The New Museum in Izmir

I love museums, and many of them in Turkiye are treasure troves.  This museum was created out of what formerly was a tobacco processing building.  Hooray for a better use of this space.  I have shared on this blog before about this building but there were some new things to share this time around.  For instance there are the  sarcophagi of Klazomenae…

These remarkable decorative coffins are from the 7th century B.C. from Ionia.    I also love the recreation scenes which help one visualize how, when, and where some of the objects in the museum were being used…..

Believe it or not, these are theater tickets….

And there are slinging stones, like those used to slay Goliath….

There are a few statues and busts of note…frankly many of the ancients were better than many modern sculptors and artists….

This one could be called Homer…. and Jethro…..

And there were lots of pots….and miniatures of deities….small totems

Lurking down the road at St. John’s church were signs of life…..

And lest we forget….. some of the first writing ever, in ancient Samaritan Hebrew— the Ten Words (i.e. commandments).