Although the archaeological vestiges from the Roman times found in Portugal, and kept in the MNA, are many, we cannot consider especially important the collection of Roman mosaics existent in the country. Against this relatively poor background, especially when compared to the one in neighbouring Spain, or to the North Africa one, the mosaics from the Roman "villas" of Torre de Palma and of Santa Vitória do Ameixial, and of Milreu and Montinho das Laranjeiras, stand out. The most common themes are those taken from classical mythology: Ulysses's travels, the myth of Orpheus, or the Labours of Hercules. Almost all of them date from the 3rd century AD and show direct influence from North African workshops.

see exhibition - Gods and Heroes of Antiquity

We owe to José Leite de Vasconcelos, a remarkable epigraphist and founder and first Director of this Museum, the existence of one of the richest national epigraphic collections. The largest part belongs to Latin epigraphy, and has as its support funerary monuments shaped as altars, which are undoubtedly the most numerous. The Museum also possesses an important nucleus of early Christian epigraphy.

The Latin epigraphy of the Imperial Period, characterised by three types of inscriptions - funerary, votive and honorific -, obeyed to pre-defined forms, which constitute indicators of the typology of the inscriptions. Thus, the presence of formulas like D.M.S. (consecrated to the "Manes" gods), H.S. E. (here is) and S. T. T. L. (may the earth rest lightly on you) leaves no doubt as to the funerary nature of the inscription. The Museum also possesses a remarkable group of votive inscriptions consecrated to the local deity, Endovelico, from the Sanctuary of S. Miguel da Mota. Although in fewer numbers, there are also some honorific inscriptions, of which the one from the Civitas Ammaiensis to the Emperor Claudius (imperial cult) is, among others, an example.

Only morphological and material proximity keeps this kind of collections together. In fact, each of them is an autonomous subject, although they assume, in this Museum, very different degrees of importance and representativeness. We can say that, at present, the Medal collection is a minor one, while the Numismatic collection, constituted mainly by pieces from the Roman times, is a reference collection to the study of Roman presence in Portuguese territory. It has about 30 thousand pieces, among which there are some of the first ones to be coined in Lusitania. Most of it comes from disperse findings and treasures. The ones from the republican times, like the one of Santana da Carnota or Mértola, the ones from the late Roman times like the one of Porto Carro, from the 3rd Century and the one of Tróia, from the 4th century, stand out. SIRPENS (Serpa) excepted, all the "cecas" (coinage workshops) are represented which coined coins in the present Portuguese territory.

The extreme frailty and difficult preservation of some objects made of perishable materials, like wood, esparto, or cloth, determined the creation of a specific storage for the organic materials, where temperature, humidity and light are controlled and the packing materials are judiciously selected. This is the case, for example, of the wooden ladders and of the ropes in esparto from the Roman mines of Vipasca (Aljustrel), as well as of the mummies, the baskets, or the leather items of the Egyptian Collection.

The National Archaeological Museum's Collection of Egyptian Antiquities, constituted by about 500 pieces, of which 300 are exhibited in the Room of Egyptian Antiquities, has very diverse origins. The first nucleus of objects was bought by José Leite de Vasconcelos in 1909, during his trip to Egypt. To this first set others were added later, like the collection acquired by Queen D. Amelia, or the important donation of the Palmela Family. Despite its small dimension, this set allows us to represent the History of Egypt, from the pre-dynastic period to the Coptic one.

see exhibition - Egyptian Antiquities

The MNA's collection of Greek-Italian Antiquities is constituted by a diversified group of objects coming from the vast geographic and cultural area, which the Mediterranean harbours, and which was temporarily encompassed by the Pre-Classical and by the Classical world. The pieces acquired by José Leite de Vasconcelos in Greece, donated objects or objects acquired in auction, as recently happened with the Greek Panathenaic amphora, from Pompeii or Herculano, integrate this collection.

The National Archaeological Museum has had, throughout its history, important Legacies and Donations, which result in the enriching of its collections, of its representativeness and depth. The donations of António Bustorff Silva, D. Luís Bramão and more recently of the Sam Levy Family in particular deserve to be mentioned. The public recognition of these initiatives resulted in the organisation of a temporary exhibition, and in the publishing of its respective catalogue, with the same title, "Doações - Um Gosto Privado, Um Olhar Público", which is available for consultation, or for sale to the public.

According to the scientific spirit of the period, to Dr José Leite de Vasconcelos ethnography formed a central stage amongst the collections of to the Museum. He thought that the Museum, an institution founded by himself, should exhibit materials capable of contributing toward “the knowledge of the whole life of the inhabitants our land, from the dawn of time to the present day, physical types, clothing, industry, beliefs, housing, domestic activities, art, play;  everything that characterises our people.” Leite de Vasconcelos travelled widely throughout Portugal collecting the materials that today form the main nucleus of the Ethnography Collection of the MNA. A especial note must be made of those relating to Popular Religion, namely the records of Saints, ex-votos and votive panels, as well as amulets, shepherd´s art (spoons, worked horn and horn gunpowerd containers), looming materials, musical instruments, toys, specimen connected with writing and the art of smoking, and Portuguese earthenware of the 17th – 20th centuries produced in various factories and smaller ceramic centres such as Barcelos, Gaia, Caldas da Rainha, Mafra, Nisa, Estremoz, Redondo and Algarve. The African Collections are represented by some extraordinary items, such as the famous Tshokwe sculpture portraying the warrior “Tshibinda Iluga”.

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