Amateur and virtual collector of arts and crafts

King Idrimi of Alalakh, 15th century BCE (made 14th century BCE?). British Museum Idrimi was the king of Alalakh during the Late Bronze Age, ruling around 1490–1465 BCE (or approximately 1450 BCE). He is primarily known from an inscription on a statue discovered at Alalakh in 1939. According to the inscription, he was the son of Ilim-Ilimma I, king of Halab (Aleppo), who lost his throne after the rise of Barattarna, king of Mitanni. Idrimi later gained control of Alalakh, likely with the support of the Habiru, establishing the Kingdom of Mukish as a vassal of Mitanni. He also campaigned against the Hittites and eventually made a treaty with Kizzuwatna.

Extract from Kitab al-tibb by the theologian and philosopher Fakhr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī or Fakhruddin Razi (1149-1209). Arabic Manuscripts Collection, New York Public Library. Fakhr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī (1149–1209) was one of the most influential Muslim theologians, philosophers, and Qurʾān commentators in Islamic history. Born in Rayy (modern-day Iran), he received a broad education in theology and philosophy before traveling across Iran and Central Asia, debating scholars, advising rulers, and eventually settling near Herāt.

His greatest achievement was his monumental Qurʾān commentary, Mafāṭīḥ al-ghayb ("The Keys to the Unknown" or "The Great Commentary"), which remains one of the most respected commentaries ever written. He also authored around 100 works covering theology, philosophy, medicine, astrology, geometry, mineralogy, and grammar.

Living during a time of political instability and religious division, ar-Rāzī sought to reconcile Islamic teachings with rational philosophy, drawing on thinkers like Aristotle and Avicenna while remaining committed to Sunni orthodoxy. His works became classics of Islamic theology (kalām) and influenced generations of Muslim scholars.

Ar-Rāzī was also a renowned debater, known for presenting opposing views thoroughly before refuting them. While this method made his writings valuable sources on various Islamic sects, it also led some critics to accuse him of heresy. His aggressive personality, quick temper, and involvement in political conflicts earned him many enemies, and some accounts suggest he may have been poisoned rather than dying naturally.

Top of an Achaemenid column from Persepolis.

Persian columns were a distinctive architectural feature of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 500–330 BCE), most famously seen at the ancient city of Persepolis. They were used to support vast ceremonial halls called apadanas, such as the Hall of a Hundred Columns, which could accommodate thousands of people.

Key characteristics include:

Tall, fluted shafts that could reach up to 20 meters in height.

Double-animal capitals, usually featuring bulls, lions, griffins, or human-headed bulls placed back-to-back. These animals acted as structural brackets supporting roof beams.

Elaborate decorative elements, including volutes (spiral forms) and plant-inspired motifs.

The style emerged from a blend of influences from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Lydia, Elam, and Greece, brought together by craftsmen from across the Persian Empire. Despite these influences, the result was uniquely Persian.

Some scholars believe the animal capitals symbolized the cosmic struggle between the lion (Sun) and bull (Moon), linked to Nowruz, the Persian New Year celebration.

The tradition ended abruptly after Alexander the Great conquered Persia and burned Persepolis in 330 BCE. However, Persian column designs influenced later architecture, especially in India, including the pillars of Ashoka and other Mauryan monuments, as well as Buddhist architecture in Gandhara and western India. Elements of the style continued to appear in later Persian architecture even after the Achaemenid period.

They were us.

Like literally genetically they were US, just like. A while ago.

Like

Would you trust a TV caveman with a baby? Probably not

As long as homo sapiens have existed, we have had the same emotional and mental capacity as you and I do today. You nailed it. They were US. Even Neaderthals existed alongside and had offspring with Homo Sapiens for many thousands of years.

There's much evidence that cavemen would have had complex spoken language, culture (learned information passed down), symbolic interpretation, and I think they most certainly would have been able to handle holding a baby. In fact I have my suspicisions that an ancient homo sapiens mother may be a more present, attentive, and knowledgable mom than I could be today.

Do not let media trick you into believing we are the pinnacle of humanity. Unilinial evolution theory (google it quick I beg) is BUNK, GARBAGE, and the root of so much evil.

At the beginning of the next class, my teacher showed us a cave painting of a horse. And then he showed all of our horses, which he had scanned and put into the presentation.

