Second Day Tour of Athens

Yesterday was our second tour of Athens. We began at the National Archaeological Museum in downtown. It contains all the artifacts ever discovered anywhere in Greece. It was a lot to take in. Here are some of the artifacts I saw:

A new language that was just recently discovered on these stone tablets.

Emperor Augustus Caesar

 Burial garments for a man

Burial garments for a women

Burial garments for an infant 

The first computer mechanism ever discovered, found in a ship wreck that dates back to sometime before Christ, not uncommon among the ancient civilizations, some type of clock/calendar

Fresco

Fresco

Fresco

Are they playing hockey? Check this out dad!

How they created bronze statues

How they measured distance

Jewelry from the Bronze Age

Mirror from Bronze Age

Ancient Sarcophagus 

Statue of Poseidon, god of the seas

Protagonist Hellenistic Theater 

Protagonist Hellenistic Theater

Statue from a shipwreck, only the face was preserved by the sand

Part of a ship found in the Mediterranean Sea

Tombstone of a single person

Statue of a boxer

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone

Statue of Zeus

After the National Archaeological Museum, we went to the Ancient Agora, which happens to be the exact place Paul walked to talk to people about Jesus. I walked on the same road as Paul! How awesome is that?? The Ancient Agora, also known as the Marketplace, was where all of the important stuff in town was. It was like the downtown portion of Athens at the time. It had all the court buildings, city hall, law buildings, anything you needed. 

Ancient toilet

Statue of Apollos

Sewage system

Temple of Hephaestus

Temple of Hephaestus

We also went to the tiny museum in the Ancient Agora. 

Grave of child

Child's toilet

Grave of a child

Spartan shield

For lunch, we had gyros from a neat little Greek restaurant and then we went shopping around the Plaka. The Plaka is a flea market is Athens with super neat stuff for very good prices. When we got back, we all went out for gelato to make a perfect end to a great day!