“Now all shame is exhausted. . . For in the weakened state of the [Roman] commonwealth, things came to such a pass that . . . A foreigner, Zenobia by name, proceeded to cast about her shoulders the imperial mantle, [and was] ruling longer than could be endured from one of the female sex . […]
Queen Zenobia of Rome Read More »
This shirt dating from 15th-early 16th century northern India contains the entire Qur’an. Check out the picture-like framing, as though the wearer were adorning himself with a book rather than mere cotton. The illustrated rondels that overlay the pectoral muscles, the shoulder-pad-esque details, and the fringes that look like lapels all contribute to a faux-armor.
Talisman Shirt with Qur’an from Early Modern India Read More »
This sculpture, coming from a porch from the abbey church at Moissac and dating between 1120-1135, shows a woman in hell being tortured for her sins of lust. Her long hair, draped over her face, draws attention to her sexual moral depravity, as two snakes bite her breasts as they coil around her genitalia. On
Moissac Sculpture, Women, and Medieval Sodomy Read More »
This butterfly I photographed today at the Hershey Butterfly House likely belongs to the genus “Heliconius”, aka “the longwings.” But it looks very similar to the one illustrated in a 15th-century Medieval French Manuscript which scholars have identified as an “Aglais urticae” or “Small Tortoiseshell”. Both the 21st century butterfly house and the Medieval painting
Medieval Butterflies Read More »
Here you see the Medieval 12th century ruins of the monastery at Lindisfarne. These remains, old as they are, predate Saint Cuthbert, whose cult grew up around this area after his life of preaching and asceticism in the seventh century (see Medieval illumination of Cuthbert on the second slide). But 300 million years before the
St Cuthbert’s beads Read More »
This is one of the most important books in existence — the Codex Vaticanus. Dating to the fourth century, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. But whereas its fame resides mostly in the history of Christianity (many scholars translating the New Testament rely on it), it has a
Codex Vaticanus and the Septuagint Read More »
This 13th-century fresco illustrates the most influential forgery in history: _The Donation of Constantine_. See the dude in the gold dress with the red beard handing over what looks like a puffy triangle to the larger but thin Santa Claus-guy? That’s supposed to be the Emperor Constantine (4th century) giving Pope Sylvester the right to
The Donation of Constantine Read More »
Feel free to scroll in at this larger-than-lifesize automaton known as the “Peacock Clock”, created in the 1700s by James Cox and now in St. Petersburg, Russia. It’s as close as we can get to viewing a bejewelled-encrusted tree with moving birds that sang and astonished viewers at the Byzantine Court of Constantinople. With all
The Throne of Solomon and Byzantine Automata Read More »
This simple black-on-gold mosaic cross is generally thought to be among the most significant artistic remains of the Byzantine Civilization. The reason why it’s so famous has everything to do with an ancient religious battle that lasted across two centuries and whose victors deliberately destroyed most sources that challenged their perspectives. I’m talking about the
Hagia Eirene and Byzantine Iconoclasm in Art Read More »
This shipwreck puts a new spin on how historians think about the earliest century of Islam. The usual story is that the decades after Muhammad’s death witnessed a real collapse of trade in the former Roman Empire we now call Byzantium. But this wreck, called the Ma’agan Michael B (or MMB) ship, suggests that eastern
Ma’agan Michael B and Byzantine Economy after Muhammad Read More »
This Hindu Goddess has been around for a long time: I introduce to you all the deity Sheetala (also Shitala). In English, her name means “the cooling one,” and she is a mother goddess protector from smallpox and childhood illnesses — except for the times when she becomes the embodiment of disease and annihilates those
Sheetala Hindu Goddess and Smallpox Read More »
The oldest continuous center of learning is in Fez, Morocco. The University of al-Qarawiyyin (aka Al-Karaouine) was founded as a mosque in either 857 or 859, and likely scholars were teaching there soon after. According to a 14th-century manuscript, al-Qarawiyyin was founded by Fatima al-Fihri, a wealthy woman from a merchant family, who had immigrated
Fez, the Oldest “University” Read More »
Here’s a late 14th-century illustration of the African trading route to Ghana, one of the world’s key areas of commerce and part of the Kingdom of Mali (of Mansa Musa fame). And this map is the closet pictorial representation I could find to document the constitution of the Medieval Mali Empire, because it is actually
Medieval Mali Manden Charter Read More »
“The Mushroom Hunters,” a poem by Neil Gaiman, is a feminist paean about science, inspired by history. Some commentary about the history behind the poem: in evolutionary human behavior, much is speculative. “The Mushroom Hunters” draws from many hypotheses made by anthropologists, several of which I have featured stories about. Here are some of them:
The Mushroom Hunters by Neil Gaiman Read More »
This reconstruction of a Homo heidelbergensis (600,000-300,000 years ago) reminds us that we H. sapiens are not the only genus of our kind to have walked the earth, and our Homo ancestors, like us, shared an interesting quality: we lack hair. Of course, we have some hair — our heads and genitals, and many of
Homo Heidelbergensis and Hair Read More »
This is Humpback Mountain, an incredibly ancient formation dating from the Alleghenian orogany — ie, when the Appalachian Mountains were formed — between 325-260 million years ago. Made up of granite with greenstone, the mountain is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, and you can see why they are called that because of
These are the Shohola Falls, dropping a total of 200 feet in the half-mile course it makes along the Shohola Creek as it drops from Shohola Lake. Located in the Poconos Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, “Shohola” is an American Indian word that means “meek” or “faint”. This area is part of the Catskill formation and
The origin of mushrooms is ancient — in fact, a 2020 scientific paper reported the discovery of fossilized fungi found in the Democratic Republic of Congo dating from 715 to 810 million years ago! Yet there is much scientists still do not understand about these fruiting bodies of the Earth’s mycelium layer (a network of
Origins of Mushrooms Read More »
Humans take so darn long to learn how to potty-train. For many early peoples, we must use guesswork to assume how the process went, but we actually have a relatively large body of evidence from the Ancient Greek world on this issue. (Issue. Get it? Groan . . .). Shown on the first and second
Potty Training in Ancient Greece Read More »
The National Park at Acadia is a jewel among the United States natural lands. The movement to make trails and preserve the area for posterity and enjoyment got going in the 1800s. Even though many of the civic groups who galvanized these measures cut both women and people of color out, women were among the
Acadia Eliza Homans Read More »
