This terracotta figure of a merchant dates from seventh-to-eighth century Tang China and is testimony to the role of long-distance trade along the Silk Road and other conduits. I also think this guy looks like Dr. Strange, so there’s that.
Chinese Terracotta Merchant Figurine Read More »
The scholar-elite class of dynastic China were not always engrossed in studying or affairs of state. This gourd with ivory-carved lid held live crickets, who were set to fight in staged cricket matches for the amusement of the Chinese intelligentsia. From 19th-century Qing China, the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Chinese Ivory Gourds Read More »
This hooked metal tool was called a “strigil” by Ancient Romans. Centuries ago, such instruments were used in the process of bathing: you would scrape dirt, sweat, and the ubiquitous Mediterranean olive oil off your skin with it before your bath.
Ancient Roman Strigils Read More »
In the very late 19th- and early 20th- centuries, the Spiritualist movement had a strong influence in Western Europe and the United States. Many adherents believed that spiritual mediums could guide listeners in conversations among the living and dead during seances. One of the oddest components of these otherworldly gatherings was a substance called ectoplasm,
Seances and Ectoplasm Read More »
When the artist Larry Harvey first set fire to a 9-foot wooden effigy of a man and began a ceremony now celebrated annually at Black Rock City, Nevada, he had never heard of the famous 1973 cult horror film, “The Wicker Man,” which took its cue from an alleged Celtic practice of human sacrifice. In
Human Sacrifice in Ancient Celtic British Life Read More »
Musical instruments are one of the hallmarks of the radical change in complex culture that started to mark human history after 50,000 BCE. Some scientists even like to refer to our species after this benchmark era as _Homo Sapiens Sapiens_, stressing the “extra” smarts we apparently showcased after this time. But important questions remain. Pictured
The Neanderthal Flute Read More »
Many Ancient Greek and Roman physicians (male) developed intricate theories about the female body which dovetailed neatly with their assumptions of women being inherently flawed and lesser than men. Among the most hysterical (this is a pun: “hysteria” comes from the word for “uterus,” and hysteria was a medical diagnosis for a grab-bag of female
Physicians of the Ancient World Read More »
In the mid-18th century, certain young Bristish males of the highest social classes garnered a sense of worldliness by taking a grand tour of Western Europe. Returning home, they adopted distinct eating habits and attire that would set them apart as more special than their less traveled and wealthy peers. The style they adopted involved
The Macaroni Men of the Mid-18th Century Read More »
Throughout history, we humans have wanted to feel special, and often this has meant felling specialer than others. The Ancient Greek philosophers engaged in lively debates about which sorts of beings were more important: were they men? Fellow philosophers? Fellow (male) philosophers who agreed with each other? Diogenes the Cynic (d. 323 BCE) made fun
The Argument of Diogenes the Cynic Read More »
Western History has no corner in the market for crazy leaders, as the example of Gao Yang (aka the Emperor Wenxuan) shows. Ruling for only nine years (r. 550-559 CE) in the tumultuous and short-spanned Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Yang would have given Nero a run for his money. Known for his narcissistic, unpredidictable, and
The Cruel Emperor Gao Yang Read More »
Death by hanging was practiced in the UK until the abolition of the death penalty in 1964/5. Those who befell this execution did not all die easily, sometimes gasping for breath for a quarter of an hour before their lives mercifully ended. This is why the contraption invented by a man from Early Modern England,
Early Modern European Death Penalties Read More »
The cities of the Ancient Roman Empire harbored a density of populations that humans hadn’t naturally developed to accommodate. However, urban planners evolved sophisticated strategies for removing the piles of sewage that the cities incessantly churned. These included running water, a workforce paid to collect and transport the waste, and public toilets. Rome itself had
Ancient Roman Public Sewage Systems Read More »
When Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon fifty years ago, one of their ritualistic actions was to place memorabilia on the surface that honored both American and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in their pursuit of forwarding humanity’s quest for discovery in outer space. One of the cosmonauts was Vladimir Komarov, pictured
Memories of Vladimir Komarov Read More »
Maybe if you just ate you should skip on past this post, and don’t squint too hard at the image along the way . . . On the other hand (no pun intended), if you’ve decided to keep reading, then you might notice that the bright red figure on the bed is actually having his
The Flaying of Saint Bartholomew Read More »
This late 15th-c illustration shows a man preparing a mixture called “Theriac,” which for over a millennia was perhaps the most valued curative substance (or so it was advertised) across Eurasia. You can see the snakes unfurling under the man’s feet: they’re there representing the serpentine venom the ancient recipe demanded. Another crucial ingredient was
Mithridates and His Antidote Testing Read More »
One of the most important tools in the history of medical diagnosis has been urine. The examination of pee can legitimately be used to figure out whether a person is pregnant, or has diabetes, or kidney failure. For Medieval people, it was also thought to indicate widened “channels” into the kidney, which accidentally let blood
Medieval Urinalysis Read More »
Sheet music written by Franz Schubert in 1826, called the “Rondo Brilliant.” It was designed to showcase the vituosity of a specific violinist Schubert worked with, and was the only piece he wrote for violin and piano published in the artist’s lifetime. Schubert, who had many loves but suffered from bouts of depression throughout his
Franz Schubert’s “Rondo Brilliant” Read More »
Five thousand years ago, ancient Middle Eastern Mesopotamian civilizations developed the written word, and this invention galvanized other areas of culture such as literature and the visual arts. And so we see seals — such as the one here made of shell from the Akkadian period (2334-2154 BCE) — which often showcased religious and political
Ancient Mesopotamian Seals Read More »
The smallpox vaccination has been one of the greatest contributions science has made to better the human condition. Although Edward Jenner has justly earned credit for his development of the vaccine, an 18th-century British aristocratic woman named Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) also deserves recognition. Montagu was a “Turkophile,” and published many writings critiquing the confining
Mary Wortley Montagu and the Treatment of Smallpox Read More »
The small village of Mesilla in New Mexico was the site of archtypical American Old West cultural traditions: developing railroads, silver mines and cattle ranches, wars against the American Indians, and showdowns among ineffective government officials were commonplace in the Arizona and New Mexico territories of the late 19th century. Billy the Kid, ne Henry
Billy the Kid and Old Western Traditions Read More »
