#antiquity — Public Fediverse posts

🌳The #Oracle of #Dodona: a space of shared human experience across millennia.

Universal value lies in the inquiries inscribed on tiny lead tablets (ελάσματα).
Diviners interpreted Zeus' answers through the rustle of the sacred oak (φηγός) & the flight of doves.

The unique acoustic rituals included the "Scourge of the Corcyraeans" (Κερκυραίων μάστιξ), a votive bronze boy statue holding a whip. Blown by mountain winds, its chains struck a cauldron (λέβητας).
#Archaeology #Antiquity #Heritage

🌳The #Oracle of #Dodona: a space of shared human experience across millennia.

Universal value lies in the inquiries inscribed on tiny lead tablets (ελάσματα).
Diviners interpreted Zeus' answers through the rustle of the sacred oak (φηγός) & the flight of doves.

The unique acoustic rituals included the "Scourge of the Corcyraeans" (Κερκυραίων μάστιξ), a votive bronze boy statue holding a whip. Blown by mountain winds, its chains struck a cauldron (λέβητας).
#Archaeology #Antiquity #Heritage

Feline powers in Antiquity and beyond: The Nodus Herculaneus ((Herculean knot / Ἡράκλειον ἅμμα) & 'Dionysus’ Panther', (Το αιλουροειδές του Διονύσου) 🐾🏛️🦁🐆

View these two artworks and explore some of their hidden meanings and narratives.

#antiquity #archaeology #Hellenistic #GrecoRoman #artifacts #Dionysus #Hercules #animalia #Museum #Greece #Mediterranean #history #Histodons #PlinyNaturalHistory

Feline powers in Antiquity and beyond: The Nodus Herculaneus ((Herculean knot / Ἡράκλειον ἅμμα) & 'Dionysus’ Panther', (Το αιλουροειδές του Διονύσου) 🐾🏛️🦁🐆

View these two artworks and explore some of their hidden meanings and narratives.

#antiquity #archaeology #Hellenistic #GrecoRoman #artifacts #Dionysus #Hercules #animalia #Museum #Greece #Mediterranean #history #Histodons #PlinyNaturalHistory

Feline powers in Antiquity and beyond: The Nodus Herculaneus ((Herculean knot / Ἡράκλειον ἅμμα) & 'Dionysus’ Panther', (Το αιλουροειδές του Διονύσου) 🐾🏛️🦁🐆

View these two artworks and explore some of their hidden meanings and narratives.

#antiquity #archaeology #Hellenistic #GrecoRoman #artifacts #Dionysus #Hercules #animalia #Museum #Greece #Mediterranean #history #Histodons #PlinyNaturalHistory

Feline powers in Antiquity and beyond: The Nodus Herculaneus ((Herculean knot / Ἡράκλειον ἅμμα) & 'Dionysus’ Panther', (Το αιλουροειδές του Διονύσου) 🐾🏛️🦁🐆

View these two artworks and explore some of their hidden meanings and narratives.

#antiquity #archaeology #Hellenistic #GrecoRoman #artifacts #Dionysus #Hercules #animalia #Museum #Greece #Mediterranean #history #Histodons #PlinyNaturalHistory

Feline powers in Antiquity and beyond: The Nodus Herculaneus ((Herculean knot / Ἡράκλειον ἅμμα) & 'Dionysus’ Panther', (Το αιλουροειδές του Διονύσου) 🐾🏛️🦁🐆

View these two artworks and explore some of their hidden meanings and narratives.

#antiquity #archaeology #Hellenistic #GrecoRoman #artifacts #Dionysus #Hercules #animalia #Museum #Greece #Mediterranean #history #Histodons #PlinyNaturalHistory

The Odyssey: Lots of Good Stuff, Some Bad Stuff as Well 🔱

What’s likely to be the biggest cinematic hit of 2026 is Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey. Anyone and everyone have already said their bit about the film, but we’ve decided to crop up with our opinions all the same!

At nearly three hours it’s a monstrous undertaking. Unquestionably a mighty cinematic experience in IMAX, it does also suffer from stumbling stuff that drags it down, but all of it adds up to a glorious time of it. We had fun.

Guilt and PTSD in The Odyssey

Right. You probably know the plot already as this is adapted from Homer’s ancient Greek poem of the same name. Christopher Nolan has taken various liberties with the text, but the thrust of the story is sort of the same.

Star, front and centre, is Odysseus (Matt Damon) the King of the island of Ithaca. He’s been away from home for 20 years as he’s been battling it out during the Trojan War of 12th century BC.

After winning in a thrilling, last ditch Trojan Horse war move thing, it’s now left to Odysseus and his men to finally head on home. His wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) tentatively awaits him, in his absence she’s barely able to hold off 100 suitors eager to take Odysseus’s throne.

