A large room is devoted solely to the art and inscriptions of the Hittites, the dominating race on the Upper Euphrates, in Syria, and in Asia Minor from about 1500 to 1000 B.C., who were afterwards split up into small principalities and lost their national characteristics. From this later period (about 9–8th cent.) date the numerous objects from Senjerli in N. Syria (among others No. 873. Two sphinxes as a base of a column). Other relics are from Marrash in N. Syria (840. Lion with inscription) and from Albistan (835. Limestone pillar).
Two rooms are set apart for the Greek-Roman sculptures. Among the chief early Greek works (6th cent. B.C.) are: No. 5bis. Reliefs from a tombstone in the form of a pillar, with scenes of peace and war; 8, 133. Torso of Apollo and Relief of Hercules drawing his bow, both from Thasos; 680. Tomb-stele from Dorylæum in Phrygia; *78. Head of a man, early Ionian, from Rhodes; 32, 33. Kybele, from Kyme; 1136. Relief, Birth of Athena, from Chalcedon.—Of the 5th cent.: No. 1189. Caryatid; 1433. Hermes Propylæos, after the famous work of Alkamenes (Roman copy); *148. Snake’s head from the tripod in the At Meïdán (p. [549]). Among other creations of the Greek golden age (4th cent.) are: No. 1121. Statue of a youth; 114. Upper half of a stele, from Kyzikos; 1242. Relief with a portrait of Euripides; 1028. Relief of a woman playing on the lyre, from Mysia.—Hellenistic sculptures from Pergamum (p. [533]): *764. Dancer, from a large circular monument; *1138. Marble head (Alexander the Great?); 72. Marsyas hanging (a good copy); also important: *709. Alexander the Great, from Magnesia on the Sipylos; 685. Colossal head of Zeus, from Troy; 9. Colossal statue of Apollo, from Tralleis; *1423. Relief of a boatman (?), from Tralleis, in the style of the ‘Alexandrine’ reliefs.—Of Roman origin: 31. Largest representation of the so-called Thracian horseman, from a triumphal arch at Saloniki.
In the room of the Byzantine antiquities we note No. 164. Statue of the Good Shepherd (3rd cent.?); *1090. Early-Christian pulpit from Saloniki, with the Adoration of the Magi in detached figures; 189, 190. Fragments of a column with scenes with figures (Baptism of Christ, etc.; about 500); also interesting capitals with figures and foliage ornamentation.
Two rooms form an Architectural Museum (Asia Minor relics).
The First Floor is occupied by the Babylonian-Assyrian antiquities (incl. the glazed terracotta sarcophagi from Nippur, and No. 1027. Votive relief of king Narâm-Sin, about 3750 B.C.), the unimportant Egyptian relics, and curiosities from Cyprus (p. [489]), Himyar (region of Yemen in S. Arabia), and Palmyra. Then collections of bronzes and trinkets from Schliemann’s excavations at Hissarlik (p. [534]), from the Sidonian sarcophagi (p. [546]), etc.; vases and terracottas from Asia Minor (Hissarlik, Myrina, Priene), Cos (p. [490]), and Rhodes; glass vessels from Asia Minor, Cyprus, Syria, and Tripolitania; also a collection of coins.—The N. wing contains the Museum Library.
The elegant Chinili Kiosque (Pl. I, 6; ‘fayence palace’), one of the oldest Turkish buildings in the city, was erected in 1470 by Kemal ed-Din under Mohammed II., in the Persian style, and was restored in 1590. In 1908 it was converted into an *Oriental Art Museum. Adm., see p. [539].
The two-storied portico (ticket-office on the left) contains tombstones, etc.—The vestibule, with its original inscribed frieze, is adorned with well-preserved green *Fayence Tiles.
The domed hall and five side-rooms contain Arabian, Persian, and Turkish fayence, Turkish pottery, seals (tugres), firmans, and irades of Turkish sultans, woodwork (koran-desks, cabinets, etc.), leather (beautiful book-bindings), and metal work; also cut gems, Arabian and Venetian glass, mosque-lamps, embroidery, and *Persian Carpets. The chief treasures of the collection are the *Prayer Niche from the palace of the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin at Konia (13th cent.) and a throne of Selim I. (p. [512]).
Passing the Mint (p. [546]) we next enter the outer court of the Seraglio. In the centre rises the huge Janissaries’ Plane Tree (Pl. I, 6), where the janissaries (p. [550]) used to meet.—To the left the Orta Kapu leads to the Seraglio Palace (adm., see p. [540]). It contains the throne-room (Arsh Odasi) of the time of Suleiman the Great, the Library, the Imperial Treasury (hazneh han), and the superb Bagdad Kiosque (1639), etc.
Above the outer court rises, on the right, the Church of Irene (Pl. I, 6; dedicated to ‘divine peace’), a domed basilica built by Constantine, and restored first by Justinian after the Nika revolt (p. [541]), and again in 740. After the Turkish conquest it was used as an arsenal, but is now a Military Museum (adm., see p. [539]).