There are currently 6 permanent full time history jobs in the whole UK. 500+ PhDs being produced a year - not all of whom will want to pursue an academic year but likely most, and of course years will stack up onto each other. What a sector.
Loads of great tips there fo all sorts of writers
You seldom know what the beginning is, so don't worry yourself with starting there. If you know, as far as you can, that something will be included later in the piece start with that, whether it's the description of a scene or an object, some biographical information, whatever. You've already begun.
It belongs in a museum 😩 stunning piece to remind us what those Romans were capable of
Property from Goucher College Mummy Portrait of a Man, Roman Egypt, Flavian Period, circa late 1st century CE. Painted with encaustic (pigmented wax) on wood (probably sycamore), his head turned to his right, and wearing a white chiton (tunic) and white himation (cloak) falling from the nape of the neck, his solemn face with full lower lip, long aquiline nose, translucent hazel eyes, bushy eyebrows, and furrowed brow, his wavy gray hair brushed forward above the forehead. 12 3⁄4 by 6 in.; 32.5 by 15.4 cm Auction page: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2026/master-paintings-sculpture-part-i/mummy-portrait-of-a-man-roman-egypt-flavian-period
This realistically rendered Flavian era mummy portrait from Roman Egypt gives us a rare look at an older person from that era. It has been on loan for over 70 years to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, but was recently sold at auction. Will it disappear into a private collection? 🏺
📸 Sotheby’s
OMG sexism even crept into bird song expertise! Turns out female birds DO sing. 😂😭😡 where hasn’t it crept?!
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The great historian of Late Antiquity Averil Cameron, who has died, reminding us that class matters alongside gender in British society wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/05/22/s...
Classical Association Conference 2026
Hey Ancient peeps, who's going to Manchester this weekend? Looking forward to the @classicalassociation annual conference! Hope to meet loads of you (and if not, just looking forward to cool talks and nice food 😂). #ancienthistory #classics #classicalassociation #ancientromans #AncientBluesky
#PortraitThursday - Marble portrait of an elderly man wearing a hat with a large circular brim. This artwork illustrates the Roman tradition of verism, a style that emphasises realistic and often unflattering features. Dated between the late 3rd century and early 2nd century BC. Torlonia Collection.
lol 😂 I hear ye! had to fit it in the screen to take a screenshot. I’ve put the link in a reply, it’s a comment on the page. Or um zoom in
Ugh shame on the Disability centre!
Screenshot of a story of a mature student and how she succeeded at a later age.
OK, this is a bit long, but found this story online and it is truly inspirational, especially for all of us mature PhD-ers! Wonderful story:
#academicchatter #academia #phdlife #maturestudent #university #study #lifeafter60
Reminder: March 31st deadline for applications to travel bursaries for @womeninclassicsuk.bsky.social 10th anniversary celebration! Up to 7 available for grad students and un(der)employed Classicists. Info & to apply:
wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2026/01/29/c...
#AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky 🏺
"Their analysis yielded the first concrete evidence for the burning of wine and frankincense in domestic Roman rituals, a practice that has been alleged to play a key role in Early Imperial funeral rites and other religious ceremonies."
#Archaeology
#AncientBluesky
🏺
gizmodo.com/pompeii-stud...
No it's not the phones in the museums that are annoying, it is your insistence that other people should be just like you. But mostly it is the overcrowding in museums. A bit more space and nobody would be bothered. Nothing wrong with wanting to take the pictures home to look at again.
No, smart phone addiction is not the cause of all doom in the world. The ones addicted would not have been the new Shakespeares if it wasn't for their phone. I quite like my e-reader app, although I miss the use of old newspapers in the house.....
