Guided Tour
February 28, 2025 / 18:30
Egyptians weighed the goods on their scales and people’s sins. To the Egyptians, the heart was the source of human wisdom and the centre of emotions and memory. In the rite of the weighing of the heart, the deceased's heart was weighed on the scale against the feather of the goddess Maat, who personified order and truth. The heart symbolized the deceased’s conscience, while the feather symbolized justice. If the heart weighed exactly the same as or less than the feather's weight, the deceased could pass into the afterlife. But if the heart weighed more than the feather, it would have been devoured by the awaiting monster with the head of a crocodile and the body of a lion, Ammit.
The guided tour explores the Art of Weights and Measures exhibition from a thematic perspective. The tour examines Anatolia's social and economic history spanning four millennia through metaphors shaped around the concepts of weights and measures. Through the exhibited artefacts, participants will have the opportunity to experience the development of these concepts across Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean regions.
The 45-minute guided tour is free of charge and will be in Turkish. The capacity is limited. To secure your spot for the tour, kindly make a reservation by emailing resepsiyon@peramuzesi.org.tr.
Image Credit
Bronze Weight Depicting a Sphinx
800-700 BC
Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Anatolian Weights and Measures Collection
Temporary Exhibition
As the measurement of discovery became the substance of myths, weighing and measuring, beyond being mere physical actions, became an important means of self-expression to those captivated by the universe and what lay beyond the boundaries of knowledge.
Click for more information about the exhibition.
I walk over rocks hot as iron under the September sun. I can make out a few lines in the distance, and a few cracked rocks, but apart from those, not a single tree, not one plant
Over the years of 1864 through 1876, Stanisław Chlebowski served Sultan Abdülaziz in Istanbul as his court painter. As it was, Abdülaziz disposed of considerable artistic talents of his own, and he actively involved himself in Chlebowski’s creative process, suggesting ideas for compositions –such as ballistic pieces praising the victories of Turkish arms.
In 1962 Philip Corner, one of the most prominent members of the Fluxus movement, caused a great commotion in serious music circles when during a performance entitled Piano Activities he climbed up onto a grand piano and began to kick it while other members of the group attacked it with saws, hammers and all kinds of other implements.
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 - 19:00
Friday 10:00 - 22:00
Sunday 12:00 - 18:00
The museum is closed on Mondays.
On Wednesdays, the students can
visit the museum free of admission.
Full ticket: 300 TL
Discounted: 150 TL
Groups: 200 TL (minimum 10 people)
