Heraklion Archaeological Museum
The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is the main museum of Minoan Crete. Although much of the material belongs to the Bronze Age, it matters for antiquity as the prehistory of the Aegean world and as the collection through which Knossos, palaces, frescoes, seals and pottery are read.
The museum overview needs Heraklion so that the Greek section does not begin abruptly with the Archaic and Classical periods. The museum shows a long Aegean line that later becomes part of Greek memory and museum antiquity.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum: Entrance in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, 06382x.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum: Piriform alabastron-rhyton with fluted body from Knossos, hall of double axes 01.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum: Archaeological Museum Heraklion Blick in die Sammlungen1.Collection and Historical Context
Heraklion should not be used as direct evidence for Classical Greece or Rome. Its value is different: it shows early Aegean material and the limits of reconstruction, especially in frescoes and palaces.
Work with this museum requires three levels to be kept separate: display, catalogue and archaeological context. The display shows the object's form and scale, the catalogue clarifies date, material, inventory number and collection history, while context explains whether the object came from a house, cemetery, sanctuary, fort, workshop or urban monument.
A single famous exhibit is not always typical. Series are more reliable: several vessels of one type, a group of inscriptions, a funerary assemblage, repeated military fittings or several related sculptural solutions. Heraklion Archaeological Museum should therefore be read not only through its most famous objects, but through the links between galleries, collections and findspots.
Display and Main Materials
Minoan frescoes, seals, pottery, bronze, cult objects, palace complexes and later historical galleries deserve attention. It is important to distinguish museum restoration and reconstruction from the original archaeological evidence.
In the museum display it is important to look not only at individual masterpieces but at the neighbourhood of objects: sculpture, inscriptions, pottery, coins, architectural fragments and everyday items often explain one another better than an isolated photograph.
Detail of Persephone-Isis, Statue group of Persephone (as Isis) and Pluto (as Serapis), from the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods at Gortyna, mid-2nd century AD, Heraklion . Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Marble head of Hadrian (type Imperatori 32), traces of colour are preserved at the iris of the eyes, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (30351634156). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Small marble statue of Asclepius, god of medecine, early 2nd century AD, found in Gortyn, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (30665967165). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.Related Topics
- Museums of Antiquity
- National Archaeological Museum, Athens
- Cyprus Museum
- Acropolis Museum
- Roman Archaeological Sources
Official Pages and Catalogues
Small marble statue of the goat-like Pan (Faunus), from Gortyna, 2nd century AD, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (30236359310). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Small statue marble of Pan (Fanus), god of the wild, shepherds and flocks and follower of Dionysus, from Lappa (Argyroupoli), 2nd century AD, Heraklion Archaeological Mus. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Large relief plaque of poros stone depicting naked Goddesses wearing the polos crown, from the Archaic Temple of Athena in Gortyn, mid-7th century BC, Heraklion Archaeolo. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Caligula, the head, covered with a toga, was inserted in a statue, found in Gortyn, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (30301824181). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Detail of Cerberus, Statue group of Persephone (as Isis) and Pluto (as Serapis), from the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods at Gortyna, mid-2nd century AD, Heraklion Archaeo. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Detail of Pluto-Serapis, Statue group of Persephone (as Isis) and Pluto (as Serapis), from the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods at Gortyna, mid-2nd century AD, Heraklion Ar. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Headless statue of Hadrian, he is shown as a triumphant army commander with a cuirass, found in Gortyn, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (30301945161) (2). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Tiberius, the head is covered by a toga and was originally inserted in a statue, found in Gortyn, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (29756092143). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Detail of the Headless statue of Hadrian, he is shown as a triumphant army commander with a cuirass, found in Gortyn, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (29757693344). Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Statue group of Persephone (as Isis) and Pluto (as Serapis), from the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods at Gortyna, mid-2nd century AD, Heraklion Archaeological Museum (3030. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Head Marcus Aurelius archmus Heraklion. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Head of a roman mature woman archmus Heraklion. Object from the collection: Heraklion Archaeological Museum.Interested in Ancient Rome beyond reading? Join Legio X Fretensis or explore our reenactment directions.
