| Museu Nacional de Arqueologia | |
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  Location within Lisbon | |
| Established | 1903 |
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| Location | Praça Império,Belém,Lisbon,Portugal |
| Coordinates | 38°41′50″N9°12′25″W / 38.69728°N 9.20706°W /38.69728; -9.20706 |
| Type | Archaeology museum |
| Visitors | 263,650(2019)[1] |
| Website | museunacionalarqueologia |
 Location of National Museum of Archaeology | |
TheNational Museum of Archaeology (Portuguese:Museu Nacional de Arqueologia) is the largestarchaeologicalmuseum inPortugal and one of the most important museums devoted toancient art found in theIberian Peninsula. Located inLisbon, the museum was founded in 1893 by the archaeologistJosé Leite de Vasconcelos. Themuseum is located in the western wing of theJeronimos Monastery where themonks had theirdormitory. The museum is built in theNeo-Manueline style and was officially opened in 1906.[2]
The museum is the result ofJosé Leite de Vasconcelos's efforts to create an archaeological museum dedicated to the history ofPortuguese people. With the support of the politicianBernardino Machado, a legal decree for the creation of a National Ethnographic Museum was established on 20 December 1893.[3] The museum is the most important centre forarchaeologicalresearch inPortugal. The museum has received the internationalGenio Protector da Colonia Augusta Emerita prize, awarded by the Foundation for Roman Studies and the Friends of the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, Spain.[4]
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The museum's archive consists ofLeite de Vasocnelos's initial collection and others: eitherdonated to thestate, incorporated from other museums or the result of the extensive archaeologicalexplorations carried out by the museum and its staff.[5]The museum's archive boasts items from over 3,200archaeological sites[6] and covers over 500,000 years of theIberian Peninsula's history. It has the biggest collection ofRoman mosaics in Portugal and an important collection of Portuguese and Africanethnography.[7] The museum's archive is available for consultation via MatrizNet.
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The main nucleus of the collection consists of ancient jewelry kept in the Treasures exhibition room, it is one of the most important collections of its kind in theIberian Peninsula.
Of equal importance are the museum's collections ofepigraphy, of which the collection from the Sanctuary of S. Miguel da Mota (from theEndovelicus period) is of particular importance, as are itsRoman mosaics, a few of which are National Treasures of Portugal.
The museum's metalwork collection is representative of the mineral and metallurgical history of theIberian Peninsula, which includes tools created incopper from theChalcolithic period (middle of the 3rd century BC). Also in its collection are the oldest iron tools found in Portugal found in tombs located in theAlentejo region dating to the first Iron Age (7th–6th century BC). Of particular importance are a group of artefacts named the "Atlantic bronzes" and farming tools from theRoman Period.
The museum also has the largest collection ofClassical sculpture in Portugal. From this period, items of particular technical and stylistic value are the toga-draped statues from Mertola,Apollo from the Herdade do Álamo (Alcoutim) and thesarcophagi from Tróia and Castanheira do Ribatejo. Of note is the collection found in the Sanctuary of S. Miguel da Mota, which is the largest collection of its kind sculpted inVila Viçosa / Estremoz typemarble. The latter collection was found extensively vandalised; this is presumed to be the result oficonoclasm carried out by early Christian communities.[8]
Emblematic of the Celtic period in North-eastern Portugal are the monumental granite statues representing princes or noblepeople, often referred to as the "Gallecian Warriors" which guard the museum's entrance. The museum has the largest and most significant collection of Gallecian sculpture in theIberian Peninsula. Also in this collection are the "Verraco" zoomorphic sculptures, probably created for totemic purposes.
Even though manyRoman mosaics have been found in Portugal, this collection cannot be considered of international importance, especially when compared to collections in neighbouring Spain and Northern Africa. Nevertheless, within this collection, the most important items are mosaics from theRoman Villas of Torre da Palma, Santa Vitória do Ameixal, Milreu and Montinho das Laranjeiras. The most common themes found in these mosaics come from classical mythology: the journey ofOdysseus,Orpheus and thelabours of Hercules. Almost all the mosaics date to the3rd century BC.
The museum's collection, built over more than half a century, has over 1,000 items of gold jewellery dating frompre-history toancient history. The collection, which had been kept from the public, is now available for all to see, and displayed chrono-culturally. Some of the most important items found in this collection are the treasures of the Herdade do Álamo and Baião, the Arrecadas fromPaços de Ferreira and the notabletorc of Vilas-Boas.
José Leite de Vasconcelos was a noted epigraphist, and the museum boasts one of the best national collections ofepigraphy. Characterised by three motives, funerary, votive and honorific, the vast majority of the collection is of Latin epigraphy and tombstones. The museum also holds a collection of important early Christian epigraphy.
Templates obeying predefined formula were often used for Roman Imperial Latin epigraphy. Inscriptions such asD.M.S. (dis manibus sacrum), H.S.E. (hic situs est) and S.T.T.L. (sit tibi terra levis) leave no doubt as to their funerary nature. The museum also holds a notable collection of votives to an indigenous divinity from theEndovelicus period located in the Sanctuary of São Miguel da Mota. Although in lesser numbers, there are also honorific epigraphs, which, amongst others, include the Civitas Ammaiensis to Emperor Claudius (part of his imperial cult).
