Istanbul Archaeological Museum

The biggest mistake we made while in Istanbul was trying to tour the Archaeological Museum after an already full day of sightseeing. Oh man, we were so tired. After about half an hour in the museum we realized that it would really take a full day, if not two, to take everything in so at that point we decided to just seek out the highlights. I enjoyed walking through the sculpture in the courtyard where I spied this Medusa head that wasn't surrounded by tourists (like at the cistern).

The most well known piece in the museum is the Alexander Sarcophagus. It was found at the necropolis Sidon in 1887, however it does not belong to Alexander the Great but instead to the king of Sidon, Abdalonymu. As you can see it is in astonishing condition including the sections of red paint that remain.

Next, we spotted a portion of the chains that were used during the 1453 siege by the Ottoman Empire. The chain was placed at the mouth of the harbor at the Golden Horn to prevent the passage of enemy vessels. One end was attached at the Kastellion in Galata and it stretched across the water and was attached to the Tower of Eugenius in the modern suburb of Sarayburnu. In the end the chains held up so the city was eventually conquered by ground attack.

Finally, we spotted a head of a serpent that originally topped the Serpent Column. This ancient bronze column currently stands in the Hippodrome in Istanbul (as seen below) but it was originally an ancient Greek sacrificial tripod that stood at Delphi. It was made in 478 BC to commemorate the Greeks who fought and defeated the Persian Empire in the Battle of Plataea. It was taken to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324 AD. The story gets a bit fuzzy after its move to Constantinople but legend has it that a drunken Polish nobleman knocked the serpents head off of the column around 1700 and what is known to remain is in the Archaeological Museum.

Yerebatan Sarayı

Also known as the Basilica Cistern was constructed by Justinian in 532 primarily as a way to supply water to the Byzantine Palace. The cistern contains 336 columns and the main attraction are the two Medusa head column bases in the northwest corner.

According to our guide book, the cistern was completely forgotten about until 1545 when a scholar named Petrus Gyllius come to the city looking for Byzantine antiquities. During his trip the locals told him that they were able to catch fish and obtain water by lowering buckets in their basements. Eventually he found a house whose basement had access to the cistern and he was able to enter. The cistern became a dumping grounds for trash and corpses for the Ottomans and restoration didn't begin until the 18th century. Visitors to the cistern today walk on a raised platform while listening to classical music and the fish can still be seen swimming among the columns.

Haghia Sophia

Haghia Sophia was the cathedral of Byzantine Constantinople for over a thousand years. It is the third church that was built on the grounds and was build during the reign of Justinian (6th century CE). It is believed that upon seeing Haghia Sophia Justinian exclaimed "Solomon, I have outdone thee!"

As you can see the weather was nearly perfect while we visited and because of this, the city was also very crowded. We made a wise decision when we arrived in Istanbul by purchasing the Istanbulkart which allowed us to bypass all of the entrance lines.

Following the Ottoman Conquest the church was turned into a mosque and served in this capacity for over five centuries. When this took place most of the Byzantine mosaics were plastered over and remained that way until 1932 when workers from the Byzantine Institute uncovered them in preparation for the 1934 deconsecration when Haghia Sophia was turned into a museum.

Istanbul

Rob and I got home on Tuesday night after a long weekend in Istanbul, Turkey! We had an amazing trip and really enjoyed exploring the city. We were able to see most of the major sites and I'll spend the next few weeks taking you on a visual tour of our trip. Today's photo shows Rob and I resting in the Blue Mosque after a long days travel. That pillar made a great backrest!

Library & Lighthouse of Alex

Alexandria was founded as a Greek city by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE when he took control of Egypt on his way to fight the Achaemenid Persians in the east. Following his death in Babylon in 323 BCE, Alexander's successors carved up his territory into various kingdoms; one of his generals, Ptolemy, established himself as Ptolemy I (taking on Egyptian pharonic titles) and he and a thin layer of Greek elites ruled Egypt until Rome annexed it in 31 BCE. During the Graeco-Roman period, Alexandria was the Greek city and a center of literary and scientific culture. The Ptolemaic dynasty was known for its patronage of intellectual pursuits, and in the 3rd century BCE the famous Library of Alexandria was constructed to compile and store all the known works of the Greek world, and the Ptolemies appointed various Greek intellectuals to run the library. Although the library was ultimately destroyed (the sources for its destruction are conflicting) in 2002 Egypt, with the help of external funding, resurrected the library by building a new version of it. Just as in ancient times, the new Biblioteca Alexandrina is a cultural hotspot in downtown Alexandria. It is connected via skybridge to the adjacent University of Alexandria, and its reading room and environs are full of students, locals and visitors. The library also has small museums and exhibition space. After seeing the Pyramids, we thought this  modern resurrection of the famous library was a great counterpoint.

In addition to its status as a literary center, Alexandria was known for having talented scientists and engineers. In the 3rd century BCE the Ptolemies commissioned the construction of a lighthouse to guide ships safely to the harbor. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and remained standing until the mid-15th century when one of the Mamluk Sultans, Qaitbey, demolished it and built a fortress. You can see the fortress (heavily restored, I think) and a schema of the original lighthouse, based on ancient descriptions of the monument.

Alexandria

Alexandria felt much different than all of the other cities we visited in Egypt. It felt so much more like Greece. Here are a few views from the "bottom" of the Mediterranean Sea!

