I am deeply charmed

I just don’t understand on a fundamental level, man I know these people exist, it’s shoved in my face every single day, but how the fuck do you treat little kids like this and look yourself in the mirror everything in me recoils at the thought, what the fuck is wrong with these people

This is so cool

Word of the Day goes to ancient Sumeria

The news is on as I attempt my #onehourreads this morning. Let's start with a #onehourread of Doc @moudhy.bsky.social's wonderful read #BetweenTwoRivers.

Devouring Between Two Rivers by @moudhy.bsky.social instead!

me, staring at this while i take a poo "damn i hope i matter a little LESS that's a lot of responsibility"

“Nuisance Bear,” directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, premieres in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2026 #SundanceFilmFestival, spotlighting polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba and the growing overlap between their ancient paths and human life. Read more: sndnc.org/4spAYMc

Good morning

Oh

“cognitive amplifier”

Appalled to your core by what Trump's fascist henchmen are doing in the United States? Well, read for yourself: Nigel Farage wants to repeat it in the United Kingdom.

kidnapping a 5 year old to bait his father and then shipping them thousands of miles away should put you in prison, yes, but it should also cause every friend and family member you have ever had to permanently reject you in disgrace, and if they don’t, they share your shame

This Data / Lady Gaga crossover from ancient Mesopotamia randomly getting traction today 😎

I wrote about my experiences being sexually exploited as a child, and what we need to do to make sure AI doesn’t make that a reality for millions of children. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

My book is out and is open access! academic.oup.com/book/61892

Dogs. Never not stupid and potentially bankrupting.

Bob Dylan’s source material (“When you got nothing you got nothing to lose”)

I'd probably read "finger" in this context as a unit of measurement, and I'm guessing this relates to city laws. "When a liar steps through a door, he is neither inside nor outside." (ie the liar will bend the situation to whatever suits him). Ancient proverbs are fun to unravel.

Very glad to be nearing some kind of end to the canine medical roller coaster ride this old man has been on this week. It all began with a rotten wheel of Camembert that a fox dragged into our garden and buried under a bunch of autumn leaves…

Another timely one nir-ŋal₂-e a-na-am₃ bi₂-in-dug₄ nu-sag₉ “Whatever the authority said, it was not good” (also attested as nu-zid, ‘not true’) cdli.earth/artifacts/22...

'addag d ikka wkrkas imi n iɣrm ikka-d ḍaras uḍaḍ izwurt-id uḍaḍ' (rendered into Tamazight)

"When a liar enters the city gate, at his back is a finger, at his front is a finger." - Sumerian proverb The fingers, presumably, are pointing at the liar, who has lied to those behind him and will lie to those in front of him. Source: cdli.earth/artifacts/34...

god forbid a girl be both whimsical and full of rage

No. 20 "Through just a narrow opening great calamities may be seen within." inna l-khaṣāṣa yurā fī jawfihā al-raqam The meaning is that something momentous may be hidden within something modest or trivial.

No need for context, this applies to everything right now

What the fuck is going on

Just published a paper on the complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir meme, the decade-old tumblr in-joke that continues to impact the public understanding of the ancient world. Paywalled but email me if you want a copy. 🏺

It’s been over three months since a ceasefire was announced in Gaza, but Israel’s destruction of the strip still continues. Since the beginning of the ceasefire, Israel has demolished more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza, per a report from @nytimes.com.

Et si vous voulez en savoir plus sur Enheduana, cet épisode du podcast "La Nymphe et la Sorcière" auquel j'ai eu le plaisir de participer est fait pour vous ! lanympheetlasorciere.com/2025/02/21/e...

confirms that hairdressers have always been key people

the hairdresser deserves a novel!

You may have heard of Enheduanna, the princess, priestess, and poet who is also the earliest named author in history. Well, a tiny broken artefact made of lapis lazuli preserves the name of Ilum-pālil, her hairdresser. It is a fragmentary cylinder seal, excavated from a tomb in the city of Ur.

“Do not bend your neck for that which cuts necks.” A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

The end goal of Grok sexual harassment is to make women afraid to be visible. It’s a punishment for daring to exist in a way the perpetrators can’t control. There’s no one solution to this, because the problem isn’t just technological. It’s cultural. It’s misogyny. This is just one expression of it.

They are counting on you giving up. Doesn't mean you can't be afraid, angry, or both, but spreading hopelessness is spreading inaction in the face if fascism narratives and that's euthanasia for resistance.

I'm gonna be one of those annoying nerds who documents how many books he's read this year. So far: 1 And it was a great read! Thanks, @moudhy.bsky.social!

I like this line from a tablet with a similar incantation lušqīka šurīpam takṣīātim Let me give you ice and cool drinks to drink Like the Old Babylonian equivalent of “chill out” oracc.museum.upenn.edu/akklove/P355...

Useful.

The way we need this reminder constantly in this day and age 😭 The Ancient Mesopotamians were never wrong about the human condition.

Colonialism's greatest hits in one album

I mean, I'm against tattooing something I can't rrad, but damn...

I'm willing to try this.

An incantation to soothe anger from nearly 4 millennia ago for those in need of one. It begins by telling us what anger is and does. “Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.” Anger is like a lion and a wolf. It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.

Good morning. I misread this as “Tesco”

“we are each other’s harvest”

Favorite books read 2025: THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER, Simon Jimenez LAST PLANE TO HEAVEN, Jay Lake KALPA IMPERIAL, Angelica Gorodischer (trans. Ursula K. LeGuin) THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER, @sgj.bsky.social KALIVAS!, @nmamatas.bsky.social (non-fic) BETWEEN TWO RIVERS, @moudhy.bsky.social

My top 3 books of 2025: 1) Between Two Rivers by @moudhy.bsky.social 2) Oathbreakers by @lollardfish.bsky.social @profgabriele.com 3) Silence of the Gods by @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social #books #booksky

Emotional support Mesopotamia books.📚