I spent the morning in the great Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Unfortunately, the floor containing the Israel-Syria-Palestine material was closed for renovation so I didn't see the Siloam inscription from the Gihon Spring tunnel, the Gezer calendar or the inscription from the Temple. .
I did see the Alexander sarcophagus which is magnificent but was not used by Alexander the Great. It was built for and used by the Governor of Sidon appointed by Alexander and has reliefs of Alexander's adventures. I also saw the Treaty of Kadesh between Egypt and the Hittite Empire. There is a very large Troy collection but it consists of leftovers from Schlieman's Berlin collection.
Afterwards I went to the Mosaic Museum which has the gigantic mosaic floor (mostly in fragments, except for one enormous section) from the Byzantine Palace. Breathtaking in size and beauty. The Byzantine Palace is gone without a trace except for this floor. One can only imagine...
Off to Israel
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