The museum has a small medals collection, its coin collection consists primarily of coins from Portugal's Roman period. There are over 30,000Roman coins in the museum's archives, which include some of the first coins used inLusitania. The vast majority of this collection comes from several collections from the Roman Republican period. A significant collection was found in the Santana da Carnota and in Mértola. From the late Roman period, a 3rd-century AD collection was found in Porto Carro and from the 4th century AD a collection was found in Tróia.
The fragile and difficult nature of preserving organic materials led to the development of special storage facilities in the museum, where such materials could be stored in a controlled environment. In this repository are items such as wooden step ladders and ropes from Roman mines located in Vipasca (Aljustrel), mummified remains and baskets and items made from leather belonging to the Egyptian collection.
The collection ofancient Egyptian art contains over 500 items, of which 300 can be found on display. The collection has several origins; the bulk of the nucleus was purchased by José Leite de Vasconcelos in 1909 during his visit toEgypt, and later the collections ofQueen Amélie of Orléans and of thePalmela family were added. Despite its relatively small size, this collection covers the history of Egypt from the pre-dynastic to the Coptic eras.
The museum contains holds a diversity of items stemming from theGreco-RomanMediterranean from theClassical andPre-Classical period. In this collection are, amongst others, the items collected byJosé Leite de Vasconcelos inGreece, along with items purchased at auction, including an ancientPanathenaic amphora originating fromPompeii orHerculaneum.
Ethnography was central to the museum's original underpinnings.José Leite de Vasconcelos traveled through numerous regions obtaining artifacts that now form the core of the National Museum of Archaeology and the National Museum of Ethnology's collections. Of particular note are the collections of popular religious art, which containreligious iconography,votive offerings, votive panels andamulets; pastoral arts (spoons,horns, gunpowder horns); items with keys; musical instruments (including an 18th-centuryaccordion)toys; smoking paraphernalia; Portuguesefaience from the 17th to 20th centuries from several factories and periods; and pottery fromBarcelos, Gaia,Caldas da Rainha,Mafra,Nisa,Estremoz,Redondo and theAlgarve.
There are also African artworks. Of particular importance is theTshokwe sculpture representing the warriorTshibinda Ilunga.
The collection ofamphora in the National Museum of Archaeology is an important testament of the socio-economic relations between the province of Lusitania and the great economic epicenters of theRoman world. Lusitania spanned theAtlantic andMediterranean coasts and left archaeological remains dating from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.
The amphorae in the museum's collections are today part of a collective study on the complex maritime trade routes of theRoman Empire. Archaeological sites inMértola,Castro Marim, Torre de Ares andTroia have revealed commercial ties between the eastern andwestern Mediterranean and the north of Africa through the import of the famousBaeticolive oil andwine, found in amphorae of types Dressel 20, Dressel 14, Haltern 70 and Africana I and II. The many amphorae created inLusitania, of types Almagro 51 C, Almagro 51 a-b, Lusitana 3, Almagro 50 and Dressel 14, were used to store a range of goods, from fish conserves to luxury products such as scented sauces referred to by classic writers asgarum ou o liquamen.
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The museum is located inLisbon inSanta Maria de Belém in theMosteiro dos Jerónimos, a 19th-century building, which was granted by the government to the museum on 20 November 1900. The museum takes up almost the whole of the part of theMosteiro dos Jerónimos that faces thePraça do Império.[9] This is an area of high tourism traffic on account of its multiple museums and heritage sites.
Throughout the years, the National Museum of Archaeology has been the subject of multiple reorganizations of its space and collection. The National Museum of Archaeology was originally based in Lisbon'sAcademy of Sciences in room provided by the Geological Commission. In 1903 it moved to theMosteiro dos Jerónimos,[10] and on 22 April 1906[11] it opened its doors to the public. However, because the museum became the national repository of archaeological finds, its collection grew significantly.[12] To overcome the physical limitations of its facilities, it was suggested in the 1950s that the museum move part of its collection to theLisbon University campus.[13] It has also been suggested that the museum move to theCordoaria Nacional.[14]
The museum was conceived byJosé Leite de Vasconcelos to be the "Museum of Portuguese Man",[15] a dream that grew as his archaeological work progressed. Its name has changed over the years, and in 1989 the museum was renamed theNational Museum of Archaeology - Dr. Leite de Vasconcelos.[16]
The directors that followed supported many archaeological excavations, the finds of which entered the museum. The majority of research carried out, however, has focused primarily on the museum's existing collection. The museum continues today with the same basic mission: to tell the history of people in Portugal's national territory, from their origins to the birth of the nation.
The country's main center for archaeological research is located within the museum. Besides research and education, the museum is the national repository and space for exhibitions of an archaeological nature. The museum has published the periodicalPortuguese Archaeologist since 1895.
The National Museum of Archaeology has, in its short history, benefitted from several important gifts and donations. Of particular importance have been the donations of António Bustorff Silva, D. Luis Bramão and the Samuel Levy family.
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