The displays in the museum presenting the island of Cyprus showcase the importance of copper; the birth site of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty; Stone Age settlers, presented by stone vessel finds; hand-shaped pottery and copper jewelry from 3900 BC; and the Bronze Age of Cyprus, from around 2900 BC. The Iron Age on the island in 1000 BC is marked by an upswing in iron working and the presence of ores in grave finds. The exhibits also trace Alexander the Great’s siege of the island in 328 BC and its falling to Ptolemy; the new king of Egypt and the successive passing to the Romans; as well as the Byzantine history of Cyprus following the division of the empire in AD 395 and the island’s falling to the eastern half.

The Near Eastern Room of the Allard Pierson Museum features objects assembled from several cultures in the area between Turkey and Iran. The early civilisations in the region arose as early as 3500 BC, when a monarchy with an elaborate bureaucracy was formed and cuneiform writing was developed. The vast ensembles of objects touch on Sumerian culture; the power of Assur and Babylon, already declined after the 17th Century BC; the history of the Hittites, a people mainly influenced by the Assyrians; and the destruction of Babylon in 689 BC. The milestones in Iranian history are presented by the settlement of Indo-European tribes in northeastern Iran around 2000 BC, the introduction of their bronze weapons and decorative bronze fittings for horse harnesses, as well as 8th Century BC polished pottery. The exhibits related to Syria, where settlements emerged before 3000 BC, showcase the culture of the coastal towns, the Phoenicians’ and Assyrians’ rule, the Persian Empire’s dominance and its final takeover by Alexander the Great. The displays related to Anatolia, the central region of modern Turkey, concentrate on the appearance of walled cities and original citadels in the earliest phase of Troy (2920-2350 BC).

The exhibits of the museum tacking Greece start with prehistoric finds of around 3000 BC and progress with marble statues fashioned by the people of the Cyclades, which are mainly representations of naked women, presumably referring to fertility. In Crete, the 200 BC Minoan culture, named after the mythological king Minos, was largely concentrated around the palaces, the ground plans of which strongly resembled labyrinths. The finds of this period reveal that the bull was a major constituent of religious rituals, and that the Mycenaeans were a major power in the eastern Mediterranean and culture of which served as a precursor for the leap to Greek civilisation. The stages of the Greek civilisation are exhibited in chronological displays at the museum, starting with the Geometric Period, named after the geometric motifs of its pottery, the Oriental Period (700-600 BC), which is marked by the prolific use of objects from the Near East and the adoption of a series of eastern ideas. The Archaic Period (600-480 BC), characterised by the laws of Solon and the famous battle of Marathon, is followed by the Classical Period (480-323 BC), which was an extraordinary artistic and cultural upswing, with the emerging of prominent philosophers, tragedians and historians. The museum displays here vastly include splendid sculptures and pottery. The Hellenistic Period (323-30 BC), marked by division and a multitude of influences, is followed by the Roman conquest of Greece in the 2nd Century BC. Here the exhibits extend to southern Italy and Sicily, where the Greeks founded colonies from about 750 to 550 BC.