Dergi Bursa / OCAK 2019 / Sayı 52

43 MUSEUMS ARE THE MEMORY OF SOCIETIES Muazzez İlmiye Çığ tells us that Atatürk was also a pioneer in starting museums during that period and gives many examples: “Six months after the proclamation of the Republic, Atatürk ordered that the Topkapı Palace be transformed into a museum where the cultural and historical relics of the demolished Ottoman Empire are kept and he has monitored the works conducted whenever he visited Istanbul. The fact that he ordered an excavation to be carried out after stating that the real city is under the ground when there was talk of restoring Turkish artifacts and that there should be a fourth gate around the gates of the city of Iznik (Nikeia) where the world famous Council gathered is an indication of the importance that he gives to archaeology… The reason why Turkey is a laboratory for archaeology today is due to the interest of Atatürk in history and archaeology.” A quotation on her own past from Muazzez İlmiye Çığ’s book entitled, “Atatürk is Contemplating”: “Appointed in 1941 as an expert to the Cuneiform Scripts Archive of the Istanbul Oriental Artifacts Museum. Together with Dr. F. Kraus and her close friend and colleague Hatice Kızılyay, she carried out studies on thousands of sarcophagi which had not been opened and classified until that time and transformed the Istanbul Museum of Archaeology into a center of research for Proto-Asian languages just like “Louvre” in Paris, “British Museum” in London or “Vordcrasiatischcs Museum” in Berlin. She started introducing the tablets in the archive to the scientific community. She made key publications in the field of Summerology literature together with experts from America, Germany and Finland. She retired in 1972 after working for 33 years on 74 thousand cuneiform script documents in the languages of the Sumerians, Acadians and Hittites located at the Museum of Archaeology in Istanbul. Muazzez İlmiye Çığ continues to share her knowledge with her society with the enthusiasm of a Republican woman and an intellectual Turkish lady. She has many books published by Kaynak Publications and has received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Istanbul University on May 4, 2000.” olarak atandı. O zamana kadar tasnifi tam yapılmamış ve bilimsel çalışmalara açılamamış binlerce lahit üzerinde Dr. F. Kraus ve yakın arkadaşı, değerli meslektaşı Hatice Kızılyay ile çalışarak, İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzesi’ni Paris “Louvre”, Londra “British Museurn”, Berlin “Vordcrasiatischcs Museum” gibi bir Eski Ön-Asya dilleri araştırma merkezi haline getirdi. Arşivdeki tabletleri bilim alemine tanıtmaya başladı. Arnerika’dan, Almanya’dan, Finlandiya’dan gelen uzmanlarla birlikte, her biri Sümeroloji literatüründe birer kilometre taşı olan yayınlar yaptı. İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzesi’nde bulunan Sumer, Akad, Hitit dillerinde yazılmış 74 bin çiviyazılı belge üzerinde 33 yıl çalıştıktan sonra 1972 yılında emekli oldu. Muazzez İlmiye Çığ bir Cumhuriyet kızı, aydın bir Türk kadını olmanın verdiği şevkle bugün de bilgisini topluma aktarmaya devam etmektedir. Kaynak Yayınları’nca basılmış çok sayıda kitabı bulunan Çığ’a, İstanbul Üniversitesi 4 Mayıs 2000’de Fahri Doktora unvanı verdi.”