Tagged: museum
Lazy Sundays: Greek History
My schedule has been so busy that although I am officially a volunteer at the local museum, I haven’t actually been able to do my training. So in January I’m finally going to get my training to be a tour guide! I can’t really articulate how excited I am to be working with both stunning replicas of real ancient Greek sculptures along with real Roman coins, glassware and Egyptian amulets. I also can’t wait to have an excuse to prattle on about history to people who want to listen.
I’m quite confident in my ability to explain and answer most questions on Egyptian and Roman history but my one weakness in the main eras the museum covers is Greek history. So I’ve been hitting the books for the cultural aspects and watching The Teaching Company’s ‘The Long Shadow of the Ancient Greek World’ for the famous events of Greek history. It’s a lot to remember but I’m confident that over Christmas I’ll at least be able to answer the most basic questions about Greek history from the Archaic to the Classical Period (plus the wars of the Diadochi).
I was studying up on the English Civil War in preparation for an article here but I think that’s going to be put on hold. However, in December I should finally have that Jon Snow article I keep promising you guys. It’s to do with Roman history instead of Greek history but I think I can take some time off to write something longer than my usual reviews.
So how has your Sunday been?
My New York Trip Day #3: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Today I was awake enough to go and attempt the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s something that I’ve wanted to see since I learned that they had an enormous Egyptian wing. As you guys obviously know by now, I’m a big fan of ancient Egypt so there was no way I’d miss out on this opportunity! But once I got in the doors, I was overwhelmed. The museum is even bigger than I’d thought so I decided to head to the Greco-Roman wing first, thinking I’d hit the Egyptian section later. Wrong! I got to the museum at 11:00 and left at 5:00 and that was barely enough time to appreciate everything in that wing from the Romans, Greeks and Etruscans.
One of the things I was constantly and consistently amazed by was the quality of metal work displayed in the early Greek civilization. I believe these are some Minoan or Cretan gold fragments and they’re even more impressive up close. The beautiful amount of detail the ancients managed on these tiny little gold pieces is fabulous. Later on their gold work gets even more intricate but even in their early civilization they created just amazing works of art. Continue reading