May 6, 2022

May 6, 2022

Istanbul sounds so Middle Eastern foreign. I always thought the name had some connection to the Muslim ‘stan’ countries. Actually it is derived from the name the city was known by for over a millennia, Constantinople, city of Constantine. Like New Yorkers refer to Manhattan as ‘the city’ so did Byzantines refer to their great city as ‘ista polis’ or Istanbul.

Constantinople was probably the greatest city in the world during the Middle Ages. It was the capital of two great empires. For 1000 years, this was the center of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. After its fall in 1453 it became the center of the Ottoman Empire for the next half millennia. Our hotel sits on land that sat just outside the palace of the Byzantine Empire. Or so I thought. We had breakfast on the bottom floor of the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we sat right next to some preserved foundation walls of this great palace.

After breakfast we walked uphill a few blocks to the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. This section of the Byzantine palace floor was discovered fifty years ago during a construction project. The project was cancelled, and a protective cover was built. The beautiful mosaic floor is quite extensive but incomplete. A wide variety of scenes are depicted, especially of exotic animals.

When the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine capital, the Great Palace had become decrepit. It was torn down and the great Mosque of Sultan Ahmet was built atop it. Known as the Blue Mosque for its interior tile work, it dominates the skyline with its domes and six tall minarets. Unfortunately the interior is undergoing renovation and has limited hours.

Instead we visit the adjoining tomb of Sultan Ahmed. I have to laugh as the beautiful structure is filled with caskets. When you have a harem with many wives, you have to make room for dozens of sons in your burial plot.

Just north of the Blue Mosque is the Hippodrome. This was the 1500-ft chariot race track of the Byzantines. It is now a long rectangular park. The central spine was decorated with monuments stolen from within the Empire. Most notable is an Egyptian obelisk and a bronze Serpent column from the Greek Oracle of Delphi.

Constantinople lacked a reliable water source. That was remedied with an Aqueduct that filled large underground cisterns. The famous and vast Basilica Cistern is closed for renovation (that is a common theme) so we visit the nearby Cistern of Theodosius. Or try to. It is also mysteriously closed.

Assyrian Soldier Frieze from Arslan Tash

So we punt and visit the Istanbul Archaeological Museum instead. It has three buildings. We start in the Museum of the Ancient Orient. It covers the ancient civilizations of the Middle East. It has a wide variety of artifacts from this cradle of civilization including some glazed brick panels from the famed Ishtar Gate of Babylon. Looking at the many statues and reliefs, it seems every man from these civilizations had a braided beard.

Cuneiform was the alphabet of the Middle East. Apparently it derived from an Hieroglyphic-like picture writing but evolved into a simple wedge-shaped alphabet. The museum has loads of sample tablets. Ancient Middle Easterners must have had superb vision, because most of the script is microscopic.

For me the best part was the intersection with our recent Egypt trip. On display is one of the Hittite copies of the Kadesh treaty. That was the world’s first peace treaty negotiated between the local Hittite King and the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses the Great.

Afterwards we toured the main Museum exhibits. It has an amazing collection of Greco-Roman artifacts. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as the Ottoman Empire was rich enough in its prime to indulge in archeological enterprises.

The centerpieces are a collection of sarcophagi from a royal burial complex in the ancient city of Sidon in present day Lebanon. The necropolis is the Greek equivalent of the Valley of Kings in Luxor. The most stunning is known as the Alexander Sarcophagus. This carved stone casket is in near mint condition with superb high relief depictions of a battle that Alexander the Great participated in. It even has traces of the colorful paint that once decorated it. It tells me that Egypt was not as unique as I thought. Other civilizations had their impressive treasures. Egypt’s were just lucky enough to survive intact because many had been buried and forgotten in an arid desert.

We have to speed through the rest of the museum, because we are jet-lagged and this museum is vast. That is unfortunate because the quality of the artifacts is astounding and extensive. Even the outdoor grounds of the museum are strewn with artifacts exposed to the elements that other museums would love to exhibit, including a giant Medusa head and several sarcophagi of the Christian Byzantine Emperors.

Statue of Tyche (with traces of color)

Western Turkey was a center of Greek and later Roman civilization, so it is not surprising that the exhibits from these eras are astounding. These artifacts are generally missing heads or arms, but not here. Most are amazingly intact. It is a testament to the former power of the Ottoman Empire that this collection exists.

Exhausted, we finally have to run through the upper floors of the museum. And it isn't over. We finish next door in the third building, the Tiled Pavilion. This is a medieval Ottoman structure that has been repurposed as a Museum of Islamic Art.

Our walk back to our hotel is through thick crowds of tourists. And I thought Istanbul tourism had yet to return (or maybe I was just hoping.) The Blue Mosque opens late afternoon once renovation has finished for the day. We join a long line to enter. It was a crowded waste of time. Almost everything but a tiny view of the main dome is behind barricades. We will have to return in the future.

Back at the hotel Aimee and I take a nap and then head out to a nearby rooftop restaurant for an early dinner. The fish entree was just okay, and the Rice Pudding dessert was good, but the beer and the view and the service was outstanding. In one direction was the Blue Mosque, in another the Great Hagia Sofia, and to the south the Sea of Marmara. In the distance we see dozens of ships waiting to go through the narrow Bosphorus Strait that bisects the city of Istanbul.