Ancient Athens

Fall 2025 was my sixth time to Greece. So, when in Athens I try to see new things each time. This year, Caroline and I visited the Archaeological Museum and the Hephaisteion. I’ve been to the Acropolis a few times, and the Acropolis Museum (new and old), but had never managed to make it to the National Archaeological Museum. The day we went there were some ongoing, large demonstrations, so we had to take a very, long, circuitous walk to get there. The museum is quite large, and was very busy.

Following are some of my favourite artifacts from the Archaeological Museum:

14. elaborate alabaster jug, Minoan Crete / 15. Alabaster jug w/ lid from Syro-Palestinian coast

Horse, footman and hunting hound, later Tiryns Palace Palace

20. Beaked, nippled jug decorated with monstrous creatures. 18th-17th c BC

Early Cycladic II (2800-2300 BC) from the site of Phylakopi

Statue of a seated goddess, Artemis, found in Asea

marble statue of a kouros, Sounion, c. 600 BC

Medusa, mosaic floor found in the port of Zea in Piraeus, 2nd c AD

Marble statue of a life-size horse from a quadriga; the head does not certainly belong with the body [1]

We also spent a good part of a day wandering around the area of Monasteraki, and ended up heading towards the Temple of Hephaestus located on the Agoraios Kolonos.[2] With our antiquities passes (a benefit of being archaeologists and applying through the Canadian Institute of Greece) we entered and wandered leisurely around the archaeological site (until closing). This included visiting the Stoa of Attalos and the Museum of the Ancient Agora.

The Stoa of Attalos

Cult statue of Apollo Patroos, 4th c BC

Akroterion, probably the Nereid Thetis, 420-410 BC

Head of a Triton from the Odeion of Agrippa, 150-175 AD

LG pyxis and lid w/ handle of horses, 725-700 BC

Ostraca for an ostracism of Themistocles, 482 BC

The Temple of Hephaistos

Please note I have many more photos from both sites, if you are looking for an image of something particular, feel free to ask.

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[1] Martens B. (2025) A Gymnasion Assemblage Lost at Sea? The Statues from the Antikythera Shipwreck Reconsidered. The Annual of the British School at Athens. Published online 2025:1-53. doi:10.1017/S006824542510021X - Marble horse: Fig. 18

[2] Agoraios Kolonos means the hill next to the agora, and was the ancient meeting place of craftsmen. Hephaestus being the god of craftsmen.