Khan building became an administrative building with a laboratory and conference hall, and the Mahmud Pasha covered bazaar turned into an exhibition hall.

After a total renovation, the museum was reopened to the public in May 2014.

Today, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations boasts several rare exhibits. For the Paleolithic exposition, these are finds made in the Karainskaya cave in Antalya. In the Neolithic hall you can see statuettes of the mother goddess Cybele, obsidian tools and a depiction of a hunting scene from the 7th millennium BC. e. Bronze Age displays are dominated by artifacts associated with the Hittite tribes, including sun discs, deer figurines, female figures, and jewelry. The Assyrian period in the collection of the museum is represented, among other things, by 20 thousand clay tablets with writing samples, the relief depicting the god of war from the Royal Gate in Hattus can be considered the pearl of the Kask collection. Also interesting are the tablets that store the correspondence between the Egyptian queen Nefertari and the Kask queen Puduhepa, started after the signing of the Kadesh peace treaty - the first in world history (mid-13th century BC).

Detailed collections also reflect the history of the Urartians, Phrygians, Lydians up to about the 6th century BC. e. Later periods of the history of the region are not covered in such detail in the museum: these are expositions dedicated to antiquity and the history of Ankara. Here you can see statues, jewelry and decorated vessels made of gold, silver, glass, marble and bronze, as well as a wide variety of coins.

Practical information

The museum is located on a rather steep hill, and if you don't want to climb up on foot, it's worth taking a taxi (the trip from the main city station will cost about 12 TRY).

Address: Gozcu Sokak No 2 06240, Ulus.

Opening hours: the museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00.

Prices on the page are for October 2018.

They called Anatolia, which in Greek means "east", "sunrise". It is not surprising that the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the country's main historical museum, was opened in Ankara.

Its founder was the national hero of Turkey and the first president of the Republic of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, who led the national revolutionary movement in the country at the beginning of the last century.

At first it was assumed that the museum would be dedicated only to the ancient Hittite kingdom, founded by the Hittites in Asia Minor in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Scientists became interested in the history of this powerful people in the 19th century, after in the north of Central Anatolia, not far from the village of Bogazkale, 145 km from Ankara, the ancient settlement of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite kingdom, was discovered.

During the excavations, which began only in 1906, more than 14 thousand clay tablets with cuneiform texts were found. As it turned out, it was the oldest royal archive, thanks to which it became possible to find out what the Hittite kingdom and its inhabitants were like.

The museum, founded in 1921, began to receive other exhibits that belonged to ancient civilizations that existed in Turkey since the Stone Age: Assyria, Urartu, Phrygia, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.

The room, which originally housed the museum, turned out to be too small to accommodate all the exhibits. And for him, it was decided to restore the covered market and the caravanserai - a building where trade caravans could rest during a long journey. The market and the caravanserai were built as early as the 15th century, but after a fire at the end of the 19th century, they were destroyed. abandoned. The new museum in these two historical buildings opened in 1968, and already in 1997 it was named the best European museum of the year.

In the museum, in addition to halls with expositions, there is a conference room, a library, workshops and laboratories where restorers work and research is carried out.

The visitor's route begins with a hall dedicated to the Paleolithic era, and then follows in chronological order. Among the exhibits are finds from the Karain cave, where primitive people lived several millennia ago: bones, stone tools, fragments of wall paintings.

The Neolithic hall displays artifacts from ancient settlements in the southwestern part of Turkey - Hacilar and Chatal Huyuk. In the hall dedicated to the Bronze Age, you can see dishes, jewelry, weapons, statuettes made of bronze, gold and silver and their electrum alloy, found on the site of the former city of Aladzha-Hyuyuk, which existed until the time of the Hittite kingdom.

This is followed by the Assyrian, Hittite, Phrygian halls, the halls of Urartu, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, etc. Many exhibits date back to the 10th - 7th centuries. BC e. Some of the exhibits are exhibited in the courtyard of the museum, among them - an 8-meter Hittite obelisk, ceramic pots - possibly funerary.

Helpful information

Where is the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

The address of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (original name - Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi) is as follows: Kale Mh., 06250 Altındağ, Ankara, Turkey.

