pothos.org

Greece will dedicate a museum to Alexander the Great in the northern town of Pella, his birthplace and the seat of the Macedonian kingdom that ruled an empire from Europe to India, an official said Friday.

Expected to be ready by late 2008, the new museum will contain mosaics, weapons, jewellery and other finds from a 20-year excavation of the Pella archaeological site, an official at the culture ministry's museums department told AFP.

"The finds, mainly from temples, show how these people lived ... we even found a curse which shows that the Macedonians spoke Doric, an ancient Greek dialect, from the 5th century BC," the official said.

"This is very important, also in political terms," she said.[...]

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/ ... v&cat=null

It was about time to have a museum dedicated to Alexander the Great in his homeplace.

It is about time! I can't wait for it to be completed. Oh, all this is so exciting! I just wish that politics didn't play such a huge role in this...

A museum is nice, but this worries me

"This is very important, also in political terms,"

But it will be nice to see the srtifacts.

I have had to rewrite my original post, as this is a serious topic which in fact for a moment amused me to consider. The fact that the United Nations cannot settle a dispute between Greece and the Yugoslavia state of Macedonia is very bad news, and nothing to find humorous at all. But the airport name of Alexander the Great did make me chuckle a bit that Athens is so angry at Skopje. After all, a name is only a name, no matter whether located in Greece, Macedon, or Yugoslavia version of Macedon. It is a tribute to the person of Alexander.

The museum is a great idea, and will surely bring thousands of visitors to Pella to honor the legand of Alexander the Great. It will be interesting to see if it will encourage archaeologists to find even more important relics from the past to be exhibited in Alexander's birthplace. Usually, it seems that Paris, London, or Saint Petersburg gets first access to these kinds of memorobilia. And the famous sarcophagaus is in Istanbul!

I just hope that Greece and Macedonia, and the United Nations will finally be able to work out an agreement that does Alexander his due. Very humorous article in some ways full of sadness and sorrow about claims to fame. Alexander belongs to the ages and to all generations, and this kind of petty bickering does him no good at all.

So Greece, and Skopje, get a grip!

Callisto wrote:

It was about time to have a museum dedicated to Alexander the Great in his homeplace.

It sounds good, doesn't it? But you don't have to wait until the end of next year, for there is a museum there already. A friend of mine visited it last year and I was lucky enough to see all her photos. It's already very good, but probably too small for all the new artefacts they have unearthed during their recent excavations.
The treasure of the collection is the statue of Alexander as Pan, and of course the lion hunt and stag hunt mosaics can be see there too, nearby. They are still in situ and protected from the elements by a canopy.

Fiona

I can't get the link to work -- I get part of the page but the section where the text of the article should be is blank. Anyone else having this problem? Got a link that works?

karen wrote:I can't get the link to work -- I get part of the page but the section where the text of the article should be is blank. Anyone else having this problem? Got a link that works?

How odd. It was working before, but now I'm not getting anything either. Yahoo! News has the same article here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070928/lf ... 0928145829

I hope it works!

This is a very past due event! I'm glad to hear it's finally happening. I'm afraid a lot of today's youths are not as interested in ancient history as generations before. My 11 year old's teacher was completely shocked that she knew who King Tut, Ankhenaten and Alexander the Great were. Yes I have tried to instill in my children the importance of history (my passion ) and how exciting it can be to learn about how civilizations lived before us. This is a step in the right direction to keep amazing characters in the spotlight to teach the youths of the world that what happened then did have an effect on our lives today.

Theseus wrote:I'm afraid a lot of today's youths are not as interested in ancient history as generations before.

To be honest, at least as far as the UK is concerned, that's because it's not taught any more - and more's the pity. Children will probably learn a little bit about Egypt, Greece and/or Rome between the ages of 7 and 11 - albeit at a very low level, and taught by distinctly non-specialist teachers. Once they get to age 11 they are lucky if they still get any Ancient History at all.

I'm a History teacher and I get to teach 8 lessons - lessons! - on the Romans, before I have to move on to Medieval and then modern history. After those 8 lessons my students don't get to do anything pre-1066 again in their entire school careers. It's a crying shame.

ATB

marcus wrote:

Theseus wrote:I'm afraid a lot of today's youths are not as interested in ancient history as generations before.

To be honest, at least as far as the UK is concerned, that's because it's not taught any more - and more's the pity. Children will probably learn a little bit about Egypt, Greece and/or Rome between the ages of 7 and 11 - albeit at a very low level, and taught by distinctly non-specialist teachers. Once they get to age 11 they are lucky if they still get any Ancient History at all.

