(This post may be a bit long for some email software, so if you don’t see “Next stop: Walking around Athens” at the bottom of your email, you’ll need to click on the title to go to the website and see the full post).
This archaological museum is big ….. stupidly big. They’ve got collections from throughout Greece, including many of the sites we’ve visited. They have huge amounts of material from stone age and bronze age and a particularly large number of gold artefacts from Mycaene, a particularly wealthy ancient Greek state, famous for losing Helen to the Trojans and, after uniting many Greek states to do so, launching an all-out war against Troy to get her back.
Many of the exhibits include grave goods - material buried with someone for the afterlife. There is a simply huge volume of pottery of various forms, shapes and sizes as well as statuary and relief carved stone. The place simply boggles the mind and it all becomes too much to absorb.
Arriving at the museum fresh and ready … 3.5 hours later we left exhausted.
The photos that follow are just a smattering of things we found interesting.
Stylised grave figurines from the Cyclades. 2800-2300BC. The one on the right was a “victim” of illicit antiquities trade, and was repatriated back from Germany in 2014.
Proof the ancient Greeks had binoculars (or maybe he’s playing a wind instrument like a flute …. 🤔 2800-2300 BC.
People buried all sorts of stuff with their dead loved ones.
Obsidian cores and blades flaked off a core.
Pottery “frying pan” objects ….. we gather that nobody really knows what theses were for.
The image rolled out from a vase stand.
A hedgehog having a drink … what else would it be? Maybe a trash panda??
Marble figurines and bronze spearhead and dagger.
An over achieving candle stick holder? 2300-2000 BC.
A wine cup on a ring … for those that are so hard to buy for at Christmas.
The gold death mask of Agamemnon of Mycaene ….. though it turns out that its almost certainly not Agamemnon’s death mask … probably from a Mycaenean king from 100 years or so earlier.
Love the dagger. Bronze dagger with inlaid gold decoration of a landscape with felines chasing aquatic birds among papyrus flowers.
Another wonderfully decorated dagger.
Elaborate vase carved out of marble.
Silver rhyton (ancient drinking vessel) in the shape of a bovine head with gold horns and rosette on the forehead. The muzzle, which has a pouring hole, is gold-plated, as were initially the eyes and the inside of the ears.
Lots of bronze swords … to protect all the bling?
Lots and lots of gold bling were in these graves in Myceane. Must have been a very wealthy state back in the day.
Along with copious amounts of gold, there were all sorts of other jewellery and gifts in the graves.
Three more “death masks”.
Lions and humans having a fight on this one. Looks like the humans are winning and the lions are making a run for it.
Captain Stavros checking out some more of the bling … 🤩
“You distract the guards ….”
Does 33 show that guys with bigger “attributes” get more chicks? 🤔
Love the gold wine pourer - very classy 🤪
Everyday handy household wares ….. in gold of course.
Bronze tripod vessel with riveted on legs and handle.
Fragments of wall paintings from Titans Palace, down the road from the Mycenaean burial site.
Gold signet ring, the largest extant Mycenaean ring. It depicts a procession of lion-headed daemons holding libation jugs and moving towards an enthroned goddess. The goddess wears a long chiton and raises a ritual vessel. Behind the throne is an eagle-symbol of dominion. The sun's wheel and crescent moon appear in the sky. 15th cent. BC
Meteorite cylinder seal with a pair of half-human half-bovine figures holding sceptres, flanked by griffins (imaginary creatures with an eagle's head and a lion's body) and wild goats. Imported from the Mitanni region, northern Mesopotamia (modern Syria). 15th cent. BC.
Cool stone vase.
Lots of animal figurines.
The first Ancient Greek ping pong paddle. It would be hundreds of years before someone invented the second one in order for them to actually have a game. (It’s really a bronze mirror).
Lots of jewellery in the ladies graves. I heard a story that jewellery was given only to the dead in ancient times, and that it’s a modern thing to have it while you’re alive. Not sure if that’s true or not - leave a comment if you know for sure!
Ancient Greek beanie? Boar's tusk helmet with cheek-guards and a double bone hook on top.
Seal stones with the image they make shown below - very cool!
