D-DAI-IST-2023-00001, B. Güler My first job at the Istanbul department of the DAI was related to photography. In 2016, I worked for the Pergamon and Boğazköy excavation archives. Whenever my work allowed and I had time, I took a look at old photos to know the archive better.One day, I saw the name “Sandıklı” on […]

D-DAI-IST-10123 Sebah & Joaillier (Year unknown) The photo of the month from our photo library has the motto ›Constantinople – Byzantium – Istanbul through the ages‹. The Monastery ›τοῦ Λιβός‹, as the seat of a nunnery, was one of the largest of its kind in the capital. It was built by the Byzantine admiral Constantine […]

D-DAI-IST-KB30143 / Peter Schneider 1978 The photo of the Month series from our archive continues with the contributions of DAI employees!On my first working day at the DAI, I had found myself surrounded by piles of documentation on Zeyrek, one of the historical districts of Istanbul. Hundreds of photos and tens of sketches from the […]

Boğazköy Excavation Archive, D-DAI-IST-BO-Umgebung-1978-11-00039 My father was a taxi driver. He was bringing mosaic masters from Sungurlu to the Boğazköy excavations. On 15.06.1975 the construction works of the excavation house were just finished. When I was 14 years old, during the summer vacation I found myself in Boğazköy. I helped install the sinks, mirrors, and […]

DAI-IST-PE57-57, Unknown Photograph Our picture of the month from 1957 shows a scenic view over the hill top of Musalla Mezarlik, a hill in the vicinity of the lower city of ancient Pergamon, today’s Bergama. After a long break during World War II and the following years, German archaeologists conducted large scale excavations in order […]

DAI-IST-KB4565, Manfred Korfmann (1973) This massive wall in the monthly photo from our archive is from Alacahöyük. The sign painted on the wall confuses us. It reads “Hittite the 2nd storey”. After an entertaining discussion on whether it is the second floor of the building, the second row of walls, or the second layer of […]

D-DAI-IST-R26184 , W. Schiele (1989) In the photo of the month, we see the young librarian Ali Akkaya working at the typewriter in the old building of our institute in Sıraselviler. Before the digital cataloging system was introduced in 2001, every record of the library was typed and reproduced manually. In 1989, when the Istanbul […]

D-DAI-IST-R12962a, Photographer and Date Unknown In our photo of the month we are witnesses to the discovery at Zincirli Höyük of impressive stone reliefs from the Late Hittite period. Those of us who have worked on archaeological excavations know only too well the excitement that emanates from such new finds, frequently leading to lunch breaks […]

DAI-IST, Guillaume Berggren (?), around 1880, use of the sarcophagus as a fountain The Roman sarcophagus in our monthly photo unfortunately no longer exists. According to the testimony of Goltz Pasha who was also involved on the Baghdad Railway Project, the sarcophagus was originally transported on timbers to Bilecik (from a village half an hour […]

D-DAI-IST-4137, Photographer and date are unknown The monthly photo that we selected from our archive shows preparations being made for some field photography. The photographer, who may have accidentally released the shutter button, recorded this wonderful moment. Documentation of archaeological sites by photography gradually replaced the picturesque engravings of the ruins drawn by 19th-century travellers […]