Greek Jewelry in The National Archaeological Museum Athens

The National Archaeological Museum is one of the largest museums in the world. Come with me. In the exhibition rooms, there are important archaeological finds, including unique decorations that cover a huge time period, from the 7th century BC to the 5th century AD. The presence of important antiquities from Cyprus, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Sicily, Lower Italy and Etruria, unfolds the archaeological past and follows in the footsteps of Greek culture as the beacons of its expansion, placing its collections among the most valuable in the world. Exciting journeys through time, original emotions and unique biological experiences await the visitors of the museum and immerse them in the magic of its unique collections. Here, in the glamorous rooms of a historic Nemean-Athenian building, the unique artifacts of antiquity are collected and the vast panorama of ancient Greek cosmetics is revealed. An object of personal, material and emotional value, cosmetics was and is intended to be worn, in order to protect, to decorate or even to distinguish the social position of some people. The need of a person for modesty, for simple friendship, compassion or for the promotion of his social position, accompanied him from the beginning of his civilization. The presence of cosmetics has been witnessed since the Neolithic era, when the inability of man to explain the natural phenomena that defined his everyday life, filled him with prejudices, cosmetics had in their plurality a protective character. Made of unprocessed or minimally processed natural materials, such as flowers, fruits, shells, ostrich eggs, worms, bones, ravens and animal teeth, in their plurality they are not saved today. In the history of cosmetics, gold, which is believed to have been discovered in Egypt 6,000 years ago, occupies a prominent position as a symbol of brilliance and perfection. Its brightness, which refers to the brilliance of the sun and its endurance to the weariness of time, has been used since ancient times as a symbol of eternity. In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, the Golden Coffin of Limnos, is a witness to a very advanced era of metallurgy. The period, however, from which we have a plethora of information about the decoration and modesty of women and men, is the later era of Halkos, when the Mycenaeans reigned in the Aegean. High knowledge of technology, imaginative designs and decorative themes, inspired mainly by nature, characterize the decorative art. A plethora of decorations, intended for burial use, were found in the royal tombs of the Mycenaeans, but also in Argolida and Messinia. In addition to gold, the decorators of the time had a plethora of other materials at their disposal, such as elephant teeth and gold, glass, porcelain and semi-precious stones. Few are the decorations that originate from the Greek space during the 10th to the 10th century BC, while as the contacts with the East rejuvenate in the 9th century BC, the decorations multiply and the decorative art appears flourishing. During the 7th century BC, new decorative themes appear, such as the boots of the Athyraeans, the sphinxes, the rhodes, the griffins, the panthers. The decorations of the classical times. Notice the exquisite detail in the design, their technical construction, the wealth of decorative themes, with a preference for mythological scenes. During the Hellenistic period, the amount of gold that reached the Greek space after the conquests of Alexander the Great led to the construction of exquisite decorations, with major decorative themes such as Eros, Mycenae, Heraclius, Amalthea's Cairn and Isis's Stem. During the Roman period, there are no particular changes in the decorative art. Many findings dating from this period and the later years up to the Byzantine period are found in the Egyptian collection and in the Stathatos collection. Initially, small archaeological collections, then the sacrifice, and finally the decision to create a large central museum with a Pan-Hellenic character, led to the establishment of the National Archaeological Museum, the one that sought to preserve the most important antiquities of Greek culture. 150 years after its foundation, the National Archaeological Museum remains an important attraction for visitors from all over the world. Compiling its permanent collections, the new periodical exhibition A Dream Among Wonderful Ruins a tour of Athens by tourists is a complete tour of the 18th and 19th century cultural environment. Through the meaningful tour, the charming images and the unique monuments from the monumental Athens of the period of tourism, the exhibition highlights the efforts of the modern Greek state to reveal the ancient and the first institutional measures for their protection and preservation. Honouring the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the National Archaeological Museum, the platform A Jewel Made in Greece in its third reorganization meets history and the dynamism of the invaluable artifacts contained in its collection, which are an incessant source of inspiration and creation for its members. In February 2016, the National Archaeological Museum is the official invited body of the reorganization.