It’s hard to go far in Turkey — now officially known as Türkiye — without running into evidence of the region’s ancient history. Paleolithic and Neolithic man inhabited this land, later to be followed by Hittites, Lydians, Phrygians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, and more. The modern-day country has done an excellent job of corralling ancient remains of these civilizations into dozens of archaeological museums, from Adana to Zeugma. To get a sense of what these museums have to offer, I’ll focus on the best of the Antalya and Ephesus Archaeological Museums.

Antalya Museum

The Great Gods and Heroes of Perge

The biggest draw at the Antalya Museum has to be the collection of large marble statues found at the nearby site of Perge. Perge started out as a Lydian settlement; then the Greeks turned it into the city of Pamphylia, and it ended its time as the capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda. The museum’s great marbles come from the Roman period, and they include a dancer (unique in having been made of both white and black marble) …

… and all sorts of gods, including Hermes, Artemis, and Tyche.

There are, of course, statues of famous Greek heroes, such as Meleagros …

… and of important Roman emperors, such as Hadrian:

Death and Daily Figures

In the “large things” category, the Antalya museum also has an impressive collection of sarcophagi, which include several with feats from the life of Hercules.

Those are the big-ticket items, but I’m generally a fan of smaller pieces that give a more intimate view into people’s world views. Take this tiny figure, for example …

… or this one …

… or this one …

… or this unusual grouping …

… or this rather confused-looking man:

Why do artists and cultures shape bodies and faces so differently? What do these pieces tell us about how we see gods, or religious figures, or ourselves — especially when we may not know exactly what these figures represent? And speaking of unknown figures, what about these guys:

Those fabulous faces are wonderful and also frustrating —because while they’re amazing, they are entirely unlabeled. You come into a museum expecting everything to be identified, and it’s always a bit mysterious when that doesn’t happen. Are they theater masks? Pieces of sarcophagi? I’ll probably never know, but that doesn’t change the fact that I both love and hate staring into their empty eyes.

Glass, Silver and Ceramic Craftsmanship at the Antalya Museum

On a simpler scale, the Antalya Museum has more mundane but equally beautiful items, such as this piece of pottery …

… this silver spoon …

… and a range of glassware from nearby archaeological sites.

Lions, Cats, and Horses: Animals in Ancient Art at Antalya

I’m also a fan of most ancient art that involves representations of animals, real or imagined.

If animals are your thing, there’s an entire section of lion sarcophagus lids outside at the Antalya Museum that you shouldn’t miss. Look closely and you’ll see that the lion is holding a bull’s head under its front paw as a sign of victory.

And if you really love animals, stay outside to see the museum’s very unofficial collection of peacocks …

… and cats.

Ephesus Museum

Long ago, Ephesus was a capital of Arzawa; then, in a familiar progression, it came under Greek control before ending up in the hands of the Romans. It was an extremely important city; under the Greeks, it was one of the twelve member cities of the Ionian League, while during the Roman period, it was one of the largest cities in Roman Asia Minor.

Gods, Genitalia, and the Great Artemis

The most famous pieces in the Ephesus Museum come from the Classical Greek period. If you were waiting for the genitalia part, here you have it!

This figure depicts Artemis, the patron goddess of Ephesus. Our guide told us that the most accepted view at the moment is that the orbs around the goddess’s neck are bull testicles, representing fertility (others have suggested that they are either breasts or eggs). You can see the same attributes on another statue of Artemis in the same hall.

The Artemis above wears an entire temple on her head, which is fitting, since Ephesus was once home to the great Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

In the male fertility category, we have Roman statues of Priapus (whom Wikipedia calls “a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia”) …

… and Bes, an Egyptian god of fertility, childbirth, merriment, and protection:

Modern sensibilities suggest that we should be shocked by all of this, but the ability to bear healthy children was a big deal back in the day, so it should come as no surprise that deities of fertility were crafted and worshiped accordingly.

Overall, the museum at Ephesus does not have grand marbles of the quality of those found at Antalya, but it does have a few headless gods on display, including Aphrodite …

… and Triton:

Ancient Science at the Ephesus Museum

In addition to religion, the Ephesus museum offers a small glimpse into ancient science, including medicine …

… and timekeeping:

Gladiators, Bulls, and Board Games at Ephesus

My favorite marble items, though, had to be these bulls, which were added to the tops of a row of columns at Ephesus to make them more stable:

I’m also fascinated by these gladiator carvings, which remind me of modern-day cartoon figures …

Everyday Life at the Ephesus Museum

Because of the high quality of the remains of wealthy houses at the Ephesus archaeological site, you get a glimpse into what the other half would have had on display to impress their guests.

And while you won’t find any peacocks at Ephesus, there’s always a cat somewhere on a ruin!

The Antalya and Ephesus Museums: A Comparison

While the museums at Antalya and Ephesus contain similar types of pieces from similar time periods, they feel like very different places. Most significantly, the Ephesus Museum draws almost all of its pieces from a single site, while the Antalya Museum offers examples from many different nearby archaeological digs. So the curation of the Ephesus Museum ends up feeling somewhat more thematic, while that at the Antalya Museum feels a bit more organized by region. Antalya is also significantly bigger — in fact, it’s one of Turkey’s largest museums. But both museums are impressive in their own right, so if you find yourself in either area, it’s worth paying a visit.

Love archaeological museums? Don’t miss the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in Greece, and the National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands.

Looking for more places to visit in Turkey? Check out my post on the country’s top destinations. And if you’re visiting Ephesus as a day trip from Izmir, consider setting aside time for a morning in Izmir or visiting the seaside towns of Çeşme and Alaçatı.