The face of a Mayan Ruler

The face of a Maya Ahau, from Stela 1 at the city of Bonampak. Rubbing by Merle Green Robertson.

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Ahau was a general term for ruler used in Classic period inscriptions.

'Valuable Artifacts'?

Those obsessive archeologists that insist on guarding their own access to ancient artifacts and keeping them out of the hands of collectors and avocational students of the past should consider just how 'valuable' they actually were in the past. This 3rd century papyrus ( P.Oxy. 67.4633 ), containing a kind of ancient commentary to Homer's Iliad, was last used as toilet paper. The sheet, once a beautiful scroll, preserves 2 columns of text written in a nice hand. Discovered among the trash mounds at the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus

Easter Bunny: Coptic Style

A Coptic wool fragment, from the 4th -5th century, with a depiction of a beautiful hare.



Happy Easter.

A Sexual Harassment Suit From Ancient Mesopotamia

An extraordinary document.

In this 3700 year old legal document from Iraq, a woman called Šāt-Marduk takes an injunction out against a man called Ahuni - she is not beholden to him in any way, he should not talk to her about the "man and woman thing" or kiss her on the lips. If he asks her for sex, she will report him to the city-elders and the mayor. British Musem 13912, published by Anbar Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 69 (1975) 120-125. The document would appear to have been made in Larsa in the year 1744 BC.

Cosmetic Birds

These glass birds from Ancient Rome contained cosmetics - you snapped off the tail to get to the contents.

This type of container was made by glassblowing, a technique perfected circa 50 B.C. by glassworkers in the eastern Mediterranean region. Glass-blowing allowed the Romans to produce a larger volume of vessels in a smaller time period. They were highly prized luxury items filled with expensive scented oils. Especially the content.

Art as Old as we Are

This tiny Ice Age figurine was discovered in the Vogelherd Cave, near Stetten, in southwest Germany. Sculpted in mammoth ivory c. 35,000 years ago, it is the oldest known sculpture of a horse.

Had China acted sooner, none of us would be in this mess.

Ming yongle mark porcelain

Had China acted sooner, none of us would be in this mess.
Steven Ahle 'Study Finds 95% of Worldwide Cases of DTMNBN Could Have Been Prevented if China Had Acted Earlier', April 1, 2020.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton and considered non-pharmaceutical interventions such as travel restrictions and single case isolation. Researchers found that their research model indicated that 95% of cases would have been prevented if China had acted three weeks earlier. Intervention one week earlier would have resulted in 66% mitigation, while two weeks would have led to 86% fewer cases. “Our study demonstrates how important it is for countries which are facing an imminent outbreak to proactively plan a coordinated response which swiftly tackles the spread of the disease on a number of fronts,” said study author Dr. Shengjie Lai.

China has been excoriated by many for attempting to cover up its culpability in the spread of the virus, the Chinese even went so far as to accuse the US military of planting the virus in China. China's government must understand that the entire world will hold them responsible for their evil here. Their evil has nothing to do with other governments. Let us all pray for the collapse of their vicious, authoritarian regime. The US should immediately rescind any cultural property MOUs and other arrangements with the Rogue State of China.

Overkill

Disinfecting Pericles who died from the plague in 429 B.C.

Object Lessons

Hearst Museum (@HearstMuseum) "How can objects inspire us during difficult times? We've posed this question to our community and will be sharing their answers and selected objects. Check out this response from Andrew, a UC Berkeley student and Hearst Museum Gallery Guide". #MuseumFromHome #MuseumMomentOfZen

Early Old Babylonian Mesopotamian puppy Leaves its Mark

Mesopotamian puppy, from the Early Old Babylonian period at Ešnunna. (Stamp reads Ur-Ningišzida, naram (beloved of the god) Tišpak, ensi (city ruler of) Ešnunna. ( @HearstMuseum HMA9-01765 http://cdli.ucla.edu P247874)

Invincible

The sun still sets over timeless ancient Egyptian sphinx and Giza pyramids on spring equinox, evidence of our potential to overcome impossible odds

My state has already issued a “15 Days to Slow the Spread” stay-at-home order so we all stay healthy. This is following New York, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio and Delaware. Kentucky is due to follow today. For the first time in human evolution our species is united against a common enemy. And in these dark days, there's still cause for hope. Around the planet there are approximately 100 million scientists, researchers, public servants and physicians working to kill The Virus. Science will win this war. But it is not worth losing our whole American way of life over this flu that we can all see statically doesn’t affect that many (there have only been less than 400 CV deaths). Thousands more die from overdosing, cars, etc but now our livelihoods are stopped. Let us hope this is all over soon and that in a few weeks we'll be up on our feet again. We cannot shut down the world for long without something going badly wrong. We can't do that with the country, especially the number one economy anywhere in the world by far. Our country wasn’t built to be shut down. This is not a country that was built for this. America will again and very soon be open for business. God Bless America.

Archeologist to stand trial for Fraud

Work at Gill's site at Iruña-Veleia in Spain

Eliso Gill, who found recognition for his archaeological work in Spain’s Basque region by claiming he’d discovered a unique connection between early Roman Christianity, Ancient Egyptian, and Basque cultures, is to stand trial accused of perpetrating a hoax. Gil claimed he had rewritten the history books, but instead now faces accusations that he lied about about artifacts recovered from a Roman settlement in Spain.

Tunisia fires envoy to UN for being too pro-Palestinian

Tunisian diplomat Moncef Baati was called back to Tunis after he began working on a resolution against US President Trump.

They are working so hard to get that MOU with us.

Racism didn't exist in this country until the liberals brought it up

Don't Sign Cultural Property Deals with Turkey and Tunisia

Five Reasons NOT to Sign Cultural Property Deals with Turkey and Tunisia: Destroying sites, denying minority and religious rights; overbroad restrictions impacting centuries of commercial trade, and failure to enforce laws all factor. This must be stopped by all right-thinking Americans.

Turkey: Centuries of Multicultural History and Trade Denied

Temple at Ain Dara, after bombing by Turkish forces, Syrian Human Rights Observatory.

Turkey Claims all Art and Artifacts: Centuries of Multicultural History and Trade Denied.

We ask that the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Property Advisory Committee follow the criteria under U.S. law, and reject the request from the Republic of Turkey for unnecessary, over-reaching, and legally unjustified import restrictions. The legal criteria are not met. The factual basis for the Turkish request is absent. So is any practical argument for an MOU having any positive effect. What we do know is that an Agreement with Turkey Will Help President Recip Erdogan’s Campaign of Religious Extremism and Xenophobia. Religious minority communities both in Turkey and in the United States will suffer from the gratuitous granting of import restrictions to a repressive and abusive regime that already claims rights over minority heritage beyond what are allowed under Turkish law.

Nothing Changes

Gold earring with glass head pendant, 3rd–1st century B.C in the Met Museum.

It looks modern but it is Phoenician or Carthaginian.

Striking back

Qasem Soleimani commander of the Quds Force (Iran's external security agency) has been killed in US drone strikes at Baghdad airport. This man had the blood of many brave US military personnel on his hands, and was directly responsible for 100s of American deaths. He engineered attacks in Iraq, often with sophisticated IEDs, that killed hundreds of US service-members and wounded thousands more. All Americans were at risk, as long as this man remained alive. The critics of Our President who say he did the wrong thing are still living in an Obama apology we're so sorry world. Now the world knows who's in charge. Go America!