Guide
The Ankara Ethnography Museum came out of a national museum project of the Turkish republic. States that had completed the work of becoming nations generally took up such projects: museums to study the past of their own people, to gather the material and moral values that people had produced, to present those values to society and so to give them a national identity.
The architect of the building was Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, the contractor Nafiz Kotan Bey of Erzurum, the marble master Hüseyin Avni Efendi, the founder who cast the bronze relief moulds on the dome Hakkı Usta, and the engineer Bahri Bey.
Building began in 1925 and was finished in 1926. Hamit Zübeyir Koşay was appointed director on 1 June 1927, and that date is taken as the founding of the museum. A period of intense work and preparation followed, in time for the visit of King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan; his visit on 27 May 1928 is regarded as the museum's first opening, and it was opened to the public on 18 July 1930.
The mausoleum area in the entrance hall served as the temporary grave of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for fifteen years, from 21 November 1938 until 10 November 1953, and no museum work was carried on during those years. After his body was moved to Anıtkabir, the museum opened to the public again on 18 May 1956, International Museum Day.
The displays were renewed, and the museum now holds ten halls: nine permanent — wooden works; Hacı Bayram-ı Veli and the works of the mystical path; manuscripts; power and authority; tiles and porcelain; the Ankara house; metal, glass and terracotta; carpets and kilims; and elegance and aesthetics — along with one hall for temporary exhibitions.
What is shown in these halls includes woodwork of the periods of the Turkish emirates, the Seljuks and the Ottomans, such as door leaves, mihrabs and minbars; objects used by dervishes of the mystical orders; manuscripts and calligraphic panels; the tools and equipment of war; tiles and porcelain; glass, terracotta and metal work; carpets and kilims; and pieces belonging to the culture of jewellery and dress.
