National Archaeological Museum of Athens

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National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Established	1829
Location	Patission Avenue, Athens, Greece
Type	National museum
Public transit access	Athens Metro stations: Viktoria station, Omonoia station
Website	Official website

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the great museums in the world and contains the richest collection of artifacts from the Greek antiquity worldwide.^[1] It is situated in the Exarhia area in central Athens between the streets Epirus, Bouboulina and Tositsa while its entrance is on the Patission Avenue adjacent to the historical building of the Athens Polytechnic.

Contents 1 History 2 The building 3 Expansions and renovations 4 Collections 5 Artists and artefacts 6 New exhibits 7 Egyptian Art collection 8 Museum highlights 9 Library of archaeology 10 Museum Activities 11 Visitors information 12 Gallery 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

[edit] History

The first national archaeological museum in Greece was established by prime minister of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias in Aigina in 1829. Since then the archaeological collection has been moved to a number of exhibition places until 1858, when an international architectural competition was announced for the location and the architectural design of the new museum.^[2]

The current location was proposed and the construction of the museum's building began in 1866 and was completed in 1889 using funds from the Greek Government, the Greek Archaeological Society and the society of Mycenae. Major benefactors were Eleni Tositsa who donated the land for the building of the museum, Demetrios and Nikolaos Vernardakis from Saint Petersburg who donated a large amount for the completion of the museum.

The initial name for the museum was The Central Museum and it was renamed to its current name in 1881 by Prime Minister of Greece Charilaos Trikoupis During the World War II the museum was closed and the antiquities were sealed in special protective boxes and buried, in order to avoid their destruction. In 1945 exhibits were again displayed under the direction of Christos Karouzos. The south wing of the museum houses the Epigraphic Museum with the richest collection of inscriptions in the world. The inscriptions museum expanded between 1953-1960 with the architectural designs of Patroklos Karantinos.^[3]

[edit] The building

The museum has an imposing neo-classical design which was very popular in Europe at the time and is in full accordance with the classical style artifacts that it houses. The initial plan was conceived by the architect Ludwig Lange and it was later modified by Panages Kalkos who was the main architect, Harmodios Vlachos and Ernst Ziller. At the front of the museum there is a large neo-classic design garden which is decorated with sculptures.^[2]

[edit] Expansions and renovations

The building has undergone many expansions. Most important were the construction of new east wing in the early 20th century based on the plans of Anastasios Metaxas and the erection of a two-storeyed building, designed by George Nomikos, in 1932-1939.^[2] These expansions were necessary to accommodate the rapidly expanding collection of artifacts. The most recent refurbishment of the museum took more than 1.5 years to complete, during which the museum remained completely closed. It reopened in July 2004, in time for the Athens Olympics and it included aesthetic and technical upgrade of the building, installation of a modern air-conditioning system, reorganisation of the museum's collection and repair of the damage that the 1999 earthquake left to the building. The Minoan frescoes rooms opened to the public in 2005.^[4] On May 2008 the Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis inaugurated the much anticipated collection of Egyptian antiquities and the collection of Eleni and Antonis Stathatos.^[5]. Today, there is a renewed discussion regarding the need to further expand the museum to adjacent areas. A new plan has been put forward for a subterranean expansion at the front of the museum.

[edit] Collections

The museum's collections are organised in sections:^[6]

• Prehistoric collection (Neolithic, Cycladic, Mycenaean)
• Sculptures collection
• Vase and Minor Objects Collection
• Santorini findings
• Metallurgy Collection
• Stathatos Collection
• Vlastos Collection
• Egyptian Art collection donated by Demetrios Ioannou and Alexander Rostovich
• Near Eastern Antiquities Collection

[edit] Artists and artefacts

Some of the ancient artists whose work is presented in the museum are Myron, Scopas, Euthymides, Lydos, Agoracritus, Agasias, Pan Painter, Wedding Painter, Meleager Painter, Cimon of Cleonae, Nessos Painter, Damophon, Aison (vase painter), Polygnotos (vase painter), Hermonax.

Collections include sculpture work, Loutrophoros, amphora, Hydria, Skyphos, Krater, Pelike, and lekythos vessels, Stele, frescoes, jewellery, weapons, tools, coins, toys and other ancient items.

Artefacts derive from archaeological excavations in Santorini, Mycenae, Tiryns, Dodona, Vaphio, Rhamnous, Lycosura, Aegean islands, Delos, the Temple of Aphaea in Aegina, the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta, Pylos, Thebes, Athens, the Antikythera wreck and from various other places across Greece.^[2]

The museum houses the archaic terracota statuette daidala that inspired the designers of the 2004 Athens Olympics maskots Athena and Phevos.

