University of Queensland R.D. Milns Antiquities Museum facts for kids
The University of Queensland R.D. Milns Antiquities Museum is a special place at the University of Queensland in St Lucia, Queensland. It holds a large collection of ancient objects. This museum helps students, teachers, and everyone else learn about old civilizations like those from Greece, Rome, Egypt, and the Near East.
Where to Find the Museum
The museum is located in the Michie Building (Building 9). You can find it near the Great Court on the St Lucia campus.
A Look at the Museum's History
The museum started in 1963. It began when the university bought an ancient Greek pot called an 'red-figure Attic amphora'. An amphora is a tall jar with two handles, used for liquids. This pot helped with teaching in the Classics and Ancient History department.
Over 50 years, the collection grew a lot. It moved into its own special rooms. Today, it has more than 6,000 items. In 2007, the museum was renamed. It honors Professor Bob Milns, who was a big supporter of the classics. He passed away in 2020. The museum is now part of the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry.
The museum celebrated its 50th birthday in 2013. They held a big show called 'Then and Now: 50 Years of Antiquities'. Many important new items were added to the collection for this event.
Amazing Ancient Items
The museum has over 6,000 items. These objects date from about 4000 BC to AD 600. The collection includes things made of stone, pottery, terracotta, metal, jewelry, and glass. They come from places like modern Iran, Wales, Germany, and Egypt.
Some of the special items you can see include:
- A Greek South Italian Bronze Helmet (from 300-200 BC).
- An Attic Marble Funerary Stele for Theophile (from 400-350 BC). This is a stone slab used as a tombstone.
- An Egyptian Cartonnage Mummy Mask (from 390-340 BC). Cartonnage is a material like papier-mâché.
- A Roman Marble Portrait Head of Aphrodite (from AD 100-200). Aphrodite was a goddess in Roman myths.
- A Roman Marble Memorial Tablet for Secundio (from AD 1-100). This is a stone plaque remembering someone.
- An Attic Marble Funerary Loutrophoros for Phanodemos (from 400-375 BC). A loutrophoros is a tall, slender vase.
- An Attic Terracotta Column Krater (around 450 BC). A krater is a large bowl for mixing wine and water.
You can search a database to learn more about the collection. Some items have even been scanned using 3D technology. This helps keep them safe and lets people study them in new ways.
