New Samsun Museum ready for opening

SAMSUN

The New Samsun Museum, which is conceptually rare in the world, being home to the Amisos Treasure, considered the most valuable in Türkiye after the Karun Treasure, as well as a skull with traces of a 5,000-year-old brain surgery, will open tomorrow.

The construction of the New Samsun Museum has been completed. The historical artifacts to be exhibited in the museum have been set in place and the museum will open tomorrow with the participation of Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

There are some exciting works on display in the museum. The Amisos Treasure, consisting of 64 pieces, was found during a construction excavation in Samsun on Nov. 28, 1995, and is considered the most valuable treasure belonging to the dynasty members of the Pontus Kingdom, has its place in the Samsun Museum. It is stated that the history of the gold artifacts dates back to the 1st century B.C.

The 5,000-year-old skulls with traces of brain surgery, unearthed during the excavations in the Early Bronze Age graves of the İkiztepe Mound, where the oldest and longest systematic excavation continues in the Black Sea Region, was also put on display in the museum.

The skulls, found in Anatolia, draw attention with the largest healed skull hole. It was determined that the surgical hole in the skulls of adult male individuals narrowed over time, and they may have lived for some time after the operation.

The museum is also home to coins from the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican periods, the Amisos Mosaic with a base size of 56 square meters, jewelry, arches, sculptures, tombs and warship models from the Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, Hittite, Hellenistic and Roman periods as well as many works such as clothes from old historical periods, and the works showing the processes during the War of Independence.

Samsun Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Cemal Almaz said, “This is a very nice museum concept, a very beautiful museum unique to Samsun. There is the memory and history of Samsun here. The entire process, from the first settlement dating back to 7,000 B.C. to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's arrival in Samsun and the start of the War of Independence, is literally portrayed here.”

Speaking about the artifacts in the museum, Almaz said, “We created a concept on an area of approximately 20,000 square meters in total. The museum is unique in terms of its format in the world. I recommend students, especially those of school age, to come here. There are many artworks to see here. Tourism agencies also included foreign guests in this location. They will also be able to visit this museum effectively and will benefit from the works in this museum. There are houses from prehistoric times, tools, pottery and pottery in the museum. We also have the Amisos Treasury along with the skulls found during the excavations carried out in Samsun. According to the data given to us by scientists, we see that surgery was performed in 3,000 and 4,000 B.C. I invite everyone here to see and experience this at Samsun Museum.”

The 22,222-square-meter Samsun Museum, which includes an archaeology and ethnography museum, a children's museum, a conference hall for 346 people, a library for 120 people, artifact exhibition halls, laboratories, a restaurant, a guest exhibition hall and a very large area containing 1,117 archaeological artifacts, 268 ethnographic artifacts and 5,780 coins.