How to get to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

The museum is located in the old part of Ankara. We get off at the Ulus metro station and head to the Kale fortress, next to which is the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Opening hours of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

The museum is open daily from 8:30 to 17:30. However, the closing time should be specified on the museum website.

Entrance ticket price

The ticket price is 15 lire.

Official site

You can find out the current phone number or buy a ticket on the website

During my visit, the museum was partially closed for reconstruction, some of the exhibits were exhibited in the central hall, where they were in poor lighting conditions, which made photography difficult, but the main thing is that only a small part of the exposition was exhibited. Therefore, on occasion, you will definitely need to go there again, since this is the second most important museum in Turkey, and maybe the first, just the well-known Archaeological Museum in Istanbul is more often visited by tourists and is larger in size, but the collection of Anatolian artifacts in Istanbul is much smaller, than in Ankara.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is located in two historical buildings adjoining each other, Mahmud Pasha Bedestene (Covered Market) and Caravanserai (Kursunlu Khan), both of which were built in the 1470s.

In the courtyard of the museum, as is often the case in Turkey, some artifacts live, for example, such a Hittite obelisk (or rather, it is a copy of it). The obelisk dates back approximately to the 13th century BC, it was found near the town of Beysehir, which is near Konya, on a mountainside. The height of the obelisk is about 8 meters.

Also in the yard are numerous pots, possibly even funeral ones.

At the entrance to the main hall (and only it was open) there are lions from Arslantepe, which is located next to the current city of Malatya. Previously, it was called Melid - ancient Malatya, artifacts from there date back to the New Hittite period of the 11-7th centuries. BC. I must say that most of the things in the main hall are New Hittite artifacts from Melid, Karchemish, etc.

New Hittite states were formed on the ruins of the Hittite empire. The composition of the population in them was very motley, these were the Hittites themselves and possibly the peoples who destroyed the Hittite state, most likely they were Phrygians and proto-Armenians. Here you can add the Hurrians and Semites from the south. At the same time, their main language was Luvian, since predominantly Luwian writing can be seen on the stones in the museum.

Statue from Arslantepe, 10th-7th centuries BC.

King Sulumeli pours sacred water in front of the thunder god, 850-800. BC. Arslantepe

Relief depicting the murder of Humbaba, the murder is carried out by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Carchemish, 10th-7th centuries BC.

Below, bronze cauldrons from the burial mound of "King Midas" from Gordion. About this, it is worth adding here that it is possible that the cauldrons were of Urartian production, despite the fact that they were found in a Phrygian burial. In the background are Phrygian stone reliefs from Ankara, I never had an understanding of where exactly they were found. There was a large Phrygian center in Ankara, the Phrygian burial mounds in the territory of the capital of Turkey are well known, but it is not clear where these winged sphinxes and bulls were taken from.

Half-human, half-bull (kusarikku) and half-human, half-lion (ugallu), 950-850. BC. Carchemish.

Excavations of the city of Karchemish in southeastern Turkey.

A winged creature with the body of a lion and the heads of a lion and a man. 950-850 BC. Carchemish

Two bird-headed demons, 950-850 BC. Carchemish

Reliefs of the New Hittite period from Sakchagyozyu, 8th-7th centuries. BC. Gaziantep

Head of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, 7th-6th centuries. BC.

Ritual Phrygian vessel from , 8th c. BC Gordion. Unfortunately, there were very few things from Gordion in the museum at that time, the Phrygian hall was closed for reconstruction.

Wooden furniture from the barrow at Gordion, 8th c. BC.

Stones from Carchemish.

Warriors, 8th c. BC. Carchemish

Stele with Luwian hieroglyphs and two kings from Karchemish.

Warriors on stones from Carchemish.

Hittite ritual pottery bull-shaped vessels, 1600-1500. BC. Bokazkale, Hattusa.

This is how these gobies looked in the excavation.

Women from Karchemish, 9th-7th centuries BC.

Hero with two lions, plinth for a statue of a deity from Carchemish.

Skull gold ornaments. Assyrian colony in Asia Minor, 1950-1750 BC.

Very peculiar abstract idols. Assyrian colony at Kanish, 1950-1750 BC.

From the series - what would it mean?)

Sphinxes from the Hittite city of Aladzha-heyuk, 14th century. BC.

