The National Archaeological Museum, Part 3

And here is part three! These are more things that I just really, really liked, for some reason or other. I mean, I really, really liked the whole museum, but these things were just especially cool.


These are octupi figures from grave circle A at Mycenae. Specifically, they're from the third grave, which is known as the "Grave of the Women." There have been a lot of assumptions made about whether the graves were those of males or females. Usually the distinction is drawn by the grave goods- graves with weapons are male graves, graves with ornaments are female. Of course, it doesn't always work so well. They're from the 16th century B.C., and are really really detailed.
Ok, I'm going to say right off that I think this pot is absolutely amazing. First, it was from Dimini, and is from the late Neolithic period. It was made some time between 5800 and 4800 B.C. That's right. It's between nearly 8,000 and nearly 7,000 years old. Second, this was made by hand. It wasn't made on a wheel- someone made this amazing, symmetrical pot with their own hands. And it has survived for thousands and thousands of years. And it's also just really pretty.
This is from a grave stele- basically a grave monument. It's only fragmentary, but I think that the expressions on the faces are really beautiful. It was found in Anavyssos in Attica and was probably made some time between 530 and 520 BC.
Another thing that thought was really beautiful. This is a fragment of a disc from Melos. It was probably made in about 460 BC with local marble, and it depicts a goddess, possibly Aphrodite. The level or realism is amazing to me- many early classical sculptures are much more stylized, which is also cool but in a different way.
And this is another grave stele. This is not from Attica- it's from Boeotia, I think probably Thebes. It's from the late fifth century, and I thought that the arrangement of figures on it was interesting. The solemn expressions and the way it is arranged is an indication of the glorification of the dead. It's pretty.

A note about dates- you have probably noticed that I prefer BC/AD to BCE/CE. This is for a variety of reasons. First, I grew up with BC/AD, so I am used to it. But second, and most importantly, I like the fact that BC and AD are pretty obviously based on Christian dates. The thing about BCE and CE, in my mind, is that they still are based on the birth of Christ- they're just being sneaky about it. If you are going to be biased and base your conception of dates on the birth of Jesus, that's none of my business- but for goodness sake, don't try to pretend that that isn't what you are doing.