National Library & National Archaeological Museum

The National Library of Spain, together with the Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico) are in the building of the Palacio de Bibliotecas y Museos in Calle Serrano known, close to Plaza Colón. The neoclassical building was built in 1892, the 400th Anniversary of Columbus' arrival in America opens.

The National Library is home to several million pounds in an ever-growing collection, but also an impressive archive of thousands of documents and more than 20,000 newspapers. It has one of Spain's most important collections of drawings and engravings, and 800 000 posters and over 2 million photographs.

The library is currently closed for the renovation of the museum, but the catalogs can be viewed online.

The collection is the home of 134,000 maps and cartographic operations specialist, and a huge postcard collection. The Music section contains music-related documents, such as printed scores and sound and video recordings. Sculptures of famous writers such as Cervantes takes you to the library halls, and although all exhibits labeled in Spanish, catalogs can be purchased in other languages.

The Museum of Archaeology in the other part of the building by the Royal Decree of Isabel II, founded in 1867 to jointly archaeological collections from different institutions. It was transferred to the current building in 1895.

Major exhibits include the Dama de Elche (Lady of Elx), a fourth-fifth century BC bust of a woman who may have held relics or funereal ashes. The Dama de Baza, discovered in a necropolis in the province of Granada, is from the 4th Century BC. The magnificent Tesoro de Guarrazar collection represents the religious treasures of the Visigoth kings of the Iberian Peninsula and was discovered near Toledo.

The Visigoths, of German origin, were Christians, and ruled the peninsula from Iberican end of the Roman period until the arrival of the Moors in the 8th Century. The museum also contains the similar Visigoth treasure Torredonjimeno found in the province of Jaen in Andalucia. These displays are complemented by other items of Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi, as well as Roman mosaics and Greek pottery.

Just below the gardens of the museum you can see reproductions of some of the oldest cave paintings in Europe, the Cuevas de Altamira (Altamira Caves), in Cantabria in northern Spain. The original paintings from the period around 12,000 BC, showing a herd of bison.



source:http://www.gomadrid.com/museums/biblioteca-museo-arqueologico.html

Shaanxi History Museum

                                                   The exterior of the Shaanxi History Museum
The Shaanxi History Museum is located on Yan Ta Road in the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province located. It covers 65,000 square meters with a building area of 60,000 square meters. The newly built modern buildings reconstructed Tang Dynasty architecture and successfully symbolizes the high level of Shaanxi history and its remarkable culture.
Issued in the main exhibition hall are 2,700 works of art, with an exhibition line extending 2,300 meters. The exhibition area is in an introductory hall, permanent exhibitions, special exhibitions and temporary exhibitions as well as one that named the National Art Hall subdivision

                                              An exhibition of tomb frescoes of the Tang dynasty
Representative pieces from all eras have been selected to show the development of civilization in this region. The exhibition area is 4,600 square feet of this ad. It has three exhibition rooms, divided into seven parts (pre? history, Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei-Jin-North and South Dynasties Sui-Tang and Song-Yuan-Ming-Qing). Include a superlative 2000 selected objects painted Neolithic pottery reflecting early on the living conditions of people and their quest for living art forms, bronzes reflect the rise of the Zhou people, bronze weapons including swords, and statues of horses and soldiers, which the way in which Qin uniform all under heaven, of the Tang Dynasty Gold and silver ware and Tang ceramics Sancai what the heyday of feudal glory. All this is accompanied by models of archaeological sites and drawings and photographs.

        A cup-holding leather bag style silver kettle of the Tang dynasty with gold-plating horses unearthed in Xi'an
These works show systematically anient Shaanxi history of 150,000 years ago until the year 1840. For several periods based on all its main cities of Shaanxi area, such as Zhou, Qin, Han Western, Sui and Tang, the exhibits to emphasize these times and these places. This reflects not only the size of the old culture in Shaanxi, it also shows the highest cultural development of social economy in China.

                                   A Tang-dynasty gold bowl with lotus petals carving unearthed in Xi'an 
The temporary exhibitions hall, located on the east side of the museum has a variety of exhibitions, including Tang grave wall paintings that had to say to 39 of the actual painting. Shaanxi is wall paintings of this type in the first place in the country. Are you fluent in concept and line, they have wonderful details, and both show Tang inches and are excellent works of art.

