The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is a modern, largest and most significant museum not only of Ankara, but of the entire country .This world-class museum boasts a unique rich collection of rare historical artifacts .It was founded in 1921 .and quickly grew under the patronage of President Ataturk, interested in preserving and studying the history of the Hittite tribes .In our time in the museum there are expositions devoted to prehistoric history from the Neolithic, as well as Assyrian civilization, the Hittites and Phrygians, the great ancient civilizations, ancient Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire .Collected in the museum exhibits cover a period of 7,500 years, and his collection dedicated to the ancient Hittites, has no equal throughout the world .
At first the museum occupied part of the castle of Ankara (Akkale), and it housed artifacts from the Temple of Augustus and Byzantine Termes .On the recommendation of Ataturk and with the expectation of creating a full-fledged Hittite museum, there was a need for a new premise, in which two buildings were chosen - the former bazaar and caravanserai .The buildings of the middle of the 15th century were restored from 1938 to 1968 .The half-restored building was opened to the public in 1943 .The dome-shaped Kuršunlu-Khan building became an administrative building with a laboratory and a conference hall, and the covered market of Mahmud Pasha turned into an exhibition hall .
Today the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations can boast of a few rare exhibits .For the Paleolithic exposition, these are the finds made in the Karain cave in Antalya .In the Neolithic Hall, you can see statuettes of the goddess-mother Cybele, obsidian instruments and the image of the hunting scene of the 7th millennium BC .e .The Bronze Age expositions are dominated by artifacts associated with the Hittite tribes, including sun disks, statues of deer, female figures and jewelry .Assyrian period in the museum's collection is represented including 20 thousand .clay tablets with samples of writing, the pearl of the Cascade collection can be considered a relief depicting the god of war with the Royal Gate in Hattus .Also interesting are the tablets that hold correspondence between the Egyptian Queen Nefertari and the Pskov Queen Pudukhepa, started after the signing of the Kadesh Peace Treaty, the first in the world history (mid-13th century BC .e .) .
The detailed collections also reflect the history of Urartians, Phrygians, Lydians, until about the 6th century BC. e. Later periods of the history of the region in the museum are not so detailed: they are expositions devoted to the antiquity and history of Ankara. Here you can see statues, ornaments and decorated vessels of gold, silver, glass, marble and bronze, as well as a variety of coins.
Practical information
The museum is on a fairly steep hill, and if you do not want to climb up on foot, it is worth taking a taxi (a trip from the main city train station will cost about 12 TRL).
Address: Gozcu Sokak No 2 06240, Ulus.
Opening hours: the museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00.
Input: 15 TRL (October 2014).