Batman Museum

EstablishedMarch 12, 2010

Coordinates37°53′55″N 41°08′28″E / 37.8986°N 41.1411°E

Typearcheological museum
open-air museum

Batman Museum
Batman Müzesi

Location within Turkey
Established	March 12, 2010 (2010-03-12)
Location	Batman, Turkey
Coordinates	37°53′55″N 41°08′28″E / 37.8986°N 41.1411°E / 37.8986; 41.1411
Type	archeological museum open-air museum
Key holdings	Başur Höyük gaming pieces
Collection size	450 items on display
Website	https://www.muze.gov.tr/tr/muzeler/batman-muzesi

Batman Museum is an archaeological museum in the city of Batman in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. The museum opened on 12 March 2010 in a free-standing, two-floor building on the southern portion of the Batman Cultural Center site. The museum's collection of 450 items is organized into three exhibition halls, one covering the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, a second with items from the Ilısu Dam excavations and a third with items from the city of Hasankeyf.^[1]^[2]

Başur Höyük gaming pieces

The museum houses items uncovered during seven rescue excavations at sites in Batman and Siirt provinces that were due to be inundated by the Ilısu Dam.

Perhaps the museum's most important holding is the set of gaming pieces (Turkish: oyun taşları) discovered at Başur Höyük, in Siirt Province.^[2] The set was uncovered in a grave at Başur Höyük, one of nine in the southeast part of the 250-by-150-metre (820 by 490 ft) tell that were excavated during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. It has been carbon-dated to 3100-2900 B.C., placing their maker as a member of Early Bronze Age culture.^[3]

These 49 small carved painted stones are thought to be the oldest gaming pieces ever found. They are sculpted in various shapes including pigs, dogs, pyramids and circular and bullet shapes, and are painted in green, red, blue, black and white. The pieces were found with dice and three circular tokens made of white shell and topped with a black round stone. The tokens were accompanied by badly preserved wooden pieces or sticks, which the excavator hopes may provide clues to the game's rules.^[3]

The discovery was presented at a 2013 conference by excavator Haluk Sağlamtimur of Ege University in İzmir. He said that "the distribution, shape and number of the stone pieces... [suggests] ...that the game is based on the number four." Başur Höyük was inhabited as early as 7,000 B.C. and was on a trade route between Mesopotamia and East Anatolia. The site also yielded about 300 well-preserved amorphous bronze artefacts, and a great variety of painted and unpainted pottery, including some examples from the Ninivite 5 culture.^[3]

Other displays

Other important items in the museum's collections include bronze grave gifts from Başur Höyük; a figure of the god Bes from Hasankeyf; and a stele (Turkish: dikili taş) excavated from a 14,000-year-old site at Gusir Höyük, just west of Gusir Gölü, near the confluence of the Botan River with the Tigris southeast of Siirt.^[2]

The museum theater shows documentary films related to the objects on display in the museum. The museum also has a library with work on archeology, culture and art history and a restoration laboratory.^[2]

Outside, the "Museum Park" recreates historic buildings from the region with the aim of allowing visitors to experience the region's history more directly. These exhibits include recreations of the houses discovered at Güsir Höyük and at Gre Amer Höyük (on the east bank of the Garzan River, near Işıkveren village) as part of the Ilısu Dam rescue excavation; inhumation customs as observed at Kuriki Höyük (near Oymataş village, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Batman); the Başur Höyük gaming pieces; the Artuqid Gate from Hasankeyf; and a recreation of 20th-century village life in Hasankeyf. This garden area includes an educational area designed to familiarize school students with the processes of archeological excavation.^[2]

In early 2018, as the Turkish government prepared to fill the lake behind the Ilısu Dam, four of the reliefs from Hasankeyf's Old Bridge were moved to the Batman Museum's garden.^[4]

v t e Archaeological museums in Turkey
Aegean region	Afyonkarahisar Archaeological Museum Aydın Archaeological Museum Bodrum Castle Bolvadin Museum Bostanlı Open-air Archaeological Museum Ephesus Archaeological Museum Hierapolis Izmir Archeology Museum Archaeological Museum of Manisa Uşak Museum of Archaeology
Black Sea region	Amasya Museum Bolu Museum Çorum Archaeological Museum Kastamonu Archaeological Museum Konuralp Museum Samsun Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography Sinop Archaeological Museum Tokat Museum Trabzon Museum
Central Anatolia region	Çatalhöyük Eskişehir Archaeological Museum Konya Archaeological Museum Gordion Museum Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
Eastern Anatolia region	Kars Museum Van Museum
Marmara region	Bursa Archaeological Museum Çanakkale Archaeological Museum Great Palace Mosaic Museum Istanbul Archaeology Museums Kırklareli Museum Sadberk Hanım Museum Tekirdağ Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography
Mediterranean region	Adana Archaeology Museum Alanya Archaeological Museum Antalya Museum Arslan Eyce Private Amphora Museum Burdur Archaeological Museum Hatay Archaeology Museum Karatepe-Aslantaş Open-Air Museum Mersin Museum Misis Mosaic Museum Silifke Museum Tarsus Museum
Southeastern Anatolia region	Adıyaman Archaeological Museum Diyarbakır Archaeological Museum Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology Şanlıurfa Museum Zeugma Mosaic Museum

