Heracles to Alexander the Great: Treasures from the Royal Capital of Macedon

Lovely exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum looking at artefacts from the royal burial tombs and the palace of Aegae, the ancient capital of Macedon.

It focused on the Temenid kings including Philip II and Alexander the Great and included new finds from recent excavations.

I must admit in the first room I was feeling a bit despondent as it seemed to be full of rusty spears and just one gold crown however as you moved into the other rooms you realised this was just the early pieces. The second rooms was full of the most wonderful jewellery with the end display showing the complete jewellery from 5 women’s tombs displayed on Perspex bodies to show where the items would have been worn. This was stunning and really brought the pieces to life.

The last room looked at life at court in particular the role of the banquet and included wonderful sets of eating vessels.

This was a period and civilisation I knew nothing about but will now look out for following this eye opening exhibition.

Reviews
Daily Telegraph

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