The archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam has an excellent collection of rare artefacts from the ancient world of the Near East and the Mediterranean region from 4000 BC to 500 AD. Objects from Egypt include wooden sarcophagi, Coptic art, funerary statues and pottery, not to mention a room dedicated to mummies and the embalming process. Upstairs you’ll find exhibits dedicated to ancient Greece, Persia and Mesopotamia as well as the Romans and Etruscans. View perfectly preserved pots and vases, jewellery made of gold and lapis lazuli, bronze weapons from swords and daggers to battleaxes and precious works of art such as tile mosaics. Among the highlights of the permanent exhibits are the so-called Dionysus sarcophagus, which looks like an enormous decorative marble bathtub, beautiful examples of early Roman glass and the huge statue of Fortuna that once belonged to Cardinal Richelieu. Temporary exhibitions are available on the ground floor.