IZMIR

Izmir Archaeological Museum is the place to see spectacular sculpture and other antiquities discovered not only in Izmir itself, but in other ancient cities in the region. Founded over 75 years ago, the museum moved to its present modern building in 1984. One of the ground floor galleries contains stone carvings and statues arranged in chronological order. At the entrance is a 1.83 metre high kore or statue of a young girl. Another kore found near the Temple of Apollo at the oracular centre of Claros (Ahmetbeyli), and a kuros (young man) carrying a bullock for sacrifice are among the other early period works.

A glass case contains various figurines of Cybele, the Anatolian mother goddess who represented fertility. Cybele’s origins went far back into prehistoric times and she later evolved into Artemis. There are also votive steles presented by worshippers in veneration of different deities. In another case are figurines of Heracles, Athena, and the winged god of victory Nike. On Athena’s breastplate is carved the head of Medusa, who had aroused the goddss’sd anger by her love affair with Poseidon. In revenge Athena turned Medusa’s hair into serpents and made her face so ugly that all who set eyes on her were turned to stone.

Among the most beautiful statues are two of women found near the village of Özbey in the district of Torbali, a 2nd century AD Aphrodite holding Eros in her left hand found in the East Gymnasium at Ephesus, and the hunter Androclos, legendary founder of Ephesus, found in that city and also dating from the same period.

Penetrating the secrets of nature and tapping into its powers to attain immortality is the ultimate ambition of human beings. For the god of vineyards and harvests, Dionysus, the way to do this was by wine and intoxication, and an entire case is devoted to figurines of the Dionysus cult.

In the centre of the entrance hall is a mosaic pavement brought from Kadifekale. Made of pebbles and glass tessera (the cubes used to form mosaics), the pavement has a design of animals and plants. A bird’s eye view of the mosaic can be had from the balustraded upper floor.

At the entrance to the Funerary Cult Gallery are inscriptions, and to the right a statue group of Demeter, Poseidon, and a goddess thought to be Artemis, found in Izmir’s agora. Demeter symbolised the fruits of the soil and Poseidon those of the sea. On either side of the room are reliefs dating from 250 BC brought from the Belevi mauseoleum. They adorned the vaulted arches of the colonnade which ran around the tomb, and depict the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, and funeral games held after burials. The winged griffons come from the same mausoleum.

The 2nd century AD statue of Caistros the river god from Ephesus, and Flavius Damianus, an imperial priest wearing a diadem and a ring on his left hand, from the East Gymnasium at Ephesus are both magnificent. A 3000 BC prehistoric grave discovered at Iassos (Kiyikislacik) is exhibited as it was found by archaeologists. In the same gallery are marble and clay sarcophagi.

On the next floor is the Ceramics Gallery, which was rearranged last year and named after Turkey’s most celebrated archaeologist, Ordinarius Professor Dr Ekrem Akurgal. The exhibits range from the Late Chalcolithic (3000 BC) Age to the Byzantine period, and give a vivid picture of life through artefacts. Information panels illustrated with photographs give clear accounts of the customs and art of each period.

Salvage excavations carried out by the museum at the five to six thousand year old Bakla Tepe settlement mound prior to inundation by Tahtali Dam revealed finds of extraordinary importance for our knowledge of Aegean prehistory. They date from the late part of the Chalcolithic Age, when peoples otherwise essentially stone age in character were developing copper metallurgy. Finds from another settlement mound, Panaztepe, which four thousand years ago was an island, reveal the influence of mainland Greece and central Anatolia. In particular, considerable quantities of Minyan ceramics, a type originating in central and southern Greece, were found here.

In a tomb chamber with a pebble floor uncovered at Bakla Tepe were found urns containing the ashes of the dead together with grave goods, which can be seen in one case in the gallery. There is also a photograph of the burial chamber.

Gryneion (Haciömerli) was another oracular centre in the region, and finds from excavations carried out at the necropolis here over recent years are exhibited. Excavations by Professor Ekrem Akurgal at nearby Pitane (Çandarli) have revealed not only grave goods, but vases with eastern style decoration, characterised by motifs such as sphinxes, lions, palmettes and lotus plants. Inspired by the art of Syria, Phoenicia and Egypt, this type of decoration reflects increased contact with the lands of the eastern Mediterranean.

Finds from Bayrakli, the earliest settlement at Izmir, can also be seen in this gallery, including those from the Temple of Athena. Photographs of the building and information about the goddess combine to put the finds into their cultural context.

A strikingly beautiful lebes gamikos or marriage bowl has black-figured decoration depicting the marriage of King Menelaos to the beautiful Helen, for whose sake the Trojan Wars were fought. This decoration is thought to be the work of Sophilos, the first artist of this genre to have signed his works with his real name.

The Tahtali Dam salvage excavations also revealed Hellenistic and late Roman finds, such as a burial jar in the form of a beehive containing terracotta figurines, grave goods from other tombs and coins.

Izmir Archaeological Museum presents a fascinating journey through Aegean history and art over a span of five thousand years, and once you have been there, you will see the regiosnd ancient ruins with new eyes.

* Dr Turhan Özkan, Director of Izmir Archaeological Museum