Istanbul Archaeological Museum is one of the largest museums in the world. It houses about a million exhibits and works that belong to different cultures and times. In the Museum's collection contains works belonging to civilizations that existed on the territory from Africa to the Balkans, Anatolia and the Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and the Ottoman Empire.

Istanbul archaeological Museum is located in three buildings, which are located in the Topkapi Palace on the site of the First court. Its structure also includes the Museum of Turkish Ceramics and Museum of the Ancient Orient. These museums were opened in 1891 and required Osman Hamdi Bey is a Turkish artist, diplomat of the nineteenth century, archaeologist and curator of the Museum, its existence. Haussmann just offered to build a new Museum and in 1891 the First part of the new building was opened. The plan drew the architect Alexander Vallaury, Franco-Turkish origin, the image of the sarcophagus called the "Weeping woman" of Western neo-classical design. The structure of the third part of the building was completed in 1908. Say, Osman Hamdi donated for the construction of the Museum, its annual earnings. Then, in 1884, was a ban on the export of archaeological sites abroad with a new provision included in the law on the relics.

Part of the Museum in 1935 entered the Ancient Orient Museum, which is housed in the School of fine arts. Later it joined with the Museum of Turkish and Islamic art. Since 1953 it is located in the Tiled pavilion. It was built in 1472 for the harem of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, who belonged to the oldest architectural monuments of the Ottoman Empire.

Since 1991, the works of the hall of antique sculptures and sarcophagi of the archaeological Museum were re-exhibited in this complex, which consists of the main building of the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Oriental works, tile Museum pavilion, classrooms with stampings, archive tablets, laboratories, libraries and other various outbuildings. One of the most valuable collections in the Museum are the sarcophagi from Sidon (ancient Syria). They are exhibited in its original form, but in a slightly more modern atmosphere. These sarcophagi represent different architectural styles that have evolved under the influence of cultures Phoenicia and Egypt. One of the most famous among the exhibits is the Alexander Sarcophagus, found by archaeologists in 1887 and is covered with beautiful carvings depicting battles and scenes from the life, as at first believed, the Alexander the Great. However, it was later proven that the sarcophagus belonged to Abalorios - the king of Sidon. There, in the necropolis of Sidon was discovered a well-preserved Sarcophagus of the Crying Women with intricately carved panels, depicting a woman in mourning. There are also other sarcophagi from the city of Sidon, for example, Satrap, king of Tabnit. In addition, the Museum also houses a statue of a lion that was in tombstone ruler Mausolus - the mausoleum at Halicarnassus. In the Archaeological Museum has preserved fragments of statues of ancient times, brought from Pergamon, the temple of Zeus, the artifacts discovered during the excavations of Troy and details of the temple of Athena of the city of Assos.

The Museum contains the largest chronological collection of the remnants of the material culture of the ancient inhabitants, discovered in the area. These exhibits shed light on the history and origin of Istanbul. At the entrance to the Museum is a statue of a lion found in the mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

The Museum featured an exhibition entitled "Istanbul Through the ages" - a rich and well-preserved the exhibition was in 1993 awarded the prize of the Council of Europe. The exhibition also presents the XIV century bell from the Tower of Galata, and part of serpentine Columns Racecourse – restored the head of the snake. On the two lower exposure levels were exhibits dedicated to the centuries-long evolution of Anatolia and Troy. Presented and sculpture from Palestine, Cyprus and Syria. Ancient Orient Museum was recently renovated and it is particularly rich collection of artifacts that once belonged to the early civilizations – Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt and the Arab continent. Here were exhibited the pre-Islamic idols and deities, ancient Aramaic inscriptions and a small collection of Egyptian antiquities that was brought in from the inner courtyard of the temple of al-Ula.

In the Museum you can still see the Obelisk Adad-Nirari Third with cuneiform inscriptions. Of particular value is a series of multi-colored mosaic panels depicting dragons with snake heads and bulls - the elements of the monumental Ishtar gate, built by king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The oldest exhibits date back to the XIII century BC these include the Sphinx gate with Arcae in Hattusas and 2 of the 3 known of the earliest signs a peace Treaty (Treaty of Kadesh), signed between Ramesses II and Hattusili III in the thirteenth century BC

Of particular interest are historical documents in cuneiform tablets, of which the Museum has over seventy-five pieces. The collection includes limestone plaque with the lettering size 11, h, 2 cm, which was found in 1908, founded in X century BC she Called the Gezer calendar. The exhibit larger is the Siloam inscription, which is a stone sizes 1, h, 21 meters, which has a story about the construction of the tunnel that connects the source of the Gihon and Siloam pond in the VIII century BC