Change of Plans et al.

Originally, my mother and I were planning to travel through Southern France, Italy and Greece on the break between Hilary and Trinity Terms, and then my Dad and I would tour England after Trinity Term. We thought this was best since it would allow us to avoid the Mediterranean during the really hot months and Mom would get to see the South of France. What we didn't realize however was that trying to get plane tickets to Rome a week before Easter is madness. So we've switched things around a bit: my Mom and I are going to tour England and Ireland - which is good, as it gives us more time to plan the Europe trip, it will allow her to see York, the city of her ancestry as well as Ireland. Then, my Dad and I will travel Europe, which is also good since he's wanted to see Italy. In keeping with our plan to tour England, my Mom and I went down into London today to see the British Museum.

First impressions: this place is HUGE. There are easily 80 or so large rooms filled with artifacts from virtually every culture in Earth's history. I'm going to post pictures of them below. Naturally the lion's share of my time was spent in the Classics section, and as I look back a VERY large portion of the photographs are of busts and statues (always nice to see a familiar face), but I'll try to break it up with some other things.

Aeschines - one of the greatest Orators of the ancient World
This strange looking rock was originally part of the beard on the Sphinx in Egypt. Historians debate whether it was an original part of the colossal statue or if it was added later.
Demosthenes - another of the greatest orators. Demosthenes' orations against Philip II of Macedon (called "The Philippics") played a large role in Greek resistance to Macedonian dominance and were the inspirations for some of Cicero's greatest speeches against Marc Antony (also called "The Philippics")
This temple was discovered in Lycia (Southern Turkey) and is a mixture of Greek and Persian styles. It was moved to the British museum, although I wonder what the Turks think of one of their monuments being in Britain...
Homer. A Roman copy of a Greek original. Although when we say Greek original, that does not mean this is what Homer actually looked like. According to most modern experts, Homer probably lived sometime in the late 8th century BCE, long before Greek sculpture had reached this stage of development. Nobody knows what he really looked like. Or for that matter if he even existed.
part of the Pediment to the Parthenon. The Parthenon itself remained largely intact throughout late antiquity, the middle ages and the Renaissance before the Ottomans decided to use it to store gunpowder in the late 17th century. One mortar round from an enemy artillery piece was enough to change all that. As I said when I saw this, "I bet the Greeks would give their eye teeth to get these pieces back."
Hesiod. Like Homer, Hesiod was an oral poet living before the Classical Era. And like the bust of Homer, this bust is a Roman copy of a Greek original which was in turn just the imagining of an artist living long after Hesiod died.


The Warren Cup. Readers who took Professor Scholtz's "Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World" course with me may remember this piece from discussions late in the semester. Depicted on it are two pairs of male lovers engaging in sexual intercourse. Believe it or not, this was considered high art. Just goes to show how sensibilities have changed.
Socrates. This too is an artistic imagining, although unlike Homer and Hesiod, this one is, if I recall correctly, based on a description of him. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the real Socrates was both too poor and too modest to go around having sculptures made of him.
The Famed Rosetta Stone. Discovered in Egypt during the Napoleonic Wars, this inscription would prove the key to unlocking the Egyptian language. It contains a proclamation by one of the Ptolemaic Kings in Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian and Demotic, which allowed Europeans, who knew Ancient Greek to figure out what the Egyptian language was saying, what sounds it was making and what its grammar structure was. It's basically the Mona Lisa of the British Museum, albeit without the smile.