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The
Vatican
also has an extensive collection of ancient artifacts. It shouldn’t be surprising that many of these
are of Roman origin (the museum being in Rome),
but there is also a large Egyptian collection.
Egyptian Relief Fragment | 
Hieroglyphic Tablet |
Relief with Hieroglyphics | 
Sarcophagus of Djet-Mut, Thebes, 21st Dynasty |
Scarab of Amenofis III, Thebes, 1379-80 B.C.
HD Video (7.4 MB) SD Video (1.0 MB) | 
Figurines Found in Tombs |
Mummy and Sarcophagi
SD Video (2.3 MB) | 
Golden Funerary Mask, Roman Era |
Statues from Hadrian's Villa | 
Portrait of a Young Man, 4th C. A.D. |
Roman Representation of River Nile, 1st-2nd C. A.D. | 
Nella and God Anubis, 1st-2nd C. A.D. |
Bas-Relief from a Tomb, c. 2400 B.C. | 
Bull Statue |
Other
ancient civilizations are represented as well, including the Mesopotamia area, Assyria in particular.
Winged Genius and the Tree of Life, 883-859 B.C.
One
of the noteworthy Roman sculptures on display is the Laocoön
Group, representing the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons being dragged
away by a serpent sent by Poseidon for trying to warn the Trojans about the
Greek ruse of the Trojan Horse. The
statue was unearthed in Rome
in 1506, and its authenticity was vouched for by Michelangelo, who had been
sent to look at it by Pope Julius II. It
is thought by many to be a Roman copy of a Greek original. This statue might be considered the beginning
of the Vatican Museums, as the Pope had it put on public display shortly after
its discovery. The statue display was
joined by other artifacts over the years and centuries, until the whole thing
got out of control and turned into the Vatican Museums.
From the antiquities we took a long walk through
some galleries to see Papal apartments which were specially decorated by the painter
Raphael and his assistants. These
apartments are considered part of the Vatican Museums and are called the Raphael Rooms.
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