Below, the forelocked people from Aladzha-huyuk are the favorite Hittite image of all the Slavic-Aryan friars. In this relief, they allegedly see the earliest appearance of Ukrainian forelocks, although if you look closely, you can see that the structure on the head of a lad on the stairs is much more complicated than a simple forelock/settler, the man below has a forelock growing in front, by the way, this is how it is supposed to be among Turkic nomads, and not "Aryan Slavs") And in general, given the bent toes of their shoes, both characters are quite similar to the real Ottoman Turks :)

Ceramic bear. Assyrian colony, 1950-1750 BC.

Basalt bulls from Karchemish.

Bronze plate from Urartu, 840-590. BC

Bronze weapon, Urartu.

Lion carved from bone, from Altyn-tepe, now Erzinkan. Urartu, 707-600 BC.

Figures from Altyn-tepe, now Erzinkan. Urartu, 707-600 BC.

General view of the hall of the covered market of the 15th century, in which the museum is located.

Left, Goddess Kubaba (Cybele), 850-900 BC. Carchemish.

Two goddesses from Carchemish, 850-900 BC

Warriors on a war chariot, 950-850. BC. Carchemish

Hittite double-headed duck, 1750-1200 BC.

Phrygian goddess Cybele, 7th c. BC. Ankara.

Hellenistic golden funerary wreath.

Figurines of Aphrodite, apparently the same Mother Goddess or Cybele, only in Greek form, 2-1 centuries. BC.

Perfume glass containers, Roman period.

Roman bust of the era of Emperor Hadrian, 2nd c.

Basalt pedestal with sphinxes from Sakchagozu, 1200-700 BC. AD,

Museums of Turkey in my journal.

Official information
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations,
Anadolu Medeniyetleri Muzesi,
Gozcu Sokak No:2 - Ankara ,
www.anadolumedeniyetlerimuzesi.gov.tr

General information about the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations(according to published sources)

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (tour. Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi, English Museum of Anatolian Civilizations) is one of the richest museums in the world, the main historical museum of Turkey, located in its capital, Ankara.
The museum was founded in 1921. And in subsequent years, it expanded rapidly under the influence of Kemal Atatürk, the first president of Turkey, who wanted to create a Hittite museum in Ankara, and contributed to the acquisition of new buildings for the museum, as well as the fact that the museum received many exhibits from the surrounding areas, where the remains of ancient Hittite cities were preserved . The museum was also filled with exhibits of other ancient civilizations that were discovered in Turkey.
Currently, the museum contains collections of the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Assyrian and Urartian civilizations, Hittites and Phrygians, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire.
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations won the European Museum of the Year award in 1997.

Source: https://ru.wikipedia.org

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara is one of the richest museums in the world, the main historical museum of Turkey, which is the third most important archaeological museum in Europe after the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London.
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was founded by Turkish President Kemal Atatürk in 1921.. The museum is located in buildings built in the XV V . , which during the reign of Mehmet the Conqueror served as a covered market and a caravanserai.The building of the caravanserai houses the working and service area of ​​the museum with a library, study rooms, a conference room, a laboratory and a workshop. The exhibitions themselves are located on the territory of the former market in a kind of niches. It contains exhibits that are related to the history and culture of all peoples living vsh them on the land of Anatolia since the Paleolithic. In addition, there are large collections of ancient Greek and Roman historical values, as well as objects related to the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. yam. ...
The pride of the museum are the finds of the Neolithic era, which are about eight thousand years old. These are ceramic and clay household items, decorated with drawings, tools and jewelry.
The Bronze Age is represented by animal figurines and various gold items.
The era of the Assyrian trading colonies is characterized by clay tablets with Assyrian writings, with the help of which it was possible to learn a lot about the facts of this period of history.
The museum also presents finds of the Hittite rule - various statuettes of gods, animals, vessels.
Most of the exhibits of the Phrygian kingdom were seized from the royal burial ground, which is located on the hill of Gordion, which was considered the capital of the Phrygian state. There were various wooden pieces of furniture, ceramic and metal vases, etc.

Now the museum is fully adapted for visiting it by foreign tourists, if necessary, you can hire an English-speaking guide. And in the 90s, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations received the title of the best European museum of the year.