Turkey in June: It’s been 2,344 years since Alexander the Great invaded. The country then was Persia’s window on the Mediterranean, the western frontier of an empire that stretched eastward to India. Alexander conquered the whole vast realm, but he began by spending a year and a half in Anatolia. Turks reward him with a place in their pantheon. Alexander—“Iskender” in Turkish—is still a popular name.

If Alexander had a shrine in Turkey, it would lie in a room of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. There, theatrically displayed under careful lighting, is the Alexander Sarcophagus, which was discovered in Lebanon in 1887. The shimmering rectangular block of marble was named for its stunning relief sculptures, not its occupant (the coffin belonged to an ally and not to Alexander himself). In those days, another empire stretched eastward (and westward) from Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire, and Lebanon was a province. The sarcophagus was brought to Istanbul (Constantinople, then) to adorn the new archaeological museum, a majestic masterpiece for an imperial twilight. The object’s marble decoration shows Alexander and his soldiers crushing the Persians in battle.

If anyone in Turkey feels uneasy about this celebration of the victory of West over East, they don’t show it. But Turkey is a big tent—in fact, the biggest tent in history. Anatolia is home to one of the oldest civilizations on earth. “Turks” are a mix of populations and cultures, from Central Asia to the Balkans. Although Turks are not known for their easy