The National Archaeological Museum of Spain was established in 1867 by permission of Queen Isabella II of Spain, primarily to store royal collections of coins, archaeological, anthropological, and decorative art objects. The themes of the museum's collections mainly include: prehistoric, ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Iberian, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, and medieval artifacts. Among these collections, the most precious is the colored stone bust of the Lady of Elche (la Dama de Elche), a relic of the ancient Iberians.
