SANLIURFA MUSEUM, TURKEY

Take a virtual look at the Sanliurfa Archaeological  Museum through our panoramas: 

Sanliurfa is located next to the Euphrates river, in the center of one of the longest inhabited areas in the world.  Many rich archaeological sites from all periods have been found and excavated in the area. The visitors to Sanliurfa may enjoy the finds of this archaeological projects in the Sanliurfa Museum.

The idea of opening up a museum in Sanliurfa emerged back in 1948 and the first step to this end was taken with the transfer of the existing pieces to a storage area in Ataturk primary school. Then, in 1956, a space was allocated for this purpose in Sehit Nurset Bey primary school. However, this space was not large enough, and there was clearly a need to exhibit the rich cultural assets of the area, documenting its thousands years of history, in an appropriate context.

Construction of a separate museum was started in 1965 on a small parcel of land (1,500 square meters) in the Sehitlik quarter of the town. The Museum was opened to visitors in 1969.

A testament to the rich past of the region of Sanliurfa is the large number of tumuli and old settlements. Harran, located 44 kilometers south of Sanliurfa, is one of the most notable of these settlements and was continuously inhabited from 3000 BC to the 13th century.  It was especially noted for its peculiar civilian architecture.

Salvage excavations are being conducted in the settlements threatened by the dams of Ataturk, Birecik and Kargamis. Starting from 1978, foreign teams conducted excavations in the Lidar and Hassek tumuli which were to be submerged under Ataturk Dam Lake, while the museum directorate was involved in the excavation of Cavi Field and Nevala Cori. Salvage excavations have been taking place since 1996 in Tilbes Tumulus which will disappear under the waters of Birecik Dam; Apamea, a Hellenistic city threatened by the same dam, has been excavated since 1998.

Apart from salvage excavations there are also regular archaeological excavations in sites such as Orencik, Gobektilepe, Konuklu Tumulus, Gurcutepe, Bozova, Bahceli Titrik Tumulus, Birecik and Hacinebi Tumulus.

Because of the increasing number of artifacts coming to the museum, the storage and exhibition facilities soon became inadequate. Annex storage and exhibition facilities were thus constructed and opened after increasing the museum's property.

In the new building, opened to the public in 1987, there are three archaeological and one ethnographic exhibition halls, administrative offices, a multipurpose room for activities such as conferences, and a library. Laboratories, storage facilities and photography sections are in the basement. 

In Sanliurfa museum, pieces obtained from Harran and other cultural assets recovered from other tumuli and ancient settlements are exhibited in different cases in alphabetical order. Pieces from the time of the Assyrians, Babylonians and the Hittites are exhibited in the entrance hall.

The second and third halls of the archaeology section have cutting and piercing devices made of flintstone (8000-5000 BC), stone idols and vessels, plain and painted ceramics with geometric designs made of baked soil belonging to the period 5000-3000 BC, seals, pithoi, necklaces, pieces of imprinted cubes made of baked soil dating back to the Early Bronze Age (3000-2000 BC), animal figures, metal artifacts, and ornaments.

The ethnographic sections exhibit clothing from the region, silver and bronze ornaments, pieces of handmade instruments, carved wooden doors and window cases peculiar to the region, specimens of calligraphy, and an old hand-written Koran.

In the museum yard, archaeological pieces are exhibited in chronological order. In the front, there is a mosaic pool with depictions of animals.

As of the end of 1997, the Sanliurfa Museum hosts 17,961 archaeological and 2,430 athnographic pieces, 44,576 coins, 1,061 seal pressings, 7 tablets, 9 manuscripts, 1 archive document, totaling 66,045 pieces.