National Archaeological Museum: A panorama of Ancient Greek civilization

The exhibition spaces of the Museum display a panorama of ancient Greek civilization dating mainly from 7000 BC to AD 500, as well as later artefacts. Among the 11,000 exhibits, there are works in marble, clay, bronze, gold and other noble metals, which come from Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy and other regions of the Mediterranean world.

The prehistoric collection includes unique works of art representative of the great civilizations that flourished in the Aegean region from the 7th millennium to around 1050 BC. The Cycladic figurines, marble vessels, and richly decorated ceramic vases reveal both the artistic development and the high standard of living of the inhabitants of the Cycladic islands during the period from 3200 to approximately 1100 BC. The famous frescoes of Thera (Santorini) are a unique exhibit, featuring preserved wall paintings from the prehistoric city of Akrotiri, which was buried under volcanic ash after the great eruption of the 16th century BC.

The same collection also includes objects of daily life and works of art from the Neolithic and Bronze Age from mainland Greece. Among the most important are the treasures from the royal tombs of Mycenae, which provide a striking picture of the wealth of the early Mycenaean era, as well as tablets of Linear B, the first known form of Greek writing.

In the Museum’s Sculpture Collection, exhibits from across Greece (statues, reliefs, and more) illustrate the evolution of ancient Greek sculpture from the Archaic to the Roman period.

A wide variety of vases of different shapes and sizes trace the continuous development of Greek pottery and painting from the 11th to the 4th century BC, representing the most important workshops (Attic, Boeotian, Corinthian, Laconian and others). The Museum also holds a prominent place worldwide for its Collection of Egyptian and Cypriot Antiquities.