Mycenae Archaeological Museum: What to expect & highlights to look for

This room is dedicated to artifacts unearthed from the ancient settlement, giving you a feel for how people cooked, worked, and lived.

• Ceramic vessels: Clay pots, amphorae, and stirrup jars used for storing wine, oil, and grains. You’ll spot stylistic changes across centuries.

• Tools: Everyday items like knives, chisels, tweezers, and loom weights provide clear evidence of both domestic and artisanal activity.

• Linear B Tablets: Early administrative records etched on clay, hinting at how the Mycenaeans ran a surprisingly complex economy.

This room focuses on burial practices, elite status, and spiritual beliefs.

• Funerary goods: Gold cups, ornate jewelry, and personal belongings found in royal graves.

• Jewelry: You’ll find jewelry from coiled gold rings to glass-paste beads. Some pieces are so finely made, it’s hard to believe they date back over 3,000 years.

• Grave Stelae: Stone markers with geometric and figurative carvings that once marked elite tombs.
  
• Death masks: Including a replica of the Mask of Agamemnon, offering a glimpse into how Mycenaeans commemorated their dead.

The final room is the most diverse, highlighting the achievements of the Mycenaean world.

• Figurines & idols: You’ll find clay and ivory representations of humans, animals, and deities. These were likely used in rituals or as household cult objects.

• Fresco fragments: Faded but still vivid wall art showing ceremonial scenes, animals, and possibly priestesses.

• Weapons & armor: Intricately designed bronze swords, leaf-shaped daggers, and spearheads, many found in elite tombs. Some are even engraved with decorative motifs that imply they were symbols of power as much as tools of war. Look for that one sword bearing a lion-hunt scene, it's a striking example of Mycenaean craftsmanship.

• Trade items: Objects like blue-glazed faience beads from Egypt and amber from the Baltic show Mycenae’s wide trade networks.

• Sphinx figurine: A rare clay sculpture of a winged sphinx, possibly inspired by Eastern mythologies. Its presence hints at the cross-cultural influences that passed through Mycenae.