I'm a History teacher and I get to teach 8 lessons - lessons! - on the Romans, before I have to move on to Medieval and then modern history. After those 8 lessons my students don't get to do anything pre-1066 again in their entire school careers. It's a crying shame.

ATB

This is truly sad indeed. It really sadens me to hear that it's not only the USA but other countries as well. I know the college here has dropped it's ancient history course, that I was about to sign up for. I used to think it was funny when these 18 year olds thought New York was the capital of the USA, but now looking back it's actually sad and ridiculous at the same time! The world is the way it is today because of the events that happened hundreds and thousands of years ago. We just got back from a vacation where we quickly stopped by Philadelphia and I took my little ones on a tour of the Liberty Bell and Liberty Hall and they were the only kids there. If we lose our history we lose a part of what makes us who we are in my opinion. The schools here concentrate on WWI and WWII and barely mention Vietnam or Desert Storm. I think there needs to be a re-vamping of what our schools teach. Recent history is not more important than ancient history.

Being part of America's youth, perhaps I may put in my two cents?

Well, in case everyone didn't know, I'm a 13-year-old who has an odd passion for ancient history - especially Alexander the Great. I say "odd" because I realize that ancient history isn't a common interest for the youth anymore. I was fortunate to have brilliant history teachers who were sure to emphasize the importance of ancient history, and history in general. It doesn't seem to attract the majority of the students, however. Ancient history usually isn't focused on as a specialty, and makes student disregard it in a way. I'm not sure about other schools, but when we do get specialist teachers in history, it's always American history, or otherwise modern history. The focus on ancient seems to have gone, and I see no good reason why. I always try to relate ancient history into my life, and I don't see why others don't do the same. It's not something that can be forced on children, however. It needs to start at an earlier age, and changes need to be made fast for the future generation.

Vergina Sun, thanks for the yahoo link.

Thanks also for your perspective as a young person. Some of us think we're all a bunch of old fogies on here. Nice to find out that's not true!

Theseus wrote:The schools here concentrate on WWI and WWII and barely mention Vietnam or Desert Storm.

Theseus, if you haven't read it yet, you will probably be interested in a book entitled Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen.

Warmly,
Karen

Vergina Sun wrote:Being part of America's youth, perhaps I may put in my two cents?

Well, in case everyone didn't know, I'm a 13-year-old who has an odd passion for ancient history - especially Alexander the Great. I say "odd" because I realize that ancient history isn't a common interest for the youth anymore. I was fortunate to have brilliant history teachers who were sure to emphasize the importance of ancient history, and history in general. It doesn't seem to attract the majority of the students, however. Ancient history usually isn't focused on as a specialty, and makes student disregard it in a way. I'm not sure about other schools, but when we do get specialist teachers in history, it's always American history, or otherwise modern history. The focus on ancient seems to have gone, and I see no good reason why. I always try to relate ancient history into my life, and I don't see why others don't do the same. It's not something that can be forced on children, however. It needs to start at an earlier age, and changes need to be made fast for the future generation.

Vergina, You remind me of myself at your age! I was in a minority when it came to ancient history myself. Since I can remember I was mesmerized by ancient Egypt and their way of life and all that they left behind. The Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to record history. It still amazes me that the statues/monuments they built are still here today as are some wonderful Greek buildings/statues and Roman as well. I searched and found one university that has a great ancient history program... Omaha NE and Jeanne Rheemes is the professor. It's such a shame it's so hard to find a college that will educate you on ancient history. I'm lucky I have as many wonderful books on the topic as I have and not to mention the internet! I have a thirst to learn about these things and I don't like running into brick walls.

At least I can pass my love of ancient history on to my children and maybe they will do the same! I am so happy to learn that you, Vergina, are young and so interested in ancient history. You are very well spoken for your age!

karen wrote:Thanks also for your perspective as a young person. Some of us think we're all a bunch of old fogies on here.

How dare you madam! You shall retract said inference upon "all" immediately.

I am not, have never been and with the gods' forbearance will never be a "fogey".



Yours Sincerely,

Proffessor BJ Paralus,
Ancient Historians' Retirement Village,
Sydney.

Dear Professor Paralus:

Tis true, 'tis true, what you point out in your signature. Many of us can justly wear the mantle "old" -- but only a select and honourable few can claim "ancient." I salute you.