But on the way back, Odysseus hits a series of relentless problems that escalate steadily into increasingly disastrous nightmares. As each episode plays out, the reality of the previous decade weighs heavily on his mind.

For Nolan’s Odyssey, it sees Odysseus become mired in an increasing sense of PTSD. The reality of war plays on his consience to the extent he questions whether he even wants to return home.

Hmmm! Well, there aren’t any official scenes available on YouTube yet, but you can get a great sense of the film with some sequences in the below.

Okay, the great stuff sits with the set pieces. The cyclops, the giant dudes in armoured plating, the Trojan Horse build-up and battle sequence, and Circe the witch are all goddamn outstanding.

It’s up to you which is best of the lot, but for us it’s the Trojan Horse stuff. Nolan at his absolute best and one of the best cinematic moments we’ve ever seen.

However, quite a chunk of The Odyssey is also a bit on the flat side of things. Some of the acting and casting are questionable (we’re looking at you Tom Holland), the script can be Mickey Mouse, plus there are big chunks of dull stuff. Mainly anything involving Tom Holland’s bland performance.

Plus, the super talented Mia Goth is in this film and she’s utterly wasted with almost no screen time or character development. As is the case for the excellent Robert Pattinson, whose Antinous is the main antagonist but 97% of the time is only ever in one room whilst grimacing.

It’s almost like Nolan should have spread this out into two films to properly develop out the story. To get everything into three hours was hellish ambitious of him and it often works, but for us this isn’t a 5/5.

It’s a very good film all the same. Highly recommended you see it in IMAX as this is the whole point. Take in the full cinematic spectacle, revel in the set pieces, and don’t get too upset about the story dwindling around a little bit. Well done to Mr. Nolan, he’s got people interested in history!

A Quick Note on Odyssey’s Soundtrack

Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson handled the music for Nolan’s latest film. The result is often very beautiful, he went to great lengths to use musical instruments that were around in antiquity.

This meant his team had to bring many of them back to life, re-inventing instruments that haven’t been around in thousands of years. That included an ancient lyre and aulos (a wind instrument). Hurling in Albanian iso-polyphony choral music over the top and it’s quite distinct as a soundtrack, although does lapse into bombast when it needs to.

Our favourite pieces? Sirens above is eerie and fabulous, then you’ve got the lush Ithaca theme below.

The sound effects in the film are frequently deafening, too. In IMAX, the scream from Polyphemus the cyclops registers in at 125 decibels. That’s the loudest scream in modern cinema and up there with Roger Daltrey’s big moment in The Who’s hit single Won’t Get Fooled Again (for reference).

Anyway, full credit to Ludwig Göransson as he does create some excellent moments with his score. Although, following Nolan’s lead, he’s often left to produce less intriguing pieces than the above.

The Production of The Odyssey

Okay, so this launched on 17th July 2026 and is still very much in cinemas. It’s just had its IMAX run extended into at least September as the tickets keep fully booking out. It’s really triggered a big response from the public, many of whom will experience the glory of IMAX for the first time.

It’s like being hit by a sledgehammer of cinematic spectacle and that’s why we love it.

The downside? It’s had a tedious backlash from the alt-right (headed by Elon Musk), who claim the film is whitewashing “history”. Their main beef is it’s “woke” as it was a trans actor in a small role and Helen of Troy is Lupita Nyong’o (i.e. not white). The hysterical meltdown they’ve had about it has done nothing to dent global box office figures. The film has already made $1.301 billion off its $250 million budget.

Go woke, go broke indeed…

As for the production cycle, following Nolan’s last film (2023’s Oppenheimer) he hadn’t worked out what to do next. Once decided, he went on to write the screenplay for The Odyssey and take on directing duties.

The shoot last for 91 days across February and August of 2025. He worked so effectively everything wrapped nine days ahead of schedule! Despite shoots taking place all over the shop, including locations such as Morocco, Western Sahara, Greece, Italy, Scotland, and the US.

Nolan is famous for embracing practical effects, so pretty much everything you see in the film most definitely isn’t CGI. That included building a 30ft cyclops for that scene, plus setting 5ft stunt actors against 7ft ones for others.

The Odyssey is almost certain to win a big bunch of Oscars. No way a film earning this much, and getting so much internal attention, isn’t going to win a load of them. Watch this space in 2027 then for the Academy Awards.

