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Bodrum Museum
Bodrum Museum contains the largest collection of underwater
finds in the world and includes hundreds of underwater finds,
in addition to those from the Gelidonya, Byzantine and Roman
wrecks.
The finds exhibited here are of immense variety, and range
from nautical gear and anchors of the type still used today
to earthenware floats. Bodrum owes the wealth of its museum
to its sponge-divers, and up to quite recent years a great
number of finds were brought back to Bodrum Museum by the
300 boats that set out every year to gather sponges. Objects
recovered from the sea can also be seen exhibited here and
there outside museum itself, while amphorae of a beauty
to excite any art lover lie concealed in corners of the
houses awaiting the attention of the scholar.
Bodrum Museum was first opened as a depot to house the
finds brought to Bodrum from the Gelidonya wreck in 1960,
but very quickly grew into one of Turkey's largest museums.
The Goddess Isis
 The
sailors who set out to sea in their small boats to face
unknown dangers sought the protection of gods and goddesses
who could keep them from harm. The old Greek and Roman
sailors found what they were looking for in a goddess of
Egyptian descent. This was the goddess lsis, the cow-horned
goddess. Her promises of an everlasting life after death
won her the allegiance of poor people who had little to
hope for in this world, and figurines of the goddess were
in great demand. One of these is the bronze statuette of
lsis sold to the Bodrum Museum by Riza Sarac. This was found
in the sea off Yalikavak near Bodrum in 1963.
| Height |
28 cms. |
| Width at shoulders |
7.2 cms. |
| Height from chin to top of head |
3.5 cms. |
This is a bronze statuette representing a standing women.
The goddess is looking to the right and has on her head
the horns of a cow and disc crown The hair is parted in
the middle and gathered into a bun at the back of the neck
under the crown. There are four plaits of hair at the front
and back and long-ear-rings in the ears. She is wearing
a triangular, sleeveless chiton with collar, which reveals
the right breast and is covered by a mantle. The mantle
leaves the right shoulder completely bare and hangs down
over the left shoulder, producing a series of folds under
the left arm. The light dress under this mantle reaches
as far as the ankles. The right arm is broken off at the
shoulder and is missing, while the left arm is slightly
bent at the elbow and attached to the body. The left hand
is broken off at the wrist and is missing. The way in which
the dress sweeps out at the back suggests that the right
foot was placed to the rear. This statuette probably dates
from the Hellenistic period.
Statue of a Negro Boy
 This
is a bronze statue broken off below the waist. The figure
is of short stature, with curly hair, a flat nose and thick
lips. The hair, eyebrows, mouth, nose and lips are all typically
negroid in character. There is a hole in the pupil of the
left eye, but the hollow in the pupil of the right suggests
that the pupils were made of precious stones. The ears are
small. The upper portion of the head and the nostrils are
broken and missing. An examination of the head shows that
the bronze was cast in sections and then assembled.
| Height |
47 cms. |
| Width at shoulders |
18 cms. |
The boy is wearing a tunic which completely covers the
right shoulder and is brought over to the left. It was probably
held on the right shoulder by a buckle. A large fold can
be seen in the collar. The material covers the upper part
of the arms and produces very broad folds under the armpits.
The dress is very broad folds under the armpits. The dress
is very full and is tied by a sash under the belly, which
shows the swelling typical of malaria. The folds at the
rear are triangular in form, but the back of the figure
is broken and missing. The head is looking towards the front.
The right arm is stretched slightly forward and the hand
was probably holding a stick. The left arm is bent at the
elbow. The hand is slightly open and seems to be grasping
something.
This standing figure represents a malarial negro boy. He
is probably looking after the geese. A large number of such
statues on social themes were made in Hellenistic times,
and this figure displays very typical Hellenistic characteristics.
The lsis and Negro statues were both recovered from the
same wreck.
