#BeautifulThings in the Wiltshire Museum

The most amazing thread I've read in a while

grey frog

For #StandingStoneSunday a #Neolithic human-shaped stela with a necklace and a belt, found in La Serre, Aveyron (#France). The lines on the cheeks are interpreted as facial #tattoos or scars. Dating 3000-2500 BC. In the late neolithic period several cultures living....🧵 1/2 🏺 #archaeology 📷 me

lookalikes 👁️👁️

Coptic spell to Acquire a Beautiful Voice, 6th–7th century CE, Egypt, ink on papyrus, 37.3 x 25.4 cm (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven) archives.yale.edu/repositories...

The Church, Banff Isabel Stadelbauer 1943

Dark! This bat god comes from central Mexican traditions influenced by Zapotec and Teotihuacan religious ideas, roughly 600–900 CE. This deity is associated with death, the underworld, the night, caves and sacrifice; often referring to decapitation, human sacrifice and regeneration through death.

I'm now reading the Koran for the first time ever (3 pages in so far), and on one hand, I so want to document this experienece here, just coz it feels better to share and talk through your confusions. And it is confusing! But at the same time I'm kinda scared to 1) offend everyone, 2) look stupid.

By far my favorite icons of the Nativity are by Greta Lesko, a contemporary iconographer from the Carpathian region of southeastern Poland: gretalesko.com/en/

When a tool to create the final form of art is by itself art, perhaps even more so. Left - a gingerbread mold, right - a printing plate for Pavlovo shawls (both - 19 century russia). Below - a mold for goden ornaments (the page gives zero info except that it is "Asian" lol)

til it's not just my unfamiliarity: different scripts require different pt sizes, and if your views are optimized for Latin scripts, it brings Arabic and Chinese out of comfort zone for you. Arabic needs to be 150% larger for equal legibility, Chinese - 125% larger + both need larger interliine gaps

Haha I like this alternative world in which the symbolism is better aligned!

Two citipati from 19th century Mongolia. Citipati are a pair of skeletal deities in Vajrayana Buddhism, male and female, dancing and protecting cemeteries from thieves! Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citipat... Image source: www.michaelbackmanltd.com/object/mongo...

Today in linguists are not kidding when we say your capacity for language includes the ability to understand sentences that have never been produced before in human history

The level of English in modern German turns it into a visual illusion sometimes. I was walking past a tram stop, and my peripheral vision detected this as "End your life as a whole" or something like that. I had to take 2 steps back and glance at it again. Right, it's not _actually_ English lol!

A joke map of stereotypes about Indian states. What's interesting tho is the reddit thread linked below with a discusson of this map, where people opine on the relative validity or silliness of these assessments: www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/co...

A Roman terracotta lamp with Victory holding a shield inscribed with a wish for a happy and prosperous new year. Around her are representations of things that were usually given as gifts to celebrate the New Year: money (here three coins), and dried fruit (dates and figs). 🥳 🏺 1/ #MetMuseum 📸 me

I love how the process here is exactly the opposite to what JRRT promised: first myths became legends, now legends became history!

I've also narrowed down my language learning goals. Maintain/improve conversational level: German Gain conversational level: also German Improve reading proficiency: German Gain writing proficiency: Maaaaybe German?

If this Georgian word does come from Byzantium, then it has English connections too! The name of Byzantium is widely thought to come from a personal name, and before that the word *būz- 'male goat' in the extinct Thracian language. If so, it's a distant cousin of 'buck' and 'butcher' in English.

Ordered pre-Xmas, received post-Xmas, which I find on-brand and symbolic! A book by @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social :)

Tibetan Thokcha are small metal amulets, originally made of meteorite iron (the legend claims they fell from the sky!), but later of copper alloy. Some look like animals or symbols, but some are more like... gratings? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thokcha (not to be confused with Yiddish tchotchke!)

About a decade ago, when we thought we won't have new babies (and thus no new girls) I foolishly donated 2 full shelves of tiny girly books: full Junie B Jones, full Babysitters club, Judy Moody etc. And I'm so sad about it. Buying it from ebay is like 200 euroquid now :/ And no Savers in Germany!

Kandylakia is a type of a roadside shrine in Greece that is shaped like a tiny church. Sometimes inside is just a little icon, sometimes the inside also looks like an interior of a church, with tiny frescoes and whatnot.

