Ethnographic items gathered from many parts
of Turkey are today exhibited in tableaux that
illustrate the ways of life to which they belong.
Visitors are introduced to nomadic, village
and town life, together with carpet and kilim
looms, the materials used to make natural dyes
and the techniques employed, examples of woven
artefacts and embroidery, costumes, household
articles, handcrafts, nomadic tents, harnesses
and much more. A tent of the type known as topakev,
which could still be seen until recent years
in the district of Emirdag in Afyon, and were
used for over a thousand years by both Turks
and Mongols, is among the exhibits. Such domed
tents made of felt over a wooden frame were
waterproof, warm in winter and cool in summer.
The frame consists of a circular ring supporting
the dome, a central post on which it rests,
and the derim or drum-shaped section which is
constructed to collapse with a scissor action
for easy transportation.