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Classical & Near Eastern Antiquities |
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Classical & Near Eastern Antiquitie |
Contact:
Frederiksholms Kanal 12
1220 København K
Tel: +45 3347 3129
Fax: +45 3347 3309
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Cultures of the Mediterranean Sea |
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The National Museum keeps Denmark’s largest and most varied collection of objects from the ancient cultures of Greece and Italy, the Near East and Egypt.
The Classical and Near Eastern Antiquities reflects Denmark’s changing links with the Mediterranean countries and the Near East. Scandinavia may have been to the north of the Roman Empire, but artefacts found in Denmark bear witness to contact with the imperial neighbour. Later, the Vikings sailed to Byzantium, and in their wake followed pilgrims, nobles on grand tours, artists and adventurers. Some brought antiquities home to display in cabinets of curiousities in their mansions, and some of these were later incorporated into the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities, which King Frederik III established in the mid-17th century.
The exhibition contains objects from the Cabinet of Curiosities, as well as from doctor and collector Ole Worm’s private collection, and finds brought back by Carsten Niebuhr from his journey to ‘Arabia Felix’. The collection has been supplemented over the years with many recent acquisitions, notably from Danish excavations on Rhodes 1902-1914 and from Syria in the 1930s.
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Early Cycladic Sculpture |
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Stylized female figures made in marble from the Cyclades – the islands in the Aegean Sea – are known as Cycladic Idols. The smallest are 10 cm tall, the biggest almost 1.5 metres. The taller ones may originally have been cult statues worshipped in shrines, but the vast majority of idols were found in graves. They probably depict goddesses who were supposed to provide protection even after death. The figures shown here comes from the island of Amorgos and has been dated to between 2700 and 2300 BC.
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Relief featuring purification ritual |
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A winged spirit with an eagle’s head pours water on a sacred tree. This particular relief once decorated a wall in Assurnasirpal II’s palace in Nimrud, Assyria, now Iraq. The cuneiform inscription lists the king’s building activities and military victories between 875 and 860 BC. |
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Mummy Coffin |
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The royal advisor Panes was mummified and then laid to rest in this wooden chest around 640 BC. The image at the top features the god of writing, Thot, who leads the deceased to the gods in the Kingdom of the Dead. The coffin originates from Luxor in Egypt. |
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Etruscan Earrings |
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The Etruscans were consummate goldsmiths, and the mirrors and jewellery they took with them to their graves bear witness to the vanity for which they were renowned. The women adorned themselves with earrings, diadems, necklaces, arm rings and finger rings, which also signified wealth and rank. Gold, approx. 350-100 BC.
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A Roman Prince |
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The marble portrait depicts Germanicus, a prince of the first Roman imperial dynasty, which was founded by Emperor Augustus. He was heir to the throne of Tiberius, but died before him. From the theatre in Tarent, approx. 10 BC.
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