Super spannende Rezension zu einem Buch, das erstmals die Geschichte Skandinaviens als Region am Rande des Imperiums rekonstruiert. Man erfährt die coolsten Dinge & wird schlauer was Methodologie für so prä-schreibende Kulturen angeht. Und ja: Eisbären im Kolosseum.
#history #antiquity #prehistory #scandinavia #romanempire #books #Review

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n14/michael-kulikowski/polar-bears-in-rome

It was a pleasant surprise to discover that the new #Academic Anthology "Rethinking the Qur’ān in Late Antiquity" has a few chapters on Ancient #Arabian #Polytheism

#AncientArabia #Antiquity #LateAntiquity #AncientNearEast #ArabianPaganism #ArabianPolytheism #AncientReligions
#Pagan #Paganism #Polytheist
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111342306/html

For #RomanSiteSaturday, Baalbek, #Lebanon 🇱🇧

#history #histoire #TravelPhotography #reisen #Altertumswissenschaften #antiquité #RomanArchaeology #RomanEmpire #ReligiousStudies #AncientReligions #antiquity #AncientHistory #antike #MiddleEast #AncientRome #religion

For #RomanSiteSaturday, Baalbek, #Lebanon 🇱🇧

#history #histoire #TravelPhotography #reisen #Altertumswissenschaften #antiquité #RomanArchaeology #RomanEmpire #ReligiousStudies #AncientReligions #antiquity #AncientHistory #antike #MiddleEast #AncientRome #religion

For #RomanSiteSaturday, Baalbek, #Lebanon 🇱🇧

#antike #antiquity #ancienthistory #travelphotography #reisen #religion #romanempire #AncientReligions #romanhistory

For #RomanSiteSaturday, Baalbek, #Lebanon 🇱🇧

#antike #antiquity #ancienthistory #travelphotography #reisen #religion #romanempire #AncientReligions

Another #EpigraphyTuesday from Baalbek, #Lebanon 🇱🇧

@histodons
#MiddleEast #TravelPhotography #reisen #AncientHistory #Latin #AncientReligions #antike #antiquity

Archaeoethnologica: Clan & Palace in Ancient Levanta - Book / Clã e Paço no Levante Antigo - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/cla-e-paco-no-levante-antigo-livro.html

#Archaeology #Antiquity #BronzeAge #IronAge #NearEast #kinship #tribe #State #politicalorganization #socialchange #books

Archaeoethnologica: Clan & Palace in Ancient Levanta - Book / Clã e Paço no Levante Antigo - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/cla-e-paco-no-levante-antigo-livro.html

#Archaeology #Antiquity #BronzeAge #IronAge #NearEast #kinship #tribe #State #politicalorganization #socialchange #books

Archaeoethnologica: Clan & Palace in Ancient Levanta - Book / Clã e Paço no Levante Antigo - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/cla-e-paco-no-levante-antigo-livro.html

#Archaeology #Antiquity #BronzeAge #IronAge #NearEast #kinship #tribe #State #politicalorganization #socialchange #books

Archaeoethnologica: Metamorphosis in Graeco-Roman Myths - Book / Metamorfoses nos Mitos Greco-Romanos - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/metamorfoses-nos-mitos-greco-romanos.html

#Mythology #HistoryofReligions #Greece #Rome #AncientReligions #metamorphosis #AncientHistory #Antiquity #body #books #OpenAccess

Archaeoethnologica: Metamorphosis in Graeco-Roman Myths - Book / Metamorfoses nos Mitos Greco-Romanos - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/metamorfoses-nos-mitos-greco-romanos.html

#Mythology #HistoryofReligions #Greece #Rome #AncientReligions #metamorphosis #AncientHistory #Antiquity #body #books #OpenAccess

Archaeoethnologica: Metamorphosis in Graeco-Roman Myths - Book / Metamorfoses nos Mitos Greco-Romanos - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/metamorfoses-nos-mitos-greco-romanos.html

#Mythology #HistoryofReligions #Greece #Rome #AncientReligions #metamorphosis #AncientHistory #Antiquity #body #books #OpenAccess

Archaeoethnologica: Metamorphosis in Graeco-Roman Myths - Book / Metamorfoses nos Mitos Greco-Romanos - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/metamorfoses-nos-mitos-greco-romanos.html

#Mythology #HistoryofReligions #Greece #Rome #AncientReligions #metamorphosis #AncientHistory #Antiquity #body #books #OpenAccess

Archaeoethnologica: Metamorphosis in Graeco-Roman Myths - Book / Metamorfoses nos Mitos Greco-Romanos - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/metamorfoses-nos-mitos-greco-romanos.html

#Mythology #HistoryofReligions #Greece #Rome #AncientReligions #metamorphosis #AncientHistory #Antiquity #body #books #OpenAccess

Archaeoethnologica: Metamorphosis in Graeco-Roman Myths - Book / Metamorfoses nos Mitos Greco-Romanos - Livro

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/10/metamorfoses-nos-mitos-greco-romanos.html

#Mythology #HistoryofReligions #Greece #Rome #AncientReligions #metamorphosis #AncientHistory #Antiquity #body #books #OpenAccess

A small minority of well-born men exercised despotic power over their fellow citizens in the name of an aristocratic conception of society, twice around 400 BCE.

