Istanbul Archaeology Museums

Masson (1996) calls the Cypriot material 'plus ou moins mal connu', with no archive access and scattered publications; the published parts are Ergüleç's 1972 corpus of large-sized stone sculpture (70 pieces, 'souvent de bonne qualité'), Georges Nicole's 1904-1906 notice of some vases in the 'salle cypriote', and Cecilia Beer's 1994 list of Temple Boy statuettes (her nos. 141-163). Much of it is ex-Cesnola gifts. (1996)

Masson 1996, pp. 9-10

1. 1855
   Ahmed Fethi Pasha, grand master of artillery, starts a public collection of antiquities in Constantinople, installed in the former church of Ayia Irini (precursor of the museum).

   Tatton-Brown 2001

2. 1866–1876
   Cesnola sends 'conciliatory' gifts of Cypriot antiquities to the Ottoman authorities in Constantinople, per J. T. Johnston and Cesnola himself (Johnston's list of recipient museums, repeated in Cesnola's 1878 book, names the Imperial Ottoman Museum). Masson places them 'à des fins de conciliation'; the Masson-edited 2001 note speaks of 'plusieurs milliers d'antiquités chypriotes' c. 1873. Merrillees adds that Cesnola sent some Cypriot antiquities to Beirut and Constantinople 'only to advance further afield his own mercantile interests'.

   Luigi Palma di CesnolaMasson 1996, pp. 9-10Cesnola 1878Tatton-Brown 2001, p. xiiMerrillees 2017

3. 1868–1870
   Ahmet Kaiserli Pasha takes charge of two large cases of Cypriot antiquities intended as a gift to the Ottoman Museum at Constantinople (Cesnola's account).

   Ahmet Kaiserli PashaLuigi Palma di CesnolaCesnola 1878Marangou 2000, pp. 228-229

4. 1869
   Formally established as the Imperial Museum, with Goold as Director; Safvet Pasha, Minister of Public Education, issues the same year a decree (Règlement sur les objets antiques) forbidding export of excavation finds other than coins, to build up the collection. Goold published a Catalogue of the collection in 1871.

   Safvet PashaGooldTatton-Brown 2001Stanley-Price 2018Stylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

5. 1871
   The Governor-general tells Luigi Palma di Cesnola that his licence allows excavation but not export, and that his firman requires him to send half of his collection to the museum at Constantinople (Cesnola's own report, as summarised by Stanley-Price; Cesnola had reported the first Turkish objections to the Turin Academy in January 1871).

   Luigi Palma di CesnolaTatton-Brown 2001Tatton-Brown 2001, p. 268

6. 1874
   The 36-article Règlement sur les antiquités replaces the seven-article 1869 regulation: one third of finds to the Government, one third to the finder, one third to the landowner; export allowed with the Minister's permission, the Imperial Museum having the option to buy at the agreed price. Reinach says Déthier, then Director, drafted it. It remained in force in British Cyprus after 1878.

   Philipp DethierTatton-Brown 2001Stanley-Price 2018

7. March 1875
   Déthier, Director, obtains Imperial permission to install the collection in the Tchinli Mosque.

   Philipp DethierTatton-Brown 2001

8. 1880
   On Déthier's death Osman Hamdi Bey is named Director and charges Salomon Reinach with classifying and cataloguing the collection. The 1884 law, under Osman Hamdi, repealed the liberal export terms of 1874.

   Osman Hamdi BeySalomon ReinachPhilipp DethierTatton-Brown 2001

9. 1904
   Georges Nicole studies the Cypriot room on the spot and catalogues a number of vases (notice without illustrations, published 1906); he announced an illustrated catalogue of the Cypriot antiquities of the Ottoman Museum, including terracottas and the 'riche série des calcaires', which never appeared.

   Georges NicoleMasson 1996, pp. 9-10

10. 1931–1954
    Aziz (Bey) Ogan is Director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.

    Aziz OganMerrillees 2017

11. 1972
    Haluk Ergüleç publishes Corpus of Cypriote Antiquities 4: Large-sized Cypriot Sculpture in the Archaeological Museums of Istanbul (SIMA XX:4, Göteborg), 70 pieces according to Masson. Dissinger's catalogue cites it for songbird-holding figures (inventory numbers 3322, 3334, 3372).

    Haluk ErgüleçMasson 1996, pp. 9-10Ergüleç 1972Dissinger 2017, p. 287

12. 1994
    Cecilia Beer publishes (without illustrations) a series of Temple Boy statuettes in the museum, nos. 141-163 of her corpus, and announces a publication of the small-format sculpture by a Turkish archaeologist.

    Cecilia BeerMasson 1996, pp. 9-10

• Low white amphora with 12 swastikas painted on the neck, found by Cesnola in Cyprus

  via Luigi Palma di CesnolaMerrillees 2017

• Male figure holding a bird (limestone), CA II c. 500-450 BC, Ergüleç 1972 pl. XXI

  Istanbul Museum 3334Dissinger 2017, p. 287

• Male figure holding a bird, CA II c. 450 BC, Ergüleç 1972 pl. XLI:1

  Istanbul Museum 3322Dissinger 2017, p. 287

• Funerary stele showing a boy and a bird, c. 450-400 BC, Ergüleç 1972 pl. XL:1

  Istanbul Museum 3372Dissinger 2017, p. 289

• Two stone heads with stylised wreath, ex-Cesnola, Ergüleç 1972 C.36, C.37

  from Golgoi (Athienou), per Countsvia Luigi Palma di CesnolaToumazou et al. 2011, p. 175