Not your average beer mugs! And they have a cool picture around them telling a story (no doubt embellished after a few drinks!)
Plain drinking vessels with no stories … someone wasn’t trying hard enough to impress ….. except of course that they’re made of gold.
Tiny little gold sail fish.
A seal stamp (brandmark) on the horses leg shows the figure of Nike (Victory), indicating the statue was probably dedicated to a sanctuary by a victor in an equestrian competition.
A 2nd century AD copy of a 4th century BC statue of Hermes - the messenger god. I guess they didn’t have copyright laws back then …
Statue of Aphrodite. Found in southern Italy. Was partially restored by a famous Italian sculptor in the late 1800s. This was probably made in the 2nd century AD following the style of the Syracuse Aphrodite, the original of which goes back to the 4th century BC.
Captain Stavros checking out artifacts from the Temple of Asklepios Epidauros. We visited this site back in 2019 and our journey this year didn’t quite go past there, but maybe it will next year.
Cool big vases and wall reliefs.
More of the big vases, or whatever they are - spose I should have checked 🤣🤦♀️
Marble grave stele found in Athens. Dates from 350-325 BC.
Proof that the ancient Greeks took psychedelics. Funeral statue of a Siren. 370 BC.
More cool large sculptures.
More proof of the psychedelic consumption 🤣
Bronze statue of a young athlete. 340-330 BC. Found in the sea off Marathon (which is to the north east of Athens, about the distance of a marathon away … funnily enough!). (For those not aware, it was from Marathon that a runner was sent to Athens to tell them of the victory at Marathon. As goes the story, he ran all the way to Athens, gave the news, and then died. Why anyone would want to voluntarily repeat that these days is beyond me 🤣😂).
Another bronze statue of a youth, this time from a shipwreck (which is probably why it has survived as most bronze statues eventually got melted down and recycled or made into weapons. There are two thoughts on who this is - its either Perseus who would have been holding the head of Medusa, or Paris who would have been holding the “apple of Strife”, ready to award it to the most beautiful goddess, Aphrodite. (Hmm, where have a heard a story about a woman and an apple that caused strife before?? 🤔). This statue dates back to 340-330 BC.
Freaky looking dude. The eyeballs are made of a different material and the irises of glass paste. About 240 BC.
Yikes, …. Just no!
One of these is a statue of Poseidon, found on the island of Milos. The other one is that greek god of wine and holding in tummies which has been photo bombing my shots for the last 5 months 🤣😁
“You can’t handle the jandal!” The nude goddess Aphrodite attempts to fend off the goat-footed god Pan who makes erotic advances to her. She holds her sandal threateningly in her right hand, while the winged god Eros comes to her aid. According to the inscription on the base, the group was dedicated by Dionysios of Beryttos to his ancestral gods. About 100 BC.
This guy definitely doesn’t look Greek to us! Turns out we were right - he’s Roman, specifically emperor Augustus (29 BC - AD 14). He’s the one that defeated Anthony and Cleopatra in a great naval victory in western Greece.
I always think these things are amazing. How pissed off would you be if you finished it and then spotted a spelling mistake or grammatical error!
This guy is easily recognisable. It’s Antinoos, who was the emperor Hadrian’s lover. He famously drowned in the river Nile in AD 130. Hadrian had him deified and erected numerous statues, busts and portraits of him in cities and sanctuaries throughout the Roman empire (there’s a good one at Effesus). He is portrayed as having exceptional beauty ….. though questionable swimming skills.
People apparently used to like taking the heads off statues as souvenirs. We wondered if we should continue the tradition, but with security like it is here, we thought better of it. 🤣
Any guesses who this is? For those of you paying attention, you probably correctly guessed it’s Asklepios - the god of medicine. Found at Epidauros. He’s leaning on a staff, around which his sacred animal, the snake, is coiled. About AD 160 (but copied from the style of 4th century BC). This image of the caduceus, is the modern symbol for medicine - snakes twined around a staff.
Statue of a sleeping Maenad (female followers of Dionysus, and the name translates as “raving ones”). Found to the south of the Athenian Acropolis. It presumably adorned a luxury residence. The Maenad is asleep (maybe hungover? 🧐) lying on a panther skin spread on a rocky surface after a wine fuelled (and possibly party drug infested) rave.
