Seeds and Metaphors
The Art of Weights and Measures Exhibition Tour

Guided Tour

May 31, 2024 / 18:30

Although the act of weighing was quite simple in itself, trying to formulate the units for measuring was conceptual and complex. The ancient Mesopotamian civilizations laid the foundations of the units of weight based on barley seeds as a result of their daily practices. Ancient Egyptians, on the other hand, used the metaphor of weighing the souls of the deceased to cross the boundaries of everyday life and make sense of life after death. Understanding what cannot be measured was a difficult task, even thousands of years ago.

The guided exhibition tour explores the four-thousand-year social and economic history of Anatolia, focusing on metaphors shaped around the concepts of weight and measurement. Participants also have the opportunity to see the objects that are not displayed in the exhibition.

The 45-minute guided tour is free of charge, and the language is Turkish. The quota is limited. To join the tour, you can make a reservation via resepsiyon@peramuzesi.org.tr e-mail address.

Temporary Exhibition

The Art of Weights and Measures

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. 

The Art of Weights and Measures

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico. Exactly 47 years from now, before she died in the same city and her beloved Mexico, many things would happen; she’d meet Diego Rivera, become a world-renowned artist, and allow many of her fans to dress like her on Halloween. 

Five Unmissable Istanbul Paintings of Félix Ziem

Five Unmissable Istanbul Paintings of Félix Ziem

Félix Ziem is accepted as one of the well-known artists of the romantic landscape painting, and has been followed closely by art lovers and collectors of all periods since. He had a profound influence on generations of artists after him, and was the first artist whose works were acquired by the Louvre while he was still alive.

Memory of the Region

Memory of the Region

Objects also bear the memory of the geography to which they relate. Ceramics, with soil as their primary material, are directly linked to the land where they are produced: forging a direct relationship with earth, ceramics bear the memory of the soil where they come from.