Anadolu Medeniyetleri Museum
Anadolu Medeniyetleri Museum is one of the notable stops in Ankara, with a route-friendly location for your trip.
Quick facts
- Built
- 1921
- Opened
- 1943
- Annual visitors
- 450,000
Facts from Wikidata, photos from Wikimedia Commons.
Did you know?
What is the museum building itself?
The collection is housed in the 15th-century Mahmut Paşa Bedesten and Kurşunlu Han. These Ottoman commercial buildings were converted into a museum in the 1940s, and the domed bedesten hall is now the main gallery.
What is the museum's most significant find?
The roughly 9,000-year-old wall painting and figurines from Çatalhöyük, one of the world's earliest known urban settlements. The bronze sun discs from Alacahöyük have also become emblems of pre-Hittite Anatolia.
Why are the Hittite inscriptions so valuable?
Cuneiform tablets found at Boğazköy revealed Hittite to be the oldest known Indo-European language. The same archive contains a copy of the Treaty of Kadesh between Egypt and the Hittites — the earliest known written peace treaty.
Why go?
- Easy to add to your route
- Good photo stop
- Popular local highlight
