"From Homer's World - Tinos and the Cyclades in the Mycenean Era" Touring exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos

The Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades is organising in collaboration with the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation the archaeological exhibition "From Homer's World - Tinos and the Cyclades in the Mycenean Era" at the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos (Chora), with the support of the Municipality of Mykonos.

It is landmark exhibition, showcasing this period and shedding light on unknown aspects of the Cycladic past: 150 selected items, representative objects of ceramic art, metallurgy, miniature art, figurines and jewellery, are collected for the first time to offer the public a comprehensive depiction of Mycenaean culture in the Cyclades islands. The narration, using audio-visual applications, comprises sections that illuminate the main elements of life in that time, such as everyday work and leisure, religious worship, funerary customs and warfare, revealing aspects of the magnificent cultural heritage of the Mycenaean world, the inspiration for two of the foremost works of global literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

At the epicentre are the findings from the small, but rare in the Aegean, vaulted tomb of Aghia Thekla in northern Tinos. The monument, which inspired the creation of this exhibition, was discovered in the course of road-building works and its remains were excavated by the late Tinian archaeologist George Despinis in 1979. It is one of only three vaulted tombs in the Cyclades and is, for the time being, the only confirmed Mycenaean site on the island. Resting place for an "aristocratic" family, the tomb of Aghia Thekla (13th-12th century BC) had been used for multiple burials. The artefacts it contains (jars, jewellery, copper objects) are a valuable source of information about funerary customs, social organisation and art in the Cyclades in the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC.

Also on display at the exhibition in Mykonos are findings from the vaulted tomb at Angelika in Mykonos (14th-13th century BC) near the modern-day Chora. The jars, signets and beads, some of which are presented for the first time at the island's Archaeological Museum, are quite similar to findings from the vaulted tomb of Aghia Thekla and complement our knowledge about the "noble" families of the Cyclades.

Beyond Tinos and Mykonos, the exhibition presents ancient artefacts from other important prehistoric sites in the Aegean Sea, specifically from Naxos, Delos, Paros, Milos, Sifnos, Thera and Kea, offering visitors a comprehensive depiction of the profile and significance of Mycenaean civilisation in the Cycladic archipelago.

The touring exhibition "From Homer's World - Tinos and the Cyclades in the Mycenean Era" was first presented in the summer of 2019 in Tinos (12.7.-3.11.2019) at the Museum of Marble Crafts of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, the result of a fruitful collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades and the Foundation. Then it was shown in Athens, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum (16.12.2019-8.3.2020). Its presentation at yet another island of the Cyclades, this time at the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, further extends the circle of its thousands of visitors, who will have the opportunity to see for the first time a panorama of Mycenaean civilisation in the Cyclades.

The exhibition runs from July 22 to October 31, 2020
Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 09:00-16:00
Closed on August 15