To coincide with the exhibition on Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC) in the Hermitage in Amsterdam, the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam is presenting this exhibition in order to show the impact Alexander the Great made on Egypt. He brought elements of western culture to the east and, conversely, elements from eastern culture to the west. Alexander’s Legacy looks at this cross-pollination and cultural blending of peoples and cultures. The exhibition’s focus is on Egypt, because that is where Alexander’s legacy left its clearest and most numerous traces, atlthough is impact in for example today’s Afghanistan and other regions is considerable as well. The fusion of centuries-old cultures known as Hellenism produced a renewed élan and gave a new impulse to art, technology and science. The Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt endured until 30 BC, when the last pharaoh of Egypt, the famous Cleopatra, lost her power to the Romans. Alexander’s legacy, however, was not lost and made its mark on the Roman Empire and thereby on Europe.