Memphis & Pyramid of Djoser

Memphis was founded in 3100 BC when the pharaoh Menes was able to unify Upper and Lower Egypt. Today, not much is left of the ancient city except a few Egyptian sculptures and a really large statue of Ramses II. This sculpture was left in situ and today is exhibited in an open air museum.

Below is the Pyramid of Djoser, aka the Stepped Pyramid. If you are interested in how the Stepped Pyramid came about just do a Google search of the word mastaba. As you can see it is currently under restoration so we were not able to get up close and personal with this pyramid, although with a little baksheesh we were allowed behind the construction barriers to the serdab for a view of a replica limestone statue of Djoser. The original statue is housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Dahshur

Approximately 40 miles south of Cairo is the site of Dahshur. This site contains two of the best preserved pyramids in Egypt, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid. Because we were the first tourists of the day at Dahshur the experience was extra special. The Bent Pyramid is "bent" because the builders noticed instability when the pyramid was half-way completed. To counteract this problem they reduced the angle of the pyramid and gave it the "bent" look. In the background of the photo at the right you can see the crumbling remains of the Black Pyramid in the distance. Our friend, Leigh, caught Rob and I taking a walk around the pyramid in the photo below.

The photo taken from the Bent Pyramid below shows the Red Pyramid in the distance. We didn't actually stop at the Red Pyramid but it looked good from a distance.

I took my camera into the Bent Pyramid when we went inside and took a few pictures. The photo on the right shows the ceiling of the burial chamber, and below you can see what the limestone blocks look like from the inside of the pyramid.

The Sphinx and Camels

The Great Sphinx of Giza was quite a sight! It is believed to be one of the oldest sculptures in the world, being built by the ancient Egyptians during the Old Kingdom. Not too much else is known about the sphinx. If you Google image the sphinx you can see interesting photos of it be excavated, when all but the human head was covered in sand.

I like how the tail wraps around the hind leg. Also, the sphinx had really long front legs. I wonder what it would look like if it could stand up.

Now, the moment many of us had been waiting for.......CAMEL RIDES! Almost everybody in our group went for a ride and with the pyramids in the background and the sun setting the atmosphere was perfect. Unfortunately, Rob was not able to be persuaded to ride, so he stayed behind and took photos of the rest of us. Now that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience :)

The "Little" Pyramid

The smallest of the Pyramids at Giza is that of Khufu's grandson Menkaure. This pyramid was built out of limestone and granite, which you can see at the base of the pyramid. We were able to go into this pyramid but were not allowed to use photography. Upon passing through the entrance you must bend at the waist and climb down a long and narrow corridor that leads to the burial chamber. The chamber was empty in this pyramid because the king's sarcophagus was found by excavators in the 1800s and put on a ship to England. Unfortunately, that ship sank in the ocean taking the sarcophagus with it.

After our visit to the pyramids we walked over to the solar boat museum which was at the base of Khufu's pyramid. This museum contains a full size solar boat that was sealed into a pit and was intended for use in the afterlife. It's amazing how a dry climate like Egypt can enable wooden antiquities to survive! On the way a group of young ladies were taking photos of our group, so we took some photos of them too!

Just in case anybody was wondering, yes, we did have an armed guard with us for most of the duration of our travels in Egypt. We had different guards depending on our location but this was our guard for a portion of the time in Cairo. Most of them tried to conceal their weapons (or not) under their jacket, but we could almost always see what they were packing.

Pyramid Day!

The Pyramids at Giza were spectacular! That said, the experience of visiting the pyramids was quite different than most of us expected. It is a myth that the pyramids are in the middle of the dessert. Sure, in all of the photos you've ever seen the Sahara "looks" like it is surrounding the pyramids, but I assure you, it's not. The urban sprawl of Cairo and the suburb of Giza reach all the way to the pyramids now. I am hopeful that the building will stop and the city won't soon encircle the pyramids.

As you can see from the photos above and below, the Great Pyramid of Giza (aka Pyramid of Khufu) is built from limestone blocks, about 2.3 million of them! The pyramid use to be covered by a highly polished white limestone but most of that is gone now. This pyramid is the oldest and largest of the pyramids at Giza and it is the only wonder of the ancient world still left largely intact.

In the photo below, the Great Pyramid is actually at the far left. The second pyramid is that of Khufu's son, Khafre and it looks taller because it was built on higher ground. The third pyramid from the left is Menkaure’s pyramid and we actually went inside of that one!

Everybody loves camels! Consider this a preview of what's to come...

Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Museum

Tahrir Square also known as "Liberation Square" was the scene of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and as such most of the people on our trip were excited and/or anxious to check it out. We didn't actually walk to the square (which is actually a circle), but our bus driver drove us around the square a couple of times. I'm not sure what I expected to see, but the area was calm and peaceful. Gigi told us that the few people still camping in the square are the families of those who died while attending the revolution. As you can see, they were actually happy to see us. Notice the posters of the dead in the second photo and the injured man in the fourth photo.

  

One of the most striking images from the square was this effigy hanging from the streetlight. Perhaps it was meant to represent Mubarak.

The Egyptian Museum sits a block from the square in a salmon colored building that seemingly has not changed since its opening in 1902. It was dimly lit, dusty, and was stuffed to the ceiling with Egyptian goodies. The museum also houses King Tut's grave goods which were very cool. During the Revolution of 2011 some rioters broke into the museum and damaged a couple of antiquities and a few mummies but there was so much to see I didn't notice any damage.

 

Also during the Revolution, protestors burned the building you see in the photo below. I was told by Gigi that this building housed Mubarak's offices.