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Hello,

I was in England- with some students in August- staying in a lovely neck of the woods- Lowestoft- not exactly at the ends of the earth- but nevertheless the most easterly point in England.

Anyway, we went to several interesting spots- Colchester- the oldest town in Britain- where there was an excellent castle/museum. Well worth the fiver I paid to get in.

Then London of course. In spite of being from Leeds in North England myself, I had never been down to London to go to the British Museum. We popped down and of course while my students were spending half their allowance on Oxford street I was gleefully reeling off photo after photo in the British museum.

To be honest "the world of Alexander" or the display related to Alexander the Great in Room 22 of the British Museum was a little bit of a let down- but anyway you should never look a gift horse in the mouth-the stuff on the Parthenon were much better but either way well worth popping in if you are around.

Best regards,
Dean

dean wrote:To be honest "the world of Alexander" or the display related to Alexander the Great in Room 22 of the British Museum was a little bit of a let down- but anyway you should never look a gift horse in the mouth-the stuff on the Parthenon were much better but either way well worth popping in if you are around.

(I assume you mean the Hellenistic Gallery, where the bust of Alexander, along with busts of Demosthenes and Aeschines, are?)

At least the room was open - the last two or three times I've been to the BM the Hellenistic room has been closed. Personally I really like it - lots of great coins, including Poros medallions; and there's a fantastic statue of a Molossian hound. Many of the small figurines are exquisite.

Still, having said that, it would be great if there were more!

ATB

Hello Marcus,

The room where you see the bust of Alexander is titled "The world of Alexander the great"- there is a statue of Artemisa and a massive Mollosian hound, I missed the Porus coins.

No, don't get me wrong- it is definitely worth having a look at- I just meant that when I saw that the room was dedicated to Alexander, I imagined there to be more things on the man- especially after seeing the amazing displays from Egypt. The Mollosian hound is fantastic but there was little or no explanation on display about Alexander the great's life. I know it is a museum but I don't know, I just expected a little more.

Best regards,
Dean

dean wrote:Hello Marcus,

The room where you see the bust of Alexander is titled "The world of Alexander the great"- there is a statue of Artemisa and a massive Mollosian hound, I missed the Porus coins.

No, don't get me wrong- it is definitely worth having a look at- I just meant that when I saw that the room was dedicated to Alexander, I imagined there to be more things on the man- especially after seeing the amazing displays from Egypt. The Mollosian hound is fantastic but there was little or no explanation on display about Alexander the great's life. I know it is a museum but I don't know, I just expected a little more.

Best regards,
Dean

No, I get what you're talking about. I have to confess that I've never seen the room entitled "The World of Alexander the Great" - to me it's always been "The Hellenistic Gallery" - which is why, I suppose, I've never expected anything more/else. But if that's what they're calling it nowadays, then I totally get your 'gripe'.

ATB