Glazed faience head of a Ptolemaic queen, thought to be that of Arsinoe II (reigned 278-270 BCE). This beautifully modelled head has large eyes, a long, aquiline nose and prominent Venus rings around the neck. The hair is arranged in a melon coiffure, over which is worn a floral wreath, pendants, and earrings. The high quality of this piece suggests that it was a fairly important dedication, perhaps for the cult of Arsinoe II. The aquamarine color of the faience was enhanced by the addition of other colored decoration and perhaps gilding. Ptolemaic, ca 3rd century BCE, from Naukratis, Egypt. Height: 5.80 cm (2.28 in.) British Museum, London (1888,0601.38)
The winged scarab beetle in the center of this beaded shroud invokes Khepri, the morning form of the sun god, whom ancient Egyptians depicted as a dung beetle. Just as the sun is born anew each dawn, Egyptians believed they would be reborn into a new form of existence after death. As symbols of this renewal, scarab amulets were secured to the body with linen wrappings or incorporated into nets made of beads and laid over a mummified body. The image's power is strengthened by the hieroglyphic meaning of the scarab shape: "to come into existence." Egyptian, Late Period, Dynasty 26, 664-525 BCE. Faience beads on bast fiber (probably linen). Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC 1894.967)
The artistry of this figure speaks of the devotion to this great Egyptian goddess and her son, powerful symbols of rebirth. The combination of pale blue faience and dark blue detailing, and the swelling and liquid forms are characteristic of the Ptolemaic Period. Isis wears the hieroglyphic symbol for a throne on her head, which may represent the sound of part of her name, but also might represent her as a personification of thrones. Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE), faience. Met Museum, New York (55.121.5)
It’s faience, a type of colorful ceramic that the ancient Egyptians created and used extensively. Made with quartz (derived from sand) and natron (salts), and frequently blue or blue-green in color, but other colors were created.
Other examples, below. 🏺
📸 me
My photo shows an ancient Egyptian Senet gaming board. It is a small rectangular box made of glossy bright blue faience with a separate sliding drawer at one end (shown at left) for storing the blue faience gaming pieces. Six gaming pieces are shown on the game board on top of the box. Three are reel-shaped and three are semi-conical. There are four reel-shaped pieces and one semi-conical piece on the display case surface beside the game board. The long side of the gaming board is decorated with alternating ‘Isis Knot’ and ‘djed pillar’ symbols. The gaming board dimensions are 5.5 x 7.7 x 21 cm. On display at Brooklyn Museum. Dated New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III c. 1390-1353 BC Here’s the Brooklyn Museum Catalogue description: “Top of board divided into thirty compartments with dividing lines glazed black. Four squares inscribed with numerals and a nefer sign. Long sides decorated with painted design of seven panels, each with alternating ankh and djed signs. Solid end bears painted Horus name (Amenhotep III?) ‘beloved of Amon.’ Open end pierced twice on one side. Base glazed black. Ends of drawer glazed dark and light blue in checkerboard pattern. Base and interior of drawer glazed dark purple-blue. Front of drawer pierced with four small holes (for handle?); sides pierced three times and two times - purpose not evident. Condition: Object has been assembled from fragments. Extensive scattered areas of plaster restoration. The drawer was probably originally much longer. Glaze worn in spots. Numerous firing cracks”.
A 3,400 year old Ancient Egyptian ‘Senet’ game board with gaming pieces.
Senet is one of the earliest known board games. Popular in ancient Egypt, it was associated with the soul’s journey through the underworld and was often placed in tombs.
Brooklyn Museum 📷 by me
#Archaeology
'The "spectacular and intricate" combat guard was discovered during labouring work in a field in Beith, North Ayrshire, in about 1779 and was presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1791 where it has remained since.'
A lovely pair of #Roman earrings, made of gold & decorated with chips of emerald & garnet - a beautiful piece of ancient jewellery! #AncientBlueSky
Glass engraved tazza on a gold stand. The glass is 19th cent but the foot is 16th
Portrait of a Anna Fröschl by Hans Mielich, a respectable woman in black with a deep head covering which also wraps her chin, c1530s, Flemish style landscape glimpses behind
One cameo of so many, a 1st century sardonyx of victory's chariot
9 costume ornaments from about 1400, little gold disks with bright enamel in the middle, a face in each
And look, I went back to the Holburne because it's a favoruite but also because they've had this mad donation of Renaissance artworks and it is spectacular. A selection, broadly representative:
Treat Art History as an historical subject and as 'worth knowing'. 👍 www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/02/23/h...
A different take on commemorative portraiture - or is it really.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
(UK numbers from The Guardian)
Eu students before Brexit represented 27% of the student population but the intake in the 2026-2027 academic year is 5%
Amazing but unsurprising stat….
