Elgin Marbles

This afternoon my British Life and Cultures class took a trip to the British Museum, which features artifacts acquired during the time of the British Empire. The collections come from Egypt, Asia, Ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle East, North America, and parts of Europe. Our focus today was on a set of sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens - the Parthenon Marbles. They are also known as the Elgin Marbles after Thomas Bruce, the seventh earl of Elgin and the British ambassador to Constantinople, who obtained permission from an Ottoman sultan to remove sculptures from the outside of the Parthenon. The location of these marbles is still controversial today, as the Greek government continues to ask the British Museum and the British government to return the marbles to Athens. Both sides of the debate have validity, but today I was glad they are in London. The sculptures and three-dimensional tile decorations are stunning - majestic symbols of Ancient Greece. I look forward to going back and spending more time with the Marbles, and then going to see China's terracota army...Ancient China and Greece all in one sitting. It's hard to comprehend.
BBC Article on the Elgin Marble controversy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6578661.stm)