National Archeological Museum!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Without question, one of the most amazing museums I have ever visited is the National Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece!! It is truly amazing!! This is a pot that was reconstructed and when it was originally made, it was made without a spinning potter’s wheel. The potter’s wheel had not been invented yet.

This is an embryo!!

This is a piggybank!! Notice the hole in the top of the pig. It probably was used to save seeds.

This was found as a headband in a coffin.

This is a man playing a harp!!

These figures depict two women laying down!!

I was very impressed with the gold ornamentation!!

This famous bull was beautifully constructed!!

I thought the gold masks were quite impressive!!

The medallions appeared to be ornaments that were worn on clothes. The clothes were decomposed when excavated, but the gold remained.

I found these gold ornaments to be quite interesting!!

I especially liked this delicate scale made of gold!!

I was impressed with this gold cup!!

This painting has been reconstructed by using the parts of the painting that could be recovered from the excavation!!

This is a tablet that used writing!! It was before the Greek alphabet was developed. Instead, this used syllables based on Greek pronunciation!!

These are carefully crafted stamps!! The fine detail is amazing!!

I really like the detail and complexity created with these gold cups!!

This is a painting that was removed from an excavation site and relocated to this museum in Athens! I painting of the grains was nicely done!

This is an original painting that was moved to Athens from an excavation site! I am amazed at how much of the painting has survived!!

This is another painting relocated from an excavation site!!

I liked the dolphin on this pot.

This is a bottle to feed a baby!! The baby would suck on the spout and there are air holes in the top to allow the baby to drink the milk!!

This is a pottery toy made for children!!

I liked the artwork on this pot!

This is a sculpture made by the Greeks. It looks to have a strong influence from the Egyptians. However, this statue begins to have movement in the legs. It still is a bit stiff, but more realistic than than seen with Egyptian sculptures at the time.

During this time period, the Greeks made sculptures of women fully clothed and the sculptures of men would be naked.

I was amazed at this sculpture of athletes wrestling!!

This sculpture appears to show athletes playing some type of hockey!!

For me, this was one of the most impressive sculptures in the museum!! It is much more accurate and realistic from the older sculptures. Our guide told us that when the Nazis invaded Greece, the Greeks were able to hide this statue so that it was not stolen.

The back view shows how they had determined the various muscles, had movement in the body, it truly seemed alive!!

This appears to be a sculpture of a mother who had died. The baby is reaching for the mother, but the mother is gone and looking in a different direction.

I was extremely impressed with this sculpture!! It is so realistic! It likely depicts a slave boy riding in a race, and if he wins, he would likely gain his freedom!

The detail in this sculpture is incredible!!

I was impressed with how “real” this sculpture is! It seems to be an actual person standing there!!

A close-up of the head shows how the Greeks created eyes and even eyelashes!!

I was very impressed with this sculpture!!

These feet wearing sandals is so realistic!!

It is incredible how realistic this head is!! The eyes are amazing!!

This sculpture was quite impressive!! This is another sculpture that the Greeks were able to hide from the Nazis so it would not be stolen!!

The sculpture shows a woman using a sandal to bat away an advance!!

The Greek sculptors became better and better in making sculptures that actually looked like an actual person! I was very impressed with the detail in this sculpture!!