He then pointed out all the ways that our horses looked similar to the prehistoric horse. Same features, drawn from the same angle, etc.

And then he asked us, "Isn't it cool that you draw horses the same way as someone who lived 20,000 years ago?"

Yeah. That stuck with me for a while.

Scientists are now pretty sure the scribbles were made by kids ages 3-6, more or less on their own. The adult cave artists were probably doing what any modern parent might do when they want to keep small children out of their hair for awhile: they gave the kids some drawing tools of their own and a small section of wall to work on, out of the way but still close enough to keep an eye on them, and let them have at it.

The team compared the ancient art with the developmental stages exhibited by modern children: the furiously scribbled circles and push-pull lines typical of 3-year-olds just learning to control their bodies, for example, or the wobbly, right-angled figures of slightly older kids beginning to master fine motor skills.

Both are apparent in the cave, superimposed on each other as though two or more kids were drawing at once. That’s a clue the Las Monedas marks were likely made by “siblings or a mixed-age play group within the sphere of safety around adults, but also within their own space,” says co-author Felix Riede, an Aarhus archaeologist.

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It was invented by one person for a specific purpose - to have a universalizable way of establishing historical dates, rather than having to deal with dynastically based date systems. And it was a really good idea. This is not surprising, since Bede is basically the father of Historiography. He also is the guy who gave us the notion of Primary Sources. Bede is amazing.

When a guy revolutionizes the entire way calendaring is done, he has the right to set his zero point wherever he pleases.

People have pointed out that one problem with CE notation is that it presents itself as neutral when it is exactly the same system as AD. What exactly is "common" about this era? The zero point doesn't become neutral just by effacing its source.

(Also BCE is nonsense. Just use negative numbers)

It makes sense for scholarly tradition to not want to be tied to a specific religion. But scholarly tradition is very enthusiastic about being tied to earlier scholarly tradition. The convention of AD was established by a scholar for a scholarly purpose. We know his name. We know what he was doing, and why, and how. And he was doing it better than anybody else. That is worth honoring.

Rather than pretending that it's a neutral system, acknowledge that it's not. It's not some naturally occurring "common era," it's the system developed by Bede, centered around dates that were important to him personally (but which he intended to be universally applicable).

I have been informed that Bede notation may in fact have been first devised by Dionysus the Humble of Scythia to calculate the date of Easter more accurately. But my broader point stands.

Just to give an example, the other day I was reading about saint Bede, a catholic monk who lived in England in the 7th/8th century. He wrote a lot, I think mainly on the history of the Catholics in Britain, and is considered kind of an early western historian. In a certain way, you can know more about him, his life and work today than when he was alive. If you want, you can read (almost) everything he wrote, because today it's not so hard to put your hands (or rather, your eyes, considering everything that can be found online or digitised on demand) on his work. You can travel to where he spent his life and visit museums and even the same monastery - although, arguably it's not quite literally the same, but you can learn a lot about his time, his place, and based on all that you can ponder on his life and ideas, motivations and contributions, much more than you could if you also lived in early medieval times!

Triptych with Virgin and Child Flanked by Archangels; Scenes from the Life of Christ; Apostles and Saint George and Saint Mercurius. Ethiopian, 17th to 18th Century.

~ Pair of Sandals.

Period: Second Intermediate Period–Early New Kingdom, 17th-18th Dynasty

Date: ca. 1580–1479 B.C.

Place of origin: Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Unfinished Temple ("Seankhkare") Valley, Pit Tomb MMA 1008/1016 (Mond 8), MMA excavations, 1920–21

Model of boats with a fishing scene

This fishing model was found in the serdab of Meketre’s tomb which contained twenty-five wooden models of men and women performing various daily tasks typical of life along the Nile.

One vivid and animated scene shows fishermen on board two green-hulled boats used on the river in ancient times; the boats are made from strips of rushes tied with cords.

Oarsmen, one in the bow and one in the stern, propel the boats while other men, dressed in white trousers held up by a single brace that crosses the chest, are busy freeing fish from the net slung between the two boats.

The net is weighed down at the sides by wooden weights and dragged with the aid of ropes held by the two sets of fishermen.

This curious and realistic miniature world was made to accompany the deceased on his journey beyond the tomb with the purpose of serving him in his daily needs in the afterlife.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1981-1975 BC. Tomb of Meketre (TT280), Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 46715