v t e Museums in Turkey
Aegean region	Adatepe Olive Oil Museum Afyonkarahisar Archaeological Museum Akhisar Museum Atatürk's House (Şuhut) Aydın Archaeological Museum Bergama Museum Bostanlı Open-air Archaeological Museum Burhaniye National Forces Culture Museum Çamlık Railway Museum Çeşme Museum Denizli Museum Natural History Museum of Ege University İnciraltı Sea Museum İzmir Archaeological Museum İzmir Art and Sculpture Museum İzmir Ethnography Museum İzmir Toy Museum İzmir Women's Museum Kütahya Archaeological Museum Manisa Archaeological Museum Milas Museum Muğla Museum Ödemiş Museum Ödemiş Urban Archives and Museum Tahtakuşlar Tire City Museum Uşak Museum of Archaeology Victory Museum
Black Sea region	Alaçam Population Exchange Museum Amasra Museum Amasya Museum Baksı Museum Bolu Museum Çorum Archaeological Museum Dikyamaç Museum Giresun Museum Hagia Sophia, Trabzon Karabük Kardemir Iron-Steel Museum Karadeniz Ereğli Museum Kastamonu Ethnography Museum Ordu Ethnographical Museum Rize Atatürk Museum Samsun Atatürk Museum Surgical Instruments and Health Museum Sinop Fortress Prison Sinop Archaeological Museum Söğüt Ertuğrul Gazi Museum Atatürk's House Museum (Şebinkarahisar) Tokat Museum Trabzon Museum
Central Anatolia region	Aksaray Museum Akşehir Museum Anıtkabir Ankara Aviation Museum Atatürk Museum Mansion Atatürk's Residence and Railway Museum Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum Erimtan Museum Eskişehir Museum Eskişehir Aviation Museum Eskişehir Caricature Museum Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum Eskişehir Wax Museum Ethnography Museum of Ankara Feza Gürsey Science Center Gordion Museum Gökyay Association Chess Museum İnönü Military Quarter and War Museum Karaman Museum Kayseri Archaeology Museum Kırıkkale MKE Weapons Industry Museum Kırşehir Museum Konya Archaeological Museum Konya Ethnography Museum Konya Ereğli Museum Mehmet Akif Ersoy Literature Museum Library METU Science and Technology Museum Mevlana Museum Museum of Anatolian Civilizations Museum of Modern Glass Art, Eskişehir Museum of woodworking Nevşehir Museum Niğde Archaeological Museum Pembe Köşk Republic Museum Roman Baths of Ankara Sahip Ata Museum Sivas Congress and Ethnography Museum Stamp Museum State Art and Sculpture Museum Tayfun Talipoğlu Typewriter Museum TCDD Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum Ulucanlar Prison Museum Vakıf Museum War of Independence Museum Yozgat Museum
Eastern Anatolia	Boğatepe Cheese Museum Camera Museum, Malatya Elazığ Archaeology and Ethnography Museum Ali Demirsoy Natural History Museum Kars Museum Malatya Museum
Marmara region	Museum of Nationist Forces in Balıkesir Bilecik Museum Bursa Archaeological Museum Bursa Atatürk Museum Bursa Forestry Museum Bursa Karagöz Museum Bursa Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art Bursa Energy Museum Camera Museum, Istanbul Çanakkale Archaeological Museum Edirne Museum Gelibolu War Museum Kırklareli Museum Kocaeli Museum Konuralp Museum Mudanya Armistice House Kutman Wine Museum Namık Kemal House Museum Rákóczi Museum Sakarya Museum SEKA Paper Museum Tekirdağ Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography Tofaş Museum of Cars and Anatolian Carriages Troy Museum *For museums in Istanbul see* Museums in Istanbul**
Mediterranean region	Adana Archaeology Museum Adana Cinema Museum Alanya Archaeological Museum Anamur Museum Arslan Eyce Private Amphora Museum Atatürk Museum Adana Ethnography Museum Antalya Museum Atatürk's House Museum (Antalya) Burdur Archaeological Museum Emirler Picnic Area and Museum Hatay Archaeology Museum İskenderun Naval Museum Kahramanmaraş Archaeology Museum Kahramanmaraş Liberation Museum Karatepe-Aslantaş Open-Air Museum Mersin Archaeological Museum Mersin Atatürk Museum Mersin Museum Mersin Naval Museum Mersin State Art and Sculpture Museum Mersin Water Museum Mersin Urban History Museum Misis Mosaic Museum Narlıkuyu Museum Osmaniye City Museum Saint Paul's Church, Tarsus Silifke Museum Silifke Atatürk Museum Tarsus Çanakkale Park Museum Tarsus Museum Taşucu Amphorae Museum Taşucu Atatürk Museum
Southeastern Anatolia region	Adıyaman Archaeological Museum Ahmet Arif Literature Museum Library Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Museum Diyarbakır Archaeological Museum Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology Kilis Museum Mardin Museum Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum Ziya Gökalp Museum
Turkey portal Category

Başur Höyük gaming pieces

Other displays

References

Sources

Related Articles