The special exhibition hall is located on the west side of the museum. Its first two exhibitions were a show Shaanxi bronzes (were 260 on the display) and a Shaanxi-through-the-dynasties show terracotta masterpieces (341 objects have been issued). The area of the hall is around 2,600 square meters.

     A Tang-triple-color ceramic camel that carries a small musical band on sits back with a female performer stangding in the middle singing and dangcing

A bronze ox zun(a kind of ancient wine vessel)of the Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed in Qishan County,Shaanxi Province
The Shaanxi History Museum contains 115,000 objects in its collections. The more representative are these bronzes, Tang-dynasty grave wall paintings, statues, terracotta, ceramics (pottery and porcelain), building materials, woven through the dynasties of Han and Tang bronze mirrors and coins and currency, calligraphy, rubbings, scrolls, items, bone wood and paint, iron and stone objects, seals, and some contemporary cultural relics and ethnic objects.


source:http://www.chinamuseums.com/sx_history.htm

Banpo Museum in Xi'an

The Banpo Museum is a modern building about three miles east of the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province. It is located near the bridge, the river, as long as one of the famous eight rivers crossed by renowned Chang'an. The museum was built in 1958 and is the first museum for a "man on the spot, " built a habitation site of early man. Its name comes from its location on the north side of the Banpo village. The site provides a settlement that is on the maternal clan commune period from the Neolithic period. Before its discovery in the twentieth century, it had lain in wait for some 6,000 years ago.

                                                     The exterior of the Banpo Museum in Xi'an.

                                             A bottle with sharppointed bottom unearthed in Banpo
The arrangement of the Neolithic village was pretty organized. In the middle of the settlement was a 160-square-foot great room, which was surrounded by many smaller rooms. All doors facing the inside of this larger space, which the spirit of the clan a cohesive group. Around the village was a 300-meter long ditch or trench in which to keep the animals from attacking was. To the east was a ceramic-producing area and the north, the cemetery district. In the city, around 46 houses. Some were square, some round, some half sunk into the ground, some on the surface. These houses already traditional Chinese wall-building methods and can be used as a precursor of later Chinese architecture, wood and earth.

                                                            Part of the Banpo Residence Site.

In a reconstruction of a Banpo rooms are means of production and everyday objects used by the Banpo people were issued. On the walls, animal skins are ground and pointed vessels for the penetration of water to go. A mat is spread on the floor next to the stove - the scene of the old man's life is suddenly spread out before our eyes: Members of the clan, led by the old grandmother, just in the process are the production of fire. Or outside, are hunters took aim and fired their arrows and threw flying balls are strong, followed a frightened deer sightings. By the river, the fishermen in the process of catching fish, in the jungles, women and children, has bone spades, collect wild fruits. As the sun sets in the west, shows the village, sparkling kitchen with fire, women roast grind of meat with stone cutters into flour, bone needles to sew with hemp fabric. The artists are careful to painting or impressive patterns focus in ceramic vessels, old grandmothers distribution of cooked food to the others, some people set gathered vegetables and cereals in containers for storage.

                                           A basin of human face and fish pattern unearthed in Banpo.

In the northern part of the Banpo village in the cemetery district, were buried in the adults. Some 174 graves have been discovered, lined up in regular order, but presents different funeral rites. Banpo people usually died at the age of about 30 On the east side of town is the Public kiln for ceramic firing. Six furnaces have been found. Initially, the pottery was carried out in the open. By the time of Banpo had invented two types of horizontal and upright kilns. Banpo ceramic production both fine-grained clay and sandy silt, the fine grain was of three types depending on their use. Banpo people used to decorate realistic methods of painting, its ceramic to point sketched drafts of the characteristics of different animals.

Been around twelve different types of markings or symbols on pottery vessels found in or on the premises. Together they comprise the major types of strokes used in Chinese characters, such as upright, crosswise, addictive, and so on. Letter does not exist at the time, but mentioned these brands and symbols almost certainly their meanings for the people at the time. A number of daily items are on display in the museum, such as stone axes, finely made fish hooks, fish? Bone forks, sharp bone needles, and all kinds of ornaments made of stone, bone and ivory.



source:http://www.chinamuseums.com/ban_po.htm