Guided Tour
May 23, 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 Weight Depicting an Eagle
Hellenistic Period
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.
Inspired by the exhibition Istanbuls Today, Today's Stories series continues with Hande Ortaç's story "Felis"! This series gathers short stories written by authors encouraged by the photographs in the exhibition.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Pera Museum invites artist Benoît Hamet to reinterpret key pieces from its collections, casting a humorous eye over ‘historical’ events, both imagined and factual.
Three figures in Eastern dress are shown in repose against an exotic landscape, smoking pipes and playing mangala. Inventories of the royal collections from 1739 identify the members of this group as the royal eunuch Matthias and two odalisques.
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)
