Salamis was an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, at the mouth of the river Pedieos, 6 km north of modern Famagusta. According to tradition, the founder of Salamis was Teucer, son of Telamon, king of the Greek island of Salamis, who could not return home after the Trojan War because he had failed to avenge his brother Ajax.
The Greek Dark Ages was the period of Greek history from the end of the Mycenaean palatial civilization, around 1100 BC, to the beginning of the Archaic age, around 750 BC, It followed the so-called Late Bronze Age collapse of civilisation in the Eastern Mediterranean world in c. 1200-1150, as the great palaces and cities of the Mycenaeans were destroyed or abandoned. At around the same time, the Hittite civilization also suffered serious disruption, with cities from Troy to Gaza being destroyed. In Egypt, the New Kingdom fell into disarray, leading to the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. Following the collapse, there were fewer, smaller settlements, suggesting widespread famine and depopulation. In Greece, the Linear B script used by Mycenaean bureaucrats to write the Greek language ceased to be used, and the Greek alphabet did not develop until the beginning of the archaic period. The decoration on Greek pottery after about 1100 BC lacks the figurative decoration of Mycenaean ware and is restricted to simpler, generally geometric styles (1000–700 BC).
Pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it, it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society. The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were several vessels produced locally for everyday and kitchen use, yet finer pottery from regions such as Attica was imported by other civilizations throughout the Mediterranean, such as the Etruscans in Italy. There were a multitude of specific regional varieties, such as the South Italian ancient Greek pottery.
The sculpture of ancient Greece is the main surviving type of fine ancient Greek art as, with the exception of painted ancient Greek pottery, almost no ancient Greek painting survives. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages in monumental sculpture in bronze and stone: the Archaic, Classical (480–323) and Hellenistic. At all periods there were great numbers of Greek terracotta figurines and small sculptures in metal and other materials.
The National Archaeological Museum 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 greatest museums in the world and contains the richest collection of Greek Antiquity artifacts worldwide. It is situated in the Exarcheia area in central Athens between Epirus Street, Bouboulinas Street and Tositsas Street while its entrance is on the Patission Street adjacent to the historical building of the Athens Polytechnic university.
Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, c. 900–700 BC. Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of the Aegean. The Greek Dark Ages lasted from c. 1100 to 750 BC and include two periods, the Protogeometric period and the Geometric period, in reference to the characteristic pottery style. The vases had various uses or purposes within Greek society, including, but not limited to, funerary vases and symposium vases.
Palaiopoli is an ancient city on the west coast of Andros in the Cyclades Islands, Greece, and was the capital of Andros, called Andros, during the Classical period.
Delphi Archaeological museum is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Founded in 1903, it has been rearranged several times and houses the discoveries made at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi, which date from the Late Helladic (Mycenean) period to the early Byzantine era.
The Archaeological Museum of Piraeus contains mainly sculptures, discovered in Piraeus and in the area of the Attic coast from Bronze Age to Roman times,
The Archaeological Museum of Delos is a museum on the island of Delos, near Mykonos in the South Aegean, Greece. It is noted for its extensive collection of statues unearthed in the surrounding area of the ancient site, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the museum has a considerable collection, it does not contain all of the items found in Delos: a large quantity are on display in Athens at the National Archaeological Museum.
The Archaeological Museum of Mykonos is a museum, in Mykonos, in Greece. Was built in 1905 to house the findings from the Putrefaction Pit of 425/426 BC, discovered in 1898 on the islet of Rheneia by D. Stavropoulos. It is one of the oldest museums in Greece and was designed by Alexandros Lykakis and funded by the Ministry of Education and the Archaeological Society of Athens. The land as donated by the Municipality of Mykonos. Its collections include exhibits dating from the Prehistoric to the Hellenistic period.
Archaeological Museum of Naxos is a museum in Naxos Greece.
The Archaeological Museum of Nemea is a museum in Nemea, Corinthia, Greece. It was constructed by the University of California and given to the Greek State in 1984. The museum is located at the entrance to the Archaeological site of Nemea. Exhibits finds from this site and the surrounding areas, from Cooper Age (Chalcolithic) to early Byzantine era.
The Archaeological Museum of Polygyros is a museum in Polygyros, Chalkidiki, in Greece. The museum is located in Iroou Square in the town centre and displays representative archaeological finds from all over Chalkidiki. More specifically, they cover a span of time ranging from the Bronze Age to the Roman period and come from ancient Stageira, Toroni, Pyrgadikia, Aphytos, Polygyros, Ierissos, Stratoni, as also from the ancient city of Olynthos. Museum is currently closed for complete reconstruction. The Archaeological Museum of Polygyros was closed in January 2012 and reconstruction began in May 2012. Completion of reconstruction is expected sometime in summer 2014.
The Archaeological Museum of Thasos is a museum located in Limenas on the island of Thasos, Eastern Macedonia, Greece. It occupies a house that was built in 1934 and recently extended. Storerooms and workshops have been restored, and are fully operational. These include the shop, the official functions room, the old wing, the prehistoric collection, and the new section.
Cypriot Bichrome ware is a type of Late Bronze Age, and Iron Age, pottery that is found widely on Cyprus and in the Eastern Mediterranean. This type of pottery is found in many sites on Cyprus, in the Levant, and also in Egypt. It was typically produced on a pottery wheel. A large variety of decorations and motifs are attested. This pottery is very similar to certain types of the Mycenaean pottery from various locations.
Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which have to be essentially reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality, other than the distinct field of painted pottery.
Konya Archaeological Museum is a state archaeological museum in Konya, Turkey. Established in 1901, it had been relocated twice before moving to its present location in 1962. One of the most prominent displays in the museum is of sarcophagi and other antiquities from the ancient city of Çatalhöyük. Other exhibits relate to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and the Byzantine periods; artifacts consist of ceramic ware, stone and bronze wares, ornaments and inscriptions. Among the objects displayed is a marble sarcophagus of the 3rd century AD, with elaborate relief sculptures depicting the life of Hercules. In the outer open yard of the museum there are a number of small sculptures, sarcophagi, column capitals, and samples of epigraphy.
The Archaeological Museum of Milos is a museum in Plaka on the island of Milos, in Greece. Its collections include exhibits dating from the late Neolithic to the Byzantine period. The unique is collection of ancient Cycladic art, especially numerous findings from Phylakopi on Milos, from early Bronze Age to the late Bronze Age. The best pieces from Phylakopi are in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford), in the British Museum, and in the National Museum of Athens and elsewhere around the world.
The Archaeological Museum of Sifnos is a museum, in the village of Kastro on Sifnos, in Greece. Its collections include exhibits dating from the early Bronze Age to the late Byzantine period. There are mostly local finds.
View into the museum.
Mycenaean pottery, Palaiopolis, 1200-1150 BC
Rooms of geometric pottery
Fragment of geometric pottery with additionally drawing, Zagora
Geometric skyphos, Zagora, 750-700 BC
Geometric kotyle, Zagora, 750-690 BC
Room of archaic sculptures
Kouros or sacrificer, marble, Parian influence, Palaiopolis, 575-500 BC
Kouros, marble, Zagariani, import from Naxos, 550-540 BC
Female figurine, Kallivari at Gaurio, 5th century BC
Funeral, 1st century BC, the cross was added later
Hermes of Andros, Palaiopolis, first decade AD, Roman copy of a work of Praxiteles school
Room of Byzantine collection
