Ottoman legislation on antiquities in the long 19th century: the ‘whys’, ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ (original) (raw)

Antiquities Policies and Museology Activities in the Ottoman Empire

Iğdır Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2024

The roots of Turkish Museology are based on the Mecma-ı Asar-ı Atika (Collection of Ancient Artifacts), which forms the foundation of the Istanbul Archaeology Museums. In 1845, during a visit to Yalova, Sultan Abdülmecit decided to transfer Eastern Roman inscriptions to Istanbul after seeing them, leading to the collection of artifacts in Hagia Irene, which had been used as an old weapons depot until then. The museum was organized into two sections: Mecmai Eslihai Atika and Mecma-i Asar-ı Atika. The former, dating back to earlier periods, laid the groundwork for the Harbiye Military Museum. The Mecma-i Asar-ı Atika collection was curated during the tenure of Grand Vizier Ali Pasha and established as the Ottoman Empire's first museum in 1869 under the name "Müze-i Hûmayun" by the Minister of Education Saffet Pasha. Edward Goold, a teacher from Galatasaray High School, was appointed as the museum's first director in the same year. A decree was issued instructing provinces to send historical artifacts to the museum without damaging them, and the Asarı Atika Regulations came into effect within the same year.As the number of collected artifacts increased, a search for a new building commenced, leading to the decision to move the museum to the Tiled Kiosk. The museum, relocated to the Tiled Kiosk, became operational in 1880. Following the death of Museum Director Anton Dethier, the search for a new director began. Osman Hamdi Bey, who holds a significant place in Turkish Museology history, was appointed to this position on September 11, 1881. During that period, there was a lack of regulations to prevent individuals from abroad engaging in archaeological excavations and potentially looting archaeological sites. Therefore, the Asar-ı Atika regulations were issued to control and register excavations.

The Ottoman Law on Antiquities (1874) and the founding of the Cyprus Museum

Cyprus in the 19th century A.D. Fact, fancy and fiction (ed. V. Tatton-Brown), Papers of the 22nd British Museum Classical Colloquium, 2001

For more than twenty years after they took over the administration of Cyprus, the British authorities maintained in force the then current Ottoman antiquities legislation. This was based on a Regulation that had been issued by the Ottoman authorities in Constantinople in 1874. In many respects, the terms of this law were strictly applied by the British administration for defining the conditions on which excavations in the island could be officially authorized. The law also provided for the Government to receive a substantial portion of the excavated finds. Despite this provision, it was many years before the Cyprus Museum, following its founding in 1882, was able to acquire, inventory and put on public display a collection of Cypriote antiquities.