I like how some Tsakli (or sometimes Tsakali) are so formulaic, they almost approach abstract art

til Tsakli: Tibetan Buddhist miniature paintings, produced in groups (anything from 6 to 100), used mostly for apotropaic magic (to bless, heal, mend), but also as portable relics. Made of cloth, cardboard, thin wood, or thick paper. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsakli

I'm tired and for a few seconds I thought it's about preferences for religious clothes, and was struggling to infer what third order or Eastern sect could be implied here

it's Christmas Eve but it's also the 16 year anniversary of the time an art historian for the Hungarian National Gallery spotted a long lost painting while watching Stuart Little with his 3-year-old daughter, recognizing it in the movie set

Even the poppiest Christmas music playlist throws in the occasional Bing or Brenda Lee. A Christmas Carol may not be read, but it’s still one of the structural supports of the season. It’s a Wonderful Life is in the air. Is there any other moment when the past is so present to the mass of people?

An interesting addition to this map is that there are four countries that recognize TWO Xmases! And not just Xmas + Boxing day or something, but two different competing calendars: 25 Dec (Western) + either 6 Jan (Oriental) or 7 Jan (Orthodox) Belarus, Moldova, Lebanon, Palestine

A conflict brewing: the kid expects a German Santa (deposits presents under the tree on the 24th, in the evening), while we really want to stick to an American Custom (with presents layed overnight, as Santa, hasn't even packed any of them yet obviously!) The kid is furious.

Mary Jo Van Dell, Solstice (2023) oil on linen 86.6 x 86.4 cm

Happy winter solstice ☀️ 🌙

My 4 y.o. is pretend-playing that he is Mark Rober, narrating educational YouTube videos about random household objects. The visible contagiousness of curiosity, of a desire to share joy with others, so impossibly adorable!

This month 6-7 has (finally) reached German elementary schools. A delay of almost a year (?), compared to the US, but now they also do 6-7

is it true?.. :)

Every time I pick up my tenor banjo (CGDA) I want to retune it into something like DADG to escape the tyranny of C, but then I realize that it will just become a poor sister of my 5-string banjo (aDADG), and "just another weird guitar", and I keep it at 5th, even tho I can't really play it much

column in this week's New World on Brigitte Macron calling feminist campaigners "sales connes", and the difficulties of translation: www.thenewworld.co.uk/marie-le-con...

We had this lovely studio on the street nearby, and now it sadly closed :( It was so nice to know it's there, it was so pretty. The online store is apparently here now: www.danielarab.com

I promise if you’re not Jewish and don’t know any Jews quite well you really do not understand the level of justified paranoia baked into most public Jewish gatherings: Security at swimming lessons at the JCC, off duty police outside a bar mitzvah as a favour, etc. It shocked me.

Today is "Suzhou numerals" (a traditional Chinese number notation system) appreciation day 😍 : 〇、〡、〢、〣、〤、〥、〦、〧、〨、〩. The system has become rare, but one might still encounter it occasionally, e.g. in Hong Kong markets and restaurants😁

This fragment of #gaming board & counters were found at the #Trimontium fort site. Probably used by #Roman soldiers to play Latrunculi or Ludus Latrunculorum, the counters are made of recycled Samian ware & glass. 📷 Board & counters, Trimontium Trust Ludus latrunculorum, Spain CC BY-SA 4.0

There's something very seventies (1966 here) in seven-ray snowflakes. Someone should study the ratio of 6 vs 8 rays in typography and design, across decades, documenting the occasional 7s as well!.. But it feels extra spicy cute rebel, doesn't it?

I was talking to a young Orthodox woman recently and she was telling me that there is an enormous gender divide emerging in American Orthodoxy because of this. The young women just want to, you know, go to church, while the young men (mostly converts) are looking for their tradwife.

I abjectly hate this, but it's the bitter reality: “We may reach a point where Indian history will be researched properly only outside of India. The real losers here will be Indian nationals.” amp.scroll.in/article/1089...

I will go to my grave screaming about how Pennywise being a clown hits completely different for anyone under 40 or 50, because the original intent was that Pennywise LOOKED HARMLESS, because “IT” predates scary clowns, & if the story were modern, Pennywise would manifest as a ninja turtle or Luffy

The return of UK’s ancient stones as a place of worship www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Beyond the Peterson narrative, I keep being shocked to just How Different diff types of "Christianity" are. No less different than say Ramakrishna vs Akhara, or Sufi vs Salafi They say "dedicated to .. greater Kingdom impact worldwide" They understand "Kingdom of God" as the OPPOSITE to how I do it

Everyone imitates Tolkien all the time except when it comes to the one way it would really matter: making the protagonist of your novel for children a short, fat, 50-year-old man who doesn't want to do anything.