DESCRIPTION
HISTORY
EXHIBITIONS
INFORMATION
PHOTOGALLERY
 
 
 
Exhibitions
| Description | | Exhibits |

 
The permanent exhibition of the Thebes Archaeological Museum comprises characteristic finds from Greek and foreign excavations conducted in Boiotia, which span the long chronological period from the Paleolithic to the Post-byzantine periods. Some of its collections are especially interesting because they are unique; for example the Near Eastern Bronze Age cylinder seals from the Theban palace in the Kadmeion, the Mycenaean larnakes from Tanagra, the Archa?c kouroi from Ptoon and the characteristic black stone Classical funerary stelai.

The exhibition, which occupies four large rooms, the lobby and the museum's garden, is organized by time period and by artefact type. Four new rooms, currently under construction, will house finds from recent excavations, while the Byzantine antiquities of Boiotia will be displayed separately.
  
 
Author
Vasilios Aravantinos, archaeologist
  
 

Exhibition Units
 
- Stelai, reliefs and inscriptions of the Hellenistic and Roman periods (Lobby)
The lobby contains inscribed funerary stelai with palmette-shaped crowning members or relief representations, lists, herma?c stelai, busts of the Hellenistic and Roman periods and a neo-Attic sarcophagus with scenes from the myth of Iphigeneia in Tauris. Noteworthy is the epigram for the generals killed in the battle of Leuktra (371 BC).
- Early sculptures (Room A)
Here are some of the most important ancient Greek sculptures, including some very early Daedalic works, Archa?c kouroi from the sanctuary at Ptoon and Classical funerary stelai, mostly from Thespies. A relatively recent and exquisite addition to the collection is a late sixth-century BC funerary relief from Acraiphnion, which depicts a naked youth holding a rooster and smelling a lotus flower. This relief bears a funerary epigram in honour of the young Mnasitheos and the sculptor's signature.
- Pottery, wall-paintings and small objects (Room B)
This room contains mainly pottery, which ranges chronologically from the Bronze Age to the Late Classical period, Mycenaean wall-paintings, and jewelry, weapons, tools and various artefacts from Boiotia in the above mentioned periods. Of special importance for ancient Greek art and culture are the stirrup jars and Linear B tablets, the Near Eastern cylinder seals, Mycenaean jewelry and jeweler's moulds, clay masks, votive offerings from the Pyre of Hercules at Mt. Oite, Kabeirian vases and vases from the Polyandrion at Thespiai.
- Sculptures of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods (Room C)
The display includes funerary reliefs, mainly from the sanctuary of Artemis at Aulis. The unique black funerary stelai engraved with the names of men killed in battle date to the Classical period. At the room's center is the exceptional stele of Philotera, a Boiotian work of the fourth century BC from the port of Siphes (Alyki).
- Mycenaean finds from Tanagra (Room D)
This room displays finds from the Mycenaean chamber tombs of Tanagra. The group of painted clay larnakes (coffins) is unique; these sarcophagi exhibit a strong Cretan influence and date to c. 1350-1250 BC.
- Inscriptions and late sculptures (Courtyard)
Inscriptions, funerary stelai, funerary cubes with heroified horsemen, several sculptures of the Roman and Late Roman periods, and architectural members and sculptures of the Byzantine and Medieval periods are temporarily displayed in the courtyard.
 
 

Open:
Winter: From the 1st of November until the 31 of March:
8:30-03:30