The Entries of the Imperial Archeological Museum in Istanbul

Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu, Bashkent University, Ankara, Turkey

Archival documents before the 19th century show Ottoman perceptions towards archeological sites and archeological findings within the historical geography of the Ottoman Empire .Imperial orders give information about the nature of this awareness and show the responses of the court to such approaches.  Official laws and regulations concerning archeological excavations, conservation and preservation of cultural heritage were implemented after 1870’s and the artifacts and findings were asked to be send to Istanbul. These objects came from legal foreign excavations such as Samarra, confiscations after illegal digging in various parts of the empire or systematic compilation of objects from old monuments. When such material arrived at the Imperial Museum they were cataloged with the provenance information. Four notebooks (some of which were kept in French) starting from 1873 were kept with the entries of these objects. This paper will look at these inventories and the priorities of the Imperial Museum during its selection process to collect and display.