The process leading to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was to a great extent shaped in the nineteenth century. One of the by-products of the fight to resist this fall was the introduction of excavations and museums. The Ottoman era does not contain much research on the establishment process of the museums except for brief information in museum guides. Most of the publications, wherein similar contents have been more or less repeated, belong to the early Republican era. Thanks to the recent classification of the Ottoman archives, publications of higher quality have been observed in this field. Museums and excavations were deemed especially significant during the early years of the Republic as a means of refashioning society. Since Turkey chose to integrate with the western world in the aftermath of Atatürk’s death, museums were never again prioritized to a similar extent. Even though there has been a raise in the number of private museums, public museums suffer from miserable conditions. This current situation is also reflected in publications regarding museums.
Halit Çal