The most famous meal in Ancient Roman history might be one described in _The Satyricon_ by Gaius Petronius Arbiter. Perhaps a send-up of the excessesses of Nero’s court, the book discusses an over-the-top umpteen-course meal where silver bowls are swept away with the trash, the meat dishes are each sculpted to look like something else,
Ancient Roman Drinking Glasses Read More »
Trofim Lysenko, the Stalinist-era biologist who tailored his scientific ideas to suit the Soviet communist party. Denying natural selection and arguing that character traits developed in a parent’s lifetime could be passed onto offspring (like Lamarck), Lysenko put the study of biology in the Soviet Union back by decades. Many actual scientists he competed against
A page from the _Etymologiae_ by the 6th-century scholar Isidore of Seville. In the Middle Ages, this was considered one of the most important books written. Isidore tried to cram in every bit of knowledge he thought was important. Although this book preserved a lot of Ancient Roman and Greek knowledge, the book’s popularity ironically
Etymologiae From Isidore of Seville Read More »
Bald’s Leechbook is an Anglo-Saxon medical text from the 9th century. In 2015 one of the recipes (it used garlic, a bronze pot, and bile from a cow, among other things) was found to be successful in treating MRSA.
Magical incantation bowl written in Jewish Aramaic. Bowls like these were designed as protective magic against demons.
Jewish Magical Incantation Bowl Read More »
This is the famous “SATOR AREPO” square, thought to have had magical talisman power by people all over the Ancient Roman world. It works as a palindrome in so many ways it is called a “2D” palindrome. It was eventually used by early Christians, who scrambled up the letters to make it spell “Pater Noster”
SATOR AREPO Square Read More »
They don’t look sexy, but this is the hottest medieval couple in medieval history. Peter Abelard (in his 30s) seduced the young (17) and brilliant Heloise by deliberately making her his private student. They had a physically, intellectually, and emotionally intense affair before Heloise’s uncle had Peter castrated in revenge for the seduction.
Peter Abelard and Heloise Read More »
This is Sequoyah, a Cherokee American who lived from about 1770-1843 and is a rare example of an illiterate person who created a written language. Sequoyah was born in what is now Tennessee and demonstrated skill in a wide variety of crafts: he made jewelry, invented better dairy farm equipment, and forged iron. Observing the
Sequoyah and the Cherokee Alphabet Read More »
Shippensburg University was very lucky to have Dr. Francesco Lodá speak this evening about dueling in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Focusing especially on the Italian Marcelli familial school-of-arms, Professor Lodà demonstrated that the most advanced Masters of Arms achieved very high status, despite the fact that they had not originated from the aristocracy
Dr. Francesco Lodá: Dueling in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe Read More »
We had a full house this evening at Shippensburg University with guest speaker John Maietta, who gave a fascinating talk on some of the best-loved beverages in history: “Strong drinks and heavenly brews: a history of beer, wine, coffee, and tea”. Here I am with Dr Mark Spicka of the history department and guest speaker
John Maietta: Strong Drinks and Heavenly Brews: a History of Beer, Wine, Coffee, and Tea Read More »
Presenting research today (February 25, 2023) at the Wilson College Humanities Conference, which was focusing on non-human animals! Here I am with my fellow presenters Catherine Clay (who talked about the role of bees in Russia), Christina Luo (speaking about chickens in Ancient Europe). I talked about horses in the Middle Ages. The papers today
Wilson College Humanities Conference Read More »
If you look hard at the figure in the lower center of this carved standing stone, you can make out the faint outline of a figure riding an animal. It is a donkey, and this man was named Khebeded, and he is the leading contender for one of the most transformational inventions of all time:
This is the earliest fragment of the Gospel of Mark. It was found on a famous ancient Egyptian garbage dump that was discovered early last century, but this bit was only identified recently. Date: 150-250 CE
Earliest Fragment of Gospel of Mark Read More »
This diagram illustrates the scholarly consensus for authorship of the three Christian Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. “Q” is a hypothetical source, perhaps made up of sayings (like the Beatitudes).
Concensus of Authorship of Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke Read More »
Tonight Shippensburg University welcomed guest lecturer Wawa Gatheru, a leader in the contemporary U.S. environmental justice movement. She had many interesting things to say, but since I am an historian, I especially appreciated her discussion of how the legacy of American slavery has led to environmental inequity today. Wawa Gatheru pointed to two ways this
Wawa Gatheru Speaks at Shippensburg Univeristy Read More »
This is the Marduk Gate of the ancient city of Babylon, one of the world’s oldest urban settlements and now a UNESCO heritage site. King Nebuchadnezzar II built this gate about 575 BCE. Whatever beauty it contains now, where it lies in lonely ruins some 85 km south of Baghdad, is nothing compared to the
Poem about Ancient Babylon Discovered and the Marduk-Gate Read More »
February 14 is Valentine’s Day, and we all know what that means: a time to remember the mostly fictitious early Christian martyr(s) who became known as the patron of sufferers of epilepsy! This painting of St Valentine by Leonhard Beck (d. 1542) shows the saint raising his hand in blessing over a stiffened body which
This tooth from the mid-6th century contains DNA from the plague, that same pathogen responsible for the Black Death in 14th- Europe. This version of the bubonic plague is known as the “Justinianic Plague,” named after the Byzantine Emperor who reigned during its outbreak in the capital of Constantinople in 541 CE. Many historians have
Justinianic Plague Read More »
So here’s a provocative set of evidence from our pre-historic past: hand stencils. Among other questions, they raise a debate about whether the first artists were mostly women. The painted shadows that silhouette the hands you see in this image were frequent subjects of our paleolithic and neolithic ancestors (40,000-1,000 BCE). In 2013, archaeologist Dean
This newspaper clip reflects a horrific story about the only anti-Semitic blood libel to occur in American history. Blood libels against Jews began in the Middle Ages. Totally unfounded in any degree of fact, they falsely accused people who were Jewish of killing Christian children and using their blood for Passover food rituals. The horror
America’s First and Only Blood Libel Read More »
