Guided Tour
April 25, 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
Lead Filled Bronze Steelyard Weight
Late Roman-Early Byzantine Perio
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.
Pera Museum, in collaboration with Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), is one of the main venues for this year’s 15th Istanbul Biennial from 16 September to 12 November 2017.
Giacometti worked nonstop on his sculptures, either from nature or from memory, trying to capture the universal facial expressions.
A Salon exhibition held in the Grand Palais in Paris on May 1, 1906 showcased an Ottoman painting. This was Osman Hamdi Bey’s famous “Tortoise Trainer”.
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)
