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Joined May 2021
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A powerful & important article on life for young people in Gaza after a year of horrifying military violence
Proud to have been involved in editing & placing it.
'In Gaza, we have one question for the rest of the world: aren’t we human, just like you?'
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
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Mermaids, ‘scare devils’, and an overstuffed Walrus at London’s eccentric @HornimanMuseum | my article for the wonderful @mainlymuseums
📸 19th century 'ningyo' or 'Human Fish' from Japan (photo my own) #Horniman
mainlymuseums.com/post/1283/…
Cornfield by Moonlight, with the Evening Star (cropped)
Samuel Palmer, c.1830
#WyrdWednesday
‘The Tomb of Böcklin’, by Ferdinand Keller (1901-02)
Painted as a tribute to Swiss painter, Arnold Böcklin
#ofdarkandmacabre
"Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight, For the greatest tragedy of them all, Is never to feel the burning light."
Attributed to Oscar Wilde
The Lament for Icarus, by Herbert Draper (1898) #MythologyMonday
In 1979 in Crete, archaeologists made a grisly find. Preserved mid-ceremony by an earthquake, a boy of about 18 had just been sacrificed. The knife was likely used to cut his throat & the vessel to collect his blood
c1700-1600BC (1/2)
#Findsfriday #OfDarkAndMacabre 📸my own
The 'blood bucket' is marked with a bull (L) - a major motif for the ancient Minoans. Given the victim's age, some have wondered if this practice could have given rise to the minotaur myth & the sacrifice of Athenian youths
R: 300 CE (likely Roman)
Via @AshmoleanMuseum
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Anubis was a canine headed god of Ancient Egypt, associated with funerary rites, mummification, and cemeteries.
This wooden likeness was possibly used as a mask by the priests of Anubis (Late period: 664 - 332 BCE)
📸 My own via @EgyptianMuseumC #WyrdWednesday
Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), Faro, Portugal.
Built in 1816, this tiny bone chapel incorporates the remains of 1245 monks.
📸 my own
#ofdarkandmacabre #TombTuesday
A mural from the Tomb of Menna (c1419-1372 BC) at Luxor's West Bank depicting the weighing of the deceased's heart against the Feather of Truth
Osiris can be seen presiding over the judgement (R), while Thoth records the result
📸 My own #TombTuesday arce.org/project/tomb-menna-…
Skull of an aurochs (c245,000 - 186,000BC), an extinct species of ox considered the ancestor of modern cattle
Depicted in cave paintings such as those at Lascaux, as well as Ancient Egyptian reliefs & Bronze Age figurines
#FindsFriday #FossilFriday
📸my own Via @MuseumofLondon
In Norse myth, Odin and the other gods bind the wolf Fenrir on an island in the middle of the great lake Amsvartnir (‘Pitch black’), where he will remain until Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods #MythologyMonday
🎨Arthur Rackham, 1910
worldhistory.org/Fenrir/
Meet 'Scarface' - a 4000 year old djinn from the Bactrian civilisation of ancient Iran, nicknamed for the knife cut across its cheek
From late 3rd millenium or early 2nd millenium BC. #FindsFriday 📸 my own via @MuseeLouvre
Depicting scenes of Bacchic revelry, the Mildenhall Great Dish was found in Mildenhall, Suffolk & dates to C4th AD
In this detail you can see Oceanus in the centre with his seaweed beard, & to the left, a v tired & emotional Hercules
#FindsFriday 📸my own worldhistory.org/image/4973/…
'In certain islands dwells a huge bird, called the roc, which feeds its young on elephants'
From the 7 Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, a separate story added to the Nights by Antoine Galland
#FairyTaleTuesday
🎨Virginia Frances Sterrett
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad…
‘There is a poison-tree in the island of Java, which is said by its effluvia to have depopulated the country for 12 or 14 miles..condemned criminals are sent to the tree..& are pardoned if they bring back a certain quantity of the poison'
NP Foersch 1783 🎨F Danby #WyrdWednesday
The account, published in the London Magazine, refers to the Upas tree, which secretes a deadly poison but is otherwise harmless in aroma. Its alleged deadly effects were likely caused by carbonic gas from an extinct volcano scientificamerican.com/artic…
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The remarkable Basilica Cistern in Istanbul is a vast underground chamber supported by 336 columns. Built in 532 AD by Emperor Justinian I, it was used to store fresh water for the Great Palace of Constantinople
#WyrdWednesday #WorldHeritageDay
📸my own
atlasobscura.com/places/basi…
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa in Alexandria date from 2nd - 4th century AD and reflect a unique mix of Egyptian, Greek and Roman funerary beliefs.
#faustianfriday
📸 my own
thecollector.com/catacombs-o…
'He was as tall as the lower branches, with antlers like the stags on the lord’s land'
Lord of forests & wild things, Cernunnos was an ancient Celtic god of nature & fertility #WyrdWednesday
📝 my own whitewallreview.com/the-pris…
📸@Nationalmuseet, Gundestrup Cauldron,3rd-1st c. BC
More on Cernunnos and the Gundestrup Cauldron: worldhistory.org/Cernunnos/
Egyptian god of the sky & divine kingship, Horus, was depicted as a falcon whose R eye was the sun & L the moon - injured during his struggle with Seth. The symbol of his restored eye was a powerful amulet & linked with the waxing & waning moon
📸 My own (Edfu) #FaustianFriday
The Temple of Horus at Edfu (3rd - 1st century BC) depicts the original angry bird's battle with & ultimate victory over Seth - the villainous god who killed and dismembered Horus's father, Osiris
📸 my own
britannica.com/topic/Horus
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