GUIDE TO THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF THESSALONIKE

The Archaeological Museum of Thessalonike, one of the most importand museums in Greece, houses unique finds from Ancient Macedonia, an area whose history goes back to the 2nd millennium BC and reached its culmination in the 4th c. BC during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great. No other museum in Greece has had to deal with as rapid an increase in the number of its exhibits as that faced by the Archaeological Museum of Thessalonike in the last twenty years. The exhibits in question, moreover, are masterprices of ancient Greek art, that also testify to the historical events played out in Macedonia. The lack of a general guide to the Archaeological Museum of Thessalonike’ written by Julia Vokotopoulou, who died prematurely and unexpectedly in summer 1995, was Director of the Archaeological Museum of Thessalonike from 1982 until the day of her death. She herself conducted many archaeological excavations in in Macedonia and made a special study of the topography, metal-working and inscriptions of Ancient Macedonia. The Guide to the Museum is not simply a catalogue of objects on display but a work of scholarship in which the wealth and variety of finds from all over Macedonia, from Vergina, Sindos and Derveni and many other important Macedonian centres, are presented and described by units. The introduction on Ancient Macedonia and the other texts prefaced to each unit help visitors to the Museum to enjoy the beauty of ancient art and to follow the historical development of Macedonia. The plans of the Museum rooms noting the positions in which various objects are displayent are particularly useful. The exhibits in the Archaeological Museum of Thessalonike are brought to life in the pages of the Guide through the manner in which they are presented and the rich illustrations which discreetly accompany the text, supplementing the through descriptions of the objects.