No, not my informal holiday snaps (you don't want to see them, trust me!
)!
I managed to get a few days off for a small tour of
Turkey during which I managed to visit the excellent museums of
Ankara and Antalya, their ruins, and Perge. I did intend to make
Aspendos,
Side, Tremessos and Selge but unfortunately I
had to cut my trip short.
Anyway, here are a few pics.
Anatolian museum of Civilizations in Ankara.Some
superb Hittite relief's are preserved here.
A relief of Hittite troops and palace officials, dating to the second half of the 8th cent. BC.
King Sulumeli offering a libation to a god. Basalt, 10th - 9th cent. BC.
Detail of a mythical man-lion. Basalt relief from Carchemish, 9th cent. BC.
A Phrygian toy in the form of a
griffin eating a
fish. Made of
wood and dating to the 8th cent. BC, it was recovered in a Tumulus at the site of Gordion.
The Phrygians seemed to have possessed advanced metal working skills
as is testified to by this bronze
phiale, found at the Great Tumulus at Gordion. The helmet is called the Phyrigian
type, not because it is Phyrigian in origin, but because of it's resemblance to the Phrigiyan
cap. This helmet appeared in the classical section rather than the Phrygian one.
Bust attributed to a somewhat ill looking
Marcus Aurelius. See? Bust's ARE like passport photos!
Attributed to
Livia.
A
votive stele, 2nd-3rd cent. BC.
A magnificent bronze
tondo of
Trajan Decius. It was really tricky to photograph, the light above acts as a back light and picking up facial details with out flash (and with a museum guard behind you to make sure you don't). And the reflective panes of
glass don't
help either.
Never the less, a wonderful piece. I am sorry I could not do any better.
There is a lot more I would like to share, but this will do for now . I have more I would like to post from this museum, the
Roman Baths of
Caracalla at
Ankara, the
Column of Julian, and a place where I almost lost my mind, the Archaeological Museum of Antalya. Here is a taster.