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The Museum’s
collection of Egyptian antiques is made up of a series of
small donations made between 1865 and 1881.
The
most important objects are some funerary statuettes or
Ushabti. Large is also the group of bronze statuettes
representing some of the main divinities of the immense
Egyptian pantheon (Osiris, Isis, infant Horo,
Anubi and Api). The collection also includes 65
amulets of various kinds, among which the heart scarab,
the most beautiful and probably the most ancient item of the
collection (XXI-XXII dynasty).
The
collection is completed by 23 Phials
of
St. Mena,
which, though of a different period (6th – 7th
century A.D.), come from the same geographical area.
Pottery
The Museum
boasts a rich collection of Cypriot ceramics from the
Bronze Age to the 3rd century A.D., as well as a considerable
number of Etruscan vases. The vases here displayed,
coming from various donations, date back to different periods
and have been grouped by production area. Besides the numerous
bucchero vases, dating back to the 7th – 5th century B.C., the
collection includes some examples of painted ceramics with
black and red figures, as well as some others decorated and
dating back to later periods.
Greek
pottery includes some vases from
Attica with
“black figures” or “red figures” dating back between the 7th
and 4th century B.C., some of which of exquisite manufacture.
Also black
painted pottery is present with some items coming both
from the Etruscan area and Southern Italy and dating back
between the 4th and 2nd century B.C., as well as pottery
from Apulia and Campania, with some vases dating back
between the 8th and 2nd century B.C.
Particularly
large is the collection of oil lamps, which have been
grouped by kind and period: Greek, Italic, Micro Asiatic,
Roman, African, Egyptian, Byzantine oil lamps dating back
between the 4th century B.C. and the 7th century A.D.
A case is also dedicated to an heterogeneous
collection of clay and bronze ex-votos, among which
statuettes representing devotees and divinities, as well as
clay objects reproducing parts of the body. |
