Adana Archaeological Museum

New museum since 2017

The Archaeological Museum Adana ( Turkish Adana Arkeoloji Müzesi ) was located at Turhan Cemal Beriker Bulvarı at the corner of Fuzuli Caddesi in Adana , next to the Sabancı Central Mosque , in the southern Turkish province of the same name . It is one of the older archaeological museums in Turkey and therefore houses pieces that not only come from the surrounding area, i.e. the Çukurova , but also, for example, from Tarsos and Diokaisareia in the Mersin province . Since 2017, the collections have been presented in a new building in the Reşatbey district at 60064 Sokak No: 10.

history

The first collection, consisting of columns, capitals and sarcophagi, was put together in 1924 on the premises of the police department under the museum director Alyanakzade Halil Kamil Bey. In 1928 the exhibits were relocated to the madrasah of the no longer existing Cafer Pascha mosque near the Taşköprü Bridge and made accessible to the public. In 1950 the collection was again relocated to the former Greek Orthodox Church at Zıyapaşa Bulvarı in the Kuruköprü district, which later housed the Ethnographic Museum. The director at the time, Ali Rıza Yalman, created an extensive collection of ethnographic material, so that the premises soon no longer met the requirements. A new building was then erected and opened on January 7, 1972. After the premises there were no longer sufficient, today's exhibition building was opened in Reşatbey Mahallesi on May 18, 2017.

collection

The museum has eight rooms for exhibits from different periods. In room A1 pieces from prehistory to the Bronze Age are presented, in room A2 the Iron Age. These include the statue of Çineköy and several late Hittite steles. Room A3 is dedicated to the classical and Hellenistic period, rooms A4 to A6 with numerous statues and busts from the Roman era. In room A7 pieces from the Byzantine to Islamic times are on display. Most of the finds come from earlier excavations by the museum in the barrows of Gözlükule near Tarsus (1934), on Yumuktepe near Mersin (1936), on Sirkeli Höyük near Ceyhan (1938) and in Misis (1958). The room A0 in front of the others is reserved for sarcophagi and grave steles. There are also three halls for excavation finds as well as coins and mosaics.

In total, the museum has more than 17,000 archaeological exhibits and 26,500 coins.