Marble table support. This was in such good condition that it was housed inside a glass cabinet. It’s Dionysus, Pan & a Satyr. Traces of colour are still visible (most marble sculptures used to be coloured with paint, but it all fades so we just see the marble). Dionysus, of course, was the god of theatre, wine and ecstasy ….. hence the raves.
Captain Stavros found the perfect wine jug for Scappa.
And matching wine cup …
620 BC Reconstructed Pottery.
Early Kardashian pottery.
Decorative gutter overflows.
Remember those “weebles wobble but they don’t fall down” from your childhood? They come from the 5th century BC.
Novelty drinking mug.
White vases.
Did this guy drink himself to death?
More cool pottery, this time for Nuptial purposes. 350-325 BC.
Looks like an angel from Christianity right? Nope! It’s a Greek goddess called Nike who represented victory and was linked with Athena. Just goes to show how many things are “borrowed” from previous religions (and therefore all stories should be taken with a grain of salt). Early 4th century BC.
Another weird drinking mug.
Child’s burial in a clay pipe of the type used by aquaducts. 5th century BC.
Wall paintings from Thera (Santorini).
A drinking vessel for people who want an excuse for not putting your drink down.
Bronze krater from Macedonia. A krater is a vessel for mixing wine with water. Monumental kraters were used by the nobility as urns to hold ashes.
How they made bronze statues: first they do a rough shape in clay. Then wax was used on the next layer to add details. Its then turned upside down snd tubes added for the metal to go in and wax and air to drain out. They then cover it with clay and put it in a kiln and heated to excess of 1084C. The wax melts and the molten metal is poured inside the small tubes and fills the space left by the melted wax. Once its cooled they then trim all the tubes off and voila! A hollow bronze statue!
The finished statue on the right.
Warrior figurine. He wears an early type of conical helmet and has a figure-of-eight shield of Boeotian type hanging from the baldric on his back. The figurine possibly depicts the hero Achilles and dates to about 700 BC.
We’ve seen this guy before in Sami on Kefalonia. He’s a statuette of a ithyphallic dancing Silen. He has the features of a man and a horse. 540-530 BC and seems to be happy with his lot in life.
On to the Egyptian section.
Stone votive stela from about 720 BC.
Cool Egyptian stuff.
The Egyptians were obviously into psychedelics as well. This is part of a colossal statue of the goddess Sekhmet. One of the 700 statues that decorated the temple of the Goddess Mut at Karnak. 1391-1353 BC. We met Sekhmet in Turkey a few months ago.
Wooden statuette of a Pygmy dancer, possible part of a mechanical toy. Pygmies of Central Africa were given as presents to the Pharaohs and nobles, and were designated as dancers of the divine dances.
Another ping pong paddle! Maybe they can now have a game … 🤔
Funerary stela with representation of the deceased Khenit and her son Kai.
Double false door of Ptahnakht and his wife Meritmutes.
Right: Gold hairnet with the relief bust of Artemis (huntress) with quiver. 3rd century BC.
Commemorative statue of the first MMA event - Joe Rogan to commentate.
These are amusing looking fellows. The ones on either side are representatives of the god Bes. Bes was the people’s favourite deity in the Hellenistic period. Looks like a Star Wars character.
Cool Egyptian stuff.
And more cool Egyptian stuff - images of gods including Horus the hawk.
There is Sekhmet again - body of a woman, head of a lion.
Apparently bum bags are back in fashion. 🤣
Always amazing to see these.
A modern replica of the Antikythera mechanism, as featured in the latest Indiana Jones movie.
Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon. Found in the sea of Cape Artemision, in northern Euboea. The god, shown in great stride, extends his left arm before his body, while holding a thunderbolt or trident in his right hand. His identification as Zeus or Poseidon is controversial (the former is more probable). It is one of the few preserved original statues of the Severe Style, notable for the exquisite rendering of motion and anatomy. It is certainly the work of a great sculptor of the early Classical period, ca. 460 BC.
Captain Stavros checking out the last of the statues.
Phew! 3.5 hours later and we are all museumed out! Time to go get a gyros and a beer.
Archeological Museum of Athens 🇬🇷