On the daİstanbul.blog you will find contributions on events and projects, and short articles from the different working units of the Istanbul Deparment of the German Archaeological Institute. Furthermore, we provide links to the individual blogs of our field projects.
Istanbul Department
The Istanbul Department was founded in 1929 to celebrate the DAI’s 110th anniversary. Since then, the department has been responsible for significant excavation sites including Aizanoi, Bogazköy, Göbekli Tepe, Didyma, Milet, Pergamon, and Priene. Research projects ranging from the prehistory of Anatolia and Thrace to the Ottoman era shape the department’s profile.
The Istanbul Department is dedicated to archaeological research in modern Turkey, with one focus on Byzantium. The Greek settlement founded in the 7th century BC became the Roman city of Constantinople in the 4th century AD and is now known as the Turkish metropolis Istanbul. As a second research focus, the Istanbul Department manages monument excavations in West Turkey (Pergamum, Milet, Didyma). Hittite culture and the Hittite capital Hattusa-Bogazköy in central Anatolia constitute another key research interest. The department’s research activities cover prehistory and ancient history, beginning in the 10th millennium BC and continuing through the Ottoman era into the 20th century.