Upcoming Exhibitions in London
by Owain Williams
Of all the many memorable characters from the ancient world, none have inspired greater fascination than Alexander the Great. The king of Macedon who conquered the world from Anatolia to Afghanistan has been a figure worthy of emulation for over 2000 years. Pompey Magnus adopted Alexander’s iconic cow’s lick hair style in his self-representations, Julius Caesar is said to have lamented how little he had achieved in life when compared to Alexander, the great conqueror may appear in the Quran, and the Alexander Romance, a largely fictional account of his life, was published throughout the Medieval period.
If you are in London in the coming months, you can see how the legend of Alexander the Great developed in an exhibition from the British Library. Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth opens on Friday 21st October 2022 and runs until Sunday 19th February 2023. You can learn more about the exhibition and buy tickets here.
Near concurrently, the British Museum is holding an exhibition on ancient Egypt - Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Egypt’s Secrets from Thursday 13th October 2022 until Sunday 19th February 2023. Marking the 200th anniversary of the decipherment of this ancient writing system, this exhibition will guide visitors through the journey that was the decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, with the inscriptions that scholars used to do so on display, such as the Rosetta Stone and the Book of the Dead. To learn more about the exhibition, see some of the images on display, and buy tickets, visit here.