[edit] New exhibits

Two of the newest exhibits of the museum include a 4th century BCE golden funenary wreath and a 6th century BCE marble statue of a woman, which were returned as stolen artifacts to Greece in 2007 by the Getty Museum in California, after a 10 year-old legal dispute between the Getty Center and the Greek Government.^[7] One year earlier, the Los Angeles foundation agreed to return a 4th century BCE tombstone from near Thebes and a 6th century BCE votive relief from the island of Thassos.^[8]

[edit] Egyptian Art collection

The Egyptian collection dates back to the last twenty years of the 19th Century, while it is worthy to note the donation of the Egyptian government which in 1893 offered nine mummies of the era of the Pharaohs. However, the Egyptian collection is mainly by two donors, Ioannis Dimitriou (in 1880) and of Alexandros Rostovic (in 1904). In total the collection includes more than 6000 artefacts. However today only 1100 of them are available for the public. The collection is considered to be one of the best collections of Egyptian art in the world. The exhibition features rare statues, tools, jewels, mummies, a wooden body tag for a mummy, a stunning bronze statue of a princess, intact bird eggs and a 3000-year-old loaf of bread with a bite-sized chunk missing. The exhibition centrepiece is a bronze statue of the princess-priestess Takushit, dating to around 670 BC. Standing 70cm high and wearing a gown covered in hieroglyphs, the statue was found south of Alexandria in 1880.^[9]

[edit] Museum highlights

Antikythera mechanism Nestor's Cup Mask of Agamemnon Dipylon inscription Poseidon of Cape Artemision Antikythera Ephebe Diadumenos Marathon Boy Lemnos stela Kroisos Kouros Sounion Kouros Aphrodite of Cnidus Pitsa panels Collection of Kouros and Kore (sculpture)

daidala Ninnion Tablet Theseus Ring Wall frescoes from Tiryns and Santorini The Lutist from Keros Capitoline Venus Aphrodite and Pan from Delos Poseidon of Milos The Harp Player from Keros Rhyton in the shape of a bull head Statue of a Nereid Jockey of Artemision Varvakeios Athena

v • d • e Museums with major collections of Greek & Roman antiquities State Hermitage¹, St. Petersburg, Russia 106,000 objects [1] British Museum, London, UK 100,000 objects [2] Antikensammlung Berlin, (Held at the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum), Berlin, Germany 60,000 objects [3] [4] [5] Istanbul Archaeology Museum², Istanbul, Turkey 53,000 objects [6] Musée du Louvre³, Paris, France 45,000 objects Getty Villa, Malibu, USA 44,000 objects [7] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 35,000 objects [8] University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania, USA 30,000 objects [9] National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece 20,000 objects [10] Museum of Fine Arts*, Boston, USA 18,000 objects [11] Please Note: ¹ Hermitage - Misleading Collection, includes many objects from ancient settlements on the Northern Black Sea coast - ² Istanbul Archaeology Museum; Misleading Collection. Total collection size = 1 million objects of which 800,000 coins, 75,000 books, 75,000 Ancient Neat East cunieform tablets, 2000 enamels and various Ancient Near Eastern objects - Musée du Louvre; 2005 Annual Report - Tableau récapitulatif de l’état d'avancement de l'informatisation des collections fin 2005, pg 185 - * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Misleading Collection, includes Nubian and Ancient Near East collections. n.b. it should be noted that this list is controversial, in so far as it contains only qualitative analysis of museum holdings. These may or may not reflect actual artistic quality of collections in question.

[edit] Library of archaeology

The museum houses a 118 year old library of archeology with rare ancient art, science and philosophy books and publications. The library holds some 20,000 volumes, including rare editions dating to the 17th century.^[10] The bibliography covers Archaeology, History, Arts, ancient religions and ancient Greek philosophy, as well as Ancient Greek and Latin literature. The collection of archaeology books is the richest of its kind in Greece. The Library is has been recently renovated with funds from the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. Its renovation was completed in 26 May 2008 and is now named after Alexander Onassis.^[11]

[edit] Museum Activities

• Conservation laboratories
• Photographic archive and chemistry laboratories
• Organises temporary exhibitions in the museum and abroad
• Hosts a large number of archaeology related lectures in its lecture-hall annually.

[edit] Visitors information

The museum is easily accessible with the Athens metro. It is five minute walk from Viktoria station and a ten minute walk from Omonoia station. Access is free for children up to 6 year old and students. The museum houses a large recently renovated gift shop with artifact replicas and a popular cafe for tourists in the sculpture garden. The museum is fully wheelchair accessible. There are also facilities and guides for hearing impaired visitors.

[edit] Gallery

The Warrior Krater (mixing bowl)	Kouros of the Archaic period, Thebes	Family group on a grave marker	Interior
Jockey of Artemision	Diadumenos	The Artemision Bronze	The Marathon Boy

[edit] See also

• List of museums in Greece
• Athens
• Art in Ancient Greece
• Ancient Greek sculpture
• Pottery of ancient Greece
• Typology of Greek Vase Shapes
• Greek Terracotta Figurines
• Ancient Greek technology and innovation
• Valerios Stais

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• National Archaeological Museum of Athens on the website of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture of Greece.
• Artifacts in the National Museum of Archaeology Photographs of Richard Speaker Greece, 2000

v • d • e Landmarks of Athens Academy · Acropolis · Ancient Agora  · Arch of Hadrian  · Areopagus  · Monument of Lysicrates  · Hellenic Parliament  · Kerameikos  · Lycabettus Hill  · Monastiraki  · Kapodistrian University of Athens  · National Archaeological Museum  · National Gardens  · National Library of Greece  · National Theatre  · New Acropolis Museum  · Odeon of Herodes Atticus  · Old Parliament House  · Olympic Sports Complex  · Panathinaiko Stadium  · Philopappos Hill/Monument  · Plaka  · Pnyx  · Presidential Palace  · Stoa of Attalos  · Temple of Hephaestus  · Temple of Olympian Zeus  · Theatre of Dionysus  · Tower of the Winds  · Zappeion

Coordinates: 37°59′21″N, 23°43′57″E