Pot with Stand
This is a pot made of red clay with out-turned rim, projecting
handles with half rings underneath, a round body and a wide
base. The rim is broken and parts are missing. This probably
belongs to the classical period (5th - 6th centuries B.C.)
| Diameter of rim |
33 cms. |
| Diameter of body |
29.5 cms. |
| Diameter of base |
26.5 cms. |
Chamber Pot
 This
is a pot of brick-coloured clay with projecting rim, a cylindrical
concave body and a handle in the form of a band. There is
a deep crack in the bottom. A rare and interesting scene
in Greek vase paintings is that showing a child on a chamber
pot. This one, recovered from the depth of the Aegean, may
well have belonged to the captain's child.
| Diameter of rim |
33.5 cms. |
| Diameter of body |
20 cms. |
| Height |
30 cms. |
Lead Brazier
This is a brazier made of lead, with a semicircular fireplace,
and a rectangular section in front of this. Behind the fireplace
there is a reservoir in the form of a pipe for boiling water.
This reservoir also goes under the fireplace, thus serving
a double purpose in providing a supply of hot water and
at the same time preventing the lead in the fireplace from
melting. This brazier may be dated to the 1st or end of
the 2nd century B.C.
| Height |
24.5 cms. |
| Width |
22 cms. |
| Length |
43 cms. |
Float
 This
float is made of light brown clay and has a spherical body
with a ring-shaped handle. It had sunk as the result of
a perforation in the body and must have lain for centuries
at the bottom of the sea.
Floats of oak bark are known to have been used in antiquity,
but this is the first time an earthenware flat has been
encountered.
| Diameter of body |
25 cms |
| Height of handle |
7 cms. |
Amphora With Handles
This is an amphora of light brown clay with a raised rim,
no neck, two handles rising straight up from the shoulders
and a lower portion in the form of a cone.
This is a very rare type of amphora. Owing to its weight
and large capacity it must have been carried by two people
by means of a pole passed through the handles.
| Diameter of rim |
11.5 cms. |
| Diameter of body |
46 cms. |
| Height |
100 cms. |
This amphora closely resembles a grave find in the Silifke
Museum, and probably belongs to the 4th or 3rd century B.C.
Stone Anchor
This is made of rough grey stone and is in the form of
a square with curved top. In the centre there is a cross
and on the cross the letters N and O. These are probably
the initials of a proper name. The anchor has three holes.
The one on top is for a rope, the two below for wooden stakes.
This anchor probably belongs to the early Christian or Byzantine
period.
| Widest part |
29 cms. |
| Weight |
33 kgs. |
| Material Metamorphic Rock |
Lead Anchor Head
In the centre is a square shank socket with tapering arms
projecting out at each side. As the surface of the anchor
head is heavily oxidised no names or religious signs can
be deciphered. The anchor head found in the wreck of the
Mehdiyye at Tunis weighs 695 kgs.
| Length |
190 cms. |
| Shank hole |
31 cms. |
| Weight |
604 kgs. |
Lead anchors began to be used in ships from the 6th century
B.C. onwards. This type of anchor consisted of a combination
of wood, lead and iron. The body and arms of the anchor
were usually of wood, while the connecting piece and anchor
head were of lead. In some cases the clamps were of iron,
and iron was used in the flukes. They lead anchor with preserved
wooden section recovered from lake Nemi in Italy makes the
reconstruction of this type of anchor possible (fig. 10).
From the 2nd century A.D. lead anchors began to be replaced
by iron ones.
Rhiton
This is a pot in the shape of a human head, with a single
handle and a long round sharp rim at the very top. The hair
is arranged in curls, and these are very clearly rendered
around the face and brow. The head has beetling eyebrows
and large eyes, these being very skilfully worked. The nose
is full and the lips thin. There is a dimple on the chin.
The base is flat. This rhiton displays the characteristics
of the Roman period and may be dated to the 2nd century
A.D.
| Diameter of body |
15 cms. |
| Diameter of base |
10 cms. |
| Height |
21 cms. |
Activities
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