It is situated in Mardin Centre 1st Street Cumhuriyet Avenue, beside Atatürk sculpture. In accordance with the inscription on the closed portal of Mother Mary Church looking at the museum, the building has been constructed by Antakya patriarch İgnatios Behnam Banni as Syrian catholic patriarchate.
Later, it has been used as military garrison, M.S.P provincial organization, cooperative building, health centre and police station.
Ministry of Culture has purchased the building from Syrian Catholic Foundation, has decided to restore this building in 1988 and has opened it as a museum in 1995. Until that time, the old museum acted in Zinciriye Madrasa that has been constructed by Sultan İsa, who is one of Artuklu sultans.
The new museum building is completely made of cut limestone. There are unique ornaments on the internal and external vaults, arches, rails and column heads.
The museum has three floors:
on the first floor; reception, conference, exhibition and resting halls,
on the second floor; ethnography exhibition hall, library and work warehouses;
on the third floor; halls where some works obtained from Girnevas Tumulus excavation and archaeological works provided to the museum by purchase are exhibited and administrative sections are located.
The works in the museum are works belonging to the period between 4000 BC and (the) 7th century BC. In the archaeological halls, slabs, cylindrical and stamp seals, cult pots, figurines, metal awls, Jewellery, ceramics, golden, silver and copper coins, tear bottles and candles belonging to the Old Bronze, Asyrrian, Urartu, Greek, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Grand Seljuk, Artuklu and Ottoman periods are exhibited.
In the ethnography hall, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, diadems, hair Jewellery, which are elite samples of silver ornamenting special to Mardin and its surroundings, especially to Midyat District and besides them old clothes, swords, coffee (mırra) sets, bath goods, prayer beads, heating tools and copper goods are exhibited.
