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Did you know that Władysław Kluger, collector of Peruvian antiquities Since 2008, it has been possible to visit an exhibition of antiquities of Peruvian provenance at the Archaeological Museum of Kraków. The collection includes ceramic vessels (mainly of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic shape), as well as fabrics and other miscellaneous finds. We can admire these high-quality antiquarian objects, thanks to Władysław Kluger, who was a Polish engineer. |
Did you know that Real treasure Everyone has got his or her own treasures; small children bury a small glass object in the ground, placing flowers, twigs, and beads under it. The greatest joy is to dig them out – usually by accident, already when they are forgotten, although sometimes it is difficult to stop curiosity and abstain from checking whether the “secret“ is still there... |
“Gudea” – a plaster cast of an antique sculpture In the Louvre’s department of Oriental collections, there are more than twenty sculptures considered to be images of Gudea (in total, over thirty images of the ruler have been preserved). Some of the statues present the ruler in a sitting position, some in a standing position. The present plaster copy belongs to the second group. There are five such statues in the Louvre. They all come from Telo: an archaeological site situated at the location of the ancient city of Girsu in present-day Iraq. All five standing statues of Gudea are devoid of heads. The statues from Telo were found during excavations conducted by the French between 1877 and 1933. The cast in the collection of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków was made in accordance with the so-called E Statue (reference number AO 6), which was discovered in 1881 by Ernest Choquin de Serzec, who led the excavations at Telo between 1877 and 1900. |
Greek inscription from Cirenaica In ancient Greece, if you were harmed by someone whom you were unable to bring into court (e.g. a citizen of another city), you could seek compensation, with the consent of your polis, by seizing the property of the apprehended perpetrator or even the property of any other (innocent!) citizen of the same city from where the criminal came. This procedure was referred to as syle. Special places where individuals threatened with syle were offered sanctuary were known as asylia, which is the origin of today’s term “asylum”. |
A javelin arrowhead This flinted javelin arrowhead, with a clearly separated cap, was made with two-sided retouching. The object dates back to the early Bronze Age (the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC). It is 11.6 cm long, with a 5 cm width at its widest point, and is only 0.6–0.7 cm thick. It was made of... |
Necklace from Czersk Silver necklace made of several strands of double stranded wire. The ends of the necklace are forged in the lenticular plate form, decorated on one ornament, completed with hook and eye fastening. |
Fragment of a Coptic fabric (“orbiculus”) Textile executed in tapestry weave and “flying-shuttle” technique. This element originates from Coptic tunic. The preserved fragment inside an aorbiculus is covered with decoration of the Flechtknoten type. |
Greek ostrakon – instructions to issue wine Instructions to issue wine. Data: March 20, 15th indiction (6th–7th century) “To Martyrios, rogator. Deliver on the account of buccellarii three koloba of wine, that is koloba of wine 3, only. Written on 27th of Mesore, indiction XV. Pythidoros agreed.” |
Cartonnage coffin from el-Hiba The coffin form, decoration and the character of the hieroglyphic signs find close parallels on objects from el-Hiba. The hieroglyph form and the mistakes, which are proof of a poor understanding of the text, date the object to the Late Ptolemaic or Early Roman period and suggest a provincial origins. |
Cartonnage mask This anonymous cartonnage mask probably dates back to the Ptolemaic period (306–30 BC). The mask is gilded on the face but eyes, pupils and eyebrows are marked black. It has a typical blue wig (nemes). The representation of the deceased is definitely idealised and it bears no distinguishing features. |
Greek ostrakon An ostracon from the collection of the Field Museum No. 2 which was established thanks to the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade that fought in the Middle East during the World War II and reached Egypt where they managed to obtain museum exhibits. |
Greek ostrakon – receipt for grain tax payment Ostraka, pieces of broken pottery vessels, were used for writing a variety of different texts, most often tax receipts. They were used instead of the more expensive papyrus. Most ostraka come from Upper Egypt and the oases, where, unlike in Fayum and the localities of Middle Egypt, papyrus was not cultivated on a broad scale. |
Greek ostrakon – receipt of payment of a monetary equivalent for a tax in nature Receipt of payment of a monetary equivalent for a tax in nature. Date: December 21, year AD 78 or 91. “Daleas son of Abraimos, as an equivalent for the price of the dates from sacred land, 6 drachmas 4 obols. Year 11, Choiak 25.” Commentary: The divergence in the dating of this document results from the fact that the eleventh year may equally well refer to the emperors Vespasian or Domitian. Abraimos is well evidenced as a variant of the name Abraham. |
Head of a ruler The head is a fragment of the ruler's statue, it is covered with nemes [scarf] with a wide head-band over the forehead, decorated with the insignia of the Pharaonic power uraeus [cobra]. It is a face with faded features; the eyes are shown without detail; it has a wide nose with distended nostrils. |
Ushabti figures The ushabti figures — artistically perfect and finely made — were purchased from the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo by soldiers of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade during WW II and subsequently granted to the Archaeological Museum. The pillar at the back of the figure reaches the lower edge of a tripartite wig, finely fashioned in regular wisps exposing the ears. |
Pre Columbian bowl This three-coloured bowl on an annular foot, decorated with so-called negative painting, using wax as a reserve material, belongs to the pre-Columbian Carchi-Nariño highland culture from the border of today's Ecuador and Colombia, dating back to around 700 or 800 AD and 1500 AD. |
Hubert Gromny, Xavery Wolski, “Crystal Skulls Are Modern Fakes? Adventure Movie” Historical conspiracy theories – the Muhlenberg legend, spectral time hypothesis, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion – have occupied the minds of a large group of scholars and lovers of the past for centuries, being also one of the most controversial and, at the same time, interesting elements of contemporary culture. For Hubert Gromny and Xavery Wolski, they became an inspiration to create the installation Crystal skulls are modern fakes? Adventure Movie. Starting from the eclectic nature of conspiracy theories, drawing randomly from historical science, pop culture, and futurology, the creators tested their typical determinants and created a new conspiracy narrative. It questions the official theories referring to the origins of the Slavic peoples. In this attempt to mediate conspiracy theories, the artists created the character of Janusz “Johnny” Bzibziak PhD – a Polish Indiana Jones – associated with the Archaeological Museum of Kraków. The protagonist is a specialist in the field of research on nomadic peoples and a proponent of a theory postulating links between the ancestors of Slavs, Cimmerians, and Scythians. |
Celtic glass bead The glass bead was accidently discovered during the surface research conducted in 1997 in the town of Dziewięcioły (District of Miechów, the Małopolska Province). It was made of yellow opaque glass... |
Corinthian capital The exhibit comes from the collection of the Field Museum No. 2 established by Polish soldiers who fought in Egypt during the WW II. The creator and spiritus movens of this unique project was Jarosław Sagan. The head, with relatively shallow sculpting is a simplified form of a Corinthian capital. It could have been based on classical extended examples from Byzantine architecture. It consists of two zones, with the lower row made in a shallow relief resembling stylised acanthus. The leaves in the upper row, which are carved deeper in marble, spread towards four edges under the rectangular abacus. |
Stela with four figures from Kom Abu Billou A “family” stela showing a married couple (?) and two children in prayerful attitudes, one above their feet and the other opposite them. The adults, who are missing the upper bodies and heads, are depicted on a coach with mattress, one in front of the other, supporting themselves each on the left elbow resting on two pillows. Compositions with several figures are rare on stelae from Kom Abu Billou. |