After the surrender, the Athenian Ekklesia (assembly) soon divided into three camps:
* supporters of a “patrios politeia” (ancestral constitution),
* preservers of democracy,
* proponents of oligarchy’.
Debate and inaction continued until September 404 BCE, when the Spartans chose to intervene. They asked the Athenians to choose thirty men to manage all the affairs of the polis.

‘The Thirty initially avoided drafting a precise constitution. Instead, they sought to: a) establish a functional interim government; b) eliminate opponents; and c) reform the laws.’

https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Thirty_Tyrants/

#coup #oligarchy #extremeCentre #extremeCenter #history #Athens #Sparta #AncientGreece #Antiquity #history #democracy #metics #war #Peloponnese #defeat #Republic

This thread will show bits of a history of the extreme centre 🧶

#coup #oligarchy #extremeCentre #extremeCenter #history #Athens #FrenchState #AncientGreece #Antiquity #history #democracy #defeat #Republic #raceMaking #stateRacism #complicity #entanglement #farCentre #farCenter

‘Cancer-treating’ amulet from Hellenistic period discovered in #Turkey 🇹🇷

And if you're interested in miraculous healing in premodernity, consider taking my course on Relics in Antiquity and the Middle Ages! https://mstdn.social/@KentNavalesi/113488880555532671

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-cancer-treating-amulet-discovered-in-pisidia-antioch-204149

#medhist #geschichte #histodons #history #histoire #archaeology #Archaeologie #archaeodons #ReligiousStudies #AncientReligions #antiquity #antike #AncientGreece

Mummies with golden tongues and the remains of a Coptic church discovered in the latest campaign of the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission.

https://web.ub.edu/en/web/actualitat/w/campanya-missio-arqueologica-oxirrinc

@histodons @archaeodons @historikerinnen @antiquidons #geschichte #histodons #history #histoire #archaeology #heritage #Archaeologie #archaeodons #ReligiousStudies #AncientReligions #antiquity #AncientHistory #antike #Egyptology #Egypt

An ancient silver amulet unearthed in #Frankfurt is now recognized as the oldest physical evidence of #Christianity in Northern #Europe 🇪🇺, showing that the faith reached the region 50-100 years earlier than previously thought.

https://arkeonews.net/frankfurt-silver-inscription-archaeologists-unearth-oldest-christian-artifact-north-of-the-alps/

@histodons @archaeodons @historikerinnen @antiquidons @theology #geschichte #histodons #history #histoire #archaeology #heritage #Archaeologie #archaeodons #RomanArchaeology #RomanEmpire #ReligiousStudies #AncientReligions #antiquity #de

The #Istanbul #Archaeology Museum has one of the coolest sarcophagus displays I've ever seen.
July 2022

#Türkei 🇹🇷
#TombTuesday
#AncientReligions
#antiquity
#AncientHistory
#AncientArt #AnimalsInArt #religion
#MuseumArchive
#glam #mythology #Turkey

The burial chamber of a Middle Kingdom woman named Edi has been found in the tomb of her father, Djefaihapi, ruler of Assiut during the era of King Senwosret I.

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2024/10/04/burial-of-ancient-egyptian-noblewoman-found-in-her-fathers-tomb/

@histodons @archaeodons @historikerinnen @antiquidons #geschichte #histodons #history #histoire #archaeology #heritage #Archaeologie #archaeodons @anthropology
#AncientReligions #antiquity #AncientHistory #Egyptology #Egypt

Sarcophagus in the #Istanbul #Archaeology Museum
#Türkiye 🇹🇷
July 2022

#Türkei #TombTuesday #AncientReligions #antiquity #AncientHistory #AncientArt  #MuseumArchive #glam

2. The Israelites (referred to in the Bible and the Koran) were an ancient people.

Wikipedia: "Archaeology tends to place their origin in the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC, after the collapse of the great Egyptian and Hittite empires which dominated the Near East. Societies settled in the highlands between the Palestinian coastal plain and the Jordan River".

The State of Judah had Jerusalem as its capital. It was "defeated and annexed by the Babylonian Empire in 587 BC, and part of its population was deported to Babylonia."

(to be continued) @history

#Bible #Koran #ancient #Judea #Judah #Jerusalem #Palestine #Judeans #Judaean #Hebrews #history #israel #naming #Antiquity #Israelite

Let's popularise a bit 😋

Because I like to create stories, I'm starting a #series for you: #EstelleInterprets

Episode 1: "Jew or Israelite?"

(The definition of #Israeli is easy: "in the State of Israel". So it doesn't apply before 1948).

#Israelite" may have one of two meanings: ethnic and religious/secular. Neither is linked to citizenship in Israel-Palestine.

#history #fragility #sociology #systemicRacism #raceMaking #Jewishness #judeity #Jews #Judea #Palestine #anthropology #domination #Antiquity